Since I last wrote, I have:
1) Said goodbye to my host family (Emilia is off to Brazil for the summer) and the rest of the JYA Florence crew as we one by one finished our exams and took off for home or summer travel. There was a week or so where you couldn't set foot in the Sede without running into someone heading out the door teary-eyed on her way to the airport. Poor Monica and Giovanna must have gone through I don't know how many boxes of tissues. At least most of us will see each other again in the fall, but after a year together, it was still hard to say goodbye.
2) Spent one last Friday morning at La Talea, harvesting string beans. Antonio gave me a poster of my favorite map of Florence as a good-bye gift, and I got a little teary-eyed walking down the drive-way for the last time (although I'm sure I'll be back to visit sooner or later). It wasn't until I got home that I noticed I had a string bean stuck to my shirt.
Also, here are (at long last) some pictures of La Talea:
3) Taken my math final exam at the University of Florence. It was... challenging. The course was a difficult one (graduate level, and I hadn't seen roughly half the prerequisite material before hand--someone remind me why I thought that was a good idea?), and I studied like crazy for it and still wound up postponing it a week. But in the end it went well, and was even satisfying. Half the victory was staying calm on the way there, and the fact that I did the exam at all (did I mention it was oral?).
4) Spent 10 days wwoofing on a farm/agriturismo called Ca' Penelope in Maranello (where Ferrari is based), which is near-ish to Bologna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. And I wish it could have been longer. When I went wwoofing in January, I had fun, and enjoyed the family I worked with, but I never really got as close with them as I did with Vale, Fabrizia, Atos, Lorna, and Nanase at Ca' Penelope. This time I really felt like part of the crew, and if I didn't already have plans for the rest of the summer, I would have gladly stayed another month or two there instead. More on that shortly.
5) Miraculously fit all of my stuff into various bags and suitcases which will live under Emilia's stairs for the summer, and relocated myself to Sicily, where I am spending the next month working with and learning about a program called Libera Terra, which organizes cooperative, organic farms on land confiscated from the Mafia. More on that soon as well.
And somehow it is already nearly July. Bizarre...
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I think you've mastered the fine art of summarizing major life transitions and experiences in concise paragraphs when absolutely necessary! I can't wait to hear more about Ca'Penelope. It sounds like it was amazing and probably a lot of fun. Did you learn any japanese?
ReplyDeleteI had quite a giggle picturing your walk back all teary eyed and sentimental -- realizing that it was your last amble through those lovely fields and footbridge....all the while with a string bing...I mean string bean tagging along for the ride. In my mind's eye it was on your back, but perhaps was really elsewhere. Perhaps IT's purpose was to make YOU laugh and not be too sad when you got back to Emilia's.
Actually the string bean was stuck to the front of my shirt... but it was a little one, and I wasn't really paying attention to my shirt when I left. It did make me laugh, though. :)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, how difficult it is to say good-bye is in direct proportion to how wonderful your experience was. It would be sad if you could just walk away without tears. Glad the string bean kept you company. :-)
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