And so it begins.

I guess I am doing this.  This "blog" thing.  How intimidating...who knew picking a  fricking template could be so nerve-wracking.  The colors, the styles, the size of the font.  God damn, this is like my bat-mitzva all over again.  I hope you like it! EEEK!

Exhale and dive, two words a dear friend/mentor wrote to me as I took this leap of faith in coming here.  And so I take a deep breath, exhale and dive and let myself fly and crash and fly again.  I am here.  I'm in Arezzo, Italia, working as the Student Life Coordinator for the Accademia dell' Arte.  A haven of music, dance and theatre.  A place where I studied two and a half years ago.  A place that I associate the word home with, and a place that I hope to give back to, what I so deeply took in.  AND the city where Roberto Begnini is from.  Life IS beautiful.

I decided to start this blog today, as it was one of those days when I wondered what the ef am I doing here.  But I stepped outside and breathed in the fresh Tuscan air, and was instantly at ease.  The landscape and architecture of this city and region inspire me in a way I don't know how to describe.  Perhaps I was an architect in a past life, or Italian, or an Italian architect.  I feel like I have been here before, long, long ago..  The color of the villa walls, a bright yellow, and the bright sun infuse me with energy.  I still feel sad and lonely at times but always remember that there is wine and cheese (and gelato) just around the corner.  And by corner I mean a path that leads you past vineyards and chicken coops and old Italian shirtless men working on their land.

I performed a peice at the cabaret, have led the students through an exercise, made friends, had a wonderful first weekend (lots of wine and a piadina...the best damn sandwich you will ever eat in your life...salame piccante, scamorza, pomodori e raddichio),

There are a couple of stories I must share with you:

I was sitting on the toilet just a couple of mornings ago and turned around (while sitting) to look at the mammoth bruise I got on my ass from falling down a flight of stairs the night before.  I shouldn't even say falling, it was a total wipe out, the kind where your feet fly out from under you and you can't help but laugh at yourself.  Well luckily the edge of the stair missed my spine and got my tush.  Bad.  Anyway so I was sitting on the toilet, turning to look back at said bruise, and I felt the toilet seat move, but I kept looking curiously to find and check on my poor tush.  I heard something snap and lo and behold it slid right out from under me, kinda like my fall, and it broke.  It BROKE.  It didn't just pop out of place.  I legitimately butchered it.  Bye bye lid, bye bye seat.  I was so embarrassed I waited a whole day to tell Riccardo, the amazing man who takes care of maintence issues, that I broke my toilet.  Ho rompito mi toilet.  AH! Only me.  How shitty.

Number two (and this is not referring to toilets), a student knocked on my door tonight and said, "Um..someone has a bat in their room, and it won't fly out of the window...do you know what to do." Well, considering my knowledge of bats...

...So I called my friend who has worked in my same position, and asked her what to do in a "BAT SITUATION." This was not a part of my job description, getting rid of bats, but I am the go-to person.  It was perched in one spot and was swooping over the students head.  Ha.  Oh man, I laughed so hard.  They were all freaking out but pretty amused.   I walked into the residence hall where the room was, and they decided it was time to go check and see if the bat had left the building.  They tip-toed slowly into the room and whispered...it literally felt like they were trying not to disturb Sasquatch (Maggie, if you read this blog, that reference is for you).  It was gone.  Phew.  Chicago has rats, Arezzo has bats.  Who knew.