Take care of yourselves or else

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Only a quick entry to say a few things, again sans photos, but they will appear eventually 😊

I've been here just on three weeks now, and I remember saying to Marianne a while ago that I couldn't really tell if I had really improved at all. But over the last few days I am realising there are all kinds of things I couldn't have done before I left Australia. So I present to you...

Things I can do now wot I couldn't do before!

• When I go into a shop now I get annoyed if they talk to me in english
  
• I have bought an Italian phone and sim, which involved two shops, comparing prices, finding out stuff n' stuff
  
• I went to a doctor last week who only spoke Italian
  
• I'm already on the other side of the road while all the tourists are standing there waiting for the cars to stop...YOU stop THEM!
  
• In the space of one day I had three people ask ME for directions - including one Italian lady! And I even knew where everything was, as well as what bus to take!
  
• And finally, last night we went to see a movie! Friends with Money, that Italian classic starring Jennifer Aniston, dontcha know! Dubbed of course (and man are they way off with all the voices!) Anyway, the point is that I understood it!!! I was so excited and left the theatre feeling really good 😊
  

So hurrah.

This morning I did the full tourist bizzo of taking a double-decker bus around the city. You get to sit out in the open and you have little earphones to listen to information about everything you pass. I wasn't sure if it would be any good because I've been to a lot of these places already (I'd originally wanted to go when I first got here but never got around to it), but I really enjoyed it and learnt all kinds of stuff! The ticket is valid all day so I'm thinking I might go again tonight when everything is all lit up because I'd imagine it's quite a different experience.

Had a bit of a shock the other day. As I said last time, Tova arrived on Sunday from Sweden. She's a lovely girl, 32, studied as a chemical engineer but threw it in after a few years to become a tour guide for Scandinavian groups and has since had amazing experiences all over the world. As she said, she was born in the wrong country, and when she finally settles down, it won't be in Sweden. She came here to study and live in Rome for nine months to see whether Italy might be the right country for her. But on Tuesday morning she received a phone call to say her best friend from Sweden had been hit by a car and killed. She was just going out to get some breakfast and it happened. She was 31, got married in March this year, pregnant, due in December. It's such a horrific thing to happen, and of course especially hard for Tova, who had only just arrived for this new phase of her life and was of course still feeling pretty alone, and obviously far away from home. She flew home yesterday morning but she said she will come back one day to to do what she came here for.

I just felt so sorry for her, and of course it made me think of all of you at home. So please, please, please take care of yourselves and I promise I will do the same!

Looking forward to seeing you all again,

lots of love,
tess

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Comments

[spankette]

so I've finally caught up on all your happenings of late -glad to hear the italiano is coming along, and you can now watch dubbed jennifer aniston classics. how weird, that most italians would have no idea what jennifer aniston actually sounds like.....*insert unsolved mysteries music here* and youve become a petty crim dodging the bus lines, eh? i would have liked it if thered been a chase through the city, involving you stealing a moped and driving through a clothes line at some point -please add that to your blog immediately! anyway, not much going on here. the weather is lovely, so i have no inclination to finish my thesis any time soon. speaking of which, i should get back to it! hope all is well im sorry about your friend -that is just awful ok, better go love spanks xoxo

[isa-yoy-bel]

yoycard
Thanks for la postcard of la mrow-mrows, I received it today (26th of sept) so I'm interested to know how long it took to get here :D Hope all is well, love la bel