Hello, wonderful people!
Almost two weeks ago I celebrated my birthday. This year I decided not to write a big post like I did last year (read here) and to save my resolutions for New Years. But let's quickly reflect upon the goals I set for myself last year on my birthday:
So for my 32nd year on Earth, I said that I want to:
- proceed to the second year of my PhD with grace - I believe that the first time I wrote "with a little bit of grace", and it was my mistake - it was kind of a bumpy ride, but the outcome was amazing and I am very happy with the point I am at right now,
- finish NaNoWriMo with something to show for it - unfortunately, I didn't write anything last year, as I was quite busy with building contacts for my research, but, spoiler alert, this year I'm making it happen and am really enjoying the process.
- work more on Saathi and bring it to the place it deserves - not as much as I'd love too, but some very cool news and an updated website are coming your way very soon!
- renew my permit of stay as fast and easy as possible - yes, this is where it got really tricky. This year I waited for my residence permit for 7 months! Yes, I agree, it is ridiculous. But that's the reality of an immigration process in Italy (and in Palermo, of course). For this year I already paid the tax and have my appointment in December, so I believe I will have it much faster this year :)
- see at least 3 more countries - on the day of my birthday I could say that I saw only two new countries in the past year, them being Greece and Belgium. But this past weekend I went to Paris and now I can proudly say that I've also finally visited France (not counting waiting in De Gaulle airport two years ago and 7 hours-long layover in Beauvais last year).
- one of them being Tunisia, as I'm planning my trip there for two years now - nope, still didn't happen, but I'm not complaining - this year was amazing.
- go back home for 2 weeks - I went there for 10 days, but it was amazing and totally magical.
- have a great NY celebration - yes, it was great and we have photos to prove it
- make a big progress on my research - yes, this I did, and I'm very happy with how everything is going.
- write more articles because it makes me ridiculously happy - I published two articles and currently still working on one more that's turning much more interesting than I thought in the beginning.
- learn to play ukulele - I didn't, and I'm kicking myself because of it. Because it's the only instrument I have available and I love how it sounds. So I guess I need to finally make an effort :)
And this year, instead of setting goals, I decided to make a video and say thank you to the universe for everything that I accomplished this year, for all the amazing opportunities and for all the new wonderful people in my life.
So click anf enjoy (and please - like, share and subscribe - it helps me A LOT!)
