9 posts tagged “italy”

i hadn't heard from him in almost 24 hours by the time that i finally called him.  i had received an email earlier stating that he was on his last train ride to bologna to present his thesis to the committee and hopefully finish his degree once and for all.  like me, it had been a rather grueling and lengthy expansion of time to the finish.  but the turtle does win the race.

when i finally did get him on the phone he was engulfed in a cacophony of sounds, glasses clinking and voices competing for an ever higher pitched laughter. 

"i'm done," he said.  "i finished first in my class and now i'm here with my parents, aunt and sister getting drunk."

fair enough.  well deserved and i wanted to be there in order to celebrate the night away with him.  here are the pictures i took as he was reveling in his success.  god, i love that man.

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Taken by Niamh

i woke up very early yesterday because the initial thought was that i would be the first one on, first one off at work.  that is how it usually happens at our job and thoughts of heading back into a tide pool of soft, down comforters for an early afternoon nap were already sufficiently propelling me to crawl out of the above-mentioned sack of feathers and whiteness. 

of course, the proposed plan of events only occurs under slower restaurant conditions.  yesterday being the first official day of the legalization of gay marriage in california made it a day that not only kept me busy all day long but wakened any tiredness i felt with a reassured sense of hope and positivity in this sometimes less-than-optimistic gay rights issue that of late has been in the forefront of my priorities and waking moments.

it started with a couple of women who sat quietly in my section, full of grins and laughter.  with two roses and lots of paperwork, they volunteered their plans for the day: to the tailor to pick up the dresses and then to the courthouse for the ceremony and license.  they have been together for 16 years, have four children and are now adding diamonds to their ring collection.

after speaking with them for a few moments, i turned towards the door to find two large parties with particular men clad head-to-toe with typical wedding fare: the matching suits and ties, lapels budding roses.  my initial thought was that these guys were simply the groomsmen for an even larger wedding celebration.  but having just talked to the two women in my section, i knew that this entourage of vow-takers was not going to end any time soon.

after work concluded for the day, i had plans to go to jennifer's house to watch game six.  amidst endless shots made by the celtics to the demise of their opponents, we began to brew the initial lists and plans for the shotgun wedding that i will call my own, this august 11, 2008.  i wrote down guest lists and flower ideas, from cakes to cars.  all of this within a relative budget.  both boBo and i want to have a simple affair with a very intimate crowd of close friends and family.  but that being said, things must be organized and since he is still tirelessly finishing his thesis, i have volunteered (?) for the position.  with the help of my newly appointed wedding coordinator: jennifer mitchell.

first thing's first: the venue.  we both want it on the beach.  which one, however, remains to be debated and decided by us.  friday is our first option and jennifer, louis and i are heading out to the locations where boBo and i have briefly discussed via phone and email conversations.

received a phone call from jen today.  after calling parks and recreation, apparently there are only four locations in san diego that permit beach weddings.  well, at least that liberates us somewhat from yet another large decision.  the guest list is hard enough.

it has been a week and a day since i landed in these united states and to be cliche, i have hit the ground running.  apart from one day reprieve spent immediately sunning it up at ocean beach with tak and niamh, i have been working everyday (willingly) at the hash house.

it is set into motion now, these plans of ours that we have been discussing for months and months on end, and to begin to realize them is almost surreal.  

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boBo has already moved out of our place and is finishing up his position with his job.  soon he'll be working non-stop to finish his degree.

and i have found myself back into a somewhat familiar setting and at the same time oddly different.  buildings removed and taller, quasi-shiek replacements take up the same soil and cloud up the sky.  people that i have known have either passed through or passed away.  fashionable eateries of last season have been replaced with the latest trend in what is thought to be at the centre of everyone's palate.

i'm the first one to understand that nothing remains the same.  that is apparent with every movement i take forward on the perfectly aligned and evenly paved walkways that i am trekking on.  but i refuse to look at this as anything but positive, even when there are tears and a deep sense of loss felt in my gut with this awareness.

all of this is worth the end result.  and in the meantime, trying to enjoy every moment.  it's the biggest challenge yet conversely the easiest thing to do.  still ironing out the wrinkles on this part of the game.  more on that later.

i thought about the seasons today as i recall the invitation from ben and gary to see Juno with them last night.  how events and periods of the film are split into seasons.  it was only the other day when the heavy winds and strong rays of sun were drenching our vacationed bodies in ventotene.  then the coldness of the winter and being separated from boBo in parma and san diego.  followed now by a spring that has been schizophrenic yet blossoming into another eagerly anticipated warm spell.

and with this pleasantness around me, it is time for me to bid adieu.  not that i necessarily want to leave boBo, but larger plans are in store for us now and it only seems how the natural movement of events should proceed.  the apartment, as pleasant as it has been, will no longer be ours as of the 15th.  my position, again despite being a terrific experience, is gone for the time being.  but most importantly, i need to give boBo some time alone in order for him to complete his thesis.  something that i believe he will accomplish with much more exactitude once i am out from under his feet, so to speak.

i'm not going to wonder about the future and all the expectations that are in store for both of us together as well as apart.  i can only focus on the next word that i am deliberating to type on this text.  for now, that is all i can do.

after a lot of talk and contemplation, boBo and i have decided to get married.  or form a civil union, depending on where you happen to find yourself.  we began to deliberate on the idea over a year ago but it was not until budapest when we began to give it serious contemplation.  the deal is this: i cannot continue to be in the situation i am in right now: not exactly legal.  i have been for some parts, but for others: no.  many hopes have been placed on the chance to obtain a work visa of some sort...but to no successful avail.  but then again, i don't want to leave boBo.

boBo, on the other hand, would be the same as me if we were to go back to the united states on some relatively permanent situation.  and since neither country widely accepts gay unions then we have decided to seek other measures in order to be together without looking behind our backs or under the tables, so to speak.

all this to say that soon - although the dates are uncertain at this time - we are going to make an attempt at moving to london and form a civil union together.

it's strange.  the thought of leaving italy.  it's like i just arrived.  which i did in some respects.  but it will always be here.  but so will everything else.

i did not want to crawl from the bed because usually when i have a bout with restless sleep, the minutes seem to not exist but micro-milliseconds replace them.  that's when i hear every drop, tick, crack, breath of the overheating computer trying to download the last gig of the birds for my viewing pleasure.

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when i finally built up enough determination to look at my phone, the time was half past five.  not too bad.  if i were still in san diego or even bologna, i'd be up anyway.  still, i waited.  when the eyes did not surrender to the droop and the thoughts continued to explode and compound like the way my school loan interest is continually doing as we sit here reading this lovely blog and picture extravaganza, i awoke and began to write the list of the day.  the way some, maybe most, maybe not that many actually, start their morning.  to get something accomplished.  or to at least feel like something is being accomplished.  whatever that means.

and i quote:

i've been back from the states, or more luxuriously, not on a holiday, since the beginning of the year.  the past two months have entailed a lot of newness for me: opportunities to instruct and probably more profoundly, to learn.  to learn how to teach more effectively and to understand where my weaknesses are and where they...well, are not.

che ti ne frega

last night saw the last vestiges of the first in a series of eight-week intensive courses that i am teaching at The New Renaissance Florence Film School with the showing of the student's film EVEolution. 

today i did what i haven't been able to do in quite a extensive period of time: sleep in.  boBo still calls me "the farmer" as i do have the tendency to be up by 6:00, maybe 7:00 if i'm tired.  rising myself at 11:00, however, felt more on the level of euphoria than possibly much needed sleep.  though i must admit i did have nightmares of trying to help the students complete the editing process.  war scars?

Mercato Centrale Firenze

the intended purposes of the day were to get up and buy a guide book, in english, of budapest.  boBo and i leave tomorrow for the city divided by the danube and having no time to read up on it, i was intending to spend the day in a crash course in hungarian history.  but after an invitation to brunch by leah, i was easily persuaded.

Mercato Centrale Firenze

waffles, eggs, bacon, mimosas...yum.

around 5:00 (late, late brunch), i headed out to a few different bookstores to find the book.  not as easy as one might think.  but i've spent the remainder of the evening prepping myself for yet another culture trying to grasp that indeed i am about to head out on holiday.  the thermal baths are beckoning...

She's Got Legs.