What 2020 meant for my career
In March 2020, as the world screeched to a halt, I was rejected at the last stage of a year-long hiring process for my dream job. It was a hard hit. I loved everything about the idea of getting that job. The position sounded fun and creative, it was in New York City, and the people I’d met during the process seemed like the perfect teammates. Most of all, I would work as a linguist.
A bit of necessary context. I had been a linguist all my life. My background is in Computational Linguistics. For years, I’d been part of…
“I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.”
If you’ve never taken a ferry to a Greek island, I strongly suggest you do so at least once in your life. When the trip is several hours long, and the boat is big, you’ll likely get to doze off on a comfy seat. If you’re lucky, you’ll also get to go out on deck and feel the salty, sunny Aegean air on your cheeks. …
I always knew I’d live in a beautiful home. While this has probably everything to do with being the daughter of two architects, I don’t necessarily define the beauty of a home by any given design or architectural standards. In my adult life, I’ve inhabited three incredibly different rental apartments in two countries, yet all of these homes have been deeply beautiful to me.
As a tenant, I always found that decorating rental apartments is a constant compromise between the soul of the home and your own. While it surely is an act of love towards the home, it is…
I moved to Lisbon two years ago. It’s crazy. I remember leaning against a wall in Graça, looking over the city. It was my first week in Portugal. The horizon was an orange line in the distance, which the silhouette of the bridge embellished with black lines and distant glimmers. The castle was dark and majestic, towering over sultry palaces and ragged homes alike. As with a Flemish painting, the eye never tired of exploring every tiny detail of the view. The only problem, I thought, was that it looked a lot like a postcard. …
Venerdì sarà il secondo anniversario del mio trasloco a Lisbona. Tempo fa mi ricordo di essermi appoggiata ad un muretto a Graça — sarà stata la mia seconda settimana in Portogallo — per ammirare la città. L’orizzonte era una linea arancione decorata dalla silhouette nera del ponte. Il castello, scuro e maestoso sulla sinistra, torreggiava su palazzi pombalini e case diroccate. Come di fronte a un dipinto fiammingo, gli occhi non si stancavano di cercare dettagli. Era bellissimo. L’unico problema, pensavo, è che avevo l’impressione di essere in una cartolina. …
Alice Bracchi
Linguist, writer, photographer
