Summer with my best friend

It has been over two months since when Stuart has left to join his ship in India and tonight finally he'll be coming home.

It's quite hard to explain how we endure this kind of lifestyle... I guess we are used to it by now...

I study, volunteer, read, watch movies, teach Sunday school, learn to play the piano, write a book and see friends all here in Edinburgh... He works in India 6 months a year!
On top of that sometimes he goes off to do some temp work... I suppose it's my fault since when I'm under exam I reckon I must not be the most chilled person walking on this planet :-S

I see my husband a total of 4 to 6 months a year which for some people would be impossible to bear... but we make it... and possibly it's the reason why we're so strong together as we try to make the most of the time we have.

This summer is going to be special, we have the whole two months together to enjoy. For the first time since we met 4 years ago there will be absolutely NOTHING to do but enjoy each other's company...
No exams, no clinical placements, no problems, no work... Just me and my best friend!

I can't think of anything better, and I smile at all the daft things we'll end up doing.
We seem to always end up laughing about anything... or to tell the truth I get all uptight about stuff and he just tells me "yes dear" and pulls a funny face which inevitably ends up in a massive laugh.

Our life is perfect the way it is, though people most time don't understand it.

We have time apart and time together, we give each other space but at the same time we experience life together, we're on equal levels and follow each other's lead when necessary.

So I have a big grin on my face today, Stuart is coming home and we have an amazing summer to share before life goes back to normal... or at least to what it's normal for us!

The jet-set life....

2.07am and blogging...
It has been a crazy past few days and I had no time whatsoever to think about what to post so here I am, late at night (or is it early in the morning?) pondering my experience in Monaco.

I had a great time, and though it was expected, it's always nice to realise that work can actually be good fun.

We had a day to prepare and 4 days of really hard work on the track.

What people don't realise it's that the Formula 1 GP is not the only race that goes on in Monaco over the week, there are a lot of other races which require car tuning, trials and competition.

So we do spend pretty much 4 days solid on the race track, in the heat, breathing humid air, eating packed lunches and wearing a uniform that, though looking quite smart, isn't of the finest Egyptian cotton (if you know what I mean...)

This said, one cannot really complain... The food is excellent and abundant, the place is amazing and the company is the finest, with many opportunities for cultural exchanges, for making new friendships and for strengthening some old ones too.

Monaco Red Cross' hospitality is of the highest standard!

I am happy I managed to be part of the team again this year because, by the look of it, I won't be able to join in next year due to exam schedule.

Here are a few pictures that sum up pretty well our 5 incredible days...
Volunteering can be exciting, you know?!?

Welcome to a week of madness... though it's a good one most of the time!

Relaxing before the insanity begins

I found an old friend

The British Team

Guarding the VIP stands

Friendship Drinks - Italy and Belgium united

The Tunnel Team

After all had finished... The people gone... Waiting to be stood off...
I may have crashed... a little...

The little things we tend to miss

A world-class, extremely famous musician, playing on a priceless violin stops at a corner of a street in Washington. From a small case, he removes his instrument and places the case open at his feet. He throws in a few dollars as seed money and begins to play.

The musician is Joshua Bell but nobody recognised him

He is simply described as "a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap"

One wonders... People who rushed past, perhaps flipping spare change, what would they have done if they had realized that they were getting a free front seat at a performance that they would never get another chance at again?

What do we simply throw out as useless, meaningless, even stupid... just because we don't have a reason or the time to really look at it's value?

Someone argued that it was the musician's fault if his value wasn't recognised... apparently he didn't engage with the crowd. He needs a stage and the street needs to be made into a stage by the musician, it doesn't become a stage on its own.

So, does that mean that if you are great but nobody notices than you really are not that great?
And does it mean that if we don't recognise the value of what surrounds us it's not our fault but the thing/person's fault because it wasn't able to reach us, to keep us interested, to make us want to know more?


The world is so full of big, really meaningful things that it's the "little" things we really do tend to miss.

And yet this brings me to consider what defines something as "little".
Is it the being common? Or unknown? Or quiet? Or written in a different way? Or whispered? Or new?

And if it's little to me would it seem little to you as well?

Truth be told some people did put money in the violin case, some people, even without recognising the person recognised the value of the music, some people noticed...

And though this may make you think that in this fast paced world slowing down a bit may make you appreciate what is on your path, at the same time let's not forget that while we're enjoying the music, somewhere else, at another corner of the street there is another musician who is packing up and whose amazing music we'll never hear just because we were a tiny bit too slow...

It's logical...

Tonight I went for a movie marathon with my friend Dan.

We watched Angels & Demons to end the evening and before that we went to see the new Star Trek since he hadn't seen it yet.

I usually only go to see a movie more than once if I think it's really great and, since I thoroughly enjoyed it the first time, I didn't mind sitting through it again with my friend.

Like when a book is read a second time new details are taken in, the same was for me tonight.

Once passed the explosive special effects, the loud sounds, the fast paced action and the surprises, you start to see the complexity of the characters.
I have never been a real fan of the series (I think those who are call themselves 'Trekkies'). Possibly I have seen just a handful of episodes of the old TV series when I was a kid so I don't remember anything past some of the names and Mr Spock's pointy ears.

And tonight I was indeed intrigued by Mr Spock...

Yes you read it right! Not the pretty face, blue eyes and macho attitude of young Captain Kirk but the internal conflict, repressed emotions and insane logic of the pointy eared Vulcan...
While the internal struggle between the emotions coming from his human heritage and the deep rooted logic coming form his Vulcan half serves the purpose of the character on screen, I found fascinating how these traits are very much the same exact ones that can be fond in a real person.
As Spock struggles every moment to master the acceptance of these dualities in himself so do we, pulled by the two sides of the same coin.
The passion versus moderation, the mind versus the heart, the known versus the unknown...
Are we driven by our emotions or by our intellect?
And how do we reconcile those two things?

Some people more than others are prompt to follow their feelings while some others do rely on logic... This doesn't mean that the counterpart is absent, just dormant or voluntarily repressed.

After almost every consideration he makes, Spock ends the track of thoughts with the statement "It's logical"; almost as if, by saying it, he wanted to convince himself rather than those around him.

My brother and I are textbook examples of the two extremes, I feel more than I think and he thinks more than he feels... or so it seems. If a battle is going on inside you would never know, but this doesn't mean that it's not occurring.
Two voices in the same head, two points of view of the same scene... Why do we choose one rather than the other may depend on so many variables the outcome is hardly forseeable...
It's not what you see, it's what you are unlikely to see of a person that's alluring!

So tonight, while really enjoying the glamour of Hollywood's version of space on a big screen and agreeing on how it is only "logical" I'd make these kind of considerations, I asked myself:

"Would I suit pointy ears?"

Can I say yes???

A present for the whole family

This year has almost come to an end and though it has been really stressful and challenging, I have grown a lot through it and I feel I am more ready now to go ahead in my medical training than I have ever felt.

Since I passed all of my exams, dad got me a present... and a lovely one I must say!

You know how we Italians are known for being coffee addicts?

Well, here I am! And I know my husband is too...
So daddy got me a coffee machine.

Awesome!

It does all sorts of stuff, from proper espressos for when I'll need to stay awake while studying, to soothing hot chocolates for the cold Scottish winter nights, from fancy cappuccinos and lattes to entertain friends to steaming cups of tea to cure all problems...
I couldn't have wished for a better present!

I went to pick it up today, got home, unpacked it, run the cleaning cycle 5 times (no, it's not me being just me, it is in the instructions to run it 5 times!!!) and made myself a latte...



I can't even tell you how great it tasted, like properly made at Starbucks and maybe even better!

I turned around to pick up the box from the floor and rip it to get it in the recycle bin when I see that my two furry angels are enjoying the present in turn as well.

I laugh... and quite loudly

I get the coffees, they get the box!

A present perfect for the whole family than!

The stuff dreams are made of...

Well, possibly not my dreams... but they must be someone's dream for sure!
I did get quite excited about them though, my precious little creations!

So, here is how the story goes...

A few weeks ago I got sick at college, doctor said I was extremely stressed (may believe him...). Fact is that I was so poorly that I had to leave classes and go home. I must have looked pretty horrible since some of my lecturers even worried about me driving the one hour trip to get home.
Obviously since I'm writing this today, I made it!

Anyway, since I had to leave early I missed a chemistry lab practical with my group and I was told to join the second group which performed the aspirin synthesis experiment yesterday... and so I did.

I have to admit that out of all the practicals we have done, yesterdays' one was my favourite.

There is something really nice about working in a small group - just 3 of us - and having the lecturer right close by, supervising us but also able to have a good laugh while working.

So we did synthesise aspirin and, to my surprise, it was so simple that the next time I get a headache I may even try it at home myself rather than go buying it somewhere!

Or maybe not... See, some of the stuff we used had a powerful stink to it so, possibly, I'll leave the making to someone else.

Well, in the making I have witnessed some very cool things happening right in front of my eyes:

- the first thing was seeing crystals forming in the tube I was using.
"Yeah, big deal...." you may think, but you should have been there to see it! Since nothing was happening, Andrew, our chemistry lecturer, put a tiny crystal of aspirin (apparently it's called 'seed crystal') in the tube I was using and in seconds it started growing hugely just because finally the particles found a surface to attach to... I couldn't take my eyes off it!

These are actually not my crystals but it's to give you an idea of what happened...
all in the space of a few seconds...

- the second thing is that the first group of people doing the experiment had a bit more time than us so they left their crystals to dry in an oven while we did something different and flash dried them over a Bunsen burner. Somehow I got spike looking crystals... Andrew tried to explain me how they came about (something to see with direct deposit from gas to solid phase but it got lost somewhere in translation... sorry Andrew! :-p) but the fact is that they just looked amazing to me! So, as a proper geek (you people know me!!!), I had to take pictures of them and post them here. Aren't they just beautiful?!

So here we go, who would have said that I would have enjoyed a chemical experiment... I am discovering a lot about myself and I am quite impressed...
Or more simply put, I think I am becoming a sad person (in the affectionate way!) just like my lecturer...

Oh well, could be worse!

This post is also dedicated to my wonderful dad whose attempt to teach me 'acetylsalicylic acid' as one of my first words didn't go unnoticed! Obviously dad I have you to blame for a lot of what I am today!!! :-)

Of being 'tired like a carpet'...

Yes, we do say that in Italy...
Yes, it is a quite common colloquial expression...
Yes, it means exactly what it says!

A few days ago I was exchanging comments on my Facebook profile as all sad, ahem, I meant normal people do and I happened to assert in Italian to a friend how I do indeed deserve my holiday in Mexico because, after such a long and difficult year, I feel "tired like a carpet".

Another friend was puzzled by the comment and figured that the translation from Italian couldn't possibly be right. But it was...

And so I found myself explaining how carpets are notoriously known for laying flat on the floor... hence the expression 'tired like a carpet' when you are so tired that all you want to do is to behave likewise!!!

Yes, we Italians have some funny expressions...
Yes, I love it...
Yes, this is definitely one of my favourites!



So I would indeed say that this picture is iconic in capturing the essence of being "Tired Like a Carpet!"

Comfortable chemistry

I have been stuck with my nose in my chemistry notes the whole day, safe for a 3 hours lunch break including our oh-so-well-known Italian tradition of afternoon napping.

All in all it has been a productive day, I didn't even have to pester my lecturer as I usually do when I find bits of sentences that I should understand and I don't.
I think I'm getting better at it...

It has been a bit of a struggle throughout the year but an enjoyable one. One that taught me to try and push my limits, a good lesson for anything in life.

So, fairly content, I have decided it is time to wrap up acquiring knowledge for today and go and relax with a normal book on the couch

That is before I end up asleep on the chemistry notes... Now that I am feeling a lot more comfortable with it it's something that may happen... and, as a matter of fact, I do know someone who is intent doing just that.

He must find chemistry very comfortable too!

My new car

I WANT IT!!!
And it's rare for me to put my foot down on something so firmly... though I'm sure my husband would disagree...

But I want it!

I have had my Hyundai Tucson for 3 and half years now, not like it's not a good car, it's actually perfect for my lifestyle... But I think it deserves a sister.
Something less bulky, with a bit more class than an SUV could have, something with a more aerodynamic shape... And definitely with a great diet!

Wait a second... "Diet?"
You may wonder where and how a great diet and a car mix...

And it's now that I unveil the newest, greatest discovery!
The car that runs on chocolate!



You can read all about it here

Some considerations certainly need to be made... The article explains how this beauty has been optimised to run on bio-diesel which can be derived from waste products left over from making chocolate; so the question that's prompted is "how much chocolate does one have to make to have enough waste to run the car?"
And surely one must ask as well "Where will I find chocolate waste derived bio-diesel on the motorway?"

'cause I can certainly refrain to eat the whole chocolate bar and leave a square or two for the tank but what if I forget?

Does it mean that I should buy Cadbury's shares? Keep a ministrels' packet always in my boot for emergencies?

And what type of chocolate makes the best waste? The plain one (one would think since it's 70% cocoa!) or the milk one since it has proteins?
And what about the mutations? Mint? Orange? Ooohhh Caramel!

I believe it's a great idea, the world can definitely do with more sustainable motor vehicles on the road... I can even put up with the carrot steering wheel but for goodness sake, if you buy one of these things and you're a girl, make sure to be on a diet if you ever intend to get somewhere!!!