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Sunday 19 June 2011

on the road: highcliffe beach

19 june 2011


mike and i went for a great and relaxing walk by highcliffe beach , part of the Christchurch borough, today. the day was windy and a bit chilly, but worth all the while. i needed the fresh air to clear my lungs and to relax. in addition to the beauty of the place there is the beauty of the country roads, which i like so much. on our way back we stopped by the walhampton arms for a sunday roast. that was another fair treat.

music: stacey kent in basingstoke

about yesterday, 18 june 2011

yesterday we went to stacey kent's wonderful jazz concert at the anvil in basingstoke. we also listened to her great music both ways on the road. what a day and what a night! the day was bright and beautiful when we drove there. the night was ours when we drove back to southampton. it was my third time seeing her show here and the first time with mike, who said he was happy to go to a concert of my choice, to listen to my music.

this show was a transition between her french cd / tour and the new one which should be released soon. she left the concert straight to the studio with her band. she told me she will come round next year with the new cd. i need to mark that one in my diary.

a few days before i sent her a message saying we would go to the show and said where we'd be seated. she spotted me and greeted me from the stage. i was thrilled. she has been to brazil a couple of times for concerts since i last saw her. mike was much impressed to see her treating by my first name. he said 'you two are friends on a first name basis'. during the break she autographed her cds that i have and love. and we had our photo taken.

'. . . quer guardar o mundo em mim' (Caetano Veloso)
she loves our music. stacey said beautiful things about brazil and its people and its music. she sang joao gilberto, jobim, and caetano. she introduced the song 'coracao vagabundo' by saying she fell in love with the lyrics of the song and explained to the audience how it represents the brazilian people who have so much hope and warmth and joy in their hearts. she translated the first lines into english but then sang it in portuguese:

'meu coracao nao se cansa
de ter esperanca
de um dia ser tudo o que quer
. . . ' caetano veloso

i loved the concert, once again. music inebriates my soul.

Friday 17 June 2011

le plat du jour: thai food

17 june 2011
delicious dinner at Sara's. the thai restaurant in portswood. i ate again the panang chicken and mike had lamb. for dessert we shared a plate with some fruits and two scoops of ice cream. they don't specialize in desserts. the programme was great and we went to trago pub afterwards for a while. then, we walked home.

film: senna

about yesterday 16 june 2011


ontem fomos assistir o otimo documentario ‘senna’ no harbour lights. a producao franco-americana de 2010 mostra a vida e a carreira do melhor piloto de formula um de seu tempo, com cenas ineditas de videos da familia e muito mais. o filme mostra tambem os bastidores da formula um e suas reunioes, varias vezes tensas e que dao uma ideia da pressao que ele recebia nesse mundo que, como senna diz, eh cheio de politica e de dinheiro, diferente do comeco da sua carreira, ainda como o corredor de kart Ayrton Senna, que ele menciona numa entrevista anos aa frente de muito que passou.

varias cenas me fizeram lembrar do nosso senna e de como nos, brasileiros, estavamos inconsolaveis com uma morte tao prematura, absurda e anaceitavel, como se a morte pudesse ser inaceitavel. foi mais uma dessas despedidas dolorosas em que a gente fica querendo ser magico e bem poderoso para traze-lo de volta, mas a vida nao nos da esse poder.

eu fiquei pensando em como, quando ele ta ganhando um mundial de formula um, vencendo, tendo ultrapassado varios pilotos, ele ja se sabe vencedor e diz que foi Deus que lhe deu a vitoria. um homem que alcanca o sucesso mais almejado e grandioso, um titulo mundial, e diz que foi Deus, revela uma humildade que so as almas boas tem, a de nao se sentir Deus. achei muito bacana ele dizer que ainda tinha muito o que aprender como homem, que aos 30 e poucos anos de idade talvez estivesse na metade de sua vida, que a carreira de piloto poderia nao durar mais muito tempo, mas que ele precisava ainda aprender muito mais coisas da vida. nas entrevistas ele revelava o que sentia, nao se ocupava de passar imagem de grande. muito, muito linda a cena quando ele vence em interlagos e desmaia, tem dores insuportaveis nos ombros e mal consegue se mexer. a equipe o ajuda a sair do carro e quando, nos bastidores, ele ve o pai, pede que o pai chegue perto dele e lhe de um abraco suave. esse momento foi magico.

as vitorias, os milhoes e o sucesso nao tiraram o sorriso leve da pessoa integra e profissional que senna era. foi bom ve-lo tambem sabendo se proteger e se colocar, como mostra uma das discussoes das reunioes, e algumas entrevistas. antes e por tras de cada vitoria ha um mundo pra se vencer que a midia nao consegue mostrar; ofoco eh sempre em um aspecto apenas. muito bacana ver a tragetoria da carreira dele e as passagens pela toleman, onde estreou em 1984, depois a lotus, a mclaren e finalmente a williams, com muitas vitorias, de premios em paises diferentes e de mundiais. mas eu senti falta de saber mais sobre a vida diaria de treinos dele e do trabalho com o nuno cobra, seu preparador fisico.

o documentatio traz cenas do brasil muito miseravel daquela epoca, epoca de verdades ainda escondidas na nossa historia. eu fiquei chocada com o contraste e tomei um susto, de verdade. quando a gente nao ve a miseria com frequencia, se esquece que ela existe. nos, brasileiros, nao duvidamos que ela exista, mas o conforto da vida nos distancia dessa realidade perversa e contrastante que existe no brasil. o filme tem a participacao efetiva da irma dele, viviane senna, narrando fatos e acrescentando informacoes. ela aparece em imagens numa cena breve de familia e no final, no velorio. quando vi o caixao meu coracao doeu, parece sempre o susto do indesejado evento. chorei, chorei muito assistindo o filme, que tinha o pouco publico de quase sempre no harbour lights. e agradeco muito ao mike pela mao calorosa segurando a minha o tempo todo.

e a chuva, sua companheira maravilhosa? ah, a chuva!

Monday 13 June 2011

feliz dia dos namorados

about yesterday, 12 june 2011
l'artiste et sa muse
12 june is valentine's day in brazil. it was justly celebrated here, too. how? by

- waking up in the morning to find a sweet valentine's day card at breakfast surprisingly written in portuguese 'feliz dia dos namorados';

- enjoying a rainy and windy day;

- going shopping for food [in the rain];

- appreciating andy warhol's exhibition at the city art gallery. the set of pieces at the city gallery are worth a visit. the other set, which is at hansard gallery at the university of southampton we didn't like very much;

- eating pear, garlic and mushroom cheese with stone baked bread for lunch;

- watching on cosy sofa the american film 'brother, where art thou?';

- eating 'winter in summer chicken' with new potatoes and drinking wine for dinner while listening to good brazilian music;

- . . .

le plat du jour: camarao cremoso

13 june 2011


nota: essa minha receita saiu no site pimenta no reino no final de maio. foi uma alegria enorme pra mim ter minha receita no site da Faby Zanelati
Camarão cremoso gratinado

Quando eu cozinho minha filosofia é não usar mais do que duas panelas. Na maioria das vezes é apenas uma mesmo. Gosto de, quando vou comer, já ter o máximo de coisas limpas. Eu moro em hall de residência da universidade, faço minhas refeições no meu quarto, e minhas instalações culinárias se limitam a uma prateleira na geladeira, uma prateleira no freezer e duas portas nos armários da cozinha. Ali armazeno minha comida (tem alguma coisa no meu quarto também) e panelas e canecas de cafe / chá e talheres e pratos e temperos. Então, para viver feliz estipulo alguns limites que sejam gerenciáveis para minha pessoa, e assim sempre que cozinho faco o suficiente para duas ou três refeições. Adorei fazer – e comer – esse camarão.

Ingredientes
2 col sopa de azeite de oliva extra virgem trufado com mangericão
300 gramas de camarões
um pouco de pimenta calabresa (quanto você goste)
1 cebola cortada em rodelas
4 dentes de alho
4 tomates para salada (pequenos) cortados ao meio
um pouco de vinho branco
1 col sobremesa de mostarda em grãos
250 ml de cream elmlea do tipo simples (primo do creme de leite)
1 col de sopa (so pra dar um sabor) de cream cheese (requeijão)
queijo parmesão pra gratinar no final

Modo de fazer
Não medi criteriosamente nada. Essas medidas são aproximadas, mesmo, só pra dar uma idéia. antes de começar a cozinhar deixei todos os ingredientes cortadinhos e no ponto para serem adicionados à panela. Refoguei o alho e a cebola no azeite. Fogo médio. Acrescentei os tomates. Não mexi muito. Fui deixando pegar um sabor. Adicionei e refoquei os camarões, que soltaram um pouco d’água. Fogo baixo pra secar um pouco da água e assim ir ficando mais cremoso. Acrescentei a pimenta calabresa, a mostarda em grãos e o vinho branco. Quando tava quase pronto, com os camarões cozidos, acrescentei o cream almlea e o requeijão e deixei cozinhar mais um pouquinho. Arrumei esse preparado num pirex, joguei uma chuvinha feliz de queijo parmesão ralado na hora por cima e levei ao forno pra gratinar.

Comi o camarão com esse arroz tailandês cozido só com água, sem sal ou óleo. Também não acrescentei sal ao camarão, deixei que ele ficasse só com o que já recebe dos outros ingredientes do prato. Enquanto o pirex com os camarões estava no forno eu fui limpando os sinais do meu servico na cozinha, que compartilho com mais seis estudantes: três da china, um dos estados unidos, uma do canadá, e um da india.

Sunday 12 June 2011

beer festival

about yesterday, 11 june 2011

pub crawls [going from a pub to another pub for another drink] are highly popular here. last night jc, johnny, mike and i started off at 'the southwestern', mike's local pub. we stayed there for a while and decided to go check out the beer festival at 'the junction inn'. there were many people at the festival, of course, and a karaoke was going on. we stayed there for a while and were headed back to the southwestern later on.

the many locally brewed beers, the so many different drinks i have come to know here are fascinating. i plan to write a whole post about them. for now i show these beer barrels from the festival yesterday. at the end they are all gone. this is only a small sample of the many barrels they set up for the festival. people take it seriously and do drink them up.

Friday 10 June 2011

o latifundio

10 june 2011

as already mentioned here, i live in the uni halls, sharing a flat with other six international students. my space in the fridge is limited to a single shelf. my space in the freezer is limited to a single shelf. as i was complaining about it a few days ago to amanda, the girl from canada, she told me that alex, the american guy, has left for good. by the way, he didn't even say goodbye to anyone other than amanda, maybe. this means i can therefore have an extra shelf in both the fridge and the freezer. it is the beginning of some luxury and more joy around here.

groupon hair

10 june 2011


this past tuesday i went to the hairdresser to have wash, cut, blow dry and conditioning plus shiatsu massage. i bought the package for a competitive price from groupon. this is the hair of the day, when the result seemed fine, but now i am thinking i will need another haircut soon as i am not too pleased. i am crazy about having both sizes of my hair the same length. the woman checked it at my request and said it was ok but she didn't convince me. lesson learned about groupon: it may a fantastic deal, provided you have at least an idea of what kind of service you are to get; otherwise you may end up like myself this: not so happy.

Thursday 9 June 2011

upside down

9 june 2011

at the very moment:

- i am biting my nails. getting to the fingers soon.
15 june 2011 update: i polished my nails today. that means i won't bite them for a while.

- i have been working on a chapter for my upgrade viva. i know what and how to do it, but i don't go straight to the point and get the job done. i think and think and think and slowly do a bit of something. will i change someday? will i go somewhere this way?
15 june 2011 update: am done with a new version to the chapter, and have sent it out to ros. as always, wish i had done more, but am quite happy with what i accomplished so far.

- i will meet again with my supervisor next week. i wish sooo bad i could get to her with loads beautifully done, but something in the very inside of me holds me back from being the productive soul i idealize for myself.
17 june 2011 update: i will meet with her today. all ready and happy to meet up, but am a little worried about the allergic cold which i have now (again). whenever the weather blows any different wind or we get some rain i get ill. it is becoming routine, and i am not happy about it.

- yes, i am eating too much.

- my tv is not working. it has been over a month now. it seems the brand new and expensive aerial i bought not long ago is no longer good enough to get the digital signal. or is it that the tv is really old? i do miss watching tv, the news, the films, and the documentaries.
16 june 2011 update: mike fixed it, although he says it might not work fine for very long, since it apparently is about the digital signal. i even bought a new aerial from john lewis. now i have to give it back to the shop and be reimbursed on my money.

- my new mobile does not work properly. i can't ring brazil from it. i couldn't even text my sister from it yesterday. i have no internet connection on it either. i have no patience or time to go ring these people and spend forever with them on the phone to try and sort out these things. this time it seems i have no choice. i might try their shop in city, though.
23 june 2011 update: it is all sorted out. i now know what happened to my bill and everything is working properly. phew! it was nice to have karlota with me.

- my laptop is all the time shutting down unexpectedly. is it a virus? i have no antivirus now. but i only want to buy one when i know for certain it is going to work.

- my blogger / gmail (?) account is upside down, inside out, completely out of order, out of control. it feels like i have zero competence to manage any sort of technology programme or device.
13 june 2011 update: problem sorted out thanks to Karen.

if you know where the light is, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Monday 6 June 2011

le plat du jour: arroz com ovo

6 june 2011


hoje fiz esse prato que ficou bem saboroso. fritei 2 ovos na manteiga de ervas com alho. ai ali mesmo, aproveitando o calor, botei uma sobra de arroz chines que tinha feito apenas com agua, sem sal nenhum. adicionei um trisco minimo de sal pra quebrar a ausencia do mesmo (esse trecho aqui ta parecendo carta). mexi mexi e apaguei o fogo. adicionei uma chuvinha fina de hortela. gostinho surpreendente.

Sunday 5 June 2011

on the road: winchester

5 june 2011

- we love winchester, don't we?

that was my answer to mike's invite for a walk in winchester. it was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the day had been gray and cold and rainy, perfect to stay indoors. but mike insisted we needed some fresh air and a walk. there we went. we walked through the city, then down by the river, and into the water meadows. oh, my! it was healing. once in a while a few drops of a shy rain but it didn't bother us at all.

after the walk we had dinner at 'fishers pond', a posh pub in colden common, hampshire. it is on way from winchester to southampton. there were many people (families) there eating dinner. by they way, i've heard many times the english use the word 'tea' to say 'dinner', and i find it a cute trace of their english identity. the food at the fishers pond is good, but not different from anything i can have right here at my lovely cowherds (also a posh pub), but the view from the lake is worth the trip. i wanted to eat something succulent; so i ordered chicken and ham pie, and mike had meat. we once again had a wonderful time in winchester.

below you see photos from our walk and the last one is the view from the pub. got this information about the lake:
"Fisher's Pond itself is an artificial lake held back by an earth dam at one end and adjacent to Marwell Zoo. The pond was constructed to allow the then Bishop of Winchester to have fish supplied to his table, especially in winter. The pub is a former cafe." from mike catell's flickr.

just as we left the river and going towards the water meadows

the water meadows

the water meadows
 
view from inside the fishers pond pub


Saturday 4 June 2011

conference in london

4 june 2011

today i went to london with rahmah, a course peer, to attend the '4th bloomsbury student conference in applied linguistics' at the birkbeck university of london.

we left southampton quite early, in the 7.30am train. we got the tube to the conference, got off at goodge station and walked to birkbeck college, where we arrived there on time for everything: coffee, keynote speaker, and all the other presentations, including mine, which was a poster presentation titled 'esl teaching in brazil's municipal schools: contextualized writing?'.

we attend four presentations plus the poster session, which took place at the same room and time of the lunch they served us. very handy. the conference was interesting and i liked very much two of the presentations we attend. people seemed interested in my research and came to ask me questions about it. it felt nice. after i attend many talks i get easily distracted and unfocused. it is terrible, but i can't help it.

we left the conference before it ended because we had plans to go wildly shopping on oxford street. it was a hot day, i mean, fine for me, but very hot for rahmah. i was carrying all the time my immense a1 poster folded in the tube with me, and that is not something you would dream of doing often.

we walked for a while browsing around, window shopping. . . and my conclusion is that i, kalina, will not go again shopping on oxford street. what is the point? the very same - the very same - standard shops they have we do have here: m&s, gap, bhs, next, just to name same. ah, the perfume shop as well. for me it doesn't make any sense to go shopping when in that crowded and busy street when i can do the same here, far more comfortably.

after walking up to bond street we decided we'd had enough and were ready to head back home. we got the tube at bond street station and had a perfect timing to get the 3.35pm train back to southampton. it was a smooth and tranquil journey, just the way there in the morning had been. there only a few people in the train and i could be quiet for a while, appreciating the landscape.

before we got back in the train i was feeling exhausted. i wanted to stop and be quiet, not say a single word. these days it has happened to me that i get very tired of speaking english for many days in a row, many hours in a day, and that it has been enough.

we got to the station here in about 1.15hr. i took the usual u1a bus home and am now resting a little bit. i will later on meet with mike and johnny at the giddy bridge, a very noisy pub on london road. he is now at a music festival to which he invited me, but no, thanks. i can barely stand up. i need a rest from the world for at least two hours. then, i will be ready to go out again, renovated. i'll walk to the giddy bridge to meet up with them.

Friday 3 June 2011

mfl conference

3 june 2011

today we had the research student workshop: "research perspectives on modern foreign languages in uk schools", organized by my supervisor, ros mitchell, and two of her supervisees who do research in uk schools. the one-day conference, that happened at building 34 - education, in highfield, had the participation of twelve uk universities. the keynote speaker was professor suzanne graham, from the university of reading, who spoke about learner strategies.

the other presentations, all about ongoing research about the teaching of a foreign modern language in uk schools were interesting. for me it is a good experience to hear about the research carried out here in this multicultural environment. the multicultural aspect of life here, obviously observed in schools is itself not surprisingly object of many studies throughout the country. another point that has caught my attention is the wealth of foreign languages the students have the opportunity to study, and that scarcity of resources and other serious problem like the ones my teachers face in public schools in brazil are not even mentioned. are they really not part of the scenario? it is like an ideal world. the most popular languages object of research today were french and german. anyway, after listening to four presentations in a row my brain nearly collapsed.

other than that i should say i'm happy for the productive week i've had so far: 1. am finished with eng3b report and everything related to it; 2. have been to important meetings on tuesday and wednesday; 3. had my nice experience with recording in a studio; 4. had a great day yesterday: got all my prescriptions sorted out, collected poster for the birkbeck conference tomorrow, did laundry, cooked dinner for me and mike, had the dinner, and went to the movies with him. does it really read something like i did? i am impressed. i need to register these things, although they may seem very ordinary stuff for many people, i'm pleased i managed to do that much. maybe i am not that slow, afterall.

six plus four

2 - 3 june 2011

. . . and listening to radio 6 and eating creamy prawns with chinese rice, cooked by her, at his place, with strawberries and cream for dessert and drinking orange juice and diet pepsi and going to harbour lights afterwards to watch the very american 'win win', directed by thomas mccarthy and starred by paul giamatti, amy ryan, and bobby cannavale, they celebrated 10 (six plus four or six plus one plus one plus one plus one or five plus five) months together. . .

Wednesday 1 June 2011

as estradas

1 june 2011

hoje eu tive uma experiencia nova e muito feliz. ano passado, mais ou menos em setembro eu fiz um teste de voz (avaliacao para emprego mais legal, relaxada, facil e divertida da minha vida) num estudio aqui em southampton.  o servico eh gravar material em portugues. passei no teste e fiquei no banco de dados deles para futuras oportunidades.  

finalmente semana passada recebi uma mensagem da coordenadora do estudio me chamando para um trabalho hoje, 3 horas de gravacao por um dinheiro X J.

com todas as direcoes de como chegar la em maos, eu fiz o plano de ir caminhando pelo google maps, o que dava uns 32 minutos. fiquei pensando se ia mesmo caminhando, se tomava um taxi, ou se enfrentava o onibus estranho.

decidi ir de onibus. fui ate a cidade e tomei o onibus 10a da empresa first. eu pedi aa motorista que me ajudasse a descer no ‘bingo’ em shirley. Ela falou que ia sim me avisar e eu paguei £1.60 pela viagem. e ali sentei feliz.

no meio do caminho entrou um senhor com muita dificuldade de locomocao e com um aparelho pra andar daqueles que parece um andaja de crianca. o povo ajudando, o homem se ajeitando no local destinado a pessoas com dificuldade, mas sem ainda sentar. a motorista falou pra ele que so podia sair quando ele estivesse sentado. incrivel como nos onibus aqui os motoristas acompanham o que acontece no onibus e tem que acomodar bem passageiros em dificuldade. o senhor la sentou e seguimos na nossa viagem, e eu na estrada feliz da minha vida.

dai a pouco a motorista solta bem alto no onibus ‘next stop is the bingo’. O onibus todo riu e eu me levantei pra descer, acusando ser eu quem ia para o bingo. desci no bingo e, seguindo as direcoes, cheguei ao estudio.

a gravacao durou tres horas e meia. me surpreendi como achei dificil aas vezes falar algumas palavras longas e mais dificeis em portugues, principalmente quando estao na mesma frase e precisam ser ditas claramente. depois escutamos tudo com cuidado. varias partes foram refeitas. foi muito bom e eu achei que o trabalho final ficou melhor do que eu esperava.

e tomei o onibus de volta, leve e feliz pela empreitada que trouxe graca ao meio dia. passei nos correios e postei um cartao de aniversario para minha tia Maria, que mora em curitiba e vai fazer 80 anos agora em junho.

eu ia cantarolando o tempo todo, na minha cabeca, essa musica . . .
“Solto a voz nas estradas, já não quero parar . . .” do Milton Nascimento e Fernando Brandt.