I have finally found a place of some equalibrium. This is very important for a libran like me.
I am no longer having stomach pains all the time since I figured out what, when and how much to eat. I have had no more bruised and blistered feet, since I figured out how far and how long to walk. I have had no more headaches, since I figured out when and how much sleep i need, and I have had no weight gains (yet!) since i found a balance of the first three essential needs.
I have to stay vigilant though.
It would be very easy to gain weight here with all the seductive pastries, breads, pastas and wines that are tempting me at every turn. I am limiting myself to just one of each per day hahahaha. A saving grace is that my apartment is up a small hill and 4 flights of stairs. I come home at least 3 times a day and i am usually out of breath with heart pounding when i get in the door. Especially if i have my heavy book bag and/or groceries i am carrying.
i am starting to make some progress in my Italian grammar lessons. My head has been a really tough nut to crack. One of my teachers says... "ho bisogno la bomba per la mia testa duro-noce" ( i need a bomb for my hard nut-brain). I am very happy to say that in the past two days i have had some real breakthroughs in understanding in the hardest concepts i have to learn. a side note to this is... i am learning more about linguistics in general than i ever thought i would learn. Maybe, just maybe, i will be able to go back to the German i tried to grasp in high school. Why not French too eh? I will be going to France as well as Italy next year, to visit Agnes in her village, and maybe Schmurk and CC too eh?
my friend Zeni does a rendition of Antonio (la mia amica Zeni fa una resa di Antonio).
Blessings:
- Zeni's rendition of Antonio.
- a new roomate. Rhiannon from Australia. Another beauty!
- being the comic relief for my fellow students and teachers. They would not let me do my homework last night! they insisted on taking me out for a big expensive meal, getting me very drunk, and laughing at me for hours. I'm glad i can be of service lol lol.
- Jeff and Alberta, for their tour of the south coast and for being comic relief for me.
- Italian television and its help with the language. I especially love the cooking shows of course and the music shows. Some of my new musical favorites inc. the Blue Willies (yowza!), Gianluca Grignani, Diego and Leuca, Biagio Antonacci.
- Albanian sunrises. the albanian coastal mountains usually have stormy weather making some of the the sunrises full of color and refracted light.
- African sunsets. Jeff says that the sunsets here are so colorful (blue, purple, red, orange, gold, yellow) because the wind blows dust and sand here from the sahara dessert.
- roosters crowing at sunrise. i know this seems like something all too common. But as a child living in the city I would dream of living on a farm. When i moved to the country i grew to love the sound of roosters crowing. there is a rooster nearby who greets the morning making me feel very much at home. One of the reasons i made the decision to leave my ex-husband was because he made me kill my rooster.. cause it interrupted his sleep.
Curses:
- the sidewalks. they are very narrow, discontinuous, off the level and when it rains they turn to raingutters. You have to use them or you get run over! If they are wider people tend to park on them.
- Brainflip. My thoughts are flipping back and forth from English to Italian and from Italian to english. add a little french and german to the mix and chaos ensues.
- The barriers that still exist between me being able to speak this beautiful language well. I am reading and writing very well. I am beginning to understand most of what i hear too. But when someone asks me a question... my mind darts around trying to compose an answer... then it goes blank! i usually think of what to say 10-15 minutes later, when it is too late. I am searching for the way around this barrier.
I want to offer my condolences to my italian friends for the results of the recent presidential elections. The new/old presidente Berlusconi is the Italian version of George Bush. yikes. he won the election using fear tactics and his ownership of the network television stations.
basta per ora (enough for now).
my love to all.
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