A Different Voyage Altogether

Most people might already know that I’ve had a change of plans, but for those that don’t, I am here in the Bay Area (NorCal). It’s far off from Italy but as someone told me recently; Italy and its treasures have been around for thousands of years. In that same conversation, we decided that the Pantheon had been standing for a few thousand years and that it would probably still be there whenever it is that I get back (although I am hoping/praying that the golden arch eyesore won’t be...). My grandma had a sudden illness and is in the hospital. Unfortunately, the prognosis is not good; in fact, it couldn’t be more opposite. I’m sitting here at her bedside in the hospital and I’m recalling a conversation that I had with my good friend Alex last night. I’m also going to call her Mama because that’s what my sister and I have called her for a very long time. Our friends, Mama’s extended grandchildren, and even some of her close friends have all somehow adopted this nickname for her as well. So, it’s a completely different trip altogether...

I am told that it is good to recall positive thoughts in these times of crises. I have never taken psychology nor any classes on it for that matter and I have no idea if it helps you or not (at least from a clinical perspective). What I do know is that this exercise conjures up a flood of emotions for me and I do feel better after laughing and crying it up for a few. My other friend (and to be honest, that word isn’t adequate) Holly has been up here with me these past few days and I recalled some of the highlights to her of Mama and me together.

One of the oldest memories was riding the San Francisco streetcars (which the city got rid of and then brought back and perhaps gotten rid of again...?). I was sitting in my Mama’s lap in the window seat and a lady sat down next to us. Her city coat fell straight onto my lap and I was definitely bothered by it (this could be why I hated having things at my feet in the car for a long time). So, Mama whispered a few words out to me in Tagalog about moving that lady’s coat off of me and I decided to take her advice. I waited a few moments and I don’t remember why I waited but maybe I understood that I didn’t want it to look too suspicious. At the right moment, that lady’s coat didn’t just come off of me, I practically threw it in the air with a force so violent that it definitely startled the oblivious woman sitting in the seat next to us. Realizing her error, Ms. Oblivious apologized profusely to us and Mama smiled it off.

Back to Italy

I will be headed back to Italy on May 5th and will stay for one month. I will have classes until the 31st and then I was thinking of visiting my cousin if she will have me. I have threatened her enough with my visit over the years that I should probably make good on it.

People are friendly today

I checked in the mirror this morning and I am pretty sure that I didn't have a sign on my forehead that says, "Say Hi to me and get a $1." Strange, but when I walked to the store and Starbucks today, everybody and their brother was saying Hi to me. Must be the fresh new clothes. I'll have to remember to select this same dryer scent.

Just when I thought it was all over, it wasn’t, and maybe it will never be

The night before I was on the Web and trying to select my favorite seat on the SwissAir Airbus. I thought that I knew the model of the airplane but a friend of mine who knows a lot more about airplanes than me (and in fact more than most) corrected one of my older blog entries and educated me on what model it was, but of course I forgot. Regardless, I was aiming for 29G, a bulkhead seat that has just as much room as first class. Of course, that seat was already taken and I was lamenting this fact to Ilaria’s father who promptly asked me which seat and now what. I ended up choosing the seat at random because it wasn’t like I had committed the floor plan of the aircraft to memory.

So, after the short and empty flight from Milan to Zurich, I thought for sure this was going to be last time I was going to be able to speak Italian on a regular basis. I was lamenting this and also very afraid because I knew that I was already standing on a slippery slope. Any disruption in the regular usage of Italian was going to push me back down the slope. Low and behold, I ended up sitting next to Sabrina, who among other things, was one of the nicest persons that I had met on this entire adventure. We communicated with sign language at first because I know she knew that I was American; I had plopped my passport down on my seat in a heap. I waited for the first opportunity to confirm that she was Italian and introduced myself. I think she was shocked but also happy to be sitting next to someone that spoke Italian.

We enjoyed each other’s company for the whole voyage and covered a number of topics. It was amazing how much I LEARNED in the 12 hours of flying and one hour through customs and baggage claim. We took breaks for sleep and meals but otherwise our chats filled four pages in my notebook. So, just when I thought that Italian was over, it wasn’t. We exchanged contact information for a chance to do language exchange; she is planning to stay for three months in America to learn English which is something that I think we will definitely see more of since the Euro is extremely strong compared to the Dollar.

Is this the train to Feerenzy?

Sitting here on the train to Firenze and waiting for it to depart. I didn’t think that I could run into anyone with terrible pronunciation, but I did. I need to point out one thing about the Italian language and, by the way, this is true for all languages. There are some words that simply do not get translated into Italian from English. These mostly have to do with computers and technology. Still, if you don’t pronounce these words with an Italian accent, the Italians won’t understand you. It sounds strange, I know, let me tell you that it’s even stranger when it actually happens to you and you get corrected on the proper pronunciation of an English word. I point this out to illustrate that the proper pronunciation makes a world of difference and it’s the difference of being understood and not.

So, while waiting, an obviously American woman (only Americans wear flip flops in a medieval town like Siena) walks into the train car that I am in. She blurts out a question, in despair, since the train is about to leave: “Is this the train to Feerenzy?” The first syllable was eaten (was this lady Roman?) so it sounded more like frenzy. Well, I thought, goodness, I didn’t buy a ticket to frenzy. That’s the last place I would want to go. Anyhow, usually, I sit and laugh at this but if anyone needed help, it was definitely this woman. So, I told her yes, it was the train (I didn’t even try to repeat her pronunciation) but also wondered if she knew that the English translation for Firenze was Florence. The Italians on the train car with me, sat there, completely confused by this woman’s question. As I mentioned, if you don’t pronounce it right, they won’t understand you and this was very much the case today.