Oct. 21, 2004 Busca

11:30 a.m.

take a walk into town with Vera. Walk...beautiful day. She says "ciao" and knows everyone and introduces me to all these old people we meet on the way. I have no clue what we are doing! I thought we were going to Saluzzo to the school!

12:45 p.m.

Enter into local grocery store. She picks out fruit and vegetables for me because I am a vegetario. After we picked produce we left without the bag. I found out they keep it for you if you want to walk and pick it up later!


1:00 p.m.

Walk down cobblestone street Via di Umbria and go to a Cafè already! I just had a coffe at breakfast! I get my first cappuccino. She gets some digestive drink. We eat more chips/pretzels at the table and Andrea (her son who lives a block away) visits us. He is so nice... invites me out with his friends, this is when we all become good friends and are laughing a lot. My personality is coming out more now I think... I try to speak more Italian at this point.


1:30 p.m.

After talking, eating and drinking we remember to pick up the fruit because they close at 1:30. Got it just in time and then went to lunch at a restaurant. Busca is small. No menus, just give us a few choices of what to have- they order for me only what I can eat. Minestrone, salad, bread and 4 huge honkin pieces of local cheese! I am full even before we eat lunch! NO MORE! BASTA! I ask if it is disrespectful to not eat everything and laugh and say no and I give the rest of my cheese to Andrea. Then Vera orders me dessert. Baked Pears with glaze, Delicioso! They make fun of me alot but it's in a nice way that I think it's funny too. They make me drink more wine and can not believe I have never had chestnuts. I told them in California we don't eat them but she said her other son lives on Chestnut St. in SF! How is that possible!


2:00 PM

Say goodbye to cook and restaurant staff and go back home.

Oct. 21, 2004 Busca

Early Morning

Vera is so cute! I love her! I actually feel like speaking/writing in Italian now...

I think I have already had the true Italian experience in just 24 hours!

After a big dinner last night I slept till 10 and put on my robe (like Vera told to do) and came up for coffee. She made it on the stove and put a plate full of morning cookies (biscuits they say?) and gave me fresh honey from her neighbor. Everything is natural here I love it! It gives me perspective on how fake America is. The air is so clean between the mountains and the sea.



So Vera and I had a funny but intimidating conversation. She told me "you look sooooo young!"... "like a baby" afterwards she gave me her vest. Anyway, she told me to make sure I don't show my stomach, I need to look older and be professional. She asked me if I was familiar with business because I would be teaching adults important conversational business English. Then on Tuesday I will teach men through a British program that always uses Vera! So I must learn a different method and speak to the British Director on Monday. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it! Then I got ready for my day with Roberta, got ready (learned to take quick hot showers!) and came upstairs. Then Vera said my hair was still wet and led me to her bathroom and blow dried my hair for me! She is so accomodating and always just wants to make sure I am fine......

Torino 3:00 Airport

Arrival

Found an outlet to charge my phone for 5 seconds. Airport was empty! I just walked out found Roberta with her funny friend named Mauro and we went in the school owner's black audi to a bar in Torino. I feel like such an idiot because I do not know any Italian. I think I will learn soon. I as so tired though my eyes were closing on the way home. I saw the school and went home with Vera the owner. I was scared but now I love her! She is the sweetest thing ever.


She made dinner and I ate it with her mother who can't hear and can't speak any English. i told them I don't eat meat which went fairly well. I am glad I mentioned it before she served it all up because that would be even ruder. Then I was forced to have more wine and ravioli and bread and caprese. I think i have eaten more cheese tonight that in the last four years combined. seriously. Now I am sleeping in this funny room and I have instructions to put on a robe and come up for coffee before tomorrow begins! It is so cold. Cuneo is beautiful. and a really cool city. I am in Busca which is more country....

Oct. 20, 2004 (1:00) Paris CHARLES DE GAULLE

ONE LEG DONE ONE MORE TO GO!

OH MY GOD. Don't know how I got here but I did! Actually I was kind of intimidated to be in France but everyone was really nice and everyone I walked by was smiling at me. It was actually kind of weird. The security guy told me I was beautiful! Then I got into my terminal shuttle ride after shuttle ride and no oulets for the phone. I had no sense of time and figured I had a couple hours to spare but I didn't! They were boarding!

There are like 50 people in here from Africa all in their garb... I like international traveling b/c it's the best people watching. It does seem like Americans are the obese ones. I am so hungry b/c I am kinda hungover I think. I didn't sleep because I was crying for like half the flight and I was thinking of HIM too much. Now I feel better because people were really nice in Paris. I kept saying

merci

and

bonjour

It was fun! But geeez talk about a confusing and unorganized airport. I think that's just Europe in general.

I hope Roberta will recognize me from the picture I sent since I can't call and couldn't figure out the phones! I hope mom, dad, and Ted aren't worried even though I know they are. I hope they figured out why I probably couldn't call. By the way...I am never drinking port wine ever again!

Oct. 19, 2004 (2:30) San Francisco AIR FRANCE

The Journey Begins

I am living large in business class drinking champagne...and why not get the most out of it and take advantage of the drinks! The only problem with this section of the plane is boring people...I also feel guilty for having so much leg room. I can't even reach my carry on in front of me!

GOOD OMEN! A RAINBOW OVER THE AIRPLANES ON THE RUNWAY! as I boarded
Here we go...

2:40

Oh no...I'm starting to get teary eyed...this is embarrassing.

1st Page Note

Every day you were with me and everything we experienced TOGETHER is in here. LOVE, Anna

Greece

Booked the flight to Greece for 16 days for my honeymoon!!! My spirits are up!!! Now I can plan plan plan....

got my lonely planet and can't wait to devour it...

What the Hell am I Going to Do?

So many ideas... So many dreams... changing every day...

Teaching English was just my way of staying here but then I realized that I was getting positive feedback from others and could actually make quite a bit of dough! It kept me busy and kept me alive while I was living solo here in Italy. However, I knew there was something more exciting out there for me dealing with tourism, slow food www.slowfood.com, wineries, or doing something creative. And I found these opportunities, but I didn't have my permits to accept them.

To make a long story short : now that I basically have my permits, I have decided to let go of teaching and pursue some of my dreams. But now I am finding that I am getting nowhere and actually don't really know where to start. I got a contract from a tour guide agency here in langhe www.stiledivinotravel.com but I won't be able to make a lot of money and have to start from zero recruiting Americans. I know I can do it but it's going to take a lot of work first before I see any dollar bills in my account.

But then the thought crossed my mind. Maybe Americans don't really use agencies like they do here in Italy. I mean...I know that. So maybe it wuold be better just to put up my own Info Piedmont website or something? Or offer to write for Lonely Planet as an expert on the area. Americans use books and guides and websites to plan trips don't you think? For Piedmont there is nothing! This could be my chance...

But then again.. maybe this is another one of my crazy ideas that will come to no conclusion...while I am thinking of it though I might as well write some emails to Travel Guidebook Companies..

Where to go?

I got my way. I convinced Claudio to go somewhere this weekend...I just can't figure out where...
I always have millions of places in my head but then when it's actually time to go...I can never think of any!

The beginning of the middle

So I got tired writing my other blog about the fun stuff of food and wine and fun...

I want to express myself REALLY, my thoughts and my feelings with no barriers or ulterior motives.

Today starts the day where after almost six years of living in Italy I express myself via blog and will go back in time to all my old diary entries from the first days I arrived in Italy as a lonely lost soul and will explain how I got to this point where I am now...

Today I am feeling very ansy, I want to travel, I want to go away for the weekend, We don't have money and Claudio is not in a good state of mind to relax for a weekend. He needs a month... I know we are so close to so many things but i just can't put my finger on a place I would like to stay for "poco" .. "poco denaro"....

I need to stay focused on important things like:

• translating and marketing Sovversivi del Gusto
•  
• studying for my license
• Finding marketing strategies and new customers for travel agency Stile Divino
•  
• I want to research teaching methods for middle school kids before my lesson tomorrow

But all I can think about is looking up flights and hotels on tripadvisor and lonely planet for this weekend, out free weekend in a hotel and our African Honeymoon in October! I have no attention span! It must be the heat.. or maybe I just really need to get away!