The latest film I have watched ...

I couldn't help but going the the movies on my daughter's birthday despite the fact that she is working abroad this being the first birthday we haven't spent together.

I am sure that if she were around this is exactly what we would have done and in a way it was like getting closer to her. Without having been made aware of film she suggested I should see I ended up selecting exacly the same one - Dheepan.

Having won the Palme d'Or  at the 2015 Festival de Cannes Dheepan is a rather meditative film on the overall immigrant odyssey and drama, despite being rooted in the reality of the refugee camp in Sri Lanka and later France.

 

 

The three main players, said to be new to acting have done a very good "job" at it - their performances conveyed authenticity to the characters' feelings of solitude and frustration and were therefore very credible.

 

 

 

" Dheepan is a film that goes for the gut as well as the heart" - Leonard Maltin.









 

Streetheart Serendipity ... at Lisbon Aiport ...

I couldn't help but noticing  the new grafitti-like panel at the arrivals' terminal building at Lisbon airport and photographing with my mobile phone.

I have since then found out it has been painted by a Brazilian street artist by the name of Oliveiros Junior, better known as "Utopia 63" whose artistry I would like to praise. Streetheart serendipity is in itself worth being praised  because it virtually means fortunate happenstance, which we quite often seem to lack and yet crave for ...

The latest book I have read ...

I have taken longer than I should to read this Elif Shafak's novel though I feel the main reason was the fact that I didn't want it to finish ... 

Inspired by historical events and real people The Architect's apprentice takes us back into the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power and the intricate and intriguing relations of those who have been at the heart of this absorbing novel, which blends history, fiction, politics and romance in a very peculiar and skilful way.  

  

"(...) there were two blessings in life: books and friends. And that they should be possessed in inverse quantities; many books, but only a handful of friends". 

" (...) the worth of one's faith depended not on how solid and strong it was, but on how many times one would lose it and still be able to get it back."

"Life was the sum of the choices one did not make; the paths yearned for but not taken."



Santa Maria island, Azores - ICAEA annual meeting moments ... - The 30th of April and the 1st of May 2016

(...)

These are some of the ICAEA meeting registered moments  ... whether they relate to some of the workshops or the short circuit around the island, the dinner at Hotel Santa Maria and the special evening treat at Asas do Atlântico.

The statue of Christopher Columbus in  the parish of Anjos historically known for the explorer's landfall on his way from the Americas. 

 

 

The Hermitage of Nossa Senhora dos Anjos, believed to be the oldest chapel erected on the island with its 17th century glazed tile panel around the altar depicting St. Brás.

São Lourenço bay

Typical Azorean cuisine buffet dinner at Hotel Santa Maria.

Evening out at Asas do Atlântico.

 

Santa Maria island, Azores - ICAEA meeting - The 28th (evening) and 29th May 2016

Hosted by APPLA the annual ICAEA meeting was held in the Azorean island of Santa Maria having been supported by several enterprises including the one I work. Whist I will not refer the rather interesting and  relevant subject matters we discussed in this blog I'll have to mention that it was an immense pleasure to have beeen able to gather with some "old" friends, as well as meet "new" ones.

Upon having reached Santa Maria we were driven to Formosa beach belvedere and taken on a  brief circuit around the island.

 

 

A collegue and I went to a  rather special restaurant in the down town area I had never been to before and which I instantaneously fell in love for, due to the quality of the food and the overall atmosphere. 

Amongst the various Aviation English Training related activities we were exposed to an aircraft evacuation drill using the chute and one leaving an aircraft filled with smoke caught most participants' attention until a visit to the Oceanic Control Room and the Simulator used solely for local training purposes became the highlight. 

 



The first organised dinner was a rather cultural one as we were exposed to the whole rituals of the Holy Spirit festivities and  what lies behind them. The fact that at my table there were colleagues from very different countries, such as Bosnia Herzegovina, Japan, Macedonia, Poland and Nigeria led us to further discuss traditions and to to do to maintain them. 

 

 

 

By the time I got to my bedroom I was rather tired but particularly happy as I had had an incredible evening ... one that I will certainly remember for a long time ..., especially because of the companionship.