Some rice with your lasagna?

Last night we threw together a piccola festa at the house before Ashley, Hannah, and I leave. What a feast! Korean eggplant and spicy/curry pork, sushi rice from Aiane's stash of stuff from home, my spinach lasagna, and fruit salad. Nothing really went together, but no one seemed to mind. A kind of cross-cultural celebration. Aiane gave us a paper crane lesson and we finally got Aurora to sing for us. (Opera in Korean and Italian, just sitting at the kitchen table. She's really good despite her claims).

Aiane and her napkin crane

Group shot: Me, Elona, Aurora, Ashely, Aiane, Hannah

Feast!

Origami lessons

And a family of cranes.

It's hard to believe that I leave Perugia in exactly one week. It's scary, but I am ready it. I finished my Italian course this morning and the rest of my exams are next week. I have one weekend to tie up all the loose ends, see friends, eat at those last few restaurants, and do all my laundry. It's gone by so quickly, but at the same time, the timing is just right.

In the mean time, I met my friend and old roommate Kate in Rome this weekend. It was exactly what I needed, a good friend from home, a weekend of travel, and lots of ancient Roman stuff. I am so glad that she thought to go to Pompeii, it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I found a similar sense that I experiences last summer in the ruins of Chaco Canyon. But at the same time, it's completely different. I couldn't help but sense the tragedy of the place, such a sudden end, and the expression of the figures that were preserved, really very powerful. We walked for a good four hours and probably only saw half of what there was. Between that and the fact that my camera batteries died after the first hour, I am very glad that I am going back in a month with Kerry and Alex.

The thing is, it's an entire city, and I didn't really register what that meant before we got there. We walked through villas, shops, baths, theaters, temples, streets. The floor mosaics as well as tons of wall paintings were all amazingly preserved. We know from Pliny that the ancients did amazing and extensive wall paintings, but until the discovery and excavation of Pompeii, we didn't have extant examples. Imagine what it would have been like to be the one to unearth those frescoes...

PS: This is my last week with free, regular internet, as well as the last week I will have my laptop. I will do what I can to update about my nomadic summer, we'll see how it goes!

I know that it is way too early for this, but....

We had a conversation the other day about what we wanted waiting for us at the airport when we get back. I know that I am only halfway through my trip, it started me thinking. I guess that I think with my stomach because when I started thinking about what I will appreciate having when I get back, more than half are food-related.

For example, I haven't eaten peanut butter in three and a half months. It's here, just expensive and so I don't buy it. I also haven't eaten turkey since I got here, a little bit of chicken, but all the sandwich-like meats are pork (salame or prosciutto).

Here's what I have so far in terms of "things" (this list bars people and more intangible stuff)

peanut butter
tortillas
teflon frying pans that are flat and don't stick!
sharp knives
toaster (I don't miss the microwave, actually)
bagels
being able to call people when I want to
a bed that is wider than three feet
soy! (tofu, edamame, soymilk...)
enchiladas
cheddar cheese
reliable hot water
pureh (spelling?) tea
really good hugs on a regular basis
a down comforter
my bicycle (I am missing riding this week)
sushi
a yoga mat (I do yoga straight on my tile floor. It's cold and my feet tend to slide.)
maple syrup (Is 7 euro for a small bottle! We eat pancakes/french toast with jam or honey)
salsa

At this point though, I don't crave peanut butter, I don't miss turkey sandwiches. With the exception of hugs, they are things that I can do without. In terms of creature comforts and scarce items though, I will be excited to have them back again. But you learn, how to deal. My eggs alway stick, but I make toast in a pan and I move on. It works.

It goes the other way around too, what I will miss from here when I go home.

.70 euro caffe
gelato
my balcony
speaking Italian
buying sausage from the market
the sausage itself
cheap wine that is excellent
great public transportation
pecorino that I can afford
Rita who sells me fruit
Wheel of Fortune in Italian

Well, I am running out of steam on that one, best to wait and see how that goes.

Yesterday Elona moved in from Albania. We spent a long time talking this morning over breakfast, also a mix of English and Italian. She is an Italian teacher, here getting some courses in grammar. She hasn't spoken English a lot and loves the practice. So now days there is always someone home, it feels completely different from the past three months and I love it!

I am enjoying a relaxing weekend in Perugia, preparing a few presentations and enjoying the stability of having a home. Soon enough I will be on the road and these days of continuity will be a thing of the past. I basically have two more weeks of class then half a week of finals. After that I am hitting the road, going to Bologna, Venice, and the Dolomites (11 day tour of the northeast!) until I meet Mom and Dad in Milan. After some travel with them and Kerry and Alex, I am leaving Italy! My friend Cassiope and I booked flights to Barcelona for two weeks. Spain wasn't originally part of my plans, but now that we have decided to go, I am psyched. Aside from that, I want to get down to Sicily for a few weeks, then probably head back to the farm for the rest of the summer. I have a feeling that by the end of June I will be ready to stay in one place for a while. That's the rough plan anyway, after Spain, always subject to change. It's funny how when you look at summer from early March it seems an eternal amount of time that is terribly far away. Now that it is approaching and I am mapping things out, well, it is long, but not that long. There is never enough time to do everything, but it will be enough.

Until then, classes and a quick trip to Rome/Naples/Pompeii with Kate (CU friend studying in Ireland) next weekend!

I got a hold of a couple of pictures Melanie took on our adventures from last weekend. There's me and Bella Luna, then on top of the Rocca in Orvieto.

Primavera!

It's spring, finally, in Umbria. It's amazing what the simple factor of the sun can do. I spend two hours yesterday afternoon reading/sleeping out on my balcony, soaking up the warmth. The lack of school work this week has been reminding me to live slow...to take advantage of the sunshine and relax! I can hear the accordion player even now, wafting through the library windows. I am trying not to be too antsy; I reminded myself yesterday that soon enough I will be wishing for the peace of a city I know and an apartment to call home.

Speaking of apartments, Chen Li, my Chinese roommate moved out and we have two new members. Hannah from Korea (who also sings!) and Aliane from Japan. It feels much more lively and crowded, mostly I think because they are spending time at home and so we see a lot of each other. They are very friendly and our fridge is about explode (it's tiny!). Rumor has it that there might be a sixth moving in, but we are not sure yet. Should be interesting.

Orvieto was wonderful, the mosaics on the facade of the duomo were beautiful. Not often you see that much color on the outside of a building. We had some local white wine with lunch (I tried wild boar...tastes like meat, mostly) and wandered the underground caves.

Sunday was definitely one of my favorite days in Italy. We rode horses to a ruined castle/watchtower in the nearby hills. The woman who took us packed a hearty homemade picnic lunch and we sat amongst the ruins while the horses grazed on their favorite herbs. I made friends with Bella Luna, who didn't particularly like going uphill, and again, soaked up some spring rays. It was, as my friend Allan observed, all very romantic and idyllic.

We have to embrace those idyllic moments though, and make space for them in our lives. It's part of living slowly, and of appreciating the small things. There was a girl in the computer lab yesterday ranting about how Umbra requires us to do things that we need the internet for, yet it doesn't work half the time...and they should give it to us in our apartments...etc etc etc. Yes, I love the internet, and I use it a lot. I realize being here though, how dependent we are on it and I wish this were not so. It's part of the demand for constant stimulation, and perhaps we should wean ourselves away. Which is why I am going to finish here soon and go OUTSIDE to listen to my accordion player, and get some more wonderful vitamin D!

PS: My apologies to those of you who had trouble commenting. I forgot that I put the whole blog in Italian, I will try to change it!

M