Octopus

I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.

-Walt Whitman

Artichoke

Farmers' Market

Saturday at the Amherst Farmers' Market I bought some sour dough bread, a giant heirloom tomato, some serrano chiles, garlic, zucchini, cheese, olives, and fresh cut flowers. After I rode my bike to the cinema to watch Angelina Jolie kick ass in Salt, checked out the travel books on Brazil at Barnes & Nobel, and then came home to prepare a delicious meal. Good day Saturday.

Flowerhorn

Red Sox

My brother, Liz, and James went to see the Boston Red Sox play the Texas Rangers Saturday night. With my brother's military discount we were able to buy $10 tickets on the first base line. I hadn't been to a game since Red Sox played the Yankees in old Yankee Stadium back in 2004 and I was quickly reminded how incredible it feels to see a live sporting event--the over priced food, the red jerseys, Sweet Caroline playing to drunk dudes all riled up on cold beer in the stands.

That's baseball, and it's my game. Y' know, you take your worries to the game, and you leave 'em there. You yell like crazy for your guys. It's good for your lungs, gives you a lift, and nobody calls the cops. Pretty girls, lots of 'em. Humphrey Bogart

Red Sox won with bases-loaded and a sacrificial fly made by Kevin Youkilis in the 11th inning winning 3-2.

Italia 2010

Toto Che Visse Due Volte

I ended my days teaching tired and sore footed. On occasion, in the afternoons, I would often wander around central Rome but mostly I came back to my flat, ate some dinner, and de-stress. Teaching 12 and 13 years olds is hard work and anyone who does so has my full respect. You are energy personified.

What brought me to Italy began with me wanting to get some traveling in at the least possible cost to me. I applied for some jobs teaching English overseas. What I looked for mostly were jobs that would pay for my plane ticket as well as room and board. I found a job in China and this one in Italy that met these requisites.

After talking to many people and weighing the prose and cons I decided Italy. I hadn’t been to Europe since New Years 2000 and the idea of facing some personal demons, getting paid to be in another country, and eating Italian food on home soil appealed to me.

So I left June 6th for Nice, France which was the closest location to where my job training would be held in Sanremo, Italy. Took the train in to the beach side hotel I’d be staying at for the week where 180 other English teachers and I learned songs, games, and dances to teach the children at Italian English camp.

To be completely honest, the training was hell. At 31 I was one of the oldest people there and could immediately feel the difference between myself and everyone else. I also had to spend the week living in a room with 3 other girls. They were nice enough but I am at an age and temperament where I need my personal space and downtime and that was hard to find in such conditions.

The camp, Lingue Senza Frontiere, is designed for Italian students in elementary and middle school to learn English in an immersion setting. Performance games and activities are used over chalkboard teaching as a means to encourage students in speaking the language. As a result, at the end of the camp students put on a performance for the public that forces them to utilize spoken English.

At the end of the training in Sanremo we were broken up into small groups of 1 to 7 teachers and assigned to individual camps throughout Italy. Camps were held mainly north of Rome and teachers were hosted in families or flats provided by the school.

I was assigned to work in a suburb of Rome called Pablo Neruda just north of Vatican City along with three other Canadian teachers—Libby, Hazel, and Jason. Libby, Hazel, and I shared a flat together provided by an Italian woman named Emma who was more than generous with taking us out, providing us with mealsand directions, or any other things we might need.

The flat was a gorgeous two bedrooms, 1 bathroom apartment with a living room, kitchen, and enormous balcony that overlooked a busy city street. I would often cook a meal and sit outside to catch the cool night air and listen to World Cup fans cheer on their favorite team.

Luna Rossa

On my first Friday night in Rome I went out with Hazel and Libby, Jason, and our host families. We walked the historic piazzas of Rome and had some gelato. I had Nutella and dark chocolate. Bellisimo!

Saturday I took some much needed alone time to visit the Vatican and walk around the museum. I saw the Sistine Chapel (which, before this trip, I always thought was called the 16th Chapel). It is enormous. Impressive. I was always under the assumption that it was one little ceiling in a church but the thing consists of rooms and rooms of paintings and mosaics.

In all the Vatican is pretty well kept, clean, luscious green grasses and shrubs, especially in comparison to the rest of Rome.

In the evening Emma took me out with her husband and son for a tour of Rome. We visited the Coliseum, St. Peters Basilica where the pope addresses congregates, and finally ended the night with an incredible seafood dinner. When Italians eat, they go all out. We had about 15 different antipastos, two types of spaghetti, wine, desert and expresso. Incredible.

Sunday I went to see some ancient Roman bath ruins. It was a really interesting sight to see as these structures must have been enormous when they were operational. I’ve spent a lot of time in bathhouses in the Russian neighborhoods in Brooklyn and they would take up the space of one room in these enormous ancient monstrosities.