“PEOPLE, WHO LOVES EAT, ARE ALWAYS THE BEST PEOPLE”

— Julia Child

“DO WHAT YOU CAN, WHERE YOU ARE, WITH WHAT YOU HAVE.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

"YOU DON'T NEED RELIGION TO HAVE MORALS. IF YOU CAN'T DETERMINE RIGHT FROM WRONG THEN YOU LACK EMPATHY, NOT RELIGION."

—Unknown

WE LIVE LONGER
BUT LESS PRECISELY
AND IN SHORTER SENTENCES

WE TRAVEL FASTER, FARTHER, MORE OFTEN,
BUT BRING BACK SLIDES INSTEAD OF MEMORIES.

— WISŁAWA SZYMBORSKA, "NON-READING"

Surely, no one else is able to understand how hard the struggle for a survival and a normal life in a foreign country is, but an other expat. People think I am simply crazily adventurous, people think I am fine being out there, because this is, what I chose for myself. The thing is not many people are aware of my everyday struggle to function in this strange reality, trying to be a part of a society, who's language I can barely speak. Forgetting that, I already everyday speak a foreign language, and I struggle a lot to be understood, and I don't get, as you say, decent conversation. It does feel painful since I consider myself an intelligent person, a person that has a lot to say about different subjects and somehow my thoughts en up unheard.

 My day to day reality is feeling like a retarded child, not knowing what and how to manage the life passing by, constantly asking others for help, smiling, when I don't understand and pronouncing Portuguese word with a wrong accent which makes me say "shit" instead of "coconut". Yes, simple, everyday life tasks are challenges. Nothing is easy, everything requires a certain amount of focus and preparation.

 And yet, those few people around me, that I consider my Portuguese family have sometimes so few understanding and compassion. From what I know, it is only my fault, the fault of hiding my fears and pain behind a hard shiny shell of I-can-take-it-all-Kasia. 

And everyday I wake up to face more and more challenges. Do I complain about the life I chose? No, I only get to complain about my incapabilities.

“THE DETAILS ARE NOT THE DETAILS. THEY MAKE THE DESIGN.”

— CHARLES EAMES

"GOOD" IS THE ENEMY OF "GREAT"

—

Elsie

“I AM GOING TO MAKE EVERYTHING AROUND ME BEAUTIFUL. THAT WILL BE MY LIFE.”
— ELSIE DE WOLFE

love of food

“THERE IS NO SINCERER LOVE THAN THE LOVE OF FOOD.” 
— GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

DRAW MORE! ― 
 

limitations

“TO BE AWARE OF LIMITATIONS IS ALREADY BE BEYOUND THEM .”

~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Atley

The Hard

“IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE HARD. IF IT WASN'T HARD, EVERYONE WOULD DO IT. THE HARD... IS WHAT MAKES IT GREAT.”

~ The League of Their Own

If they try to bring you down

“IF PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO BRING YOU DOWN IT ONLY MEANS THAT YOU'RE ABOVE THEM.”

~ Quote

Dreams

“I HAVE SPREAD MY DREAMS UNDER YOUR FEET; TREAD SOFTLY BECAUSE YOU TREAD ON MY DREAMS.”

~ William Butler Yeats

life abroad

"EVEN WHEN YOU ARE ENJOYING LIFE ABROAD, THERE ARE STILL DAYS WHEN IT JUST FEELS TOO MUCH TO BEAR."

Perfection

"PERFECTION IS A LOT OF LITTLE THINGS DONE WELL"

— MARCO PIERRE WHITE
~
 



















photography via page by Bob Carlos Clarke
~

words

"SUMMER HAS GONE AND THE WINTER'S HERE/AND I HOPE THAT THE SPRING IS NEAR/'COS I'M LIVING THE FAVORITE YEAR"

— SHAWN LEE, "Happiness"
~

“IF YOU’RE NOT FAILING EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, IT’S A SIGN YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING VERY INNOVATIVE.” — Woody Allen
~

in your face

"JUST THINK ABOUT IT DEEPLY, THEN FORGET IT – THEN AN IDEA WILL JUMP UP RIGHT IN YOUR FACE"

~ DON DRAPER in MAD MEN, season 1, episode 11
~

V.I.Q.

"IS THE MESSAGE CLEAR? IS THE CONTENT ACCESSIBLE? IS THE EXPERIENCE POSITIVE?"

~Designing Brand Identity, Alina Wheeler