non vedo l'ora

i am persistently pinching my skin. i get to go to the states in less than a week. where, indeed, have the last year and four months gone?

...stalling...

yesterday was a significant day.



never mind that it was the final day of this job that has felt more and more like stalling than like working. after a plethora of anti-climactic salutations, my overstuffed bags and i took the first taxi to the parma train station and as i moved procession-style along the fog engulfed landscape of emilia-romagna, i tried desperately to know how i could spend as much time as i did in a place and feel absolutely nothing upon departing.



but wipe my hands i have done and immediately embarked on the continuation of the day of importance - the 22nd of November. bobo and leah picked me up from the station and once we managed to distance ourselves from the frenetically crazed traffic of florence, happily i got in touch with the prospects of being guests of leah's parents at the villa that they manage in the florentine countryside for thanksgiving dinner. we pulled our car into the driveway of the agriturismo that doubles as a site for volunteers who come to the villa and devote their time to assisting with various tasks that need to be done, including the harvesting of olives. i met volunteers last night from all over europe and the states as well. leah began to give us a tour of the house which dates back to approximately the 1600's. her father finished the walkabout as leah went to say goodnight to the 20+ belorussian orphans that are currently spending their annual month-long visit to the place.



after the excessiveness that is only natural to the festivities, the warmth of the car and bobo's hand in mine made me have some comfort inside.



happy anniversary, he said lightly. and that was, indeed, the most important signification of the day. our third thanksgiving together. i hope for many more.

odds and ends.

creeping past the one year mark as of August, last week i celebrated my second Halloween in the land that tends to brush that Americanized paganism aside for a much more appreciated holy pagan rite: the All Saint's Day of November first.



regardless of which ghosts one chooses to venerate, the better aspect to being here rather than in the States is that they take the time off work to properly do their worshiping. and since the first was on a Thursday, they have what is called Il Ponte, or "The Bridge" which translates to Taking-Off-The-Friday-That-Follows-The-Holiday.



we decided to spend the long weekend with bobo's folks in the mountains. the crisp air was good for the lungs, the excessive amounts of food were beneficial for my appetite and sitting around the dinner table observing the interactions between bobo and his family were excellent for my listening skills. of course, my nerves tended to get in the way of actually producing much of an intelligible sentence in response to anything they said, which brought me down on more than one occasion during the four days that we were together.



but the upsides were too numerous to relish in self-pity. we were able to slip away for a savory dinner that involved just the two of us at Mildas , a renovated convent close to Pinzolo. then the following day we treated ourselves to what is quickly becoming a mountainous habit: the day spa. after four hours of alternating between a Turkish bath, sauna, jacuzzi and Kniepp, any tensions of my seeming performance anxiety vanished.



last night we were over at paola's house for what federica called polenta night. paola is this lovely friend that we have known almost the entire time we have lived in Florence, but did not become close until we were able to be with her and her family in Ventotene. since then, we have been going to her house on occasion and enjoying some amazing meals and gracious friendship. last evening was no exception. as we waited for federica and sara to arrive bringing the remainder of the dinner, we sat around and smoked cigarettes as well as enjoyed a bottle of Nosiola and contemplated the prospects of starting a fire. the overwhelming verdict was a resounding yes.



wanting to feel like i was contributing, as i tend to not be of much help in the kitchen (something i want to improve this coming year...), i volunteered the job of constructing the fire. upon lighting it up, the others arrived and we began preparing what would turn out to be a glutton fest of extraordinary proportions. federica brought the stew of ribs and liver sausage in this delicate red sauce, sara began to make her three-cheese fondue, paola already had the white beans with rosemary, onions and red chili prepared and we spent the remainder of the preparation time, along with the help of everyone else who would offer, constantly stirring the homemade polenta. it was, in a word, exquisite.