A Bittersweet Departure

I’m back on the train, this time finally heading to Bologna, my soon to be home for the next 10 months or so. It feels a bit unreal. After months of anticipation, of daydreaming of living in Bologna the fat, Bologna the wise, it’s finally happening. The ride north and the quiet lull of the train, the familiar male voice over the PA system, has become so familiar in the last couple of weeks that I automatically feel relaxed and inspired. You could say the entire time I’ve been in Europe has felt unreal, but at the same time, I have never felt more at ease in another country so easily and so fast. In Austria, I never truly felt comfortable. Given that I know absolutely no German aside from what I learned from a very short and entertaining German lesson at TLC Tuscany, during my TEFL certification, it makes sense. Budapest was similar, although we tried really hard to try to figure out Hungarian pronunciation rules. We didn’t quite get it, which is simply just another excuse to go back, along with the fact that I kept some Forints (the Hungarian monetary units) for the future! Here in Italy, however, is as comfortable to me as Minneapolis; a place that I am beginning to know quite well, but that still holds thousands of undiscovered places and secrets.

The closer I get to Emilia-Romagna, and Bologna, the more excited and inspired I become; inspired to make the most out of this year abroad…to really get to know the people, the culture, and of course the language. I sadly haven’t had much practice, which says something after being here for almost two months. To give myself some credit, the first month was a TEFL course, i.e. intensive English. Then, I traveled out of Italy; therefore couldn’t practice my Italian. Ok, excuses over. Now, its time to hit the ground running…I am determined to speak as little English as possible from this day on…and this blog will hopefully will be the most I’ll write in English all year.
As we travel further and further towards Bologna, I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness. Leaving the farmhouse was truly a bittersweet departure. I left a place filled with amazing people and of complete relaxation for the real world. I’ll miss the animals, and the smell of the country, so sweet and so unique. I’ll even miss the “horse man,” the hilarious old Italian man who took a few of us horseback riding at his ranch…but not before scaring us to death on the drive there and later, show us how having ‘sexy hips’ (after a few dance moves) are good for riding horses!

The train is the perfect place to think; to dream and to remember. The past few weeks have been absolutely amazing, and insane, and beautiful…I hope to remember every part of it, the stressful moments where I stood confused in the train station looking for which platform I need to get to in less then 5 minutes, and the absolutely exhilarating moment when you make it to your destination with only a slight delay. Even the times where you get asked for directions in a city where other foreigners think you're a local, when of course you are not, but you don’t let that stop you, and give them perfect directions to the Duomo, or train station. I hope to take experience for what its worth-If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an experience, a memory of just one moment, the good and the bad, is worth a thousand pictures.