Birthday flowers = birthday smiles
Birthday dinner in the Jewish Ghetto, at the fittingly named Nonna Betta (Grandma Elizabeth)
It is only fitting that my 100th post for '100 days of Beall' falls on my birthday. I had planned a hallmark video upload for you for this occasion, but best laid plans - just talk to Aerolineas Argentinas about that....
Given my lack of any permanent status (job/house, etc.) AND the fact that my former flatmates are getting married, I decided it was high time to take a journey back (or rather forward) to the capital for which this blog began. I can remember packing for NZ and thinking how am I ever going to get all this stuff around the world, and now with my transient status I get to move my stuff very often. Since I have no current residence, I needed to pack up my vacation rental (tear, goodbye Monti) and felt that I couldn't rely on the kindness of many Italians to fling my belongings around Rome AGAIN, so I found a storage unit (a rarity in Italy since they have a thing called families) and managed to fit all my worldly belongings (except for you know those ones still in NZed I'm going back for, and those other ones in the Monroe basement, and those others in some storage unit near Seattle...anyway) into a ONE square meter unit. Just looking at this little box made me smile. There's just something soothing about all (ok, most) of my stuff being in one little space that is all mine - I realize this sounds a bit sad and you may start to worry about me getting so excited about a 1 sq. meter box, but this might be what a transient lifestyle does to you - makes you grin at a box with a lock on it.
You may remember my flight here and that it's not exactly easy to get from Europe to NZ. Work decided they would throw an added challenge in by asking me to go to another capital in Peru for a few days, which just happen to be the days I should be on my way zipping through time. If you think it's easier to get to NZed from Peru because, well you know, it's closer - think again.
To fast forward this story, and many hours of time spent with a very nervous and stressed looking travel agent when I told her what we needed to pull off, I finally managed an itinerary to get me around the world with a short stop in Peru to deliver a presentation and to arrive in Wellington in time for the nuptials (I arrive 3 hours before they start). It will no doubt be a whirlwind, and I'm off to a good start with my first flight delayed out of Rome over 12 hours. They set me up in a hotel for the night, gave us dinner which I enjoyed with an Argentine priest, and assigned me Room 1234, which must be a sign - that FINALLY we're ready to go!
I will try to keep you updated along the way around the world, here's my route -
Rome - Argentina - Peru - El Salvador - Los Angeles - New Zealand - Melbourne -Dubai - Rome
I then get back to Rome for a week and head to Tanzania, more on that to come....
GOOD LUCK - hope the wedding is fantastic!
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