One Year, 365 Full Days Living out of a Suitcase ... An Essay

Last year on this day, I stepped foot on an airplane that took me to Italy. It served as a symbolic gesture as it was a total dedication to leaving my comfort zone, leaving my job, family, friends and everything that I held dear (except my bike and computer). The trip to Italy was a chance of a lifetime to step back from normal life. It turned out to be a lot more than that.

I went almost on a whim when I found out that logistically, it's not that hard or expensive to live in Italy and take language classes for a period of time. The logic at the time was that I had family to meet in Italy who I had never known, it would be fun (and good for my brain) to learn a foreign language and when else in life would I be that single, that easily able to put a bow around my U.S. life and live overseas?

That's all it was supposed to be. Taking a step out of the working world was a real education. I got the chance to turn back time. Living a fully immersed life in Italian before I knew the language was being turned into a 2-year-old. How does that feel? Truthfully, at first, everything was fabulous. Everything was a discovery. Each interaction at every store, every new vista, every new person who welcomed me into their home with open arms. I was no different than a child seeing the world for the first time. Things that would be commonplace and nothing to notice in the US was wildly interesting there. Had that conversation happened in English, I wouldn't have noticed or remembered. And at that point, it was okay I didn't know Italian.


As this toddler grew up, it became harder. The reality of life came into view. Understanding more of the language, it was possible to understand more of the political realities and truths of what appeared to be the perfect place proving it's not. It also became more challenging not being able to speak. Understanding comes long before being able to speak a language and to me, both were difficult because my ear hadn't ever been exposed to another language. There are sounds that need to be heard that we don't listen for in English, there are sounds we need to make with our mouths that are really tricky if the mouth has never had to make those sounds before.


The highs were high--all of the time I had great experiences with the bike team that I was on. The long story of that can be found in this blog. Being on the team and making friends in the biking community was key for living the immersed life. No one spoke English so I had to learn Italian. And I also had to train and race. I had mixed emotions on that. When I quit racing three years ago, I had only reluctantly raced a few times since then. Training and racing is all-consuming. It is a lifestyle and doesn't leave much room for much of anything else. As long as one's friends ride or race, at least there is a great social aspect.


My desire to do one Gran Fondo race turned into something like 8 Gran Fondo races and uncountable training rides. The memories I brought back with me are from those days on the bike. There were so many great rides through the heart of Italy. Then there were the days when riding the bike was all I could do, trying to speak and comprehend a new language is initially very exhausting. Typically it was okay, but it's hard to feel that stupid when you know you're not. The Gran Fondos are super fun races. If you've been following along, you've read some of my stories.

If I were in Italy, I would continue to race. I was looking forward to racing this season (which, in Italy, started at the end of February). Racing with the men, doing long courses that are always gorgeous and continuously interesting on the terrain and having pasta parties after each are the main highlights of Gran Fondo racing that I miss in the races here in the U.S.


Mixing the great language, Italian bike racing and the adrenaline of racing made it good to go back to. It was where I was comfortable and happiest. Not having much competition with women wasn't bad, either. I'm just going to say it: I loved standing on the podium and winning things. I don't know how strong I was last season compared with my how strong my Colorado competition is, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be winning races here. It stayed fun and the pressure to do well wasn't there.


At around month 4 (July), I was starting to speak in simple sentences that would flow somewhat. July was so hot, it felt good to bask in the sun and get a tan. There was a pool that I got to go to a few times and it was high on a hill in the countryside. The landscape surrounding it was stunning.


Backing up a bit, the language class for the first three months was cool. I've discussed my classmates here before, but it's really important to reiterate it. I ate the best Chinese food I've ever tasted, made by the housewife from China who was taking Italian. I never quite understood why, but she and my other Chinese classmates were really sweet to include me in their circle.


The conflicts in Egypt and Libia have all new meaning to me. Every day I think about my Libian friends who I got to know in Italy and I think of their families. Of course, we all know that all people are the same and good people have compassion for all humans, but yet there's something different about knowing someone and realizing that this could be them in those pictures, they could be part of the fight. Likely, they are very affected by the current events of today. The world is a very small place and everyone is a neighbor.


How many countries mean more to me now? Every single one where I met someone and now, every time I hear the name of a country, the next thing I wonder is who is from that country? What is it like there? The public school system did its best to bore me out of ever caring about the rest of the world. I had a lot of good teachers, but unfortunately, every social studies class and every geography class was awful. I really detested maps. They were always associated with incredibly boring coursework. Now I love maps. Geography is incredibly interesting. How anyone teaches it so badly is beyond me. But, in a way I have them to thank. I never cared to travel the world, seemed silly and only for people who had lots of extra cash and no need to have a summer job. So I didn't travel until I was old enough to have enough life experiences to appreciate seeing the world through the eyes of one who had experienced being an adult for awhile. The stories I've heard of people who have gone away for a semester or more are cool. So many people formed who they were as adults based on what they learned while they were away.


The experience certainly offers book knowledge, that's obvious. There are so many other things that it teaches that no one can ever put on paper or describe. For as long as I live, I have the memories and lessons influencing every decision and every interaction. It's nothing that can ever be learned in school (quite the contrary) and certainly nothing that has a price.


Living out of a suitcase is a liberating feeling. I've been accused of being a vagabond more than once and I'm trying to figure out why it's such a bad thing. Being alone and traveling makes a person have to have complete confidence in oneself. You have to have everything you need inside yourself to enjoy traveling alone. Anyone who suspects a vagabond like myself of being one who is a wanderer, who doesn't know where they're going in life is one who simply doesn't understand. To do what I did meant that I had confidence that though every step was into unknown territory, I would be okay. My faith kept me strong when everything seemed too overwhelming and the future could absolutely not be seen.


Often I believe that by surrounding oneself with familiar people and objects, it's easy to create a very safe comfort zone. Staying within that place is certainly not bad, but it's the vagabond who is tested daily of whether or not they have what it takes inside to survive.


There are the more practical sides of living out of a suitcase, of course. It's a lot less to worry about, it's a lot less to lose if something were to happen. The value of stuff changes a lot. It's easy to realize that if it's possible to take a whole house full of stuff and whittle it down to a single suitcase of what's necessary for a year of living, none of it was really ever that important. My computer & camera were the two most valued possessions followed closely by comfortable shoes.


The best part of traveling light was that it allowed me to live much more flexibly. I learned to really value hostels. Shared spaces mean shared conversations. I remember the guy who I can't remember his name, but I remember that he was from Japan and traveling alone in Barcelona. We went out to dinner and had really good Catalan food, ordering the sampler dish that could only be served to two. It was a great dinner that I won't forget and nor will I forget when we were walking back to the hostel and there was a piano on the street available for anyone to play. The guys playing it let my new friend sit down and have a go at a tune. He ripped out an amazing piano concerto. The guys standing around loved it as did I. Had I stayed in a more expensive motel that night, I might have grabbed a quick bite at a take-out place and watched tv.


I am still living out of a suitcase and am walking around with a big hole in my jeans. This pair has literally worn out. It's a great feeling to know I got the full useful life out of something. The next new pair of jeans I buy will be a real treat to put on. There are so many other examples of simple things having a greater meaning. I remember when I had to learn how to drive stick shift. How would I find a car to practice with, how to rent a car even? I remember the jealousy - yes, jealousy - that I felt when I watched someone driving by. I couldn't believe how powerless I felt and to have feelings so foreign than those I have in the U.S. Of course, I would feel similar feelings when I heard an American speak good Italian. How easy we have it in our own country doing the things we're familiar with. Nothing will ever seem as hard as it did before going away.


I didn't have any explicit thoughts about what I'd do for a living when I'd get back to the States. It was a trip based on faith and allowing the future to create itself since it's impossible to engineer it as I'd tried to do in the past.


It's official that in the last year, not only was it a journey of another land--the land of my Italian ancestors, but also a chance to really clean the slate and allow things to fall into place without my interference.


Where does this leave me? Interestingly, in the Boston area, someplace I'd never thought about living. Heavy technical work is finally behind me and has been replaced with sales and marketing--creative jobs that I really enjoy. I've thrived on creative projects forever and have always known I wanted something that would allow me to be creative, but was wrong to think I'd find that by becoming an engineer. If I had to do it all again I would do exactly what I did, though, because it has been the enabler for the very interesting and rich life I've had so far.


What's next? There are a lot of other discoveries I've made concerning living with others and being part of a family. The decision to be here means being away from family, but considering there will be lots of chances to visit and over the past year, I've spent more consecutive time with them than I ever would have had I been living nearby during this period, everything just has to be looked at in the right perspective. Maybe I'll live there again, who knows. I have found a community and a place to live. If that place becomes a home, I will be happy. There's no way to know until time passes. I have a mad desire to be part of a family or something that looks like a family, but I am fine if that family isn't one of my own creation. The last two months of living with a family has been good to illustrate this. Just the local bike shop ride and hanging out with my co-workers during work fulfills so much of what I need in the way of community and family.


It was important to me to reflect on the past year. There are so many other highlights and low lights that I could share, but this is a good taste of almost everything. Thank you for everyone who made the last year possible, everyone who lent a smile or a hand, family for supporting from afar and those who are part of my new, extended family. I hope to have not just done all of this for myself, but it is for you, too. I'd keep this post in my private journal if it were mine to keep to myself.


It's my wish that everyone do something to force this sort of introspection, to really experience the world in whatever way works best. When is the last time you took a true, running leap into the unknown? Would you land right back to where you are or not? Doesn't take an international travel experience to do it. I also wish for you to think differently about the things you take for granted. Think a little harder about the people who are in the midst of crises in the world. Stop worrying about the stupid little things. And remember that almost everything is a little thing. When you jump in your car to run an errand, think about how different it would feel if you hadn't driven for a year. Stop to smell the roses, but do try to do it with someone else and the experience will be that much richer.


Take a moment to really think about how it would be that if, for the next year, you were to live somewhere else far from home all on your own.

What would you pack in your suitcase?

The Joy of Working from Home

I miss the days of not posting a story daily from my Italian life, but I have learned a few things from getting in the habit of always thinking: "What will I be blogging about today? How will I word this little experience?" So now I think more consciously about everything that happens on a daily basis. I find myself having simple interactions with locals in Boston and realizing that if I had had the exact same experience in Italy with an Italian, I would have blogged about it. So here goes.

My Boston Life

People here are friendly and I see strangers striking up conversation on the bus all of the time. It makes the commute a bit more worth it, expecting pleasant people to always be on my bus...if the bus comes and goes where it's supposed to go. Nearly daily I have an interesting story of how the bus system is completely not about transporting people. Yesterday morning, it took 2 hours to get to work. I was pretty sure it would take 6 hrs to get home based on the weather and worse weather conditions when it was time to leave...and it turned out to be the fastest ride home ever! Give credit where credit is due, eh?

Today, saving the hours of commute time by staying home, I had a chance to get work done and then do some research. It's refreshing working in an industry where it's possible to do a lot of research...and have fun doing it.

Research Results

Getting back up on Twitter, Flickr, digging around a bit more on Facebook has yielded some neat stuff. It also is giving me a chance to blog-stalk like I once did religiously...to find out who's racing what, who's training where, what are the latest thoughts on sports nutrition and training philosophies. This is now somewhat job-related. Actually, very job-related (not that I'm spending work time on this), but it does make one a whole lot more effective if one knows what current events in the industry are. In my case, active travel is at a beautiful cross-section of bicycling, racing, traveling and Italy.


One thing I learned today of particular interest: Taylor Phinney (son of Davis Phinney & Connie Carpenter) is living and training in Lucca, Italy.

He mentioned possibly doing the Giro di Sardegna as his knee is keeping him out of the Tour of Qatar. I didn't know about the Giro di Sardegna...but considering how amazing Sardegna sounds, that has got to be a good course (Sardegna is an island off the west coast of Italy & is part of Italy, quite loved by Italians).

It's interesting that it is time now to be thinking of planning for the summer. Of course, that makes sense, but in my personal life I'm unable to plan more than a month ahead based on everything that depends on everything else. I had to get used to not knowing much when I moved to Italy last spring, now I'm eerily completely okay with it.

That's a wrap...tomorrow will be a YakTrax day because of all of the ice. I had forgotten ice rain of the east coast and ice-coated trees. But aside from that, the snow is so big, fluffy and exactly what most kids beg for every winter. I hear the kids around here are starting to miss school there have been so many snow days!

The New New Thing

There's so much to say and report from my short time thus far in Boston. But, lucky you, I'm going to save the stories of the bus system for some other day. I will say, though, it's my only gripe (and a small one at that). This is a very cool town with a lot going on...and there is a lot of good energy all around. It might snow a lot here, but the sun shines like it does in Colorado, can't complain.

The best part of the whole thing is that I'm working and thrilled to do it every day at Ciclismo Classico. I wasn't sure how I'd feel going back to work after so long of not being in an office...except for the bike tours that I led in Italy (which were each fabulous experiences--the most fulfilling work I'd done in a very, very long time). I could be doing CRM work like I was doing before I took off for Italy (they're still hiring like mad in that area); but I love my job, this company in particular, and am very happy to be in the active travel industry.

Part of my job is marketing, the other part is sales. I don't have experience in either one, but I plan to prove that if one has the passion, it's possible to be successful and have a heck of a lot of fun in the process. I've gotten familiar with the itineraries and the amazing places we go...the learning curve is a different kind of animal in an industry such as this one! The opportunities to be creative are numerous (yeeeesss!) And in sales: I feel great when I sell a trip. I know what cool memories people are buying; they last a lifetime and never get rusty or lose their value. Each is a true investment in happiness, health and in relationships--old and new.

I'll be generating a lot of content (writing, yea!) for the Ciclismo site, but I will try to do better about posting here, too. I'm still not doing a great job at keeping in touch with my friends or family as much as I should (sorry guys!) but now that I found something that keeps me up at night with excitement, I want to take advantage of the momentum.

Let's just take a moment to remember what started everything...my original trip with Ciclismo as a guest to Italy. Aaaaahhhh...how sweet it is to reminisce!

Hope this finds you well. Ci vediamo presto qui! (See you here soon!)

Italy Wrap-Up, Christmas, Beantown

There have been a million things that have happened since the last blog post and there's no way, if I hope to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, to mention even a fraction of everything. To make a long story short, I returned from Italy just before Christmas, enjoyed a few days of pre-Christmas jet lag and Christmas light gawking (homes in Italy might have a couple of Christmas decorations, nothing like it is in the States). I did get to see the huge Gubbio Christmas tree in all of its splendor before leaving Italy, that was pretty cool and I have yet to see a picture that does the sight justice.

The last three to four weeks in Italy were difficult emotionally. I was missing home (my US home and family) a lot, but those emotions were mixed in with the impending melancholy of leaving the new "family" and friends who had become very much a part of my life while still trying to enjoy every last moment there. It's impossible to describe, and there were definitely good times during that period, but it allowed me to see a new side of myself and look at everyone in my life in a different light.

Christmas was wonderful and fun...Christmas eve was celebrated by eating cannoli first thing in the morning and attending evening mass. Being able to celebrate Christmas with my family almost altogether was wonderful, it was a huge table filled with great food--and much of the food had been brought over from Italy. We even had a Christmas prosciutto which was a particularly special gift...that was the first time for the family to have a ham adorn the table. The day after Christmas, I was greeted by a full-on cold that kept me from doing anything for a few more days. Then I tried squeezing in all of the visiting I could (I missed people I really wish I hadn't and I feel bad about that), but it was all of the time that I had and it was time to pack and begin 2011 in a whole new way. Stories from Boston, yes BOSTON! will be here shortly.

What's most interesting about this is I can draw many parallels to moving out here (since I don't know much about it) to when I arrived in Italy. And, when there's more time, maybe I'll expound on that a bit more. Time to finally get back to speaking Italian.

Cheers to a happy, healthy and successful 2011 for all!

Bike Race in the Most Unlikely Setting...

Yesterday my team and I raced....yes, it's very late in the season and no I haven't raced in something like 3 months... It was a team time trial, which I like a lot, but it was too short...23 minutes in total and it's critical to practice for something like that, which we didn't exactly do. But, I had fun and we came home with salami winnings. The concept was interesting: the time of the woman was what counted for the team. I suppose the liberated women of the western world could read a lot into that. Honestly, being the woman on the team, I liked that rule a lot.

But the setting was an interesting one, there was a motorcycle and car show and the bike race was one facet of the goings-on. Seriously, there were Italians singing country western music and they were Harley Davidson leather-wearing big dudes. I couldn't tell that they were Italian...it felt *exactly* like I was in the States...the Cadillacs and Mustangs were there as well.

That's all for now, it's raining, nearly snowing and cold. Think it's time for something warm to drink.

Oh Romeo, Romeo...

Ah, first, let's begin with a drink...

Verona is a lovely city that is quite beautiful, offers a fantastic variety of architecture and old stone (massive stone) roads from the Romans. It's famous, of course, as we all know it from Romeo and Juliet (Giulietta as it should be in Italian).

This is the famous balcony..."Romeo, romeo, where art thou oh Romeo?" or at least I think that's how Juliet began her famous speech.

It was around 45 degrees, chillier than it has been in Italy this fall. I was happy with the cooler day, I'm not quite sure why I'm not missing the warmer weather yet.

As with the trip to Florence recently, there weren't too many tourists and it was fun to rap in Italian with the locals. I find it more fun to try to speak in these places where they're used to most Americans only speaking English and I'm rarely having anyone flip the conversation over into English.

 Old Roman stone road.

Not sure on the history of this stadium, but it's gotta be Roman.

In the center of town with a nice open-air market.

Interesting story I have to share just because it really made me angry. Hard to get me mad, but this did it. I was hoping to buy a touch of eye make-up. Just sounded like a nice idea today, so I popped into a shop that sells all varieties. I asked for the most inexpensive that would look good. She shows me what she has and I ask for the price. She evades the question, offers me mascara to go along with the box of eye shadow and takes them straight to the cashier. The cashier has everything wrapped up and on the register before they stop to tell me how much I owe. (As might be expected), I'm still curious. 67 euro. That's like $80. 45 euro for eye shadow alone. ARE YOU SERIOUS?  Nice work people, not stealing my money today. Who pays those prices? Clearly someone must be, but who? It's a scam. Out of principle I wouldn't and will not pay that. I wonder how much make-up cost back in the day when a dude played the role of Juliet (once upon a time they didn't have female actors).

After the Verona trip, we went to a store that sells American food, yes, you heard me right. I stocked up on peanut butter, refried beans, salsa, pancake mix, grapenuts and all the essential ingredients for a pumpkin pie. I love Italian food, but get giddy when I have the option (which is nearly never) to pick up some old favorites.

Let me be the first to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!!! Gobble, gobble and enjoy the company of those with whom you eat!

From Ceramics to Pantani's Mother...An Italian Fall

This fall here in Italy has been incredible. For the most part, the weather has been ideal and considering it's post-sagra season for all of the small towns, there are still lots of things to do. Ooh, I need to modify that statement a bit: when I say lots of things to do, I'm speaking as an Italian, not from the over-committed American point-of-view.

My world view has, naturally, changed. Now that I'm studying Italian on my own and not on anyone's schedule but my own, I am truly living in that place that I thought I wouldn't be able to handle. It's so much easier when one's schedule is defined by work or some external source. This space between the life of an 8-5 desk jockey and life of a student has been healthy. It'll all start up again soon enough, this is a good time to take in one deep breath of crisp, Italian air. Actually, many, as there have been lots of good bike rides, all with the most amazing panorama's...

How many months of bike riding there have been...how many new roads. Truthfully speaking, I have probably repeated the same ride maybe 3-4 times, they are almost always new. These roads are so amazingly numerous and all beautiful. The quality of the roads, themselves speaks to serious issues with tax-payer money going to other places.

During the days when I get a chance to ride, I have been exploring the towns a bit more closely. I'd hardly call rides training rides because I get to a town, gawk, look for the local bar (place to pick up a cappuccino or something similar), hunt down the agriturismos to get a sense for good ones to recommend to people when they come visit, that sort of thing. An agriturismo is a converted farm house, similar to the Bed and Breakfast concept except they tend to grow their own food (fruit, veggies and raise animals for eggs, milk and meat). Many of these places offer that storybook look of Italy that can't possibly be found at the Holiday Inn. I feel fortunate to live far enough away from the big cities that it's hard to find 5 star hotels and establishments that are typical of western culture. Travel is so much more interesting when the huge differences in culture, architecture, etc. can be seen so crisply between places.

One place famous throughout the world for its ceramics is Deruta, a cute town not all that far from here. It was a fun discovery on bike. I started by checking out the huge places that make ceramics. Pretty impressive as these are all built by hand, even the large factory-like places. They simply have more room to warehouse their goods. You'll find people in the back sculpting and painting these masterpieces.

 Inside, and it is much, much larger than this picture shows.

 The fun discovery of the day, as it always turns out being, was in meeting one of the locals. I was wandering down this road taking pictures and a nice older gentleman offered to take my picture. I started asking him questions and it turns out he owns the shop in this picture. He offers courses to people who want to learn ceramics and shorter sessions for tourists who want to take home a real treasure, one they have built, from Italy.

There are so many amazing people and places like this here that go unexperienced. It's turning over these "rocks" and discovering the real Italy that is truly exciting to me.

Philosophy of the Day
If one eats a meal alone, it will be forgotten. If one sees a panorama but doesn't have anyone to admire it with, it's simply a pretty picture. If one buys a souvenir built by the hundreds in a factory, it'll just collect dust...but when that thing was built with love by human hands, this treasure will forever be a reminder of that place, the person, the moment. Time flies and no moment sticks around to be savored, but the memories are infinite. Do everything possible to create and savor every precious moment in life!

Leaving the central part of Deruta with the glory of fall shining through the wall.

The blog has been lacking in pictures, so here are more from recent rides to enjoy. The three below are from areas close to Bevagna. Gorgeous, and trust me, my camera doesn't do these places justice in the least!

I understand this overpass will eventually have a road going to/from it. But for now, it would appear to be a really fabulous government-sponsored job-creation program.

Ah yes, not to forget the trip to Firenze (Florence). Below is a pic of Florenze from Fiesole, a town up a hill and, apparently, a little ways from Firenze. I have a bad habit of wanting to adventure into neighborhoods and I just kept on going. There was a huge downpour once I got to Fiesole, it started about 5 minutes after I found a nice place to hang out (European University, I believe it's called).

This is part of Fiesole, quite beautiful.

In the fall, there are lots of raduno's going on here. Raduno's are non-competitve bike rides, an opportunity for racers and non-racers alike to ride together and the proceeds go to a good cause. This is a picture from yesterday's raduno, we had a rest stop next to St. Francis' basilica in Assisi. Proceeds go to diabetes research, diabetes is a growing problem here. 

And last night, to top it all off, was the awards ceremony for those who competed in a race series this past summer. It's very similar to how BAR/BAT work in Colorado, but yet again, the winners got a huge amount of prosciutto, very generous gift baskets going 5-deep in each category. Yeah for our guys/gals who placed this past season...and it is particularly cool how supportive everyone is, regardless of the results.

Here's a shot of all of the race promoters. Didn't include pics of individuals who won since I don't know that they want them posted. The blonde woman is Marco Pantani's mother. She spoke of her son who loved racing. He's still very much adored here in Italy (and I'm sure throughout the world).

That's the latest. Off to Italian land, enough English for the week! Ciaooooo to all!!!!

Back in Italy, Back to the Blog

I just spent the morning reading through old blog posts from my last 6 months in Italy and how nice it is to have so much of the cool moments captured and the memory refresher was fun. The blog is again open for the world to read, I can't help myself from wanting to share the experiences. Also, this saves hours of personal emails. Now I have internet access via a key but only 100 hours a month. Not a lot of time if you're me.

I am now in Italy, Phase II. I'm in no-man's land at the moment meaning that before, when I was here taking classes, cool, I could consider that my "work." No-man's land means that I am fairly well occupied, just on my own schedule learning-wise and employment-wise (aka I have a whole lot of zero income at the moment). It's definitely a slight feeling of unease, but I know I have to invest this time now in order to be more effective in everything I do in the future.

So when I say "invest" time, what does this involve? Yesterday is an excellent example (I just got all moved in and settled, not far from Perugia, the "everyday" is beginning)...I took a long walk up a really big, pretty hill (nicely forested, but enough traffic to not be lonely). As I walked, I read a dual-language book: on one side is Italian and the other is in English. Handy when walking!

I ended up at a bus stop so I took the bus to town where I found cappuchino, the daily paper and read. Two articles in an hour...I can pretty well understand what is being said so could read a lot faster than this, but the guilty part of me made me write down and look up every word I knew I didn't know well enough to use on my own in conversation. Word lists grow fast using this method. Long ago I gave up memorizing words, I found it didn't work. Old dog, new tricks. But see a word 7 times and it literally affixes itself inside the brain. It's pretty cool learning new words every single day and being able to access more all of the time, but not deliberately memorizing. Good feeling. Impossible (at least for me) if I weren't fully immersed.

I was fortunate to co-guide a Ciclismo Classico Bike Across Italy trip early in October. It got me back to Italy and bought me a little more time here. We had an excellent tour (7 guests) and I saw Italy in a way I hadn't before (Bike Across Italy #3 for me). Fall here is a very cool time when everyone is back to routine after a summer (particularly August) of being away. The temperatures are lower, but not too low so even if it rains, it's not too cold to get out and play. Some of the trees turn colors for fall, but the vast majority remain green. I'm glad as I think that will help the colder months remain more pleasant visually. Fall is my favorite season and I can't remember a fall I haven't liked in all of the places I've ever been for this season.

That's the short update, if this can be considered short. Back to reading the newspaper and then going for a nice ride.

What's Different...

I've done a good job of easing back into being home. A big part of this has been spending gobs of time at my parents' home and I have only really gotten out a few times. So far as having reverse culture shock, it hasn't happened like I expected it to. Maybe it's coming...maybe not!

Driving yesterday was strange: the roads are so wide, the intersections are so big and busy (there are so few traffic lights where I've lived in Italy, one typically drives for quite awhile without stopping much), and it feels weird to drive an automatic.

There have been quite a few "firsts" for me since I left:
First time to use a microwave to warm up food
First burrito
First almond butter or healthy peanut butter
First guacamole
First movie in English (on the plane)
First clothes dryer
First mom's home-cookin' in general (oh it's wonderful!)
Item to add to the list soon: good dark beer!

It's been the truly perfect time of year to be here (like it is every single year). Denver's skyline yesterday morning with the sunrise was so completely gorgeous, it was a great way to be welcomed back. There have been a couple of completely amazing sunsets, too. I missed yesterday's as I took a 5-hour nap right into the evening.

Jet Lag and Reverse Culture Shock

I've been awake since 4 am this morning and couldn't keep my eyes open past 9 pm last night. So the jet lag is perfectly okay with me right now. Last year after coming home from Italy, I had an insane desire to fall asleep mid-day but that hasn't happened yet. Hoping it continues this way!

So far, I'm simply happy being home and having time to get over the cold (pretty much gone now fortunately). Since I've just been home and chillin' with my folks, there haven't been many opportunities for reverse culture shock. Yesterday I visited the cellphone store with my mom and it felt strange to do a transaction in English. I'm still cellphone-less...after living for 6 months with a contract-less cellphone, I'd love to keep it that way. Last night we went to Barnes and Noble...I love bookstores but was disappointed to see all of the books in English. Ha ha! I'd like to know all of the translations of all of the books in Italian bookstores...would there be soooooo many "how to be happy" books? The secret to this, that and the other thing.... I bet not, but who knows. Not knowing all of Italian, it's easy to assume all of the Italian books are on history, art, love, food and sports.

The weirdest thing was perusing the technology books...there are whole new concepts, acronyms, etc. just published in the last 6 months in that section. (For reference, it's that section and the business section that I have most frequented in the past.) Makes one feel like one has been sleeping for 6 months or put in a time machine into the future. It's slightly unnerving. Thus far, though, there hasn't been a real reverse culture shock. Not working might play a huge role in this...will keep ya posted (assuming this awesome jet lag continues and I have lots of time before people wake up each day).