my first award! yeah!

i got an 'honest scrap' award by my friend claudia from guatemala today. thanks sweetie, it was unexpected and it surely made my day! i am honoured that my little corner in the blogosphere has been liked to the point of scoring such a prize. it's very rewarding.

since this award calls to list ten unknown facts about the recipient, here are mines.

10 things you did not know about elda

1. i have a terrible fear of snakes. this phobia is so deep that even viewing a picture of them gives me the creeps. it's stupid because usually snakes aren't aggressive creatures towards humans, they just run and hide when they corner us and they only bite you if you happen upon them and threaten them in some way. see? i'm feeling uncomfortable even to write about them, so i better keep this short!

2. i had a bad car crash back in 1993 and i was in the territory between life and death for a few minutes. i was in a white country, very peaceful, calm and absolutely not painful where i kept walking, feeling content, curious and not scared at all. a voice was becoming more insistent, i followed it and it ended up bringing me back. i still have very vivid memories of those moments, like if it happened yesterday.

3. my 2 grandfathers passed away in the same year, with only a 3 months gap difference between them. it was devastating because i was attached to both of them. they were my guides. my maternal one 'waited' for me to come back from spain to see me one last time and then passed away. i believe this is the greatest thing someone has made for me so far.

4. i used to have 87 penfriends, whom i wrote to very regularly.

5. i gave up piano lessons because of my hand warts. the teacher made me feel so uncomfortable and embarrassed, with her mad belief that piano players were to be judged by the beauty of their hands rather than by their talent. i had my warts removed later by a surgical curettage that left me permanent scarring. my mother told me it wasn't painful. it utterly was instead, and i never trusted her again. because of this big lie, i'm always honest with my baby now.

6. i suffered from ingrown toenails for many years. it was extremely painful and quite bothersome but i still managed to do sports and even ballet classes. i had to give them up when it was time for pointe. even if i was ready, pointe shoes were too hard on my nails.

7. when i was small i looked very chinese/japanese. one of the few childhood pictures i have was taken in switzerland during a family trip and it portaits me with a japanese couple. i truly looked like their baby!    

8. i was in the soprano division of a choir back in my university years. 

mmmh, what else? i'm running out of things here ... oh yes!

9. i never borrowed any money. don't ask me why, but it gives me enormous pride.

10. i could kill if someone bullied my baby.

this award also asks to pass it on to a number of blogger friends. though every single one of my friends out there deserves an award for their amazing blogs, i have to prioritize and so i nominate:

claudia at claudia's desk and sandra at elephant lover, because i love them and their blogs are interesting, passionate and personal;

bobby at big rock cat and at her flickr photostream, for her daily adventures and thoughts of a free-spirited writer and photographer;

claudia at museworthy, for her affirmation of beauty and the trascendant power of art from life.

thanks again for you award claudia. i love you, bella! :)