The Perfect (Fire) Storm & Comin Up For Air

Ciao a tutti amici,

We are having a very strange summer here with all these fires still burning. We had 6 days of smoke and ash, then 3 days of clear air to breathe, then the wind shifted again and we were back in the smoke cloud for 9 more days. 3 of those 9 days were very windy days filled with sirens and helicopters overhead carrying buckets of water. Most days have been dark and gray and look like winter, except it is hot. The light of the sun has been deep gold to red, there have been no stars and a few nights ago the nearly full moon was a barely visible dark red blotch. The fire burning to the west of me is 85% contained and the fire to the south is 70% contained.
Today we have our first clear day in quite a while. whew!

This horrible fire situation, a whole list of fire "complexes", is being blamed on all natural causes but it is much much more COMPLEX than that. The management of the lands here for generations, since the takeover by non native people, has been one of setting us up for the perfect fire storm. This is a land of fire by natures laws yes. But when fire is suppressed and clear cutting of forests is allowed you end up with the most severe of brush fuels overloads of the type never experienced by nature.

So add up the fuels overloads, the dead trees from herbicides applications, dead trees from sudden oak death, drought and the unusual timing and number of dry storms this year... the temperate rainforests of the northcoast are becoming desert and for now...

Paradise becomes HELL!

Next spring all this fire will be followed by regeneration. I am hoping that we have some good weather cycles to allow that to happen quickly. Regeneration after a fire is amazing! The ash acts like a fertilizer and all the species that have seeds that require fire to sprout go crazy with new growth... love it. hehehe All the wineries here in Norcal are talking about a smoky vintage for this year lol. this is bad to some... and good to others.

I have had headaches, stomach aches, my lungs hurt and my eyes and eyelids are stinging and swollen. But worse of all is I have had no energy and I have been feeling totally uninspired too. I am trying to stay vertical but... sometimes I just have to lay down. Everyone around me has the same symptoms too. But life must go on and I have to stay here for now.

I am working on plans for several dinner parties I will hostess as fund raisers in September and November. The Sights, Sounds and Flavors of Southern Italy. One of the things I have to do first... is grow some of the vegetables I will need. I brought home seeds from Italy and I have some of them started already! I have been searching without any luck so far... for a place to get good and reasonably priced Italian wines. I guess I will want some cheeses too... sheep milk cheeses. I need to go to Little Italy! I found and purchased a 25lb bag of the semolina dura flour for making the pasta... and its even organic, yeah. I'm in pasta making mode, perfecting my techniques and I have been making a good gnocchi too.

I went blackberry picking yesterday and then made my first berry pies of the year. I love to pick berries. And I love to make pies too. They turned out heavenly and I spread them around the neighborhood to some of my friends... my secret to the best berry pie? is the love lol.last piece of Berry Pie

I have been getting a lot of work doing astrological charts, doing a little modeling for the Artists Guild and studying my Italian. Trying to stay busy and productive. Lists and lists. I am good at making lists! I am kind of proud of my follow through with them too hehehe. I can do just about anything with a list. lol lol.

You can even make a miracle happen with a list!

Introducing the newest member of the family
Samwise

He's a beauty and already proving to be a great mouser!
5 kills and he is only 4 months old.

Basta! I send my love to all of you, too bad I cant send you a berry pie too.

On a Clear Day...

With the wind blowing the smoke away from us...

we can breathe much easier!

Ready to Go Now

Ciao a Tutti Amici,

I have posted 2 photo Galleries in my photo bucket. For easier and faster to viewing, click on the link "slideshow" in the upper right corner of the page. This is just a small sample. Otranto and also Salanto. I took thousands of pics and will eventually post another maybe 6 galleries with samples of Lecce, It., 2 of Bari, Basilica of Otranto, Netherlands etc...

Okay.... so I am ready to go now. lol. Run away from the fires that is.

It has been 5 days now that we are living inside the clouds of smoke and ash from the nearby fires. My daughters and I have been suffering many health issues like wheezing, coughing, headaches, sore throat and stinging, tearing eyes. We have an air filter running inside the house that helps a little. But we have to come and go for work and such. Going outside for more than half hour gives me a headaches and eyes streaming. So last night each one of us talked about where we will go... if it gets worse or lasts too much longer.

I got voted... to be the one who stays to hold down the fort.

The fact we have the smoke is actually good. It means the winds are low and the fire fighters are making progress getting control. Seems like it starts to get a little clearer in the afternoon... when the winds pick up. But rather than feel relieved that I can breath again... I worry that the fires are getting stoked up. If a fire gets into heavy fuel (a thick forest that has not burned for more than 25 years) and the winds come up, it can cause a firestorm. I have seen this over and over. Firestorms create their own wind, move very fast and are impossible to contain. Whole towns can get roasted. I went with the Board of Forestry on a field trip to see the results of one of these a couple years ago. A fire in San Diego moved 17 miles in 45 minutes. It burned 3,000 homes and killed 13 people. Two of the fatalities were fire fighters that tried to take a stand against the wall of fire and got trapped in a house.All you can do with a firestorm is run away as fast as you can. The NY Times and Associated Press did and article about the Northern California fires here. here. There are more articles, photos, videos and access to archives relating to the California fires here.

The most disturbing thing about this for me is that it's so early in the fire season and the article says that we may have months of this...

I guess maybe the smart thing to do would be to work up an evacuation plan. Figure out what essentials are needed and what valuables we could move... just in case... the smoke gets thicker, persist too long, the fires get more severe or come closer to us than we feel is safe. This would not be too difficult for me, having lived out of a few suitcases the last 3 months.

Living small like you do when traveling was very good for me. Since getting home I have had the urge to purge myself of nearly all my possessions. I was doing just fine with just a few things lol.

well i better get busy organizing my affairs just in case... love you all and I will be in touch.

Back in the Saddle - I smell Smoke!

Ciao a tutti Amici,

So today I am finally feeling like I am ready to do business.

I have had a really prominent slump. I mostly attribute this to the harsh and extreme experience that is intercontinental air travel. sheeeesh. It is hell... to me. But I feel it is necessary to grow and develop in the direction my heart leads me right now. Anyway... I have had a huge writing block since coming home. Sometimes I start to think that Humboldt-Sohum-Garberville is uninspiring and even debilitating to me... but no. This morning I realized that I am craving exploration. Input of "new" and "different" is required now. So I thought of many places in town I have never been. This mornings walk with Yota was longer and more brisk than ever before. And we "discovered" a few new places we have never been.

So I am inspired again lol.

I also stopped off at the local Hospice and signed up as a volunteer. I intend to slave a little for them and help them to produce an event that is coming up on July 5th. It is their annual fund raiser, but falls the day after a big holiday. So they will need a little extra help to get people out and attending despite their hangovers lol.

Another accomplishment of the morning was finding and installing Microsoft Office X on my computer. Since my update to OS X 10.4.11 right before my excursion abroad, I have not had it. Without Word and it's companions I have had a great excuse for not getting any REAL work done. Now I have it and I am just waiting for an e-mail with the activation code so I can get to work...

Also today for the first time since leaving school in Italy... I studied Italian Grammar again. I study the language every day, usually vocabulary and conversation. I also listen to Italian music, watch Italian tv and talk to myself... alot lol. But studies of Italian Grammar require some serious focus on, to make any progress with.

Also made good progress on my current art piece in the works. I have been painting an ancient Olive Tree. It haunted me for weeks after leaving Italy... so as soon as I could I started it's rendition. I just can't seem to get the right shade of gray-green-blue that I feel is needed...

Oh in case you did not know... the world as we know it here in Southern Humboldt is ablaze.

I have been considering volunteering for the fires. Like helping out in the fire camp or making lunches for the fire fighters. A lightning storm that came through the area a week ago started over 100 fires here in Humboldt County and thousands around the north part of the state. they got half of them out right away, but 50 were in hard to reach places. There are 3 near to our home in Legget Paradise Ridge and Windy Gap. It was very windy yesterday and today the smoke is so thick, the girls and I are dizzy, coughing and our eyes are stinging from the smoke. It looks like a cloudy day today, but it is not. The sun is shining a dark red through the smoke. I looked at the fire report and there are more (5 new, 56 altogether) and bigger fires (double the acrage to 1,500 acres) today than yesterday. The wind is coming up now... and fire season does not usually start here until late August or September. Low relative humidity this year!
This weekend we are supposed to have another lightning storm, like the one last week. oh no!

My daughter Christen and I have an agreement... We take turns cooking so everyone does not have to eat Italian food every day lol lol. She usually makes Asian or Mexican dishes. I have been making pasta and other recipes I collected up in Italy. I ordered 25lbs of the right kind of semolina dura flour from the local health food store yesterday. Last night I made Gnocchi in a Ricotta sauce with greens, walnuts and basil. I was emulating a dish I had in a Bari restaurant the day before I left. Tonight Christen is making beef steak fajitas!Above: Orecchiette Pasta

Now I am going to the farmers market to look for a few choice ingredients for dinner tomorrow night. I got so much done today... when I get home from the market, I will settle down with glass of wine to celebrate a good and productive day.

Back in the saddle again.

My love goes out to all of you.

A Clash of Two American Cultures

Okay so I am admitting it. A weakness.

Culture shock is getting the best of me a little. I came home to a world of chaos, dirt and noise and I am not very happy. I am changing and would like to make a life for myself that is quite different from my past life.

In the past Garberville has been host to an annual Rodeo weekend with a parade and two weeks later we would have the annual biker run weekend. Both of these cultures I find a little interesting and entertaining but unnerving in many ways. Some really smart person or group of people made the rodeo and the biker run happen on the same weekend this year. The weekend I return home from Europe.

A clash of two obnoxious american cultures lol.
The American Biker Culture
I think the bikes are beautiful works of art. But I hate the noise they make. Like thunder on the horizon, but more rhythmic. With hundreds of them running every road in the county it is quite an "effect". My dog cringes the whole weekend shaking and ducking under furniture. The bikers take pride in looking and acting tough. Heavy black leather, shaved heads and tattoos with skulls, dragons and often violent images from head to toe are quite common. Both the men and the women too lol. And when the bikers "run" it usually means a lot of drinking and loud aggressive behavior all around.
The American Rodeo Culture.
The rodeo culture makes it's living from the exploitation of animals damn it. I hate to see the harsh treatment given the bucking animals and the calves for roping. That said I have always loved the rodeo because of those animals. I love seeing the parade with the people and horses dressed up in their finest western regalia. I am one of those people who always roots for the bull during bull riding events lol.

I think I have grown a bit... out of the old life and into the new with less tolerance for loud or aggressive places and people. The weekend is over and the thunder is starting to recede a little now. The bikers have mostly left for home now. My dog can recover now.

Now it's time to get back to the business of making... my life what I want it to be....

Coming Home

I am home.

My return trip started with both Joze and Zeki putting my baggage on their bikes and escorting me to the trolley stop near their house. From there I went on a trolley then a train, plane, tram, plane, BART, taxi, then car. This last portion of my trip was as awesome as any other part. My family and friends have made this a warm and wonderful homecoming for me.

San Francisco is a good airport to come home to. They had an exhibit of beautiful Tibetan Art, wow. I was VERY relieved to see my luggage in the baggage claim area and I was surprised that customs let me keep my olive oil and all the seeds I was bringing in, EVEN the carob pods and seeds!

This oil can was in a suitcase marked fragile and looks like it was
beaten with a hammer. It ended up with just the tiniest leak in one
of the top seams but only a drop leaked out.

I stayed at my friend Kim's apartment in Oakland for a day and was spoiled with a beautiful view, fully stocked kitchen and absolutely the most comfortable bed I had experienced on the entire trip! I felt quite a bit in shock and pain from having to pass through London Heathrow Terminal 5 again, but slept very well.

Then I was picked up for the last leg of my journey by my friend Jama. She treated me to lunch at a nice seafood restaurant in Marin and then she took me grocery shopping at whole foods, clothes and household shopping at the SA Depot in Lytton Springs! Not only did I pick up a few real star pieces of clothing for my wardrobe, I found this print of the Little Angels by Raphael and it's hanging in my living room.



My daughters finished painting the kitchen, cleaned and arranged the house nicely, filled all the vases with flowers and had homemade chicken soup waiting for me when I arrived at home in Garberville.

Sleep. Lots of water. Internet reconnected. More sleep. Jet lag has not been too bad, but I think it will take a few more days for my back to stop hurting.

Io fa la fresca pasta per la mia figlia stasera e... abbiamo mangiato alcuno di migliore olio di oliva. YUM. Felice felice.

Ringraziamento eterno.

Dreaming... A World Without Too Many Cars

Ciao a tutti amici,

When I arrived at the beach, I broke down and cried like a baby.

My friends laughed at me and teased me, but they also hugged me and gave me their love too. The reason for my tears... there are no cars allowed within a long distance of the beach here. No cars, no high rises, only bikes and walking paths. We were on the only beach, a 1 mile stretch, that allows dogs too. And they only allow dogs for 3 months of the year. This is to protect all the wildlife during the breeding season. My friends told me that my reaction to the carless beach gave them a new appreciation for it. They had been taking it for granted.
Below: Parking lot at the beach, bikes only!

I am very sore today but very happy.

Yesterday we went on a very long bike tour. We went to a bird sanctuary first. The sanctuary was closed but when my friends told them I was an environmentalist who works for the endangered species in California. They made an exception for me and gave me a tour of the facilities.

After the tour of the bird sanctuary we went to the beach on the Northsea. After the shock of no cars wore off I went into the water. I was very suprised at how warm the water was here. I expected it to be very cold because we were so far north. But it was much warmer than on the Northern California coast.

In a way... I have regained some hope for humanity here. The people here ride bikes and they are fit and happy. Maybe more people in America can start riding bikes too. If we could achieve that transition... maybe there is hope for the world.

The Dutch People hold the key to survival of the planet... in their pockets with their little bike keys. I just received a request in my e-mail from the bike path advocates in Eureka. They want photos and information about bike paths to help them in their quest to build bike paths around the Humboldt Bay.
What luck... I have some to send to them. Please check out the Trail Trust of Humboldt Bay and contact Jennifer Rice for more information or to help out with this project. jen@nrsrcaa.org.

I leave Europe tomorrow morning to come home to America. I will be in San Francisco by 5pm. Not only carrying the best olive oil and many new skills, but a renewed hope... of a healthy world without too many big cars.

I will miss my new friend Batu (also called: Batuti, Bahhh Tuuu, Tuti Wooti). He was watching me pack my bags today and he was so sad... whining and crying. I had to give him some extra love. We have become very good friends while I have been here. He is part Fell Terrier like Yota and they have some of the same charachter and physical traits.
My love goes out to all of you who have befriended me, rescued me, helped me, housed me, fed me, and taught me many important lessons about language, life, love, culture and about myself too, while I have been here in Europe. I will miss you so much and I will never forget you!

I will be in touch!

Some Things You Never Forget

Ciao a tutti amici,

Well I guess it is true what they say about riding a bike! You never forget how. Jozé and Zeki had a small bike for me and yesterday we went for a ride. I had so much fun. It has been many many years since I tried to ride a bike. Mainly because of my back injury and the length of time it took me to heal. But maybe also because around Southern Humboldt there are no bike paths and getting around by bike is very difficult and even dangerous.


I went with Jozé and Zeki to a friends home for dinner last night. Their friend Oboe prepared Indonesian foods for us and it was very good. I had never tried Indonesian foods before. After the dinner we attended a housewarming party for some other friends. They had taken a multi-unit townhouse and made it one house. It was like a castle. It had 8 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 kitchens, many rooms for entertaining, 2 terraces, and a gardenspace on the bottom floor.


The people at the party were very friendly and I met several expatriots there. Some people from Canada and a man from New Mexico. I did notice one very big difference between the Italians and the Dutch at this party. In Italy I am of average size. Here in the Netherlands, I am a little shrimp. I was by far (4 inches) the shortest person at the party! I think that the average height for Dutch people must be about 6'2". We danced, ate and drank wine for many hours and walked the bikes back home because I was a little tipsy. lol


Also I noticed yesterday that the sun sets much later here. 10:30pm! When I checked the maps I could see the latitude here is about 53. I think this is the farthest north I have ever been. Jozé says the sun sets at4:30 in the winter time.


Some pictures of the beautiful birds I have seen here: The Trumpeter Swan

A Mud Hen in her nest with her babies

A parrot introduced from India.

The doves here are twice as big as the doves in Italy or America.

These ducks are similar to the mallards at home. But I think they have a much longer beak.

And here a good shot of the Nile Geese.

I am trying so many new foods here... breads, cheeses, wines, beer, pastries and cookies. I wish I had room in my luggage to bring some home with me to share with people. But I am already so overloaded I think I will just hurt myself if I try to bring more.

I will try to write one more blog post before coming home on Tuesday. My love to all of you... my friends and family.

Buon Appetito!

Ciao Amici,

It is starting to set in... I am NOT in Italy anymore. Oh woe is me. Despite the fact I am with wonderful people, in a beautiful place and I am about to return to see my beloved family, friends and home... I have started to mourn for leaving Southern Italy. I will return when the time is right. But I will have to work very hard, I know this.

Anyway... I will add a few photos I have taken of Den Haag because it is such a beautiful place.

Above: This is the canal with the big fish on the street where I am staying.
Above: A path along one of the neighborhood greenbelts.Above: This is the middle of town in mid-day! Where are all the cars and people?
A very nice place I found along one of the canals, and if you look closely you will see a few of the Nile Geese that live here in the summer months.

It was raining and cold today so we did not go to the beach. I am starting to think of going home more and more. I checked the weather reports for San Francisco and Eureka. It is even colder there right now, than it is here in the Netherlands. It will get hot soon enough though I am sure of that.

My love goes out to all of you.

Rest and Recuperation in Den Haag

Jen Dobri!

That is the how you greet someone in Polish.

I am learning from the beautiful 7 yr old Polish girl who lives next door. We are teaching each other a few words in our own language. Her first english word was "beautiful". That word never sounded so good as when she said it yesterday. She has been here in the Netherlands with her family for only one year and speaks fluent Dutch already. Amazing. She came over for dinner last night and after dinner we danced. So much fun. It seems like everyone I have met here is multi-lingual. In this house Dutch, English, German, Italian, Turkish, Polish, French and even a little Spanish is spoken. This is a multicultural neighborhood too. Shops and restaurants include many Turkish, Chinese, Mediterranean and Indian too.

I am starting to feel back to normal after my difficult travel experience. Although I am still kicking myself for not calling and checking into the airport a day in advance to find out if my flight was still scheduled and my booking was good and clear. live and learn. I have had several of those expensive lessons on this trip (lost luggage, dishonest taxi driver, unscheduled flight). When I travel again, I will be packing much lighter I think and scrupulously checking all bookings, maps, prices, and schedules for changes.

I am taking lots of photos and picking up a few small and light weight momentos and souveneirs from the area. A few chrystal stones, some sea salt from the North Sea, a pewter salt dispenser with dragons, some flower bulbs and seeds. But luckily... British Airways allows an additional 20 kilos in weight for luggage of people flying to the US from Europe so I wont have to worry about that!

Jozé, her friend Zeki, the dogs, the neighbor children and the birds have kept me very entertained. Yesterday after a wonderful dinner party of salmon, wild rice, turkish beans, yogurt cake and Italian wine, we sat in the garden and played various whistles to go along with the various bird songs. Magic. Then we took the dogs, Noel and Batu out for a midnight walk and a neighbor showed me a photo of a giant fish he had recently caught out of the canal that runs down the middle of the street. A 40lb pike! He throws them back after he catches them and has caught this one several times now. It can't resist his special home made bait. He uses strawberry flavored dough balls made from fish flour for bait. Fish candy hahaha

Jozé had to go to work today so I am on my own. I think I will go to the grocery and see what is available in the way of Italian ingredients. Maybe I will prepare one of my new Italian dishes for her this evening to stay in practice. I will be here in the Hague for 2 more days and then I will be in Amsterdam for 5 days. I will be in San Francisco by 5pm next Tuesday. I think it will be really strange to hear people speak only English again. How dull hehehe. I'm still speaking in Italian half the time, and want to keep doing it too.

Blessings:
- The birds
- Less Cars and polite drivers. Here most people ride bikes and trolleys. There are parking spaces available everywhere and those that do drive are very cautious and curteous.
- Veronica The polish child next door.
- A computer with high speed internet in my room hehehehe.

Curses:
- Worries over the return trip with British Airways and the possible unforseen complications.

I am listening to KMUD at the moment and it sounds great. Dreaming of a new laptop lol. Starting to get ready for another period of culture shock and reintroduction. Tomorrow we are going to the beach on the Northsea with the dogs and I am so looking forward to it. Photo ops!

My love goes out to all of you!

XIII Biennial of Young Artists From Europe

Ciao a tutti il mio amici,

I am in Den Haag (the Hague) Netherlands now and it is bliss. My travel experience to get here was a nightmare. My scheduled flight was canceled and I had to rebook at the last minute. A flight that costed twice as much. It drained my account and now I am waiting for reimbursement from 2 different airlines. Arghhh Air travel is screwed up! I guess that is what I get for travelling during the Mercury retrograde sheeesh. I should have known better and have learned many lessons besides the italian language and culture on this FOR SURE!

I had to wait in the airport for 12 hours for my rebooked flight and sleep (sort of) on the cold hard floor. Then my luggage was too heavy (by 23 kilos) and I had to spend a few hours choosing which of my belongings to throw away or give away. I did a little of both. I am not so attached to material things and it was not that hard to do. A few employees at the airport were very kind and helped me through this ordeal so I was happy to give them a few gifts of some of my things! In the end I was still 7 kilos overweight and they were charging 18 euros per kilo for overweight luggage. But the woman who checked me in LET ME SLIDE!!! another wonderful person.

I made it to Holland after 30 hours in transit exhausted but happy to be done with that part of the trip. My friends in Den Haag had a cake and garden party waiting for me. They are wonderful! My first impressions of Holland. It is very beautiful and green but also VERY HUMID! Also the birds here are big, very vocal, very colorful and very friendly charachters... just like the people.

so here as I said are a few images from the art exhibit I attended for 2 days in Bari, there is lots and lots more to come but it will take some time to process. here goes.

A wooden carved baby

Self portrait with burka

A very interesting quilt in the textile arts exhibit.

Pink with gun...

Moon babe.

A girls self portrait. part of a larger piece.

Fox chairs...

one of my favorite clothing designs... I want one lol

Doll Art... wow!

From Syria... makes one think about how our american culture impacts the youth of the world.

Well I will go for now. I will have an amazing or maybe several amazing slideshows to share when I get home. Looking forward to seeing more of Holland, but it's raining today and I think I just need a little rest from my tramatic travel experience.

Love you all!

Leaving Southern Italy for Holland

Ciao a tutti il mio amici,
I went on one last photo expedition around Otranto the morning before I left, just in case I had missed something I wanted to memorialize. Then I muscled my luggage down 4 flights of stairs and down the hill to the bus stop to catch the bus from Otranto to Bari.
Darned good thing it was all downhill! I am still sore. I did not sleep well the last several nights before I left Otranto. One reason being the heat and another reason was "attacco della zanzare"! Because of the heat I left my window open one night and in my sleep I kicked off my covers. I became the feast of many mosquitoes and have at least, oh probably 50 bites on my backside. I think I may be a little anemic. The mosquitoes here are buff. They remind me of horses, LARGE and sort of broad-chested! Their bites are extremely itchy, painful and long-lasting too. I usually don’t get bothered much by mosquitoes. I had a theory that I ate so much garlic that they did not like the taste of my blood.
I think that Italian mosquitoes must love the taste of garlic, hahahaha.
The heat is really starting to set in here in Bari too. After resting up for a day from moving my luggage, I spent my last two days at an art exhibit at the convention center "Fiera del Levante". This is the same place where Mediterre was held. The name of the art show is "XIII Biennial of Youth Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean" I saw a few artists from America here to. It is amazing how much talent is gathered here. There is art of every possible medium, and a few mediums I did not know were possible too! I am actually posting this blog from the internet café and gaming pavilion that is set up here at the convention center. I walked for miles it seems around 3 huge pavilions, looking at the art installments. I actually have blisters from doing it. I took photos until my camera battery went dead. That made me sooooo sad.

People kept staring at me and it made me worry and feel very self conscious. I thought… hmmm are my shoes too funky? Maybe I look too strange and stand out. I wonder if these are the wrong clothes to wear? I was standing near a group of people who kept giving me funny looks. So I finally had to ask. "Parla Englese?" They all pointed to one man in their group and he stepped forward with a big smile. "Yes I do!"

"Can I ask you a question?" He says "of course". I say "I keep getting stares and funny looks. What is it? I mean do I look strange or something? Is it my shoes?". He says to me " Well, I think it must be because you are so beautiful." I CHOKED! Then his lady friend taps him on the shoulder and says something I don’t understand. He says "My friend wants to know if you are a celebrity?" Another man he is with also tells him something, then he says "Yeah, my friend here asked me to tell you, he thinks you are beautiful too". I laughed and said "Thank you!". We talked and laughed for a while. I turned down his "invitation" though! hehehe.
After that I did not feel so bad when people stared lol. I would have a very hard time choosing which art exhibits I thought were the best. So many were startlingly amazing. I really enjoyed the clothing design exhibits and the video art projects. I especially enjoyed some very funny videos that were made in Israel, with English subtitles.
I fell in with a group of young people at the café who were speaking English. We spent a few hours together at lunch time eating, drinking espresso, chatting and laughing. Some were Italian, some French, a German boy and two boys from Israel. It turned out that the two boys from Israel were the ones that made the videos I liked so much. You must see their videos. Awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/user/itamarrose



I saw a band that was especially hot called Toen. They were a hard rock band from Bari and included an electric violin with heavy metal folk riffs. WOW! I danced and danced. But there were only 5 of us dancing out of hundreds attending. I asked a new friend, Emilio why people from Bari were not dancing to such hot dance music. He says "oh it’s much too early (10pm) and they have not had enough wine yet". Hahaha "So let’s go get some" and we did. We went to an "Italian Party" with food, wine and poetry flash readings.

One really amazing thing about this event… every thing was free. Well except for the water, espresso and souvenirs. The shuttle bus, entrance, exhibits, video games, internet café, shows (fashion, dance, bands, poetry readings, movies etc) food and wine were all free! This made for a VERY happy Mama Bear. I think I had a little too much of the Negromaro Wine, green olives and the Barley w/Zucchini Pilaf though. Mmmmmmm. I arrived at 9:30 am and caught the shuttle bus back to town at 11:30 pm and fell into bed exhausted around midnight. What a day!
I did not see everything yet, so I recharged myself and my camera batteries and I am back for more today! I am pretty worn out though and I still have 12 days remaining on this trip! I better drink less wine and leave earlier tonight. I will have to move my luggage again tomorrow.
OH NO!

Jozè: I hope you will understand if I sleep a lot… and cry for Italy… for a day or two after I arrive in Holland.

Wishing you were all here with me to experience this (and help me move my luggage hehehe). I think my next blog post will be mostly photos of this event.

My love goes out to all of you.

Io Dovrò Partire Otranto, a Domani!

Ciao a tutti il mio amici

The spring flowers are starting to fade, the grains are starting to ripen, it’s starting to get hot and you can smell summer coming. I was lying on the beach yesterday, soaking in the sun with my eyes closed and I heard a cute little girls voice say “Ecco la bella vita!” (Here is the beautiful life!).

It’s my last day in Otranto! Damned tears again…

I have been exchanging e-mail addresses with some of the friends I have made here. Teresa my friend who works at the local supermercato says she wants to come to San Francisco and I have promised her a tour of the redwoods. Rosa, I don’t think will ever leave Otranto, but I have told her I will try to come back again next spring. I want to continue my education here… for a few years, if the fates provide. I will research other places and there are other areas of Southern Italy I want to explore in the future. I don’t think I will be able to stay so long here next time. Maybe only 1 month, or maybe I will stay even longer, who knows. Only ‘Providence’.

I LOVE Otranto!

I hope to bring others from California to Otranto to take classes. Maybe even someone who would be able to drive. I would pay part of the car rental and gas if that could happen. I had only one opportunity to tour the local countryside by car. I have taken many long hikes and a few train and bus rides around to explore though. It is so beautiful here. Porto Badisco, Lecce, Porto de Leuca, Gallipoli, grottos in abundance… There is so much more to see and experience by car.

Italy is smaller than California in size, but much larger in… many other ways.

There have been several long periods of time I have spoken only in Italian. I am improving at a reasonable rate, but I have a very long way to go. This has not been an absolute full immersion experience. I am very glad for that. Absolute full immersion at the pace I have been learning Italian would have been too lonely for me. My roommates, except Rhiannon, seemed to prefer to speak to me in English much of the time. I hope I did not ruin the ‘full immersion’ experience for them.

My Roommates.

Agnès (France)

Rhiannon (Australia)

Jozè (Holland)

Claudia (Germany)

Even though 3 out of 4 of my roommates were not native English speakers, they had excellent skills with it. Better than most Americans even! ha ha ha Especially Agnès (sends smile and waves), who speaks 7 languages (inc Hindi and Chinese!) and teaches English to French high school students. I was so lucky to have the roommates that I did. They were all amazing and wonderful women. I had a week or two with each one. That was plenty of time to get to know them (I did their birth star charts for them), make friends of them and I hope to stay in contact with them all. I will stay with Jozè for 5 days in Holland next week. I have invited everyone to Northern California for a tour. After I get home, I will prepare a comfortable place in my home for ‘visitors’ and be ready to greet them anytime they are ready to come. Only Claudia has been to America. She has been there 4 times. New York City, New England and Texas. She has never been to California. I told her that Northern California is the best part of America. I may be biased though. lol

I don’t think my So Hum/Mendo friends will be too surprised if my new friends start showing up from Italy, France, Germany, Australia, Holland or other far away places. I sure you will enjoy meeting them as much as I have. I intend to visit France, Germany and maybe Holland again. I don’t know about Australia. I would love to go, but it seems… so far away… from Italy. lol lol

Like the poem I wrote a few weeks ago said, I do not know what the future holds for me. With a halter and lead rope on my wild heart… I think I can say that the future is a little safer for me now. I do not have (as many of) the fears or the expectations I once had. This makes me happy. I do have things I want to follow up on, inner work I need to do and places I want to explore.

Along with all the other bird songs during this mornings sunrise, I heard some hens very loudly… laying eggs. That made me think, with the exception of having a few small debts to pay off as soon as possible, and a few physical limitations, I am FREE, with many possibilities (eggs to hatch?).

Lucky me.

Some of the possibilities (eggs I could hatch, but I’m NOT counting them) include… writing a book, sharing my new skills, enjoying my friendships, exploring the world, finding love, doing intensive research, teaching Yota new tricks, creating a masterpiece, learning to speak French, German, Spanish and who knows, maybe even Dutch, finding inner peace, starting a business, getting in the best possible physical shape, meeting new people, redecorating my bathroom and bedroom, teaching and learning more about… oh the possibilities are endless, but I will stop here. Per ora, io dovrò praticare la lingua l’Italiano molto! My next blog post will be from Bari. I will spend 4 days there before I’m off to Holland for 10 days

Words… are a very powerful force, only mastered by our perception of them. Perceive yourself to be ‘powerful’ and ‘good’.

Blessed be

My love goes out to all of you… around the world!