They say youth is wasted on the young. So too, it seems, is
experience wasted on those about to go home from Cagli.
Walking through the Wednesday market, I felt a complete
sense of ease. I stopped to buy a drink at my favorite tabacchi, shared a joke
with a local friend, and munched on fried squid and shrimp. The Italians have a
beautiful word: tranquillo. For me, it is a sense of home. The feeling was so
different from the anxiousness I felt when I first came here, trying to speak
to locals and fumbling with my words, handing over big bills so I wouldn’t have
to make change, hoping that smiling like a goon would cover my mistakes. Now, I
felt serene, peaceful – at home.
We leave tomorrow, of course. I don’t want to go. I heard
someone talk about how a student from a previous class broke a hip and had to
stay here for six weeks. Immediately, I wondered just how bad a broken hip
would hurt and how I could go about making that happen. My anxiousness from the
newness of first being here is now replaced with the anxiety of trying to
figure out how to come back to Cagli. I need to find an angle… hopefully one
that doesn’t involve breaking any bones. I have make a promise to myself to come to terms with leaving. I'll be back. I promise.
Oh, my gosh. I wasn't the only one who kept handing people larger bills so I didn't have to deal with all those pesky coins!?! I thought that was a uniquely me cultural dodge. So glad I had company!
ReplyDeleteJake and the lady at La Foccacia got smart to me pretty fast and forced me to learn the change system. Which is so similar to ours it is almost embarrassing to admit I struggled so much. It wasn't the counting the change so much as understanding when they told me how much I owed. Urg, the numbers killed me. And then we got back to Firenze and I was annoyed that people gave me the amount in English and not Italian because I was finally just getting the hang of it! Diva is just never happy! :)