Moving

Wow. Two weeks since my last post. Thank you Annie and Alfredo for sending me the charger for my camera and extra cables!

I have now been in Italy for three weeks. Where has the time gone?? Well, it’s been a busy few weeks here in beautiful Tuoro. I have officially moved from my very very very small room in the dancer’s house

into a small, but oh so cute apartment - on my own. (there is a song from Fame running through my head right now….) The apartment is just past Lenka’s house, down a deceptively low hill, beyond about four incredibly loud dogs.

I was a bit torn at first about moving into my own space. I am in a foreign country with very little Italian at my disposal (though it’s getting better daily), and I was thinking it would be better to be around people, even if it meant sleeping in a room where the walls were so close it felt like I was being hugged all night. But I am so used to being on my own. I like not talking all the time. I like not having to negotiate what kind of mood someone is in – not all the time anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I like people – I just happen to have really strong introvert AND extrovert tendencies…, and I like my privacy.

So I’ve been settling in. The dancers were gone for ten days performing – Lenka too, so I was really on my own, with the exception of Elisa in the office Mon-Wed mornings. I walked to the supermercato to buy my juice, prosciutto cotto, and Tabasco sauce. Everything else I can get in my local alimenteri/frutta e verdura shop. I love walking here. There are a lot of older people in the town and surrounding areas, and they all tend to stare at me with my American tennis shoes and backpack. But all I have to do is say, “Buon giorno!” and they are all smiles. This moment of facial transformation has become one of my favorites.

I have made my first real purchases here as well. I bought a knife,

which I AM bringing back with me. It’s crazy though – this American product domination – the knife is made in Italy, but packaged in the states, so all the writing is American, which does nothing for this American guilt I carry when I travel.

I also bought a train ticket (in Italian! - and I know the picture is reversed, but this was during the time I had no charge in my camera....) from my local tabacchi shop, and I had keys made. So it’s official - I live here, at least for this moment. I have keys. To my apartment, to the dancer’s house (for laundry and baths in the beautiful huge tub), and the theatre (for internet and rehearsals).