I love Italy.

I hope I'm getting this point across.
Is it sinking in?
Are we on the same page here?

I have discovered that I don't just love the Italy you see in the travel books. Naturally, I love the Duomo. The Christmas lights over the canals get me every time. And I could spend an eternity in La Scala. But some of my most treasured moments are just part the normal routine. I like my walk to school. I hear men unloading trucks and by the way the streetlights look you could fool me into thinking it's nighttime still. I see the same people walking about the same time everyday and as I approach the metro I almost always see the owner of a nearby cafe wipe down his tables. I smile when I hear raised voices in the street outside my window. I get such a kick out of all the conversations I can manage to have in one day.

Today, I took the bus home. My ipod had died, so I pulled out a book and it was just as we were rounding the corner of Teatro Dell'Arte (cesare picco in concerto) that I looked up and observed my surroundings. I think that street has more trees than anywhere else in Milan. It wasn't raining (shocker) but the streets were wet. In the seat across from me sat an eldery Italian woman with a shawl and her thinning hair pulled up tight. I looked around at the others, everyone seeming lost in their own thoughts. Outside the windows I could see people in fur coats, high heels, leather shoes, but also those with unshaven faces, empty cups for change, and mats of newspaper. Nobody spoke on the bus. We trundled on, closer to my stop. Cafes, Pizzerias, Tabbachi, Metro stations, and traffic. Shoe store after shoe store. I hear the ring of a requested stop. I saw people get off and tuck their umbrellas under their arms. People got on and settled themselves into seats, sometimes letting out a sigh and setting their bags on their lap. I got up, pressed the red button, and as I took the short walk back to the Politis, I felt a very clear feeling of happy. Some happy feelings are just big explosions, or warm sleepy feelings. This was a thoughtful happy.

I guess it's starting to become real to me now (finally, eh?). Not just that I'm living it Italy, but that I like it. That I can do it. That it isn't that impossible to leave everything you know for everything you don't. Because a person learns. And the truth is, it's not all new. Most of it, but the important stuff stays the same. I'm still a friendly person. I still love a challenge. My good karma still rescues me just as often. And it's true when they say that people are people wherever you go. I'm also no longer worried that I'm not going to fit everything in. At the beginning I had a little anxiety that I wouldn't get to go everywhere that I would like to. This sentiment feels as foreign to me as Milan did when I felt it. I'm sure that I'm coming back to live in Italy for another chunk of time. Sure. Synonyms: positive, secure, without a doubt, confident (sometimes accompanied with "I can feel it in my bones.") I mean, I probably won't be in Milan again. My class keeps telling me that I have to get to Rome. Do you know how many Caravaggio paintings Rome has???

{side note:
You really don't need to be able to understand every single word a person says. You can almost always decipher their emotion, their personality-whether they are sarcastic, interested, easy-going, a goody two shoes, a little creepy, a party-goer, diligent, understanding, unsocial, or if they have a heart of gold. You can makes friends, strengthen bonds, and learn so much about a person without an enormous vocabulary. **facial expressions and body language- and Italians are SO good at this** p.s. this does NOT translate into "you don't need to learn Italian" but more like "don't stress"}

The moral of the story is: The big flashy stuff is great. I will never think of the Castello as anything short of spectacular, and as a tourist don't miss these things! But if you live here for a good chunk of time, enjoy the simple things too. Get to know people. Look out the windows. Walk down the narrow side streets. Go where the locals go. BECOME A LOCAL.

I bought film today and I'm stoked stoked stoked. Now I'm just praying for sunshine.

xxoo
Grace