Hi everyone, nice to meet you! I’m Imma, a new member of Steemit. I will share with you my stories, my experiences, my ideas and I promise to exchange my point of view with all of you!

Me in Beco do Batman, the street art district in Sao Paulo

I spent my adolescence in an amazing city dug in the rocks, Matera. It is the fourth oldest city in the world and has been awarded as the European Capital of Culture in 2019. The enigmatic and timeless atmosphere that you can breathe walking in the old part of the city has no price. Maybe, this is why Mel Gibson choose Matera to represent the Passion of Christ with its huts excavated in the caves.

Matera and its charming atmosphere!

Me with the panoramic view

Despite the charm of my city, it’s no easy to live in such a small city of South Italy. In fact, its geographic position has never favored the communication with rest of the country. This is why when I was 18 years old I moved to Bologna where I started my real life in an international context. I attended the Bachelor in Disciplines of art, music and performative arts (DAMS).

I deepened my fascination for art and it brought me to discover Brussels, another international city, really important from the artistic point of view, where I spent 6 months during my Erasmus exchange. Brussels is not only the “carrefour” of Europe for its position on the map, it’s not just the capital of the European Union, rather, it is an incredible environment for performing art and jazz music. In fact, I discovered a new world where I found the ideal conditions for my weel-being. I lived my Belgian life dancing jazz music surrounded by contemporary art. In few months I met all the jazz musicians and we became close friends. I really enjoyed it!

My friends Filippo, Nicola, Armando and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse during the presentation of the album "Disorder at the border" at the Bravo Café in Brussels

So I continued to study, but my lovely Bologna began to be too small for me. So after the graduation in Italy I decided to come back to Brussels where I focused my studies in Visuals Art and Social Sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). During this period I travelled all around Europe and I felt so happy meeting new people, discovering other cultures, losing myself in places that I didn’t know before!

Well, while my academic career was moving to an end and I was writing my thesis, I bought a flight ticket to Brazil. I decided to start my first solo-travel of 3 months. My objective was to discover the artistic scene of the city of São Paulo, and then I would have moved to Uruguay and Argentine.

In São Paulo I lived at the 25th floor of the Copan, a famous building made by Oscar Niemeyer. I met some interesting urban artists as Apolo Torres, Paulo Ito, Michel Onguer that through their art represent and criticize the social, political and economic situation of the Brazilian society. With my boyfriend Roberto we interviewed them in order to write some articles for some Italian magazines. It was so amazing and fascinating to enter in contact with this reality through the art.

The living room in the Copan building

Me, Martina, Thai and Giovanni with Paulo Ito and his dog Shody in the atelier of Vila Pompeia, São Paulo

A Paulo Ito' mural in Vila Madalena, São Paulo

Moreover, I knew Cripta Djan, famous for realizing “pixo” or “pixaçao”, another urban expression. It is a form of mural calligraphy typical from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It represents a “tagging” action made from the poorest people of the cities in a cryptic language.

An example of "pixo" on the ancient Federal Police building in the city center of São Paulo

Later, we started our travel across Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentine visiting Florianopolis, Foz do Iguaçu with its amazing falls, Ciudad del Este, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. From this last city my boyfriend took the airplane to come back to Europe and I decided to start again with another experience: to dip me in the city and to sustain myself economically working in a hostel, the magic Portal del Sur. I worked there for 1 month and I really enjoyed this welcoming city. Mostly, I understood that traveling and discovering different cultures through the artistic expressions could be the best way to live this world. Especially, working in a hostel can be an amazing way to live in a new place and meet locals and travelers.

Me and my boyfriend Roberto at the beginning of the trip

Me during the meeting with a sea star in one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Lopes Mendes

Me and Roberto with our friends Franco from Paraguay and Fiona from Australia in a nice shot of the Foz de Iguazu, Brazilian side

A breathtaking shot of the falls from the Argentinean side

Me with Giovanni and Thai in Florianopolis in the South of Brazil

Me in a desert beach in Uruguay

The breakfast room in the Portal del Sur of Buenos Aires

My friends Daniel and Manuela and some travelers in the balcony of Portal del Sur

When I came back to Europe I started the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program in Madrid. My idea is to create, one day, an artistic space where artists and travelers can stay, enjoy the local atmosphere and discover the artistic scene of the city. So I started to work at the Ok Hostel which, according to hostelworld.com, it is the second best large hostel in the world. So, I made my trip continuing!

Me at Ok Hostel Madrid during a check-in of one of our guests

Me at the bar of the hostel

The social dinner in the Ok Hostel

Now, this new year is started and I want to follow the jazziest Duke Ellington advice: “The only constant is change”. I want to discover the creative side of Madrid, a city of colours, of harmony between cultures and of people that made you feel at home.

The social space of "Mercado de la Cebada" in the city center of Madrid

The "Mercado de la Cebada" during the anniversary of Mexico's Independence

The artistic space "La Tabacalera" in Madrid