Happy New Year!!!

Some resolutions for the new year 2007:
- enjoy the last year in Belgium as much as I can;
- do some useful research;
- fly less, drive less, cycle more;
- spend less money in useless things - so that I can finally buy a house :-).

I hope 2007 brings everyone lots of happiness!!!!
Happy New Year!!!!!

Not being alone

So....now I am not alone. I am happy because family, boyfriend, friends are all within a radius of 5 km. this, compared to the previous 2000 km distance, is very good; it is great actually.

but "le probléme c'est que" I'm not used to having people around me all the time, I'm not used to traffic jams in Lisbon anymore, I'm not used to having so many things to do each day. so, my brain is getting a bit "lost in translation" here.....The result of this probléme might be something very annoying that is happening very often around here: forgetting people names. Yesterday it happened three times.....fortunately people didn't notice.

So, to save the day I went to see a movie: "The Holiday". Even if the movie would have been terrible, it would still be worth seeing, as Jude Law is......Jude Law!

but....I found the movie great! It's one of those movies I could see over and over again and still laugh, cry...feel.

but, unlike what one might think, the guy who made me cry on this movie was Eli Wallach (Arthur Abbott) and the girls who made me laugh on this movie were Olivia and Sophie (Graham's daughters).

Aiaiaiaiai...

...o que eu fui descobrir: TV portuguesa de Portugal em directo e a cores online! :-) Obrigada à Sra.Dra.Prof. PG por me fazer saber disto!
Só espero que o meu Mac não se arme em esquisito....

Maybe one day I'll understand why those who are most needed leave and those who want to leave stay.....

Stress

Esperemos que não acabe a passar o dia de Natal a trabalhar. Perdi a conta de todas as coisas que tenho para fazer....o stress está lentamente a começar a tomar conta de mim.

Hungry for a change?

Fight global warming

It could be me in Leuven today (except with more clothes on - it's freezing). Rain, rain and more rain....boring weather....

Más notícias que chegam. Um amigo que pregou um susto a todos (não sei porquê, mas quando se está só, estas coisas sentem-se a dobrar). Felizmente, parece que foi só um susto. Um susto grande, mas só um susto. Depois, vêm as conversas dos outros: as queixas dos problemas no trabalho. Mas na minha cabeça ainda o susto do amigo. E nos meus ouvidos as queixas do trabalho continuam. Eu prestes a rebentar. Não aguento. Rebento: à segunda, rebento. Digo coisas sem nexo...ou talvez com algum nexo. Mas que deviam ser ditas de uma forma mais simpática.
Hoje um amigo pregou-me um susto. Espero que, por isso, os outros me desculpem as coisas que disse.

When your mind is a mess...

Today I realized that maybe my way of thinking is now closer to the belgian than to the portuguese way of thinking. maybe....
why? because here people have no big secrets and there are no fears of being discriminated. if someone is gay, he/she doesn't have to hide it. if someone is accidentally pregnant, she doesn't have to worry about how the society will look at her after assuming it. here, whatever you are, people will accept it - at least in this part of the country.
today I realized that someone I know is in a similar situation in Portugal and wants to keep it a secret. maybe needlessly, maybe not. the thing is it seems ridiculous to me. was Portugal already like this 2 years ago? or was it me who changed? I don't remember.

P.S. - although I think portuguese people are still too conservative, things have fortunately changed very quickly in the last few years.
P.S.2 - I am only lefty in my writing. I have no political preferences for the left-wing.

Hilariante :-)

Pelo Sonho é que vamos - Sebastiao da Gama

Pelo sonho é que vamos
comovidos e mudos.
Chegamos? Não chegamos?
Haja ou não haja frutos,
pelo sonho é que vamos.

Basta a fé no que temos,
Basta a esperança naquilo
que talvez não teremos.
Basta que a alma demos,
com a mesma alegria,
ao que desconhecemos
e do que é do dia-a-dia.
Chegamos? Não chegamos?
- Partimos. Vamos. Somos.

Um poema fantástico!

The new book of Jose Luis Peixoto

"Cemiterio de Pianos" (Graveyard of Pianos) is the new book of Jose Luis Peixoto. I can't wait to read it! here is an excerpt of it:

"Não há nenhuma diferença entre aquilo que aconteceu mesmo e aquilo que fui distorcendo com a imaginação, repetidamente, repetidamente, ao longo dos anos. Não há nenhuma diferença entre as imagens baças que lembro e as palavras cruas, cruéis, que acredito que lembro, mas que são apenas reflexos construídos pela culpa. O tempo, conforme um muro, uma torre, qualquer construção, faz com que deixe de haver diferenças entre a verdade e a mentira...."

"There is no difference between what really happened and what I’ve distorted with my imagination, over and over again, over the years. There is no difference between the dim images that I remember and the harsh, cruel words that I think I remember, but that are only reflexes constructed by guilt. Time, like a wall, a tower, any construction, takes away the differences between the truth and lies..."