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Friday 30 April 2010

spring in the common

30 apr 2010


i can't help but find the spring here so so beautiful. atchiiiiiim! these photos are from today in my walk through the common park, going to uni. this is the landscape i see everyday. i haven't taken the us at all lately, just enjoyed the beauty of the day, of the trees, the singing of the birds. the spring changes our life in so many ways. there are always people in the park, walking up and down, walking their dog, on a stroll with their kids, alone, exercing at the park's bench, as in the photo here. i love it. i have taken a few photos :-)

the cowherds, one of my favorite pubs, is right there in the park. they put this note warning customers who have an intention of taking a glass with them to the park. the basic policy from everywhere is that safety comes first. always. then fun is naturally granted.


Wednesday 28 April 2010

tudo eh nada

28 apr 2010

(acabei de chegar em casa: 9.15 da noite. sai de manha e passei o dia inteiro na conferencia LASS, no turner sims music hall. apresentei minha pesquisa, comi merendas e tomei cafes e sucos e vinhos o dia inteiro, tudo entrelacado e acompanhado de papos e encontros e trocas de ideias e conversas tantas. no final do dia ainda tive que ir pro jantar no restaurante do nuffield theatre, porque ja tinha agendado, apesar de estar exausta e com o pensamento nas tantasss coisas que precisam de mim. fui jantar, comi e conversei com o povo, mais uma vez. . . . como se conversa nessa vida!!! e porque se come tanto?)

o jantar foi bom:
entrada: pate de javali com pao bacana e cebola caramelizada
prato principal: risoto de arroz com abobora e queijo stilton e mais uma amendoa. delicia!
sobremesa: morangos com sorvete de baunilha numa casquinha daquelas que tem o formato de cumbuquinha, de chocolate e mais um creme branco por cima.
nota: eu nem estava com fome.
Deus eh mais!!!

alguns dos amigos foram assistir minha apresentacao: diana (romenia), nagima (paquistao), hee (coreia do sul), mustafa (libia), alma (espanha), ahmed (arabia saudita), ji (coreia do sul), cangei (coreia do sul), rahmah (brunei) e a ros (irlanda). eh uma simpatia ter torcida.

aas vezes eh tanto, aas vezes eh nada.

"eh que no fundo, no fundo, tudo eh pouco, tudo eh insignificante."
Saramago (em entrevista a edney silvestre, sobre o nobel de literatura que ganhou em 1998)

Tuesday 27 April 2010

peppermint tea

27 apr 2010

i'm having peppermint tea now. disturbing headache. it always worries me when i have headaches because i know what they are about. most of the headache episodes i associate with either bad digestion (having eaten fat is particularly triggering) or high blood pressure. today it can be either one, i'm afraid, although i didn't eat much fat in the last 24 hours - OH MY GOD!!!! I DID!!! yesterday my lunch was the 'pizza meal' on the avenue campus: deadly slice of pizza, garlic bread, and chips. ok now, how badly am i treating myself?

will try and rest / relax a little and then do some reading. my life eludes me.

Monday 26 April 2010

onde anda voce?

26 apr 2010

(post originado de um email a uma amiga. apenas a parte que fala de mim esta aqui, por razoes obvias)

vou tentar eu fazer assim: ler, estudar, sem pensar muito e so fazer, ja que minha situacao eh preocupante, inclusive o fato de que meu tesao pelo meu estudo nesse momento mora em endereco incerto e nao sabido. como posso entao expedir mandado de intimacao? heheheh agora deu vontade de escrever um post sobre isso. mas tenho visto o blog quase como escape perigoso. pense no tilte na cabeca )-:

estou tendo uma dificuldade colossal de amar de novo, me parece. quando falo da minha pesquisa nas conversas e nas apresentacoes os comentarios sao sempre felizes e me trazem de volta aos trilhos que eu escolhi e de que gosto muito, mesmo. mas ando lenta, com muito e com nada na mente. o alivio, bem estranho, eh que quando compartilho essa sensacao com alguem ouco que o mesmo se da a todos. ja ouvi muito que um doutorado deixa qualque um doido. a pressao eh incalculavel, indizivel em palavras. deve ser como parir, ou amar.

viver. dancar. olhar. amar. como pode cada coisa implicar o outro e ainda assim ser tao unica, tao pessoal?

Saturday 24 April 2010

vaza, filha

24 apr 2010

hoje fui ali caminhando no centro da cidade levar umas roupas na tkmaxx, para a campanha de ajuda no tratamento de cancer e de la resolvi entrar no asda pra comprar um radio despertador. fui e passei no supermercado que, pra minha surpresa, nao estava entupido de gente. esse vulcao trouxe mesmo uma vida diferente, sera? bom, comprei meu radinho (nao de pilha) e outras coisas que queria e me dirigi ao caixa de compras rapidas. o fato acontece todas as vezes, especialmente no asda. a moca passa suas compras, voce tem que ir empacotando ali, trabalhando junto. se quiser ir conferindo o que ela passa, o que cobra, tem que levar um auxiliar porque ninguem tem quatro olhos nem quatro maos, certo? pois bem, eu fui ali guardando as coisas na sacola. no momento seguinte eh preciso estar com o cartao do banco ou de credito no ponto pra meter na maquina, volta a empacotar, mas sem piscar porque chega o minuto de digitar a senha na maquininha. eu digito a senha e ai fica liberada a compra. desse segundo em diante a pessoa tem que ser malabarista pra guardar o cartao na carteira, arrumar na medida do possivel, terminar de empacotar e VAZAR dali. hoje a moca cruzou ligeiramente os bracos e o sinal eh claro: 'seu atendimento esta concluido, saia e de lugar a outra pessoa.' nao acho esse procedimento nem um pingo simpatico. ja ate perdi uma tomada que comprei no tesco nesse sufoco. aff!!!

tkmaxx in campaign

24 apr 2010

tkmaxx, in Southampton city centre, is collecting used clothes from customers in a campaign to beat childhood cancer. they made these bags available in their store for anyone to pick them up and fill them with clothes which we don't need anymore but are still in good condition. i've already taken a bag there and have two more here to go. i might go there tomorrow. this is a very campaign. they do their share and we do ours. it does not take much to make a significant difference. the campaign is a valuable opportunity to make people reflect upon health and participate. the campaign goes until 25 april, this coming sunday.

Thursday 22 April 2010

spring in highfield

22 apr 2010

these photos are from our tour with adriana, rosinha, marcos, and hilra today. the spring is bringing all the leaves back to the trees. the trees now look so much happier they whistle with the wind telling this to whole world. this bigger photo on the right hand side is from the 5th floor, inside hartley library. we can see that some students are on the grass, enjoying the sun (brrrrr). let me say the truth, chilly sun, but still very bright and much welcome. we find some brave ducks in this stream.

easy to guess whether i appreciate the spring or not, huh! supreme nature.

cafe feliz

22 apr 2010


Dear Nene,

Super thanks a bunch for making me part of this special moment in your life. I am certain it was special for everyone who got together with you / us in any one of these days with Adriana, Marcos, and Rosinha. It made my day to meet with everyone and have the tour around uni, following the flowers way, listening to the birds, doing together what I do alone nearly every day. Really, really, it was such a great time for me to meet everyone. I already knew them and the rapport was established even before we met in person. Now it is official: I have more friends, and I add the kids – Nina, Dani, Lipe, and Matheus – to the list.

We were happy to come across the spring blossom with the colours and the beauty all the way in the Common, from one campus to the other, celebrating life. Hilra, I think I can tell you Louise was just as happy to be there with us. The aura of friendship has made us all inebriated with joy and, trust me, we did have fun. I believe Louise didn’t care one bit when we at times spoke Portuguese, which would in practical terms leave her out of the chat. I don’t really think she felt lost at any point. Well, I might be wrong, but she was in the same level of positive lightness and enjoying the great time together. And so were Hannah and little Tim. Moreover, food was good.

It was so nice for the ‘easy riders’ to finally reach here that there was no much need to dwell on the impeding bits that came on their tour through Europe (Mr. Vulcano). I was thinking that this special moment you could have chosen to pass alone with them, but no, you decided to invite me along. Such moments are only possible with special friends, people who know who we are, who follow the events of our life in their very truth. Hope you keep this priceless moment – the days – as a powerful file to be accessed during days when ‘funny’ questions inevitably come to your / my mind. I will.

I just think that the whole walk that we did together is very meaningful. And don’t forget it was on lovers’ walk. Again, thanks for inviting me along. Our café feliz was shared, not planned that way, but it was shared. Did you realize that?

Kalina

visita aa ginecologista

22 apr 2010


hoje eu fui aa clinica da universidade fazer um exame ginecologico que estava agendado. quando fui aa medica outro dia ela pediu pra eu repetir alguns exames que eu tinha feito agora em dezembro no brasil porque nao gostou muito dos resultados. outro dia foi o de sangue, que foi uma beleza e eu agradeci aa profissional que fez a coleta, Mrs Williams. hoje a coleta do material para exame do cervix foi feita pela mesma senhora. confesso que estava apreensiva por vaaarias razoes.

Mrs Williams foi sensacional, mais uma vez. apesar de a sala nao ser nada grande tem um cortina que ela fecha e da total privacidade pra gente se trocar. pra exame eu apenas tirei a parte de baixo e estava na expectativa de ver como seria o exame em si. ao inves de vestir uma bata, como fazemos em teresina. a gente pega uma, na verdade duas, folhas bem grande de papel bem molinho (lembrei de uma cartolina mole) e cobre a pelvis pra nao ficar tudo exposto. eu gostei disso. eu estava com medo do exame doer e ser demorado. gracas a Deus nada do que eu temia se confirmou. exame feito com pericia eh um sossego.

sim, esse post tambem tem o proposito de falar do meu estado de permanente embriaguez com as flores que estao a me sorrir onde eu chego e por onde ando. eu estava sentada la dentro da clinica, aguardando ser chamada, folheando uma revista e tal e de repente meus olhos, laaa de dentro da clinica, atraves das duas portas de vidro que por isso dao uma visao do campus, ali fora, se deram conta da primavera em flor ali mesmo. nao resisti e fui ate a porta e tirei essa foto, de dentro da clinica. encostei a camera na porta de vidro e clique, ta eternizada tambem em foto a beleza que ja mora no meu coracao. a visao do verde, do branco, da mudanca como ares de vida eh linda.
ah, as flores. . .
ah, as cores. . .
hao de levar as dores. . .
e trazer amores. . .
. . .

as flores da primavera

22 apr 2010


hoje muito cedo eu tive que passar e entrar no avenue campus pra fazer umas fotocopias antes de ir dar aula no highfield campus. cheguei normalmente, deixei o casaco no escritorio e fui ate a copiadora, ali no segundo andar. eu estava fazendo as fotocopias quando num segundo a imagem das arvores no patio interno ali embaixo atraiu meus olhos, me fisgou de fascinacao num segundo que eu peguei o livro que estava sobre a mesa proxima aa janela, que nem eh janela de fato, eh um vidro que se extende por todo o segundo andar e da uma visao la de baixo. meus olhos se encheram com a beleza da imagem das arvores cobertas em  lindos vestidos brancos, graciosamente floridos.

elas, que atravessaram o inverno gelado nuas, sem atrativo e desprotegidas, agora se vestem de beleza e delicadeza, provando que a primavera eh a renovacao da vida. eh como se recuperassem o vico de femea. essas arvores vestidas lindamente e as cores muitas que ja comecam a sorrir  . . . ah, eu adoro. a natureza parece caminhar com a gente, lado a lado na vida, e agora ela diz assim: 'ta vendo, o caminho tem cores, ares novos, e tudo ta mudando'. estacao nova, roupa nova, ideias novas, sim, oportunidade para mudar. . . vestir-se de cores graciosas. . .

Wednesday 21 April 2010

the culture children

21 apr 2010

after a good five-week period i met with my friend Nxxxxx today on highfield campus. she joined me and two other friends in a conversation about what we all did over Easter break. i asked her where she has been because it has been a while i haven't seen her. she explained she went to visit a friend who delivered a baby and needed a hand with the baby, as they are all from another country and therefore have no helpers here. after a while, when i was engaging in a mood of thinking she was pleased to spend sometime helping the friend with the newborn she turns to me as if to clear any of my doubts and says 'i don't like children'. i confess i was shocked. 'but you have four', i said. 'that's my culture. that's how it is in my country. i have to have children. i thought it is better i have them now. when i'm older, it's better.' well, our boy friend looked puzzled.

i might be ridiculous. it might be very natural that mothers have this feeling, at least at times, but for me, yes, it was shocking to hear she is the mother of four because this is what her culture says she should do ONLY, although she doesn't like children. she is arab.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

com o sentido la

20 apr 2010

meu pai

to com o sentido no meu Pai, o tempo todo. alias, faz dias que esse pensamento me faz companhia. nem sei direito oque dizer primeiro. ele fez uns exames pre operatorios, pra uma hernia inguinal que doi muito e que precisa ser operada e parece que vai ser agora. agora mas nao sei se nessa semana mesmo, porque ele ta muito fraco. ele, e a kassandra confirmou, me disse que estava muito fraco, assustador. ele tem quase 75 anos de idade, precisa de cuidado dobrado, inclusive pra poder enfrentar doencas e uma cirurgia.

liguei pra ele faz pouco tempo. ele estava sozinho em casa, e me falou que esta bem, que esta muito melhor, se recuperando bem e comendo bem e se sentindo bem. ele sempre me da essas noticias bem positivas. a conversa nao foi muito facil porque eu ligo do computador e nao sei se eh por isso, mas ele teve dificuldade de me entender ou escutar e ta com um pouco de dificuldade de falar com ritmo normal. pronto, basta esse prato pra me ocupar a alma e me deixar angustiada.

a decisao de ir estudar, morar, passar uma temporada longe da familia eh uma decisao que so pode ser entendida no momento da experiencia. a gente nunca imagina que vai sofrer agonias e dias dificeis, quando gostaria de estar por perto pra poder ficar junto. tanta coisa ja aconteceu em teresina na minha ausencia . . . o mundo continua girando, e eu me sinto presa aos limites naturais da minha situacao atual. rezar alivia bastante e traz uma serenidade, mas eu to mesmo eh triste e preocupada. eh isso.

eu pensava que escrever ia me ajudar a entender o que ando sentindo e me aliviar da preocupacao (eu sempre querendo sofrer menos) mas isso nao aconteceu. to aqui, e tenho em mim so perguntas. um evento desencadeia outros e ai vai ficando maior. mas tudo ta sob controle e se Deus quiser meu Pai vai ser operado e se recuperar bem e em breve. um abraco bem grande pra ele nesse minuto.

Saturday 17 April 2010

alice in wonderland

17 apr 2010


Today Diana, Mathilde and I went to the Odeon cinema to watch Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D. In the movie Alice is 19 and decides to follow the white rabbit exactly as she is proposed by the ungracious son of a friend of her father’s. From this point she starts her fantastic adventures, as she used to dream of them as a child. Mia Wasikowska plays Alice, Helena Bonham Carter is the Red Queen, Johnny Depp is the fabulous Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway is the White Queen. They are all fantastic. By the way, I love all the characters, although I found the smiley blue cat a little spooky, but that’s me. Alice can only prove she is Alice when she defeats the monster. I loved Burton’s film, and the 3D was a super plus. It is great entertainment and offers loads of representations of the self and the human relations to be interpreted. I love the fact that she has different sizes as she encounters different people. Mia Wasikowska did an awesome job. As I was watching the film I thought I had seen her somewhere. Yes, she played Sophie, one of Paul’s patients in the American series In treatment. We three did not like that she comes back to her real life and sort of gives people advice. After all, life is a dance which can be felt by each one of us individually, I’m afraid. I am not certain we learn from what others have experienced.


Finished the movie we walked to this Italian restaurant on Above Bar Street called Bella Italia. it offers a variety of Italian dishes. There we had pizza and wine and chatted and chatted and chatted. Mathilde, my flatmate here at the uni hall, is Belgium. she is here for a semester only, an Erasmus student. Diana is from Romania, i might have said this already. we're friends from uni. she is doing her PhD in the representations of the Holocaust. her research is super interesting and we have talked a lot about it already. We talked about trips, safety in different countries and many other things. It was indeed a very nice night out.

the pizza was a bit cold, which might imply it was not really fresh, but still good. wine was superb. Above Bar is a street where there are lots of other pubs. it was funny to appreciate the girls 'nearly dressed up' to go to these pubs. no matter how cold it is, they are always very brave to face the night with very little clothes. it was a chilly night and got the bus back home.

Friday 16 April 2010

bedford place

16 apr 2010

i met with Diana Popescu today a little before 6pm right here at the avenue / the common and we walked down towards london road. our final destination was bedford place, a road with many pubs and shops. we first went to revolution pub, where we stayed for quite a long time, at first sitting at their terrace outside, enjoying the brrrr chilly breeze. there we had coffee latte. when it got very cold we got a table inside the pub, kept chatting and had white wine. we stayed there until after 9pm, when the music became very loud and unbearable for us, and super great for the newcomers.

we left the revolution pub, crossed the street, and entered another pub whose name i cannot recall just now. well, we talked about so many things, until 11.20ish. time went by so quickly we didn't realize it was so late. when the conversation is great we forget the clock. we rushed to the bus stop on london and were lucky to get into the U1E bus. diana is a nice friend from romania.

we talked about life, academic life / work, love, men, travelling, working, sharing houses with people from different cultures. . . you name it! we just let the talk flow. it was very nice. i don't go out very often. i am a quiet person. many times my favorite programme is to go somewhere and watch a movie, a theater play, or just stay a friend's house. the kind of programme i appreciate is one where we can sit and enjoy ourselves through talking and listening to good music or whatever, but i am definetely not fond of uncontrolled alcohol drinking or super loud music. this evening at the pub with diana is a sort of night out that happens sometimes around here with the folks from the post grad programme, and is something i highly appreciate. besides, it gave me the feeling of having done something for myself, really, as i didn't stay home. silly me )-:

the backpack

16 apr 2010

today i got myself a new packpack. it had been weeks of planning on this transition from old biggy to a brand new one. this nice huuuge old one has been a great companion. it was always super useful as i took it not only to uni with books and academic stuff, but also very handy when i took it along for shopping.
however, i felt very much ready to move on and come back to uni after this Easter vacation carrying a new sac. i hope the new sac, properly bought but not yet photographed, does keep me the same faithful company as the this old one did. by the way, the new one, not a backpack, but a more elegant suitcase if you like, should be called Alice. i am in this 'alice in wonderland' state of mind today. sometimes big, sometimes very small, sometimes knowing who i am, sometimes not. i got Alice from TKMaxx.

Thursday 15 April 2010

microwave

15 apr 2010

i received an email today from Dr. Xxxxx, the Postgraduate Research Coordinator from the school of humanities, to inform us that our microwave was stolen over the weekend. this is from our kitchen right here on upper level two. she also says in her email that another one is going to be purchased shortly and installed in the same place.
who would do this? i don't know what to say or don't want to say anything else.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

in treatment

14 apr 2010

i just left the uni health clinic on the highfield campus. i came to see Dr. Armstrong because i wanted to: - show her all the blood and screening tests i did in Brazil this past december; - talk about my blood pressure; - talk about my overweight; - and also really get back to a doctor in the clinic as they had already sent me two letters saying it was time i went back there for the follow up on my (high) blood pressure.

i phoned the clinic a few days ago and asked for Dr Armstrong. i have seen a number of different doctors at the clinic and it does not feel too great, really. i need to be connected with one who knows me enough to treat me properly although in their website it is clear they cannot promise you'll have your own doctor all the time.

oh my GOD!!! i just remember as i am typing here, that i forgot to tell her of my horrible pain in the elbow i've been having for many days now. it eluded me. but that's fine. i'll have another opportunity soon. when i first entered her surgery she greeted me with a welcoming smile, which makes a huge difference, i insist in pointing out. i said she was the first doctor i saw at the clinic when i first arrived here in southampton as a student and that back then she was expecting someone and made the gesture pointing to my belly (she was pregnant). she smiled and said she remembers me and the 'someone' she was expecting has arrived. :-)
i really have this expectation of sticking with her for my next visits to the clinic.

she went through all the many tests i had to show to her and converted the value to the ones they use here. she found some results a little 'massive' - her words, and for this reason i am going to repeat them, but - good news! - everything will be done at the clinic, right here. very convenient for me. the fasting blood tests will be tomorrow and the smear will have to wait some days because of my period.

we talked about the dieting and she told me lots of things that i for sure have already come across in my life but i don't learn the lesson it seems. she suggested i try weight watchers; eat less sugar and less fat; find a more active physical exercise than just walking; and that i eat in a smal plate with two thirds of my intake being veggies and only one third being the protein and the carbo; that i cut out even the sweetener i have in my morning cereal. she said it is fine that i eat the sultana bran, but not too much. i love on hope.

but the way, today is a beautiful spring day. although chilly (6 degrees), it is nice and the blooming is in the air, at last.

note: i forgot to say here something funny that happened the first time i saw Dr. Armstrong. well, as we arrive in this country we are supposed to register in a GP (General Practitioner) near wherever we live. of course i registered at this one right on campus, because my address was ok to be registered here. As said before, I met with Dr. Armstrong at the occasion. when i entered her surgery (office) and sat down to speak with her she made the gesture to receive the form i had just filled out about myself. instead of handing the form to her i offered my hand itself to shake hands with, with is the most formal and minimum contact we have with anyone in my Brazilian culture. it was obvious from her reaction that she was not expecting this sort of contact, but anyway she said 'lovely'. we went on to talk about my situation and here i am :-)

Tuesday 13 April 2010

quanto vale o curriculo?

13 apr 2010

acabei de sair de um almoco com uma amiga americana. marcamos um encontro pra 12.30, aqui mesmo no cafe do avenue campus pra almocarmos juntas e conversar um pouco. ela ta quase indo embora de Southampton porque o projeto que a trouxe aqui ta chegando ao fim. vou chama-la aqui de Amanda. foi um papo maravilhoso, como sempre. falamos sobre a vida aqui na europa e nos estados unidos e a vida no brasil e trabalho e dinheiro e relacoes com as pessoas e as dificuldades de se viver nesse pais tao caro. acabei de voltar mesmo e ja eh quase 3 da tarde. poderiamos ter ficado conversando mais tempo ainda, mas estamos as duas com um monte de coisas pra fazer.

quero mesmo eh falar sobre um fato que ela me contou que lhe aconteceu esses dias. como esta terminando esse projeto, ela esta no momento procurando outros projetos / trabalho de pesquisa / pos doc em dois lugares: num pais muito rico europeu e nos estados unidos. ela nao tem interesse em ficar aqui na inglaterra. pois bem, ela localizou uma oferta de posicao pra trabalho / pesquisa numa universidade de renome internacional nesse pais rico que nao vou citar aqui. a chamada dizia que a pessoa teria que falar: holandes, alemao, frances, e poder escrever em ingles. e mais: que fosse mulher e que tivesse uma historia de imigracao e que tivesse desenvolvido pesquisas em estudos internacionais ('transnational studies'). parece uma oferta que vai ficar sem candidata nao eh? pois bem, essa parecia ter sido feita para ela, que se inscreveu e mandou toda a documentacao necessaria. resultado? nao foi sequer considerada para uma entrevista. ela entrou em contato com eles e perguntou sobre a selecao. eles agradeceram e disseram que ja tinham encontrado a pessoa. ela tem certeza que essa foi mais uma dessas oportunidades que sao montadas para um determinada pessoa. a pessoa, o contato, a forca do QI, tao polemico no Brasil, eh o que determina se voce consegue um trabalho ou nao, em todos os lugares, ela esta certa disso. ela ficou um pedaco me dizendo e eu falei pra ela a expressao em portugues: 'cartas marcadas'.

a reflexao que a Amanda faz dessa experiencia eh que os contatos eh que fazem seu curriculo ser visto como ele eh de fato, ou que os contatos eh que definem mesmo, o curriculo, a historia, eh elemento secundario.

ah, ela fala tambem, com fluencia, portugues e espanhol. a vida tem que ser dedicada um bocadinho aos livros e outro bocadinho a alimentar conexoes. isso me estraga as ideias.

Sunday 11 April 2010

com que roupa eu vou?

11 apr 2010

Spring is still so timid. Yesterday it marked 16 degrees during the day. As it is predictable it went down during the night. It is cold today, marking now 6 degrees. The sun out there, shinning beautifully outside, but still it feels chilly. So, I decided to put on a jumper and a light coat to go window shopping in city centre. Again, I saw people wearing all sorts of covers, some light like mine, some a bit more covered, and also the t-short heroes. Go figure!!!

I walked to the city centre instead of riding the bus today. I feel happy for being able to take even short walks like this one, because physical exercise should be my number 1 priority. Well, I have promised myself to try and improve in that direction.

My first stop was at Starbucks café for a café latte and a pain au chocolat. My initial plans were to sit and stay here for a long time, sipping my coffee slowly and writing some. Well, things didn’t work quite right as I had planned. I am still here at 12pm sharp at the café, but am finished with coffee and will have to leave soon, I’m afraid.

I want to stop by Marks and Spencer. This is an expensive shop, but they often have good offers over there. I’ll see if M&S has something interesting for me today. This Starbucks is a busy café. Although I know it is very common for customers to spend hours here under the cost of a cup of coffee only, I myself don’t feel very inclined to do the same, afraid of getting those ‘please leave the table for somebody else now’ look. It is a joke. I don’t think they actually give those looks to customers. Or do they?

Note: this first bit of the post was written at Starbucks Café.

Update at home in the evening:
I did go and browsed around M&S, and guess what? I ended up finding this offer for the pans I needed. I had seen just one at M&S before for £25, had seen sort of the same for £22 at Waitrose, all for one single saucepan. It was good that I waited until today.

Friday 9 April 2010

caffe latte, tea cake, & bzzzzzz

9 apr 2010



The chatting today with Hilra at BB’s cafe was great. it is in the Mall Marlands, very strategically located as we get out of Matalan. we decided to meet there for a cup of coffee and updates on our news because she has not come to uni very often lately. we met about 9.30 and talked nonstop until almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon. we always talk about life, studies, plans, dreams, whatever one word inspires as the chain is quite free and maybe wouldn't make sense to some people as it does for us.
i really loved our coffee with loads of words today. we had caffe latte with teacake to eat. when time came she had o go pick up her kids at school. i went to uni to work a little, not much as i am out of insiration these days. still wondering wha should plug me back into real world.

Thursday 8 April 2010

new connections? (part 2)

about 7 apr 2010

Dine with wine tasting at the White Star Taven

I am back home from meeting with the folks from Southampton meet up social club I registered online and joined this particular group because I’m interesting in meeting people in this area. We met at the White Star Tavern. this pub is on Oxford Street, a charming little street with bars, restaurants nearby Ocean Village. very nice area. i lived around that area for fours months last year. the street has got a bohemian grove.

The meeting was actually an evening of dine with wine tasting: the Alsace / Germany / Austria wine club. All of the wines we had were very good. At some point I decided I should slow down because I get drunk very quickly. Below is the complete menu. We all had the wines. Regarding the food I list here what I ate. All portions are quite good and small, which is a plus for the ones on a diet. I like to try different foods.

Wine 1 – Friendly Gruner - Veltliner Laurenz; 2 – Dr Loosen Botrytis Riesling Beerenauslese;

Starter: Isle of Wight blue ’strudel’, a nice sort of pastry wrapping cheese and mushroom.

Wine 3 – cave de Turckheim pinot noir

Main dish: Choucroute dressed sauerkraut, three continental sausages, ham hock, bacon & potatoes. I would have left the sausages cooking for a bit longer. But it was fine.

Wine 4 – Riesling “H” Rheingau Prinz von Hessen Germany

It was a pleasant night, and I met these new people and had a great chat with Helen and her husband, Andy. Richard and Peter also were there. Helen, Andy, Richard and I walked back in city centre to catch our transportations home. Helen and Andy got a bus somewhere to their place, which is not too far from Southampton, and I walked until the city centre with Richard. I stayed there to catch my Unilink bus and he kept walking down to the train station to travel to Salisbury. No one was driving that night as the plan was to drink alcohol. Peter was riding his bike and apparently lives nearby the restaurant. There are plans for other meetings sometime soon.

Wednesday 7 April 2010

new connections?

7 apr 2010



i am going to a meeting today, with people i don't know yet. they come from internet social groups and i am wondering what this meeting will be like. i am not usually very shy and don't really 'fear' it, but i have been thinking what it is going to be like in this attempt to make connections in this environment which is not my original cultural setting, since i am not a Brit.

well, i should survive it :-)

yes, i am loaded with expectations. at the first meeting we grown ups tend to be gentle and please the others. let's see how this one meeting goes. it is going to be in a nice and nothing cheap restaurant on Oxford Street, near the Ocean Village. the lady who is in charge of organizing the gathering emailed me and confirmed table is reserved for eight people. i am curious about the other seven. and excited as well.

a good walk in the park should warm me up for this today.

Friday 2 April 2010

ferias de pascoa

2 apr 2010

(post originado de um email enviado aos primos do coracao)


alo caras palidas :-)

acabei de entrar em casa vindo de Londres. fui levar a Kassandra no Heathrow Airport. ela ta de volta pro brasil hoje, de uma viagem aqui pra me visitar nas ferias da pascoa. aqui hoje, alias desde que chegamos de viagem, nos dia 30 de marco (4 dias atras), ta um frio que eh uma coisa. frio grande e chuva. primavera com cara de inverno. as flores querendo sorrir mas o tempo frio teima em vencer. esta eh a Inglaterra.

aproveitando, fomos a Praga, Viena, e Budapeste. as viagens foram inesqueciveis. temos um sem fim de coisas pra contar, algumas registradas em mais de 2.000 fotos. outras registradas apenas no coracao, as lembrancas incriveis das aventuras e tal e coisa. ah, fomos a um show 'woody allen and his new orleans jazz band'. hehehehhe isso mesmo. tirei taaaaanta foto. foi super bacana. viena eh SHOW!!!!! quero nascer la na proxima encarnacao. tudo cheira a cultura, alegria, e boa educacao do povo. cidade linda, sistema otimo de transporte publico. AHH, fomos tambem la no Freud Museum, senao ja viu o trauma, ne?

infelizmente nao vou poder ir ao batizado do Paulo, mas ai estarei em pensamento e em carinho pra uma bencao bem feliz.

beijos em todos,
a prima