I Have an Italian Address, Does that Make me Italian?

An update on what's going on with me: obviously, yesterday was a very tiring 24 km wandering all over Venice (yeah, I wore my GPS watch because I'm a wannabe geek). I took a night train to Perugia where I arrived at 7:15 this morning. The train was very uncomfortable: 6 sleepy people in a very small compartment. When I walked in, a guy was sitting in my seat (next to the window) and a child was crying his head off. Luckily, the guy moved (begrudgingly) and the child was perfect for the rest of the night after his mom returned (his poor, helpless dad). I slept off and on, but it was cold and not very restful.

I was able to take a nap (back at the farm), grab my stuff (I had left a lot there) and set off yet again. And so continues the journey of our comic character in the slightly altered version of the "Under the Tuscan Sun" story. Part two of this story was played out with me and all of my bags (much fuller and even more awkward than when I originally got to the farm) as I drug everything back down the gravel road to the bus stop. The sky was dark, I was sure I was going to get rained on and to top things off, I got to wait an extra 15 minutes for the bus since I misread the schedule (hrumph, there's two schedules posted for each bus and apparently today the other one applied where it never has before). Maybe kids are on spring break & it's a school vs non-school thing? These are some of the amusing frustrations to moving to a very different place.

I was only a couple of minutes late to check in at my new apartment (new for me, it's anything but new...it's centuries old and I like that part the best! I can't break it if the last 900 people before me didn't break it). Tonight I met my roommate who is from Holland and seems pretty cool. Best part about her: she doesn't like chocolate or wine...so I get all of the chocolate and wine others have given to her.

A quick trip to the market yielded a very early dinner since I was super hungry; it felt so great to be able to buy food knowing it won't have to be moved anywhere. Getting established, settling down. This is truly fantastic. Dinner was complete and satisfying: big, beautiful spinach and beet salad, pasta with olive oil and garlic, red vino, bread with very fresh honey from Sunday's market in Vicenza).

After dinner, I unpacked, put up pictures of family and friends along with the goodbye cards you all gave me, organized everything, stowed the bike bag and other luggage under the bed and here I am! Pictures of the place later, I'm exhausted. This whole process really, truly makes me feel like a college freshman again.

And one other thing to mention: it has been in the back of my mind for a few days, but the realization that I brought travel-appropriate clothes only and almost NOTHING fashionable has me totally freaked out. My Italian leather boots are collecting dust in Denver, grrrrrrrr. It's back to school time and I'm going to be that kid wearing the hand-me-downs from multiple other siblings. I might feel 19, but I can't dress like it if I want to be Italian. This could be a fun problem to solve! 

Blogging will slow down dramatically once school starts as there will be much more going on socially and I will want to study so my priorities will shift a lot. This blogging project has been so much fun and I really appreciate all of the personal emails I've received from you in response to the posts. They all mean so much to me to receive. Grazie mille. Ciao ciao!