Clik here to view.
Holiday Gains, Post-Holiday Losses, Fresh Beginnings, and Other Clichés
Greetings, dear friends,Please allow me to begin by wishing you all happy belated holidays and a healthful, successful, prosperous, and joyous New Year. If you're fed up of holiday overindulgence, I am...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vegan in Suburbia Becomes Vegan in Italia
Well, maybe not literally--I won't be changing the title of this blog--but this vegan living in suburbia will soon be in a whole new environment, across the Atlantic, on Italian soil. If I started this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Settling In Amongst the Ringing Bells, Barking Dogs, and Breathtaking Views
Hello, dear friends!This post is going to be short and sweet because I have big tasks ahead of me--like napping. I arrived in Rome at 10 this morning, after a 7.5-hour flight that was delayed by almost...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Navigating the monastery grounds in darkness and in light
Greetings, dear friends,I just finished Skyping with my mum and sister, and they advised me to go to sleep--it's close to 1 a.m., and I've been coughing like mad, as a result of a cold that started in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Precious time with friends, too many hours in transit, and tonnes of pizza
Greetings, dear friends,It’s been a while since I last posted, though I’d intended on providing an update exactly two weeks ago. I just got back from a walk in the tranquil greenery by the monastery,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"The bittersweet between my teeth, trying to find the in-between"
It may be a bit bold and overeager of me to use the lyrics from a band--a super rad band*, I might add--that I only recently discovered through watching the show Chuck. But, tip-toeing into my house...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Big Move
Me, buying my first Toronto paper (which I have yet to read... Woops)The Toronto skyline by the Rogers CentreOh, yeah. We met Nichelle Nichols. What a fabulous, elegant, polite, and down-to-Earth...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Floating between Summer and Autumn; floating between two homes
1:25 a.m., Thursday morningWell, if I'm up this late and I'm not even remotely close to doing any schoolwork, I might as well be productive in some capacity, right?Greetings, dear friends. I hope...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Surfacing... briefly
Me, in Queen's Park, while Maritsa tested out different settings on her fancypants camera ~Dear friends,I hope that you are all doing well! I thank you for keeping up with my academic as well as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dante groupies, holiday recap, and mushy gratitude
My first day of class was yesterday. It started with a bang: a meeting with a professor who has asked me to aid him with what he deems a mundane research task, and what I deem frakking awesome....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Challenging the Unknown — but allow me to introduce myself first
I feel like I should introduce myself.Hi, guys and gals. My name is Christina, but I go by the names of Kris, Vanilla, Steens, Christintian, Seena, Vanipants, and La Vegetaliana, amongst others. I have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
And then there was food porn
As promised, here is a collage of the food items that filled me with the calories that allowed me to bike, read, write, think, eat, and, well, cook. I hope that you enjoy them. And, while I'm here, I'd...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In one piece
Greetings and salutations!I have arrived in Italy in one piece, and I do mean that literally—that is, a piece that was supposed to travel with me is still sitting in Toronto, or even Montreal. Of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Luggage reunion and other fabulous introductions
Written on June 3, 2012. The Internet connection has been spotty, so I’ve had a chance to post this only now.One of the lovely views beheld on the downhill portion of the walk from the monastery to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adoring community life and relishing food in my face, all followed by a wary...
When I wrote my last blog post, I enumerated the topics that I wanted to cover in my following blog post. It was naïve of me to think that I would manage to cover those subjects without sacrificing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adventures in absurdity: a multitude of grave events in a minuscule number of...
Well, hello there.Looking forlorn at the train station. Why the gloomy face? I was probably just hungry...To say that these past three weeks have been interesting would be an understatement. And to say...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A delight to the senses
This post was written over several days, starting three Wednesdays ago. The endless, occasionally disruptive chorus of cicadas (I’m thinking of morning meditation today, when I chose my meditation...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Un giorno nella vita monastica presso l'Art Monastery
“A day in the monastic life at the Art Monastery” is the English rendition of the title of this blog post. Also, though our schedule has changed since I composed this post two or three weeks ago, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The company of visitors from near and far—and pushing me at least three...
Not for a moment did I ever take for granted the visits I received in Toronto this past year while I completed my Master’s. From August 2011 to September 2012—under twelve months—I received twelve...
View ArticleIt's finally happened
This post was written two weeks ago.It’s finally happened.Last night, after our 15-minute opening performance at the Calici sotto le stelleenogastronomic festival in Labro, I met one of my friends for...
View Article
