Monday, October 12, 2015

Finding Home

Buon Giorno!!  I am now back in Macerata in my dorm, my working week starts tomorrow because of testing going on this week.  It was so funny after a weekend away, coming back to this little town was a lot like coming home.  All the sights, people, and places are so familiar to me and it's actually very comforting.  Not to say a big city isn't fun for a while but this experience has really made me realize that a smaller atmosphere will always be home to me.  The fact that I have been able to make myself feel at home here has proven that I am much more adaptable and self-sufficient than I have ever given myself credit for.  I feel like I fit in here even though I don't speak the language and that is proof just how welcoming Italian people are.  They are bright lights of kindness and selflessness, which I hope to emulate for the rest of my life.  If there is one thing I've learned so far it's that things here are quite expensive, but that is because I have been eating out a lot.  The school feeds me for the most part but I don't even want to admit to myself how much money I have spent on food in Florence alone.  I however just took a trip to the local market where I picked up some snacks like trail mix, fruit, and some crackers and the trip in America would probably leave me with a 20-30 dollar bill.  Here, it came to under 5 euro!!  Wow, people can eat well here for very cheap.  I wish I had access to a fridge to keep healthier snacks but that's okay, I will work with what I am given.  I am very grateful for what I am given in fact :).  Today I went to the gym for the second time since signing up and man I am going to be sore tomorrow.  All the treadmills and really everything is based off the metric system so I have to figure out how to convert kilometers/hour into min/mile, and note to self I cannot do math while exercising.  Ha!  I ended up going starting out with 10.5 kilometers/hour and ended with 12.5 kilometers/hour and I calculated it out that I was averaging 8.5 minute miles which is actually pretty accurate to what I SHOULD be running.  Anyway, it's a beautiful day outside and after I run a few errands I might go for another run in the beautiful park right down the street.  Grube and my dad would love this park, it has a 450 meter track lining the outside and I think I might do some intervals. :) This weekend I am jetting off again on another adventure.  I am meeting up with a few other girls who are teaching in surrounding towns and we are all going to Venice!  I leave Friday and I have to do a little research on what I want to see and do while I'm there.  Again, every time I look around I see so much beauty and every time I think about and realize my heart and my mind growing here I get so happy and humbled.  My perspective on life is being molded into this worldly outlook, and the things that I find important are being put into perspective.  There is more than one way to view the world and seeing the world through an Italian lens has made me savor everything more, whether that be food, music, art, or even interactions with people.  It has humbled me in the fact that I have to try so hard to communicate and to understand others and them me.  It's like a light has turned on that I didn't even know was there, and that is the most incredible thing to happen since I've been here.

Fun Italy fact for the day!  Italians hate it when people don't wear shoes at really any time. I got scolded like a week ago because I wore my socks into the bathroom. Lol bad Linsey!!

"Everyday is a journey, and the journey itself is home." -Matsuo Basho

Ciao!

Linsey

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