ciao bella, pizza, frutti di mare, mamma mia!

Ok, before anyone gets mad: I know a whole more about Italian culture and I have a great respect for it so please don't call me shallow because of the headline :D!

Ok, so I was in Italy, last summer... in August or so. It's only now when I feel like uploading some pictures. I was visiting my dear friend E near Venice. In Treviso actually. I flew with this cheap airline (not good for the climate, I know, sorry!) to Milan (Bergamo). It was my first trip alone... like abroad! This is Bergamo. I didn't have that much time or courage to explore the whole city (the one on the hill) because I needed to leave for Venice by train soon after arriving.

(oh by the way, these pictures are MINE, so don't you dare copy them without permission. thank YOU<3.)



Venice is beyond words...

Imagine a city without streets... Well, solid streets to be more precise!



St. Marks is amazing. But I'm telling you the pidgeons are like the birds in that Hitchcock´s movie...

Thank God for the bridges! A boatless person would nearly have to go to Rome just to cross over because of the water (well not really, but you get the point).

You could taste the sun in these fruits and veggies... I miss that taste... Sigh. It was an amazing experience for a person who has gotten used to the fact that every fruit is imported from "the south".

Treviso.

Making of the famous glass of Murano!

BURANO <3. The place I want to live in when I'm retired! They say the colours were for the fishers so they would see their home from the reef.


A historical scene (please E if you ever pass by, please remind me of what place this is.. like historically? It had something to do with Italian soldiers and the Alps and winning... I can't google cause I can't remember the name right...)

Asolo, the pretties village in the world.

I made this dish B-)!

Be brave and explore the world. You are never the same after visiting a new place :)!

You Are More

It's ok to dream but life hardly goes as we plan. It wasn't my plan to suffer from burn out or become seriously depressed. Don't get me wrong: I've learned alot in a year and finally I have a goal I'll try to acheave! If life has different things planned, I'm open for the new stuff. Someone might say I've totally lost one year while being lost but I don't agree. I'm much richer in experiences than before, I've had time to think and grow. Yes, I might graduate one year later from the university because of my gap year and I'm no use for the economy blah blah blah... But I'm well again! I know what I want (more about that later)! And now it's just important for me to keep that in mind. I'm thankfull for this new beginning.



"You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade."

:)

BOY FREE ZONE (no offence)

Today I was brave enough to visit Tyttöjen Talo (Girls´ house). The idea of this house is that every girl aged 12-28 can come and hang arround, talk with responsible and trustworthy people (also female). It just sounds too good to be true. No alcohol involved! Can it get any better?

They are not trying to brainwash girls to hate men, the Tyttöjen Talo is just purely a place where you can be a girl. Similar places for boys are being created!

I was welcomed warmly and I was able to talk with a worker there and I immediately felt like home. It was so strange! It's extremely lovely that the city I live in is funding this project. I mean it's free for us girls! It's really important that there are places like these. Well in my opinion atlest. There has to be a place where you can go and cry, laugh, be yourself and still be loved. Even in big cities today where you are supposed to save everything for Oprah. It makes my heart skip with joy when I see that there still are people who actually care about others (as in strangers!) than themselves (and show it).

I think today was a beginning of something beautiful!

Dove Damage Therapy - "Favourite Things" TV ad by Ogilvy & Mather

Fair or not?

I watched this BBC documentary series on unethical clothes. Six fashion addicts went to India to see how their cheap clothes are made. I was so shocked. It's not like I didn't know that people don't really get a good wage for making good clothes but what shocked me is that we in the west actually think we are better and more valuable here. Yes, we know that things aren't going too well for the workers who make our clothes, but life isn't fair, right? Atleast we get cheap clothes! So we are more or less saying: Our lives are more valuable than theirs.

I've heard arguments like: Well they are used to living like that. It's harder for us to understand their way of living. Right... Well, I think sleaping on floors, earning just enough money to survive and sending all your money to your family, wearing the same clothes forever sucks - INTERNATIONALLY. Not just in the rich countries.

Why doesn't anyone care? The most annoying part is that if we stop buying the unethical products, the poor workers wont get even the small ammount they get now! People leading countries should make unfairtrade illegal. But I guess it won't happen cause then WE would have to pay more for being fashionable. Well... pay more even if we aren't.

It's not just with clothes. It's the same sad story with everything. If we really wanted, there would be enough fairness for everybody but since we are so selfish things don't work out. Especially if you were born in the thirld world, which hardly anyone really cares about.

I'm pissed off! And it pisses me off that people who take this seriously are called fanatics, hippies, idealists etc. Is it ok that we actually have slaves? Would you like to be in the workers shoes? (Well if they have shoes that is...)

Fortunately one can make SOME ethical choises. There are ethical clothes, you can make a difference with. Yes, one person isn't that much but together we are many. I sound like John Lennon but I've truly made up my mind: I'm going to stand up for this and I'm not going to give in. It means that shopping (clothes) will be harder than ever but I want that every human being has equal rights.

Thread is an online magazine that has lots of good info about ethical fashion: http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/about/. Yes, not everyone is interested in fashion. Life is more than the clothes we wear but we all need to wear something, so make sure what you are wearing is fair.

I'm serious!


The picture is BBC´s: http://www.rapanuiclothing.com/eco/ethical-fair-trade-clothing/child_labour.jpg

Purpose-driven life

Today I had one of those too familiar feelings of anxiety again. I just fealt so bad. All I could do was sit down and breathe. I just fealt like my life has no purpose. No... meaning at all. I just cried for a while until I was able to talk about how I feel.

I don't really know what kind of purpose I've been looking for but I was just tired of being lost. Tired of feeling so lame tired of loosing it tired of not knowing what to do with my life. I can't even think of what to study...

Luckily there are more wise and experienced people in my life and I learned something really important:
I'm truly loved by my family and in a way that makes me a purpose, which means my life isn't meaningless. And... I do cheer people by using the gifts that I have even though I can't always tell when or how. Then it just hit me: it's the small things that give your life a meaning, in away. I've been looking for something big but I should have consentrated on smaller things. But on the other hand what's bigger than loving your family and friends?

I have this passion to help people but I shouldn't try to be something I'm not or want to be someone else. I have lots of things I need to figure out... like what I want... but I have a place in this world and I shouldn't try to yearn for a purpose and then ironically miss the life I'm supposed to live. The truly great people that we still remember and think highly of didn't do great stuff just to lead great lives.... I think. They just worked hard to reach their full potential, to be as good as they could be in what they knew best. And they lived one day at a time.

I'm still learning to live one day at a time. I just realised that I don't need to have this plan here and now... a map of my life. I don't need to know what my profession will be in 10 years. I don't need to have a boyfriend now so that I'll be married in a certain age. I don't need to plan everything in advance. I'm not saying it's wrong to have a vision and dreams etc... but one just needs to be open... Willing to take life as it is... with all it's suprises - good and bad ones.

Sigh, I wish I made sence here..

but atlest in my head, I think I'm starting to grasp the concept.

An end. A new beginning maybe?

I think it's time to say goodbye, for now. This Ebony is really tired and needs a little rest. There'll be lots of adventures to share in the future (perhaps) but now it's time to pause - officially. I'm on facebook (etc) if you need me.