The sound of a silent fight


It was six o’clock when Mr and Mrs Dupont faked to sleep. The day before Mr Dupont had told his wife they must move into Ivory Coast because the banana company, in which he worked, was relocated. Mrs Dupont had answered that she did not want to leave her family and her friends. But he did not react at all as if the decision was already made.

Actually Mrs Dupont was a lonely woman and did not care about leaving France but she did not want to live with black people. Effectively she was racist but refused to admit it. After these few words, they did not say a word during the whole evening and even not during the night…

When the alarm clock beeped at 7 o’clock, Mrs Dupont jumped up without any look towards her husband. She opened the window and heard the wind, which rustled in the trees. She asked herself if there was as much wind in Ivory Coast. She felt sad. Then, she went to the bathroom to take a shower. When she started to undress, she heard a bee buzzing and thought that she would get used to the insects presence in Ivory Coast. This morning of winter, Mrs Dupont’s mood was getting worse and worse.

Furthermore, behind the creaking door of the bathroom, she could see her husband sleeping deeply. Why did she accept everything without any rebellion? Finally, Mr Dupont opened the eyes and said : « How are you this morning, my dear ? ». He seemed to have completely forgotten what happened the day before. Mrs Dupont tried to focus on the tingle of her bracelets not to be angry. But Mr Dupont did not take into account her behaviour, stood up and took his coins, which jingled with each other. Mrs Dupont was now angry and started to fulminate against her hausband. His absence of reaction was simply unbearable. She could not bear it anymore. She stared at him and said her first words of the day but although her last words to her hausband: « I won’t live with indigenous people ! ». She took her coat and banged the main door of their charming cottage.




When I was writting this story, I thought about this song I love. Enjoy it !


Paul McCartney

Ebony and Ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano
Keyboard, Oh Lord, Why don't we?

We all know that people are the same where ever we go
That is good and bad in ev'ryone,
We learn to live, we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive together alive

Ebony and Ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano
Keyboard, Oh Lord, Why don't we?

Ebony, Ivory living in perfect harmony
Ebony, Ivory, Ooh

We all know that people are the same where ever we go
That is good and bad in ev'ryone,
We learn to live, we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive together alive

Ebony, Ivory living in perfect harmony (repeat and fade)

Are you totally fond of chocolate ?


Do you first think about eating chocolate when you’re hungry ? Is it impossible for you not to eat chocolate during one whole day ? Is it extremely difficult for you not to eat all your christmas chocolates before the new year ? Do you often dream of chocolates ?

If you answered « yes » to any of the above questions, then there are many chances that you are a chocoholic. A chocoholic can be defined as someone who is dependent on eating all different kinds of chocolate. The main symptoms are a compulsion to eat everything which is made up of chocolate, which takes precedence over any other food. A chocoholic can suffer from withdrawal symptoms if there isn’t any possibility to eat chocolate which leads to bad mood, irritability and even nastiness. Indeed, in some extreme cases, the chocoholic can steal chocolate from anyone who has some. Moreover, if the chocoholic refuses to eat anything else than chocolate, he can suffer from trembling due to the lack of sugar. The root of the problem, as with many addictions, is the desire to escape from its problems, such as stress, lonelyness and anxiety. The first consequence of this problem can be to put on much weight at the point to suffer from obesity. So the chocoholic stays at home trying to hide his addiction from others and enters into a vicious circle : the more he feels lonely, the more he eats chocolate and doesn’t want to go out…


So what can you do if you think you may be a chocoholic ? Be courageous and accept to be confronted with others : go out for a walk, phone your friends and your family. Try not to focus on the chocolate. That is to say don’t remove completely the chocolate because you risk to be terribly frustrated. But set yourself a target : 2 pieces of chocolate per day and not more ! Help yourself not buying more than one chocolate bar per week. Above all, the key is to have the support of people you care. Communicate with them ! Explain them that you suffer from chocolate dependence : recognize it ! Tell them you need to be encouraged and tell them not to offer you chocolate anymore under the pretext you could die for it ! ! !



salon du chocolat 2008 in Paris

OSMIZA ADDICT

Do you spend over two or three days a week in the osmiza? When do you book for a dinner for only five or six people you always find out that other twenty people joined the company? Do you frequently can't stand after a dinner there? Have you ever vomited in the field around it? Have you ever received a serenade by an old drunk man?

If the answer to all these questions is yes, you officially are an "Osmiza Addict"! An Osmiza addict is someone who can't resist the urge to go to an Osmiza.

For all those who are not italian an Osmiza is a tipical kind of tavern, widespread expecially in the north-east of Italy. It is called also Frasca.In this place you can eat and get drunk with a maximum of 5 euros. The Osmiza represents the old Italy, the old meeting-places. In fact when you go there you find expecially old people.

You cannot refuse an invitation if someone is planning a dinner there! You have to go....you want to go.....you can't manage to say no, even if you have an exam the following morning!!!!!

The problem is that an Osmiza can cause dependence because of the home-wine

and the food produced by the owners themselves!

Every times you go there you can't avoid to drink and eat untill you are more then full! You have to pay attention to go to the Osmiza more than 3 times a week or the path to obesity will be really short!

Also for the old people who go there it is really dangerous because they start drining at 3h or 4h pm untill midnight when it closes.

It is impossible for an Osmiza addict to recover completely, wherever you go you look for a place like that but any other place is comparable to it. For all these reasons, as it is impossible trying not to go there, try to go always with a lot of friends: there will be at least one of them who can take you home if you are not able to. More, try not to eat a lot during the day so you can eat everything you want at dinner!

SPRITZ ADDICT

Do you meet every day your friends at 5 o’ clock for the “Spritz Hour”? Can’t you resist drinking less than 1 Spritz a day? When you see an Aperol bottle do you think immediately –SPRITTZZZZ-? Do you return every day for dinner at home a little bit drunk after the “Spritz hour”?

If you answered “YES” to any of these questions you are, without any doubt, a Spritz Addict!! A Spritz Addict is someone who can’t resist at the Spritz temptation. But maybe, if you are not Italian, you are asking yourself what is this strange thing with this strange name. The Spritz is a typical Italian drink, common, above all, in the north regions. It is made by Prosecco (an Italian wine), Aperol and a slice of orange. However in Italy it isn’t only a drink, it is a tradition among the young generations. At 5 or 6 o’clock, every day, the meeting point is the most famous bar of your city. If you are working, studying or doing something else you have to stop your activity and join your friends. Chips, oliveS, small pizza’s slices, small sandwiches (in Italian “tramezzini”, is a little bit different from a sandwich)…all these things are part of the “Spritz hour”.

Which is the problem? Spritz is an alcoholic drink and like all the other alcoholic drinks can cause dependence. The last step of this dependence is: the Alcoholism. A lot of mortal accidents can result from the big quantity of alcohol in the blood, and when someone has to drive to go at home… the damage is done!!! Attention also to your digestive apparatus, alcohol is not a good thing. But alcohol isn’t the only problem. The food is full of kalories and, eaten every day, from the young age (13 years old) leads to obesity in the adults.

For all these reasons be careful with the Spritz: It is not the same thing as drink water. You can meet, anyhow, your friends just to drink a coffee, a lemonade or a coca; it is better and less dangerous. If you can’t resist to the Spritz temptation, don’t drive, you could cause problems also to other people. And the last thing is: if you would like an athletic body to show on the beaches, try to avoid the fat foods and wait your healthy domestic dinner to eat.