Life in Italia

Last week my cousin Martine arrived in Paris from DC to spend a week in Europe with me. It was her first time in Italy and we were doing 4 cities in 7 days.

Thank GOD for her because I don’t know how I would have managed the move to Italy with all of my heavy suitcases (thankfully the guy at the Easyjet counter didn’t charge us for the overweight bags… sometimes flirting pays off!). We spent my final day in Paris hanging out around B’s neighborhood, Les Batignolles. On the weekends the streets are packed with people shopping at the outdoor market, reconnecting with friends and neighbors and playing with their kids. We got cotton candy in the park, had a couple beers and watched a random stage performance by some pseudo reggae band. That night we went to a party in Oberkampf before heading to B’s friend’s place to spend the night—he lives 10 mintues from Orly airport and offered (or I begged him, rather) to drive us to our 7am flight the next morning.

It’s always so hard for me to leave Paris. It has become my city: I understand how things work, I get the sourly Parisian people, I know where I’m going, I’m comfortable there. Paris is a part of me. But at the same time, I was really excited for the move to Italy. And I remember when I first arrived in Paris in 2007 I felt the same uncertainty and fear so I know that it will pass in time and that things will get easier here (sorry, getting a bit ahead of myself).

We flew into Pisa Sunday morning and took the Terravision bus to Florence where I managed to find this tiny little crap hotel near the train station. For 38 Euros/night, it was actually worth it—two people could barely stay in a hostel for that price, let alone have a private room. Florence of course was amazing, its such a beautiful city. We spent two days wandering around the little streets (finally exploring the “other” side of the Arno, much cuter than the touristy side in my opinion), eating a ridiculous amount of gelato and pasta and just lazing about watching the views.


My friend Shelby lived in Florence for about a year and spoke about the medieval town of Siena a couple times so we decided to go there for the day. Its well worth the 1 hour trip if you’re ever in Florence. We had lunch at a cute little place with just 3 picnic tables perched on the side of a hill (at one point I nearly fell off my chair and rolled down the hill) and a menu written by hand on a couple sheets of construction paper… we shared our table with a really interesting Israeli couple traveling through Italy on their honeymoon. For about 10 Euros each we had .50 liter of (delicious) house wine, an appetizer and pasta dish… I love Italy.

On Tuesday we took the train to Rome. Martine was there for just 4 more days so we did another whirlwind tour of all the famous sites. Rome is incredible no matter what your beliefs but I think as a Christian (or specifically, a Catholic in Martine’s case), it holds a special significance. Everywhere you look is thousands of years of spritiual and biblical history, its very powerful. We went to the church just outside the Walls to stand at the foot of the Holy Stairs (the stairs Christ walked on during His trial in Jerusalem when he was condemned to die) and I just spoke to Him, asking for guidance and help and strength. I don’t know what I’m doing in Rome, why I was called here, but I know this is where I'm meant to be for a while. Its difficult, this period of uncertainty, so I'm asking for patience as well. I hope to make the most of it for as long as I'm able to stay here.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen. (Reinhold Niebuhr)