La Vita e Bella

 

La Vita e Bella. This is a well known film, filled with the romance of things that matter most. Italians are proud of this film. Americans enjoy this film. The truth is, it's just plain good. And it also happened in Arezzo. My last travel destination.

The piazza from the film.

 

Although we planned to go to Verona, our plans were delayed due to motorbike week held in the city of love. Really, the two just don't go hand in hand. So, although we will still make it to Verona, this week we stayed in Tuscany.

 

I am glad we did. The day was perfect. The weather amazing, the city beautiful, and the company is quickly becoming my favorite.  We walked around the city at a slow comfortable pace. We took a late lunch of café e pasticceria (which Marco ate more of, since I am vegan.)



We viewed fantastic art, and rich history. We talked all day. We stopped on the way home for drinks with friends and dinner together. The romance of Italy is really kicking. Days become perfect, but go by to quickly. If only the best parts lasted for ever. Like the foam on the cappuccino.

La Vita e Bella



 

Not Exactly a Snow Day

I scroll down the newsfeed on my facebook. Back home, it looks like two weeks of no school due to -20 degrees F. Cold. Much snow. No one can drive due to mountains of snow. Kids jump for joy. Adults go out in this treachery to make a living.

Then there's Italy. No snow in Pisa. It's really not even that cold. It rains. Italians are terrified. Rain, o my. Yes, you will probably melt. Students here do not get the joy of a snow day.

But today, I woke up, got ready for work. Ate my vegan breakfast, and made my way to the bus stop. Early morning dread. Find out by a nice lady walking past...buses are not running. Story of my Italian life. Great, now I have to walk to work, and there will be no time for cappuccino di soia. Walking, walking, walking. Half way there, I get a call from my boss. Guess what, Italians are so afraid to get wet, the mayor said due to flooding, nothing can be open. I jump in the air. Do a small dance. Shout something only Americans would understand as spectacular. Walk back home.

No, in Italy, you will never get a snow day. But...you may get a rain day.

You are Not Nothing

Recently, at my work, I have had conversation classes with (one of) my favorite students. He is the first student I  met when I received my job, and for good reason.

In conversation we have been able to discuss Mark Twain, Italian poetry, antique art, faith, and life in general. He just so happens to be very insightful with his Italian state of mind.

Today, after discussing the Bible and our beliefs, we had general conversation about life.  After quoting a famous author, he told me, American have the right idea.  If you want to achieve something you can.  There is enough time (life is not too short as the saying goes...even if we sleep one third of it away.) If you work at it, you can be absolutely anything you want. The main issue is, you must have a specific target. Then he said, "You don't."

Well, dear student, you are absolutely correct. The problem is I am so easily influenced.  Usually by men, I forget to make a target for myself. It is happening again, even if under the microscope, with my new man (that I am enjoying being with very much.) I am, yet again, influenced.

So I asked him to tell me how can you set a target and go without influence.
"I don't know. I am old and have achieved nothing."
"Ok. Tell me what your target is?"
" I don't know. That is why I am nothing."

With this, my heart broke. How can he say he is nothing? How can he actually believe that? The conversations we have mean much to me. I am very blessed to have such a student.

Dear student, you may not realize the influence you have, but even 'normal people' are special to others. You are not nothing.

* I love my job. I love Italy.

Volterra...with a Double 'R'

The Hills of Tuscany from Volterra.

 

This is the only photo I took when in Volterra. The only one. Sorry. For those who have travelled with me, they know I must take my Canon Rebel T7 to get the best photos of the best places, to relive/make others slightly envious of my worldly travels. Well, I was a bit too distracted to do this. Reason: went with an Italian guy. Any good 'in Italy' movie will tell you-- pick one up while here. "When in Rome..."

 

As much as I am enjoying the company of this Italian gentleman, I must admit it really shows my lack of Italian understanding, pronunciation, and knowledge. Driving home from a day trip to Volterra, he asked "How do you say grass in Italian?" I missed pronounced the first syllable, but he pretended not to notice. "Ok, how do you say sky?" (Hmmm, well I say sky, but I think in Italy they have a different word for it. Man, this is hard. It's such a simple word. I really should know this one..)--"I don't know."

 

Lucky for me his knowledge of English is very high. I can actually communicate. Pity for me, my knowledge of Italian is basically non existent. Should I be hitting the books??? I will think of it over a TV show in English.



On the clock.

I read somewhere that a person my age only has 2,800 weekends left. This means I must get on travelling. That's only 2,800 places around the world. Right now, I live for my weekends and seem to be filling them pretty well. Viareggio, Firenze, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano, Livorno, Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Milano, Napoli, Pompeii, Como, Spain, Venezia, Germany, Austria, Garfagnana.

When I move back to the states, it will be pretty difficult to move around so much. This small fact makes me face my mortality, while reminding me how lucky I am to live in Italy. So after being striken with the flu bug, I must now force myself to be better. This weekend I need to go. Where??? Well, I didn't book my flight to Sicily, so probably not there. How about I finally go to Portofino, like I have been saying since October.

Say to the readers: Portofino is only one day. Weekends, thank God, are two. Vote where I should go for my second day. To Italians, make sure it is accessible by train from Pisa. To all others, make sure it is not a place I have already been. I need to rake up the places. Bucket List, done.

Foreign Flu

I am like a superhuman. Wonderwoman. Supergirl. Catwoman...ok, not Catwoman.  I have never, ever, ever got the flu. My immune system is top notch. No fear here, I'd lick the floor to prove it. I once refused a work bonus when employed at the hospital because I would not get the flu shot. Holistic. No flu shot. No flu.

...until now. In Italy. With Italian germs. So here are instructions for any foreigner living in Italy that contracts the flu.

1. Sleep in. Why not. You are tired. In fact, set your alarm for 8, and don't actually get out of bed until 11.

2. When taking the bus, don't breathe. Not even a little.

3. Ask a friend that speaks Italian and English, what medicine to buy.

4. When thus friend, asks the type of sickness, describe it well. "Um, my face is about to explode. I can't feel my eyes. Oh, I usually can't feel my eyes. Well, I am also getting confused."

5. Friend must write down correct medicine.

6. Go to a Farmacia. Marked with a lit up green cross. (Sorry red cross, you are not good enough in Italy.)

7. Say, "Parlo POCO Italiano. Questa e questa." Point to your note.

8. After buying the products return to friends house/work and ask for hot water.

9. "What, no hot water. The boiler looks as if there is lead paint for the 1970's. Ok, I will go to the bar."

10. At the bar as for l'acqua caldo per la medicina. Allow them to laugh when they give you a glass. Avoid eye contact when you pour in the medicine and make funny (this is disgusting) faces as you drink.

Now you are all better.

To Do or Not To Do

I am running into a dilemma as I do my resolutions. I have discovered something about myself that I really don't like. If I weren't me, and I met myself in the street I would not look with envy and say, "Man, I wish I was that girl."

I have found if taking something away that is bad for me will help me be better I am excellent at it. Food, friends, thoughts...whatever the case is, if it is negative, I can scratch it out.

If I have to add something to me that is good to make me better it is impossible. Running ( I haven't really ran since my parents came to Italy in October.) Waking up early. (I used to be a morning person, and Italy has ruined me of this.) Drinking water. (I just forget)

New Year's is now over, but maybe for lent, after a weekend in the canals of Venice, and Pancake Day, I will be able to say hello to something good for me.

*Special Note: I am really good at adding places to me. Places to go and see to make me better. Stay tuned to see where is next.

Not so Random, Deepish--thoughts

1. Right now I think. Of Italian culture. Of Tuscany. Of influence. I came to Italy hoping to escape influence and yet, it is here as well. I soeak British now.
Italy is a land influenced. The south by North Africa. Sardinia by Spain. The North by Germany and Switzerland. Yet in Tuscany there is pure Italian. Influenced by self. They have accomplished whqt I wish to.

2. I sit and read. I learn and become. I stare at antique places with such joy. Why is it I am so content looking at old things. What makes them beautiful. What makes them better than the things we creat today.
From Nabokov's book Speak Memory: "The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for ( at some forty five heartbeats an hour.)
This must be why. The tangible items were here before me. The calm. They will be here after me. The need for wine.

3. Wow the bell tower as I sit in the main square. Nothing extraordinary in Italian standards, yet it still makes me appreciate this time. This lunch break in a magnificent square. I will not have lunch in piazza when I return to the US so now I read. I enjoy. I relax. I admire.

4. On the bus on the way to town, to buy my bus pass :/ A woman started to talk with me.  She appreciated the US very much.  But she loved her Italy.  She told me when Italians speak it is as if you are listening to them sing.  What must it be like to love your culture, your language, your country, your life so much.  This is one thing I must discover about myself. To love where I am from, and not look back on it with a disgust.

5. Campanilismo. A word for people that live within the sound of the bell. The bell from the main church if town. They surround their lives by a sense of community. A home in Tuscany. 

6. I had it explained to me by a high level student today.  The differences in America and Italy boil down to the differences in thinking.  He said Americans are young, even old Americans.  We have youth inside us, that I believes comes from the desires and dreams we milk all the time. We want to be better, always. I have not decided if this is a good thing.
Italians on the other hand, are old. Even the young Italians.  They have a traditional sense to just enjoy food, or language, or art. Not striving to be better, but just a contentment with this time. La Dolce Vita.

I'm Back

Here I am, in Italy again. Filled with the same longing to travel that I first came to this country with 7 months ago. I only have 6 left, so please expect lots more traveling, more Italian, times with friends, and an all around better American expat.

I was shocked to discover how many of my co-workers did not think I would return to Italy. Apparently the banking in Pisa has driven me so crazy that I may have complained a little to much. Well, I am back and ready for more. What does this weekend hold.....stay tuned.

Nashville: The Next Destination

Yes! I am back in America, temporarily. And for this trip, I decided to invest some time in my culture. My country music loving best friend hugging culture. I went to Nashville for New Years.

Now I have made some plans to move here in my future. But for now, it was just a time to be with friends, do the touristy things, and dream big. So we did.

Nashville, for all my non-American readers, is the Music City of America. It is the creator of my favorite, country. A big city that feels small. A small town with huge dreams.  And here is where we journeyed:

Country Music Hall of Fame.

Ryman Auditorium

Margaritaville

Blue Bird Café

Our Awesome Hotel

Downtown

Honky Tonk

What I learned from this trip, other than southern is best...Kari cannot decide on one pair of boots, Megan does not know how to drive the speed limit, Dustin jay-walks, and I do not know my left from my right. Also, Nashville is the place where dreams come true, and a four bedroom home is less than $200,000.

Maybe my next big move will be here. Maybe there will be another blog about it. Stay tuned.