Found myself a wonderful summer job and here’s my view from the office:
What’s the view like from your office window?
The view from my Sardinian office window
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Tag Archives: expat
Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreshadow
A Caribbean storm over Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman. This is one of my favourite photos I took while living in Grand Cayman this past winter. I had a fabulous time watching this storm move in and even got a little wet.
Why not join in the fun? Head over to the Weekly Photo Challenge to find out more.
Travel Theme: Sweet Sardinia
This week’s travel theme is sweet from Where’s my backpack, and there’s nothing sweeter than traditional Sardinian dolce.
This is my response to the travel theme. Why not join in on the fun? Click the link at the top of this post to find out how you can take part.
Have you been to Sardinia? What’s your favourite sweet?
Top 12 expat comebacks to say to someone if they ask: Are you pregnant?
I’m part of an élite group. It’s a place where I hang-out and shout my beefs and joys about living in Italy. It’s also a place where I’ve virtually met, and been inspired by expats who have, or are living in Italy.
This wonderful group has helped me see the ways of a country which has been in turmoil since Fred Flintstone helped build Bedrock. The name of this fabulous group is:
Italian Reflections – The social group for expats’ reflections of life here in Italy…
Today I posted a question, or rather a statement about what has happened to me since I moved here in 2008:
Within the span of two days the following verbal garbage spilled from the mouths of locals:
- You’re skinny, you can squeeze between the two cars.
- When I look at you by your profile you look pregnant. Are you pregnant?
This happens often, too frequent for my liking so I took to my super élite group of expats in Italy to see if this is happening elsewhere. And guess what? It is!
Shocking I know, and sad at the same time.
We brainstormed until the rain came (well, on the mainland anyway, here in Sardinia it seems to only thunder, without the rain) and this is what we’ve come up with:
Top 12 expat comebacks to say to someone if they ask: Are you pregnant?
- No, I had a wrestling match with a spoon and a 1kg jar of Nutella and the Nutella won.
- No, we went for pizza last night. I ate mine, then I ate my husbands.
- No, I haven’t pooed in four days. Where’s the pharmacy?
- No, I cannot imagine anything worse than being pregnant … where can I buy a bottle of Prosecco?
- Maybe, but I don’t know who the father is …
- Maybe, but please don’t tell my husband, he’d be terribly upset.
- Maybe, but I can’t stop smoking these lovely Italian cigarettes.
- OH! I hope not! We are using three different types of birth control …
- Yes, it’s twins.
- Yes, but it’s not mine.
- Ah yes, it’s terrible isn’t it, my stomach bloats after I eat because I have irritable bowel syndrome.
- Yes, is it legal to have an abortion in Italy?
I’d like to thank the wonderful expats from Italian Reflections who put a smile on my face … daily.
Are you an expat? Do the locals ever say anything of the like to you?
Sardinia – A stunning paradise of litter
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi
Nothing annoys me more than seeing a beautiful beach, street or park littered with the laziness of people who continue to make our world a not so beautiful place to live. My favourite time to hit the beach in Sardinia is May and September – why you ask? Well, because there are hardly any tourists and the beaches are clean. What you say? Clean? Yes, clean and litter free.
Who do you think is going to walk down that long sandy path to clean this disgusting mess up? The commune? The men and women who work long, hard hours collecting garbage from house to house, from shop to shop and from hotel to hotel? You really think they are paid adequately to walk down that steep incline to retrieve the garbage you left? NO! No, they aren’t and no they won’t.
Now, I can’t put all this litter blame on the tourists, can I? That would be totally ignorant on my part. This is a local problem as much as it’s an international problem. I’ve given harsh words to my local friends about leaving their cigarette butts in the sand, and I’ve been tempted one too many times to give the same harsh words to the tourists I see leaving litter on the beach (but lucky for you, my husband held me back).
If you brought it with you – take it away with you, this includes your cigarette butts! There are adequate garbage bins at ALL public beaches in Sardinia.
Don’t be an uneducated fool who leaves litter on this island, or anywhere in this beautiful place we call planet earth.
Considered yourself warned. I’ll be watching you.
Related articles:
Sardegna, paradiso dei rifiuti
Maleducati al Poetto: Giro di vite su rifiuti, cicche e parcheggi sulla spiaggia
Rifiuti e disagi, spiagge da salvare
Sinis, rifiuti sulla spiaggia di S.Giovanni Turisti delusi si improvvisano netturbini
Weekly Photo Challenge: Fresh
Gallery
This gallery contains 4 photos.
“She’s fresh, exciting. She’s so exciting to me. She’s fresh, exciting. She’s so inviting to me, yeah.” – Kool & The Gang Fresh bird-prints on an early morning beach run. Some of my favourite fresh vegetables from the farmers market. … Continue reading
Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour #2
I dusted off an old flash drive and was surprised to find burning golden hour photos. I was shocked at how beautiful some of them are and even more shocked to find out that I snapped these shots in 2010. So, without further ado, here is my second installment into the weekly photo challenge.
Asinara Bay, Sardinia, Italy
I snapped the following photo through our dirty living-room window. It has not been altered in any way. Looks like the end of the world to me.
A golden hour sunset in HDR.
To see more fabulous shots from around the world which depict the golden hour then please click here.
Travel Theme: Simplicity Sardinia
When paradise turns deadly – Sardinia’s Somber Secret
Surprise washed over him as he found himself lying on the hard tiled floor of a pharmacy in a small fishing village on the coast of northwest Sardinia, Italy. “What am I doing here?” he thought as people curiously gathered around him. Continue reading
Travel theme: Motion
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazin’ sky
I’ll be where the eagle’s flying higher and higher
Gonna be your man in motion, all I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where my future’s lyin’ – John Parr – St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)
This is my response to the weekly travel theme: motion.
My Sardinian Life 