Chiuso per Ferie

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging, Italian life, Orsara di Puglia

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Chiuso per ferie = closed for holidays. Chiuso per ferie signs can be seen posted all over Italia in summer, especially in the weeks before and after Ferragosto, the 15th of August. I was not organized to post-date anything and was hoping I could publish a few posts with only my iPad and wifi, but i give up. Un po’ di pepe is now chiuso per ferie until mid August!

I have a chiavetta internet, which until this year, I used at home with a small laptop. I would load $ on it and use it for 1 month a year. The technology is old and it was not a great connection anyways, making it more frustrating than useful. I ended up wasting a lot of time, so this year, I decided to scrap it and just make do with wifi available at 3 bars in town.

Not so easy! My wifi access usually consists of a few stolen minutes here and there. When I sit at the bar with my espressino, inevitably, someone sees me sitting there and comes over to chat, which is awesome, and much more sociable than staring at a screen by myself. In the evening, I am usually at one of the bars, but with family or friends, so anything longer than a quick Instagram post is socially unacceptable.

One of the bars is at a crossroads, very close to my casa. I have to walk past it to get to most of the places I need to go, When I walk past, I walk really slowly and then I hear my pocket go ‘ding ding ding’ as all of my WhatsApp messages come in! I read them later, and respond when in wifi again.

I have been too busy socializing, taking photos and enjoying the fresh air in Orsara di Puglia to have time to keep up with reading blog posts, let alone deal with the technical issues of posting any. I have been posting frequently to Instagram and a bit on Facebook. If you want to see what I have been up to, check out my Instagram feed on the sidebar to the right. For now, consider me chiuso per ferie! Ciao da Orsara, Cristina

Terzo Bloghiversario!

25 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging

≈ 25 Comments

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Blogging, Inspiration

Caspita! Il tempo vola. Non ci credo che oggi Un po’ di pepe fa 3 anni! How time flies. I can’t believe it is already 3 years since publishing my first post on Un po’ di pepe, Perche Questo Blog?/Why Write a Blog? I do not know how I missed noticing this before, but today is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945. Viva la libertà! Next year I will write a post about Le Donne Partigiane-women who were partisans in the Italian Resistance.

I planned to celebrate by having a contest or giving away a print for Un po’ di pepe’s 200th follower, but I missed that too! Mannaggia! I will have to organize something for the 250th follower or the 100th post. This one is #85, so I do not need to rush.

This was another exciting blogging year. I wish I had time to post more often, but twice a month will continue to be the average. This year Un po’ di pepe finally got a Facebook page-the link is in the sidebar. I still prefer Instagram! My pronunciation guide Italiano per Ristoranti continues to be the most viewed post and a popular download. I have been doing research on how to turn it into an e-book.

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

I was nominated for a Liebster Award by Malberock. I love their description of my blog: ‘l’identità italiana in Canada spiegata ai canadesi, ma anche a noi italiani’! This could be my new tagline-grazie Malberock! The Liebster is a virtual award designed to increase the visibility of blogs that have less than 200 followers. Now that I am up to 211, I no longer qualify!

I have more posts about interesting stuff planned for the coming year, including more parole piacevoli, my experiences with dialetti and making bread starter. My next post will feature my amico, Peppe Zullo! While I am learning how to publish an e-book, I also plan to figure out how to post bits of my old home movies from our family trips to Italia. In June and August I will have a bancarella at the Italian Market, selling cards, etchings and other things I like to make. I also want to finally open an Etsy store, but I need to make inventory first.

Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to research and write about things that interest me! If you have any suggestions for posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment. I am going to sign off with a link to my second post, which needs some love-Il Gigante~Michelangelo’s David. Grazie a tutti per leggere e darmi una scusa per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Lasciami un messaggio se hai un idee per un post o se vuoi dice ‘ciao’. Un abbraccio, Cristina

Primo ‘Bloghiversario’

24 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Bilingual posts, Feste, Inspiration

≈ 22 Comments

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Blogging, Writing

Ciao Amici! Oggi facciamo ‘un po’ di festa’ perché è il primo ‘bloghiversario’ di Un po’ di pepe! Today is a bit of a celebration as it’s Un po’ di pepe’s 1 year ‘bloghiversary’! Exactly 1 year ago today I finally hit the blue ‘Publish’ button. The year has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was struggling to find a blog name that was available and also relevant and meaningful for me. I couldn’t believe that ‘Ciao Cristina’ and everything else I could think of was taken. Mannaggia! The frustration was worth it though, because ‘Un po’ di pepe’ is an awesome blog name.

What has this year been filled with? 27 blog posts, 94 subscribers, 2450 views, an average of 7 visitors per day, and lots and lots of ideas and inspiration. One of my blogging highlights was when my cugino Biagio told me that he used my 2^nd post ‘Il Gigante-Michelangelo’s David’ to teach his class on Renaissance history. Isn’t that molto cool?

Thank you all so much for reading and for giving me an excuse to write about stuff I love and share my images. You know….’Devo fare ricerca per il blog'(I need to do research for my blog) is my new reason to do all the things I want to do! It has been a wonderful experience so far! Please leave a comment if you have suggestions for posts, or you just want to say ‘ciao’.

Un abbraccio, Cristina

Ciao Amici! Oggi facciamo un po’ di festa perché è il primo ‘bloghiversario’ di ‘Un po’ di pepe’! Non ci posso credere che sia passato già un anno da quando ho premuto ‘Publish’. Sembra solo ieri che mi preoccupavo di trovare un nome per il blog, perché ‘Ciao Cristina’ non era disponibile. Mannaggia! Trovare un nome alternativo è diventanto un vero grattacapo ma quella travagliata ricerca è valsa la pena perché, dopo tutto, trovo che ‘Un po’ di pepe’ sia un nome stupendo per il mio blog.

Di che cosa è stato fatto quest’anno? 27 post, 94 iscritti, 2450 viste, una media di 7 persone al giorno che guardano il blog, moltissime idee e tanta ispirazione. Uno dei momenti più esiliranti per me è stato quando mio cugino Biagio m’ha detto che aveva usato il mio primo post, ‘Il Gigante-Michelangelo’s David’, nell’insegnamento del suo corso di storia rinascimentale. Che figata!

Grazie a tutti per continuare a leggere e per avermi dato una scusa per usare le foto che ho scattato e per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Ormai posso usare la scusa ‘devo fare ricerca per il blog’ per tutto quello che voglio fare. Lasciatemi un messaggio se avete delle idee per un post o se volete semplicemente dire ‘ciao’.

Un abbraccio, Cristina