non c'è il posto come a casa

Things I’ve learned. (a message written on 10 dicembre from my apartment).

It’s a strange place to be, to know you are standing on the edge of something great. Few times in life, at least from what I have noticed, do you know when you are about to encounter something big. I thought I knew that before I came here, but I was still unable to grasp what kind of big it truly was. Now I’m in my apartment sitting below my roommates laundry that’s hanging on an indoor clothesline she set up since the rain seems to not want to tell us it might come later in the day. And sitting here I’ve been trying to write a research paper about Brunelleschi and the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, which as interesting as that might sound, I’m falling asleep at the computer. So, as it usually happens my mind began to wander to life things.

Here I am sitting in my fourth floor Italian apartment underneath a clothesline of laundry, and you know what, I love it. I’ve been on the verge of about 73 emotions over the last few days. First I’m terribly homesick, next I’m overwhelmed with research papers and 20 page fictional pieces and studying for an Italian final that covers at least 15 tenses (and though 73 was a slight exaggeration, I can say with complete confidence 15 is not), and then I’m just excited that I’m about to go to seven countries in seven days, and then I want to cry because I don’t want to leave here. I honestly think I tried to not get attached to people thinking it would make it easier to leave. But then, how could I not get at least a little attached to my roommates. They’ve been so great. I mean, sure, we get frustrated with one another about dishes and groceries and how we’re always running out of toilet paper, but I’ve grown to really like them. And then there are other people like Sarah and Laura. Then, there’s my cooking class. They’ve been my fill-in family. I’m seriously dreading tomorrow night (tonight by the time I post this) when I have to go to my last cooking class because I know it’s going to be the worst goodbye ever. I will likely never see some of them again. What will I do without Duccio and Victoria on Monday nights?

[The above mentioned final cooking class has now occurred, and it was a pretty sad departure, but we had so much fun too! I will truly miss every single one of them: Duccio, Victoria, Chelsea, Jamie, Cindy, Tori. They were like family, no joke.]

It’s not just the people, this place has found a special place in my heart, but at the same time it has made me grow fonder of my roots. (that sounds pretty cliché, but frankly it’s true.) Earlier this semester Autumn sent me this song about Tennessee and it came on my ipod while I was washing the dishes earlier tonight and I think it describes really well how I feel. It’s a Mindy Smith song and I don’t know the name of it, but these are the lyrics:

“Tennessee
You’ve been good to me
Yes, I’ve come to believe
You’re where I want to be
You may not be what everybody needs
But Tennessee
You’re good enough for me
I can’t see
Stars shining in your night
Your daytime sings like Cash and Patsy Cline
They may not be what everybody needs
But they touched my soul
And that’s good enough for me
It’s been ten years now, and I’m rooted in your soil
I am rooted in your soil
Give me ten more years I’ll be rooted in your soil
Right here in your soil
You may not be
What I will always need
But I call you home
If I can call you home
Then you’re good enough for me”

Basically, I miss home. I'm ready to be home. But I'm going to miss here too. I'm not sure this was the best way to explain - and I didn't intend to have posts like this, but it seemed necessary this time.

Things I'm about to do. (a message written right now, 12 dicembre from an uncomfortable white chair at FUA.)

Okay, I know this is already superlong, but, because I have much to do before I leave Thursday evening, and don't know when I will be able to sit down this long at a computer, I wanted to post a little summary of the upcoming trip.

I leave Thursday evening at 11 from Florence (sad) on a sleeper train for Zurich. Over the ensuing seven days we will visit the following cities: Zurich, possibly Lucern, Salzburg, Munich, Stuttgart, possibly Heidelburg (or another German city), Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, and then London. Then I fly home on the 23rd and arrive sometime that evening, at which point I hope to be eating chocolate chip cookies and drinking purity 2% milk.

I'm going to be one tired cookie come the end of next week.

(P.S. I will most likely find computer access along the way and will try make time to post, but I apologize ahead of time if this doesn't happen.)

Ciao Ciao!!