I'm in Italy now. It's been a blast, although we basically do nothing everyday. I know I have to cherish this because it really doesn't happen very often in your life; when you wake up each morning, and decide over lunch what the day holds for you. Depending on our moods, some days we go for a swim, play basketball or volleyball and other days we lie in the sun, take walks, go to church, spend time with the folks, read a good book, or try real hard to master the Italian language. At night we go for a nice meal, parties or for drinks, talks and walks.
I was suppose to go on a 3 week trip with Christie to England and France while marco studies for his exams. But the morning that I was suppose to get to the flight, I miss it and decide to stay in Italy and study Italian. Basically, doing an Elizabeth Gilbert.
“Just for a few months of one’s life, is it so awful to travel through time with no greater ambition than to find the next lovely meal? Or to learn how to speak a language for no higher purpose than it pleases your ear to hear it? Or to nap in a garden, in a patch of sunlight, in the middle of the day, right next to your favorite fountain? And then to do it again the next day?”
I met a boy in Sweden. His name is Marco. We met on the first night we arrived in Jonkoping and it has always been. He's a sweet, gentle and responsible boy that has an awesome family. His biggest defect would probably be that he's Italian. A million miles away from home and a new world of language and culture.
But a language and culture that I am embracing more each day. There definitely are some down times when there is a frustration when you can't do anything by yourself. When I went swimming the other day, I didn't even know where the toilets were and I couldn't ask anyone. In that moment, I really felt impotent. And that really strips you of your pride.
But as time goes by, you start to notice the similarities more than the differences. The Italian culture is very much like home where the family unit is the basic structure of society. And it's reassuring when Marco's family really tries to assimilate me into their home and make sure I'm comfortable.
And there is always Marco who tries his best to translate everything and take walks with me that remind me why I'm here and how things are only gonna get better. And I try to cook for the family each week something from home so it doesn't get me homesick so much.
All in all, when I count my blessings, I don't remember being this happy in a long, long time :)
