domingo, 8 de fevereiro de 2009

6 February 2009

In the past few days, work has become more intense. After the meetings with the bosses I finally had a glimpse of what my tasks might be in the framework of the forest fire risk and the climatic influences. I’m glad I’m back to this topic, my experience is not very wide but it is intense and I really like it. Well, I like many different themes, my deepest scientific passion is to know how Earth works… and that is very diverse, isn’t it?
It all started in Australia, really, when I had to decide a topic for my final project in order to finish my master degree. I wanted to select something that was common to both countries, Australia and Portugal. Forest fire was the choice, a good choice.
It is funny how everything I have done before seems that somehow gets together to build this new path of my life. People with whom I’ve been in contact with these past years due to my personal interest in forests are partners of my JRC unit. The short but strong passage through this scientific field has provided me the chance to be now in Ispra. It seems like the universe has been conspiring all this time to lead me here and I can only be grateful for that.

Yesterday I went to the Club House, a place where we can eat, have a drink and access the internet. As I was sitting I heard the girl on the table next to me speaking in a familiar language; she is Portuguese, arrived in Ispra about 3 months ago and that works in the same building as me. There are a bunch of tugas around here, so I’ve heard… and they welcomed me today by email when my email address was added to the list.

Today it rained the whole day. It didn’t stop for a minute, the water drops were continuously falling down, sometimes less and many times stronger. I still didn’t have the chance to buy an umbrella so my sole protection is my long (and wonderful) anorak, which unfortunately doesn’t protect me from everything, particularly from the showers caused by running cars – I got a big one today, so big that the water from the road jumped the meter-high pedestrian sidewalk and showered me completely, as well as the groceries I had just bought in the supermarket…

The dinner was some sticky torteloni (I didn’t know I had to put some sauce…), a Portuguese-style salad, clementinas and mela (maçã). For me it was a kind of celebration: for surviving the first week, for reaching the weekend without a cold, for having the ability to start over whenever it is needed. Ah, and for succeding in my English proficiency exam, against all odds…

Sem comentários:

Enviar um comentário