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