Celebrating with Spumante

Lidia and Nick, cooking lasagna for our

lunches for the week and a cake for the

peeps who work in the coffee bar

Oh Happy Unification Italy!!

The fireworks from my apartment

Rome Marathon

Yes I know it looks like I just got punched in the face

and may as well have run the marathon, although I did not

That's just the look of a month long diet of prosciutto

As you know, I'm very far behind in this blog, so I will post this that I had started before I returned to America to try to catch up.

Italy anniversary - Happy Anniversary Italia!!!! A little info about what this is actually an anniversary of: "1861 is the year recognized as the beginning of an independent and unified Italy, when the first Italian Parliament was assembled and the first King of Italy was declared – which is why 2011 is going to be such a big deal in Italy." Apparently this is the first year that people have actually had off work for this day (except me of course). In honor of the celebration all museums and a lot of buildings not normally open to the public at all were open the night before the big day until midnight. I celebrated my anniversary with Italy by partaking in some of the same activities I enjoyed two years ago, by strolling around with some other FAOers sipping prosecco and wandering in and out of piazzas, palazzos, and museums.

Rome Marathon - I've discussed how it's a bit more difficult to be fit in Italy and when I first arrived I thought maybe I would try to run the Rome Marathon. Clearly I have been too busy eating (and working) to make that happen, so I settled for donning my running clothes and my huge camera (thanks family!!) and running alongside the course snapping pics. When someone then asked for my press pass I realized how ridiculous I looked. Even though I wasn't running it, it was still so exciting and if I am here next year, definitely going to try to power through the prosciutto haze and do it. Although one item of note that I might not enjoy while running is that everyone on the sidelines of the course is yelling - "Dai, Dai, Dai!!" which sounds like Die Die Die, and really means go, go go (or so I'm told although it doesn't translate). That might not motivate me when I feel like I want to die

Italian - Still struggling along and definitely not practicing speaking enough. I try to speak Italian whenever I can (in shops, at the coffee bar at work, to myself while I'm cooking, etc.) but it's not enough. Most recent example - 10am in the coffee bar and I decide to order a juice (which they make fresh squeezed from blood oranges and it is AMAZING). So I say - "Io vorrei un spumante". And my good pal Carol laughs and just looks at me, then Lidia orders a coffee, and Carol says and what would you like to me. And I say "Un spumante". At which point she's like - "So would I dear". Well, what I wanted to say was Spremuta (juice) and what I asked for was champagne (spumante). So now my Italian (or lack thereof) is making me known as an alcoholic at work

Eating - Working at the Food and Agriculture organization in Italy, you'd think that they would have a good cafeteria. Now it's not terrible, but it got old real fast. Partly because everything is laden in grease, and partly because it's always a mob scene of disorganization. I decided instead to institute a little tradition of cooking with my colleagues on Sunday for the week, not only to avoid the cafeteria but also expand my Italian repertoire of recipes. Lidia, Nik, and I cooked up some vegetarian lasagna with alfredo sauce, and decided while we were at it to bake a chocolate espresso cake for our favourite workers in the coffee bar (and maybe make them forget about my alcoholism). While we felt awesome about it, bringing your lunch is not de rigueur to say the least. People frequently say, "Oh I knew you were American cause I've seen you walking around with your water bottle and tupperware".

Should I have some more ham??

It may not be Lago di Como but enjoying

Lago di Albana none the less
The Pope's summer residence
One of the many amazing villas in Frascati
Me and the Latins on a Piazza in Castelli di Romani
Lago di Albana, cliffside town/summer residence

of the Pope
Just another anti-Berlusconi protest with armed guards and tear gas at the ready
The sunset view from the roof of FAO, the Forum in the background
Making Ribollita, soup for lunches for the week,

I'm cheating and have ventured into Tuscany again

One of my new best buddies

Anniversary week - It is both the two year anniversary of when I first touched my toes to this sacred soil and the 150 anniversary of the unification of Italy. Thinking back two years ago, I would NEVER have imagined that I would actually live here, even though of course we joked about it - that Trevi Fountain I tell you, now if only Juliet would get her act together. For Italy anniversary day which is March 17th, most of Italy's offices/businesses are closed, but of course not the UN. You'd think maybe as a trade off for not celebrating Italian holidays that we could maybe celebrate some international ones - haven't seen it yet. On Italy anniversary day it is recommended to wear red, white, and green or one thereof. How convenient that it is also St Patty's Day and I can double up on my green, oh Italy you're so thoughtful

Getting away - When we came here on vacation two years ago, after five days in Rome we were ready for the Amalfi Coast and some strolling (passegiato). The fact remains that while beautiful, exciting, etc. etc. Rome is also exhausting and sometimes you need to just leave it behind for a bit. After reviewing easy day trips from Rome, I decided on Castelli Romani, a region just to the South of Rome, where the Pope has his summer residence. I mean if it's good enough for the Pope....So off I went with three Latins and an Itlalian (more on this in the language section of this post). Castelli Romani is also home to Frascati, a small town known for its villas and white wine - um yes and yes. After a short stop there, some pizza and supli (fried ball of rice with tomato sauce and melted cheese in the center) we headed up to Castel Gandolfo on Lago di Albano, where we enjoyed a nice stroll and some gelato and pretended a) it was summer and b) we were the Pope.

Rome - People keep asking me for directions, and no not tourists - Italians. At first I was really confused by this (and proud) and then my friend Sarah back home told me they were all trying to pick pocket me. Since my first confusion about this, it has continued to happen constantly even with my ipod in people are waving me down to ask directions. So I've decided to take this as 1) I am doing such a good job of dominating the streets AND 2) looking like an Italian that they think this girl knows where she's going (false) and can speak Italian (false).

Language - My first week here I signed up for Italian class for Expats, partly because it was so cheap and partly because I thought it would be a good way to meet new people. It's once a week for one hour and it 25 euro a month, at a different bar in a different neighborhood each time. I have really enjoyed it each time, except that I seem to be the only one who goes every week in my beginner group - which means each time a new person shows up we're back at learning how to say our nationalities again. And for the last three weeks, everyone in my group will say, "wow, how do you know so much?". Umm, because I've been coming for four weeks and we haven't progressed. Yes I can say 'Io sono americana' quite well at this point. Added to that is that I share an office with two spanish speakers so I speak Spanish all day (thank you because I didn't want to lose it) and for work I speak English all day. I've been trying to teach myself on the side, and the grammar books that I have (thank you Ulix!) are great and I can get 100% on the tests, but then as soon as I enter a store or try to speak I'm at a loss. Speaking four words a week at my chance store encounters isn't going to be enough to drive this home. I am still pulling from the small italian I know and then in a pinch inputting some French or Spanish when i can't remember a word. Yes, it gets me my prosciutto, but it doesn't make me feel like I actually live here. Although, maybe this comes back to my favorite lesson - patience. The other day it was raining and I was not happy waiting for the bus and this old cute Italian lady offered for me to share her umbrella. We then chatted in Italian a bit and she asked me how long I had been here and I said, one month. And she said, "Wow, you know heaps" (or translation a sack/big garbage bag - which I assume means heaps?).

Work - A lot of you have asked why I haven't said much about it. Frankly, it's not my dream job, but everyone is really nice and I understand what I'm supposed to do. To give you a flavour - I am the only native English speaker in my department. There are only 6 funded months left of the project/department that I work for, so in essence I was hired as clean-up crew - to turn what they have worked on for 3 years into something polished and to deliver some of the deliverables they have been funded to complete. What this equals is a lot of me reading things that have been prepared/researched in order to put them into something publishable in ENGLISH - aka rewriting a lot of non-native English. So as you can maybe gather from above - being hired to be an English writer/editor on a technical topic while learning Italian and speaking Spanish all day has amounted to me being good at none of them. Add to that my Spanish friend wanting me to teach her phonetics in English. Umm, I don't even remember learning phonetics, all I could think of was Hooked on Phonics. Note English deterioration on this blog and I'm sure it will get worse

Eating - Not a day goes by where I don't think to myself, "Should I have some more ham?". Now while on vacation, my fellow vacationers could cut me off. Living alone, there's no one between me and that ham. This saying, "Should I have some more".....has also translated into - nutella and cheese. I have managed to eat cheese, prosciutto/pancetta, and nutella at least twice a day each since the day I arrived, most times more than that. Now while that's nice on vacation - I'm pretty sure it's not sustainable. I've now been here a month and my body is revolting against this behaviour.. Without going into the nitty gritty of my bodily trauma that has been caused by a month of eating like this - just one example is having two eye infections in one month when I haven't had an eye infection in two years before my arrival, or the fact that I'm constantly exhausted (eating cheese, nutella, and prosicutto all day long is exhausting). Additionally, somehow with all this ham/nutella/cheese eating I'm still constantly hungry. My officemates say at least twice a day - "You're eating AGAIN?" So I've decided two things - 1) I will continue to have as much of these items as I want, I mean gosh darnit I'm in ITALY and this is the home of TI, and 2) I need to figure out how to counterbalance them in order not to keel over from a heart attack/goiter. On that note...

Working out - FAO has two banks, two post offices, a grocery store, a second hand clothes store, 5 cafeterias, a pharmacy, a clinic, a bookstore - but no gym and no daycare (not that I need this second one, unless my food baby needs additional care than what I am giving it). This is somewhat characteristic of Italy - but also a bit ridiculous. So with winter here, and working 50 hours a week, and my Mom mentioning mace on every call we have when I talk about running or strolling - I've been left with few options for expelling my agro-ness from sitting at a desk all day other than counting as exercise watching my food baby grow. Lucky for me I live near a ginormous park - Villa Doria Pamphili. Unlucky for me that winter is here and all non-work hours it is already dark. There are apparently pervs among the bushes so it is not exactly safe to run in the dark, alone. I refuse to run without my Ipod in, so I've taken to entering the park and immediately finding a group of people to stealthily run behind so I that I am always in a group. I usually try to target old people as they're slower and they help pace me so I don't run too fast as I am tend to do. What I realized the other day is now I've become that weird creep in the park that is probably freaking all the old folks out

Weeeeee - that's how I spent my day on Saturday, on a scooter, and I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. More to come - and maybe purchasing one of my own

Lidia, Giuseppe, and Nik - As often as I ask myself if I should have some more ham (and say yes), I think to myself, 'Thank god for Giuseppe, Lidia, and Nik". Going it alone in NZed was one thing when I spoke the language.

Lidia and Nik - both are volunteers at FAO and started on the same day as me so we get to experience the "What?, Really?" UN moments together, but also they are new to Italy so we get to share finding apt stories, and the like. First off, yes I can't believe people come to Rome as volunteers either, I can't imagine living here with no salary. But the majority of people my age at FAO are either volunteers or interns and I've found that I should feel very grateful for my consulting contract...

Lidia is from Spain and has been living in Sierra Leone volunteering for FAO for the last year. She studied in Australia and learned English in the streets and now has spoken Creole English in Africa for the last year. She brightens my day everyday with her hilarious English confusions/sayings (Can you borrow me your headphones?) and on top of that she calls me Ellie, which I've missed from IDB. She also is notoriously lost and refuses to speak Italian as she thinks just combining Catalan/Spanish/French/English is fine (most of the time it is actually). Her perspective from Africa is also refreshing from the largesse that is Rome/FAO

Giuseppe is Italian, from Sicily, but lived in DC for 7 years so he's basically the perfect combo of understanding my American questions, but also Italian so he can answer them. I was introduced to Giuseppe through a mutual friend from DC and I often wonder what he's getting out of our friendship as I usually have a list for him everytime I see him with questions/things I need negotiated/Italian I want to learn, etc.. He has helped me set up internet at my house, review my lease, introduce me to countless people, and is a strict Italian teacher.

Nik - Is German, and learned English studying in San Diego. He is also the social coordinator of the interns/volunteers and always rolls his eyes when Lidia and I say we're too old to hang out with them (he's 28). We take Italian class together and he knows French so we usually translate for each other in French. Lidia, Nik and I start each day with coffee and chocolate croissants and gossip about our latest trials and tribulations. Then I coax them back to the office as the guilt that I'm getting paid and they're not sets in.

A few things that are not going to get old in Italy -

-the guys and Carol(told me her name as Christmas Carol) who work at the coffee bar by my office. They're so friendly and lovely and patient with our terrible Italian.

-people yelling/saying bella

-taking public transport for free (more on this soon)

-going for a run in Circo Massimo and then around the Colloseo during lunch/post work

-strolling down Via del Corso and around the Spanish Steps trying on shoes and clothes

-appertivos (basically free dinner in the form of a buffet during happy hour)

-buying vegetables/fruit at the market and them always throwing something in for free and then wishing me a Buona Domenica (Have a good Sunday) on Saturday morning, and I always think in confusion, "What about Saturday?"

-eating a chocolate croissant everyday

So that's my first month here in a nutshell - it's not all pizza and gelato as I said before, but it is all ham, cheese, and nutella

One coin in the Trevi Fountain means

you will return to Italy (worked), two coins means you

will fall in love (we'll see), three means you will marry

an Italian(haven't thrown the third yet as I know Laurie will

kill me)- wavering on dangerous territory here

on my second coin....

Zuppa a la Toscana, cheating on Rome for a dish

Piazza del Popolo, next to the spa

I went to for my birthday massage and facial

On a night out, bumping into the Colloseum

The Spanish Steps

Living in Rome means trying to take a

shortcut home at night and getting thwarted

by the ol Forum

Nothing like turning 30 in Rome to make a girl feel young again. Something about the 2,000 year old buildings might have something to do with it. A lot of you were worried about me being alone for my 'big' birthday, have no fear that the ol buildings kept me company and made me feel young.

Birthday - Since I was turning a somewhat big birthday by myself, I decided to treat myself with a facial and massage. There's nothing like having someone rub your face for an hour and then your whole body in the opulence of Roman spas to make you feel like turning 30 isn't so bad after all. That coupled with a new SLR camera, 4 bouquets of flowers, a bottle of hot sauce, and 10 cards that you all managed to get to me all amounted to me feeling like one girl shouldn't be so lucky. Thank you - if this is how my thirties are going to be, I can't wait!!!! I also spent my 30th evening at a Spanish dinner party (as the only non-native spanish speaker) followed by clearing out the dinner table to make a dance party, right in Campo di Fiori, ended with a sleepover with my spanish friend Lidia and waking up to making nutella pancakes. Thirty = So Good

Transport - People always complain about how bad the public transport is in Rome - unreliable, random strikes, doesn't run late at night, etc. I've found a very reliable form of private transport, with my own music choice - my feet. I've partly been intimidated by the public transport and partly not wanted to be smashed into a sweaty pickpocketing metro/bus, and partly just enjoyed being outside so I've basically walked everywhere since I got here. People often ask how I'm getting home and when I say walking, they look incredulous - again the largesse. But what all this walking has meant is 1) Total DOMINATION of the streets, mini cars and motorinos, I'm not scared of you, dog poop on the other hand.....2) I've gotten to know Rome really well and actually where things are in relation to other things. I lived in Boston a whole year before I realized how close certain T stops were to each other and realized it was ridiculous to be taking it certain places 3) I've gotten real good at the passegiato or Italian word for strolling....

Eating - A lot of you have asked me about the food, and yes as you know, it is amazing. But I'm also not on vacation here and I have to stop eating like I am or I seriously may balloon to 250. One friend asked me if I thought prosciutto would get old, ummm no. But I could see pasta getting old, so I'm trying to only have the very best. I eat most meals at home and I've decided that I'm going to conquer Italy one region at a time through cooking the quintessiential dishes of each area. This week - Rome - Bucatini alla Amatriciana. I had planned to feature pictures of each dish, but I got so excited about this first one that I ate it all before I remembered to snap a pic. My friend Giuseppe helped me prepare this one and insisted that he buy the pancetta and pecorino because he wasn't confident I would buy the right one. You'll have to just imagine the pancetta/tomato goodness that it was. Next on my list Minestra di Pasta e Lenticchi - Lentil and Pasta Soup. In the meantime, I cheated and made a dish from Tuscany, aka Olive Garden, see above.

Oh New Zealand, my heart is with you - devastating week with the earthquake in CHCH and I continue to struggle a bit with the adjustment and dreams of the beach and mountains. I couldn't sleep last night so I thought I would try counting sheep, and then THAT just reminded me of NZed again....I had planned to do a post before I moved here comparing NZ to Italy, and potentially that is still forthcoming. It's impossible to compare and yet impossible not to

Lost in Translation - learning Italian is proving more difficult than I wanted, mostly because I work in English all day and the only time I have to speak in Italian is in shops. I am taking a class, and I can understand it, but it still pains me to speak. And even in English there's a bit lost in the difference.....Example A, I decided to tell some Italian friends about my first experience with the Italian mail system since I had heard it was so bad, and I had had a positive experience this last week with Schultz arriving!!! Convo = Me: So I had my first Italian mail experience. Them: Oh no, were they really pushy? I will apologize in advance, I'm sorry I feel like every American has one of these. Me: Oh no it was really easy, and I was quite surprised......Fast forward to them thinking I was talking about my first Italian MALE experience....uh awkward and no. Oh please speed up my Italian speaking ability

Home/Life - In addition to settling into a new country and learning how household things work (aka no water pressure, no dryer (thank you again NZed for preparing me), lighting the stove with a lighter, etc.), this is also the first time I've lived alone and had to figure everything out myself AND be left alone to my own devices. Needless to say, I'm still getting used to it. Landlord is making it easier = complaint about the water pressure and he arranged to come with the plumber before I had to go to work and then gave me a ride to work (he's 80 for those of you that think he's trying to woo me). I have made friends with a homeless guy on my street by giving him my change three days a week = so it's beginning to feel like home. I went to Ikea this weekend for a few odds and ends that my flat was missing and I can confidently tell you that Ikea is the same in every country - very convenient on the one hand, and on the other full of crowds/exhausting/annoying, but you always leave with meatballs

Shopping - I had to leave a few things in NZed including a pair of black boots, so I've been struggling a bit with some outfits that demand them. I swear I've been in every boot store in Rome and have mastered how to ask for them and say my size in Italian and yet NOWHERE seems to have my size in a city that is obsessed with boots. I do love that Italians don't really wear heels because of the cobblestones, added bonus. I went to a big public market the other day to look at bikes, and came home with a pasta/meat/vegatable grinder/maker. I'm not actually sure it does any of those things - again why my shopping needs to wait till I speak better Italian

Living in Rome vs. Vacationing Here - A lot of you love to say to me, "oh you're just like Elizabeth Gilbert", and while I love you, I am not 40 or recovering from a divorce and I am not living here for a month to just parade around Italy. This is my real life (and yes at times it is hard to believe, but it still is). Which means, I have to get up and do laundry and pay bills adnd run errands just like you, and it means getting anything normal done takes me ages cause I don't speak the language and Rome frankly isn't set up for easy living if you're not on vacation. Your other favorite thing to say to me is, "Well at least you live in Italy". Yes, true and don't ever think I don't appreciate it, but life is not all pizza and gelato here. However, it is true that gelato makes everything better. Another thing about living here is that I will be trying to find the easiest route home after a night out, and think I found a shortcut and then get thwarted as I come upon a huge pile of stones - oh right the Forum, guess I have to go around those thousand year old rocks

In short - I love it - I'm getting fat eating so much and enjoying every moment - I'm exhausted, while it's easy to find beauty treatments, impossible to find a house/land phone and other basic items - Italian, I'm trying, but this is going to take more than I thought, But I will not be thwarted - Rome/Italy I will make you my home

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

Welcome home to my apt in Roma
The mini kitchen with washer
My dressing/getting ready room
Bedroom on raised steps
Living room with fireplace (thats a sofabed guests)
On my walk to work across the Tiber
My grocery store
My church
Just wandering around the Jewish Ghetto
My first meal I made myself in my new place

orrechiette with pancetta, garlic, basil, spinach

I've now been in Rome for one week, and frankly the main thing that has run through my mind all week is - WILL NOT COMPUTE. If living in New Zealand was surreal, I haven't quite been able to come to terms with the fact that I actually live in Rome now. It could also partly be the jetlag, 48 hours of flying time and who knows how many times zones. I still haven't quite managed to stay awake past 10pm and still wake up at 5am (or earlier) everyday, or like last night went to bed at 7pm and woke up at midnight. Anyway, I'm here and in one piece even if I'm not totally together mentally yet.

Here's a bit of a summary of my first week of life in Roma -

My arrival was made a bit smoother in that my driver was from Ecuador so we could habla en espanol, and the vacation rental that I had reserved was right in Trastevere so I could quickly get some prosciutto in without venturing too far. The next day, my first full day here I had set up an ambitious day of apartment viewing. With map and dictionary in hand, I set off. The day was characterized by me asking questions in Spanish and them answering in Italian - this has become a theme which I am desperately working to break with Italian studying. The second place I saw actually brought a tear to my eye because I couldn't believe the place for the price. Rome apts are very expensive and most don't have full kitchens (meaning no oven, and usually only a mini fridge and two burners), and I had set a high standard wanting a terrace/outdoor space but also within walking distance to work. I went to see another four places, but just reconfirmed that the 2nd place was the one. The other thing to figure out was getting 1100 Euro in cash immediately, from my foreign bank accounts. The end result is I'm all moved in, my landlord is adorable and welcomed me with fresh fruit in the kitchen, champagne in the fridge, and a fire in the fireplace. Um you had me at Buongiorno - so for my 30th birthday I got myself an apartment, first ever time living alone. When in Rome....(ps, how soon do you think Rome cliches are going to get old? In the meantime....)

-Work: While going back to work full-time is not awesome, if I have to be in an office 40 hours a week, this isn't a bad gig. To start off the day, I walk past the Forum and then my office has a window, and I share it with two girls, one from Mexico and one from Spain - more hablaing en espanol which is good cause I've been worried about losing it. Also, the transition into the subject matter has been pretty easy since its what I was doing before NZ and I know a lot of the people already. Not to mention, my office is directly next to one of many coffee bars and the cafeteria which has an outdoor terrace with views of all of Rome. And thankfully the IDB gave me a good understanding of what working in a huge bureaucracy is like with all the infighting and largesse and ten coffees a day. It's also nice to be exposed to a ton of interesting projects/studies/work and have the freedom to explore and make the position somewhat into what I'd like. However, I do get lost about ten times a day just in the building. Another added bonus of working for the UN is they figure all the Visa stuff out for me and even give me a diplomatic card, which makes life in Rome (and the EU) much easier. Extra added bonus - there's a post office, and "commissary" on site which sells American products at discount prices, and a whole Expat group that also offers Italian lessons.

Remember how patience was one of my goals/NYE resolutions for 2010, well its going to get its true test living in Rome. A wise friend who moved to Europe a few years ago, LJ, always talked about the hassles of life in Europe and I while I tried to mentally prepare, living in New Zealand certainly didn't make the transition to Europe's way of doing things any easier. As one example, I bought a SIM card at the airport which I had researched prior to arriving to make sure I would have a phone right away. Well come to find out that SIM card is incompatible with my phone, and after a long convo with customer service the only way I can get a refund is by going back to the airport. So I went to go purchase another SIM card on my lunch break, but alas the Metro was shutdown because of a strike. Just one of many examples this week....

-Learning paso per paso:

-Apparently you can't order a cafe latte or cappuccino in the afternoon unless you want to

look like a total tourist. Only some version of espresso. I've come to favor the macchiato (with milk froth) or the cafe marocchino (with bitter chocolate)

-You also should only take pasta with lunch, not dinner unless you also want to be a tourist

-Dominating the streets: needless to say the craziness of Roman traffic is a bit to adjust

to from tranquil NZed where you often don't see any cars. Coupled with the fact that on

my first day in the office I found out my co-worker was out all week cause she had been

hit by a car walking home from work. In true Roman traffic sense, the pedestrian light will

be green when it is also green for cars to turn, and no they don't stop for you, so you

either wait forever and never cross or you DOMINATE the streets and walk with authority

and pray that no one wants to commit manslaughter. Or you find a local who is crossing

and keep them to the side of traffic so they get hit first

-Grocery shopping - best done at public markets where you can also negotiate prices and

they usually (in my one week here) throw in a few extras, like bits of herbs or a few extra

tangerines. I went shopping for the week and spent 40 Euro for tons of veggies, fruits,

cheeses, prosciutto, pancetta, and fresh pasta. I did end up with quite a few more items than I had been planning on given that I can't really negotiate yet and when they rapid fire me with Italian I usually just give in and say "Si". Soon to be on this blog a before photo of the giant food baby that I am about to give birth to, so you can follow my bump as it grows

-Shopping in general - I had to leave a few things behind in NZed (just replay Dulles and

you'll get the gist but without the tears) and I needed a new bag here in Italy but planned

to take my time finding a bargain, well the canvas conference bag I was using temporarily

broke on my way the other day and after going in a few places, one lady got the better

of me rapid firing me with Italian telling me how it was all made my hand and of very good

quality, needless to say I am now the proud owner of a new Italian leather handbag. Note

to self, if I want to hold onto any Euros, hold off on shopping till I can speak a bit more

Italian.

And it's nine now, so off to bed, more soon hopefully from a more clear mental place, but all in all - yes Rome you and I are going to get along, I'll work on my patience, and you just continue to work on being kind to me while I learn Italian- deal

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time the NZ gov't and the US gov't arranged a three way call and gave me a ring and said, "We were wondering if you'd like to live in New Zealand for a year on us? Not convinced? We'll throw in a free Masters degree to sweeten the deal. No no, don't worry about taking the GMAT or GRE, we got you. All we ask is that you speak in your hot American accent, learn how to blowdry your hair, learn a bit of Kiwi slang, give up shopping, and most importantly that you put yourself first and get real comfortable spending time alone. You will also never experience February 2, June 21st, or August 1st, 2010, but we will let you do June 10th, July 25th, and February 4th twice. Oh and one more thing, we forbid you to work".

Okay, so that's not exactly how it happened, and I won't lie and say it's always been easy or that the loneliness and homesickness weren't crushing at times - but if you asked me if I would do it all over exactly the same, I think you can tell that my answer would be a resounding yes. Even the not so choice moments (rewind to my flight here or being told to go home and learn about Native Americans) have all been worth it because they have taught me a lot, most importantly perspective.

And obviously I have a lot of people to thank for contributing to the truly outrageous fortune of this year -

-U.S. taxpayers and Fulbright NZ- if I haven't convinced you through this blog (considering my minimal discussion of my research), the Fulbright is an amazing program and it has changed my life. Even if you're not buying into the whole peace and understanding part, if you want your kids to be able to go live in NZ and get a free degree one day, just remember that when it comes time for voting

-My family - thank you for letting me go be selfish for a year and not making me feel bad for missing big events/gatherings/holidays back home. And thank you to my Mom and Allison for using up all your vacation time to come celebrate with me here.

-My friends - thank you for staying in touch so well and learning to use skype or google video, or sending me random links and photos to keep me in the loop and feeling like I'm still a daily/weekly part of your lives.

-Those of you who realized that mail does get delivered to New Zealand - thank you, I was excited and thrilled about every card, thank you note, Xmas photo, Save the Date, care package, flowers, etc.

-The Maori Orgs - thank you for making time for my academic pursuits and for being so frank and open in sharing your perspective. I not only learned a lot about climate change, but even more about values that I'll carry with me the rest of my life. And thank you for letting me crash your conferences and the heaps of kai, waiata, and Tohu wines

-Fellow Fulbrighters - thank you for letting this ol girl hang out with you ivy league youngins. and sharing in the trials and tribulations of adjusting to life and Fulbright and Kiwi randomness

-Matty NZed, Cap'N Steve, Anton and Amy, Jesse, the 505ers - thank you for befriending this American and for inviting me into your Kiwi lives/homes and letting me relax and forget about my research for awhile and making me feel like I really lived here

-The Sciascia Family - thank you for adopting me, feeding me, trying to matchmake for me, and generally making me feel like I had a family here

-Alice and Aaron - I couldn't have asked for a better living situation and frankly made everyone else jealous with what I had found with you two. I could go on forever, but thank you for letting me live in your awesome house with your awesome view and the new habits you've taught me, sharing meals and teaching me to make things from scratch, new music, sharing your friends, and putting up with all my inane questions from cricket to cars. Now get married already so I can come back for the wedding

-New Zealand - thank you for giving me the most gorgeous of padded walls to explore my mind, for being kind to me (through wallet loss and car probs, etc), for teaching me what meat is supposed to taste like, helping me appreciate simplicity, your quirky ridiculous humour and love for superlatives, and so much more

Thank you to all of you for supporting me in my Fulbright Fairy Tale. I hope I can repay the favor somehow/someday, so let me know.

Now I had planned on shutting this thing down, because frankly you must have had enough of the inner workings of my mind (I know I have) and as my friend Meredith says she knows what I eat for breakfast and what time I go to bed. But alas, I am moving to another capital tomorrow, so I'm debating what to do about that.....I had also thought I would be coming "home" and planned to say a few final words to the person who made the largest difference in my year here.....

To ME:

"Oh hey you, been a great year huh? It's been awesome getting to know you better. Thanks for laughing at all my jokes, you're pretty funny yourself too, and thanks for consoling me when things were rough and figuring out how to get through it. I'll never forget this year together....it's just that I think in order to grow that it's time we saw other people. It's not you, it's me"

Oh wait, uh awkward, I guess we're stuck together for a little longer? You better get some new jokes then.....

And as I think about the fact that I'm leaving NZ today I can't help but be sad, because its over, but I'm thrilled that it happened, although it all still feels totally surreal. And in surrealness, onwards to Italy

Italy I hope you're ready for the hot mess that is about to explode on your doorstep.....

Getting Amongst It - Hard Out!

Finally making a 'pav' or pavlova,

officially invented in NZ, don't listen

to the Aussies.

And two more friends came all the way

to NZed to send me off with one more adventure


NZed, I'm really really gonna miss you
Mt Cook in all its glory

Finally got to Mt Cook with these jokers,

thanks for an amazing week you two, double high five!

And although you

can't see it in this pic, it is truly spectacular (on a sunny day)
Reba really wanted to go ziplining, well

this was more like riding a barca lounger through the sky =

the development of a new verb - getting skywired

Marlborough wine tasting never gets old
Mt Cook and Tasman glacier terminal face with

iceburgs in Tasman lake not as spectacular in the rain
One of many gorgeous sunsets in Coromandel

Two of my favorite Kiwiisms and yes I'm combining them. Get amongst it means get after it or something similar and Hard Out can simultaneously mean Awesome! and go hard after something. Now that you have the gist....

I know I've been missing from blogging, but I warned you back in December that it was going to get a bit crazy here towards the end and while I would normally do a pre-trip blog and post trip blog from my recent visitors - Regis and Ghighah (aka Reba and Gimple), I frankly haven't had a spare second and they don't read this blog anyway, so there.

So the next two posts are going to be a 2 part Finale as we're one week out till I exit New Zealand (yes there is a tear winding its way down my cheek as I write this).

I decided to live this year as a combo of an episode of MTV's Made - like it was the year before my wedding - my last year on Earth - and like I was turning 30. Yes, only one of those is actually happening - that I know of. But regardless I decided why wait for the other three to happen - might as well go hard out and get amongst it and go after all the goals I wanted to set for myself and push myself as hard as I could while also making sure to appreciate every moment (especially those moments of sleeping till whenever I wanted and never using a clock, taking a MeMoon, etc. and always remembering what TI said). And while I may not have become a pro surfer, solved climate change, or found a husband to sail around the world with, I'm more than happy with the way this year has gone. Here's a bit of a recap including superlatives, accomplishments, and a tallying of exactly what I've been up to this year in case you missed the last 40 posts-

-Trip/Visitor superlatives: You all have asked me how your visit/trip compared with the others, well I'm finally going to tell you. I can't believe how lucky I was to have so many of you travel all the way to the other side of the world to visit me and let me show you NZed, and I'm not lying or exaggerating when I say each of you brought a different adventure and brought something unique to my experience here (in no order of importance) -

-Best sampler/viewer/experiencer of Middle Earth: Bob, you saw more of Middle Earth and the randomness of NZed (Shantytown and Blackball for starters), and beauty of the South Island

-Best connoisseur and purchaser of Kiwiana: Laurie Beall, you brought home more of

NZed than even I am, and you did it with zeal and managed to find really unique, special

items that even I hadn't found before living here a year

-Best adventurer/embracer of the outdoors that NZed has to offer/Amazing Racer: Allison Beall, which was clearly going to be an easy category for you to win. Thank you for helping me get amongst some of the adventure items I hadn't bothered or tried to conquer before.

I will always want you on my team.

-Best co-captain/trip planner/navigator/early riser/schedule meeting/logistics CEO:

Stephanie Montgomery, you know I think I can plan/schedule a good trip, but you really

grabbed the sheep by the horns and made me feel like I didn't even need to do much, and

made me feel like the lazybones sleeping till 9am.

-Best one night stand and thank you gift givers: Patty and Mike, even though I only saw you

for one night, it was so relaxing and I really appreciate you including me in your

honeymoon and the UA gear for us all was over the top. First pair of shorts I've liked in

about 12 years

-Best road warriors: Reba and Gimple, you two made the car a party - literally, even in

bad weather and broken antennas, and were my best visitors at singalongs even without

music. A capella Sound of Music soundtrack anyone? (you all were great road warriors so

don't take this personal, reba and gimps had the advantage of a group)

-Best experiencers of my real life here - Laurie Beall, Allison Beall, Reba and Gimps, all for

different reasons - Wellington, Fulbright, Maori

-Best wine/beer tasters/samplers - Allison Beall and Stephanie Montgomery, god forbid

you two are ever on a trip together, cause I'm pretty sure it will end in wine enduced fistacuffs

-Best think on their feeters/getting amongst it on a whim - Bob and Reba and Gimps, your

trips were the least planned and it resulted in new unexpected places/adventures and lots

of laughs

-Best Kiwi accent/impersonation - Reba by a long shot

And I could go on and on, the moral is there wasn't one better than the other, they were all different and truly awesome. I know I'm a bit emotional right now, but you all really blew me away with what awesome friends/family you are (no slights against those that didn't make it, I know it is ridiculously far, and I love you just as much).

And now for the stats. As I've mentioned previously in this blog, I set a few goals for myself here, and here's a bit of a report card:

-Fitness: I don't know how long I said in DC that I wanted to get fit or work out on a

regular basis and never did it. I also was resigned to just never being athletic or being

able to keep up with people. The big joke was watching me run. In NZed I've still felt like

Phoebe on Friends, and it wasn't till my recent visitors and the last few months that I've realized maybe I've made some progress. We'll see what happens when I actually have to balance fitness with work again.

I've run 4 races and I wish I knew how many total kms this year, but it doesn't matter,

what matters is I can beat you up a hill :)

-Conquering fears: I've had a fear of edges (the cliff sort, not brownies) and jumping off

things since I cracked a rib jumping 60 feet off a cliff in Saranac Lake in college. In NZed

I've gotten over this - Five waterfalls jumped off to date, but no I won't be bungying in the birthplace of bungy before I leave. Some things I don't feel the need to check off.

Baking, conquered, I've explained this previously, and metric system you don't scare me anymore either

-Learning two new languages (Kiwi English and Maori) and neither fluently

-Fishing, learning to fish for my dinner and dive for shellfish. This is the life I always wanted

-Gardening: always liked it, never knew seasonality very well or pests or how to build a

worm farm and while learning all that I somehow taught it to little cherubs

-Traveling: I wish I had tallied my total kms, but I have seen almost every corner of this

country except for the far South and most places many times and yet just yesterday I got

jealous of someone going up North. NZed places just keep you wanting more. I also squeezed

two additional countries in this year (Samoa, Australia). Total of the 365 days that I have

been away, I've been traveling for approximately 175 days

-Wwoofing: Would have liked to have done more of it, especially since my first experience was so hilarious here, but maybe I'll have more opportunity in Italy to practice for my eventual farm owning

-Three of the Seven Great Walks done

-Approximately 60 wineries visited and probably over 200 wines tasted

-Ooodles (but never enough) blue cheese eaten

Unexpected occurences:

-Becoming more American, that sneaky bugger Senator Fulbright knew what he was up to

-Realizing there's always money to be found in Academia, you just have to look for it. I now finally understand why people do PhDs (other than the whole learning part). Its a pretty cushy life

-Actually giving up shopping and eating out

-I somehow came here with three email addresses and ended the year with seven

Things I never did and thought I would:

-Camping - I bought a fancy sleeping bag and pad so I could sleep on glaciers, and even

brought a tent all the way here. Tent never used, sleeping bag got used in maraes instead of on glaciers. Frankly, camping alone just sounds like a hassle

-Horseback riding - suggested to each of my visitors, but never happened.

-Never quite found Gollum

-Never made it south of Te Anau, I'll just have to come back to see you Dunners and

Stewart Island and the Caitlins

-Fact I'm most upset about - never snuggling a baby sheep

Part Two of this Finale coming your way shortly.....but first in a reverse 100 days of Beall edition, things I'm not going to miss in NZed -

1) Fighting mold constantly all winter

2) Towels never drying in winter

3) Living so far from friends and family

4) Fried pies, especially of the meat variety

5) Baked beans or spaghetti on toast for breakfast

6) Expensiveness of food, books, movies, clothes

And the real 100 days of NZed edition -

-Southeast Asian food of all varieties - I had to move to New Zealand to start to like Indian food and my favorite restaurant here is Malaysian

-The Wellington Waterfront - such good people watching, gorgeous on sunny days, and tons to do

-The amount that people talk/know about wind. Never in my life have I used the terms "Northerly" and "Southerly", and especially not on a daily basis

-No matter the time of year boots and floral skirts are in season

Okay, Part Two shortly....