11. CHALLENGES

After the first month of perceived holidays, real life has started again. Suddenly homework, assignments, intensive courses and whatever else have taken a prevalent position in my everyday life, and now I'm finally finding my place here. With things that are pleasant and things that are not, but at least I am living this place fully.

Today I made a quite complicated cake following Jessica's suggestion. Even if the result wasn't perfect I had a lot of fun, and the tart tasted pretty good. I'm getting more and more involved in cooking. We had a really nice dinner and after that we watched "Once", that still is one of my favorite movies. 

10. STUDYING

Today I went for the first time studying in the common room in my student residence. I will definitely do it more often: half of the room is surrounded by windows, so when you want to take a break you can just look up and watch the sea. 

These are strange days. Melancholia and excitement keep mixing in my head, and I must admit that the final sensation is pleasant. I keep writing songs without finishing them. At least I have plenty of drafts to work on. 

9. ONE MONTH

One month has already passed. It seems to me at the same time a really long and short period.

Yesterday I went to listen to Robert Post playing live at the Kvarter. It was definitely amazing. He's got one of the greatest voices I've heard in the last years, he is a really good musician and, most important thing, he reaches souls. His songs hide a kind of truth.

After that, we went clubbing. That's definitely not my style, even if I'm on Erasmus. I just prefer sitting on the floor listening to a songwriter telling his story. 

8. LONDON

This weekend I've been in London for celebrating Emanuele's birthday. I cooked chicken nuggets for him, and he seemed to be quite satisfied. 

I always like that city. I love the record shops, I love the gigs with few people and great artists, I love walking beside the river in Camden, I love losing time in hidden pubs. 

7. MY GIRLFRIENDS

Christine, my Californian friend, taught me that when girls speak about their friends they call them "girlfriends". I find it really cute.

Yesterday we had a really girlish afternoon. Elisa dyed her hair with henna and she brought lots of nail varnishes. We gossiped a lot, finally speaking Italian. When you always speak a foreign language sometimes you need to take a break: yesterday was ours.

In the evening Khurram cooked a Pakistan dinner for twenty people. We started having "international dinners" three weeks ago, and there's always someone new coming.