Advertisement
Published: October 12th 2009
Last Friday there was another storm while I was at school. It was warm enough that the large windows in the classroom were all open, but it was pouring and there was thunder and lightning. The lightning was relatively unremarkable, just flashes of blue light because of our vantage point, but the variety and intensity of the thunder was fantastic! I made notes of me three favorites: 1) It was a really sudden and intense boom, really loud and with no little rolling noise to warn you, made everyone in the class jump out of their skins. 2) It sounded exactly like three really loud shotgun shots being fired in a row. 3) This was my favorite, it sounded exactly as you might expect it to sound if the sky fell. It started like the sky was cracking, as though it were made of glass or ice, ant then a big crash as it broke, followed by a loud tumbling as it fell to the earth. I have been known to exaggerate on occasion, but I swear on my life that's how it sounded. I loved it.
After school the storm had finished, but its funny, after it pours like that, everything feels fresher, the air has this cool, sharp feel. The smell is very precise and easily recognizable, the smell of rain is definitely a favorite of mine. Another thing I noticed about the after math was the lighting, some thick dark clouds remained, but the sun was coming through all over the place too, making wet leaves and tiles gleam in a surreal manner. From the wall of Citta Alta, the horizon was crazy looking, it was almost glowing, no idea why but it was gorgeous.
That same day I was headed for volleyball practice, and as I walked along the wall i heard bells. Not like church bells, which you hear all day here, but like cow bells, or, in this case, sheep bells. I looked over the edge of the wall to see a rather large herd of sheep grazing on a hill of grass. This was really strange because Bergamo is about the size of Santa Rosa, so pretty dang big, and this is right near the middle, it was a pleasant surprise to say the least!
Yesterday I went with my host parents and youngest brother Lilo to gather chestnuts!!! IT WAS AWESOME! other than the fact that chestnuts grow in very spikey casings. Then we roasted them on a fire right there outside, SO good, really made it feel like fall finally, even though its still warm enough to wear a t-shirt here.
Today was the first day since my arrival that i have seen wind, and not just like a breeze, this was some serious wind. The weather here is so unpredictable, one hour is pours, the next its sunny, and there isn't a puff of wind till now. humf! Its impossible to dress for the weather!
And speaking of dressing, for those of you who told me that you thought people would dress up more to go to school than they do in America, *cough* Dad *cough* , that is war from the truth, I wore a skirt today and my host mother told me how nice it was, she never sees any of her students wear anything but jeans. The day I wore a dress everyone asked why I was so dressed up. Its not going to stop me from wearing dresses, but I thought it was interesting.
Today for lunch I had Polenta! INCREDIBLE polenta. Why was it so good? No idea, but it was amazing, all warm and soft, I think there must have been cheese in it.
P.S. Patti!! I wore the skirt you gave me today! My host mom loved it and I loved wearing it, thank you so much! I MISS YOU!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0489s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
jennah
non-member comment
dude! tell me about vball!!! that storm sounds rediculously crazy :D hahaha and dude, last line before the p.s............thats what she said. im SORRY! i couldnt resist. LOVE YOU MISS YOU