Tattoos are a girl's best friend!

Hi everyone,

Since I moved to Dublin, two years ago, I wondered if getting a tattoo.
Leaving Italy, my family, my friends was a very hard decision, I would say also brave when you are only 18 years old and no clue of where you are going, but probably lots of people would define it naive.
Anyway since that was a huge step for me, I wanted something on my skin that reminded me how important all this experience is to me, because memories sooner or later undeniably fade away and I know that when I will be old I will probably minimize all this experience and how much it means to me.
My brain always works like that: I have got such a bad memory and events can easily change my prospective on something happened to me.
I know that for someone this could sound silly, but if what I am going through here, in Dublin, means so much that I feel like I have to get a tattoo to express part of what is going to me (because it is too much to keep it inside myself) then I think it is not that silly for me to get one.
It would have been my first tattoo so I wanted to get something significant, something that was really meaningful to me.
I made some drawings and a particularly liked one of them, I thought it could express everything it matters to me in such a simple design.
I didn't leave anything to chance, also the date of the tattoo should have been planned and it should have had some meaning.. So what date more appropriate than my 20th birthday?!
My friends, Ivana and Carlotta, and I were supposed to go on my actual birthday but then Ivana told me that it wouldn't have been the smartest idea since if I was planning to have a GREAT night out, I wouldn't have been able to take car of the tattoo.
Then she started to list all the infections that a tattoo could get if I am not careful with it. I started to get , not scared, but kind of anxious... getting a tattoo was not just getting a pretty design on my body and that's it, no other contraindications, there was more than that: pain and a possible infection.
Anyway I thought about getting it for one year and now that it was getting real, I couldn't give up for just a little bit of pain to stand, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life because I was too curious to try how it could feel to get a tattoo.
I mean we only have one life, we should be able and brave enough to experience everything we are curious about, don't you think?!

The day after my birthday I gather my courage and I went to a tattoo shop called Spilled Ink in Dublin North near O'Connel street, with Ivana and Carlotta.
You need to know something about these two characters: Ivana has got six tattoos, she is really though and at times fearless especially when it comes to tattoos, Carlotta is the kind of person when she sees a little bit of blood could actually fall into a deep coma :) .
While we were at the tattoo shop , I was so calm (I actually shocked myself how calm I was!) maybe I was just naive, maybe I realized in that moment how much I really want it to get it done and this waiting to be over.
On one side Ivana was trying to scare me, telling me about the pain I would have gone through ( just to tease me), on the other there was Carlotta who was looking at me like they would have cut my arm into pieces.
What can I say... I was really lucky to have my friends there to support me...especially Carlotta who tried to be calm for me but she couldn't help her being on the edge of a nerve breakdown haha.
We could finally get into the room where one of the tattoo artist made me seat down on a puffy chair. I still was not nervous at all. I started to think that something was wrong with me because I should have felt anxious, nervous maybe scared!?
I was telling my inner self : " Chiara feel something, feel something!!" Nothing.
I was in perfect peace with myself. Oh well there was Carlotta next to me basically freaking out so I guess she was feeling enough tension for both of us. She was so funny, I couldn't even look at her face because I didn't know what to tell her more than the usual  "everything is going to be all right!" after a while I just chose not to look at her face anymore :) .
The guy covered of tattoos switched on the tattoo machine ( I have really no clue how they call the electric needle ) and I don't know if you ever heard it, but it has got the same sound of some surgical instrument. At that sound I don't want to imagine Carlotta's face, but I can swear to you it was probably quite horrified.

I was preparing myself mentally to the enormous pain Ivana told me I would have gone through.
I  was thinking about that episode in Friends when Phoebe wants to get a tattoo, do you remember?! She goes to the tattoo shop, but when the tattoo artist puts the needle inside her arm she starts screaming and leaves the shop; later at the café when her friends want to see her tattoo she shows the tiny point she got and claims that it's the earth from a very very far prospective. I seriously thought that was what was going to happen to me too!
While all of this was going on into my mind, the guy was making my tattoo, and it wasn't painful at all!! It was more a tickle than a real pain, I seriously struggled more 45 minutes in the spinning class at the gym than getting that tattoo :) .
In 20 minutes he was done, and we left with the promise next time he would have tattooed Berlusconi's face on my bum for FREE haha.
Although my mother didn't approve, It has been almost a week that I got it and I am so happy with it, I don't expect her to understand even if I think she would have a laugh about it when she sees it and she will never notice it again or talk about it again.

Oh well this was my experience about tattoos what about yours? too scared to get one?! :)

Here some images of my tattoo:

Do you like it?! Ooops sorry my mistake! it is NOT this one! I think if my mom sees this she would probably have a heart attack haha 

Ok in seriousness now here it's what I got:

 Before

 In the meantime

Later

There are girls who wants diamonds, there are some others who are happy with a tattoo! 

As Marilyn Monroe would say : "Tattoos are a girl's best friend!" or something similar...  ;)

Chiara#UlyssesDaughter

Surprise!

Hello everyone!

The end of my week of celebration for my 20th has finally come and unfortunately it's time to get back to college work :(
But this week has been sensational and this only thanks to the friends I made in Dublin and my wonderful flatmates.

On the morning of the 20th November , I woke up at 8.00 am and the apartment looked so empty, even my german roommate who usually never wakes up before 10 had already gone, and I felt like everybody forgot about me.
It was my b-day and nobody waited for me to wake up..that was a little disappointing. I was finishing to get myself ready and I suddenly noticed that Carlotta and I would have been probably really late for our lecture and I didn't understand why she didn't come to drag away me from my bedroom to the class yet; so I decided to run into her room.
I opened her door and suddenly "HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" my flatmates screamed surrounded by balloons and banners.
I think I have never been that shocked in my entire life, it was seriously something of unexpected, I totally thought that they forgot about my birthday and then they were holding a little cake full of candles smiling at me, hugging me, I cannot describe how I felt in that moment, I was totally overwhelmed especially when they gave me a box.
When I opened my gift, it was full of beautiful and funny presents. I thought I was done with presents when they told me " there's another little thing down there".
At the bottom of the box there was an envelope, I opened it thinking that it was just their b-day card, but inside of that there was a concert ticket to go watching - Two Door Cinema Club- when I start to recognize from the almost transparent pinky film which was wrapping it, what that could be, I started with an escalation of - oh my god, Oh my God, OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!" haha I think they never saw me that excited, because I am usually a very calm person; I mean very italian in my reactions but very calm for an italian, so I usually never explode in big demonstration of excitement, but that was too much.
I couldn't believe they planned everything in details since weeks and they paid so much attention that I didn't suspect everything.
Now I know why every time I was bringing up a conversation about Two Door Cinema Club everybody was just changing the subject, it wasn't because they didn't care but because they cared too much!

 After the surprise I went all the day at uni wearing my paper crown that in the evening got replaced vy a prettier pink plastic one which glows in the dark, very useful when we got back home after the club that night and we weren't able to switch on the light :)
The day was absolutely fantastic! We had dinner in my favorite place ever in Dublin to eat which is in the basement of Fallon and Byrne (a famous grocery shop selling international food near George Street) and it is a wine restaurant ( they match every delicious dish with a particular wine) the food experience was similar to the one in Tuscany or in France, in Burgundy.

Later we went drinking in Pygmalion, one of my fav pubs in Dublin and after we went partying in Lost Society , a club next to Power's Court which I love, my friends and I partied like crazy till there were no more people on the dance-floor and basically in the club.
There was something magic about that night maybe it was because I was in Dublin, one of the most charming city in the world; maybe it was because I was with amazing people, maybe because I was wearing a glowing crown, maybe because I had few drinks, maybe all of these elements together made my b-day very special and honestly unforgettable.
But more unforgettable are the people that made that day so fantastic; it is incredible how people that you have known for so little can get so attached and become like a family to you, showing you so much kindness and affection, being always there for you any time, listening carefully to you also when you don't talk.

Here some shots from my b-day:

Some presents from my crazy and amazing friends who definitely showed how much they know me :)

Chiara

TWENTY !?!?!?!

I am still an absolute child!
It is 2 a.m. of the 20th of November, my mutation into a 20years old pseudo-woman just started 2 hours ago, and I cannot sleep, maybe I am too scared that if I close my eyes when I will open them again tomorrow morning my face will be covered by wrinkles, or my hair got completely white!

After the assault of my flatmates at midnight in my bedroom when ,as usual, I was finishing my assignment due the next day, I tried to go back to bed and sleep but I have been assaulted , mentally, this time, by the usual excitement that hit me each time on my b-day.
I seriously feel like a child the night before Christmas-day. I have never been a fan of Christmas especially when I found out pretty soon, because I am always too curios, that Santa Claus doesn't exist ( I am sorry if with this comment I hurt those ones who still believe in Father Xmas,  maybe at the beginning of this post I should write: "Sensitive content for Santa Claus' believers").

Anyway since I lost the faith in Christmas, I think that birthdays became my most favorite reason to celebrate in the whole year, because there is nothing more beautiful than showing to the people we love how much we care and how much we love them.
It is true though, that we could do that throughout all the year with small surprises, letters etc. but I think that it is just wonderful the fact that once a year we can celebrate the miracle of our lives!
For once a year we are authorized to tell that person on his special day how much we love him and makes him feel like he is the most important person in the whole world, it doesn't matter to make a big gesture, just few words, a letter or a small present will do.
Our life is not always plain and without any obstacles, we fight for our happiness everyday, appreciating the small precious things in life we have. Sometimes there could be rough times, sometimes we could feel like we cannot make it, we could feel alone or unloved, so I think we truly deserve that ONE day a year when we feel unconditionally love and overwhelmed by people's kindness,smile and affection.
We deserve to celebrate our life: messed-up, crazy or full of unexpected events ,at times good at times bad, we need to celebrate the fact that, despite all the obstacles, we are alive! we choose to live! And for living I don't mean the function to breathe and to eat, but I mean the capacity to stand on our own feet after we fall down several times, the capacity to make decisions, the possibility to be wrong and to act naively or stupidly sometimes, because only falling down and maybe hurting ourselves we get more aware that we Live!
I don't know if any of these words make even sense, it is 2.30 in the morning and it is very likely that I am just making nonsense ,basically writing down my stream of consciousness, but I am too excited to sleep: I can't wait tomorrow morning to come , even if I have to go to college and submit a stupid assignment :P
Anyway I was talking about why Birthdays mean so much to me... well what else can I say!? When I was little I remember my granny and my mom preparing my birthday cake, I , unfortunately ( ;D) , had always a passion for cakes so for me eating my b-day colorful cake was kind of the best moment of the day; I remember running and playing Hide and Seek with my friends for the whole day, laughing so hard...I don't remember him coming to my b-day parties with a present, but maybe just because I was too little to remember in details.
Growing up, I remember the dinners sitting down on a long table with so many loud friends shouting and still laughing so hard, with the smell of pizza all over the place.
A phone call, sometimes he forgot, but I mean I haven't got a good memory either and he is always so busy with work.
My 18th birthday: unforgettable, I think it was the best party in town, one of the happiest day of my life:one of these flashes when you actually are enjoying the moment so much that you cannot think about anything else.
That time I stressed him out so so much for the last months that he eventually got me a present, a very beautiful one. It was what I wanted, I thought, but I was too happy this time he actually showed that he thought about me that I didn't care about anything else.
Although my birthday's gifts have their importance, at the end of the day the memory of that special day, the people who share it with me and who are still next to me throughout these years
despite the distance; this is more precious than all the presents I received in 20 birthdays.
Now I realize that what I always really wanted from him wasn't a good present , but it was an unforgettable memory; a memory of me and him joking, enjoying the moment, laughing uncontrollably, a memory that I have got with all the people I love the most, except with him. Or even the memory of him telling me something that would have made me feel the best thing he could have ever done in his life: because it is how you are supposed to feel on your birthday isn't it?! You are supposed to hear that he is so proud for the person you are becoming and that he wouldn't want me any different, because, to him, at least, to him in the whole world, I should look perfect, or at least close enough to perfection.
But maybe these things only happen in these american family Tv series which I have been wrongly grown up watching :)
Anyways today , and only today, is that time of the year which I can act a bit selfishly and spoilt, and I must clear up my mind off all the bad thoughts going around lately in my head, throwing them outside the window in this very cold Dublin night letting the strong wind blowing them away from my head, and bringing them in a very far place.
I just felt the uncontrollably desire to write down and at the same time exorcise the mess I have in my mind.
I miss my families spread all around the world, terribly. I wish they could be all here to celebrate my birthday with me.
BUT I have got nothing to complain with a wonderful Dublin family like the one happened to me this year, not to forget I am living in one of the most beautiful city in the world!
I couldn't choose a better location for my 20th birthday :)
Ok this stream of consciousness must end now if I want to be ready tomorrow for the whole day and night of celebration instead of looking like a zombie :)
I leave you with the picture that shows the love of my crazy flatmates who assault me at midnight, and I will update you about what happened on my b-day when I will finally reacquire the use of the word and of typing after what, I know, awaits me tomorrow night!!

They gave me a magic wand!!! :) 

The Usual ChipMunk face O.o

US!

(from the left:Carlotta,me,Nana,Eva)

Chiara #Ulysses Daughter

German Style

I love Germans, I got so many friends from Germany, but there are things about them that are just so so so different from the way italian people are; asking, for example, at what exact Time we are going to meet in the afternoon, what are our plans for tomorrow, at what time we are going to have dinner...and my answer is always I DON'T KNOOOOOOW!
I seriously do not know even if in 5 minutes I will have lunch or maybe I'll decide to go for a run, I mean it could also happen that I will have the necessity to go to the toilet really badly and what if I said that we were going to meet in a place at a specific hour and then I need to ..you know what I mean :) I pretty much do what I want whenever I feel like and I feel oppressed if I have to organize something that maybe in few hours I wouldn't even like to do anymore and then I cannot cancel plans because I would feel bad.

Life is too short to spend time planning! What if, while I am planning at what time to go to the beach in the afternoon, I just fall off from my chair (because I like swinging on it like a kid) and die!?!? (Italian dramatic point of view).
Shouldn't I just grab my towel and go to the beach whenever I feel like, without planning it?!
Ok, I know that the possibility of me falling off from my chair is 1 on 347242190389238273827836480846 and maybe I could be exaggerating, but still, shouldn't I just act instead of thinking to act !?

As you can understand from what I've just said, Germans are totally opposite from the way I am : messy, passionate, chaotic as a hurricane and pretty much always undecided.

Knowing that I would have laughed my head off because my lovely German rommie knows how I think about "her" people, she showed this video to me:

Chiara#UlyssesDaughter

Erasmus Post

Nuovo Post in Italiano nella pagina -Diario di bordo- (a sinistra) sul probabile taglio al progetto Erasmus in Italia.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

New Post in Italian on the italian page (on the left) as SOON as I can, I will translate it!
It is my sarcastic opinion as regard the Erasmus project next to be canceled in Italy, which means that a lot of deserving students will not be allowed to make an experience abroad because of the lack of funds intended to the education department; meanwhile our deputies in the Parliament earn the highest salary in all Europe.

Stay Tuned!!


Chiara#Ulysses' daughter

All we ever do is say goodbye

Losing something or someone you have cared about and loved so much is always extremely hard. Especially when you spend time with a beautiful and lovely being, when you take care of it since the first time you saw it, and you feel like this time you made a friend that would never ever leave you.

That's what happened to me and my flatmates when we met Geraldine; she was gorgeous, tiny, a little bit chubby but not too much, healthy and strong: she looked like none and nobody could have ever taken away her charismatic halo shining around herself.
When my flatmates and I met Geraldine, we decided with any doubt that she could come to live with us and become part of our Dublin family.
We didn't have that much space in our apartment (there is not even an oven in the stupid accommodation on campus, although this is another story) but that tiny pretty being made such a good impression on us that we didn't want to leave her on the cold streets of Dublin, even if, maybe, it would have been much better for the poor Geraldine.
Time passed by, college work got harder and harder and we were all so busy minding our own business that we neglected the poor Geraldine.

She has never been one of this very talkative friends that cannot wait to spill on you every single problem that happens to them, she has always been the quite one in the apartment. That's why when she got sick, none of us realized how bad it was till her body started to show off the advanced symptoms of a mortal hilliness which she was more likely to get, sooner or later, because of her nature.

When my Belgium flatmate Nana found Geraldine sad and alone hiding in a corner of our apartment, she clearly understood what was going on: our beloved Geraldine was at the end...I mean...It's hard even to type this word on the keyboard..but she was dying.

Nana brought all of us to the attention of the tragedy that was about to happen, no matter the time spent on Google trying to find out if there was any cure for Geraldine, every website we opened was a further confirmation that were only three letters we could use in this case : F-A-T ?! Of course not!Geraldine was a bit chubby, as I said, but she wasn't fat (even if that's how people categorized her) but Obesity wasn't the reason why she got sick; R-U-M?!Again wrooooong! Geraldine was dying , for sure drinking would have maybe alleviated her sufferance and ours, but it was not the answer to our problem. H-U-G?!?! Cold! Our friend had a terrible mortal hilliness, even if hugging her and giving to her some comfort was the best we could do, any attempt to save her life with a hug would have been useless.
Unfortunately the three letters used by every website was the E-N-D.

Our lovely Geraldine, best fat-plant (in specific she was an Echeveria) an apartment would have ever wished for, quite spectator of everything was going on in our living room, loyal friend,modest and positive, tragically passed away yesterday November, 10th, 2012.

Yesterday morning, after realizing that there was nothing else we could do to save Geraldine's life, we all gathered in our living room/kitchen with her.
It was a very sad moment: I started to play (and sing) "All we ever do is say goodbye" by John Mayer from Youtube, while the girls were attending one minute of silence in front of the stove. They kept cooking their lunch , I kept singing, I think their eyes dropped some tears but probably it was because of the onions they were cutting.
We still have to decide a location to bury our Geraldine so please if you have any ideas where to find a "plant-graveyard" let me know. It would be extremely appreciated.

Goodbye Geraldine.

May your leaves rest in peace.