7-23 The Aftermath

The kid that won't let me out of his sight!

So I’ve been asked a few times to write a “wrap up” blog for the Italy trip.  I’ve been avoiding this like crazy for so many reasons, but it’s finally hit me that it would be a good idea to finish this completely.  We’ll see what I can do with this, coming back has not been easy.

The flight home was not as bad as I had feared.  Scott drove us to the airport, then helped me get my luggage checked and over to security.  We said goodbye there, then I went to brave the airport security.  My shoes never left my feet.  Strange how lax they are, the only thing I got asked to fix was I left my iPad in my bag.  Once through security I had about an hour and a half wait for the plane.  I found a cute little airport cafe to grab my last cornetto and cafe.  Not as good as what I got in Viterbo, but it was filling.  The first leg of the trip was an hour long flight into Zurich, and not very eventful.  I had my window seat so I was plastered to that the entire time.  Although it was nice when they gave me another cornetto.  I like Swiss Air.

So the plane was a bit late getting to Zurich, so as soon as I could get off I walked very quickly to find my next terminal.  Not the easiest thing with all the people taking their time to get their luggage down!  I know, I’m being picky.  Found the gate, then walked “with purpose” to find that location.  I have to share my favorite part of the Zurich airport.  The trolly to the terminal.  I made it on there, and this nice gentleman scooted over so I could actually fit on there.  Once we took off, I realized there were all these animal sounds playing.  The birds were cute, the crickets, then there was this loud bear.  I burst out laughing at that one.  The gentleman who had moved over for me was laughing too, then told me they are just trying to sell all that Switzerland has to offer!  Turns out this guy is running his own airline which flies all around Europe.  He gave me a business card, not too sure what to do with it, but he was very nice!

Made it to my second flight just fine.  Turns out I didn’t have to walk so fast.  Oh well, that trolly guy made my day.  So originally for this next leg of my flight I had an aisle seat.  After the horror of that the first time, I had said no way and found the one and only remaining window seat when I had checked in the day before.  Best thing ever.  I got on the plane, walked past business class, and noticed they stopped at 23.  My seat was 24k.  Oh yea baby!  I was right behind the little dividing wall!  No seats leaning back on me!  And to top it off, the guy next to me was absolutely awesome.  Dan is a music teacher in Zurich, but he’s from San Francisco.  His parents used to work for an airline, so flying around the world is common for him.  He knew all about the free alcohol.  I didn’t indulge, but after he had had a few gin and tonics I couldn't’ stop laughing at our corny jokes.  I swear, he made that 12 hour flight manageable.  Dan then made sure I made it out of the airport as quick as possible, he took pity on me for having to drive back to Reno from Frisco.

As soon as I was out of the baggage check I was ambushed by a munchkin in brightly colored cloths.  Holding that little boy again was the whole reason I came home.  For the last five weeks I’ve basically been just another person with no kids.  There was an aspect to it that was nice, but nothing compares to having such a wonderful little boy.  I remember once walking through the streets of Viterbo seeing a little boy crying, and thought that I’d take Drew even like that, throwing a tantrum.  Since I’ve been back he’s been out of my sight for a grand 8 hours not including sleeping.  He’s my little velcro bug and I’m completely happy with that.  For the record, right now he’s sitting right next to me watching “The Lorax” on my iPad.  Now if only I could concentrate and not have to stop answering his questions every three seconds!!!  Missed him so much.

So there’s the highlight of coming home.  From there it’s been a bit of a battle.  We’ll start with the obvious, food.  Italy has very good food, and I don’t remember eating a single processed item the whole time I was there.  Lots of fresh cheeses, veggies, fruits, breads.  I never ate McDonalds, no deep fried anything, no canned stuff...  So you can imagine coming home to this kind of stuff was not what my tummy wanted.  For the past week and a half I’ve been making roasted veggies with olive oil and garlic, pasta with fresh tomato sauce, and eggs.  I was at a Wendy’s today and even just the smell was enough to make me not want to eat that food.  I don’t wonder why I didn’t see overweight people there.  

I greatly miss the walking.  Sure, I could go for a walk here.  I’ve gone with Drew a few times.  It’s just not the same.  No people watching here in the neighborhood.  No shops to look in, no beautiful buildings to see.  Here it seems like we are all so disconnected from each other.  Keeping to ourselves and never venturing out.  Even regarding the fruit and veggie shops, it seemed people were more aware of where their food came from, where as here we just care if it looks good and the price. 

It is nice to do the simple things again.  Driving, showering standing up, buying a mountain dew...  But they just don’t add up to how it was living over there.  Now I know life for many of those Italians is very similar to ours, but I still don’t think they are as secluded as us.  Life seems much more simpler, much more relaxed.  I come home and I’m bombarded with things I need to do.  School starts in two weeks, and I’ve hardly created my lessons, let alone my copies!  I realize I’ve signed up for all of my demands, but I now see that it’s quite fun to not be so overwhelmed all the time.  I need to start going out to just walk around, or window shop, or go to the park.  Coming back I was not prepared for that.  I’m having a hard time readjusting, and with work starting back up soon I know I need to get back on the ball.

So here is my “after Italy” agenda.  I’m going out more.  With kids, without kids, for an hour, for five hours...  This lack of socializing is not ok.  Next, I’m going to eat better.  All this junk food we eat isn’t ok.  I genuinely felt better there, and I don’t think it was just the atmosphere.  Now, I do wish I would have been able to give up soda while I was there, but that didn’t happen...  I’m totally wanting a coke right about now!  Next, I’m going back.  I was so scared to go in the first place, but it wasn’t scary.  I don’t even need to go with anyone, which after my two latests flakey friends I’m plenty happy with that.  Getting around Italy was so easy, the people there were so nice, I would just need to learn a bit more of the language and I would have a blast.  It is nice to share with someone though...  That, however is for another blog, huh???

Thank you for sharing this experience with me.  I enjoyed writing this blog more than I thought I would.  This whole trip has been life changing, and I couldn’t be more appreciative that it happened to me.  I’m always available to talk about Italy, about what it was like there, or to plan another adventure there.  Everything was just so amazing, even those little down times that only lead me to those incredibly great times.  Ok, this child won’t sit still.  He’s totally distracting me with his dancing...  I guess this is goodbye, for now.  :)