Home in the USA
Visiting friends, babies, and baby bumps
Dropping my Mom off in Seattle at her best friend since childhood's house.
I was a little worried until I saw their place,
couldn't imagine a better setting for her to
get her feet under her - thanks Nancy!
Exploring my Mom's new home on the ferry after a night on Bainbridge Island, WA.
That's right, those are coffees to go
The original MUNROS back together in NYC
Celebrating Halloween in London with Alice and Gaga
Enjoying London's version of Halloween
So great to see so many of you on such a short visit, thanks for all your
efforts!
And I was welcomed back to Italy with truffle season
And settled right back into testing my Italian cooking ability. These meatballs
turned out amazeballs - they're stuffed with
fresh mozzarella to give you an idea of their
other worldliness
And one of my favos, Tuscan ribollita, with a taste
of home in the way of Schultz, the best hot sauce in
the world
Two weeks, four cities, two countries, seven flights, 22 friends, 3 family members, 3 job/networking interviews, and countless to-go coffees, and I am back in Rome. Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind and yes I do it to myself every time. Each time I venture back to the U.S. I think about how to maximize my time with people while minimizing my stress; and I'd have to say I'm probably still coming in at around a B+, but with an A for improvement from my last two visits. A few highlights from my time away and what it's been like to come back to Italy.....
Cucina Italiana - Not one but all of you tried to take me to Italian or feed me Italian. From my arrival in NYC, I had Meredith telling me I had to stop at a fabulous gelato place to Gimple telling me about the home cookin Italian in Hoboken; and then I made it to Connecticut where Brunellos were being served (yum) and no one could think of an appetizer that didn't involve prosciutto or mozzarella. Flash forward to Seattle, and the dinner my Mom's friends took us to - Italian. The perusal of the menu included questions about whether it accurately reflected Italy. Then I made it to London and every person I heard was speaking Italian and 1 out of 3 restaurants was advertising Italian. Lesson learned - Italy will find you wherever you are
Traveling lighter and smarter - After two moves around the world, and two airport debacles of nearly (okay actually) having a meltdown when my bags were too heavy - you'd hope that I've learned a thing or two. Sometimes I doubt that I have and the true test will be when I have to move again, stay tuned. But for now, I've tried to take these lessons to heart by way of a few new habits, 1) I only travel in a carry-on size suitcase, now I might not always carry it on, but I allow myself no larger; and 2) I now will always travel with a luggage scale (thanks Ulix!). Traveling in a carry on proved challenging this trip with winter approaching, shopping to be done in NYC, and gifts to disperse - but I did it. I didn't realize how fruitful it would prove until I saw my Mom's bags in Rochester. The point of this trip home was to help my Mom start her own new adventure in Seattle, ending a stay of over 20 years in Rochester, NY. At the airport, I started to have flashbacks to my own traumatic moves, but quickly realized how much easier it is when you have a helper to absorb your extra bags as their own AND a luggage scale. Laurie and I had a bit of fun wrestling with her luggage and gifting the airport staff with some leftover items, then Laurie drowned any of her packing/moving/airport woes in a Red Osier beef on 'wick sandwich to truly send off Western New York in style. I have also always been notorious for leaving items behind when I travel. I know again, you'd think that I would have this down. One weekend in NYC a few years back I left a license, a credit card, and a jean jacket in THREE separate locations, just to give you a flavour. I like to think I've gotten better at this, and of course it helps traveling with less to have less to leave behind. The one lost soldier on this adventure was my favorite hat from NZed, the sadness and the lessons continue
Impressions of America - I've now been gone almost two years and while not that long in the grand scheme of living, there's a few things that have changed/I've missed out on while away. For one, and probably most obvious to all of you, is that I have no idea about pop culture. Many of you would refer to a commercial or some new fangled Checking In idea on Facebook, or the latest media buzz, that are all now totally foreign to me. As one friend said, it's like I'm an alien. The second big thing I noticed being back was how expensive things seem to have gotten, especially food. Now this may not actually be the case in real dollars, it could be because I've decided not to convert currencies while I'm away and just live in the currency I'm in. So either prices have gone up, or I've just gotten used to seeing lower numbers.
America vs. The World - As I've said in previous posts, living abroad has made me so much prouder to be American and appreciative of so many things I previously took for granted or didn't realize. Each time I come home I'm reminded of the differences......1) I can now confirm that food in America makes you feel fatter. Again, maybe this was because I ate every meal in a restaurant for two weeks, or that I frequented mostly pub food, but I was definitely feeling the difference - even at the American italian restaurants. 2) Doing errands in the U.S. is easier than anywhere in the world (if you're American :), even in NYC. In one hour and a six block radius in NYC, I took down the post office, bank, found a halloween costume, found a camera charger, updated my cell phone at a Verizon, bought out Anthropologie's sale rack, and all while drinking a to go coffee - America the Beautiful. And all of these things were made even easier by the existence of customer service. In Italy, I'm pretty sure that those errands would take me three separate weekends to three separate distant parts of Rome, where I would be met with resistance if I raised any sort of customer inquiry or concern. Even London, where I ended my two week trip, while a lot like home, is seriously lacking in the customer service department.
Home - As I've said before, home has become a relative term for me and mostly has to do with where/when I get to see all of you. On this trip "home" I was especially reminded how important you all are to me in that definition. Getting to see friends in NY/CT/NJ, friends who journeyed from DC, say goodbye to the Roc, say hello to Seattle and my Mom's new home, experience again how London, while in Europe, feels very much like a combo between NZed and the U.S. that its hard not to feel at home; and then to arriving back to home sweet Rome and again thinking, wait "I live in Italy?". I want to thank so many of you who bring home to me wherever you and I are - the NY/CT/NJ peeps for literally opening your homes to me; to my DC/Boston peeps for making the journey to bring me home; to Carry Bradshaw's house for giving me some laughs; my cousins in the Roc who I haven't seen in ages but made me feel right at home in a tumultuous time; to my Mom's best friend from childhood for welcoming us both as my Mom makes a new home in Seattle; to Del and Les for their expert London tips; to the Queen of England and all previous royalty for showing me their home; and to the LJs for opening their new shared home to not just me, but a friend from home. So I will amend a previous post by saying, you can go home again. Thank you - you mean the world to me
Highlights - There are so many, but here's a chosen few 1) revisiting my pre-teen love of pranks and fortunes; 2) meeting and spending time with new babies and babies to be; 3) dance/karaoke party combo; 4) seeing my Mom's energy and excitement for a new life ahead; 5) and realizing how small the world is.
Eating highlights - As you know other than helping my Mom move, my main goal in my trip home was eating, here are a few of the highlights - 1) Wegmans/DiBellas/Aladdins, god I am going to miss/do miss Rochester cuisine; 2) guacamole; 3) scallops; 4) making dinner in one of the best kitchens I know in CT; 5) tater tots, 6) sake/sushi; 7) sweet potato fries; 8) bloody mary's; 9) wine sampling by do it yourself taste in London; 10) oh to-go coffees.
Fails - In every trip I mess up something. 1) one of my biggest mistakes this time was not taking enough pictures (even after buying that camera charger stated above). I hadn't met my friend Rebecca's baby yet, and was so excited to meet her after stalking her online and I somehow manage to take zero pictures with her or of her - extremely bummed.
In adjusting back to life in Italy, I'm trying to take advantage as much as I can of living here, as my days could be/are numbered. I jumped right back in with going truffle hunting (I tried to go olive harvesting, but you would be surprised how hard it is to convince someone to let you come work for free for them), and this weekend I'm off to Bologna for a cooking class, and stuffing my belly with torellini, prosciutto (when don't I), bolognese, and much much more.
When in Rome
No comments:
Post a Comment