motorcycle crash! totally my fault.
FL and i were puttering around cormons yesterday, a beautiful saturday, with not much to do. wine and ham and the like. we were all dressed up cause we had just been to his friends wedding, a real italian affair, calling on all the saints and a big white gown and the-father-of-the-bride-possibly-has-back-up-in-that-car-with-the-tinted-windows kind of stuff. was lovely, and pictures of the family and the happy couple were taken while the guests sipped Tocai and ate fresh picked cherries. so anyway, afterward, we went to porchis (obviously). FL was all in a fancy summer-style david mayer suit jacket with a white collared shirt, levi's (the nice pair) and his customary snake skin boots. we walked in to porchis and everyone stopped dead looking at him. the owner, fabio, who is just the cutest, said, "pipo. sei. bellissimo." which means, of course, "you. are. gorgeous." FL was all blushy and dimply and i nodded my head vigorously in agreement. encouraged him to keep the jacket on all day. so we ate some ham and considered our options. i said that i wanted to go horseback riding, which he has never done. he asked if it was hard and i giggled. then i told him that if he was brave and learned to ride a horse, i'd be brave and learn to drive the motorcycle (obviously not at all on the same level). he enthusiastically agreed.
so we went to la subida and rode thier ponies for an hour or so; he did beautifully. he already had the boots. after that we drove to a big parking lot where there was hardly a thing for me to slam into. i got up front and he got on back, and explained all the different controls and showed me how to use them. i told him i was ready to begin. i stalled out. then...one mile an hour for 4.3 seconds...and slam, into the curb. managed to catapult us both onto the grass where, after a second of shocked silence, we both burst out laughing. i busted the headlight, have a mild black eye and major bruises and scrapes along the right side of my body. my first thought though, was about the david mayer jacket. it was completely fine, and so was he.
so now, never again. instead, ice and bandages, gelato bars and Batman movies. he's cute when he drives the motorcycle, so ill just leave it up to him. maybe a moped is more my speed. or a horse!

Part Two

so, yes, friday. The Day of Reckoning.
lets begin by assessing the characters in this drama.
*Me: cute. a tad hot-headed. mildly decent in italian when the situation suits me. um...fill in the blank.
*Mama: beautiful. graceful. poised. wise. given to random yet brief fits of histeria, followed by calm, in manner of squall. no bullshit. easy to laugh, easy to accept situations, easy to find obvious beauty (becuase it's always there). a lady.
*aunt gwynn: beautiful. skinny. intelligent. perfectly balanced between zen-like state and maddness. spiritual. in touch. the heart sings in her company.
*natalie: also, as sisters go, beautiful, skinny, and intelligent. auora of natural healer plus yoga-stretched mind. youthful. centered. funky.
*uncle jim: testosterone. lots. bouts of volcanic pouting. on the flip side, totally cool, unpretentious, adventurous, fun to talk to. when he's happy everyone can be happy.
*hitch: chill. limber, mentally and physically. comic relief. light hearted. peaceful, jovial, and gracious. cordially rambunctous.
*claudia: composed. dreamy. creative. relaxed. generally amused and adventurous. glamorous and fresh.
*skip: hm. to be fair, i think he's a bit too stick-in-the-mud, one-track-minded, dim, and "normal" for our crew. seemed generally appauled (as i was when i saw that t-shirt). boring. for someone who considers themselves so "one with nature", he seemed totally out of touch. snippy, snappy, rude, passive-aggressive control freak.

so. as you can imagine i woke up that friday morning a bit vile-headed, a bit in-need-of-some-fruit. mom called and we decided to rendezvous downtown for lunch, and then maybe a drive in to udine to see my school. reached the center of town where there was a market behind everyones hotel. was good, because i could buy some apples. was bad, because...SKIP (we can blame it comlpletely on him now, though it was a joint effort and just a one-of-those-things-type boo boo) had parked the cars in the lot where the market was being held. so, naturally, the cars were towed. when i arrived everyone was totally cool and calm i.e. uncle jim and hitch were napping and not present; claudia, aunt gwynn, and natalie had managed to meet some nice man who took them to the police station; and mom was still just sort of wondering what we should eat for lunch and whether i'd like a new pair of shoes. we ran into skip (who was already looking a bit peaked), and together we walked to the police station, where we found some nice lady writing tickets and aunt gwynn trying to "explain our situation". when i walked in, they were like, "oh, good! tell this lady the following things", which amounted to linguistically limber begging and pleading on my part of the sort that i am not necessarily capable of, even in english. stared at aunt gwynn blankly and said, "hm...". so, AG, being her marvelous self, said, "here, it's like this". she proceded to drop to her knees and beg the police lady to have mercy: we were foreigners, we didnt have 70 euro to pay for these tickets (ha...70.), it was an honest mistake, from the bottom of our loving hearts we are begging for leneancy. the lady was amused and kind, though unwavering. right as AG was about to pick herself off the floor, everyone in giggles by this point, skip snapped. "here, god," he said, shoving a 50 euro bill into our faces, "i can't watch this shit anymore". i turned to him and said, "hey. chill. we're fine.", to which he replied, "it's not your 35 euro!", to which aunt gwynn, like a mother bear, turned and said, "it's not yours either", or something, implying, look dude, we don't need you, go wait outside and give yourself a chill-the-fuck-out enema and don't snap at eleanor. skip threw his hands in the air and stormed out. we all regained composeur, paid our tickets, chatted nicely with the police lady, who suggested that we ask at the enoteca next door for how to get a taxi to the towing place, and left. in the mean time skip was running around red in the face and bitching and mom was like, "screw him, i don't want his 50 euro". the girls (it was down to us now, which we decided was best, really) went to the enoteca di cormons, the local fancy-pants wine shop that caters in local vini, pancetta, and "tourist" info. the lady was totally nice, and found us some nice old man who would drive us to the towing place, just as soon as he finished his wine. we all had a glass of spumante and relaxed.

the nice old man, whose name i can't remember, loaded me, aunt gwynn, and mom into the car. he didnt speak english, but explained to me throughout the 20min drive how the local land changes in elevation, thus creating completely different wine "zones". was educational. he dropped us at the towing place, and us girls walked in, confident that our cars would be released in a timely, civil fashion. we started out pleasantly enough. then were handed the bill, for the towing of our two cars: 550 euro. $800. collective shocked silence. "no way, absolutely not", was the first thing uttered, by me. we demanded to speak with the lady in charge (bulldog type scary woman in be-dazzled jeans), and had to wait around for her. in the mean time, aunt gwynn again attempted to have me memorize my "speech", in which i call on the four corners of the watch tower and ask for water, fire, earth, and sky to convene and either grant mercy or destroy the towing company. she had me repeat after her, but my italian just wasnt up to it. i was furious with the situation, as it was obvious that a) this number was pulled out of someones greedy butt and b) clearly, we were being taken advantage of. phone calls were made, pleading with police, breathing exercises. this is when i called FL, to ask him to please call the vineyard, withwhome we had a 4pm appointment, and tell them that we were gonna be a little late. my histeria caused him to be overly calm, thus making me think he was being cold, thus causing me to shut down completely. aunt gwynn and i held hands and prayed. the lady at the front desk eyed us as though we were aliens. when we finished praying, FL called back, positive that i had said that we had been in a ten car pileup or something. at that point, scary owner came in. we braced for the worst. and its what we got. despite pleading, arguing, and out right refusal (aunt gwynn insisted that we just take the cars. she said, "i mean, really, what would you do, if we just drove off?" the lady was not amused. made me feel better, though). it was decided that we'd just pay the damned tickets. as a consolation prize, the nicer of the two ladies gave aunt gwynn 5 fancy pens with the name and number of the towing company. in a way that possibly only ross and parker girls can manage, we were, in a way, totally happy with our 100euro pens. it sucked. but it was over. and the best part? we got to go straight to the winery and drink it all away.
the winery was great. all locally and family made, for generations. we were happy as clams and bought a case at the end, all the more in love with friuli, all the more forgetful of the crap towing incident.
that evening after dinner, mama was driving me back to my dorm. "is FL at porchis?" she asked, innocently. "yes", i replied naively. "well, then, we're going". i immediately freaked. not amusing. i did not feel like going to porchis, i did not feel like doing the meet-mom thing. i just wasnt up for it. and mom totally did not understand my position, even though i had been trying to explain it all week. we pulled in to porchis and i begrudgingly led her inside. we ordered some wine. i tried to play both sides for a second, and rudely left mom at the table while i went outside to say hi to FL. when i got back to the table, she was in tears, and she got up to leave. chased ehr otu to the car, where, despite my efforts to explain why i wasnt trying to be "rude", i just wasnt comfortable with...anything, she wasnt having any of it. "look," she said, "if you have some guy who's that good, who is that kind to you, who likes you that much, don't treat him like he's nothing, like 'he's not real'. he's very real, and he deserves to be treated like a reality!". i was considering this, when FL popped his head around the car door, his brow furrowed in that way he does when he sees a boo boo on my knee or that ive stumped my toe or that i have even the flightest frown on my face, concern and distaste. we all said hi, and mama left. he turned to me and asked, "what in the world did you do to your mother? where is she going? call her right now and see if she wants to have a drink with me and you and bentley". fine. called mom, and she graciously agreed to another try.
FL, his friend bentley, and i met mom and claudia at a little enoteca downtown. two of bentley's friends came, and that cute bunch of italian boys entertained us american girls over a few glasses of local wine and some snacks. it was marvelous really. mom is adorable and chatted with the boys, who were all gracious and kind and jovial to us, buying the wine and trying their best to make conversation. things got silly and we took pictures. when mama went off to be (roma in 8 hours!) FL turned to me and said, "well your mom is exactly like you said; she's just perfect!". and bentley was in love. the legend of La Mamina ("the mommy" in italian) is at large...
and skip, you ask? no, he didnt come to the towing place, he didnt go to the winery. homeboy dissapeared after the freak out at the police station. gone all day, no note. while we were sitting there being entertained by cute italians, claudia pointed across the rode, "there's skip! he just saw us and kept walking!". mom tended to him for all of 5 minutes before pronouncing his ass a loser. it was up in the air whether he's come with us to rome the next day.
so that was comrons, or a snippet anyway...
to be continued...

part 1

bah, ok, ok, i'll write.
would lie and say that i have just been way too busy with school and intensive farm labor to blog, but thats a lie and you'd know it. the truth is...well...

so, The Recap.
over all, i would say that the time that mama and the ross' + natalie spent in italy was A) smooth, in manner of sailing and B) totally wonderful.
i believe i left yall, dear readers, at the Evening of the Great Gewurztraminer, entitled thus because i had been saving that bottle of wine specially for that precious evening when I and those i love could sit around and share its magic. The day had been lovely; the ross' went to venice, skip went hiking wearing what i will describe only as the most mind-bogglingly obtuse shirt known to man (animal feces. various types of animal feces, sketches plus names. i am literally at a loss), and mama and i strutted around udine. That evening we all managed to convene in time for dinner at Giardinetto, a restaurant in cormons where one of italy's iron chefs works. you have to picture this though, the "convening". its as though each of us are larger than life in comparison to my tiny town, as though we are all 8ft tall (uncle jim and hitch, therefore, 10ft) and have wing spans like bald eagles and voices like catydids. it was almost as though, when i watched us all in the street outside of their hotel, i was looking through an inverted piece of glass. was strange, and i realised for the first time how adapted to the friulian culture i have kind of become. quiet, simple, keeping to myself, never making a scene. mom and i kept saying, just wait till rome; things will be normal in rome.
so, we all went to dinner. as the antipasti were served, i asked the waitress to open and chill the Gewurztraminer, and when it was time, it was ceremonious. each of us took a glass, and while swirling and smelling, i recounted the story of how this bottle was obtained (im going to do it again now, just to bragbragbrag): i told FL of my love for alto adige, he whisked me there for a romantic weekend minibreak, and, just when i thought we were set to leave, I saw the sign for the town of Tramin...he had found it, had made the trip specifically so that i could find my darling Gewurztraminer. the heart applauds a man like that, no?
so, we toast to FL, we toast to Italy, we toast to all of us being there, together, because really, who would have thought, and we drink. the consensus is, of course, well, this is a little slice of heaven, isnt it? so we eat various courses of the designer food, and plow through a nice bottle of spumante from Franciacorta (encore brava), and then mom made the practically fatal (to her) gaffe of pouring the rest of my Gewurztraminer into the ungreatful glass of skip. my response was instinctive, and swift. i took the glass, and insisted instead that we pass it around the table, each of us taking one last sip. was a bonding experience.
The next evening dinner was at that restuarant i had written about earlier, the one in gorizia that serves massive quantities of meat and pasta, where i almost died of overeating and love for FL. as i suspected, the response from our party was pretty much the same to mine: shock, and awe. when we got there, i took it upon myself to order for everyone, as this is a "family style" restaurant, where dishes are shared. we took three pastas, three meats, three vegis, copious amounts of beer and a little red wine. everyone ate till they were comotose, all the while noticing that the restaurant, full to the gills with italians, was full to the gills only with men. there were like 3 women in the whole place, instead only ravenous, beef-hungry boys talking jovially and eyeing the table of foreigners. was all v. cultural re: totally typical northern-italian slovenian-influenced food, and the voices filling the room were heavy friulian and slovenian. dinner was great fun, and rambunctous, hitch and jim and claudia and i washing down our beef with beer. however, i began to notice that skip looked rather miserable and pissed, and poor mom kept having to do that thing, the "do you like the pasta?" thing, to which he would respond with the "yeah. its ok." thing. annoying, so i just tried to ignore it. after dinner, we went up to pay at the front desk, and the bartender pulled out 4 bottles of liquor, grappa and lemoncello, and set out 8 glasses. "you work for me, now", he said, which was an invitation for us to help ourselves to the complimentary after dinner pick-me-up. love these people.
we all came back to cormons, and mama dropped H, C, and I off at my precious Porchis. FL was there, and greeted us with hugs and smiles and beers. we all hung out outside and drank and laughed, and FL told us about how the pool would be opened soon and we tried to talk hitch into just moving to cormons for the summer becuase its gonna be a good one. when porchis closed, FL told us that he'd drive us to the vineyard where we would be going for a wine tasting the next day, just to make sure we know where it is. we rode out through the country, and after finding the house, FL asked, "do you think theyd be opposed to riding to slovenia, for another beer?". i asked the kids, and , of course, they were enthralled at the idea. so we hopped the border. lots of conversation and spiritual assesment ensued at the little bar over the border, and the view back to italy was heartwarming. when we were on the way home, it was concluded that we were hungry. we had leftovers from dinner (lots), and it was decided that we'd have a picnic. FL brought us to his house, so he could grab some "supplies", and while he was busy H and C and I did a little exploring. theres an old (300 years or so) house right outside of FLs that has been abandoned for years and years. it is supposedly haunted, by whom i dont know, but the people of cormons are too supersticious to do anything about it. plus, supposedly again, its about to collapse. so the gorgeous place just sits, empty. claudia, hitch, and i, of course, climbed in through the window and went to work. the house is incredible: stone walls and fabric wall paper, carved and painted molding and stained glass doorways. its 3 stories tall and just spectacular. there were cobwebs that looked like the nets used to trap lobsters and, if there is a ghost, he seems to be a very friendly one. the house felt great, and claudia was convinced that we should buy it, fix it up, have ourselves a little "under the friulian sun" mansion. FL came and found us and was visibly nervous, so we hopped back out the window and went on our way.
FL drove us to a castle a little outside of town. it sits on the crest of a mountain, and from its stone wall the view is spectacular. as far as im concerned, from that point, you can see all of italy. we set up the picnic. we had the left over steak and pork, and FL had brought homemade wine, cheese, salami, bread, a cutting board and a knife (too cute). we all ate like we were starving, everything was so good, and we passed the wine bottle around and made toasts and reflected on how incredible life was. it was just a perfect night, really, just, in friulano, spetacul.
dropped hitch and claudia off at their hotel, and they were so gracious and amazing to FL, giving him hugs and thanking him and telling him how wonderful he was, how fantastic the night had been. FL, of course, shrugged it off with a smile as normale, no?
so. friday. day of reckoning. will recount this when i get out of class...
to be continued

allora...

so then, eccoci qua. roma! thought poor, angelic mama was going to spontaneously combust saturday evening as we glided into the city in our tiny rented car. we managed to come in on the very northern end, in vicina da villa borghese e san pietro. as soon as we hit the river, i was euphoric. i was hopping up and down in my seat and hanging out the car window pointing out sights to hitch, who was in the car behind us, and shouting, "turn left! look there! we're here! take your next right! oh my god!" while mom shouted, "my next right!!? turn right?!!" and then turning left. she did beautifully, really, and as far as im concerned we are all just geniuses for getting into the city of rome via car. definitely an experience. best way to think of it, obviously.
so god, this trip has been insane. sure yall figured that. when i get back to cormons and have a second to collect my thoughts ill write it all down, from day one. as of right this moment, uncle jim, mom, hitch, and i have taken refuge from the FUCKING HOT roman sun in our fancy apartment. moms napping. i am having a beer and writing. uncle jim is lounging in a towel reading the paper (actually i think he just fell asleep). hitch is doing yoga and collective breathing exercises. gwynn and natalie are out at the roman forum being bedazzled by its splendor. claudia has hit the road, and is somewhere over the atlantic right now. and skip had ceased to exist. stories to follow.
i, personally, have had an ideal day so far. got this fantastic idea yesterday to make a photo documentary of all the good looking men in rome (i mean, its like im a kid in a candy shop here). i have that great camera of moms, so today i went about finding the best looking men i saw, asking them very sweetly if i could take their picture, and capturing forever on analog film the glory of this eternal city. im gonna make a coffee table book out of it and be the envy of every woman everywhere. genius. ladies, await.
we're cooking in tonight. i requested roasted chicken. fresh veggis from the market, pasta salad, bread, fruit, wine from the vineyard we visited in cormons. the trip to cormons was actually great for everyone, and i just want to brag a little bit about FL, if i may.
so. FL, right, the Friulian Lover, this man who i was hoping would stay a mystery, this weird slice of my life that i couldnt put into words exactly so i summed it up in initials, lets keep this short and sweet, you know, arms length and all that...well the second night that we're all in cormons, hitch and claudia and i went out for some drinks, and they met FL. immediately they are just like...raving about him. telling me, ele, hes amazing, hes so great, i love him, hes beautiful, hes soooooo nice! so im like...hm. yes, i agree. really, you think so? hitch has a conversation with him in italian and is totally blown away by how patient and incredibly perceptive and encouraging he is, how easy to talk to (obviouslly thats the whole point). claudia is laughing non stop at his little jokes and going on and on about how kind he is, how good he is. hitch nods appreciatively and says, you know, hes a good looking guy, too! hm. did the head tilt, as though im seeing this guy kind of for the first time. realize how right they are. the next night we all go out with him again and this night is just...indescribable. ill write it all in my recap. ill say now only that hitch and claudia came back to the hotel in the wee hours of the morning, woke their parents up, and told them how perfect, perfect, perfect everything was. life in general. and the thanks goes out to FL. and then...mom met him. when he went inside to get us drinks, and she looked at me and said, "he's hot!". at this point i just smiled and said, "i know".
so yeah, i dont know. weird. but lovely. am a very lucky girl. and the kicker? friday morning i thought he was mad at me (i had been a total bitch earlier, was grumpy and snappy and short with him) and when we were on the phone later he was short and distant. and i freaked. seriously, i about started to cry. i felt awful, i wanted to grovel and apologiize and beg forgivenes. mom looked at me with my teary eyes and stated to laugh. "ill remind you of this next time you try to act like you dont care about him". aunt gwynn took my hands and we prayed. and then he called back. turns out he was fine, he just thought i had said i was in a car wreck (loooooooong story), so when i kept saying, "are you ok" he was like, what the hell do you care about me, are you ok??!! sweet boy. so...well see how this ends up. i leave cormons in july. im trying not to think about it.
oh, btw, i think i have bronchitis.
anyway, all for now, got my bragging in. ill write soon!
love, e

so my mama is here! huzzah! a bit chaotic with so many people, actually, was a tad stressful at first. never realised how extremely LOUD we are. kept having to tell them, "please, inside voices!". i heard them all before i saw them.
my influenza is a bit better, and i am relaxing after a lovely lunch in downtown udine with mama. tonight we go to the best restaurant in cormons and drink the GEWURZTRAMINER and tomorrow we go to san daniele!
more later
e

oh and yeah, no, coke lite is not the same thing as diet coke. coke lite is the european version of my favorite slice of heaven and its bullshit. but sometimes i just have to suck it up.
god had really an amazing weekend, and yesterday too. left class early again yesterday, not out of fear this time, but because it was so f-ing stupid i figured my time would be better spent watching aerosmith videos on youtube. our professor had us "brainstorm", that thing we use to do in MILE, you know, the teacher says a word and gives us 2 minutes to write a flow of thought. ok, easy, brain exercise maybe, start with "bread" end up with "construction site", that sort of thing. but like, the entire days activities consisted of this, for like, 2 hours, word after word. and the italians just did not get it at all. they were totally perplexed, asking questions like, "but why? why?", to which, of course, there is no answer. they wanted to know the "logic", and if the words were suppose to like, relate to the bread itself, or how to make bread, or how to grow wheat or...? they were completely up in arms, and i laughed histerically watching the professor trying to explain, i was practically in tears. was idiotic. then he had us sit in a circle and pass a pen, one person starting off with a word, and the rest of us saying a word that pops into our head. was a fine vocabulary exercise for me, and i tossed in the italian words for "blood", "destruction", "cist", and "palpitation" just to mix things up, and whenever i did the kid next to me would go all wide eyed with confusion and like, seriously try to find something relevant to that. finally i was like, ok, kids, i feel mentally limber, i'm gonna head out, leaving them to muddled, confounded frustration. went upstairs and right as i was considering going back to bed, my phone rang. was my adorable friend goldian, the italian-slovenian boy i stayed with in ljunbyjana. he said that he, too, was bored, and was considering coming into italy for the day. would i like to meet him in trieste? why, of course! hopped a train and an hour later i met goldian for a walk through that sunny city by the sea. was wonderful. he spent some of his childhood living there so he knew some good sites, and we watched the sailboats and went to a castle. when the sun started setting i headed for home, and called FL enroute. he offered to pick me up at the train station, and when i got there he was waiting with a fresh picked rose from his garden, all shy smiles and ripply muscly tummy under his shirt. knees went weak, and we went to have dinner. were suppose to have just paninis or something light, as last night we ate a freaking FEAST (literally, this restaurant was so insane, when they brought our food it was SO HUGE that all i could do was curse fluently in english and ask repeatedly, how in the hell do i eat this?!, much to his amusement. was. magnificent. and lord, the boy can eat, he cleaned our plates, and as i settled into my food coma my eyes glazed over with admiration and devotion for a man who took his food this seriously and there was, yes, just the slightest bit, just the tiniest hint...of...love...). but, you know how i do. we went driving out in the country trying to find a suitable restaurant, and i saw some twinkly lights and a sign labeled "il gatto negro", and the "just paninis" thing turned into a three course meal, seafood antipasti, maiale, pizza, beer, sorbetto. thought i was going to die, and not just from massive quanities of deliciousness. for the past several days, and im pretty sure the past weeks now that i think about it, i have been getting progressively sicker. first i was just tired, then i started getting little head aches, and by dinner last night i was kind of faint, slightly feverish, and my throat was almost swollen shut (beer helped. refuse to be outdone. throat or no throat, pizza happens). as i said, i went to the pharmacy today, so i should be ok.
anyway, lost my train of thought, and i have to go, actually, finally.
ok, mama comes soon, ill keep yall updated!!!!
e

super annoying. agreed to go on yet another cross-italia field trip with my horticulture class, this one to the botanical gardens in padova. while this as an idea sounds lovely, my professor insists that we go on a field trip a week, generally to green houses and other extrmeely boring places in cities way far away, and they end up taking forever and boring me to tears. told her initially that, unfortunately, wouldnt be able to make this trip, as i would be missing another class, and MAMA and the rest of the gang are scheduled to arrive today, and i want to be around to meet them. my professor sounded so disapointed when i told her this, that i relented and told her that i'd come. arrived this morning to rizzi at 8:25am. this meant that, despite the fact that i have an influenze that has forbidden sleep and found me rolling around in bed this morning with a slight fever and my throat swollen shut, i got up at 6:30am to run my ass to udine. we were suppose to leave at 8:30, and when i arrived, they had gone without me. turned around to come back to cormons, and found that there wasnt a train for 3 hours. so now...killing time.
but is ok cause mama, aunt gwynn, natalie, uncle jim, skip, hitch, and claudia are coming this evening! am so excited.
also, went to the pharmacy for the first time ever and successfully bought drugs! am v. proud of myself.
ok, am too ill to write, love

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MAMA! happy mothers day mimi! aunt kathi! aunt keli! aunt harri! nana! etc! etc! all of you, everyone, are all i could ask for in the world as far as love, support, family, and blind faith go. thank you all for everything! i love you!!!

glad i came online, actually. they dont have mothers day here in italy and i almost forgot about it, in manner of when i forgot about parkers birthday. except yall are older and wiser and the "it's a special type of year here so we're a day behind" thing might not have worked. anyway, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY once again. i hope you all had a great one and got spoiled beyond words, because you all deserve it!

the thing is, despite the fact that i am not a mother, i was totally spoiled beyond belief today, too. FL picked me up at 10am and we drove out to lignano, a pretty little beach town about an hour from me. layed in the sand, swam in the ocean, got way too much sun and watched the italians do their thing. drank coke lights on the pier and saw some sail boats...
on the way home he, randomly, took me to the zoo, which was surprisingly awesome. i saw a TIGER! its head was huge! we stopped for a glass of spumante on the way home, and went to gorizia for an absurdly large and amazing dinner (mama, we are going to this restaurant!). ill write all about everything tomorrow. we're off to porchis for a bit, then home to watch some james bond...

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

well i mean nothing happened after that, that was the gist of it. more of the same and therefore nothing. he left the room to go get peetry dishes (sp?) or something and i thought i would burst into tears. also told some terrible lie about another american girl who is coming to work in the lab, and my immediate response was insane jealousy, as i had a horrible flash of her being cuter, smarter, and speaking fluent italian, rendering me a complete idiot. "are you jealous?", he asked, with an evil grin, and the look on my face must have been so terrible, becuase he immediately said, "don't worried, shes married. and 30." i just dont even know anymore. have to stop sitting around listening to sad vince gill songs. time to recharge with...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmxSL6H2QEg
so yesterday was wonderful. managed, unfortunately, to sleep through my 9am train ride, so class was void for the day. slept soundly until 11, when i dragged myself outside to continue to sleep in the bright may sunshine. at about noon i took a walk downtown for no specific purpose, just prancing about in my sundress smelling roses and smiling at the citizens of cormons. ate a huge lunch at a tiny cafe downtown, all local ham and cheese and fresh vegetables and bread, and read 'to kill a mockingbird'. spent the afternoon taking photos with mamas camera and learning my new vocabulary. the white fluffy flowers continued to fall, making it look like snow was pouring down over sunny cormons, and when the wind blew it would get so thick i could open my arms wide and spin about and find tiny flowers in my hair. met FL and some of his friends at porchis later in the evening and laughed alot and ate more ham with those jovial, adorable italians.
so all is well, better than well. going to the beach today with FL, and supposedly tomorrow my friend from slovenia is going to come visit. monday will be monday and tuesday is MAMA!!!

wonderful yet heartbreaking day. spent the first two hours of morning lesson looking through the microscope at pieces of sauvignon flowers and vine, pretending to concentrate on the cells and eggs, but really being dazzled by the pretty colors and the tiny baby bugs crawling about. looked up at one point to find Swooooon staring at me with a blank expression on his face. My breath caught and i sputtered out, "the leaves are furry! and there's little animals! its so pretty!" brava.
hmph. is all too sad, actually, cant even write anything anymore. will forget. it. all.
so whatever. its an absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous day here. theres some sort of glistening white fluff that has been floating through the air all day, all over the place, as if all the angels in heaven picked up dandilions and blew on them at once. i have no idea what it all is, but its lovely! think i'll call the 'ol FL and go to porchis to enjoy the sunshine.
love, ele

"this is the day that the lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

bah. am killing time between my viticulture class and my appointment in the lab with simooooone. his name gets lots of 'o's now because thats how its best pronounced, similar to swoooooon. anyineedtostopthinkingaboutthisdudeandtakeupahobbyhoo.
my weekend...was...stellar. absolutely the God's honest proof that terroir is real, in theory and practice, and is a gift from nature so that we can wake up and smell the rose petals.
as i said, when i smelled and tasted that wine, the Gewurztraminer, from Alto Adige at Vinitaly, i was practically metaphysically transported to the most pristine, beautiful, chilly, clean place in all of italy. i knew i would love it, it tasted like warm sunshine on a cool day, the kind that makes you turn into a cat trying to find the warmest spot, never completely lifting yourself up, just crawling drowsily through the lightrays. pierpaolo, my FL, is a gift from on high for what he did for me this weekend. lets hear it for the boy, lets give the boy a hand, for reals.
picked me up at 8am saturday morning. was a little bit headachy from the previous night (wherein my friend Francesco and i rode to a town called casarsa- "in fondo del friuli!"- for what Swooooon claimed was a wine festival, only to find out that it was nothing of the sort. exerpt from text message that i sent to Swoooon friday night: "what the hell kind of festival is this. theres like solar panels and rocks and airconditioning units for sale. but no wine. am confused. arrive subido and explain." after that it just went completely downhill, thank you cosmopolitans), though i found that a mtorcycle ride through the dolomites is, officially, aside from a bacon and camembert sandwich and yellow gatorade, the best cure for a hangover. we drove so fast! my ponytail holder jumped ship, leaving my hair flying out in all directions, wild red tangles. it was so sunny and warm, and the snow on the mountains got whiter and whiter, nearly blinding. we went through the mountains, saw shimmering azule lakes and pine trees in about 400 different shades of green and tiny mountain villages where old people with apple cheeks sat in rocking chairs and waved at us as we barreled through. once we hit the top of the dolomites, it was snowy and cold, and we were so high up that people were literally flying by us on skis! never once did i seriously fear for my life, as i felt under the complete and competent control of a master motorcycle driver. i thought of aunt sally, and figured that she would be very, very proud of me. the drive was absolutely one of the most beautiful things that i have ever done in my life. it took about 4 hours, through the incredible northern italian landscape, and i rode on the back and thought about all sorts of things. i think thoughts of every person that i have ever loved went through my head, and i said thanks to God for all of them, every one of yall. i wished yall could have been with me, it was all so free and fantastic.
we stopped for lunch in the city of Bolzano, an absolutely picturesque little city surrounded by towering green mountains. we dined on local cheese and hams, and i found, right front and center on the wine menu, the Gewurztraminer that i love, from a winery called Tramin. it tasted just the same, perfectly in place. the hotel where we stayed was super nice, with 3 pools, one on the roof top where i managed my tan. after resting for a bit by the pool, and then lounging about the room watching Nadal KICK ASS in the italy international tennis tournament, we pulled ourselves up for dinner. FL took me to a small town in the mountains, where we walked about and tried some wine at a local winery. we ate dinner in this very nice restaurant, the menu all in german, overlooking the lake. around 9pm we were both exhausted, so we called it an early night and came back to the hotel, completely stuffed on grilled meats and fresh water fish. after a quick jaunt to the pool (sauna, jacuzi, etc), we fell asleep. i slept so hard i didnt know where i was when i woke up, but i felt great. all i asked of the next day (all i had to request, he did the rest) was that i get one hour by the pool on the roof, from which point one could see for miles in all directions, over the lush mountains, to the snowy dolomites, tiny lakes dotting here and there in the distance, castles chisled out of rocky cliffs, villages with microscopic sheep grazing throughout the hills. he complied rather graciously. after that we were off. i thought we were headed home, but soon found that we were going up a steep mountain. when we arrived at the destination i started- then hugged him around the neck and squealed. it was the town of Tramin, the namesake of my favorite winery, where they make the gewurztraminer (and the perfect, perfect sauvignon!). i had had no idea it was an actual place. i skipped about the town and tasted and tasted and found some bottles to bring home. they are my pride and joy now (simone and the boys at my dorm are very jealous), and ill open them when my mother is here, over some cheese and prosciutto (hurry up, mama!). the ride home was wonderful, and we took a different route through Trento, another glorious mountain region. when we reached cormons the sky opened up to rain; thick, huge rain drops pelted us, and we laughed and got soaking wet on the motorcycle. went to Porchis to dry off, the local wine bar\ prosciutteria that has become like my local Back Porch. copious amounts of ham were eaten, a glass of wine, and we both slept like angels again that night, safe and dry in our lovely cormons.

ooh, goody, just back from the lab. Swooooon told me that tomorrow he's going to be teaching my viticulture class, and that we get to go to the lab to do experiments on plants or something. wonderful.

so tonight FL and i will go back to Grado, the town on the sea, to eat some local fish. i told him i'd buy dinner this time. he deserves that and a hell of alot more.
everything is going perfectly well these days. i feel happier and more content and calm here in italy, in comrons and at school, than i ever had been. i think that week at home was just the ticket. thanks for that, yall.

love, e

a few more alto adige pics:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=47935047&l=dc34e12e7a&id=4913936

hm, yeah. just spent the first two hours of class going around and being inteviewed for fake jobs on farms, and giving interviews to other students. was all in italian, of course, and i must say that i did very well, held my own for sure, gave some intelligent and intriguing answers and asked rather probing questions. however, now the professor (one of those poor saps who can't get any feedback on his own accord so he does the dreaded calling-on-people-who-don't-want-to-talk-and-infact-have-their-head-down-for-just-that-reason thing) and is making us go around the room and reiterate to the whole class why so-and-so makes a god candidate for "the position" and i am just not into that. speaking in small groups is one thing, a rather large leap from when i couldnt even speak to one person for anything other than asking for a coffee. but i am not about to speak in front of the whole class. not yet. i am drawing the line. so i split and came to the computer lab. i got up, and my friend thomas, who totally knows whats up, said, "go, go, i'll cover for you". love the boys.
came to class today and my friend gabriele said, "did you go to the beach this weekend?" and i said, "nooo, i went to alto adige!". he replied, "only an american could get a sun tan in alto adige". so true. ill write about that asap. one of the most amazing experiences fo my entire life. pierpaolo...mmmm...