Lights! Camera! ACTION!

My day was sooo much fun! Words really can't explain the feeling of movie magic!

For obvious reasons, I didn't get any pictures of myself on set! I hope someone else did! But I did take a few around set! My job on set was to pretend during the shoot to be the main actress's hair & make-up gal! So the camera zooms in on me good this time too!

Me & Thyago (main actor)

Adriadna (main actress) & Silvia

On set

The Director Pieraccioni

The crew & director making decisions

.....moments

ON THE ROAD TO STARDOM....(or maybe not!!!)

Soooo I went to the shoot on Saturday morning!
IT WAS THE MOST EXCITING EXPERIENCE EVER!

Just to be on set, get my make-up and hair done by a professional from Cinecittà (Italy's version of Hollywood MGM studios). I couldn't get any other pictures as the day started at 7 a.m. and was just pure chaos and bliss from there on.... I always knew that I was supposed to be in the movies ahahahah ;-)

This is me early in the morning with my VIP pass

The other girls in the cast....

Me & my friend Stefano who got chosen as well - we were waiting for hair & make-up. Well, I was! (hence Stefano's shaved head)

Oh and yeah.... I was chosen to say a few lines, acting next to this guy (the main actor Thyago Alves from Brazil)..... not bad hu? I had nooooo idea who he was, all the other girls were astonished that I didn't know who Thyago (ti-ah-go) was... he's some kind of reality celeb, and famous Armani model. I don't really watch any Italian TV so that's why, I guess, I was on another planet!

The scene I got to do was sitting next to him in a club at a party, so the camera gets me good! I get to say 2 lines: "hurray! drinks for everyone" and "another bottle please" to the waiter! I'll be on the screen for Christmas! The movie will never make it to the States so I'll have to find a way when it's time, to post a scene!

On Thursday I get to go back..... but that's another post!

Tàh tàh!

Take one!

Soooooo A few weeks ago I went out to a casting call for movie that's gonna be filmed by Leonardo Pieraccioni in Pula near Cagliari (near where we had our wedding reception). They needed extras, so I said what the heck! Let's try out!


Guess what??? I got called back yesterday!

I'll be on set 2 days:

all day June 4th, where they might need me to do a small speaking part! The scene will be set at a party, so I think I'll be saying very little like "may I have a drink please?" or just "thank you"; They told me to bring 3 different elegant/formal dresses so that the costumist could choose. If they don't like any of my choices, they'll have something available.

all day June 9th where I'll be in a scene where I'm part of a TV crew that's running after the main actor/actress in the film (No one knows who he/she is yet). No speaking part here, but I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of FUN and the best part is I get paid for it too!!!

Who knows! this might be the beginning of my long dremt stage career! ahahahahah :-)))

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!

So I've been battling for the last two years with "insecure" jobs or as I like to call it "job hopping". It would be nice to have my own real job, and a real check at the end of the month, but here in Italy things are getting worse every day, even as I speak. We have a Prime Minister that is a crook, passing laws so that he doesn't need to have fair trails for things he's done, a Misses Minister for Public Education that is firing half the public school teachers and combining 20 student classes into 1 class of about 35-36 people, Naples is invaded by trash again, they don't know where to put it, in my city farmers have occupied the regional building, and train workers have occupied the train station because they haven't been paid for months, I could go on and on but I think you can get the picture.....

My job interview responses still are "Oh, you're over 30" or " we're looking for someone between the ages of 24 and 26" or "out of the candidates with the same requisites, we're sorry to inform you that we've chosen the younger candidate". . . makes me feel old even if I really am not. 30 is old because if you're younger they can give you a contract with government facilitations, such as free taxes and benefits that the company doesn't have to pay.

Another problem is being 30 and married: nobody wants to hire a woman who is 30 and married because they're afraid that they'll just get pregnant and go on maternity leave which amounts to almost a year here in Italy, and then you have the right to demand part time work hours when you actually do go back to work. So no one wants to hire women over the age of 30 (and married). Another reason is, is that if you are younger they can make you work more with the excuse "oh everyone has to do over time at the beginning" and they don't pay you for it.

As I was saying, I would like a good job, but at the moment I have to scavenge for what is available. I have organized my working day with private ESL English lessons, where I go to peoples homes or offices for the lesson, making it easier for them not having to take the time to move from one place to another for the lesson itself. Tiring, but it pays. I have also managed to pick up 2 contracts to teach at a school in 2 different projects, one is Sardinia Speaks English, an 80 hour Regional course offered to the citizens to perfection their English and the 2nd is 50 hours as a mother-tongue lecturer to support English teachers and students at High School with correct pronunciation and any extra perks I can give them.

So the saying is true: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!

Summer Job

Well... I still haven't found a Job "JOB"... so I do what I can to make do.

I feel like I've gone back in time 15 years but hey! If it pays right? Sooooooooooo, I've been asked to baby-sit 2 girls for the rest of August and 1st week of September. The best part of the job is that I go and pick them up every morning at about 9:30 and then we go straight to the beach! One girl's family has a beach cabana at one of our city's oldest and most renound beach clubs "Il Lido".

So I guess I shouldn't be complaining too much now should I??! ;-))

Entrance to "Il Lido" in 1900

Entrance to "Il Lido" today.

Inside the beach club

An aerial veiw of the beach club and salt marshes behind.

Just Bored.....

Not really anything exciting lately... We had a storm blow through last weekend, so we really didn't do much.

I'm still looking for a proper job, it's been 2 years now and there really isn't anything available. My job interview responses are "Oh, you're over 30" or " we're looking for someone between the ages of 24 and 26" or "out of the candidates with the same requisites, we're sorry to inform you that we've chosen the younger candidate". . . makes me feel old even if I really am not.

I've even applied to be a shop assistant and they've said either that I'm not the right age or that they would like someone who has already had shop experience. I dunno, but I really don't think that it takes a rocket scientist to be a shop assistant; I mean with my resume and all (10 years work experience) maybe they should at least try me out???

So, in the mean time, I try my hardest to be patient and repeat to myself "good things come to those who wait" and I keep on teaching a few private English lessons. Oh, by the way! I got my certificate at the end of March! I am now officially a certified ESL teacher!

In the recommendation letter it says "Having performed higher than the required level in all course assignments, Christina has been awarded a pass at grade B." (I really was aiming for an A, but a grade B will do!)

School's out!

My absolute beginners class is over! Boo-hoo! :-(

I really got to love these students. I'm so glad I was able to teach them English and the love for the language. It's so rewarding to hear them say simple things in English like "Oh I love pizza" while we were sitting at the pizza parlor for dinner last night! The age group was so vast, I was worried that I wouldn't have been able to get through to them all. The youngest student was my age, and the eldest about 65! It was an all "girls" class except for our male mascot, Stefano! Needless to say, they all learned something and no one got less than 75% on their final test! We had two 100% marks of which I was really impressed and thankful for!

My class!

Stefano our mascot!

The two 100%-ers!

(with yummy lemon sorbet in their hands)

SUCCESS!

Oh what a day! My translation was a success! Mr. Beale (International Marketing & Sales Rep.) was more than enthusiastic with my translation. In fact, he thought I was EXCELLENT!
Moreover, I was able to meet with all the "big bosses" and authorities of the local Airport who ALL complimented me on my job and on how good I was at my translation. Some of them even asked me if I wanted to be their personal assistant and gave me their business card to send my résumé to them to have in case of need. I am so happy that this went well, and it was super easy for some reason...... I just hope that this isn't a lucky streak!

New Job.....

So, I've started my new job at my friend's Chiropractic Office. A big change to my old job. A little less dynamic but, I need to be thankful for this opportunity since jobs in Italy at the moment are a hard thing to find. At the moment I'm just doing secretarial work. It's fun to be in the office with friends though.... I don't know if any of you saw the show "Private Practice", well my office sort of reminds me of that! There is a massage therapist with alternative medicine, a gynaecologist, a dermatologist and of course my friend Seb the Chiropractor and occasionally 2 other Chiropractors come in and do some work. Big change in hours too. At my old office I could go in anytime between 9.30 and 10 and do my daily 5 hours; now I work on Monday 4pm till 8pm - Wed&Thurs 9am-1pm and 4pm-8pm and on Fridays only in the morning from 9 to 1pm. That gives me a looong weekend which I appreciate and Tuesdays off to do things for me and the house.

ProgeNIA

A five-year, $5 million international research initiative funded by the National Institute on Aging could help scientists unravel the underlying genetic processes involved in certain age-related traits and diseases.

The ProgeNIA project will focus on Sardinia, an isolated Mediterranean island where historically there has been little immigration. As a result, most inhabitants share common ancestors and have inherited many of the same genetic traits. The interrelatedness of this population should simplify the identification of genes involved in age-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease.

“With this project we want to study aging, and in particular to identify genes involved in the development of several pathophysiological conditions typical of old age,” said David Schlessinger, Ph.D., chief of the NIA's Laboratory of Genetics. “The Sardinian population, thanks to its genetic patrimony, can make a fundamental contribution to the understanding of human biology.”

So, our annual meeting just finished, and our team has come up with lot's of results. The U.S. NIH has sponsored this project called ProgeNIA

The team has "Uncovered a New Piece to the Puzzle of Human Height"
discovered genes involved in Asthma and in β-Thalassemia and sickle cell disease.

Here I am with Prof. David Schlessinger
Our NIH Coordinator.

If you would like to se more pictures go to My facebook page here.