… since I last wrote. It’s been twelve days now – yikes! So here is what happened, the unfortunate reason behind my unexpected silence: INTERNET WOES. Simple, yes, but still sad – and after I was on such a roll too!
Our network is experiencing long term difficulties and the failure has caused no end of troubles, especially since there are projects, papers, and communications that must happen despite the lack of wireless. Thankfully, all seem to be handling the situation with an appropriate amount of humor. Yes, we are all annoyed by the near constant inconveniences that come up each day, but at least we are laughing about it :)
The funny thing is, an open neighboring network was quickly discovered by Dr. Webb and me – and now we are all using her! She’s everyone’s newest best friend – Alice, we call her, for that is actually her name (although it is pronounced ah-LEE-chay). Alice is an internet provider here and last weekend I actually saw a commercial for it and pointed to the screen, squealing, “HEY! It’s Alice!” Anyway, thanks to our new friend, we can get just enough internet to check email and surf slowly, but it cuts out on a regular basis so there is still plenty of fodder for jokes/complaints regarding the situation.
Here is the truly funny thing though: since it’s a neighboring system, only one side of the palazzo gets it – as in, literally one wall. Well, it just so happens to be the back wall of Dr. Webb’s apartment, the student kitchen, and, ahem, my little bedroom (and bathroom!). Convenient for me, yes? Absolutely! But not so nice for le ragazze, so the students have been lining the kitchen counters, hanging out in my bathroom, and sitting on my floor to get some internet. I am not kidding! Guarda …
Anyway, so until a solution is reached, it seems I will be having more company than usual! It’s so cute really, and I don’t mind a bit. Right now I’m just thankful that Alice is running strong enough for me to access Blogger and post this update – I couldn’t get the page to load at all last week!
But enough about the internet. Basta! I’m sorry it has already eaten up so much space when there is this much to update you all on, but I wanted to give you an explanation so no one was under the impression that they were being neglected for gallivants around the Italy (however, there has been a bit of gallivanting going on – just this past weekend to be honest)! In the interest of time and the preservation of my fingers, I will not attempt to tell you everything … but I will do my best to remember back and jot down the highs and lows, as well as a few other odd points of interest that rest between those two extremes. Consider this entry a blog of “snippets,” for that is all I have time to attempt I’m afraid :)
The weekend before last (when the internet first failed), we were fortunate enough to attend the fall edition of the Balestra, a Robinhood-esque competition that takes place every fall and spring between Sansepolcro and another nearby city, Gubbio.
There are parades, flag throwing performances, constant drumming, pasta festivals, and a cut-throat rivalry (think UNC vs. Duke, but with everyone in medieval dress). It was incredible to witness!
And we even had great seats – thanks to Sara. I will post more pictures on picasa as soon as I can get enough bandwidth to support the videos (don’t know if Alice is up for that task). You simply have to see it to understand/believe it! Sort of like Cornhuskin’ …
Another thing you have to see (or taste, rather) to believe, is the pasta at my favorite little hole-in-the-wall trattoria, Le Mura. This is the same place I got the sage and butter ravioli at a few weeks back – remember? Well this time I went with Chelsea, the evening of the Balestra, and we both picked a different pasta dish and then split them. I got a spicy spaghetti dish, which basically consisted of long, angel-hair pasta tossed in red pepper, olive oil, and garlic … probably my favorite way to eat spaghetti! Fulvia used to make it for me a lot last semester while I was in Siena, and I was so glad to find a place that serves it. Chelsea ordered my longtime favorite dish at the trattoria – homemade gnocchi in a cheesy casserole with tiny little shrimp simply bursting with flavor – and so I got to eat some of that again, which was equally wonderful. Goodness, just writing about it makes me want to go back there tonight for dinner …
Watching the kids, eating out-of-this-world Italian cuisine, and drinking in the breathtaking scenery that surrounds me are my three favorite simple joys of life here. The fourth? Well, I’ve indulged in a bit of reorganizing … furniture reorganizing. See, my little bedroom is not a perfect square, so various pieces of furniture, such as my bed and the nightstand, will not ever be flush to the wall. This may not seem like a big deal to most, and well, it isn’t … but some of us struggle with accepting such inconsistencies more than others! The way I see it is, this is just another part of living in a palazzo that is more than twice as old as my home country. And well, there is some added personality and character to a room that isn’t “normal,” so it’s growing on me. But I have experimented with the arrangement some here and there, and am quite pleased with the current setup …
One aspect of the room I have not embraced so wholeheartedly is the frequency of visitors. Every night, around 7:30 or 8:00 without fail, little friends from the outdoors creep in from who knows where and conduct their own miniature passeggiata, making use of my walls, floors, and ceiling as if they were theirs, not ahem, mine. Now, as a child I absolutely loved rolly-polly bugs and thought they were just as cute as they could be, but now that they have become nightly drop-ins I have grown quite tired of them. I’m not sure where they come from – maybe I don’t want to know – but they appear no matter what. Whether the window is open or closed, it makes no difference! Oh well, as always, it really could be so much worse. Rolly-pollies really are amiable little creatures, and after all, I could be dealing with something like spiders instead! I’d probably retreat and let them have the room before willingly sleeping in the same space as them …
In a way though, I am glad for these little slices of reality that cut into this seemingly heavenly life in Tuscany I am leading. The sock wars, the internet woes, the lonely moments, the missing of loved ones back home … they keep my feet on the ground, spark a rush of renewed thankfulness for all the wonderful gifts I have so graciously been given, and remind me to enjoy each moment here.
That reminds me of one morning last week, when I was walking to Sara and Patrizio’s in the rain. For one reason or another, it had already been a low morning for me: I was tired, I wasn’t looking forward to the battles over socks or the third and fourth cookies that shouldn’t be eaten, and then, of course, the rain just made me even less thrilled about leaving my warm bed and our snug Palazzo apartments. I spent the walk up praying, trying to clear my head and my heart before getting to Veronica, and as I approached the last corner the turnaround swept over me like a warm hug. To my left, I saw a long row of various flowers – ones that I had often noticed and admired – but this morning they were stunning. Absolutely glorious in color! The rain, as it so often does, had taken their beauty and enhanced it tenfold. The glistening moisture dripping off the petals was leaving them wet, yes, but ever so much more beautiful that they had been the day before when surrounded by sunshine. It was like I had only just then woken up, like I’d been in a cloud until then! Because it suddenly hit me that that is exactly what the rain in our lives can be like: it drenches us, leaving us wondering what hit us, and what on earth are we going to do next … but in the end, we are more beautiful on the inside, more radiant and strong and nourished because of the storm, and that is something worth smiling about, isn’t it? So instead of feeling mopey and tired for that last minute of my trek, I felt light, invigorated, and ready for whatever was coming next, sock wars and all. I’ve never so appreciated the beauty of a rainy morning …
I’ve made other treks, longer ones, since I last wrote. The Saturday before last, a small group of us went to Citta’ di Castello, led by Dr. Webb and John Rose on a morning outing. It was quite lovely! We arrived mid-morning and walked around a bit before indulging in a delicious cappuccino at a little café in the main piazza. A little bit later we all made our way over to a restaurant for lunch, which lasted at least two hours, I think. Or so it seemed! There was some disorder about the plates because the place was pretty busy and we were a bit group, but there were no complaints and everyone handled the inconvenience beautifully.
After lunch I wandered about the little town with the students, peeking in on the ancient town hall and the local cathedral before settling in at a pretty little park to capture the gorgeous scenery that surrounds the walled city. More pictures to come soon! I will try to upload some this afternoon …
Then this past weekend the group made a trip to Firenze (Florence), and despite the forecast had a full weekend of sunshine (it rained buckets and buckets a few minutes after I returned to Arezzo to catch the bus home to Sansepolcro on Sunday, but I didn’t mind by that point!). Since this was my fourth time, I was a bit unsure of what to do with myself at first. There is always the option of going back and re-seeing the sights and museums I have enjoyed before (the gorgeous collection in the Uffizi, Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia, the Boboli gardens behind the Palazzo Pitti, the Bargello museum … it’s hard to say no!), but I am trying to stick to a pretty tight budget this time, and since I have had the privilege of seeing them once before, I decided to say no to re-paying entry fees and instead content myself with simply enjoying the city and its “on the house” delights.
Thus, after a truly lovely evening out with Dr. Webb, John Rose, and Mary Susan Friday night, I spend most of Saturday and Sunday either sitting in various piazzas to think, read, and journal or walking about the city in an “aimless” fashion that I quite enjoyed! I spent nearly all of Saturday morning in the Piazza della Signoria, a good little space of the afternoon wandering about with Amanda, and then a half hour or so in Santa Croce that evening. The next day I did the same sitting and relishing bit in the Piazza di Santo Spirito and the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, and it was just wonderful! I think one sees so much more that way, when there is time to do so and there’s no pressure to see this, that, or the other, and I think I got a much better idea of the personality and feel of Firenze as a city this time around – and I genuinely like her now, which is a relief of sorts, because I didn’t at first! I know that must sound funny to most people. What? You didn’t like Florence? However not?! I don’t know. The first time was rushed and hectic and in high tourist season, so I don’t think we got off to a great start. That makes me even happier to find that I truly like her now! First impressions can be so off you know. I mean, if Elizabeth had held fast to her original feelings for Mr. Darcy, where on earth would we be then? Oh Lizzy …
I still see my old man friend with the pretty dog nearly every day, or at least every other day (the one who told me to walk on the left side of the road). Little friends I’ve made like him, the lady who owns the music store across from the palazzo, and the kindly nonnas in the park have quickly become highlights of my morning walks with Veronica …
Speaking of Veronica … she is letting me kiss, tickle, and cuddle with her now. Success! Today she even curled up next to me and laid her little head against my arm while we watched Gli Aristogatti (The Aristocats) …
It’s not all cuddles and kisses though. Some mornings (especially Mondays) she still throws an all out hissy fit when Sara and Patrizio leave the house with Leo and Gigia. She has certainly got some lungs in that little body! The good thing is, the recovery time seems to be decreasing and, as I mentioned above, once the initial trauma has passed she is actually quite affectionate with me …
That takes me back to a mental breakthrough I had early last week: good parenting, and good nannying too, I believe, seems to require an absolute dying to what you want. I never viewed it this way, but now I am pretty thoroughly convinced that this is fact (perhaps even cross-stitch pillow worthy, if I could find the right phrasing). I used to think that as a nanny or a parent one needed to hold fast to what you wanted over what the child wanted, in order to relay the message that you are in charge and they must heed you (as a nanny I’ve found this to be particularly important from a safety perspective, for if they don’t listen at the wrong moment, the child’s life could be in danger). But here’s the catch – sometimes, you don’t even want what you originally wanted. I’ve found myself going from wanting Veronica to wear shoes to, mid-all out war, finding that I don’t really care whether she wears them or not … I just want the kicking, screaming, and public humiliation to stop, please! So you see, it’s not about what you want at all, it’s about what is best for the child long term, and in the case of the shoes, it was vital that I follow that battle through and win it – otherwise I’d be fighting it anew each and every time it was time to wear them. The method is not a fun one, and the carrying out is not a neat, predictable process, but I am convinced that the hard-lining technique will prove to be the most beneficial to both me and the child in question at the end of the road. Until then, I have to keep asking the good Lord to grant me extra patience in the meantime …
Another testing of my patience is less concrete – literally. The trying element hangs over my head, drifts into my breathing passages, and floats in and out of my path unexpectedly, never content to let me be! I speak, of course, of smoke. It’s everywhere. You wouldn’t believe how prominent it is in Italy. Someone said yesterday that if smoking were suddenly banned in North Carolina, our tobacco industry could still make out like bandits off the demand for cigarettes over here. It’s incredibly sad, but also difficult and potentially quite disastrous for individuals like me who are particularly sensitive to the fumes. I’ve already had a few of those terrible headaches over here – two of which I’m certain were migraines – and each of them I could trace back to either extended or concentrated exposure to cigarette smoke. I wish folks would realize that their choice to smoke carelessly around other people can have serious consequences …
As can talking in Italian too quickly. One day at lunch last week, I was telling Sara about one particular sock war I had just had with Veronica that morning and I slipped up on a word, saying something dirty and rude instead. Why do the crude ones have to be so close to the normal, nice ones???? I guess it could have been much worse though. At least I said it to Sara! She just said, “What? No, no … no, no, no … you mean _____, don’t say ______!!! Non e’ una parola carina!” Ah, bless you, Sara …
My Italian in general does appear to be consistently improving though! I cannot express enough how grateful I am for this third opportunity to practice and learn and refine my language skills in the country of origin. Now if I could just expand my knowledge of Italian idioms …
Another thing that has improved significantly since last time (and especially since the first time) is my budgeting. I have been quite frugal and prodigiously careful with where and how I spend my money, and that too has been a good thing for me to practice. Frugality and financial planning are art forms, you know, and while I might not be a Michelangelo by the time I leave here, I might manage to enter the States in the black instead of leaving Italia with my pocketbook redlining …
Oh! Speaking of planning: I have some fun plans coming up next month! First, my sister, Sarah, and my lifelong friend, Jamie, are coming to spend ten wonderful days with me the second week of October – too exciting! And then, a week after they leave my roommate from college, Cassie (who is teaching English in Angers, France for the next year), is coming over to spend her fall break with me. Yippee! Did I mention that both of these trips involve/include me visiting or being visited by Amber, my dear, dear friend who happens to be living in Milan just now? Wow. Just writing it all out makes me smile!
After Cassie leaves November will be here and I’ll be home in only twenty-two days, which is unbelievable. How time speeds past one in a country like Italy, where the lifestyle and postal service are known for being somewhere between slow-paced and snail-paced, is a wonder!
I guess I better do my absolute best to enjoy each and every moment then, hadn’t I? I’ll be home before I know it! You know though, I am really excited about that too. I missed Thanksgiving last year, when I was in Siena, and I was actually sick at the time too, so I am really looking forward to being a part of it this year. But that is neither here or now, so until then, I leave you with molti bacini e tante buone cose!
a presto (I hope!),
Bekah
P.S. Did I mention that the food continues to be delectable at every turn? I’ve begun a list of things I want Patrizio to teach me how to make before I leave. His pesto recipe is at the top :)
