je suis ici
Alora…il y a beaucoup des choses dans ma tête. J’ai visité Italie; je suis venu à Nice. And I am allowed to write in French should I so desire…it is, after all, the point of this venture, no? 
My week in Italy was constituted of/by (oh dear, the English is going) Florence, Rome and brief encounters with Pisa and Salerno. It turns out that what you have heard and told me is true…the Italians really are crazier drivers than the French, Italy is cheaper than France, gelato is amazing, I fell in love with Italy, and maybe a few Italians fell in love with me haha (I think I was only asked out by two waiters?). I soo desperately wished I could buy pasta and wine and cheese and olive oil to bring home with me…but that wasn’t really possible…so I bought some tartuffe (chocolate covered stuff) which was 25€/kg (but I only bought 3€30) and quite a bit remains…I prefer to enjoy these things for as long as possible. I made sure to try the pasta in Italy…really enjoyed the percorara (sp!), which is a specialty of Rome, and a Salerno specialty (I’ll google more thoroughly for the name some other time).
Il faisait très beau toujours quand j’était en Italie (sauf un jour à Florence quand il y avait la pluie). (en anglais: good weather; save a bit of rain in Florence).
This feels a very insufficient post about Italy, but I am coming to the opinion that much of my trip will not sink in until after I return. I didn’t really have an omg! I am in Italy moment…as I had in London and Paris. Europe is normal now (altough today I concluded that Ashley is right…it really is just a setting on the dryer) and not so exotic. Not to say I don’t appreciate or enjoy what I am seeing, but it’s just another part of this continent where I have been living and travelling and learning for the last few months. After I am home for a while, I imagine the quixotic vision I had will return. Also, meeting people and hearing random stories from their lives is fast becoming my favorite part of this adventure (thus the superfluity of the word ‘normal’).
Finalement, rest assured…the French really is getting into my head. When in Italy I seemed to be aware that it was a foreign country…people might not speak English (though many did..seemingly more than in France). Somehow this was translated into therefore I should speak French. Heather can attest to the fact that I repeatedly started to pose questions in French or replied to a question with ‘oui.’ Additionally, while Italy is amazing and one week is hardly enough to satisfy one for life, the whole moving around bit has gotten tiresome for me. I am excited for the prospect of returning home in a month, but I also found in myself an excitement at returning to France…where I could understand what people were saying! So while I don’t fully know where France stands in my estimation, I don’t think I’ll be able to escape it. After staying here for so long it has taken up a small residence and returning now contains some small element of a homecoming.
Even with the short term travel I’ve done (three weeks max), I think I get what you mean about the hairdryer. Part of visiting a place which was previously mysterious and therefore magical is the thought “hey, I’m still on earth over here. Real people live a normal sort of life here.” I kind of think that might be one of the requisite stages in the psychology of travel. First step: wonder. Second step: jet lag. Third step: homesickness. Fourth step: hairdryer mentality. Fifth step: affection. Okay, maybe the steps are incomplete or in the wrong order, but I think all of those play some role in getting to know a new place.
Kelly Vincent said this on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 23:38 pm