After I came back home one of the first things I did was pick up my violin.
I haven't played in a while as I wasn't home and I have missed the feeling of the instrument in my hands.
I started simply by playing scales, then went up to my favourite Disney songs.
I can hear the difference between my play in late July and now, and it has been only a month. I would not say that my progress disappeared, of course, it didn't. I will just need a week or two to remind my mussels of the way of playing.
I spend the entirety of last week on a yacht with my friend's family. I love sailing - the wind, water, sails, and you. It's just perfect.
During the cruise, I spent a lot of time swimming in the water with my friend's siblings, playing and moving on a stand-up paddle, and just overall enjoying the Italian sea.
However, my favourite and most important part of the yacht trip was sailing. I was surprised to find out I am one of the better-prepared people there, in terms of knowledge of sailing itself. And I was delighted when the wind finally appeared.
We switched from the engine to sail power and I got hold of the store. The navigating was very different from what I'm used to as it was a big yacht and on the sea, not the lake. It took me a while to feel the boat and start making it go where I wish, but as that happened everything was perfect.
I realized I have a lot to learn in terms of sailing on a big boat - my experience is mostly on optimists and Mazury yachts, but I also had so much fun. I learned something from the captain of our ship and I'd like to believe he has learned something from me as well.
It was an unforgettable experience!
During the trip with my family, I do not have the possibility to practice violin, however, I am intensely thinking about it. I listen to a lot of music, trying to wake up my imagination, think about sounds and art in general.
On the family holidays, I had thought of and posed on pictures, some of which came up really artistic. My dad loves taking pictures of me and my sister so I decided to help him by being a model and giving ideas. The picture I post here is of me and my sister misholding the Tower of Pisa.
This week I finally got to swim in the sea!!
As I have written in my previous post my family and I were going to the seaside and this week this is where we've been. Every day I have been either in the sea or in the large outdoor swimming pool included with our apartment.
I LOVE swimming and have missed it very much. In the pool, I have been swimming back and forth for a while as the water was warm, deep (over 2m), and just amazing. I was always convincing at least one of my parents or sister to go with me, so we also enjoyed each other company in the pool. This is what makes the holidays real!
We have also been to the beach where I got into the sea. It was really cold, but still very much fun!
Of course, while swimming in the sea one must remember to always be careful of currents and them alike, not to wind up in some dangerous situation.
Today in the morning I went scuba diving with my dad and my sister. We drove a while to the scuba center and after that transported with them to the diving spot.
We have dived with two other divers and one divemaster. She was really nice and showed us a lot of exciting animals underwater. Although I was extremely excited to dive in Spain I was surprised to find out that the water was weirdly cold. The person from the scuba center explained to us that it was water from the ocean that mixed with the usually warm water of the Mediterranean Sea.
Because of that, I made only one dive, instead of two as I did not feel comfortable enough to get into the water again. This is a part of being a diver - to be safe one must dive responsibly, without forcing or lying to oneself.
Despise coldness I had so much fun on the dive I did do! I saw an octopus and a jellyfish among other sea creatures like fishes, tiny sea snails, and starfish.
I love diving and believe I am learning something new from each and every dive.
On our way to the seaside, we have decided to make a stop at Giblartar (which of course is at the seaside as well) where we went trekking on the hill called Rock of Gibraltar. I do not know if it can be called a mountain but I do know that it is 426m high and the paths on it have over 8km. I am not sure how much we walked, but it was a large portion of them.
Even though it was so exciting to be there the walk turned out to be pretty tiring, but definitely worth it.
From this experience, I have learned a lot about Gibraltar, and macaques, but what is more important I was exercising even or especially on holidays and I decided that I believe there should be more places like the Rock instead of zoos. It was amazing to see those animals in nature, not caged and living a free life.
Today at the Amnesty International meeting we discussed the violence that meets sportspeople in Belarus.
Because of the Olympiad, which causes a lot of publicity the sportspeople in Belarus were a target of oppression. They are being persecuted for their political views, arrested and bad-treated.
There even were cases when they were arrested at the airports. Athletes are looking for asylum in nearby countries, like Poland. It is the next of many situations where Belarus had broken and still is breaking human rights.
