I finally ate some gelato.

And it was tasty. And the weather is so great, that I might just go back and have more, later. What do you think of that?

Ready for pics of my apartment?


So that one is when you walk straight in the door. I've got to get some stuff for the walls, but that is my bed/fold-out loveseat...It's comfortable...



And these to pics are of my "kitchen" and from the direction of my bathroom. Look, there's my bed again!

So, that's my place, it's nothing grand, but it's all mine for the next six months or so, and I have faith that my padrone (landlord) will get me internet, soon!

I've pretty well settled into the city of Perugia. I know where lots of things are, and opening my eyes a little bit more everyday to find new things. I'm also reading plenty, and settling into the lifestyle...that one where they practice the art of doing absolutely nothing for hours at a time. I'm getting really good at that one.

And, I've pretty much decided it's over with Arturo. We still see eachother every once and a while, but he's got some other agenda/ life, that he doesn't like to be questioned about...he also doesn't like it when my friends tell me where they've seen him in the wee hours after we've parted for the night..."All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well," I'll look up who said that and clue you in, next time.

I have been eating some great food, lots of cheese, and plenty of pasta in order to maintain the shape of my hips and thighs. For pranzo (lunch), however, I had some chinese food, and later this week, some of my girl friends and I are going for mexican at a new restaurant we found...Can't wait for something with a little heat to it.

Oohhh, this week, I went to the most incredible chamber concert. It was a piano quintet (piano, violin, viola, cello, bass), and they played a quintet written by Schubert, and then another by Piazzola, who has a real affection for the cello. It was just beautiful, and completely free.

Nothing incredibly interesting or life changing has happened lately. I'm going to buy some children's books in italian in the next week or so, and then will commence the challenge of not just reading, but comprehending the text...I'll let you know how it goes.

I love you guys.

~Grace

Ho bisogno piu pazienza.

I need a bit more patience.

I'm learning a lot about myself and especially how I relate to others. I do consider myself to have an extraordinary amount of patience (I grew up with two older brothers, one of whom is Allen- and, at our age, we would still be wrestling if it didn't hurt so dang much:). I have patience when I am talking with people who don't speak english, namely Arturo and Laura (our Romanian housekeeper). I have patience with myself trying to learn the italian language, it's difficult sometimes, and intense when you know you must mentally and aurally prepare the first words out of your mouth in the morning, because they will not be in your native tongue nor to an American. I also have patience with children (I'm a teacher, this is an absolute). However, I do not have patience with the Chinese. None.

They are rude and they are everywhere in Perugia. This town is very much acclimated to and for the young people that come here to study the language, culture, employment opportunities, and many other things of Italy. Apparently, the population of China has a great fascination with Italy, and it is because of this that I must enhance my ability to control the urge to throw my pen in the face of the young man who will not allow me to think of the correct answer in my head before I speak it to my professor. This punk kid is gonna have to watch his back, 'cause I've got a few other things going on right now that may keep me from controlling the urge next week...

Now, as for my apartment: My roomies (Leanne & Maggie) and I have gone to the agency and expressed our displeasure with the arrangement we have. We will go tomorrow to the agency to see what solution they have for us, but in the meantime, we can't do anything about it, right? Except to go on living, of course. That's how I feel about it anyway. But the other girls have to talk about it and speculate and I'm about to blow steam out of my ears because there is not one thing we can change for these TWO days of the weekend, but that is all they can talk about. So, I need some more patience. I will write more when I know more:)

Now, onto il cioccolato! The Eurochocolate Festival has come to town for the next two weekends (google "Eurochocolate" for more details)! Today, I had a freshly prepared crepe filled with Nutella. I could cry, it was so delicious! (pic) Then I had caffe to wash it down (another pic). Then I watched these guys chip away at these huge blocks of chocolate like they were Michelangelo working on a new marble work of art. Geez, how fun! (Look for pics of chocolate)

Other pics will be of me and my roomies and Laura on Saturday morning at a caffe. I love these ladies and I'm going to spend Christmas with Laura (in the leopard print jacket) and her family in northern Romania! What an adventure this is turning out to be!

Last weekend, I went to Siena with a group from the community, and I ended up climbing a campanile (bell tower) over the city center. It was not a bad climb, and the view was great (check out those pics too)!

School is actually going very well: The greatest portion of what we are doing right now is much needed review of items I didn't get an excellent grasp on last summer. I have 20 hours of class each week broken up as follows: 12 hours of reading & writing grammar exercises, 2 hours of pronunciation & listening exercises, and 6 hours of verbal grammar exercises without any visual aid. Three different professors, but all of them very interested in my progress and diligent in their efforts. I'm enjoying it very much (except for my chinese classmates, remember?).

Okay, so, I think that's it for right now. I'm having an excellent time, and once the apartment situation is all sorted out, I am sure my shoulders will resume their natural position below my neck...

I love you all!

~Grace
p.s.
Arturo is still just as excellent as he was when we first met:)

Allow me to explain myself.

I was not calling my mother a 90 year old woman, okay? I know that neither she nor I will live this down, ever. However, the pictures come up in the order they like and I have no control over that. So, it was an accident. And besides, I must say: My mom looks great for 90!

Love,
Grace

Per la prima volta.

I am in Perugia "per la prima volta." And, it's life. Now, it's not THE life, but it's A life and right now it's MY life. Ah, so, it's interesting. There are probably four universities in this city, plus many other independent language schools and then Montessori schools for young children. The two main universities in the town are the University for Foreigners of Perugia (www.unistrapg.it) and the University of Perugia, which is for native italians. So, in general, the city is full of very young people. Well, I'm young too, in comparison to my "flatmates" (they are from Australia and New Zealand).

So, getting to the living situation: For my first week, I stayed in a hotel before my room opened up on the first of the month. Well, then, Monday, I spent the whole day trying to figure out how to get my keys and who to talk to about this, and once I got all of this figured out (entirely different story), I walk into an apartment owned by Signora Baccarelli. She's 90, and cared for by Laurea, a middle-aged Roumanian woman only here for a few months to make some extra cash (that's a different story as well). So, Laurea, speaking in Italian (practically the same language as Roumanian), shows me my room and gives me some keys and makes me some coffee ( I LOVE Laurea). So, I'm just happy to have a bed at this point, it had been a very long day and I still hadn't taken my bags from my hotel.

Well, shortly after I enter the apartment, LeAnne comes into the piccolo kitchen. I'm talking, SMALL people. So, LeAnne is from Australia, and she's 42, taking a leave of absence from her work, just to travel the world. I LOVE LeAnne. She's really excellent. And she's off for 6 months, all paid days of vacation and such. She's taking beginning Italian for a month in Perugia, and we've become good friends.

Then, dopo (later), Maggie comes to the apartment to collect her keys and such. Well, Maggie is from New Zealand, and she is here with her son, Alex (20), both to study Italian. Alex is studying for a month at my university and Maggie is taking beginning Italian at an independent school somewhere else in the town. She seems a bit nervous, and her class is a bit difficult for her, but, she wants to pay me to be her tutor. And, yes, I LOVE Maggie.

I've got some excellent people in my life here. However, Signora. Well, they call her Nonna (which means Gramma). So, Nonna, says "NO!" to everything. We cannot use the glasses from the kitchen. Likewise, we cannot use the plates. We cannot keep any of our things in the bathroom. We cannot use the kitchen at certain times of the day, because she occupies the kitchen at normal eating hours. I have to keep my dry food items in my room on some shelves. We cannot have friends over for dinner, and boys, OH GOODNESS, no BOYS, ever.

Which, would not normally be a problem for me, but it is, because I'm seeing this guy, Arturo. He's excellent. Really. He helped me carry my bags all the way across the city from my hotel to my apartment on Monday. Who does that? I didn't even have to ask him, he just says, "I will meet you at 7 and I will take your bags." And, we don't put the bags in a car, no, we CARRY them. All the way across town. Up and down these colossal hills. And it's nothing to him. Natural.

So, as you can tell, this not having boys thing over will prove to be a problem, because I would like to make him dinner as repayment for all of the nice things he does for me. He asked me if I like to cook, and I do, and he does too, so that's something we could start doing together, because the choices for eating out are so minimal and often very heavy on the stomach. And, it's going to get cold at some point. So the parks and the walks that we take every night are going to have to come to an end once the warmth of summer fades.

Okay, so for now, I'm doing well. The apartment is only for one month and then I will move. I told the housing agency about my displeasure today, and they said it would be fine to change after a month. LeAnne will be gone anyway, and Maggie may move as well. I'll try to take some pictures, on the sly, so you can see this ancient place.

There will be more, I promise.

Ciao for now,
Grace

I live with a 90 year old woman...

whom others call "Nonna."

Okay, so this is hard...because even now that I have found wireless internet and I can use my computer, everything is still in Italian as far as the blog is concerned. So, it's difficult, but I will try to pull through.

Pictures should be to the left!

Okay, so there are a couple of panoramic shots and one of the street where my hotel was and then another of a street sign for the drivers and maybe that's it. I think there are some pics of the fam too:)


Love you guys. Miss you too!

I will actually write about some of my experiences next time, promise.

~Grace