So, as most of you
know, my life prior to leaving was practically consumed with my
passion for youth. Working a “ba-gillion” hours at work to make
sure my boys felt loved and taken care of. Leaving work and
mentoring my kids to make sure they felt loved and taken care of.
Answering the phone (and my door) at all hours to make sure my kids
and my neighborhood kids felt…I’m sure you get the point. SO…I
decided that I would stay away from kids/youth for a while to…as
one of my kids (go figure) would say…”get my mind right”. It
of course was a feeble attempt. For example…all around me is
artistic graffiti (which makes me wonder…what are urban youth like
here…are their issues the same?). I then come “home” to
Velletri and the family I am staying with and I watch Paola run her
home and interact with her kids and I can’t help but think of how I
want my home run and what qualities I will “borrow” from her (I
foresee something similar to “cheaper by the dozen”…loud, yet
organized chaos…with moments of nature and peace in between). Then
I see and respond to an ad in an email sent to Paola asking for an
“English-speaking woman” to look after a 17 year old girl for 2
weeks”. I get the job (along with a phone and a significant amount
of pay)…which means a lot, cause there are so many things that I
want to see! Most recently (please remember that I am supposed
to be doing “active research” on global youth issues, but can’t
seem to find out how I want/can/should to go about it) I want to join
Servas (what a cool organization…by the way) and they have a Youth
Servas that seems so interesting! Then of course there is that
orphanage in Africa, the street youth in Peru and the English school
in Thailand….
So I am
realizing…AGAIN…that it is not a matter of completely separating
myself from this distinct passion, but rather give myself the time
and opportunity to discover, explore and nurture my other passions,
such as music (singing/playing the guitar), writing, and dancing (I
WILL BE A B-GIRL…someday…)
BALANCE…what a
simple word with such seemingly difficult attainment.
LOVE OF SELF…this
will “give permission” to bring balance to my life…but how to
get there…I am baffled.
***okay, so I just
read this over and realized that I pretty much just gave you a
journal entry…maybe not the most interesting for a blog…(but then
again, you all know me as someone who wears her heart on her sleeve,
right?) SO…I will now fill you in on some great experiences that
I’ve been witness to.***
I realized that to
write descriptive journal entries about everything I am experiencing
would be impossible, so in my journal I have begun a list of “moments
to remember”:
- Salvadore at the
Thursday Velletri Market…Paola says that he fits the stereotype of
a Napolean (he’s from Napoli)…that
stereotype is FINE with me ;)
- Making
caffe…sipping slowly these small shot glasses of coffee
- Having Olivia
(the 11 year old) teach me how to make homemade spaghetti
- Cooking with
Paola
- Standing in
front of the primary school, waiting for it to open; it is filled
with people, LOUD, kids playing and parents talking, then the bell
rings, all kiss their parents goodbye…then silence.
- Dinner time:
sometimes kids complaining (so much cuter when it’s in Italian, yet
maybe it’s because I don’t understand it), about what’s for
dinner, yet all eat, tell about their day and laugh together
- After school:
kids home (plus a friend or two) sitting at table (long wooden one)
laughing and talking about Shrek Terzo (3) (which we went to see in
Italian), they eat lunch LOUDLY and then all run out to play (until
dinner) and again…silence.
- Creating music
on my computer with Olivia
- Being “licked”
by Kitti (the 9 year old)
- Playing with the
puppy
- Walking the
donkeys (Bella and Nutella) to and from the pasture
- Watering the
garden: sun setting, quiet mind with kids playing in the background
and for a moment feeling “right”…feeling beautiful (mind, body
and spirit)….
- Homework every
night at the table: everyone working/reading aloud, Paola cooking
dinner and helping them as they go
- Discovering a
greater passion for cooking
- Hanging fresh
clothes on the line: it smells WONDERFUL
- Walking the
ridiculously crowded streets of Rome: feeling so small in relation to
the world yet feeling larger than life
-Sunday lunch with
family friends: outside, in the sun, eating and talking for 3 hours,
having Tisiana grab my face and saying in Italian, something to the
effect of “Strong” and “Beautiful”
-Planning: “where
to next?”
**in the next few
days:
tomorrow going to
Napoli: staying in a hostel the first night and then with Paul’s
friend the next few.
Meeting with
Philip and his daughter Cecilia (the one’s who I am “working”
for for 2 weeks at the end of October)
Planning a trip to
Paris (only about 50 US dollars to fly roundtrip) for a few days
Heading to Rome
again to walk the museums (getting in for free from Paola/Paul’s
friends)
Possibly heading
to another helpx home for a bit…
