A few stories

So I've been here a little over two months now, and there's been a lot of ups and downs. Mostly ups. But it's always an adjustment in a new place, with a new language, completely different culture, and learning curves with everything. This week has been kind of a benchmark in my Italian skills; I've had a lot of forced opportunities to speak to people who know no English, in a lot of sink or swim circumstances. Although I'm not amazing, I've at least been able to survive. I'm really stoked about just that much after 2 months, and I've been a lot more optimistic about my language skills from now on.

Besides normal Italian, I've also been learning a bit of the local dialect and even, dare I say it, some French. My 6 French words were put to the test when I visited Paris for an extended weekend. I liked it even more than I thought I would; it's a completely unique and beautiful city. Some of the stereotypes are true but in a strange and beautiful way the Parisian attitude really makes sense. It also helped that on the trip to/from I read the book Sarah's Key, a touching but heavy book about an amazing story that took place in Paris during WWII, from the perspective of a present-day American woman living there. I also got to spend some fantastic time with Alix and Gwen. Oh, and I literally ran into Paris Hilton in Paris, at the too-posh-for-me store Colette.

I've been getting along really well with the kids, and we've had some opportunities to go a few places. I actually went to 6 countries in 4 days, which was a lot of driving. After a day at the Genova Aquarium, I went with the family to Nice, France for a few days. Perfect weather, we stayed very close to the beach and Elena's brother's both have restaurants there. We ate at one a couple times- Alto (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=717151979), which is owned by Stefano. He's married to a Japanese woman, and his food is an amazingly inventive fusion of Italian food made in a Japanese way, served tapas-style. He just gave us what he thought was best for us to eat, and it was all amazing. We then drove through Monaco, along the roads where they have the Grand Prix. That city/country has way too much money but is beautiful.

               

Gill, a Canadian girl who played for a volleyball club in Austria had to go to a conference in Bregenz Austria a couple weeks ago. She was driving the 5 hours there and back alone, so I went along, after only knowing about it 10 hours before we had to leave. I had never been there, and my German is even worse than my French, but I knew enough to order some amazing apfel strudel. Twice. The coolest thing was that about a year ago I remembered seeing a picture of this crazy stage on the water online somewhere, where people performed operas and old plays. I remember looking it up to see where it was, and I knew it was relatively close to where I would be living now, but completely forgot the name of the town. As we turned the corner to the place where Gill's conference was, I saw a crazy head sticking out of the lake and knew exactly what it was. Check it out here: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/16090/andre-chenier-opera-on-the-lake-at-bregenz.html. It was actually in the last Bond movie (it was a big eyeball then), but now it looks like this:

I'll have another story about Thanksgiving next week. That's been a crazy adventure already. Peace for now.

Andiamo!

I'm here! Finally arrived in Italy one week ago. It's been a little crazy so far, but everything is working out amazingly. I'm in Torre Pellice, living with an amazing family. I felt like I belonged on the first day, and I think this is going to be a great year. I'm still getting basic things taken care of like a phone, bank account, and registering for various things, and I still have to work on my visa, but it's all going very smoothly so far.

So. A little introduction to my situation now: We live in a great villa on the hill at the end of town:

We are on the ground level and basement floors. Elena is the mother, and she's Supermom. This family is very well known in town, and she especially is friends with everyone and organizes a lot. Jean is the father, and is a doctor in Torre. He is very busy some days, and others he can be around a lot. He is also the doctor for the local hockey team, which is more important than life itself. This means we have season tickets, and we know all the players and their families. There are a good amount of Canadians and Americans. Right now a lot of the wives don't have much to do, so a few of us are going to take language classes together in a nearby town. I'm learning a lot of Italian already, although sometimes I get Spanish and Italian words confused. I think a class will help, and it will be great to know the hockey families better.

Elsa, a girl from Cameroon, also lives here and studies languages in Torino. We share a room and it's been great getting to know her and having someone who speaks Italian help me out with a lot of things. The kids are Rebecca, Zoe, and Jacopo.

They're a lot of fun, and a lot of chaos at times. So my days will consist of helping them before/after school, thinking up new ways to teach them English, and helping around the house. Different people are always over here, and every day is a bit different. Besides that I'm free to travel a bit and work out things with other children and teams in the valley. As soon as my shoulder is recuperated I really want to try to play again, and Jean knows an orthopedic doctor here who used to work for the Italian national soccer team, so I think I have a good shot at playing again! Right now I'm still just working on getting situated here and learning the language, but there's a lot that can happen in the future. So, to be continued..........

Life Plans

Oh, flowers. I haven't updated in a long time. I didn't do so because I was going through a lot of ups and downs and never could really tell where things would land. They finally have, as much as my life can "land", and I actually have a plan for once! There were times when I thought I would never get back, and that I might have to stay in Indiana forever, or come up with a completely new career. These kind of times can take a real toll on my spirits and idealism, but things are getting a lot better.

I'm currently working in fiber optics engineering where I used to help out during a few summers. The work itself I'm not really a big fan of, but the environment is great, I'm friends with the guys who work in our tiny cubicle quad in the basement, and I actually have something to do every day instead of sitting at home wondering what I'm doing with my life. And this allows me to make enough money for the next stage in my life.

This all came about in a very crazy way. Before I started working I was looking into other options. I thought if I couldn't get on the original plan I might as well try to make a difference somehow. So I was looking into trying to get back to Europe in other ways to try to hook up with OM, even if it couldn't be in Italy. I looked into being an au pair, and had things set up to try this in Spain. Sidestep to Rebecca, one of the little girls who was at the volleyball camp, who I have been emailing with every once in a while. I let her know that I might be going to Spain, and she told me that I should do the same with her family! This actually works out ridiculously perfectly. They live in the same valley in Italy where I was last summer and where our ministry is based, they don't need me until September so that gives me time to raise the money to pay off my student loans for a year, and living with this family will be the perfect way to get involved in the community.

It almost seems too good to be true, and after going through a rough time being stuck at home I can see how this was the best plan all along. So I'm working with the family to get the visa, and saving money. Also, due to the fact that I'm graduated, roughly 87% of the people I know are getting married this summer. So if I work constantly I would have enough money to go back to Italy in July, but I wouldn't be of as much use then. So in order to go to all the weddings I'm going to take a vacation earlier and then work longer into August. I have my tickets to go to Spain June 11 - July 11, and for the first two weeks my mom, Molly, Doyle, and her mom are will be with me just traveling around Spain. After they leave I get to spend some time in Madrid with some great friends and going to a wedding. I'll also be going back to Italy for a week to help out with this summer's Impact interns. I'll come back to the states just in time for a few more weddings, and I'll continue working until I fly to Italy sometime in August.

I'm still looking for people who would like to support me, even though I don't need financial support for the first year. If anyone knows of anyone else who's interested, please pass on my blog and/or email address.

So excite!