Leaving Santa Cruz

benigni at Santa Croce (he's really small)
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Well it is about time I write. I am in Italy now, heading to Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday. Somehow, with a lot of help from my friends (Eileen, Steph, & Steve/Cody, amongst others, were right by my side as I was losing my sanity in those last few weeks in SC-thank you) I managed to teach summer school (6 hours a day with 35 kids for the same subject all day in an un-air conditioned classroom), move out of my house, say my good byes, and get on a plane to come here. I have to say that driving away from Santa Cruz for the airport was one of the hardest things I have done. I left my job, my house, my friends, and a man I really care about. I knew that leaving was going to be hard but to tell you the truth I didn’t expect it to be this hard. Although I have my mom (poor mom, I'm no fun like this) here as well as some friends I have been feeling lonely, sad, scared, and broken-hearted. Almost every year when I get here I go through a transition period where I feel a little lost and lonely but this year those feelings haven’t gone away. The thought of taking this trip, all alone, to unknown places and not seeing my loved ones for a year is just a bit overwhelming right now. I know this is an opportunity of a lifetime but at the moment it is scary. I can remember only a few other times in my life when I have felt as much as a wreck as this. On top of my feeling an emotional wreck, I have been having quite a few mishaps. It started with scraping my mom’s car the other night. I had parked the car in a lot and when I came back another car was parked just inches away. I assessed the scene & determined that I would be able to pull out if I turned in the side mirrors. Well, I failed to realize that the rear fenders stick out quite a bit and so as I slowly and carefully pulled out I had contact with the other car. Nothing major but I have never done anything like that before and I didn’t like it. The next night I was driving a little too fast, and came across an adorable baby owl in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes but I was unable to stop fast enough and I felt a bump bump which I’m pretty sure was the poor creature. After that I decided not to drive anymore but last night I had to go to a friend’s house for dinner. As I was driving (along the same road that the owl lived on), a deer, yes, a deer (we don’t have deer here like we do at home. Lots of porcupines, wild boar (and owls) but no deer), ran FULL SPEED right in front of my car. I was going fast (it was in the only straightaway on that narrow, winding road), I slammed on the brakes, the car shook and swerved, and BAM I smacked the deer right over the car. I saw it run off into the bushes but it was limping and I am sure it was somebody’s dinner that night. That pretty much put me over the edge last night and now I truly am not going to drive my mom’s car anymore. She just returned from the body shop and they are estimating it could cost 1000 Euros (not exactly within my $30/day budget!!!) I have had a couple of mishaps on my bike too, although minor. I was riding with friends the other day and a bee flew into my helmet & stung me on the scalp… ouch!!! Then, about 20 minutes later I was just riding along & must have hit a huge rock & blew out my tire. Minor things, but when I’m already not feeling so solid, they build up. I have been doing some fun things too- I’ve been riding with my friends and along with giving me Italian male relationship advice (thanks, but no thanks) they are laughing at me for how out of shape I am. I’ve been going into Florence a few days a week to see friends and just the other night my mom and I went to see Roberto Beningni (remember, from Life is Beautiful, “Buongiorno, Principessa!”) recite The Divine Comedy’s eighth canto in the piazza Santa Croce in Florence. The setting was amazing with the full moon and illuminated Santa Croce church, right in Dante’s neighbor hood, and the excitement and love that that man has for the city of Florence and Dante’s masterpiece was infectious. My mom and I went to visit friends south of here and on the way we visited a 12th century church that had long ago lost its roof; in the same complex we saw a chapel with a sword in a stone, and some other interesting items (see pictures). A few days a week I have been teaching Giovanni and Leo, my 13 year old charges that I taught last summer and the summer before, just making a little money before I go. And that’s really about it. Mostly I have just been trying to get ready for the big trip. The news in today is that now, flying out of London’s Heathrow (which I will be doing on Tuesday), passengers aren’t even allowed to carry purses on board. This means no magazines, books, journal, you are only allowed to carry your passport and wallet in a plastic bag. How I am going to survive on the 11-hour flight to Cape Town without reading material is beyond me. Hopefully by Tuesday the airport will be cleared up and they will have regained some of their senses but I have my doubts. Stay tuned for the next installment, hopefully from South Africa. Until then, peace to all.