In America. More to come…
Near Piazza Erbe, two American men, one pushing a stroller:
Man 1: “I swear I can’t find any underwear for sale in this country!”
Man 2: “Yeah, I am convinced Italian men don’t wear underwear. All I see are ones for women here.”
Man 1: “Well, I saw these one boxer type ones, but they were really feminine looking, what’s up with that?”
This made me laugh because they were in sight of Tezenis, a HUGE store which only sells underwear (masculine types as well).
What a great weekend. Nothing *extremely* spectacular, but a nice normal, fun weekend. To start it off, we finally bought a new espresso machine. Our old lavazza one broke shortly after moving here so we have been relying heavily on the bar downstairs, which adds up after 9 months or so between 2 people. Plus, I never usually get the 80 cent caffé and end up ordering a cappuccino. Plus, I am getting tired of having to look presentable when I just want a coffee (looking presentable before coffee is a huge challenge). So after much consideration we splurged for the new Nespresso CitiZ & Milk. I LOVE it! It makes the best milk froth ever and it’s designed is geared to those who are unable to function before having coffee (me). All you do is press a few buttons and it does all the work. Added bonus: it has a beautiful design. I look at this machine and think “Am I old/mature enough for this chic coffee maker?” This type of gadget is something that someone with taste, class, perfect hair and makeup and perhaps a job would have. I don’t deserve this coffee machine. I am unemployed and in my pajamas 90% of the time. On the flip side, screw growing up, my life rocks.
The Coffee Machine for Grownups
We also went over to Vicenza to the big pet store to buy toys and supplies for the chinchillas. There is one right below our house but it’s quite a bit smaller. It’s good for food and hay but doesn’t have any of the fun stuff. I bought them their treats, special Oxbow chinnie cookies and some hanging wood toys and a million wood chews. They seem to like them. The babies are growing like little weeds. It has been so awesome to have this experience. They are so beautiful and the craziest pets. We got Oli our first one when she was already bigger, about a year or so old. Same with Fry (the dad). So experiencing all these precious moments with the babies is awesome! They are so clever and playful. I think D and I have pretty much agree we will keep all three. But a few close friends have expressed a bit of interest so I am willing to part with one if I know they will go to good people and be close by. I wouldn’t give them to a stranger because I want to be involved should anything go wrong or if help is needed. I seem to be the only person in Italy who has up to date knowledge on these guys and that’s only because I have done a ton of research and found a forum with very experienced American breeders (who are a life saver!). So, I am rambling about them, but they are a big part of my life at the moment. and SO CUTE. Now I know how a parent must feel, always talking about their kids..on and on… I am proud of my chinchildren 
Oli and the babies in a chinchilla pile
Saturday we went to a big food fair in Piazza Bra. I had porchetta, risotto with asparagus that was to DIE for, and a cannoli. Yeah, that pretty much derailed my diet but food fairs are not an everyday event! And the rice was sooo good.
Sunday (today) we took the scooter for our weekly weekend adventure. This time it was to Borghetto. It was so cute. A teeny tiny neighborhood built over a river. Loads of people, pollen and flowers. Speaking of pollen, there has been a snow storm of white, puffy pollen for the past five days. It just falls everywhere and has made my face swell to five times it’s normal size. Sadly, my face looks like it did before I lost the weight-haha. It’s weird how you don’t realize how fat you are until you lose the weight. Oh! and I fit back into my sexy (hole in the knee) pre-Italy move, skinny American jeans! Yay! Although people are starting at me like I am a bum because there is a big gaping hole in the knee of my jeans, because it’s Verona and if you want holes in your jeans you pay D&G 300 euro for the pleasure *eyeroll!*
In the center of Borghetto
Me in Borghetto
Bridge over Borghetto
Anyhoo…Happy Mothers Day to my mom Vicky! If you hadn’t pushed out my 9lbs ass I would never be here to have baby chinchillas. Thanks! No seriously, I love you mom. We had our rough patches (basically from when I hit puberty to age 22 and went “all crazy” in italy) but our relationship is stronger than ever and I really cherish it.
And a shout out to my MIL D’s mom. She doesn’t read this blog, or go on the internet but I wanted the universe to know what a fantastic lady she is. She has opened her home, family and heart to me and I seriously doubt I could had survived the move over here without her constant love and support. And she is an awesome cook.
Everybody’s hungry:
Babies playing around:
WELL…I think my break did me some good. I just couldn’t get up the motivation to say anything so I didn’t. But I think I am back now, and am feeling better than ever about life here and in general.
I can’t believe I am am able to say this but I have *actually* been sticking with a diet and exercise regime since January and have lost 6 kilos. It’s crazy! I never thought I’d actually be able to do it because I love food, I love eating and I am a huge quitter when it comes to things that are hard. But the last 3 or so months has been all about the gym, training and Extreme Fat Smashing. I feel amazing and I have so much energy. I also feel like I have a purpose and a lot of goals. So yay me!
What else has happened…I found out we might be moving to either Madrid or Naples -ew. (no offense to anyone that Naples). Long story short, D applied for a civilian position in Madrid. If he gets the job it means more money and we have to pack up and leave in May. As in 2 months from now! It will be crazy but we will see what happens. As for Naples, we found out the NATO base here in Verona is being closed and moved down there in 2010. Everything is up in the air, but basically there is a huge possibility we will go there. I have already ruled out living there and we would instead opt for some cute beach town. I just have no desire to deal with a big, chaotic city. Unless it’s Madrid because they have Starbucks. Since I basically have ADD when it comes to living somewhere for very long, I am happy at these possible moves. I will keep you posted.
I think my girl chinchilla Oli is pregnant but I can’t tell for sure. We bought the boy chin, Fry, back in February and they hooked up a few times. Then I read online that they are pregnant for FOREVER (111 days) so that means I should be getting a free baby chinchilla sometime this month (I calculated the days after seeing this nasty plug thing that I don’t really want to describe in full detail). So every morning I run to the cage but instead of seeing an adorable baby chinchilla I see my *maybe* pregnant, or really fat, lazy one just sitting there expecting me to give her a raisin. Sigh. (In case it doesn’t sound like it, I do really love both my chins but I am getting anxious here).
Well I have a lot more to talk (and complain!) about, but I think I should restart this blogging thing slowly so I don’t sprain anything.
Please note all comments will be held for moderation until I get back. They are not being deleted and your freedom of speech is not being infringed upon (if you’re confused why I am writing this, please see the comments in my last couple posts).
So in just a few short hours I will 25! It’s so crazy how the past 8 or so years have just flown by. I am kinda excited for this year though. I have a personal trainer at an awesome gym and am committed to getting back in shape. I am even considering entering a fitness competition. I have a LONG way to go to do that but it is something I have always wanted to do and I am not getting any younger. Things with D are the best they have ever been, I am learning more Italian every day and slowly feel like I am fitting in here. I have made a great friend in Claire who lives in Rome, which is funny because I only got to know her after I had already moved from there-go figure. But it feels great to have a good friend who can understands what I am going through and always has time to chit chat. I have decided I will venture down to Rome once a month or so to keep the friendship going and of course spend some time with D’s family. And there is always the possibility we will live there again someday and having a close friend there will probably make me more willing to go back. I am also thankful I have my two chinchillas who bring me more happiness than I ever thought pets could. And I am hoping there will be baby chinchillas soon!
But the best part of it all is I am spending the next week IN AUSTRIA!
Ciao y’all and see you when I get back!
It seems you can’t write about anything without some clueless moron making an idiotic comment that has nothing to do with anything. Case in point, this comment telling me that there is no way I can be “too tall for Italy”:
*note all errors in spelling and punctuation are of the author*
“Im sorry to say that you must be mistaken. i myself am siciliano and am nearly 6′3. there are lots of tall italians, naming just a few american-italians so you will know such as fed castellucio (furio giunta in the sopranos), james gandolfini, jovanotti ( italian singer) , monica belluci who is 5′9 thats pretty tall for a woman and andrea bocelli is just under 6′2. how tall are you? u must be very tall to call italians short. you don’t list your height anywhere which is strange considering the name, so i think you’re using italians as a scape goat to accentuate how tall you are. i agree many of the older generation are smaller due to war malnutrition but as you seem pretty young as this generation i would have thought you thought italians average height.”
UUUMMM…Thanks for pointing out the heights of various Sopranos cast members. Because they are who I am talking about when I say I feel awkwardly tall here in Italy. Oh and for telling me who Jovanotti is, because I had NO IDEA. Here is my response, and yes I am trying to bite my tongue:
“I don’t see how I am mistaken, I live in Italy and I am significantly taller than about 90% of the people around me at all times. I am not the only one who thinks this or makes comments about it either. Monica Bellucci is 5′7″ (Bellucci’s IMDB BIO) but even if she were 5′9″ I would still be taller than her. I never said I was the tallest person in Italy or taller than James Gandolfini (rolls eyes). I’m not using anyone as a scapegoat for anything. I never said Italians were short, I said I was tall. It’s sad that you are unable to see humor in anything. I guess I have to spell it out: being “too tall” in Italy goes beyond height, it’s just one of several ways I stand out as a foreigner here. Hope that clears it up for you.”
For the record, I purposefully do not disclose my height because it doesn’t matter. If I say my height, there will be stupid comments about how “so and so” is taller, defeating the point entirely. And the point is I feel out of place as a foreigner and being tall is only a piece of that. Am I the tallest person here? NO. But am I taller than average? YES. There is comedic license and exaggeration in this blog, deal with it. And for the future reference, any stupid comments left on MY blog will be deleted and ignored.
I have to say I have been avoiding blogging. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I think I just wanted to live in the moment and not constantly be thinking “oohhh I need to blog about this.” Ditto for taking pictures. I haven’t taken many pics in the last few months because I also felt like that was taking me out of the moment and I was seeing life pass by through a lens. I don’t know where this blog will go, but I have definitely felt better not blogging lately. But the mood struck me today so here goes:
D finally comes home tomorrow. I have only seen him for about 3 weeks since the end of July. Which was the week when we moved (he still had to work in Rome all of August) and the two weeks in September before he was deployed for over two months to Corsica. It was kind of a shock that he had to leave so early, I mean we knew he would be deployed eventually and is basically “on call” but we didn’t think it would happen at the very beginning. He found out he was leaving the day before. It was weird but I guess we have to get used to it. SO I have been starting this new life in Verona solo. I was freaked out at first because I really relied on D for almost everything. But being thrust into handling everything by myself has been a great thing. My Italian has improved, I feel more outgoing and in control and most of all, I feel like I actually have a life here and I can make it. As I have said before, I hated how our life was in Rome, I felt so isolated and dependent on D and his family. It was miserable. But I have done it all on my own here in Verona and it’s a great feeling to know I can handle it when left to my own devices. BUT I am so excited that D is coming home! I really miss him and I can’t wait for him to see “the new me” an Italian speaking, meal making, bill paying wife. I think his travel will be a positive in our relationship instead of a negative. It is nice to miss someone and I feel that we have gotten closer since he has been gone. Our bond is better than ever.
On the theme of being more independent, I traveled to London for a week alone. It was great! I was originally going to go home to Spokane for a month, but couldn’t find a cheap flight. I am glad I didn’t end up going though, because of all the positive changes I have made. So London was my consolation prize. It was great! I did all the little things i didn’t do on my previous 4 trips, like museums and the changing of the guard, ect. And I took NO PICS and really experienced every second of it. I caught up with old couchsurfing friends I had met a few years ago and stayed a few nights with them, but they have crazy work schedule so I didn’t see enough of them but it was great anyway. The crazy part of the trip is when I ran into an acquaintance in the Verona train station on my way to the airport. I met P at a couchsurfing meet up during a street game festival in August, and there he was in line for the same shuttle as me going to London! We sat next to each other on the flight and on the bus into London with plans to meet up the next day. It was nice getting to know him better and weird seeing a Verona guy in London! Talk about coincidences.
I also went down to Rome to visit the in laws. What would have been extremely uncomfortable 6 months ago (due to language barrier and my own mental issues-lol) was great! I was able to speak comfortably in Italian for 3 days and I feel that visiting them without D brought us closer together. God all this talk about the good things of D being gone sounds bad, but it’s not like that I swear! I think that being left to my own devices has increased my comfort level speaking Italian (though not all the way) and it was really the first time I could communicate efficiently with my in laws. It was awesome and I love them so much! They have really supported my all the way, even when the only word I knew was ciao. So it is great to be able to finally forge a more meaningful relationship with them. I was sad to leave them.
On the friend front, things are great! Through couchsurfing I have met a great group of locals and have been having a great time with them. It is amazing how much your perspective changes when you have a group of people to hang out with. I was so negative about Italy and Italians for so long, and now all of that is different. I am very thankful I have a great group of people around me now.
School is still school. It is getting increasingly harder but I should have my bachelors in 8-9 months. I keep taking little breaks so the date keeps getting pushed back. I am so happy I can take online classes and finish this degree, but i want to get it over with so I can start attending classes at the University of Verona. Yes, I am going to attempt a degree here. Why not? I can’t think of any reason not to and it would be a huge push to develop my language skills and get me more involved in the community. As far as Italian, I haven’t been in a school but have actually been studying a bit on my own which is crazy because there is nothing I hate doing more. Which is weird because I love learning in general, but hate learning Italian. I really need to get over that. I want to join a school but I am waiting for registration for the free classes to open up again n January because I missed the September enrollment. It is great Verona actually offers free classes, unlike another city I know…. If I can’t get in for some reason I will got to LinguaIT. It seems like a great school.
I am looking forward to D coming home! I think it will be amazing to finally start living in this city together. My birthday is coming up and we are going to Innsbruck to celebrate! I am SO EXCITED!
Well that’s all for now,
xoxo
Jessica
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