Just booked flights for my first trip outside of Italy, for my Easter vacation. We're off from April 5-11, but I'm taking off the first few days of that week and we'll be leaving March 30th. So it'll be Rome-Milan-Budapest-Paris-Rome. I can't even. SO excited. Tomorrow I have to look for places to stay and of course being the way that I am, will try and make some sort of itinerary of must-do things. Any suggestions?
Besides that, not too much has gone on. Went out last night for a little and there is definitely a big difference between weeknights and weekends...the city was so much more alive. And Campo di Fiori was nice, because it's like a plaza with a bunch of bars and pubs, so while you're at one bar you can sort of people watch everyone that's walking around. It's funny you can always tell who's American...flip flops in April? I learned that lesson when I moved to Chile and tried to wear sandals in September. People must have thought I was crazy too. And then there were the bridesmaids out for what I'm guessing was the bachelorette party. All in their matching dresses with sashes that said "bridesmaid #1, #2, #3", very methodically avoiding the spaces between each cobblestone with their stilettos-definitely not walking in a straight line anymore. That's one I'll have to practice. But I'm surprised at how early places close, everything was closed by 2:30. Which, if I think about it, is actually a good thing considering it takes me at least an hour to get home. Dumb buses.
And then I'm starting to notice little things about a place that you can only notice by living there. Which really kinda makes me happy because that's why I'm doing this. It's why I made the effort of making this my experience instead of just coming here on another vacation. I've learned through being in Chile that there is nothing more special than actually starting to feel like you're part of another culture. There are little details that are like secrets; only those who stay long enough, know about them. Know why things are a certain way, or how things came to be. And of course I'm not there yet...but there are some details that at first were just that-uncommon things that I noticed where different than in Chile, or United States. And now...now they blend into my routine. They have become common. Like the sirens. I hope it's not that more people have emergencies here, but a siren wails through the streets at least 4 times a day. And the birds chirp so much earlier than anywhere else. I mean these are the birds the saying was based on...they're up and singing right now. It's 1 in the morning. Chilean birds are much more lazy. Which is ironic because you would think that being Italian birds, they would be as relaxed as the people. I went to go buy something yesterday and everything but the pizzerias were closed. Lunch break. Nap time. For 3 hours. Amazing. And there are the constant motorcycles and vespas that go by. That vrrooom sound that is starting to put me to sleep like an ocean would. I now understand that just because they are talking loudly and gesturing grandly doesn't mean they're fighting. It's just a conversation. I wonder if I'd look foreign doing that when I can actually complete more than a few sentences in Italian. Anyway, I like these things that are no longer details for me. I want so much for the list to grow, to feel less....in a bubble? Or outside the bubble? But that is only possible with time, I know.
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