A Japanese dinner will fix it all

I'm still recovering, my back still hurts, and this is making me very slow and full of confusion... I hate to not be able to take a walk. Only now I realize how much I love to walk around the city!
So, to cheer me up and to celebrate the good result of my last exam, I had a Japanese dinner with my boyfriend. At home, of course, because I can't go out for now... but it was fun. I hope I'll taste the real Japanese food soon. For now, I can only taste what they sell here. Do you think it's the same? I guess it is, in a way... but, I still think that, to taste a country's food, you should go there. (but I love Japanese food anyway!)

This is Daifuku, made of... glue. XD No, not really, but it looks like that... It was the first time for me, and I found it a bit weird... I hope that the "real" mochi is better!

Well, the only cultural aspect that could give me "cultural shock" is food, I always say that. Ehy, I live in Italy! Food is the only thing we really know about! XD

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Still here

My back still hurts, so I'm very slow... in everything. But I'm writing letters, reading books, and recovering. :)

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Pratiche della formazione

PROGRESS: 32/50

To all my pals - please read

I won't be on Internet in the next days... I don't know for how long. I'm writing this post to ask you to be patient for a while, because yesterday I've got a problem with my back and I'm not sure how long I'll have to stay in bed!! I could have spinal disc herniation. I still don't know, for now I'm trying to rest and to heal.
Now I'm on the pc because of the medications that allow me to move... but most of the time I just can't. My back is totally screwed and it hurts so much!!!
So, please don't be mad at me. I'll reply as soon as I can - and to lay in bed all day is boring, so thank you all because I have your letters to write! ^^

If you are still writing a reply to me, please remember to send it to my "old" address, not the mailbox one! (I mean, send it to the Siracusa address). My mailbox will expire on the end of July! So, please remember that, I don't want to lose anything! :)

Anyway, don't worry too much for me. My boyfriend is taking good care of me, I'm not alone and I'll make it through this too! :D I'll get up very soon, I'm sure!

The Gabrielle of my Xena

A post just to say "hey, I'm still alive!".
Until July 14th, the day of my exam... I'm not here. :)

...but I'm here now, so I could show you some movies I'm watching. About Xena. Yes, my obsession for Xena and Gabrielle never dies... it can't. I love them too much.
And actually, I'm not lesbian. I say that, because usually people think only the "gay" community loves gay characters. I don't even think they're gay and, to tell the truth, I don't really care. I admire their connection, I'm not obsessed with their sexual life...

A day in Palermo

So, yesterday I finally made it to Palermo!
It's a very interesting city to visit, but the most interesting thing to see there is, for sure, the Capuchin catacombs. If you plan to visit Sicily, you can't skip that place!

It's nice too, to walk around the center of the city. It has a lot of monumental buildings, it's very full of turists and souvenirs shops, very chaotic... but nice.

... and of course, like every city in Sicily, there is a lot of veeeeeeeery good food!!

(That was the best Setteveli in the world!!)

I won't post pictures of mummies because not everyone would be happy to see them, but if you want to know more about the mummies of Palermo you should google "Palermo cappuccini mummie" or something similar. And, if you can understand Italian, you can take a look at the official website.

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And... something I recenly sent!





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Progress: 24/50

You can't reread a phone call

Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company.
Lord Byron

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
W.H. Auden

What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't reread a phone call.
Liz Carpenter

I consider it a good rule for letter-writing to leave unmentioned what the recipient already knows, and instead tell him something new.
Sigmund Freud

Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Politeness is as much concerned in answering letters within a reasonable time, as it is in returning a bow, immediately.
Lord Chesterfield

In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives.
Anatole Broyard

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If you love LONG letters and you'd like to become a long-letters-writer, you could start by reading Joana's advices. The first part, and the second.
You can join the discussion in comments, or even here.

What's interesting, is the sort of "war" that seems to exist between long and short letters writers. I don't really like that. We don't have to fight. We all just have different ideas, tastes, requests. Penpalling is great because there isn't just a way to see it, but many. The thing is, the amount of people who can write a long letter is becoming smaller and smaller. Why?
Maybe our life pushes us to write less? We use cellphones, Facebook (well, I don't), Twitter, and everything around us is fast, we have to be fast too and use language in this rush. Not anymore to express our feelings, to open our minds... but just to update our status, to say where we are right now, to a world that doesn't really care.
Why, all around the world, young people seem to forget how to write in their mothertongue? Do we really need to be always so quick? What is the purpose of language, of writing, of penpalling?
Oh, no, I'm not against modernity... I love it. But I think that being smart means... to be able to keep the good from the past, and to use the better from the present. Don't you think?

Why, nowadays, everytime I say I keep a journal, they look at me like I was an alien? Is that so crazy? To indulge a bit, day by day, wondering about what I've done, what I lived... Yes, for sure we don't have a lot of free time now, and we have Internet, TV, and stuff. But I love Internet and still... I keep a journal.

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If you'd like to link my blog with a banner, you can use these:

(Do you need more sizes? Let me know!)

Still breathing

Do you like Lush? If you do, you should consider Lush UK. It's the cheapest online shop they have, and my first order went very smooth (with the Italian online shop, I always had weird problems!). Of course I've bought too much, but I loved Lemony Flutter and I'm very happy to have it! I love to feel all idratate and flavoured!

And, because UK is the best, there is another website you want to know: Bookdepository!
Without shipping cost, you can buy a lot of books (in English, of course) for very very cheap prices! I wonder if in UK it's normal to have such prices for books... If yes, I should live there. And, the site sells too some stationery. Labels, postcards, notebooks... you just have to search a bit. The "search system" is very messy I think, but not so bad.

I bought Anne Taintor's postcards! They're amazing!

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Progress: 22/50

I still haven't found my BOOK OF THE YEAR, I have to say. Maybe I should read more by Cioran.

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I loved to spend some time signing the places where I've been, on the Trip Advisor's map.
Well, the problem is... To look at this map makes me sad! I've seen so little of the world! I really need to travel more!
For now, I'm planning to visit Palermo and Roma. What next? Who knows...
(You can click on the map to enlarge it, and navigate it as you like!)

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