Foreign Exchange

I'm recycling a pre-Christmas photo. Bologna's very pretty with all the lights up.

Two weeks ago we received the news that my beloved roommate, Francesca, won a grant to study at Georgetown University for the next six months. We're all very happy for her, but it's sad that she has to go! Also, there's been a lot of roommate traffic in this apartment (her replacement will be the fifth new person to move into the house during the year I've been here).

So, before she goes, we need to use the time wisely. That means house parties, apparently. With nutella.



And I think that I'm stronger than I actually am.



Carnivale is starting here, but it doesn't feel like it. Instead, I'm feeling overwhelmed by work and completely exhausted. To paraphrase Good Will Hunting (a masterpiece!) . . . Management has been restructuring, and it's not very enjoyable for all of us who work under said management. But I'm trying to remember that this will result in some kind of learning experience. I will certainly be thankful for it someday in the future. I'm just not yet at that point.

In the meantime, the Italian government has fallen, and it's strange because there are no visible signs of it whatsoever. (I don't know what I imagined. SWAT teams or something.) Aside from the entertaining aspects - crying senators being carted out on stretchers - it's pretty crazy. And it's fascinating to hear the way people talk about it. Most often I hear that the country is finished, everything is going to hell, and so forth - I was told that this is the "classic" Italian response. It sounds pretty familiar to me!

Jingle Bells

So, I went home for Christmas. It was my first time back in the States since June, and I realized that I really missed being there. Italy feels like home now, but it definitely isn't home home. Like home is home. Etc. And home in this case included Florida and New York along with beloved Boston.

I love Christmas. And I love the fact that being in the US, after being gone for a while, makes me appreciate random things. Like the availability of cranberry juice, scrambled eggs, and non-diesel-infused air. My mom's cooking. Stuff like that.



And snow! It was snowing when my plane touched down, which was a perfect welcome. This was the view from my front door. If you can't see it well, that's because it was entirely white.



And of course it was really amazing to spend time with the people I love, as weird as they are.



It's bittersweet to realize that, now that my life here is full of so many new people, I really value my relationships with the people who've known me for years. In my own language, no less.



Being away makes it ever-so-clear that they're incredibly important to me. So it was hard to leave - even though it's good to be back.