Closing Time
Five days left. It’s an incredibly surreal feeling, to be honest. I feel so settled here that it feels like it’s been longer than 4 months. Looking back on my pictures, I’m amazed that I did ALL of that in what is really such a short time. I just counted, and I have taken 6,311 pictures since I’ve been in Italy. And yes, I typed that number correctly. What can I say? I take a lot of pictures.
This has been an amazing semester. It certainly had its share of downs with the ups, but even—especially—in the “downs” God has been so faithful. The last four weeks have been fantastic—easily my best this semester.
About three weeks ago, I went on a school trip down to Pompei, Sorrento and Capri. Sorrento was more of a stop-over (where we spent the night), than anything else, though it was beautiful. Pompei and Capri were incredible, though. I honestly didn’t think I was going to like Pompei as much as I did. Pompei, FYI, is the largest archeological site in the world. By now, when I hear “ruins,” I know that typically means not a whole lot is left. In Pompei, though, the city is remarkably intact, ironically because of the volcano that devastated the town.
Quick history/geology lesson: In 79 AD, the citizens of Pompei didn’t know that the mountain near their city was actually a volcano. So, when Vesuvius erupted, it took them completely by surprise. The first disaster to hit the city was a hail of pumice stone that covered the city in 12-15 feet of tiny rocks. The weight of the stone collapsed many of the roofs and filled up the buildings. Though some people died by suffocation, only about 30 bodies have been discovered in the pumice stone—most people died in what came next. After the pumice stone came layer after layer of surge and flow of volcanic ash that swept over the city, destroying everything in its path. However, the pumice stone protected everything it covered. The pumice and ash froze the city in time, leaving an almost perfectly intact 1st century Roman city.
I really don’t know how to describe Pompei, except as eerie. The city is so well preserved you feel as if a 1st century Roman is about to come around the next corner. When the surge and flow came through, it immediately sealed the bodies of the citizens of Pompeii. As their bodies decayed, they left a cavity exactly the shape of the person—sometimes even including clothing details. When excavations began on the city, the archeologists filled the cavities with plaster, thus creating a perfect cast of the victim. Some of these casts are on display in the city (the rest are in a museum in Naples). Because the people were killed and encased instantly, they are in the exact positions of when they died. Once again, eerie. The casts of children were especially heartbreaking to see. While yes, I recognize that these people would have died anyway almost 2,000 years ago, it’s still sad that they died filled with such terror.
We spent the next day on the island of Capri (CAH-pri)—seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The island’s cliffs rise straight out of the intensely turquoise blue sea; the towns of Capri and Anacapri sit on top. In the morning, we took a boat trip around the entire island, then spent the rest of the day exploring.
Pompei/Capri was my last weekend trip of the semester. Since then, I’ve actually had *gasp* school work. It’s crazy—I know. It was pretty much the first time all semester. I have taken several exploratory hikes around Florence—particularly in the hills south of the city. Since I live in a stone and concrete labyrinth, I find it absolutely necessary to leave and find nature.
I’ve gotten to spend quite a bit more time with Andrea (from church) and his wife Susanna. They invited me over for dinner the week that Mary’s parents were in Florence visiting. And I must say, my life is complete now that I have had homemade lasagna cooked by an Italian mom. It was incredible. Be jealous you weren’t there. I also got to meet their 20-year-old daughter, Lisa (I’d already met their younger daughter, Gemma). Lisa took me out with her friends that night—I had so much fun and it was so exciting to actually meet Italians my own age (almost my entire school is American, except for the occasional Swede or Russian).
That same week, I locked myself out of my apartment—in the rain—because I left my jacket—with my keys—at church. While that part was no fun, Andrea rescued me and I spent the rest of the day with his family. Once again, Susanna is an amazing cook. On the way home from collecting my jacket and keys, they took me the loooonnnng way—through gorgeous Tuscan countryside. It was amazing.
Two weeks ago, when Mary was out of town again, Andrea and Susanna kidnapped me again for another drive through the countryside. This one was even more incredible. They took me all through the hills and mountains north of Florence. We went to one point in particular that was absolutely breathtaking—a hill overlooking a gorgeous valley. I’ve decided that I’m moving there. They also took me to a monastery with a great view of Tuscany and Florence. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera…so you’ll just have to take my word on the fact that it was absolutely incredible. I have all the pictures stored in my head, and believe me, they’re amazing. Andrea and Susanna have blessed me so much this semester—I’ve really enjoyed all the fun places and good food, but what I’ve really loved is just getting to spend time with them. They are so much fun—and adventurous. They are as curious as I am—I love it!
As if they hadn’t done enough for Mary and me, Andrea invited us to go hiking in the Tuscan Apennines with him last weekend. I think if I had to pick my favorite day from the entire semester, that would be it. I have never been to a place that incredible before. It was absolutely—over and over, with each bend in the trail—breathtaking. I DO have pictures for this one, though they can’t possibly do it justice.
We hiked up to a lodge in the middle of nowhere for lunch. I had the best cioccolata calda (hot chocolate) yet, along with an amazing spinach and ricotta rotelli with a butter and rosemary sauce, almond pie, blackberry pie and an excellent cappuccino. It was wonderful. I also taught Mary and Andrea how to play Dutch Blitz (think Solitaire on crack, where no one takes turns). They didn’t really love it the first round, but by the third or fourth, they were hooked. They were both talking to themselves—I had Mary on my left making tiny screams and Andrea across from me, “dieci, tre, otto, tre…” It was SO funny. I honestly could not have come up with a better way to spend our last fully free weekend in Italy.
So, (not even) one week left. Mary and I fly out EARLY Monday morning and get into Atlanta late Monday afternoon (though it’ll feel like night to us). Leaving is very bittersweet. I’m excited about seeing my friends and family, but I am so sad that I have to leave this place that has become another home to me. People often ask me what I miss most, or what I’m most excited about returning to. To be perfectly honest, besides people, obviously, I really don’t know. I joke about missing things like a clothes dryer or a microwave. But really, that doesn’t feel so weird. In fact, it feels completely normal that it takes 3 days—from start to finish—to do a load of laundry because it all has to dry. And it also feels completely normal that I haven’t driven a car in 4 months, because here I have no need to. And while I really do enjoy goldfish crackers and IBC rootbeer, over here I’ve got foccacia bread and cappuccino, so really, it’s all relative.
During one of the “down” moments this semester, I challenged myself to think of all the things I love about Italy. And I came up with a pretty decent list:
I love:
- Gelato and how you can get more than one flavor
- Mercato Centrale
- How my bread guy remembers me
- The way my fruit guy, Antonio, greets me
- Picking up a pizza or bread from a Forno for a snack
- How exciting the architecture is
- The way the sun lights up the hills beyond Fiesole
- The view from Piazzale Michelangelo
- Successfully communicating in Italian
- Andrea and his family
- The accordion player on my street
- Beautiful wildflowers
- The thousands of daisies in Boboli gardens
- The long way down from P. Michelangelo
- The cemetery behind San Miniato
- Seeing a masterpiece in person
- The stone streets
- The pigeons—and how they make me laugh
- How the rain storms rarely last all day and then leave puddles
- Buying my groceries in the market
- Real parmesan and mozzarella
- Susanna’s lasagna and apple pie
- Biscotti with almonds
- Croissants
- Visiting hill towns
- The history
- Adventures—IKEA, the Secret Bakery, random explorations
- My sewing class
- Jack, the terrier who barks outside my window
- Nutella
- Cappuccino
- Pubs/cafés
- The view out my window
- How bright with sunlight my apartment is
- My hand-painted bidet
- The cat I met in Fiesole
- Contradicting negative American stereotypes
- Pizza and pasta
- Chocolate (especially with hazelnut)
- Wisteria
- Vineyards
- How every time I go out exploring, I always find something new and amazing
- The way the sky gets so blue I know God picked that color just for me
- Cyprus trees
- The road that runs through Boboli that is lined with great climbing trees.
This really has been an incredible semester—and easily one of the best things I’ve done in my life so far. Only 5 days left—I’ll be making them count.
