1. A little bit of Nino

Hi! Welcome to my blog!

I have to admit that the expression "my blog" sounds quite weird to me, since I am not a blogger and I am totally new to this kind of communication. So, I cannot promise it will be a success but I will try my best! 

Having said that, I will start by presenting myself and giving you recent information about my most life (the whole life would be very long, since I am one of the oldest fellows in this group😕) and my studies, in order to get to know better (this means any comments to this post are welcome, I am very interested to know your life and work experiences).

Let's start! My name is Antonino, known as "Nino" since I was born. Why? Good question. I don't know. Probably because the second one sounds shorter, easier and funnier. Or probably beacuse calling someone tall almost 2 meters in a way that sounds like "little Antonio" is kind of awkward. Nevertheless, somebody in my hometown loves to call me "Ninuzzo", which means "little Nino" again! No way...moreover I think I was not born very tall, so I don't really know!  Anyway, now I am Nino and Nino is me, it is a perfect binomial, it could not have been in a different way.

People which calls me Ninuzzo lives in Valledolmo, a mountainous and sunny village located in the heart of Sicily. Agriculture is particularly prosperous in my hometown, thanks to the peculiar characteristics of soil and climate. Mother Nature has given to us such a big donation and we have always known how to exploit it in the best way. Nowadays, Valledolmo is an important centre for healthy and bio-food production entirely coming from raw materials of our territory: pasta, oil, tomato sauce, cheeses are just examples. Even if I have moved to different cities, I have not changed my habits: anywhere I have always enough homemade provisions!

I am a Civil Engineer and I studied at University of Palermo, where first I got my Bachelor Engineering and then my Master Engineering in 2016. Almost at the end of my studies, I had the opportunity to live one of the most beautiful experiences in my life: the ERASMUS. It was an incredible experience, in terms of mixture of languages, cultures, people, friends, growth, fun! Thanks to this experience now I have friends everywhere around the world! I really recommend it to everyone. Definitively it changed my mind, my points of view...my life (you will discover why)! In addition, if you are so lucky to get your Erasmus in Granada...everything is much more magic!

Later I moved to Bergamo, where I got my first work experience...as a teacher, a young teacher for young pupils. The location and the colleagues were amazing, but -mostly- the pupils. We had an unexpected relationship which left amazing memories. Of course, now they are my best and careful followers on Instagram😅! I am very happy to see our relationship still going on and how they keep me updated about their lives and choices. I hope, one day, to have another great experience like this!

On May last year, while working in Bergamo (and my Erasmus experience looked like a remote memory), I received a call from Giulia, a special friend, one of those I met during my studies in Granada. -Anto, why don't you apply for an European PhD? It is called SMARTI project, visit the website, the deadline is in 3 days!. -Giulia, It's a PhD, serious stuff, I need reference letters, an English CV, everything in 3 days...is impossible! And, Giulia, you know, little detail, I DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH!! Well, a month later I was flying towards Dublin and starting a super-super-super[...]intensive English course. After one month, exactly one year ago, I started this great experience with several challenges, obstacles, difficulties. Now here I am, living, writing and working in an English environment and...enjoying an additional opportunity that life reserved for me!

Chat to you soon!
Cheers,
Nino