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
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
posted by Unknown at 9:52 AM
4 Comments:
How do you say, "I love reading your update" in Italian? How about "I miss you?" Write those as a comment to yourself and pretend they are from me!
I enjoyed reading your blog. I will try to keep up. We miss you but are so excited about your adventure. Love ya lots!
What a fabulous adventure you are on! Ohhh my Grace I love thee :) And the boy? How exciting! You must update a bit more on that later! The pictures are fabulous. I look forward to the ones on the sunset. Your blogs are fabulous, as are you!
Grace,
How fun it was reading your blog.Honey, I have never read one, so this was so great! I'm so glad you are having a good time. And maybe it's a good thing that you can't have the Italian mano over right now. Get to know him better and by the time you move to another place (with an 80 yr. old woman commandeering the kitchen), you'll know some wonderful, Italian dishes and can show off your culinary skills! Be safe, have fun and love you - Martha (your momma's Martha)
Post a Comment
<< Home