A Change In Pace.

There's something to be said about switching up the routine every now and again. I'm a strong believer in structure and routine. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm a planner. Oftentimes I've got a day so scheduled that I forget to leave time to eat...or sleep...or breathe... It's a problem. I'm working on it. And, there's really no better place to labor on this slight defect of my personality than in rural Italy.

For some reason, last week was a tough one for me. I'm not sure if was missing the Fourth of July festivities for the second year in a row, or the habitual routine that we've seemed to adopt as a family of five over here that was making me feel stuck, or if it was just the fact that I miss my people more than I thought I would. Something was striking a nerve. A very raw and exposed and vulnerable nerve that screamed for attention and love and cuddling and dancing with friends and going out in my city and laying out by my parents pool and eating tex-mex and taking a bubble bath with wine and going for a run at Memorial with friends and worshiping at Ecclesia... Are you starting to get the picture...? I had gotten so used to my routine at home that I was forgetting to embrace my new routine here. I felt isolated and a little lost here. My anxiety level was palpable. Last week I needed FaceTime and Skype and Facebook and Gmail more than I've ever needed it in my life... and boy did my people come through. I've gotten lots of love over the world wide web in the past week and I'm thankful for it. I've also gotten some valuable advice... Sometimes a girl just needs to be put in her place.

One of my closest friends emailed me yesterday to tell me, and I quote: "I'm so happy for you and if I were there I would slap the shit outta you for not just RELAXING and embracing this wonderful opportunity you have. Europeans are different than us, as you see. You should take this and learn to relax and disconnect from the stress here. I love their way of life and their love and appreciation for the real things that matter in it. Embrace it Colette." (I know he's serious when he spells my name correctly...) ::Blink:: ::Blink:: ::Clears throat:: Ahem, well of course you're right and I need to, clearly, suck it up and stop being such a whiney little brat...I mean I'm in ITALY for crying out loud and I'm getting to do something that not many people I know will ever have the opportunity to do, AND I only have three weeks left to soak up this culture and this beauty and this change of pace!! What am I doing! Snap out of it, Colette, you're missing the point! Everything that is important to you at home will STILL BE THERE three weeks from today. Why are you wasting your time on longing for things that are constant and true and time tested when you could be breathing in the things that are new and different and oh, so very fleeting!!

And so...yesterday...I started my morning with a change of pace to my usual routine here. Quite literally at first...I went for a run, through a vineyard (like I do every other morning here) but I raced myself! I changed my pace. Then, Silvia and I went to the Farmers Market in Conegliano (like we do every Wednesday morning) but then we walked to a cafe and had cappuccinos and brioche, and if that weren't enough of a change of pace, get a load of what happened next!! I bought, under my host moms coaxing encouragement, my VERY FIRST "European" bathing suit!!! Meaning, of course, that my entire, gloriously white hiney shows!! Of course...I bought a bottom that still matches the top with a bit more, shall we say, substance for when I return to The States... A change of pace does imply, after all, a TEMPORARY shift or variation in a normal routine or regular pattern of activity. (Thank you dictionary dot com...I'm so glad you get me...)

After all... I'm Italian for three more fabulous weeks, but I'm first and foremost, an American girl.

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba

Decisions, decisions...

This is our farmer.  He's honest and very hard working. 

Foot pic with the pomodori.  Routine.

Seriously!!  These peaches are still attached to the branch!

A delicious change of pace.

Check out these cups!!  Too cute.  I want one.

European version...please take note that the front of the bottoms is the same size as the back!!

See what I mean!!  This is the back!!  AHHHHHHHH!!  

American version.  Still skimpier than anything I've ever worn, but a little more tame.

I've also adopted a change of pace with Andrea's instruction.  The boy needs visual stimulation.  This is an ESL vocabulary game I found online for him where he gets to race a car against the computer by getting the words correct...boys...