Alora….it is my last night in Italy…finally made it to Rome (on purpose this time) even with the train strike. I felt pretty excited about Turkey since I started feeling a little useless in the fields the past couple of weeks, and I got an e-mail from my host in Turkey, Andus, detailing my tasks while I’m there, which got me pretty excited.
I went to Fano last night with Giovanni, Roberto, and their friend Stefano. Spent the evening walking around town with granitas in hand and me attempting to teach Giovanni how to swing dance to some awesome oldies music in a random alleyway/mini square.
This morning I took my last dip in the Adriatic sea for a while and took off to catch my train. When we realized that my train was not coming because of a strike today, the boys were nice enough to drive me to my transfer point to make sure I got on a train to Rome. How amazing are they? I’m a little surprised at myself because when I said bye to Giovanni it was a lot sadder than I thought. I said good bye to Valeria and Corrado and the children, but I felt like I was just going away for the weekend and I would be back again soon. But waving at the guys as the train took off felt like something out of a movie and I had to fight the tears pretty hard. I failed and the people around me I am sure thought I was a little crazy and I was sniffling and wiping away my tears. But after 15 minutes or so, I enjoyed watching the cross country scenery the rest of the trip.
When I arrived at my hostel, I took a moment to breathe and headed out for some exploring. Turns out my hostel is just around the corner of Piazza della Republica. And there was a protest of some sort going on. I walked around with some gelato and found a news stand and bought a bus ticket for the airport in the morning and had a nice somewhat long attempt at an Italian conversation with the newstand man. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to recall enough vocabulary and verbs to get my point across. And he was really nice.
After that I had dinner nearby which was not too exciting and headed back to where I am now. Gathering some info for when I arrive to chaotic Istanbul. I wanted to take a moment and reflect on things I will miss about Italia and things I won’t miss.
Things I will miss:
- Fresh Mozzarella (lucky for me we had a feast of buffalo mozzarella last night)
- Valeria’s food
- The whole Dottori family + Giovanni
- Gelato
- Old Italian people
- The language
- The vineyard/the wine
- Long, loud, delicious dinners
Things I will not miss:
- Not being able to breath in the city streets because it’s crowded and everyone smokes
- The creepy Italian guys I feel like punching in the face with their purple popped collars, spikey hair, and shiny belts with different sex positions on them (gross – I mean SERIOUSLY?)
- Girls in ridiculously inappropriate shoes
Things I look forward to in Turkey:
- Sunrises/Stargazing
- Cave apartment
- Taking my professional skills and applying it to a subject I have a passion for
- The Mediterranean Coast
- Being surrounded by a new language again
- Meeting new people everyday
- Learning more about a culture I know absolutely nothing about
I found a stowaway in my luggage as well. Sneaky Valeria snuck a gift into my luggage when I stored it downstairs before I left. Isn’t she the best?
Note from Valeria
