Blame it on my roots...



Gypsy Girl by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1867

 I have an app on my ipod touch called "Days Until...".  Me, being a perpetual planner and dreamer, find this application to be addictive.  For about a year now I've added events into the app that counts down each day until that event arrives.  For example, it has been 455 days since Ava and I left San Antonio to head to Italy together for 3 months.  And it's been 365 days since we had to come back to America.  One year ago exactly we flew away from an incredible experience that many only dream about.  But now...now, on the one year anniversary of leaving, I excitedly look at my "Days Until..." and it tells me it's only 68 days till we return! 

Obviously I haven't been writing much on this blog lately, because I just feel restless.  It seems like I'm counting down the hours till I can just head back to bed and lay unconscious for a good 8 hours.  Winter blues, perhaps?  I'm not so sure...maybe it's just the gypsy in me.  Honestly, my Italian roots have to hold a trace of gypsy in them.  Because sometimes I really wonder if I'll ever be content in just one place.  Will I forever be looking ahead for the next thing?  The new adventure to be had?  The new places to discover?  I find myself watching Travel channel shows and my blood stirs, my heart aches for newness.  Barcellona, Paris, Buenos Aires, London...I want to go to them and ask like a little child, "Will you be my best friend?"

Well, I have a few things that keep me going from day to day.  I'm still working on my medical coding training.  It's getting tough...monotonous...but it takes up a good 4 hours of the morning while Ava's at Montessori.  I have a great library here that I've been ransacking for anything tango-related and I've found a good selection of old Italian movies from the library too..gotta pretend like I'm learning Italian somehow!  I've started to read ravenously, with 5 chunky books on my bedside table that I fight between reading because I can't decide which I would love to read most.  I escape for a little while into a time I never knew as I've been watching all the episodes of Mad Men from Netflix.   I've been dancing tango once a week with my teacher and find that I count down the days till my next lesson.  These are all great things to be doing, considering it's the middle of winter here.  And in it's own right, suriving an Alaskan winter is an adventure in itself!  But I feel like I'm just biding my time here...counting down day by day...till this gypsie soul can pack up and move along to her next adventure.

90 days

 Today marks the beginning of 90 days to wait in the Alaskan winter until our 90 days of Italian Spring!  Three months till our next three months!  And what better way to celebrate than having a Christmas-movie-hot-chocolate-pajama day at home!  Well, Ava's school is closed today and tomorrow because of dangerous ice conditions here...something that apparently never happens.  I mean, they allow Ava to play outside for recess until -20 degrees, and would never think of canceling school!  But I guess it's so dangerous outside, they don't want anyone on the roads.

I feel confident that the next 90 days will move along quickly.  This week is Thanksgiving, soon it will be the Winter Solstice (I think we get about 4 hours of daylight at that point) and before we know it, Christmas will be here!  Quickly the New Year will be upon us, Ava will finish up her school in February, and on Valentine's Day we'll be in Seattle!  One week there, then we're off to Italy!  I don't know about you...but it seems like Spring is just around the corner!

Driving through Glitter

Two interesting things I noted today.

1.  It was -8 when I drove Ava to school this morning (that would be -22 celcius).  Brrrr and more brrrr.  I'm quickly realizing I need a full-fledged face-mask if I need to be outside more than 2 minutes.  But that's not the main thing I noticed this morning.  Recently I've heard some newly initiated Alaskans talking about how sparkly the snow is here, compared to other places.  I didn't really believe it...snow is snow right?  And after an additional 4 inches of snow the other day, we're just happy when it's out of our way so we can get where we gotta go!  But while I was driving, at 8:30am with darkness all around, I saw that it was snowing very lightly.  So lightly, that you could only see it falling in front of the car headlights and under the still-shining street lamps.  And it looked like minuscule diamonds.  It looked like we were driving through silver glitter.  Now, I'm not thrilled to be here in Alaska for the next 3 months, but if that's the beauty I get to see every morning, I don't really mind at all.  I will never doubt or forget how the snow really does sparkle here.

2. And then, funny enough, my Italian Rosetta Stone lesson was 'Caldo e Freddo' today...hot and cold.  Perfetto! Just what I needed to be reminded about: how cold I was, and how warm I wish I was!  hehehe!  Now I can confidently proclaim "Fa freddo in inverno!"  It's cold in the winter! and "Fa freddo e questa gente porta cappelli e sciarpe"  It's cold and these people wear hats and scarves! and "La gente gioco nella neve quando fa freddo"  The people play in the snow when it is cold!  Like I said...perfect lesson for today!

Tippity tapping to Tango



Painting by Andre Kohn

 So for anyone who hasn't seen all my updates on FB, yes...the somewhat repetitive videos of tango dancing and music, it's safe to say that I'm quickly becoming a serious, full-fledged tanguera.  My little fingers have been tippity-tapping all over the internet, looking for inspiring and educational information about this new obsession of mine.  But where did this new love, or rather...love affair, come from so suddenly? 

I've begun dancing ballet again, and it feels great (and terribly painful at the same time!) to get back into the studio and do something I've always loved.  But I couldn't help but jump for joy when I saw there were going to be Argentine tango lessons for 4 weeks this month!  I had always been intruiged about tango and when I went to my first milonga (meeting of tango dancers) when I was in Italy, I knew I had to learn this form of dancing.  There is just something so different about tango that I wanted to understand, to feel, to experience.  I've never done any form of partner dancing like salsa, so this whole idea of dancing with another person and having to be led by my partner is totally foreign to me.  I'm used to standing on my own two feet in ballet, going where I like, when I want, how I feel like moving! 

Well, I am in no way going to be a tango expert anytime soon, but I have a feeling all my years of ballet will help me progress quickly.  Some say tango just looks like walking, yet it takes years to become a great tanguera.   I really hope to continue learning this art form in any way possible.  One encouragement will be getting out of Alaska and finding another place to learn tango, of which I'm confident I'll be able to find in Firenze.  There seems to be a rather active tango life in Italy, and I'd love to learn from teachers who actually have studied proper Argentine tango in Buenos Aires.  Just today I found this on-line and again I had to jump for joy:

                                           You better believe I'll be there!!!

E' Ufficiale!!!

Tira Via!!!  Gnamo!!!  Ancoraaaaaaaa!  3 in Italy is happening again!  We have just bought tickets to return to Italy for another 3 months, and I couldn't be more happy.  It will have been over a year since Ava and I first traveled to Firenze together, and now we're headed back.  And this time we'll have the opportunity to experience the city in the Spring.  Yeah, it will probably be rainy and chilly, but hey...it won't be -20 and snowing non-stop like it will be in Alaska!  Well, I can handle rain with the right outfit, and it's just about time I find a cute pair of Italian-chic-rainboots.  (But seriously, do I ever really need an excuse to buy another pair of shoes?  Uhm...not at all.)

While the climate and weather will be different from our last experience, I'm thinking many things will be somewhat the same.  That's a comfort for anyone with a kid in a new place...some familiarity and routine always help get things settled!  I'm hoping there will be an open place for Ava at the same school she attended last year.  And then while she is at school, I'm hoping to finally take some formal Italian lessons!  For the past year I've been fiddling around with Rosetta Stone, a version that is at least 10 years old.  It's helped me learn a lot of great nouns and verbs, but I still don't feel like I can form my own sentences correctly without taking 10 minutes to translate a phrase in my head!  Maybe if I have a real instructor, I'll finally get on my way to starting the long journey towards my most difficult hurddle of learning a second language. 

And so what's with the pig statue above?  It's the famous porcellino  in Firenze's Mercato Nuovo.  Many travelers go up to this wild boar and rub his nose to ensure they will return to Firenze again.  Hence the nice, shiny snout!  So the question is: was I ever superstitious enough to rub his little nose in the past times I've visited?  How have I had the good fortune of returning to such an amazing place where I've met incredible people and had indescribable experiences?  Hmm...maybe like the porcellino, I'll just sit here and smile and contemplate luck...and...what I'm going to pack!

Sweet life?

After indulging on yummy Halloween candy over the weekend, I'm not really looking for anything sweet for the next few days!  But I heard an interesting bit today on PRI while driving around.  They were talking about the iconic film "La Dolce Vita" and the face-lift it has recieved after 50 years.  The image of the sweet life in Italy still lives in the hearts of foreigners everywhere, exemplified in this artfully eccentric film that continued to open the eyes of Americans to 'the sweet life' the Italians claim.  And I think we, as Americans, commonly idolize the Italian ability to enjoy life, wine, food, and art.  To acknowledge simplicity with passion.  To combine family and tradition with a side of modernity.  But how true is it all for Italians today?  With reports of the current Italian economy and politics swimming in my head, I'm curious how the image inside as well as outside of Italy has changed over the years.  Check out this link, clicking on the small play button (next to the tweets tag) to listen to the report... here.

Una Domanda...

How is it possible to resist listening to Christmas music when it's snowing outside? Tomorrow is Halloween, yet Silent Night is playing in our house, while I sit reading a book, next to our pretend fireplace that is pretending to pump out heat, as my cat snuggles on my lap, and my daughter asks to go sledding outside.  I really feel like a Christmas Carol right now...

O is for October...

One would think driving in a car would be a nice quiet experience.  A self-contained environment where you can keep your thoughts to yourself while getting from point A to point B.  But no....not with my daughter in the car!  Whether we're driving to ballet class, or home from preschool, we usually are doing one of a few things in the car together.  1. Listening to songs of which she insists she is the only one allowed to sing.  "Mom, you can hum along if you want, but this is my song, mkay?"  2. Talking about whatever random thought pops into her head, and we must discuss in depth all the varying aspects of such topic.  "Mom, why was I born in Texas?"  Because that's where I was living when you were in my tummy.  "But mom, tell me ALL about it..."  3. Then sometimes Ava and I will play a game together in the car.  Since she's starting to read now and learn words, she will pick a letter and we'll think of as many words as we can starting with that letter. 

This game is such a common one these days, that today when I was in the car alone, I actually started playing this game by myself!  I was thinking of the more obscure letter 'O'.  What complex words begin with O?  I thought: obstetrician, orangutan, objectivism, occipital, October.  Wait....where did October go???  I faintly remember welcoming this month while I was in Italy...and now it's already gone!  It was snowing at the beginning of the month in Alaska, and now the days are getting shorter by 7 minutes every day!  Time is literally and very visibly slipping away from me now!!  If it's just been a few weeks since I was last in Italy, how much longer will it be until I can go back there again? 

Well, I found this great quote the other day by Jorge Luis Borges and feel like it fits perfectly to this concept in relation to Italy, time, and my favorite person who resides in Italy.  This amazing writer and poet who I'm just starting to explore wrote this:

 

"Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time."

 "The Threatened One," from The Unending Rose  --Borges

Oooooooohhhh October.  You were good to me even though you seemed shorter than usual.  See ya again next year, I hope.

Poveri Gatti...

Ever had one of those days where you just felt nothing was working out?  That no matter what you did, the day was just going to continue getting worse?  And sometimes you just are too overwhelmed with obstacles to see the light at the end of the tunnel?  Today I discovered a new saying in Italian.  It is "Non c'è trippa per gatti"...There's no tripe for the cats.  Apparently, this term is used when there is a situation that is hopeless, that no matter how hard you try, nothing will work out.  Even if there is a whole, yummy bowl of tripe on the kitchen table, those darn cats won't be getting a scrap of it!  Poveri gatti!  Poor cats!

These looks like some cats I know

When attempting to make a life in Italy, this kind of feeling occurs quite often.  I've only begun the process of figuring out a way to move to Italy and start a real life there.  To be honest, it can be down-right intimidating.  There are countless websites and forums full of people discussing this same problem.  (Again, a wealth of knowledge exists here at Expats in Italy)  Unless you are an EU citizen, married to an Italian, or employed by a company that sends you to Italy for work, it is....how can I say....frustratingly difficult to get a Visa that allows you to enter the country and stay as long as you wish!


Yet in a way, it makes sense that not just anyone can move there and stay forever.  If one is willing to jump through hoops, learn the language, deal with the million different types of beuracratic red tape and figure it all out...then yeah, they are the people who really deserve to be there!  They are the ones who can look at Italy and all the ridiculousness and say "Yep, that's how it is...but I it wouldn't be Italy any other way!"  Cause after all...even if there isn't any tripe for the cats, sometimes, just sometimes, if they search around long enough, they might get a little bite of fish waiting for them in a place they hadn't looked...

Aural Comprehension

Thought this was an interesting concept to try and grasp.

The other night I was filling out an application to find some part-time work while I'm still here

 in Alaska. I had to recount the long list of jobs I've held in the past (oh, the many years of customer service!), think of personal references who would say nice things about me (do people ever really call your personal references unless it's your very first job?) and give my educational history (yes, I am a college graduate applying to clean hotel rooms! gotta prahblem wit it???) There were a few fill-in-the-blank boxes where you could list any other special talents that could help me procure the desired job position. One box was about computer skills. Another was about hobbies and activities. And then a third box stood there and taunted me: Languages. The vast, four-sided shape stood totally empty.

 

I know I recently wrote about this, but it shames me that I never seriously studied a language as a child. I took French for a few years...but it's hard to teach yourself French as a 6th grader who was homeschooled. The one phrase I remember clearly in French is "Tout le monde rit!" Everyone laughs! And then there are the numerous terms I know from my many years in ballet...."plie, frappe, battement" bend, strike, beat! (hmm..ballet sounds rather violent in those terms!

I even took two semesters of Sign Language to fulfill my language requirement in college. I was the best in my class..but that wasn't really saying much considering the rest of the class could barely count to 10 by the end of the year. My greatest sucess with sign language was years ago playing a rousing game of Guesstures. I looked right at my mom (who also studied it years ago) and did the sign for the specific word when it was my turn and we won! Everyone said it didn't count, but I still consider it a small victory.

 

Well, back to this empty box just staring at me. Not that it would make a huge difference if I could fluently speak Italian in order to procure a job in Alaska. But I felt compelled to put something, since I really am, honest-to-goodness trying to learn Italian! I can understand quite a bit of what people are talking about. I can watch tv in Italian and get the gist. I'm even trying to teach Ava words throughout the day when I think of it. The problem really comes when I try to form my own sentences. So I literally wrote this in the big, blank box: "Aural comprehension of Italian" Yep...that's all I've got for now.  But hey, Alaska is a big state, and you just never know when some Italians might head over to Fairbanks and need someone to listen to them!