Those are a few of my favourite apps #1

We all have cell phones. We all know we can do a lot of stuff with it: text each other on Whatsapp, take and share pics & videos, scroll through our Facebook timelines, answer quickly to an email, you can even call with it... There are so many features, so many apps, such an incredible world that simply opens up if you own a smart phone.

Now, my world had been a bit small in the last year. One year ago my amazing HTC died and I got an iPhone I didn't like (well, I borrowed it from my brother, my personal IT guy), so I asked him which Android smart phone he'd recommend for as few euros as possible, and he recommended me the Huawei Ascend something. The thing was the most troubled cell phone I've ever seen. It made me long for those days in which a simple Nokia 3310 was the hottest gadget to have and Snake was the most amazing game in the world. They always worked and my cell always did not do anything at all (it took me on average 20 minutes to send a text to someone. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point).

So, now that I have a new cell phone (a Lenovo, it's simply amazing), I finally USE it again. Let me present you my 7 favourite apps - part 1:

7. Wordreference
A forum (and basically a dictionary) which is super handy ALWAYS. It has a quite some languages, of course English and Spanish, but also e.g. Korean, Turkish, Arabic, and Czech! I am a big fan of the website, but the app is really a dream come true, as now I can look up words, conjugations, definitions,and consult the forum wherever I am! The only thing you need is a charged smart phone and internet!

6. Pinterest 
In the last couple of weeks I start to use more and more social media, and not in the way I used to anymore. It's a source of inspiration, a way to exchange information, and connect with like minded people (I'm also a big fan of Twitter for this!). However, one of my most recent discoveries is Pinterest. My mom already told me ages ago (so I have a profile for quite some time), but I guess I simply wasn't paying enough attention to my hobbies anymore to be able to enjoy Pinterest. The thing is: now I am. Hobbies are important to stay sane and so when I wake up, when I feel a bit down, when I feel like I'm lacking inspiration, I open up my Pinterest app and a whole world opens up. I collect recipes, scrapbook ideas, I found the idea for a bullet journal (I'll save this for another post :P), and even some ideas for blogging. The app is really comfortable to use, it works exactly the same as the website, which makes it super accessible (and decreases the necessity of using the website, which I very rarely do).

5. Currency

This may sound like the stupidest thing in the world, but actually it is the most useful thing! Whether you're buying something online from a store in some other country, just curious about current exchange rates, or travelling: it is one of the handiest apps on my cell phone. I don't use it on a daily basis, because I don't need it on a daily basis. I live in the Netherlands, which has Euros, and even though I travel a lot, most of those countries have Euros. However, soon I will go to Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and the UK, and they all don't have Euros, so... you know it. And the good thing is: it works when you're off line as well! Picture me buying my super pricey lunch in Denmark, then at least I am able to know exactly how pricey it is! (and of course I can make the conscious choice not to use it :P)

4. Google Maps
Okay, you all know this app, but it has some really nice features. Not only can it give you directions, tell you which bus you should take and that kind of stuff, it can still point you on the map when you are off line! It GPSes along with you, and that's just so useful! Google Maps really saved my ass a couple of times already from getting totally lost and walking in the wrong direction ;) (and believe me, if there's anyone who lacks sense of direction...

Curious which ones are in my ultimate top 3? Read about it tomorrow! :D

To dye or not to dye?

That's the question.

Warning: this is gonna be the shallowest post I'll ever write

My natural hair colour is blonde.
I dye it brown. But now, during summer, I haven't dyed it at all. My excuse was 'well, I'll go to Sicily and with the sun and all it will just go bad anyway'.
But I came back to the Netherlands by Mid-September. The next excuse was 'Let's wait until I've been to Sardinia, as it might be sunny there as well, and then it would just go bad again'.

Now I am out of excuses. I am going to travel around the north of Europe, so the excuse of the sun is not valid anymore. At the moment my hair looks pretty much middle-blonde,with the upper part a bit brighter than the rest. No prob.

\
There are people who think brown is my natural hair colour and that I dyed it blonde right now and they're like 'looks good on you!', but it also happened when I was dyeing it all the time that people would say 'you, blonde? Can't imagine that'.

So, I don't want anymore ambiguous messages! :D And I am the worst at making choices, so my question is: to dye or not to dye?
Picture one or picture two?

You were warned ;) 

I ain't no good at this

I ain't no good at this.
How often don't we tell ourselves that? How many times have you tried and failed something?

To be honest, it seems like the story of my life. I give it a shot, don't manage, don't achieve what I'd like to, and I think 'ah, I could be doing this other cool thing instead'. And there it starts all over again. It happened with learning French. Learning Italian. Playing the keyboard. Writing a novel.
It happened with blogging.

The thing is not that I am bad at it. I don't think I suck at any of these things, on the contrary, at some of them I might actually be pretty good. The thing is: I try. Once. Maybe twice. And then it gets hard, I get tired, I am busy with my studies (which means doing quizes on Buzzfeed most of the time), and I forget. I forget, and I stop trying.
And whenever I remind myself of it, I feel demotivated, because I haven't done anything for an entire week.

It took me a while to admit that, but given that I am doing a lot of sports lately (and seriously, I would have laughed at you if you'd told me this one year ago. Like seriously? Me? Sports? In one sentence? You are definitely crazy!), I think I might actually have at least some willpower to do something. Because with lately I don't mean that I went jogging three times now. I mean that I started going to the gym in May and still do this three times a week, and I started running in September and I also do this three times a week. Yay! I am doing something I didn't even know I wanted to do, and I am not giving up on it!

So now it is about time to do the things I already want to do since forever. Blogging. It used to be something I really loved to do from, let's say, my 15th till my 20th. And then it just stopped. At the moment I have three blogs 'running'. The 52 Books Challenge, which is an idea I am still in love with and I will continue, until the end of the year just as a kind of practice. In 2015, I will do the challenge again. I can totally read and review 52 books in a year!
The other one is my Dutch travel blog. I liked it for a bit, but it's tiring. And it is only interesting if you are, let's say, my mom. So I will deliberately give up on that one.

And then there is Mondo d'Amore. A title I picked before I new any Italian, but a title I am still happy with. World of love. Sounds cheesy, right?
Right, but I mean something different. The world is a nasty place, but in my little corner I'll analyse it. I'll share my personal thoughts, happiness, sadness, and anger about this world. And of course, also my cheesy thoughts.

That's what I will do. I vow that I will post at least two blogs per week. And do find a way to punish me if I don't, please!

I dreamed a dream...

And it had nothing to do with Les Miserables.

Since a week or so I am thinking I should blog again. This afternoon I went to bed, because I didn't sleep much during the night, so I was tired and I had a headache. I do feel like that was a good decision, because my headache is gone, and I am not tired anymore.
But I dreamed, and - hurray -, it made me feel miserable as well.

I dreamed that I met someone really bad for me. Someone I've met before, but in my dream I did not recognise this person. Everyone around me was warning me, telling me that I went straight into the arms of the devil, but I didn't see any harm. The scariest thing (for me) is that in the dream, there was no harm. I did start to remember the person at some point, but 'it' was harmless. And now I wanted to write something which I didn't think of yet. I wanted to write: 'I wanted to leave the past behind me, because we were good then'.

It was just a dream, I prefer to think. I know that it sounds like commonsense psychology, but there are also some real hypothesis (or maybe today more than that, it has been two years since I've studied Psychology and a lot can change) stating that in your dreams, you process the happenings from the day. But why do I dream about this? Like I just said, it could be that I am moving on from something, but why do I (we) need to dream about things that sometimes entail strong emotions?
Most people don't remember their dreams. I think it is not even necessary to remember, only if you want to contribute to some research. Usually, when you remember a dream, you woke up in the middle of it. Now this was not the case, I am very sure about that (maybe also because it just became a bad dream when I woke up, while dreaming it was okay), so how does it work?

After writing it down, my head feels clearer. I am not going to feel miserable about it.

My Latin-American dream.

When I was younger, my father used to tell me that dreams weren't real. They don't show you what you need to do or whatever you believe they do. They only send you a message. I know that I asked him quite often 'then what is the message?', and like wise men do he said 'that is up to you to decide. Nobody can tell you what your dream means, it means what you feel it means'.
I have always believed that he was right. Always, but now it makes me wonder.

A couple of weeks ago I dreamed that I was going to San Jose this summer. San Jose, Costa Rica. First of all I want you to know that this city doesn't really mean anything to me. I have never been to Costa Rica, nor do I feel like I need to, because if I had the money to travel to that part of the world León, Nicaragua would definately be my first choice. So, this city was completely random and not even very likely. But I dreamed that I was there and that I liked the latinamerican way of life (which I know I would). When I woke up I still had the feeling I was going to San Jose, but after a few minutes it hit me: I am not going to Latin-America at all, I am going to Spain! And though I am really looking forward to it and know that it will be really amazing, I felt a little sorry for myself. I am not going to Latinoamérica.
Right now that is not important anymore, I am really happy with my summer plans and I wouldn't change them for the world, but I thought I realised what the message was: I shouldn't go study in Spain after finishing my bachelor, I should go to Latin-America. For a few weeks I was incredibly sure. But what if dreams are supposed to remain dreams?

I tried to talk about my internal dilemma with my parents, but they are like 'it's two years from now, don't you worry'. I am not worrying, not at all. It is just in my head constantly because I want to know what would be the right thing to do. What would be the right continent for me to live.
Writing this sentence I realise I know the answer. The right continent is on the other side of the Atlantic. I did not misinterpret my dream. I am just scared to make the necessary sacrifices and I don't want to face the consequences it will bring yet.
But if I continue living in a dreamworld, my dream might change into a nightmare.

I feel like breaking up.

I have always loved you. A lot actually, from the day I very first met you, and after spending some time with you, I started to love you more and more. At one point I didn't think much about you anymore, and then I had to work quite hard to deserve you again, but you have always, always come back to me, just as I did to you. It is supposed to be this way, and what you are doing now is not fair. You are hurting me really, really bad, and I feel like breaking up with you. I will not do it, because I know that would hurt even more, especially since I am going to spend the entire summer with you, but... I don't know if we can be friends right now. Not today. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, but now I am really through with you.

The thing is that you are not a person, otherwise I would have punched you in the face. You are a language, the Spanish language to be more precise, and I thought I understood you. Right now I feel like I know (nearly) all the rules for the Subjuntivo and I know when to use Indefinido and when Imperfecto, but I keep on making mistakes. I have been worried for exams before, worried that I didn't do as good as I expect myself to. This time I actually feel like I might not pass the exam, and I don't know what to do. I will focus on learning the rules some more, but for some reason I keep on messing things up.

I guess that's it. I love you so much that I don't want to disappoint you, nor myself, but I think I am going to, no matter what.

I'm sorry.

Life Changing Decisions.

In your life you make a lot of life changing decisions. Actually, everything you do could change your life. Most of them you just do. You eat an apple, you go out for drinks, you read a book. Some are a little harder, like what to wear, what to have for dinner, and so on. A last category are the decisions that are really hard. Will I buy this pare of shoes and be broke for the rest of the month? Will I skip classes and take the risk that I cannot do the exam with the consequence that I might not pass the year? Will I devote my life for one year to something else than studying?

My friends recommended me to make lists of pros and cons. Personally I don't like to think about these kind of things. I don't really want to think about what is 'the right thing'. But my friends were right, sometimes it is necessary, but really not fun at all!
Because I did make lists of pros and cons. And the conclusion to all three of the hard questions above is:

NO!

Why buying a pair of shoes you cannot afford? Why skipping classes if it is not absolutely necessary and there's such a risk to it? Why waste one more year in the Netherlands? Especially with the recent political situation you know you don't agree with, just finish your studies and move to a place far, far away.

Yes, I am 'doing the right thing' now. And yes, I am okay with the decisions I am making. But no, I would never, ever recommend someone to make a list of pros and cons. I created a new, emotional strategy:

1. Feel what you really want. This is the obvious step which you think you already did, but now I mean really feel it.
Did you find the solution yet? Congrats! If not, here's the second step.

2. Make a random decision, without thinking. Tell yourself: okay, I'm just gonna buy the shoes! Don't really do it, but put the money somewhere in a box or an old sock or whatever place you prefer. If it is not about something material, then tell someone what you have decided. It does not really matter what they think, just do it.

3. Feel again. Does it feel right? Then come on and actually take the step: buy the shoes, skip the classes! You are going to be such an incredibly happy person!
Does it feel wrong? Then don't do it. Put the money back in your wallet, tell your friend or your mother that you are not going to do it, and try to be happy again.

4. I still feel unhappy. I think that if you decided to do something, you won't really regret it. The worst thing that can happen (when you decided not to do something) is that you are still thinking about the other option. I know the feeling oh so well (feeling it at the moment), but now is the first time that it is okay to be rational: you know you've made the right decision. And the unhappy feeling will go away in time. Remember that you would have felt worse if you decided to do it.

And if you really, really feel it is better to be rational... than that will be the right thing for you to do!