Archives for: October 2007
PAOLA FORNARI C.V.
Writer, EFL teacher, trainer, and translator, I was born in Tanzania, have lived in a dozen countries over three continents, and describe myself as an ‘expatriate sin patria’. Wherever I go I make it my business to learn the language, get to know the local people and customs, and discover the country’s remotest corners. I became interested in writing in mid-2006, did a short Open University creative writing course and a Writers’ Bureau course, and began getting articles published in 2007.
It’s a Long Way from Here to Clare
First published in 'Ireland's Own'August 2007
I scour the map of Ireland and find a dot marked 'Gort' close to the west coast, at the end of one of the long green spiders' legs fanning out from Dublin. My brochure says 'From Belfast take southern route to Gort'. Detailed instructions follow from there. But Belfast seems to be linked to Gort only by a complex faint orange spider's web behind the bright Dublin-Everywhere Else legs.
Sun Salutes on the Rambla Last New Year's Morning
Final (I hope) test for photo insertion.
Yay! It worked! That's me on the left, saluting the sun last New Year's morning at 5.30 a.m.
Lentil Salad
Have you browsed my recipe category? It's filled with lots of ideas, and there's plenty there for vegetarians too, as I have two in my immediate family and lots in my extended family. Try this one:
Lentil Salad
This is one of my favourites - you can add loads of things to it - it's delicious with fresh sweetcorn, chopped coriander, and you can brighten it up with red and yellow peppers .
Photos (links below)
'You need a really fancy camera to take good photos', or 'You need to know about photography' Not true.
Browse my Blog!
A lot of my work : - articles, recipes, stories, training course flyers - was put on my blog when there were very few of us around, and you may have missed something of interest. I plan to give you a taste of each category for the next few days - feel free to browse around for more!
What a rich gap year weekend...
Argentine soaps, exercise, pets, spectator sport, culture, whale-less whale spotting, sky aerobics...
A Special Sunday
Ask anyone, expat or local, what they like best about Montevideo, and the likely answer is ‘La Rambla’. La Rambla is a wide band which includes a busy duel carriageway, a wide pavement, and beaches and coves, stretching the 20 kilometres from the city centre eastwards to the residential suburb of Carrasco.
It was a text message from a friend that got me and my waggy, happy mongrel Perdida walking the eight blocks from my house to the Rambla yesterday: ‘Air Display at the Hotel Casino’.
Spring is here!
Spring has arrived! Today we were listening to Snow Patrol 'Chasing Cars' - 'Show me a garden that's bursting into life' - well, mine is, and you can see my rose photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26428&l=f172e&id=664241054
By the way, have you read 'A Good Year for the Roses'? (You may have seen it on Writelink a while back, but it's had no views here) It's in my Short stories, Pru and Wills category - my roses play an important part in the story!
I must get down to learning to do fancy links like Sarah's - and Sarah, sorry i've copied your skin, but it's such a nice one...
Searching for posts
Sorry, another question: is there an easy way to search for a post? For example, I see Sarah (Sarah, you are an example to us all!) has her sticky post which links you up to various categories on her blog. I'm sure you've explained how that's done, but how do I quickly find where?
Nzinga success Story
The Nzinga launch (see Nzinga artisans post below this on my blog) was a great success – more photos on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26087&l=74c2c&id=664241054
The ladies made over 20,000 pesos on the day, which means about £80.00 each – probably more than they would get in a month from all the jobs they do put together.
And every one of them got orders for more items, because they ran out!
Paola's blog - Have you subscribed?
(I'm testing the sticky thing)
Why subscribe to my blog?
Because you will learn a huge amount about a beautiful country called Uruguay.
Uruguay?
Yes, a country which has twice hosted and once won the World Cup,
Knobless Knee
Enough is enough, I decided yesterday. Over a year of trouble with my left knee, trouble which comes and goes like an irregular tide, with occasional visits to the doc who tells me there's nothing wrong...
'There IS something wrong,' I tell him today. 'I can't do my child pose properly, and the camel pose kills more than usual, and I can only do half a sun salute! And LOOK at it! It's fat and knobless! Compare it with the knobbly one!'
Lunarejo Revisited
The sky hangs heavy, an anthracite tarpaulin ready to collapse with the weight of the water it’s holding. It’s a long weekend, and I’m on my way to the Valle del Lunarejo, 300 miles north of Montevideo, where I plan to break my journey to northeastern Argentina.
Paola has joined the 'Save our Green Site' Group
Anyone else concerned about Writelink? Is it dying? Is it supposed to die to leave space for the blogs? There is so little posted these days, both in the arena and in the Forum. It must be discouraging for newcomers.
Anyone want to join me in an effort to get some momentum there? I have no new fiction, but will post an old story, and will try my best to review everything in Fiction and Arena for a week. I may even visit poetry. That's an undertaking. Anyone want to join me?
Asanas
An hour after my arrival at the ashram near Orleans, in France, we have our first yoga asana session, outdoors on a big wooden deck, ringed by apple and cherry trees in full blossom. I reckon the setting must have something to do with holding in the energy, which, in my first hour, I’ve learnt is called prana.
Arrival at the Ashram
I'm going away for a few days, so I'm going to post up my ashram series, one per day - would love to hear from you whether you think they may find a home somewhere...
I’ve been up since 3.30 a.m. Car from my parents’ house in Rome to the Ryanair bus. Bus to Ciampino airport. Lunch sandwiches demolished at 5 a.m. Plane to Beauvais, outside Paris. Bus to a metro station somewhere in Paris. Metro to Gare d’Austerlitz - no, ticket machine won’t take Visa and the queue at the ticket office is too long.
The Lost Valley of Lunarejo
We'll be going back to this area tomorrow, and trying Patricio's posada, which has opened now - will let you know!
First published in International Living, May 2007
www.internationalliving.com
November 2006
Ask people in the U.K. what they know about Uruguay, and they will probably answer “Football”. Some may know Punta del Este, the glitzy resort which comes to life for two months annually when film stars and botoxed Cleopatra-coiffed Argentinean beauties flock over from Buenos Aires.
A Little Help from My Friends (Imagine...)
Visualise this. Imagine you were retiring and wanted to settle in a faraway country.
Imagine some kind soul set up a conference for you so you could go to that country and learn all about it.
Exams and Gapping
Well, I've done it - I have paid the hefty fee to sit my Cervantes Institute Spanish exam on 10 November! I'm studying hard (isn't a gap year all about learning new things?)
La Virgen de la Yemanja
First published in 'The Oldie', March 2007
www.theoldie.co.uk
Today, 2 February, is the feast of the Yemanjà: the patron of fishermen. I stroll down to the Rio de la Plata before sunset to see what it’s all about. The beach is almost deserted. On the shore is an exquisite cardboard boat, decorated with tinsel and flowers. Watermelons are strewn everywhere.
Initiation
At the ashram, I am a little envious of the spiritual names some of the others have. Brahmani, Ganesha, Bhargavi, Jyothi….they suit this place. We are living a different life, it is right that we should be living it under a different name. Names are important: they form a part of your identity.
Quack Quack
It’s Day Four of my week at the ashram. White-clad guests carry boxes down the stairs. The library which had been up in E2 suddenly reappears in the room near the lobby. E2 is emptied. Karma yoga time brings more shuffling and movement. Garden work is abandoned. Bits of bed are lugged upstairs. Mats, lamps, pictures, mirrors, statues follow. In an aura of reverence, E2 is converted into a super suite.
My Pool
Thought you might like an insight into how swimming pools work here ...
I need to get fit again. Join a pool. Not the inaffordable Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club pool down the road, but a more democratic one. I ask around.
“Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes”, I’m told.
Story photos
If you'd like to see photos relating to my 'Carrasco Norte - How the other 95% live' story, go to this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23823&l=9d14c&id=664241054
I need to go out and take a few more...