A new challenge ahead

Tomorrow I am flying to Sudan on a 2 month teaching contract, with the possibility of staying 4. I can't wait, I am so excited.

I am concerned about the effects of the racial tension, resulting in genocide, will have had on the country. I wonder if, as a transient worker, I will even have the chance to scratch the surface of knowing who are the Sudanese people, and what their culture and life is about. 

This blog is written for my family and friends, so they can know where I am and what I am up to, therefore, it is unlikely that I will  comment politically on what I find, as there are others far more capable of that. What I shall do here, is just produce a diary of sights and sounds of Sudan, from my experience, within the limited time I will be there, and from a purely personal perspective. Please feel free to leave comments and ask me questions and I will try my best to answer.

Gratitude Friday - a moment of peace

 

I wouldn't say I thrive on stress nor deliberately set out to have it, but I recognise that with my choice of job and its consequential lifestyle I certainly cause many stressful situations to occur in my life. For example, I started this year moving to a new country, away from friends and family, having to find my way in a new(ish) language & culture, as well as navigate trams & buses. I had a new job, new colleagues, and a lot of new materials & technology too. Now, despite fabulous people in Turin and great students, I cannot and will not put up with the working conditions the new company has and will be leaving soon. (I'm not alone as since I started, 2 people have already left & one other has handed in her notice). This means that the next few weeks will be full of changes and stress. Possibly the hardest part - more goodbyes. 

Therefore, in this chaos of my life, which is my choice, I was grateful to find a short respite of peace and beauty. I had a few hours before I needed to be at work so walking to the office I stopped at the Church of San Lorenzo is held; a magnificent building, but filled with school children on an outing. Walking on, I stopped at the imposing building of the church of San Francesco d'Assisi and entered. I am not particularly religious, rarely going to church or praying, although I do believe in God. There was something spiritually appealing in the beauty of the interior, combined with the silence in the huge church. I  sat in a pew a just Stopped. I stepping out of my life, the rushing around, the endless decision-making, and took this opportunity for a moment of peace. I am very thankful I found, and went in, this beautiful, quiet, old church.

Gratitude Friday - it's Friday!

I've just popped over to Diana's blog, and realised it is Gratitude Friday time... oops forgot again.

Today I am grateful that it's Friday, as it means tomorrow I am flying down to see some good friends in Calabria, who I can't wait to see and catch up on the gossip news. I will also check on my flat and do a few odds and ends there. The other reason that I'm grateful is that TOMORROW brings SketchCrawl #26 and it's the perfect motivation and chance to draw all day. On top of that, I love seeing all the results from around the world, which are posted afterwards. Also, my ego likes receiving comments from kind people who see my results too. Tomorrow will be my 3rd SketchCrawl and my least structured as I have to work around the travel I am doing, so I foretell pics of buses, planes, people & landscapes. Please pop over to my other blog later in the week to see what I did.

Finally, I am thankful today is a beautiful sunny day here in Turin, but a little sad in that the auction did not raise any money for Xmas Torch, although I think it raised some awareness of it, which must be good.

ONLY 7 DAYS LEFT

Click HERE to find details on how to bid.

Gratitude Friday - 2 weeks of thanks

It was on Saturday afternoon that I realised I had missed Gratitude Friday, started by Diana at Creative Structures who you must check out, AGAIN! I was walking down the street with my new friend and colleague Sarah, so together we started taking count of things to be grateful for...

First for both of us was the fact that we had both started working for our company at the same time, and our friendship has made it easier to cope with the awful working conditions. Second, vicariously I'm thankful that she has got a new job in France, which is where she really wants to be, and I think she will be happier there. Although, I will miss her here, especially as we normally do something together on the weekend, if only to meet for a hot chocolate. Another thing to be grateful for is the lovely hot chocolate :D

I am also thankful for the cultural opportunities there are here. I continue to explore, although I didn't do anything last weekend, except visit the monthly antiques market in the sleet, snow &  rain, sometimes the weather was doing all three at the same time. I think I liked the table & chairs in the photo, but it was hard to tell. After the market I scuttled home and was definitely grateful for a warming cuppa. Monday was another concert, unfortunately apart from one, in which a poetry reading was part of the composition, I didn't really like the pieces they played. Still, I am very pleased and thankful for the opportunity to listen to more live music, and do some more sketching of the musicians. Finally, yesterday I went to a small private art collection and saw several, huge, magnificent Canalettos, TWO Picassos, Renoirs, and more WOW! It amazes me the way Canaletto captured light and I can always stand for ages just looking at his work. So I am very grateful this week for the chance to see some awesome art.

Lastly, sandwiched between the dreadful weather, the top photo was taken Thursday 11th February, and the torrential rain we've had today, Monday was lovely. I was fortunate in that I finished early and when I got off the first tram, I enjoyed returning home in daylight (I normally get home around 8/8.30) by walking the 4 or 5 blocks home. A very simple pleasure, but probably the most gratifying of the week.

AUCTIONING FOR CHARITY

 

Muddy duck

 Signed original pen & ink drawing.

Unframed 21 x29 cm.

Postage free worldwide.

I am auctioning this drawing in order to raise funds for the charity 

Xmas Torch.  For information, see below or their website here.

100% of the money I raise through this sale will go to them. 

I am donating the drawing and the postage. 

I am not using a popular auction site, due to the ridiculous charges, so this is how the auction will be conducted...

Send your bids directly to me at sue_pownall@yahoo.co.uk 

Closing date: 28th February 2010.

Please bid in pounds sterling (£). The highest bid will be displayed in the blog sidebar, so you have an idea of how much to bid, or if you need to increase your bid. 

After the closing date, I will email the highest bidder with details of how to pay. When Xmas Torch receive the money, I will then mail you the drawing.

Let's see how much we can raise. 

Send your bids now, but keep watching the sidebar in case you need to increase your bid. 

Thank you.

  

Most less fortunate children all over the world have someone or group doing something to help them. What most of these homes or groups can provide is mostly food, shelter and those who can an education. It is often forgotten though that they are children after all, however brave or tough their situations have made them. 

Xmas Torch was conceived in 2007 specifically for these children and for this purpose. A day exclusively set for them to feel like children, a day of ultimate celebration especially during the festive seasons, Christmas in particular.

The main objective of Xmas Torch is to spend 1-2(depending on the money raised that year) unforgettable days with children who are affected or infected by incurable diseases, poverty, orphans, rape victims and others. Over these days, the children engage in various outdoor activities which are educational, motivational and above all fun! At the end of these 1-2 days stint, it is our hope that the children leave there feeling more confident and positive about life!

Cultural catch-up

One of the reasons that I left Oman was my need for a bit more cultural stimulus. In the month that I have been in Turin I have certainly started rectifying that. So far, I have visited GAM (as I mentioned a few weeks ago). I have now visited the Antiquities museum, mainly because it was next to the Roman theatre and city gate, so I thought I'd pop in. Amazing Roman artefacts, as could be expected. On Saturday, a colleague and I visited Palazzo Madama, which is a real hotchpotch museum housed in a beautiful Savoy-era palace. Got a fabulous view from the tower over the city, but unfortunately it was reached by a glass elevator, which I hate.

Last night I went a concert billed as the "classical music of the future" at a venue near my flat. I find going to a concert alone a bit daunting, but as you can guess from the top picture I took along my sketchbook for company. After my pre-concert glass of red wine, I drew some of the instruments whilst waiting for the concert to start (above). I liked the double bass lying at the front of the stage, and was fascinated as he played. The second piece was played by four percussionists each with a xylophone plus drums, cymbals, whistles and other things. It was amazing! It was also it's première, so I wonder how it will do in the future... Will HM Qaboo's orchestra play it one day? After all he likes loud percussion pieces.

So that's 2 museums, an art gallery, and a concert so far In Italy, plus the ballet when I was home in UK. What next???