Return To the States

This morning I almost reached my hand to try and find the lighter for our stove but then quickly remembered its an electric stove- no gas, then when I went to put the milk away I turned to place it on the door and realized that's where I put the milk in Orvieto, not here in Tucson. I'm back in Arizona, at least physically. I think my mind takes longer to travel across continents and oceans. It seems as though my mind was barley arriving in Italy and getting settled in when Whoops! Gotta turn around and go back from where you came! I started packing a week before I left Orvieto but now that I'm back in Arizona it seems as tho now I'm actually mentally 'packing up' Orvieto and my time in Italy.

I don't know precisely how to 'pack up' my time. Of course I mean some up my time. I like to look at a situation or time in my life and put a summary on it, a concluding thought. But, I have actually too many scattered thoughts and impressions. Suffice to say, if I could have stayed longer in Italy I would have, but I suppose I have to return to reality at some point. I need to deal with the pile of mail on my desk, the mess of unpacking, and of course the returning to work (thankfully not for another three days).

Something quite wonderful about coming back to Arizona has been coming back to my apartment. How wonderful to return to a place (however small) that's mine, and to already be somewhat settled. Yes I have a 'to do list' but I also have a cozy place and a roommate (with food in the fridge!) to welcome me home. Home...yes perhaps I'm home?


Pictures: me journaling at the train station in Florence while Eugene waited in line to get our tickets and the other one is of Eugene and I in the Colosseum

Post Orvieto Journeys

So its been quite a bit since I've written. This is because my last week in Orvieto was a turbulent hurricane of studying for Italian, taking an AMAZING cooking class, squeezing in some final runs, preparing for my digital photography final, and topped off with a trip to Rome on that Friday to pick up Eugene from the airport. *phew*! It was a lot and went by so fast.

Since leaving Orvieto Eugene and I have journeyed to Venice and then to Florence where I now sit. Tomorrow morning we are off to Roma where we will spend our last day and a half in Italy. I am left with mixed emotions about the short remainder of time for our trip. On one hand I look forward to the comfort of familiarity that returning to Tucson brings, even to some extent my job (the monetary aspect at least), and I have found myself day dreaming about running on a treadmill! But I don't feel ready quite yet to go back. I haven't mastered Italian, or spent long luxurious days wondering around a city just to wander and then cozy up in a cafe and journal for hours. I know I have had five weeks in Orvieto to do just this yet I find myself wishing for more. I am soaking up every last bit of aqua frizzante (frizzy water), Italian TV, and loud zooming vespas that I can (and I really don't like the noise vespas make).

Today we visited Pisa. I don't have any pictures uploaded for them yet but please enjoy the ones I have posted from Orvieto (Eugene and I at the farewell dinner), Venice (picture taking from Ponte Academia), and Florence where Eugene was admiring a beautiful (replica) door of the baptistry of the duomo in Firenze.

ciao!