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Published: October 9th 2011
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It is summer vacation time. It is the highly coveted leisure time of a teacher, and often the main highlight of living abroad. Daily life in a foreign country can wear on you, although exotic, it can be draining. I am fortunate enough to be able to meet my parents half way in Rome, Italy for what will be a vacation of a lifetime.
As the plane leaps off the ground into a sky portal the sound tells me I am being sucked into the future.
Time passing slowly below and catapulting at light speed through the sky.
My life is but a series of dreams in different places, leaving pieces of my heart in all of them.
To be back in Italy, to be back in the west, the relief washes over me in an awesome wave.
No reverse culture shock.
I indulge, drowning my senses in what I love of the familiar, reconnecting, capabilities intact, languages understood.
I can be understood when I speak and I can read! It is interesting being illiterate as an adult, someone who knows what it is to be intelligent and coherent. It feels that you are
always somewhat at the mercy of those in service to you or any Taiwanese that you interact with. Thank you in Chinese is the probably the word to leave my mouth the most. So grateful for every successful interaction, when you are in need you are vulnerable and when you do not understand the language you are reliant on the mega competency of the second party. It can be exhausting. This is why I am taking Chinese lessons in the fall.
This time coming back to Italy it is as a tourist. Fortunate enough to have studied and lived in Florence for four months in 2010, I feel at home being back and yet knowing that I am just passing through I want to really take advantage of my time. Although from time to time fantasies would fill my head of how to stay. At one point the owner of my hostel said they had job openings and I could work there. Not exactly a dream job, but I thanked him and took the keys to my room.
The best part about the trip back is seeing my parents, seeing my family face to face and not through
Skype. I get picked up at the airport by Marco, a hired driver, who is very nice and helps me practice some of my Italian again by not speaking a lick of English. When I arrive at the Waldorf Astoria just on a hill overlooking Rome I waste no time to get my bags and go see my Mom who has been waiting for my arrival. As I walk through the glass doors there she is beautiful as ever. The immense joy I feel is evident in the tears welling up in my eyes as we hug. Again, the relief washes over me in an awesome wave.
First things first, unpack, go for a massage and then lay poolside with my mama!
What great company, my parents, and I am a lucky girl.
Our Italian itinerary:
Rome (Dinner and party in Odescalchi Castle! The same Castle TomKat got married in)
A day at St. Peter’s Basilica
Private Dinner inside the Vatican (with the Three Tenors performing!!)
Sicily (Mt. Etna, Taormina)
“Sailing through the Mediterranean sky, Cerulean blue
An abyss of blue
The minimal white clouds only suggesting the altitude
I do not know where the blue of my
eyes ends and the reflection of the ocean begins
Sitting in a chair looking down in the upper atmosphere
Waiting watching looking out
To see the first sight of Sicily”
This trip back through Italy has been filled with all the typical romantic clichés and fantasies of when you dream of Italy, but with greater frequency. Our host, Ron, the President of Shurwest Financial Group and Annexus Group, has the sway of power and money and the amazing desire to have a good time. Every dinner we have there is live music, classic Italian music O’ Solo Mio, Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) http://www.zshare.net/download/947852685846617d/, and dancing. Wine! The wine flows like the rivers of the Arno. Bottles being uncorked at any moment, empty bottles covering tables. And the food, OH the food. Trays of salami, feta, olives, breads to dip in olive oil, freshly made warm thin crust pizza, pastas, artisan gelato’s of any flavor. At breakfast, an espresso and some fresh fruit.
Eating on rooftops in Sicily overlooking the beautiful coastal scenery, the plushness the result of the fertile grounds of Etna’s volcanic rock and ash.
In the Vatican, our group got a private
tour of the Vatican museum and even of the Sistine Chapel. Cocktails and orderves in the Pope’s garden before heading inside to the Vatican dining hall. The reception is immaculate, five course meal and to top it all off, the Three Tenors make a surprise entrance and perform live. There deep bravados accented with a humorous show that had everyone laughing and cheering for more.
At the Odescalchi Castle, the entrance is grand with costumed characters from the Renaissance; Guards lining the walkways of the entrance, knights sparring with swords on the grassy slopes to the left. And inside the castle, there is a veritable renaissanceian market place. Artisan craftsman everywhere. Painters, basket weavers, leather mask makers, silver coin makers with hot molten metal pots and spooning out molds of the Annexus logo onto silver medallions. After mingling with glasses of champagne it is time to get in our places for the show. Suddenly a slew of Italian men strut into the center of the castle interior and perform a flag throwing show. The flags bear coats of arms, colorful and large, the men toss and twirl them back and forth to each other in circles, running back and
forth to catch them. And then all of a sudden, one gets loose and hits a woman on the sidelines in the stomache! She is definitely hurt and gets shuffled off to see the doctor. I heard later that she was OK. But the show kept on.
At the finish Ron announces that it is time for dinner and we go out to the back of the castle. With a smile on his face he said "You didn't think the fun was over did you?" A grassy field, the walls of the castle to our right and the view of the dreamy lakeside town to our left. The sun beginning to set, the lights of the town turning on, Romeo and Juliet being projected up onto the castle walls, a live four man Italian quartet complete with achordian playing and singing. Tables of food overflowing with pastas and wines, cheeses, salads and freshly sliced meats on tables lined with white linens and lined up and down along the length of the castle. As if this is not enough, a firework show starts as the light of the sun is finally set behind the Italian landscape. Bright and colorful and so
close my parents and I have to wear sunglasses to shield our eyes from the debris raining down on us!
This is all within the first week of my being back in Italy and I feel I have experienced all the delight of the old classic Italian movies. The best part is being in the bonds of family, being able to laugh and love, looking out onto the world with rose colored lenses. What a trip it has been!
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Chris and Nikki
Chris
Cool picture
Rome is our favourite city, it's intersting reading someone elses experiences.