5 days to go!

I cannot believe that in one week I'll be in Poland! The worst will be adapting and adjusting to the drop of temperature. Now, in Sicily it's 8°C (46F), in Poland... -15°C (5F)! I can't even think about that!

In the meantime on the website of national important broad-sheet, Repubblica, Italians show this video (shot in Poland) and laugh at snowplow men who decided to play tricks on the pedestrians by creating mazes for them... LOL! : )

Changing the subject a little. This year together with my Italian friends, we decided to play Secret santa (according to Wikipedia: "Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group are randomly assigned other members to whom they anonymously give a gift"). I have a hard nut to crack. Plus,the budget limit is €20-25! I decided to look for some inspiration on various websites. Unfortunately the ideas I was mostly concentrated on concerning.. the gifts for me : )

Oh, last but not least, Santa came to me yesterday evening I got this:

 

 

Yaaayy!!! : ) I'm so elated! : ) cannot wait to start taking pics with it! First, though I'll dedicate the following weekend to "learn it". What about you? Have you already received little something something? : )

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Why, oh why I'm not Paris Hilton?

I hate Paris Hilton. I do. She's so shallow. Yeah, you might say: "How do you know?! You should get to know a person well in order to judge them!" Yeah, you're absolutely right, but in this case, a simple glance is enough to have an opinion on her. This blank, silly look, this emotionless voice... I wonder why the journalists want to interview her, after all, she's got nothing to say. Never. Or she has but it's all but interesting, wise and intelligent. Yes, Paris, you're stupid. To my mind, at least. BUT she can have anything she desires. Prada dress? Here you go. Versace shoes? No problem at all. Yves Saint Laurent bag? Right away! I want that too... At least for one day... I have just found one of these bags in one of the Internet shops and it looks so amazing... The price is scary... €760,00 Oh Gosh!

Just take a look. Isn't it extrordinary??!!





Ok, so I make an official appeal and request: is there anyone out there who doesn't know what to do with their money? Is there someone who has 760 euros to spend? I'm Jo and I would be very happy to receive this "small" present from you. You can get this bag on the FarFetch website. I promise to thank you publicly on my blog : )

And here's sth only for my Mum. Today is her nameday, and in Poland a nameday is a big thing, therefore forgive me, but this one will be in Polish.

Mamusiu, wszystkiego naj naj najlepszego z okazji imieninek! Niestety nie moge wreczyc Ci takiego bukieciku, jak tu na zdjeciu, dzis osobiscie, ale obiecuje nadrobic to, gdy przyjade na krotkie wakacje w maju : ) Buziaczki!!!

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Christmas postcards from Sicily.

As I promised yesterday, I'm going to drone on my Christmas in Sicily. It's a completely different approach they have, there's never snow so the atmosphere is just not the same as in Poland at this time of year. But it's ok. I mean: " When in Rome do as Romans do", therefore it's just a matter of acceptance and tolerance towards their way of spending this time. Of course there's shopping frenzy before and Santa Claus (Babo Natale) comes every year, and people put on creche rather than Chritmas tree (since there are very few forests here, the only Christmas tree people can buy and decorate are the fake ones, unfortunately) and artificial snow on the display windows. It's just different when the temeprature rises to 20°C and the sun is shining all the time. I got used to it.

1. December 24, 2009

In the morning I was busy baking a cake for the dinner so there are no pictures. Nevertheless, I would like to show you how they (Italians) usually decorate their Christmas table. It's beautiful as far as the colours are concerned but it's very modest and they almost always use the plastic plates to eat (whereas in Poland we use our best crockery for this evening). The evening starts quite late, at about 9.00pm and lasts until midnight or even later: the dinner is followed by a Bingo game. Of course you play with money!


I found it sweet to put the card with names so that no one is confused about where to sit. On the other hand it's disarming they still spell my name this way:


And this is Giulia. One of the most adorable children I have ever had a chance to meet. I played with her the whole evening!


As I mentioned in my previous posts, this year we didn't buy each other presents but donated some amount of money to a lady whose children are paralyzed and need an operation to walk again. However some of us broke the rules... Here's one of the presents from my dearest friends. It's just perfect! : )




2. December 25, 2009

On that day we went to my bf's parents for lunch/dinner.




And in the afternoon we went for a walk to collect some fresh oranges! Who doesn't normally do it on a Christmas Day?!



There were hives too!



3. December 26, 2009

That day was not as sunny but in the morning we decided to go for a walk to one of my favourite places: an old, abandoned lighthouse. The place is wild and not very frequented by people, surrounded by a vast area of stunning plants and bushes. My paradise.

I mentioned playing games before. Well, yes, also that day finished with a gathering at my bf's sister who organized "A game evening". It's very common in Italy to spend evenings between Christmas and New Year's Eve playing cards and various board games. Of course since the Wii invention, the evenings have changed grately.



Ok, that's all about my Christmas. What about yours? I cannot wait to read!

PS. We're still waiting for Luna to have the puppies.. : )

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I'm ok : )

Dear Friends,

Thank you SO much for your support, I really appreciate your care and conern. Thanks to you and your thoughtful comments, I feel much better. Really!

This weekend I decorated my flat a little bit. Unfortunately there's no good spot for the Christmas tree, so I'll have to content myself with the little crib and other odds and ends. Here's the result of my work!

The front door:

And this is how the street where I live in looks like in this period:



Talking of Christmas decorations, I have found this on the Internet and I find them absolutely adorable! I wish I were more crafty! : )
















Oh, one more thing. The day I felt so bad, to make things worse, my Swatch watch got broken : ( Ok, I admit, it wasn't new (it was more than 3 years now) but anyway... So what I did? I went on Ebay and made myself a present! : ) I hope it arrives before Christmas! : )

And then, yesterday, my dearest bf took me to see Luna (the future Mum, remember?) It was great, these dogs are the most beautiful, kind and funny creatures in the world! And only 1 week and the puppies will be born! : )

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This season, this time...

First of all, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the warm words you had for me before my work as an interpreter during the conference. You're all the best! It was great! We have received some official feedback and it was extremely positive! : ) I'd be elated if I could have working experiences like that on a daily basis : )

So as you can see, I have officialy started the Christmas season. Despite the fact that this year I'm going to spend it in sunny Sicily (which you can associate with anything but winter and Christmas), and not in white, cold (I hope) Poland, I cannot resist the Christmas spell, charm. and beauty.. Deva, I'm soo envious of your spending Christmas in PL!

So I'm here, changing the blog template for more festive, preparing the Christmas decorations I'm going to use to embellish my appartment this weekend while listening to Christmas songs/carols. Yet, this Christmas is also different from the others because we're all going to avoid the present-shopping frenzy... Actually, we have decided to help a family we know who is in big financial trouble and need money to cure the 2 paralysed children... it's better this way. Of course I need to buy at least one present for my bf. He deserves it, he never wants anything from me and at least at this time of the year he cannot refuse and decline it (yeah, I know YOU are reading it now)!

Apart from that, I'm really fine. We have some rain instead of snow but I'm still dedicating my time to apply to different public schools as an English tutor (I suppose everything will finish at the end of December and then in January they will conduct interviews followed by the official announcements of the "verdict"). We'll see.

On the other note, I have just discovered the newest CD of Alicia Keys- "The Element of Freedom"... Wow! Bewitching! You all want to have it, I'm sure! : ) Just listen to the first 2-3 songs and tell me you don't like it.. Come on, I'm challenging you!

Have a wonderful evening everyone! Tonight I'm going out to my bf's cousin's Birthday Party. Hope it'll be fun : )

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Wonderful dinner by Raffi and the Magic Mo...

So yesterday it was a bad day. I lost stamps that I bought for school for the total value of... 130 euros... Yeah, I know... Now, need to re-buy them ("using" my OWN money!) next week.

Apart from that "little" incident, I'm having a wonderful time. First, on Thursday, my bf prepared me THIS dinner... Round of applause, please!

Yeah, I consider myself so lucky! : )

Second of all, I a few days ago, I looked received this :



The Magic MO sent to me by my wondeful Al from Australia : ) Thank you So much for this : )) According to Al, wearing my Mo will transform me completely because:

• I will be 50% sexier
• I will never get a cold again because Mo will keep me warm : )
• It's just plain cool to have a Mo!

I couldn't agree more with that therefore I suggest you all buy and wear Mo everywhere: school, work, in the park when walking your dog, when doing shopping in the supermarket : )

No, I'm a different Jo, you should admit it!

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