If yesterday was the best day I've had in Italy so far, today was the worst (granted it really wasn't that bad, I just one too many difficult Italian conversations). I'm shutting down the blog for awhile, possibly the rest of the summer. I wanted to share this experience with everyone, but the blog and computer severely cut into my Italian time. It's too high of a cost. I really, really, really want to be good at this language and the realization that June is here just hit. One more month...a lot of people are expecting me to be fluent in that time (including myself) and I'm just not there yet.
I'm going into full-immersion mode. I'll talk to family members in English, but September isn't far away. I will get back in touch with everyone else when I get back home. Know I'm thinking about you always, but the thoughts have to be in Italian now. As long as I'm here, I really need to be here: body, mind and soul.
Hugs and kisses to all!!! Ciao e ci vediamo presto!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
The Magic of Bevagna
Today (yesterday now that I'm posting this, internet was broken, still is) was most likely the single best day of my Italian life thus far. This one is for the story books.
The day began as an average day, I took my time with breakfast, studied a bit and passed time before going for a ride. Today was said to be a bellisima day in the Giro d'Italia...one not to miss. I'd had a ride planned with a friend, but he was tired and interested in watching today's stage of the giro...and it was supposed to rain as well, so we scrapped the ride.
Hmmm, said I to myself, "Self, what shall I do today?" A full day with nothing scheduled and warm enough that if it does rain, I really don't care too much. It's been a burning priority to get to Bevagna to see my cousin (he's in his upper 80s, I had met him last summer when I came to Italy). It was great last summer, I had Marcello (Ciclismo guide) as a translator so my cousin talked to him and Marcello translated. I couldn't understand anything he said and I knew that when I would return, I'd need to have a certain proficiency in Italian.
Earlier this week, I had a nice conversation with the father of one of my Italian friends. Considering the ease of that exchange, I decided that the time had come, it would be okay for me to pay a visit to my cousin.
It's not a long ride to Bevagna, but I felt like I couldn't go fast today. The big discovery of the day was an Italian school bus. It looks fairly different from a school bus in the states (though yes, it's yellow), but the children waving in the back window gave away the vechicle's purpose. For a few moments, I decided it would be totally cool to chase after the bus and wave to the kids. That was the first magic moment of the day. I laughed outloud from the joy of watching those kids as they kept waving. I waved back and gave it everything I had to stay in the draft of the bus. For all I know, one of those little girls will be inspired and ride a bike when she grows up.
A few minutes later I was in Bevagna. I got there during siesta and this is a town that takes its siesta time very seriously so the place was quiet. Seemed to make sense to ride into town, look for a gift of some sort for my cousin and check the place out. For all I knew, I'd find him sitting on an outside bench as many of the elderly can be seen doing every day. Take note: the elderly here grow old together, in their community, supported by each other and their families. And they live an incredibly long time.
I rode over to the main piazza and saw some people eating lunch at some outside tables. I overheard the conversation and it sounded like American English to me, so I strolled over and asked them where they're from. Tennessee. Really cool couple, they come to Italy a lot, even for the weekend sometimes. I tell them I'm from Colorado and we chat for a moment. They turn and tell me that the couple sitting a few tables down is from Colorado. Ha ha! Two days in a row of Coloradoans and Americans, and in Bevagna.
Then, something happened that was surreal: I looked up and took a closer look. I stammered, "YOU WERE MY PROFESSOR AT CU!!!!!!" The couple from Tenessee enjoyed watching my jaw drop and this reunion of sorts. This was Professor Zable, he was one of my two favorite mechanical engineering professors at CU; I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He and his wife had just sat down for lunch so I joined them for a good conversation. It was a very odd full-circle sort of thing: I told the story of why I came to Italy, how I wished there had been more liberal arts classes and study abroad expereinces as an engineering major, etc. I told him about the Sharp Shooters (senior design group members) and caught him up on what everyone is doing with their professional lives. He told me about what's up with the mechanical engineering program at CU--really sounds like a vastly different (improved) program than when I went there.
He and his wife had gone on the Arnaldo-Caprai winery tour and the owner of the winery happened to be in that restaurant for lunch as well at the time. They introduced us and I explained the random situation to him. He was super sweet. I was glad to be able to thank him for the wonderful wine that we got at the Montefalco Gran Fondo a few weeks ago.
I'll post the picture as soon as I can, the internet is broken yet again so it comes on for 2 seconds and is gone again for 10 minutes...
It was time to part, but not yet the end of siesta so I found one of the only open bars and found bread with salt and rosemary on top. Outside of the bar was a bench with two sweet looking older gentlemen. So I plopped down next to them and started talking. Turns out one is 96...didn't look a day over 80 to me, though. Of course, they're both from Bevagna. I have a hard time finding locals who aren't still living in the same place where they were born.
I wished them a good afternoon, went shopping and then headed to where I was hoping was my cousin's house. He had pointed it out last summer, but you never know if it's really on one side or the other or something...
There were a couple of men working in the front yard putting in a new front porch. I spoke to one who looked to be in his mid-sixties and told him that I was looking for my cousin and did he know where I could find him? He looks up at me, tips his hat back (the same kind of hat my grandpa in the US wears) and it's only then that I realize this IS my cousin! And he realizes that it's me, the girl from last summer! He looked so young to me, I didn't recognize him. It's the hat hiding his gray hair. The hair is the only thing on this man that signifies old age. If I remember correctly, he's almost 90. No possible way.
I was able to talk to him and I could even understand a lot of what he said. He started to go into a story about a thief, but the story got too complicated for me to follow. He asked me about my grandma, I was so happy to be able to tell him that she is in great health and she smiles a lot. He spoke about Dora, he really remembers her well, he also asked about their brother and his children (part of this conversation got lost in translation). I met his son-in-law and we spoke for a few minutes. He invited me to lunch in a few days. He said someone will be there who knows some English. I am willing to bet that the English-speaker will only know the words in English that I have no problems with in Italian (frequent occurrence...actually I prefer when the conversation stays in Italian and people re-word things for me to understand better). I will be there, I can't wait.
I handed my sweet cousin the picture of the two of us together last summer, he took my heart. "Sono molto contento che sei qua." This translates to, "I am very happy that you are here."
I couldn't wait to blog this story, so I tried to make better time getting home. But there was one last stop to make on the way...
Today was the birthday of my friend's mother. She has been so wonderful to me, I wanted to do something for her. It also gives me a bit of heartburn that I'm not around my family for their birthdays and Mother's Day so couldn't do anything for the mothers in my family...I figured a nice bunch of flowers for her would be the equivalent of a gift to all mothers, in general. It was a fun experience of going to the flower shop, telling her what I wanted (very simple) and watching her create this amazing bouquet of yellow and orange roses. And the price was incredibly low compared to American prices.
On my way to the shop, I heard a honk from a car. I looked up and it was my friend's father, smiling and waving. Again, I know I'm repeating myself, but being part of a community is awesome and I feel like I have a place in this one. It's the whole "Cheers" concept.
After delivering the flowers and a short conversation, I made my way back home. On the way I ran into my friend...he had already heard about the flowers. I told him about the visit with my cousin and the small world story of my former professor. He appreciated hearing it. He told me about the Giro (bellisima and Ivan Basso is in the leader's jersey so the stage couldn't have been any better for an Italian). I realized that I'd completely missed it after getting sidetracked in la-la land with all of everything that had happened in Bevagna. We parted and I got home the moment a storm rolled through.
There's actually even more that happened tonight (open-air rock band/huge party in Perugia). I went with my roommate and her friends. That was cool to hang with her crowd for awhile. We met up with our other roommates (her bro, his fiancè and our other roommate). They had a bunch of friends over for a couple of days from Rome--5 extra people here, but it seemed to work okay for them. No problem for me, the more the merrier. Back to the concert: I can't understand English being spoken when there's loud music around. Forget it when it comes to Italian. At one point I asked her if the band was singing in English or Italian. English. Ha!
All in a single Italian day...
The day began as an average day, I took my time with breakfast, studied a bit and passed time before going for a ride. Today was said to be a bellisima day in the Giro d'Italia...one not to miss. I'd had a ride planned with a friend, but he was tired and interested in watching today's stage of the giro...and it was supposed to rain as well, so we scrapped the ride.
Hmmm, said I to myself, "Self, what shall I do today?" A full day with nothing scheduled and warm enough that if it does rain, I really don't care too much. It's been a burning priority to get to Bevagna to see my cousin (he's in his upper 80s, I had met him last summer when I came to Italy). It was great last summer, I had Marcello (Ciclismo guide) as a translator so my cousin talked to him and Marcello translated. I couldn't understand anything he said and I knew that when I would return, I'd need to have a certain proficiency in Italian.
Earlier this week, I had a nice conversation with the father of one of my Italian friends. Considering the ease of that exchange, I decided that the time had come, it would be okay for me to pay a visit to my cousin.
It's not a long ride to Bevagna, but I felt like I couldn't go fast today. The big discovery of the day was an Italian school bus. It looks fairly different from a school bus in the states (though yes, it's yellow), but the children waving in the back window gave away the vechicle's purpose. For a few moments, I decided it would be totally cool to chase after the bus and wave to the kids. That was the first magic moment of the day. I laughed outloud from the joy of watching those kids as they kept waving. I waved back and gave it everything I had to stay in the draft of the bus. For all I know, one of those little girls will be inspired and ride a bike when she grows up.
A few minutes later I was in Bevagna. I got there during siesta and this is a town that takes its siesta time very seriously so the place was quiet. Seemed to make sense to ride into town, look for a gift of some sort for my cousin and check the place out. For all I knew, I'd find him sitting on an outside bench as many of the elderly can be seen doing every day. Take note: the elderly here grow old together, in their community, supported by each other and their families. And they live an incredibly long time.
I rode over to the main piazza and saw some people eating lunch at some outside tables. I overheard the conversation and it sounded like American English to me, so I strolled over and asked them where they're from. Tennessee. Really cool couple, they come to Italy a lot, even for the weekend sometimes. I tell them I'm from Colorado and we chat for a moment. They turn and tell me that the couple sitting a few tables down is from Colorado. Ha ha! Two days in a row of Coloradoans and Americans, and in Bevagna.
Then, something happened that was surreal: I looked up and took a closer look. I stammered, "YOU WERE MY PROFESSOR AT CU!!!!!!" The couple from Tenessee enjoyed watching my jaw drop and this reunion of sorts. This was Professor Zable, he was one of my two favorite mechanical engineering professors at CU; I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He and his wife had just sat down for lunch so I joined them for a good conversation. It was a very odd full-circle sort of thing: I told the story of why I came to Italy, how I wished there had been more liberal arts classes and study abroad expereinces as an engineering major, etc. I told him about the Sharp Shooters (senior design group members) and caught him up on what everyone is doing with their professional lives. He told me about what's up with the mechanical engineering program at CU--really sounds like a vastly different (improved) program than when I went there.
He and his wife had gone on the Arnaldo-Caprai winery tour and the owner of the winery happened to be in that restaurant for lunch as well at the time. They introduced us and I explained the random situation to him. He was super sweet. I was glad to be able to thank him for the wonderful wine that we got at the Montefalco Gran Fondo a few weeks ago.
I'll post the picture as soon as I can, the internet is broken yet again so it comes on for 2 seconds and is gone again for 10 minutes...
It was time to part, but not yet the end of siesta so I found one of the only open bars and found bread with salt and rosemary on top. Outside of the bar was a bench with two sweet looking older gentlemen. So I plopped down next to them and started talking. Turns out one is 96...didn't look a day over 80 to me, though. Of course, they're both from Bevagna. I have a hard time finding locals who aren't still living in the same place where they were born.
I wished them a good afternoon, went shopping and then headed to where I was hoping was my cousin's house. He had pointed it out last summer, but you never know if it's really on one side or the other or something...
There were a couple of men working in the front yard putting in a new front porch. I spoke to one who looked to be in his mid-sixties and told him that I was looking for my cousin and did he know where I could find him? He looks up at me, tips his hat back (the same kind of hat my grandpa in the US wears) and it's only then that I realize this IS my cousin! And he realizes that it's me, the girl from last summer! He looked so young to me, I didn't recognize him. It's the hat hiding his gray hair. The hair is the only thing on this man that signifies old age. If I remember correctly, he's almost 90. No possible way.
I was able to talk to him and I could even understand a lot of what he said. He started to go into a story about a thief, but the story got too complicated for me to follow. He asked me about my grandma, I was so happy to be able to tell him that she is in great health and she smiles a lot. He spoke about Dora, he really remembers her well, he also asked about their brother and his children (part of this conversation got lost in translation). I met his son-in-law and we spoke for a few minutes. He invited me to lunch in a few days. He said someone will be there who knows some English. I am willing to bet that the English-speaker will only know the words in English that I have no problems with in Italian (frequent occurrence...actually I prefer when the conversation stays in Italian and people re-word things for me to understand better). I will be there, I can't wait.
I handed my sweet cousin the picture of the two of us together last summer, he took my heart. "Sono molto contento che sei qua." This translates to, "I am very happy that you are here."
I couldn't wait to blog this story, so I tried to make better time getting home. But there was one last stop to make on the way...
Today was the birthday of my friend's mother. She has been so wonderful to me, I wanted to do something for her. It also gives me a bit of heartburn that I'm not around my family for their birthdays and Mother's Day so couldn't do anything for the mothers in my family...I figured a nice bunch of flowers for her would be the equivalent of a gift to all mothers, in general. It was a fun experience of going to the flower shop, telling her what I wanted (very simple) and watching her create this amazing bouquet of yellow and orange roses. And the price was incredibly low compared to American prices.
On my way to the shop, I heard a honk from a car. I looked up and it was my friend's father, smiling and waving. Again, I know I'm repeating myself, but being part of a community is awesome and I feel like I have a place in this one. It's the whole "Cheers" concept.
After delivering the flowers and a short conversation, I made my way back home. On the way I ran into my friend...he had already heard about the flowers. I told him about the visit with my cousin and the small world story of my former professor. He appreciated hearing it. He told me about the Giro (bellisima and Ivan Basso is in the leader's jersey so the stage couldn't have been any better for an Italian). I realized that I'd completely missed it after getting sidetracked in la-la land with all of everything that had happened in Bevagna. We parted and I got home the moment a storm rolled through.
There's actually even more that happened tonight (open-air rock band/huge party in Perugia). I went with my roommate and her friends. That was cool to hang with her crowd for awhile. We met up with our other roommates (her bro, his fiancè and our other roommate). They had a bunch of friends over for a couple of days from Rome--5 extra people here, but it seemed to work okay for them. No problem for me, the more the merrier. Back to the concert: I can't understand English being spoken when there's loud music around. Forget it when it comes to Italian. At one point I asked her if the band was singing in English or Italian. English. Ha!
All in a single Italian day...
The Magic of Bevagna
Today (yesterday now that I'm posting this, internet was broken, still is) was most likely the single best day of my Italian life thus far. This one is for the story books.
The day began as an average day, I took my time with breakfast, studied a bit and passed time before going for a ride. Today was said to be a bellisima day in the Giro d'Italia...one not to miss. I'd had a ride planned with a friend, but he was tired and interested in watching today's stage of the giro...and it was supposed to rain as well, so we scrapped the ride.
Hmmm, said I to myself, "Self, what shall I do today?" A full day with nothing scheduled and warm enough that if it does rain, I really don't care too much. It's been a burning priority to get to Bevagna to see my cousin (he's in his upper 80s, I had met him last summer when I came to Italy). It was great last summer, I had Marcello (Ciclismo guide) as a translator so my cousin talked to him and Marcello translated. I couldn't understand anything he said and I knew that when I would return, I'd need to have a certain proficiency in Italian.
Earlier this week, I had a nice conversation with the father of one of my Italian friends. Considering the ease of that exchange, I decided that the time had come, it would be okay for me to pay a visit to my cousin.
It's not a long ride to Bevagna, but I felt like I couldn't go fast today. The big discovery of the day was an Italian school bus. It looks fairly different from a school bus in the states (though yes, it's yellow), but the children waving in the back window gave away the vechicle's purpose. For a few moments, I decided it would be totally cool to chase after the bus and wave to the kids. That was the first magic moment of the day. I laughed outloud from the joy of watching those kids as they kept waving. I waved back and gave it everything I had to stay in the draft of the bus. For all I know, one of those little girls will be inspired and ride a bike when she grows up.
A few minutes later I was in Bevagna. I got there during siesta and this is a town that takes its siesta time very seriously so the place was quiet. Seemed to make sense to ride into town, look for a gift of some sort for my cousin and check the place out. For all I knew, I'd find him sitting on an outside bench as many of the elderly can be seen doing every day. Take note: the elderly here grow old together, in their community, supported by each other and their families. And they live an incredibly long time.
I rode over to the main piazza and saw some people eating lunch at some outside tables. I overheard the conversation and it sounded like American English to me, so I strolled over and asked them where they're from. Tennessee. Really cool couple, they come to Italy a lot, even for the weekend sometimes. I tell them I'm from Colorado and we chat for a moment. They turn and tell me that the couple sitting a few tables down is from Colorado. Ha ha! Two days in a row of Coloradoans and Americans, and in Bevagna.
Then, something happened that was surreal: I looked up and took a closer look. I stammered, "YOU WERE MY PROFESSOR AT CU!!!!!!" The couple from Tenessee enjoyed watching my jaw drop and this reunion of sorts. This was Professor Zable, he was one of my two favorite mechanical engineering professors at CU; I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He and his wife had just sat down for lunch so I joined them for a good conversation. It was a very odd full-circle sort of thing: I told the story of why I came to Italy, how I wished there had been more liberal arts classes and study abroad expereinces as an engineering major, etc. I told him about the Sharp Shooters (senior design group members) and caught him up on what everyone is doing with their professional lives. He told me about what's up with the mechanical engineering program at CU--really sounds like a vastly different (improved) program than when I went there.
He and his wife had gone on the Arnaldo-Caprai winery tour and the owner of the winery happened to be in that restaurant for lunch as well at the time. They introduced us and I explained the random situation to him. He was super sweet. I was glad to be able to thank him for the wonderful wine that we got at the Montefalco Gran Fondo a few weeks ago.
I'll post the picture as soon as I can, the internet is broken yet again so it comes on for 2 seconds and is gone again for 10 minutes...
It was time to part, but not yet the end of siesta so I found one of the only open bars and found bread with salt and rosemary on top. Outside of the bar was a bench with two sweet looking older gentlemen. So I plopped down next to them and started talking. Turns out one is 96...didn't look a day over 80 to me, though. Of course, they're both from Bevagna. I have a hard time finding locals who aren't still living in the same place where they were born.
I bid them a good afternoon, went shopping and then headed to where I was hoping was my cousin's house. He had pointed it out last summer, but you never know if it's really on one side or the other or something...
There were a couple of men working in the front yard putting in a new front porch. I spoke to one who looked to be in his mid-sixties and told him that I was looking for my cousin and did he know where I could find him? He looks up at me, tips his hat back (the same kind of hat my grandpa in the US wears) and it's only then that I realize this IS my cousin! And he realizes that it's me, the girl from last summer! He looked so young to me, I didn't recognize him. It's the hat hiding his gray hair. The hair is the only thing on this man that signifies old age. If I remember correctly, he's almost 90. No possible way.
I was able to talk to him and I could even understand a lot of what he said. He started to go into a story about a thief, but the story got too complicated for me to follow. He asked me about my grandma, I was so happy to be able to tell him that she is in great health and she smiles a lot. He spoke about Dora, he really remembers her well, he also asked about their brother and his children (part of this conversation got lost in translation). I met his son-in-law and we spoke for a few minutes. He invited me to lunch in a few days. He said someone will be there who knows some English. I am willing to bet that the English-speaker will only know the words in English that I have no problems with in Italian (frequent occurrence...actually I prefer when the conversation stays in Italian and people re-word things for me to understand better). I will be there, I can't wait.
I handed my sweet cousin the picture of the two of us together last summer, he took my heart. "Sono molto contento che sei qua." This translates to, "I am very happy that you are here."
I couldn't wait to blog this story, so I tried to make better time getting home. But there was one last stop to make on the way...
Today was the birthday of my friend's mother. She has been so wonderful to me, I wanted to do something for her. It also gives me a bit of heartburn that I'm not around my family for their birthdays and Mother's Day so couldn't do anything for the mothers in my family...I figured a nice bunch of flowers for her would be the equivalent of a gift to all mothers, in general. It was a fun experience of going to the flower shop, telling her what I wanted (very simple) and watching her create this amazing bouquet of yellow and orange roses. And the price was incredibly low compared to American prices.
On my way to the shop, I heard a honk from a car. I looked up and it was my friend's father, smiling and waving. Again, I know I'm repeating myself, but being part of a community is awesome and I feel like I have a place in this one. It's the whole "Cheers" concept.
After delivering the flowers and a short conversation, I made my way back home. On the way I ran into my friend...he had already heard about the flowers. I told him about the visit with my cousin and the small world story of my former professor. He appreciated hearing it. He told me about the Giro (bellisima and Ivan Basso is in the leader's jersey so the stage couldn't have been any better for an Italian). I realized that I'd completely missed it after getting sidetracked in la-la land with all of everything that had happened in Bevagna. We parted and I got home the moment a storm rolled through.
There's actually even more that happened tonight (rock band/huge party in Perugia), but it was insignificant compared with the rest of the day. THIS is what it's all about.
The day began as an average day, I took my time with breakfast, studied a bit and passed time before going for a ride. Today was said to be a bellisima day in the Giro d'Italia...one not to miss. I'd had a ride planned with a friend, but he was tired and interested in watching today's stage of the giro...and it was supposed to rain as well, so we scrapped the ride.
Hmmm, said I to myself, "Self, what shall I do today?" A full day with nothing scheduled and warm enough that if it does rain, I really don't care too much. It's been a burning priority to get to Bevagna to see my cousin (he's in his upper 80s, I had met him last summer when I came to Italy). It was great last summer, I had Marcello (Ciclismo guide) as a translator so my cousin talked to him and Marcello translated. I couldn't understand anything he said and I knew that when I would return, I'd need to have a certain proficiency in Italian.
Earlier this week, I had a nice conversation with the father of one of my Italian friends. Considering the ease of that exchange, I decided that the time had come, it would be okay for me to pay a visit to my cousin.
It's not a long ride to Bevagna, but I felt like I couldn't go fast today. The big discovery of the day was an Italian school bus. It looks fairly different from a school bus in the states (though yes, it's yellow), but the children waving in the back window gave away the vechicle's purpose. For a few moments, I decided it would be totally cool to chase after the bus and wave to the kids. That was the first magic moment of the day. I laughed outloud from the joy of watching those kids as they kept waving. I waved back and gave it everything I had to stay in the draft of the bus. For all I know, one of those little girls will be inspired and ride a bike when she grows up.
A few minutes later I was in Bevagna. I got there during siesta and this is a town that takes its siesta time very seriously so the place was quiet. Seemed to make sense to ride into town, look for a gift of some sort for my cousin and check the place out. For all I knew, I'd find him sitting on an outside bench as many of the elderly can be seen doing every day. Take note: the elderly here grow old together, in their community, supported by each other and their families. And they live an incredibly long time.
I rode over to the main piazza and saw some people eating lunch at some outside tables. I overheard the conversation and it sounded like American English to me, so I strolled over and asked them where they're from. Tennessee. Really cool couple, they come to Italy a lot, even for the weekend sometimes. I tell them I'm from Colorado and we chat for a moment. They turn and tell me that the couple sitting a few tables down is from Colorado. Ha ha! Two days in a row of Coloradoans and Americans, and in Bevagna.
Then, something happened that was surreal: I looked up and took a closer look. I stammered, "YOU WERE MY PROFESSOR AT CU!!!!!!" The couple from Tenessee enjoyed watching my jaw drop and this reunion of sorts. This was Professor Zable, he was one of my two favorite mechanical engineering professors at CU; I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He and his wife had just sat down for lunch so I joined them for a good conversation. It was a very odd full-circle sort of thing: I told the story of why I came to Italy, how I wished there had been more liberal arts classes and study abroad expereinces as an engineering major, etc. I told him about the Sharp Shooters (senior design group members) and caught him up on what everyone is doing with their professional lives. He told me about what's up with the mechanical engineering program at CU--really sounds like a vastly different (improved) program than when I went there.
He and his wife had gone on the Arnaldo-Caprai winery tour and the owner of the winery happened to be in that restaurant for lunch as well at the time. They introduced us and I explained the random situation to him. He was super sweet. I was glad to be able to thank him for the wonderful wine that we got at the Montefalco Gran Fondo a few weeks ago.
I'll post the picture as soon as I can, the internet is broken yet again so it comes on for 2 seconds and is gone again for 10 minutes...
It was time to part, but not yet the end of siesta so I found one of the only open bars and found bread with salt and rosemary on top. Outside of the bar was a bench with two sweet looking older gentlemen. So I plopped down next to them and started talking. Turns out one is 96...didn't look a day over 80 to me, though. Of course, they're both from Bevagna. I have a hard time finding locals who aren't still living in the same place where they were born.
I bid them a good afternoon, went shopping and then headed to where I was hoping was my cousin's house. He had pointed it out last summer, but you never know if it's really on one side or the other or something...
There were a couple of men working in the front yard putting in a new front porch. I spoke to one who looked to be in his mid-sixties and told him that I was looking for my cousin and did he know where I could find him? He looks up at me, tips his hat back (the same kind of hat my grandpa in the US wears) and it's only then that I realize this IS my cousin! And he realizes that it's me, the girl from last summer! He looked so young to me, I didn't recognize him. It's the hat hiding his gray hair. The hair is the only thing on this man that signifies old age. If I remember correctly, he's almost 90. No possible way.
I was able to talk to him and I could even understand a lot of what he said. He started to go into a story about a thief, but the story got too complicated for me to follow. He asked me about my grandma, I was so happy to be able to tell him that she is in great health and she smiles a lot. He spoke about Dora, he really remembers her well, he also asked about their brother and his children (part of this conversation got lost in translation). I met his son-in-law and we spoke for a few minutes. He invited me to lunch in a few days. He said someone will be there who knows some English. I am willing to bet that the English-speaker will only know the words in English that I have no problems with in Italian (frequent occurrence...actually I prefer when the conversation stays in Italian and people re-word things for me to understand better). I will be there, I can't wait.
I handed my sweet cousin the picture of the two of us together last summer, he took my heart. "Sono molto contento che sei qua." This translates to, "I am very happy that you are here."
I couldn't wait to blog this story, so I tried to make better time getting home. But there was one last stop to make on the way...
Today was the birthday of my friend's mother. She has been so wonderful to me, I wanted to do something for her. It also gives me a bit of heartburn that I'm not around my family for their birthdays and Mother's Day so couldn't do anything for the mothers in my family...I figured a nice bunch of flowers for her would be the equivalent of a gift to all mothers, in general. It was a fun experience of going to the flower shop, telling her what I wanted (very simple) and watching her create this amazing bouquet of yellow and orange roses. And the price was incredibly low compared to American prices.
On my way to the shop, I heard a honk from a car. I looked up and it was my friend's father, smiling and waving. Again, I know I'm repeating myself, but being part of a community is awesome and I feel like I have a place in this one. It's the whole "Cheers" concept.
After delivering the flowers and a short conversation, I made my way back home. On the way I ran into my friend...he had already heard about the flowers. I told him about the visit with my cousin and the small world story of my former professor. He appreciated hearing it. He told me about the Giro (bellisima and Ivan Basso is in the leader's jersey so the stage couldn't have been any better for an Italian). I realized that I'd completely missed it after getting sidetracked in la-la land with all of everything that had happened in Bevagna. We parted and I got home the moment a storm rolled through.
There's actually even more that happened tonight (rock band/huge party in Perugia), but it was insignificant compared with the rest of the day. THIS is what it's all about.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Baci
"Love doesn't make the world go around, but it's what makes the trip worthwhile."Baci means "kisses" in Italian. The Perugina chocolate factory (located in Perugia) makes Baci which are big (much tastier) versions of the Hersey's kiss. In fact, they have a whole hazelnut in the top of them and a cute little sayings in multiple languages. I had a baci today at lunch and the above quote came from its wrapper. I lost the wrapper, otherwise I'd include the original Italian way of saying it.
Every single day, I exchange kisses with friends and spend time with some absolutely phenomenal people. It's nothing short of the coolest thing ever to have this community here. Make no mistake, this community is comprised as much by people of other countries as the Italians. There are quite a few days I haven't blogged, so here's an attempt to capture some of the highlights of those days.
Last Monday, one of the girls in my class had a birthday. One of the students baked a torta (it was a many-layer crepe-like strawberry sort-of cake) and we all surprised her during a break in grammar class. Here's a picture of everyone just before she came in (sorry, this means a few people are missing since she and a couple of others weren't here). Bottom left is one of our professors. As I've mentioned in the past, we are a global crowd. Every continent but one is represented in a single photograph. So many different cultures, with two things in common: the Italian language and we're all buds in this thing together.
Really never considered learning about cultures and cuisine other than Italian in Italy. After lunch, I watched a good hour (or more) of that day's stage in the Giro d'Italia with two of my Chinese friends and tried explaining the nuances of the race to them. Not sure if they were quite as jazzed as I to see that stage (they were great at letting me go on and on about tactics, team dynamics, etc.), but it was pretty fun having the company.
At one point or another, I need to find burrito ingredients and introduce everyone to them. If there are two things I miss here, it's Illegal Pete's burritos and almond butter. Okay, a smoothie once in a while would be good, too. Otherwise, I'm completely content. And if you wonder why I'm up so late, it's that I can't sleep after a big dinner. There have been a lot of big, good dinners lately...loving it and am okay with the new sleeping schedule (considering sleeping in is a fine option).
Gnocchi has been on the menu fairly regularly lately in my kitchen and in the kitchens of my Italian friends. Nice. Gnocchi with truffle sauce...even nicer. Tonight the meal revolved around super fresh asparagus. Mmmm. Oops, my stomach has once again taken over my brain. Back to la cultura.
Yesterday after class, a lot of us went for gelato (guess who's idea that was...yeah...) Afterwards we sat on the steps and talked for a good long time (like a couple of hours). Again, awesome to be having full conversations with my classmates who don't speak English, who come from way different cultures half-way across the globe...places I only know from a few news stories I've heard in the past. They give the place color: I have learned more in one afternoon with my classmates than I ever knew in the past or could have ever learned in school and remembered. The conversation I had yesterday won't be forgotten--thanks for the enlightenment and the non-media perspective!
Le Americane
Here's my Facebook post for today: Speed Play pedalati sono cose del passato per me. Sono un corridore della strada adesso. Ho visto 3 donne Americani (loro sono de Vail, CO) nella strada in biciclette. Gli aiuto a trovare Perugia. Quindi, oggi era il mio primo giorno come una guida!
So let me explain (if you ever need to translate anything I write, and you might more in the near future as these blogs slowly turn into Italian), go to Google Translator. It's good enough to get the gist of what I'm saying, just don't type in English, translate it and expect it to be right. With the verb conjugations, Google can't know what you are trying to say in Italian from the English most of the time.
Tonight I visited my favorite bike shop. They gave me a whole new setup of Shimano cleats and pedals for 45 euro (my Speed Play cleats were worn out again and Speed Plays are typically great in crits, not road races). On the trip home, I saw three women riding road bikes. Considering how many local women I've seen ride a road bike here (outside of races) since I've been in the country (2--YES TWO), I figured they had to be tourists. So I rode up to them and in my most casual, extra effort to have an Italian accent style, said hi and asked them where they're from in Italian. It was obvious they didn't know Italian based on their slight hesitation to answer back immediately. That was me last summer, so fun to be coming from the "local" perspective now. Anyway, these women are from Vail! It was fun to drop the accent when they said they're from Colorado and say, "ME TOO!" in my most blunt American "accent" in English. Crazy small world, eh?
One of them lived in Italy for 7 months years ago and returns to Italy once a year. They all commented on the crazy Italian drivers (drivers here have tons of respect for cyclists) and how they feel safer as cyclists here on the roads than than on those in Colorado. My thoughts exactly. We chatted and rode for about a 1/2 hour and they were a little unsure as to which way to go. I took them to their albergo, showing them the best gelato in town on the way. Before we parted in the town square, some other tourist wanted our picture for his photo collection of his trip--I so wish I had my camera on me! Town is fairly well full with tourists, tour buses, etc. I'm really glad I got to town before this season started.
I almost never see an American here, but I don't ever feel odd about that. It's got to help that I grew up being with a very mixed group of ethnicities and have always felt more comfortable when everyone was different. Thinking about it more, all my life I have always put myself in places where I don't exactly fit.
The Big Decision of the Day
I'm starting to feel that slight itch to work again. Safe to say that when I do start working, I'll be incredibly ready. It's not for financial reasons, either. Life here is very inexpensive (think college student cheap and the dollar is stronger now) so I haven't worried at all about what's happening in the bank. In fact, bills are paid automatically, I am turning a blind eye at the moment. The other day, I bought a huge bag of fruits and vegetables (monster red pepper, oranges, lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, a couple of bunches of bananas) all for 9 euro. If I didn't ride a bike (and eat sooo much), it would cost even less.
The reason I say all of this is that it's odd when the "major" stress of the day came when my roommate was in the shower when I needed to get in the shower. Fortunately, she got out in time. The big decision of the day was what flavors of gelato to get to take to an Italian dinner party. Really? Yeah, seriously. Winners: cherry, vanilla and pistacchio. Dinner was great and the company was, as well. It's totally freaky that I can understand almost every word people are saying. I'm still missing the point some of the time, but this is weird. Ever want to be a fly on the wall in a conversation? That's me...in some ways I think I liked it better when I couldn't understand anything, the "good ol' days" when Italians never uttered a curse word or had a dirty thought. That was a little over two weeks ago now.
I've had so many conversations where people (usually Italian men) warn me about Italian men. Hilarious. So I'm not here to fall in love; fortunately, this was the expectation going in. It'll be great some day, when it's right. (Nice advice I've received from family and friends on the topic.) While I am surrounded by people demonstrating love to each other and me every day and there are kisses as a bonus...how could I ask or wish for anything more?
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Mother of All Races
The Nove Colli is the name of the Gran Fondo of this weekend. It started and ended in Cesanatico, on the Adriatic Sea.
We (my teammates and I) arrived the afternoon before the race. We started with a nice, incredibly easy bike ride. I took pictures at random. Here are a couple. The town was gorgeous and it was great to see all of the cyclists doing their pre-race routine.
Considering the very odd weather Italy has had lately (rain in almost every stage of the Giro d'Italia, for example), I found it really strange to find this amazing town in a mid-summer-like state. Its beach-side businesses were teaming with people, the beach was full of volleyball players and sun worshipers, there was a full display of cycling companies' tents (think cross-race tent setups, but many times bigger) and temperatures where people weren't walking around in their mid-winter clothes (women are still wearing boots in Perugia, for reference). I enjoyed my first skirt-wearing days of the season.
The Nove Colli race celebrated its 40th year this year, the most historical of all Gran Fondos in the world (so I hear). It draws racers from all over Italy and Europe (and a few come from all over the world).
I fell asleep last night in the middle of putting this together. Today I feel good, but I haven't tried walking stairs yet (and I have to walk a lot of stairs to get anywhere around here!)
Here's the race summary. The race start was unreal, imagine the New York City marathon (actually it draws 35,000 people, there were 12,000 there yesterday), but almost everyone has a tricked-out Euro-cool bicycle to race. I couldn't see the starting line where I started (assuming mid-pack, but impossible to know). Fortunatlely, we had timing chips so the time starts when the cyclist rolls through the starting line.
This is a picture of what it looked like at the start...and imagine many, many other roads packed just the same as this one.
Here's another picture I found...they had one or two helicopters hovering above prior to the start. Must be how this was obtained:
Le Marche region (where the race course was) is absolutely fabulous. I loved this region from my Bike Across Italy trip with Ciclismo Classico last summer, these were very similar breath-taking areas with tons and tons of climbing (one town might be the same as one from last summer). Oh yeah, I had originally thought I'd be racing the 208 km version of the race.
The team asked me to do the short course (if you call 132 km short) because they didn't want me to trash my legs. I was disappointed not to do the long course because I wanted to see how I could survive the challenge...however, when it came time in the race to either continue on the 132 km course or take the right-hand turn for the 208 km course (this is at km 110, by the way), I was very happy to take the short route.
[Here's one picture of the great landscapes to be seen. I just looked all over the web for a good, representative of the lushness of Le Marche in this race...it's incredible, but I can't find the pictures to show it. Guess you'll have to come see it in person. This is what the descents looked like, the crowd thinned such that I wasn't scared to go fairly fast. I was happy that the corners were wide and a bit easier than those in the last Gran Fondo. All day I only saw one crash (I think someone took a corner too quickly).]
I had prepared mentally for the long course. So when it came time to race yesterday, I took all of that energy and raced as hard as I could in the short course (82 miles, 6,138 feet of climbing, took me a little less than 4 1/2 hours). Aside from the first 30 km of flat riding, it felt like we were climbing all day long. It's really weird: I only used to like criteriums, not climbing and not road races. Basically, I think I'm the opposite racer than I used to be. Long road races with climbing are AWESOME!!!
Everything in the race went great with the small frustration of congestion with too many riders on the climbs. I could have gone faster up the climbs had I not had to keep slowing down when it was impossible to pass people. All day (with 12,000 people out there) there was no one group to get with. I jumped from wheel to wheel moving up most of the time. I worked a little, too, especially at the beginning of the race where I wanted to open up my legs and this was a good place to move up positions (amazing, I thought it would be so congested at the start that moving around wouldn't be possible, but I was wrong on that).
There were hundreds of women out there (granted there are a few different classifications--it goes by age here for the most part), and I was happy to have more competition. It gave me a chance to see where I stand next to all of the other women racers in Italy (there were some pros out there, but the demographic is exactly as you'd find in a local race in the states: strong amateurs (wearing jerseys of their race teams), some there for enjoyment and some pros mixing it up).
It was almost too warm (high of probably 80 degrees), luckily the race started at 6:30 am, when it was a little chilly. I couldn't sleep the night before (we stayed at a motel near the race start, awoke at 4:30am) so I only got 2 hours in...fortunately as racers know, the sleep the night before the race isn't important, it's the sleep 2 nights before the race that counts.
I have a very specific diet pre-race and it's one that's impossible to find in Italy. The food I had the morning of the race was basically wrong. Good carbs, but bad for my system. The first 80km my stomach was really knotted up and yelping in pain. Fortunately, I don't think it slowed me down and I felt I had the energy I needed for the race. I also ate a lot during the race (gels). With so many racers, if one one wanted more water, one needed to pull over, fill up the water bottle and get back on the road. The food stops were said to be very generous...there were clearly people enjoying themselves at the stops. I stopped once for a bottle refill, but that was it.
This is a picture of one of four of the food/water/prosciutto/who-knows-what-else stops.
Besides the constantly amazing vistas, the waaaay coolest part of the race was the 18% climb that was part of the Giro d'Italia 2 days prior to this Gran Fondo. On that climb was PANTANI painted all over the road, there were tons of spectators, an announcer, music...it was the next-best thing to actually racing in the Giro. It hurt, but I was passing guys. Seriously, it is such a rush to pass men who are young, fit and there to race. Here's a picture that a race photographer took of one part of that climb, but it looked way cooler from my perspective. And yes, I saw a few people walking, too. It was steep enough that if you got stuck in traffic, it could be a little tricky to get going.
Again, as in the other races, I found the guys to be great to race with; every now and then I heard "brava!" from one of them or the spectators. The Italian language is great with the masculine/feminine: when I hear brava and I'm the only woman in sight, they might as well be calling me by name. Bravo! is for telling a guy "good job" and bravi is for a group of guys.
By the last 20km, a group had formed that was fast with very strong guys, we were cranking at 27-29 mph (with lots of short pauses to get through the roundabouts...there are very few lights in Italy, many roundabouts). We were flying towards the Adriatic during the last ~10km and the smell and feel of the sea became more obvious as the finish drew near, what an awesome arrival!!! I'm having small problems with photos at the moment...imagine the hugest finishing area you can with multiple banners and tons of spectators, etc. with the sea on one side and the town on the other and you have the finish. <>
We crossed the line sprinting it out, I came in with legs to spare, it is such a terrific feeling to finish a race sprinting, especially one as epic as yesterday. I got a rose (all women did) and everyone got a medal for finishing...cool, eh? The swag bag had a jersey and cycling gloves, recovery drink, energy bars and other useful samples for cyclists. After the race, my teammates and I enjoyed a pasta feast...we were glowing from great racing for each of us. Entry fee for the race was 50 euro. Compare this to a 45-minute criterium that costs $35. I'm really going to have a hard time paying that when I get home and leaving a race without a pasta party will be a major downer.
This pic (below) of the Selle Italia monster bus is simply here because it's cool. It is unreal to be at the heart of cycling in this country. Cycling has its roots here, people are super supportive of it, tons and tons of people do it. The culture surrounding cycling here is vastly different from that in the US. That being said, I'm still understanding it so I can't put it in words yet exactly how, but it clearly is.
To finish the story, I came in 10th place amongst the women in my category (ages 19-39, I believe it is) and 994 overall. So 993 men and women of all categories were faster than me...but I was faster than 5,424.
Here's the view from the ride home. This is in the vicinity of the race, but a little further south. The next Gran Fondo (in a week and a half) will be in this area. It's going to have even more climbing.
It was a great day and weekend. I feel so fortunate to have such a cool team and friends such that we could do this thing together. Definitely one to remember always! So wish I could share this with my teammates and friends from the US, thinking about you guys!!!
We (my teammates and I) arrived the afternoon before the race. We started with a nice, incredibly easy bike ride. I took pictures at random. Here are a couple. The town was gorgeous and it was great to see all of the cyclists doing their pre-race routine.
The Nove Colli race celebrated its 40th year this year, the most historical of all Gran Fondos in the world (so I hear). It draws racers from all over Italy and Europe (and a few come from all over the world).
I fell asleep last night in the middle of putting this together. Today I feel good, but I haven't tried walking stairs yet (and I have to walk a lot of stairs to get anywhere around here!)
Here's the race summary. The race start was unreal, imagine the New York City marathon (actually it draws 35,000 people, there were 12,000 there yesterday), but almost everyone has a tricked-out Euro-cool bicycle to race. I couldn't see the starting line where I started (assuming mid-pack, but impossible to know). Fortunatlely, we had timing chips so the time starts when the cyclist rolls through the starting line.
Here's another picture I found...they had one or two helicopters hovering above prior to the start. Must be how this was obtained:
The team asked me to do the short course (if you call 132 km short) because they didn't want me to trash my legs. I was disappointed not to do the long course because I wanted to see how I could survive the challenge...however, when it came time in the race to either continue on the 132 km course or take the right-hand turn for the 208 km course (this is at km 110, by the way), I was very happy to take the short route.
I had prepared mentally for the long course. So when it came time to race yesterday, I took all of that energy and raced as hard as I could in the short course (82 miles, 6,138 feet of climbing, took me a little less than 4 1/2 hours). Aside from the first 30 km of flat riding, it felt like we were climbing all day long. It's really weird: I only used to like criteriums, not climbing and not road races. Basically, I think I'm the opposite racer than I used to be. Long road races with climbing are AWESOME!!!
Everything in the race went great with the small frustration of congestion with too many riders on the climbs. I could have gone faster up the climbs had I not had to keep slowing down when it was impossible to pass people. All day (with 12,000 people out there) there was no one group to get with. I jumped from wheel to wheel moving up most of the time. I worked a little, too, especially at the beginning of the race where I wanted to open up my legs and this was a good place to move up positions (amazing, I thought it would be so congested at the start that moving around wouldn't be possible, but I was wrong on that).
There were hundreds of women out there (granted there are a few different classifications--it goes by age here for the most part), and I was happy to have more competition. It gave me a chance to see where I stand next to all of the other women racers in Italy (there were some pros out there, but the demographic is exactly as you'd find in a local race in the states: strong amateurs (wearing jerseys of their race teams), some there for enjoyment and some pros mixing it up).
It was almost too warm (high of probably 80 degrees), luckily the race started at 6:30 am, when it was a little chilly. I couldn't sleep the night before (we stayed at a motel near the race start, awoke at 4:30am) so I only got 2 hours in...fortunately as racers know, the sleep the night before the race isn't important, it's the sleep 2 nights before the race that counts.
I have a very specific diet pre-race and it's one that's impossible to find in Italy. The food I had the morning of the race was basically wrong. Good carbs, but bad for my system. The first 80km my stomach was really knotted up and yelping in pain. Fortunately, I don't think it slowed me down and I felt I had the energy I needed for the race. I also ate a lot during the race (gels). With so many racers, if one one wanted more water, one needed to pull over, fill up the water bottle and get back on the road. The food stops were said to be very generous...there were clearly people enjoying themselves at the stops. I stopped once for a bottle refill, but that was it.
Besides the constantly amazing vistas, the waaaay coolest part of the race was the 18% climb that was part of the Giro d'Italia 2 days prior to this Gran Fondo. On that climb was PANTANI painted all over the road, there were tons of spectators, an announcer, music...it was the next-best thing to actually racing in the Giro. It hurt, but I was passing guys. Seriously, it is such a rush to pass men who are young, fit and there to race. Here's a picture that a race photographer took of one part of that climb, but it looked way cooler from my perspective. And yes, I saw a few people walking, too. It was steep enough that if you got stuck in traffic, it could be a little tricky to get going.
By the last 20km, a group had formed that was fast with very strong guys, we were cranking at 27-29 mph (with lots of short pauses to get through the roundabouts...there are very few lights in Italy, many roundabouts). We were flying towards the Adriatic during the last ~10km and the smell and feel of the sea became more obvious as the finish drew near, what an awesome arrival!!! I'm having small problems with photos at the moment...imagine the hugest finishing area you can with multiple banners and tons of spectators, etc. with the sea on one side and the town on the other and you have the finish. <
It was a great day and weekend. I feel so fortunate to have such a cool team and friends such that we could do this thing together. Definitely one to remember always! So wish I could share this with my teammates and friends from the US, thinking about you guys!!!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Blogging not blogging.
I'm blogging only to say I'm not blogging. Say that a few times fast. For the sake of keeping memories straight and all that jazz, this week has been pretty mundane and time is beginning to speed up a bit. It proves my theory that when everything is new, time moves more slowly, but when days begin to repeat themselves, time just gallops away if one allows it to do so.
I spent a couple of hours riding after class Monday, successfully avoiding the rain. Yesterday I was so tired, riding wasn't a wise idea...and when the sky opened up and dumped buckets on unsuspecting pedestrians, I was really, really glad to not be out there.
Today I met up with a bike riding friend I met last summer while riding through this area. The forecast was for rain all day long, but I wasn't going to cancel on a ride if it wasn't actually raining, but it really took a lot of will to dress and step out the door. Turns out the sun came out from its hiding place (huh? how'd that happen???) and the day was perfect for getting good, solid miles on the legs. I returned home the very moment the thunder and rain hit. Very nice.
As far as the Gran Fondo of Gran Fondos this coming weekend (208 km, on the Adriatic Sea, somewhere around 9,000 feet of climbing), I'm as ready as I can be for a race that will be longer and will have more climbing than my longest bike ride ever. And I've done a lot of epic rides in my life. Gulp. There will also be a huge field of women racers, including pros. I've done the math, the winning time from last year involves incredible speeds and around 6 1/4 hrs in the saddle. I can only hope/dream to finish around the 7 1/4-hour mark.
After class (that was a bit shorter than usual), my classmates and I got together for reading Italian practice. That was a fun activity, we're going to try to do that a bit more often. I've been reading out-loud to myself, to enable better pronunciation. I'm getting more self-conscious, so am actually having a slightly more difficult time practicing on others. I don't know how fast I'm supposed to be learning this language, nor do they. I know how I sound. I can translate my very elementary Italian to English...it aint pretty.
So much for not blogging! I do (unfortunately) need to curtail the blogging somewhat so I'm going to apologize now for days when nothing gets posted. Know that I'm thinking about you and will try to get the interesting news up here. Otherwise, when I have a chance, I've been posting a bit more (really short things) on Facebook...it just saves soooo much time. (In case you've never blogged, and I'm one of those English-language perfectionists so a bit slower, each complete post with pictures can take upwards of 2 hours.) Basta (enough).
Happy weekend to all and I'll see you here Monday with a full report from the weekend. Ciao, ci vediamo!
I spent a couple of hours riding after class Monday, successfully avoiding the rain. Yesterday I was so tired, riding wasn't a wise idea...and when the sky opened up and dumped buckets on unsuspecting pedestrians, I was really, really glad to not be out there.
Today I met up with a bike riding friend I met last summer while riding through this area. The forecast was for rain all day long, but I wasn't going to cancel on a ride if it wasn't actually raining, but it really took a lot of will to dress and step out the door. Turns out the sun came out from its hiding place (huh? how'd that happen???) and the day was perfect for getting good, solid miles on the legs. I returned home the very moment the thunder and rain hit. Very nice.
As far as the Gran Fondo of Gran Fondos this coming weekend (208 km, on the Adriatic Sea, somewhere around 9,000 feet of climbing), I'm as ready as I can be for a race that will be longer and will have more climbing than my longest bike ride ever. And I've done a lot of epic rides in my life. Gulp. There will also be a huge field of women racers, including pros. I've done the math, the winning time from last year involves incredible speeds and around 6 1/4 hrs in the saddle. I can only hope/dream to finish around the 7 1/4-hour mark.
After class (that was a bit shorter than usual), my classmates and I got together for reading Italian practice. That was a fun activity, we're going to try to do that a bit more often. I've been reading out-loud to myself, to enable better pronunciation. I'm getting more self-conscious, so am actually having a slightly more difficult time practicing on others. I don't know how fast I'm supposed to be learning this language, nor do they. I know how I sound. I can translate my very elementary Italian to English...it aint pretty.
So much for not blogging! I do (unfortunately) need to curtail the blogging somewhat so I'm going to apologize now for days when nothing gets posted. Know that I'm thinking about you and will try to get the interesting news up here. Otherwise, when I have a chance, I've been posting a bit more (really short things) on Facebook...it just saves soooo much time. (In case you've never blogged, and I'm one of those English-language perfectionists so a bit slower, each complete post with pictures can take upwards of 2 hours.) Basta (enough).
Happy weekend to all and I'll see you here Monday with a full report from the weekend. Ciao, ci vediamo!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Adventure to Medieval Times (Gubbio Festa) and an Italian Conversation
Do you like to travel? How about time travel? Not possible, you say. Ooooooh, I beg to differ! Last summer on the Ciclismo Classico tour, we rode into and stayed in Gubbio. The night before we rode in, our guides told us all about this crazy medieval festival that they have there every year called the Festa dei Ceri (translation: festival of candles).
I've been excited to go to the festival since we heard about it then. Yesterday the festival was held and the University organized a bus to take students who wanted to attend. Ciclismo was also there for the fun. I went with a great group of friends from classes and met up with the Ciclismo folks there. It was a great mix of being touristy, watching the action with friends, catching up with Marcello and meeting the cool guests of the Ciclismo tour.
It was yet another rainy day, but it turned out to be great weather for the festival. The fog hanging on the Gubbian hills added to the aura of mysticism that surrounds a medieval festa. Here's the full Wiki article if you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ubaldo_Day
Here's a pic of Gubbio in the background and an ancient Roman theater in the foreground. Note the fog behind the hill.
Walking into town, there were many banners all over the place. I think these signify the family or saint to whom those residents are associated.
I parted with my friends for a bit to say hi to Marcello and the Ciclismo guests he was hanging out with. It was fabulous that they were watching the end of the Giro d'Italia in the lobby of the hotel, a super epic day out there for the racers with roads of mud and pouring rain.
My friends, in the meantime, had gone to the top of the Gubbian hill via gondola. This is something I missed out on last summer so was quite glad to go up there to meet up with them.
Looking down on Gubbio's town center...
This is a partial group shot...two of our guys are missing from it...
At the top of the hill is the church of St. Ubaldo (the patron saint of Gubbio). If you have a weak stomach, don't look too close. This is St. Ubaldo, if I understand correctly. He lay there at the front of the church.
We thought it wise to get back down the hill to where the race of the ceri (monstrous candles) would be happening. I thought the town seemed pretty quiet when we got there, figured people stayed in because of the rain so I was a little disappointed because I thought the crowds wouldn't come out. Wrong-o! People came out of who-knows-where by the droves for the race of the 1,000 lb. candles.
At the top of each candle is a saint, three candles/3 saints in all. It's a really big deal to help carry the candles. You should have seen the guys in blue standing near us who were going to help carry the candle when it got to them...they were stretching, jumping up and down, super-super serious about their upcoming job. Here's a picture of them...
The candles race through the streets and and then raced to the top of the very steep Gubbian hill. The "winner" is always the same as there is no way for the candles to change positions in the very narrow streets.
We were hanging out waiting anxiously for the candles to come through.
The people awaiting the candles...
And here they come and go!
My video didn't upload just now so I'm including a YouTube video from someone else from last year. This is exactly the way it looks, just imagine no sunny sky.
It was a HUGE crowd, a total crush including children and older people as well. I didn't mind the crowd at all (this comes from someone who really minds being in a crush of people at sporting events, etc. in the U.S.)
I crowd surfed to the main piazza in hopes of finding Marcello; I didn't even have to look, I practically ran into him and his Ciclismo guests.
Very cool to see this beautiful horse and trumpeter make their way through the crowd, too!
After the candles made their way past this point, we wandered over to a pizza place where I joined the Ciclismo group for a fun dinner. It's really great to be included in the Ciclismo events when they come through town. These visits definitely take me back to last summer and I get a little sentimental wishing my friends from that trip were there, too.
Today
Today ended up a whole lot better than it started. The bus got us back late last night and I was all wired from the festival to get to sleep. My alarm threw me out of bed at 4 am. Today I was supposed to ride to the hilltop finish of today's stage of the Giro d'Italia. It's kind of funny because I didn't realize the reason I was supposed to go on a 200km bike ride with my friends was for this reason until after it didn't happen thanks to the rain that just won't quit. Luckily, I was able to go back to bed for an extra couple of hours.
Fortunately, there was a break in the rain and it allowed for a pretty intense, climbing training ride that was in the vicinity of Lake Trasimeno...absolutely gorgeous roads out there (most new to me). There's a fabulous 200 km (124 mile) Gran Fondo coming up this weekend. I don't know if I've ever ridden this far in my life...now I get to race that distance with 4,000 competitors doing the same distance. I'm super excited about it, though.
After the ride, my friend's mom served up some awesome pasta, chicken (the most moist chicken I think I've ever had & most flavorful as it was spiced really well), salad, wine. I was absolutely stuffed. I am a slow eater, it's just my style to not eat fast. I had to explain my slow eating habits to prevent her from being offended. Gotta love the culture surrounding food here. I really, really like it. To me, it's all about eating around the same table with others. That the food happens to be awesome makes it all that much better. Mom, for the record, I have told many Italians about your lasagna and that your is the best in the whole world. Come to think about it, I haven't tried Italian lasagna yet...the thought of it actually doesn't excite me all that much to be honest.
After the meal, I needed to catch the bus home thanks to the rain that had returned by this point. The bus stop is next to a bar where I stepped inside to stay out of the rain. A wonderful older guy started talking to me and before I knew it, I had been shooting the breeze with him (in Italian) for a solid 40 minutes. He insisted on buying me an espresso, I think it was so that I'd stay and talk. At the end of the conversation, I felt that something had changed--this morning I was tired and, therefore, tripping all over words; by this evening, they flowed out. He complimented my Italian (that's a first, by the way, and he's happily married so it's not like he was trying to woo me or anything). I see this as a milestone. The first of many more to come. Seriously, that conversation was so much fun. This is the definition of the Italian experience.
Now, it's finally time for me to head home and attempt to sleep (still on a high from today's ride). Internet is YET AGAIN broken at home. Thanks for traveling with me back to medieval Gubbio and to the coffee shop. Your emails continue to thrill me to receive, and I am so touched at your interest in these experiences. My hugs and kisses to you all (yes, I'm going to be kissing everyone on both cheeks when I get back home, what a great custom). I miss each of you very much and wish you were here (can't wish myself home just yet...)! :) Ciao!!!
I've been excited to go to the festival since we heard about it then. Yesterday the festival was held and the University organized a bus to take students who wanted to attend. Ciclismo was also there for the fun. I went with a great group of friends from classes and met up with the Ciclismo folks there. It was a great mix of being touristy, watching the action with friends, catching up with Marcello and meeting the cool guests of the Ciclismo tour.
It was yet another rainy day, but it turned out to be great weather for the festival. The fog hanging on the Gubbian hills added to the aura of mysticism that surrounds a medieval festa. Here's the full Wiki article if you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ubaldo_Day
I parted with my friends for a bit to say hi to Marcello and the Ciclismo guests he was hanging out with. It was fabulous that they were watching the end of the Giro d'Italia in the lobby of the hotel, a super epic day out there for the racers with roads of mud and pouring rain.
My friends, in the meantime, had gone to the top of the Gubbian hill via gondola. This is something I missed out on last summer so was quite glad to go up there to meet up with them.
This is a partial group shot...two of our guys are missing from it...
We thought it wise to get back down the hill to where the race of the ceri (monstrous candles) would be happening. I thought the town seemed pretty quiet when we got there, figured people stayed in because of the rain so I was a little disappointed because I thought the crowds wouldn't come out. Wrong-o! People came out of who-knows-where by the droves for the race of the 1,000 lb. candles.
The candles race through the streets and and then raced to the top of the very steep Gubbian hill. The "winner" is always the same as there is no way for the candles to change positions in the very narrow streets.
And here they come and go!
My video didn't upload just now so I'm including a YouTube video from someone else from last year. This is exactly the way it looks, just imagine no sunny sky.
It was a HUGE crowd, a total crush including children and older people as well. I didn't mind the crowd at all (this comes from someone who really minds being in a crush of people at sporting events, etc. in the U.S.)
I crowd surfed to the main piazza in hopes of finding Marcello; I didn't even have to look, I practically ran into him and his Ciclismo guests.
Very cool to see this beautiful horse and trumpeter make their way through the crowd, too!
After the candles made their way past this point, we wandered over to a pizza place where I joined the Ciclismo group for a fun dinner. It's really great to be included in the Ciclismo events when they come through town. These visits definitely take me back to last summer and I get a little sentimental wishing my friends from that trip were there, too.
Today
Today ended up a whole lot better than it started. The bus got us back late last night and I was all wired from the festival to get to sleep. My alarm threw me out of bed at 4 am. Today I was supposed to ride to the hilltop finish of today's stage of the Giro d'Italia. It's kind of funny because I didn't realize the reason I was supposed to go on a 200km bike ride with my friends was for this reason until after it didn't happen thanks to the rain that just won't quit. Luckily, I was able to go back to bed for an extra couple of hours.
Fortunately, there was a break in the rain and it allowed for a pretty intense, climbing training ride that was in the vicinity of Lake Trasimeno...absolutely gorgeous roads out there (most new to me). There's a fabulous 200 km (124 mile) Gran Fondo coming up this weekend. I don't know if I've ever ridden this far in my life...now I get to race that distance with 4,000 competitors doing the same distance. I'm super excited about it, though.
After the ride, my friend's mom served up some awesome pasta, chicken (the most moist chicken I think I've ever had & most flavorful as it was spiced really well), salad, wine. I was absolutely stuffed. I am a slow eater, it's just my style to not eat fast. I had to explain my slow eating habits to prevent her from being offended. Gotta love the culture surrounding food here. I really, really like it. To me, it's all about eating around the same table with others. That the food happens to be awesome makes it all that much better. Mom, for the record, I have told many Italians about your lasagna and that your is the best in the whole world. Come to think about it, I haven't tried Italian lasagna yet...the thought of it actually doesn't excite me all that much to be honest.
After the meal, I needed to catch the bus home thanks to the rain that had returned by this point. The bus stop is next to a bar where I stepped inside to stay out of the rain. A wonderful older guy started talking to me and before I knew it, I had been shooting the breeze with him (in Italian) for a solid 40 minutes. He insisted on buying me an espresso, I think it was so that I'd stay and talk. At the end of the conversation, I felt that something had changed--this morning I was tired and, therefore, tripping all over words; by this evening, they flowed out. He complimented my Italian (that's a first, by the way, and he's happily married so it's not like he was trying to woo me or anything). I see this as a milestone. The first of many more to come. Seriously, that conversation was so much fun. This is the definition of the Italian experience.
Now, it's finally time for me to head home and attempt to sleep (still on a high from today's ride). Internet is YET AGAIN broken at home. Thanks for traveling with me back to medieval Gubbio and to the coffee shop. Your emails continue to thrill me to receive, and I am so touched at your interest in these experiences. My hugs and kisses to you all (yes, I'm going to be kissing everyone on both cheeks when I get back home, what a great custom). I miss each of you very much and wish you were here (can't wish myself home just yet...)! :) Ciao!!!
Friday, May 14, 2010
A Day in the Life...
Let's begin with a riddle: what do the internet and the kitchen sink have in common? Answer: They were both broken. They're both things I need. Fortunately, I believe both are back now, but it was pretty inconvenient the past few days. Other than this, I really like living here. It's great having a common space and 3 Italian-speaking roommates who are home a lot. We don't talk to each other all that often, but just hearing the conversations is excellent. Like I mentioned before, I really like having life around me.
Yesterday there was rain...it stopped and cleared for long enough to convince me to go out for a ride...then it started and wouldn't stop so the ride got scrapped. This allowed for some time to watch the end of yesterday's stage of the Giro d'Italia (in Venice, I think).
There was also time for a side trip to one of the places where one of my Italian friends works. It's a small family farm operation 25 minutes by car from here. The family lives in a gorgeous, very old and big farmhouse and they raise animals for their meat. I didn't see any of the live animals, but I did get to see where they hang up the carcasses and remove meat from them. It was a very clean, white place. They needed to harvest a couple of pieces of meat...so I watched. Dark red blood spotted the perfectly clean, white floor of the large refrigerator. This is the closest to this sort of thing I've ever been. I explained that in America, I'm a vegetarian because it's hard to get meat that is treated this well there. They should see the movie "Food, Inc." What a world of difference. Here, take no issue consuming meat.
I met the family, a few generations live there (including a super cute little girl who I talked to, she didn't know that I can't speak her language) and were all very nice. There was a solid 1/2 hour of Italian flying back and forth about the meat, the price of it, etc. I'm now catching most of the words, but still piecing together the concepts is tricky. I felt like it was years ago when I would accompany my dad on some business and he'd be talking about some stuff that I didn't understand, but I was happy to be there anyway.
A Lesson In Italian
Forgive me if this is a repeat story. One of the things the guys say on the road when we're riding bikes is "occhio" which is a direct translation to "eyes" and also "look out!" Of course in this context, they mean watch out for a car or pothole or something. The first time I heard this, I was so amused. How funny it would sound if we shouted "eyes" when riding our bikes and watching out for something. It's stuff like this that makes learning a new language so much fun.
I've been running a lot of expressions past my Italian friends. Seems there are a lot of direct translations. "Casa dolce casa" means "home sweet home" and it sounds like they use the expression. There are others that go directly, as well. Superstitions are also quite similar, but I understand that Italians tend towards being a bit more superstitious than Americans. One story is that a black cat crossed a guy's path so he stopped and waited a 1/2 hr until another crossed his path. This particular guy was on his bike, apparently the car behind him had done the same thing.
Day before yesterday I visited my favorite bike shop and my favorite bike mechanic. He has the best English of anyone I know here who's Italian. It was nice to be able to rap about bikes freely in English for a little while. He's from elsewhere in Europe and has worked in bike shops in Spain and England so he could give me perspective on racing and the scene in Italy. He said it's super serious here, the racers are very particular about everything where it comes to their bikes, eating, etc. Interesting for me to hear, because what I've seen here so far is a scene that is much more relaxed than what I see in the U.S. at amateur criterium races. And it's far more relaxed than U.S. pro racing. Then again, I'm not starting the Gran Fondos at the front.
School Update
At this point in school, we've learned passato prosimo (he has done something, I had given that to someone), imperfetto (When I was a child, I was eating when), futuro (I will do that someday, they will see the movie), trapassato prossimo (they had felt, I had been), future anteriore (will have been, they will have done it), reflexivo (mi lavo = I wash myself) and other small yet very important (and tricky) concepts. Verbs are coming, understanding is really getting better but conjugating a verb and using it properly in conversation is hard for my mind and then spitting it out adds a whole new level of complexity.
I am really enjoying classes, still. The teachers are talking much faster than they were at first, and I'm understanding about 90% of what they have to say. Not having tests or much homework is fantastic and is as it should be. I'm pushing myself for the reasons why I want to be here. It keeps my relationship with classes and this language positive, though I have quite often been frustrated with myself in remembering everything I want to and expressing myself the way I want to. It's good, though, I'm trusting this frustration will keep my head in the game and continue to push me to improve.
With that, it's time to post this, study for awhile and ride a little later assuming the weather is okay. I'm afraid to look. Tomorrow is the crazy Gubbian Festival I've been looking forward to seeing since I heard about it last summer on tour!
Yesterday there was rain...it stopped and cleared for long enough to convince me to go out for a ride...then it started and wouldn't stop so the ride got scrapped. This allowed for some time to watch the end of yesterday's stage of the Giro d'Italia (in Venice, I think).
There was also time for a side trip to one of the places where one of my Italian friends works. It's a small family farm operation 25 minutes by car from here. The family lives in a gorgeous, very old and big farmhouse and they raise animals for their meat. I didn't see any of the live animals, but I did get to see where they hang up the carcasses and remove meat from them. It was a very clean, white place. They needed to harvest a couple of pieces of meat...so I watched. Dark red blood spotted the perfectly clean, white floor of the large refrigerator. This is the closest to this sort of thing I've ever been. I explained that in America, I'm a vegetarian because it's hard to get meat that is treated this well there. They should see the movie "Food, Inc." What a world of difference. Here, take no issue consuming meat.
I met the family, a few generations live there (including a super cute little girl who I talked to, she didn't know that I can't speak her language) and were all very nice. There was a solid 1/2 hour of Italian flying back and forth about the meat, the price of it, etc. I'm now catching most of the words, but still piecing together the concepts is tricky. I felt like it was years ago when I would accompany my dad on some business and he'd be talking about some stuff that I didn't understand, but I was happy to be there anyway.
A Lesson In Italian
Forgive me if this is a repeat story. One of the things the guys say on the road when we're riding bikes is "occhio" which is a direct translation to "eyes" and also "look out!" Of course in this context, they mean watch out for a car or pothole or something. The first time I heard this, I was so amused. How funny it would sound if we shouted "eyes" when riding our bikes and watching out for something. It's stuff like this that makes learning a new language so much fun.
I've been running a lot of expressions past my Italian friends. Seems there are a lot of direct translations. "Casa dolce casa" means "home sweet home" and it sounds like they use the expression. There are others that go directly, as well. Superstitions are also quite similar, but I understand that Italians tend towards being a bit more superstitious than Americans. One story is that a black cat crossed a guy's path so he stopped and waited a 1/2 hr until another crossed his path. This particular guy was on his bike, apparently the car behind him had done the same thing.
Day before yesterday I visited my favorite bike shop and my favorite bike mechanic. He has the best English of anyone I know here who's Italian. It was nice to be able to rap about bikes freely in English for a little while. He's from elsewhere in Europe and has worked in bike shops in Spain and England so he could give me perspective on racing and the scene in Italy. He said it's super serious here, the racers are very particular about everything where it comes to their bikes, eating, etc. Interesting for me to hear, because what I've seen here so far is a scene that is much more relaxed than what I see in the U.S. at amateur criterium races. And it's far more relaxed than U.S. pro racing. Then again, I'm not starting the Gran Fondos at the front.
School Update
At this point in school, we've learned passato prosimo (he has done something, I had given that to someone), imperfetto (When I was a child, I was eating when), futuro (I will do that someday, they will see the movie), trapassato prossimo (they had felt, I had been), future anteriore (will have been, they will have done it), reflexivo (mi lavo = I wash myself) and other small yet very important (and tricky) concepts. Verbs are coming, understanding is really getting better but conjugating a verb and using it properly in conversation is hard for my mind and then spitting it out adds a whole new level of complexity.
I am really enjoying classes, still. The teachers are talking much faster than they were at first, and I'm understanding about 90% of what they have to say. Not having tests or much homework is fantastic and is as it should be. I'm pushing myself for the reasons why I want to be here. It keeps my relationship with classes and this language positive, though I have quite often been frustrated with myself in remembering everything I want to and expressing myself the way I want to. It's good, though, I'm trusting this frustration will keep my head in the game and continue to push me to improve.
With that, it's time to post this, study for awhile and ride a little later assuming the weather is okay. I'm afraid to look. Tomorrow is the crazy Gubbian Festival I've been looking forward to seeing since I heard about it last summer on tour!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
It's the small things
According to one of my teachers, the number one reason why students come to study at the University (that only offers courses for learning Italian) is not to learn Italian. I think he said the primary reason is that people have time in their lives in between work and school and this is a good "filler" activity. There was another reason, as well, I forget what that one was.
I can't imagine becoming good at this language if that's not a primary reason for being here. It's really easy to get by in class, know the grammar, etc, but have no idea how to put the words together in complete sentences. I'm very fortunate to have very patient Italian-speaking friends. Considering I'm a former English-language perfectionist, I can really appreciate their willingness to hang out with someone who still does very uncool things with a beautiful language.
It just occurred to me that it's been two months since I've heard a bad word. I find this very refreshing. Of course, I've heard lots of bad words, I'm sure, but I don't know it! Ignorance is bliss. Seriously.
Last night one of my roommates and I enjoyed a dinner almost completely served up from Sunday's Gran Fondo. She offered her mother's tuna & tomato sauce for the pasta. Yummm and a good conversation with my roommate. I understood most of what she had to say.
The big conversation around here lately has been about the internet. It's broken in 3 different ways right now. This is not the country for technology (can't say I am that distraught), there have been internet issues all over since I've been here. I'm "borrowing" internet for the moment, the only reason why I can do anything at all online.
Tonight's dinner was a treat--food typical of Perugia in a very traditional trattoria. They serve everyone the same courses during the same night. So it's all done to perfection since the chef isn't juggling 16 different things at once. The picture above is my hand with a sticker from the restaurant. The meal was with one of my dear bike-riding friends who I couldn't understand at all 2 1/2 weeks ago. It was quite an enjoyable time with only a few moments of me being puzzled.
Yes, I'm still wearing the fake ring. I've found that I like it for more reasons than being able to use the "I'm married" excuse in case someone is trying to make unwanted advances. I appreciate it when someone asks about it...says a lot when someone shows concern over it. Maybe I need to take it off--my dating life hasn't been this non-existent in a very, very long time. Pretty hilarious because this is polar-opposite from most of the stranieri (foreigners) in this town. And this is Italy! We spent 45 minutes in class today discussing love and the meaning of what true love is. I can live without this discussion. I'd prefer to keep my head in the sand on the topic. It reminds me that even though this is pretty much the perfect life right now (with the exception of my family and friends being too far away), there's something big missing.
Back to training tomorrow if the weather holds up (tons of rain most of the day today). It's great to be back into a full training routine. Finally, I think my racing burnout period is officially over and there's a real chance that this former criterium-lover has turned into a road racer who enjoys climbing in races.
Don't expect another blog update until this weekend...the rest of this week should be fairly humdrum. (Something I'm sort of hoping for!) Ci vediamo!
I can't imagine becoming good at this language if that's not a primary reason for being here. It's really easy to get by in class, know the grammar, etc, but have no idea how to put the words together in complete sentences. I'm very fortunate to have very patient Italian-speaking friends. Considering I'm a former English-language perfectionist, I can really appreciate their willingness to hang out with someone who still does very uncool things with a beautiful language.
It just occurred to me that it's been two months since I've heard a bad word. I find this very refreshing. Of course, I've heard lots of bad words, I'm sure, but I don't know it! Ignorance is bliss. Seriously.
Last night one of my roommates and I enjoyed a dinner almost completely served up from Sunday's Gran Fondo. She offered her mother's tuna & tomato sauce for the pasta. Yummm and a good conversation with my roommate. I understood most of what she had to say.
The big conversation around here lately has been about the internet. It's broken in 3 different ways right now. This is not the country for technology (can't say I am that distraught), there have been internet issues all over since I've been here. I'm "borrowing" internet for the moment, the only reason why I can do anything at all online.
Yes, I'm still wearing the fake ring. I've found that I like it for more reasons than being able to use the "I'm married" excuse in case someone is trying to make unwanted advances. I appreciate it when someone asks about it...says a lot when someone shows concern over it. Maybe I need to take it off--my dating life hasn't been this non-existent in a very, very long time. Pretty hilarious because this is polar-opposite from most of the stranieri (foreigners) in this town. And this is Italy! We spent 45 minutes in class today discussing love and the meaning of what true love is. I can live without this discussion. I'd prefer to keep my head in the sand on the topic. It reminds me that even though this is pretty much the perfect life right now (with the exception of my family and friends being too far away), there's something big missing.
Back to training tomorrow if the weather holds up (tons of rain most of the day today). It's great to be back into a full training routine. Finally, I think my racing burnout period is officially over and there's a real chance that this former criterium-lover has turned into a road racer who enjoys climbing in races.
Don't expect another blog update until this weekend...the rest of this week should be fairly humdrum. (Something I'm sort of hoping for!) Ci vediamo!
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Gran Fondo #2 - Montefalco
I've embedded the song "It's a Wonderful Life" by Zucchero (an Italian band who I was introduced to during language lab a week ago). This song was playing on the radio as we drove home from the race today and the deep green countryside around Montefalco was shimmering from the warm sun beaming down. It sure is.
It's hard to know where to start and what to say. It's been exactly 2 months since I stepped foot on European soil with absolutely no idea what my life would be like for the upcoming 6. I'd be lying to say that, back then, I wasn't having any doubt.
Not one little itty bitty part of me wishes that I hadn't come here or taken this leap of faith. My life has changed so significantly in the past two months, it's absolutely impossible to put into words. This is a major life-changer. Let me be a little more specific: the last month has been the life-changer. Traveling around, doing the tourist thing is fantastic for the worldly knowledge gained, picking up all of the cool experiences that entails, but it doesn't necessarily change everything.
Living in a place does. Or maybe it's this place, these people that have been the change. At least I have another four months to understand everything better. Oh, to be able to actually communicate what's on my mind with my friends and understand everything they say to each other and to me...but everything is still great. It's the smiles, the hugs and kisses (kisses here are readily shared in the non-romantic sense, one per cheek), the words we do share. It's enough right now, though my comprehension is significantly better by the hour and I'm using (little-by-little) better vocabulary.
Gran Fondo - La Sagrantino 2010
First, here's a great picture of the team (squadra), though I'm sorry Roberta, Fabio and Fabio weren't in this one since they were out there today. (The team is really big so it'll be hard to ever get a full team picture.)
Now to the details of the race. Mom, this one was for you! I have to first share a sweet thing my mom said to me before the race today in her good-luck email. She told me that racing will hurt less as I race more. Unfortunately, Mom, there's a quote from a great bike racer (I forget who): "It never gets easier, you just go faster."
True. I can't wait to download the statistics from today's race. It was much more punishing than the last race in a few different ways. The race began in Montefalco--a quiet, beautiful little town that overlooks Bevagna. I've raced up to Montefalco before...last summer after getting the marriage certificate of my great grandparents, I had to try to catch the Ciclismo Classico group in Montefalco. It's quite a hill and fantastically gorgeous up there.
The race began at the top of the very big hill. I was freaked out about descending on these twisty, narrow roads with 110 of my closest bike racing buddies. Now knowing what Gran Fondo racing is all about (that this is a very real race with guys who are very in it to race), I went in nervous. I also have a team to not let down. They (D. in particular) have invested a lot in me, I didn't want the last race to be a beginner's luck sort of thing.
Turns out the start was all a neutral roll-out down the entire hill (this means that there's a car rolling slowly at the front of all of the racers so no one can try to hit mock 1 down the hill). That didn't make it much less scary for me, though, just because a lot of guys have carbon wheels and when one applies one's breaks (who has these kinds of wheels), there's that squeak that you almost always hear before a crash. I have a hard time stomaching the sound. I didn't see a crash all day, though, these guys continue to amaze me with their bike handling skills.
Finally the race began right around Bevagna. We flew past two homes of my great grandparents. I saluted my ancestors. Thanks, guys, you brought me back to this land that you held so dear so I could also place it in my heart.
My legs weren't ready to race this week like they were last week. I think it helps a lot when I get a few good intervals in (sprints, even) before a race. Today I started cold. My bike went on a diet this week, though, so that helped significantly on the climbs. Once my legs got going, they went. I got with a fast group (though I was upset about losing many places due to my fear on the neutral roll-out down the hill). We flew along and everything was all good...until we hit a fast, technical downhill portion. I stuck with them for quite a ways, but slipped off the back when I got a little nervous about the break-neck speeds. (See a theme today?) I chased hard to catch up on the flat section. There was one guy who had been stripped off and I worked with him to make it back...but his course took him another direction so there I was, suddenly alone. I got in the time-trial groove and went as hard as I could for a little while because I was really concerned that I was the last racer out there. If I waited for the next group to catch up (who may not even exist since I don't see anyone behind me), I could be out here all day long.
I had heard there were 8 women in my race today (including the world champ) and I was sure they were all in front of me. I was so disappointed in myself. I was trying to figure out how I was going to say sorry to the team afterward. This haunted me the entire race.
Fortunately, the road tipped up and I could see back further (there were a total of 9 climbs today--3 times the number of last week). There were some guys coming along so I soft pedaled until they reached me. This turned out to be a good group. They were a bit faster than the group I ended up with last week, I was glad about that. I got to the front and started to work with one of the guys up there. I looked back and the pack was gone. Woohoo, a break! It didn't end up lasting, but it was effective in picking up the pace of the group. Remember, I was sure I had people up the road that I needed to chase down...or at least not come in an hour after!
The first 100km were hard racing miles. I also got a lot more comfortable on the fast descents and hung fine with the guys. At 100km, the pack really, really slowed down. It didn't make sense to me to go to the front and pick up the pace since I figured they knew something I didn't. Yup. The new, cool town I got to know today was Trevi. It's at the top of a very long, intense climb. That's why the guys were taking it easy...they wanted legs for this climb.
After the ascent and descent to/from Trevi, the pack was going slooooowly. I was bummed. We had at least been making good time up to this point. If I'm going to lose, I want it to be by as few minutes as possible. Almost no one had any motivation and the last 8 km were supposed to be a pretty long climb into Montefalco...that I didn't know if I'd have steam for. This pace continued until 2km to go.
The long, steep climb I was expecting really didn't end up happening until the 2k mark (sorry, my memory is foggy on exact distances). I was keeping a close eye on my GPS watch and they had signs starting at 10km to go (the whole race was only 130 km opposed to the 148 km I was expecting). Last week the pack ended up finishing in a sprint. I didn't want it to come down to a sprint because I'll always be beaten by men in a sprint. At a little over 1 km to go, after riding 2nd wheel and having no idea what was going on behind me (2nd wheel is a bad place to be, by the way, for this very reason), I took off and didn't look back. My legs felt very good at that point considering all of the rest they'd gotten for the past ~25 km. The pack let me go. (Or were they unable to follow? I'll never know.) So at least I got to finish the race racing. And I put 2 minutes on the others who did end up in a sprint finish.
A few of the guys who I had raced with were super sweet after the race and shook my hand, very complimentary. Very similar to my experience last week. These are good guys. For the record, I really like Italian men. I think it's great that they prove that chivalry isn't dead. In the romantic sense, all of the rules might totally change, but as people, I like them a lot. They go out of their way to be sweet, when there is absolutely nothing for them to gain. I'm not saying this doesn't exist elsewhere, I'm just saying it's everywhere here, a daily occurrence. It's also helpful that I'm not a drop-dead gorgeous blonde or foreign-looking. I feel they're sweet to me as one of them, not as a hey-babe sort of thing.
Back to the race and I'll quit babbling and go study. Turns out that out of 110 participants (I thought there were going to be many times that in the race, but the hoards signed up for the Medio Fondo, a slightly shorter race than the Gran Fondo), I came in 70th. I was hoping for top half. However, for women, it was 2nd place to the World Champ (Michela Gorini). Niiiiice. In a race with so few women (not sure how many, but possibly only 3), it's not like this makes me anything special (although it's pretty sweet considering no one else knows how few women are out there and my name will be next to hers in the newspaper tomorrow, like last week when I got 3rd), but I know that I'm racing well and my legs are feeling strong...and I'm racing with my heart. I love this racing. It's phenomenal.
Maybe it's not the racing, maybe it's the community and fun that surrounds the race... Again, the pasta party afterward was so much fun!
Today goes down in the list of memories because of the awesome time with my teammates and fellow racers. Everyone had a great race today and D was beaming from his, too (it surprised him, I think, his best races are the ones with super steep, sustained climbs). He treated to gelato after the race, too. He's getting good at reading my mind--gelato is the best way to finish the day after a race. Another chapter for my future book, ha.
Next weekend we're off from racing. I'll be visiting the Ciclismo Classico group (Marcello is one of the guides) in Gubbio for their insanity fest (it has a name, will definitely be blogged) and who knows what else.
A couple other shots to complete the day:
And with that, time just slipped away. After racing, the only thing I am capable of doing is thinking about racing. Yes, I got to church, but I couldn't understand much. Active listening wasn't possible after everything today, but I did have a good chat with God. Thank you for all of our mothers, thank you for this wonderful life.
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