A lot can happen in two weeks as a staffer at SBI. You can train south with all the students and visit Florence and Rome, then come back to the Center for a day, repack, say goodbye to everyone, and fly north to Germany for a week.
In two weeks, you can eat your weight in pasta, gelato, pizza, bread, pastries, meats & cheeses. In two weeks you can climb to the tops of towers and descend into caves. You can walk miles of cobblestone and brick streets. You can catch sunsets and sunrises over cities and behind hills. You can go from 80 degrees and sleeveless dresses to 30 degrees and thick-knit arm-warmers and breath that frosts the air.
You meet a lot of people. And all these people? Some of them look me in the eye and say girl, you're crazy. You're so young, stop worrying. Go slow. You've time to make decisions. Enjoy food. Drink a glass of wine. Go for a run or walk or surf. Don't sleep too late, don't take anything for granted. Because you never know when you'll lose it all—and then you'll be glad you went slow, because going slow built you up intrinsically, instead of just adding to your resume. Pieces of paper aren't fireproof anyway.
Two weeks also gets you addicted to coffee. I told myself I'd wait until 40 and done giving birth to get addicted. But it was a crazy two weeks and every day—not just Sunday, not just a date with a friend—called for caffeine. All those early mornings, busy days, late nights.
My favorite late night was in Florence. Something about that city—even though it really is a city—gets to me. Maybe because it's such a blend: In Florence, north meets south, history meets present, tourist meets local. In my favorite city, late one night I ended up alone because everyone had different ideas of where they wanted to eat or maybe just didn't want to eat at all. I wanted to eat, so I struck off to an area behind Palazzo Vecchio. I asked a man behind a counter to make me a sandwich and he did, just like I asked: fennel salami, smoked cheese, a creamy mushroom spread, spicy roasted eggplant. Set back only five euro, hefty pound-and-a-half panini in hand, I walked back towards the river Arno and pulled myself up on the wall so I could watch the lights of the city reflect in the water.
I kind of had a moment. It was such that if I never get to travel again, or if nothing goes my way the rest of the time I'm abroad, it's okay because I experienced that hour on the Arno.
Being alone is only good for so long, though. As are old buildings and museums and new cities. People are what make it meaningful, most of the time.
That's why I'm really thankful I got to spend fall break with my cousin and her family in southern Germany. We did some touristy things, but mostly stayed local and hung out. The highlight of my week was actually going for a morning trail run through the woods and over the hills with Rachael and her running group. I hadn't run that far in a while, but they kept a steady pace so I was breathless more from the scenery than the run: All those autumn colors hanging out in the mist, rolling hills, farmyards, villages nestled in valleys—and taking it all in with my cousin and a handful of other American women, living in Germany because that's where the military put them.
Another highlight was definitely driving on the autobahn. But I'll leave it at that.
Though I flew to Germany, I took the train back, broken up by a short unexpected bus ride because they were doing construction on the tracks. It was a long day since I left the foggy K-town station at 6AM, had a half hour in Munich late morning to switch, and didn't get back to Casarsa until 7:30 PM, after a final switch in Mestre, where I had just 10 minutes to get off, buy another ticket, and find my platform.
I watched the sun rise from a train window, and then watched it set from a train window. In between was all blue sky, though, and the ride through Brenner Pass in Austria was one of the more stunning things I've ever seen in my life. I should live in the mountains because they help me keep the right perspective: I'm small, mountains are big, God is bigger.
God > me.
Also, trains > planes. It's 97 euro I didn't mind spending.
Now, though, after two weeks of travel, it's back to normal life at SBI. It's a good thing to be back to. Today was resting up. Tomorrow is grocery shopping and meetings. And my thesis is due soon. I guess I should start jamming that out.
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