Perugia

I jumped in Perugia again.

around

Spent a day in Orvieto and two days in Florence; a sweet break from small town life in my medieval village. When I returned from Florence to my train station, one of the local taxi drivers, whom I've talked to several times when I've been at the station, told me that the bus drivers were on strike. Since people are extraordinarily kind to me -- all the time -- he gave me a lift home, gratis.

Two Year Anniversary

It's been two years to the day since I quit my last "real" job. Back then I worked in a windowless green room with four others in gray-green cubicles surrounded by storage boxes, binders, and fluorescent lighting.

Two years later, I have traveled over fifty thousand miles, set foot on three continents, and today, eaten my way through a lovely dessert festival in my medieval village in Umbria. I wake up to a stunning view, and every evening, enjoy a stunning sunset. Friends come and go, and this place changes their lives too.

Lots of people wonder how I do what I'm doing. To my amusement, many assume I have independent wealth (the answer is, I have none in my pocket, a plethora in my life). Last year, I made a fraction of what I made two years ago (all right, so I only worked three months). But it's all I needed to take five months to live in a foreign village. If you think about it, it likely costs me less to live here than it does for you to live there. I eat local produce, frugally use the natural resources available to me, and I take public transportation.

Life is made up of choices. You choose where you go or you choose where you stay. You choose to work in a place or to leave it, to listen to your heart or to follow the bank. You see my mantra on the column to the right? Life is what you make of it. I know I'm in charge and so are you. We just have to act like it.

La Festa del Dolce

This is the sweet life: we had a two-day dessert festival in town this weekend with stands from small villages all over Umbria with free samples of all their local desserts and wine. Our town got decked out with flags, and a horse parade this morning followed by a marching band this evening. My first stop was our own pro loco and the sweet woman there, Giuseppina gave me a plate full of cakes, cookies, and biscotti. Then she heard I had a friend in town and she filled up a second plate for me to bring home (he's out of town). I wandered the rest of the stands and tasted donuts, cookies, biscotti, and a delicious torta di fiori which had custard, chunks of chocolate, and liquor in a yellow cake base. Yum.

More on housing

Adam sent me an email with the following link, and two simple words: "come back!"

Sounds tempting, Adam, but even with the subsidies, living on a teachers' salary in NYC is just asking for a lot of suffering. And then you'll have to take me to dinner at Blue Ribbon to make up for it. But wait, you guys are leaving for MUMBAI!

Then I got this email from the NYC.gov site. I'm on their housing list and get excellent updates about new "affordable" buildings and units for sale and rent in the city.

HARLEM THREE-FAMILY HOMES AND CONDOMINIUMS
[...] Park West Condos LLC is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for three three-family homes at 533 West 147th, 537 West 152nd, 450 West 153rd Streets and for five condominium apartments located at 539 W. 144th Street. These properties are being offered through the Homeworks/203K Program and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

For more information, go to The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Are the signs pointing to New York?

Listing Square: No Fee Apartments

If you're looking for an apartment in NYC, go to Listing Square: "Listing Square will help you find a 'no fee' apartment in New York for FREE. Our listings include all the information you will need and are posted only by Landlords. We also provide rental tips and links to other web resources that you'll find useful in the process of creating a new home in Manhattan."

They give you exact addresses for apartments for rent directly by landlords and building managers, they fill you in on whether or not you can have pets, tell you everything you have to bring with you, and when you can see the apartments. Save yourself the broker's fee!

more adventures

After gawking at Perugino's Adoration of the Magi and a few small churches, Craig and I stopped in an eyeglass store in Citta della Pieve. We asked about Craig's prescription and the guy working there quickly shuffled us into his back examination room. He gave Craig a quick exam (free, after all, this is Italy), measured his prescription, and cleaned off his glasses. Then, he swept me towards the seat so he could check my eyes when I mentioned not being able to read the charts. He insisted, and sat me down and tested a few lenses on me. "Raise your prescription," he commanded. No reason to walk around unable to see.

Next day, we visited the Palazzo dei Priori and Etruscan museum in Perugia. This time, my new friends Antonio & Laura met us for drinks, and with Spring, all the cafe's had plenty of outdoor seating. We managed not to get sick on the speeding bus on windy roads all the way home.

Tomorrow he's off on his own adventure while I sleep in... or maybe do some work.

Buona Pasqua

Easter is not a holiday to be spent alone. So my sweet friends Marco and Vanessa invited me to their house for a family lunch, then out for a walk in the country, and back to the house to watch "Meet the Parents" in Italian. We didn't get very far with that until they were interrupted, and I left to go to a special market with Marco's mom Barbara and our friend (and my landlady) Daria. I skipped on buying delicious sausages and wheels of cheese, but did purchase a beautiful cutting board made of olive wood.

Name that Tune.

This is just one of those really cool things I have to share. SONGTAPPER lets you tap out a song using your space bar (say for example, you had one stuck in your head and couldn't figure out the name of it)... and it works! You can also teach it songs if it doesn't know yours.

I tried Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and it came up (along with a few others like Clocks by Coldplay).

Then I tried Puff the Magic Dragon. Also worked, but more interesting is that the beats match the William Tell Overture, Yellow Submarine, and Zelda by Nintendo among others. Very interesting!

Good Friday

My little medieval town is well known for the Catholic holiday events they hold, like the live nativity scene at Christmas. For Good Friday, there's a procession with three enormous crosses, Jesus, and Madonna. The town band is out to play, and the entire village walks through the town with candlelit torches.

Hitting a plateau

My caro amico in New York, who taught me Italian for a few weeks -- six years ago -- sent me an email warning me:

"I'm sure you are picking it up rapidly. I bet each day it gets better and better. Be prepared for plateaus. Watching TV helps. Listening to the radio helps too. A boyfriend is probably even better."

And he's right: I've leveled off with what I've been able to pick up talking to the locals. Now I'll start borrowing movies and listening to my lesson tapes. Maybe try to read my cooking magazine I picked up, or Cerami's Fantasmi that I brought along; a gift from my friend Peter in NY who is as much of an Italophile as I. I've never been much of a TV watcher, the radio is actually rather annoying, and well, the boyfriend prospect is in Rome!

Almost in New York

Doing things here that I often did in my beloved NYC helps bring a bit of the big apple to life to my sleepy medieval village. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by some friends to go to an art opening in nearby Orvieto. Vanessa, my architect friend, had designed the space for Giancarlo Savino's solo exhibition, Mal di Terra. There was plenty of prosecco, wine, and good eats, including a plate of chocolate chunks to be eaten with pastries. Oh, but there was a dog allowed in the gallery. Do you supposed they'd do that in NYC?

Say Yes.

Would you like to spend three unexpected days with family friends in Roma, Positano, and Pompei?

I went down to Rome planning to spend an afternoon there... then Sandy and Lori convinced me to stay overnight with them [note: it's never difficult to ask me to change my plans]. That led to a morning spent in brilliant sunshine on the Spanish Steps while they toured the Vatican, until I received a call at noon.

"We're heading to Positano this afternoon, leaving the next day for Pompei, and we booked a room for you."

Uh, yes. Amalfi coast? Yes, yes.
So there I was, a room with a view.

San Quirico

Last week I jumped in San Quirico. I also made Gianni pull over on the side of the road so we could get some Tuscany jumps in... Cute little town with a wall built in the 12th century, and the lovely Horti Leonini Garden.

Zzzzzs.

Is someone trying to tell me something?
In February, Kirk told me about lucid dreaming which I now realize I've experienced, but never connected it to what he was talking about at the time.

Five days ago, while browsing del.icio.us, I came across an article by Jon Bischke entitled "How to have a 36-hour day" in which he references Steve Pavlina's fascinating article about "How to Become an Early Riser" and about polyphasic sleep. I clicked to these pages in tabs but then I didn't get around to reading them and closed my browser.

A day later, I went to evhead, which I occasionally visit. I've followed Ev's work since his blogger days. Hadn't been to his blog in many months, and there it was, a post that also referenced Steve Pavlina's article. Maybe Ev saw the same article I saw via del.icio.us? It was surreal to come across it twice in two days.

So I read Steve's article and then I started reading about his experiment with polyphasic sleep, and he also references lucid dreaming.

Tonight I found out that this week is National Sleep Awareness Week. No kidding. And now I'm yawning. Did you just yawn too?

Jump Kauai

In December, my friend Michael Grecco took this photo of us jumping in Kauai for my sister's fakefunk jump project. His picture of Jet Li would certainly make the cut. Cool.

Killer Lasagna

I used to disregard photographs by Ansel Adams, thinking... "well, how can you take an ugly picture of a beautiful subject?" It's bound to come out beautiful. After seeing several exhibits of his works over the years, though, I grew to appreciate his printing technique.

Likewise, how can you make a bad lasagna with incredible ingredients? Trust me, there really isn't any technique involved. I sautéed the onions, shallots, garlic, and in with the sausages directly from the butcher's... then the tomatoes, spices, and herbs from my terrace. Simmer for nearly an hour. In the meantime, I also had totally fresh hand made pasta, the freshest ricotta you ever laid eyes on -- not packaged, I had to buy it over the counter by the gram, freshly ground parmesan, and buffalo mozzarella. Into the oven for an hour, take off the cover for 20 more minutes (to get that cheese nice and toasted)... and eccola!

How could this possibly come out bad? I ate an enormous piece. And then I had seconds.

Rilke Letters

I just came across this text, by Rainer Maria Rilke, from his Letters to a Young Poet, a book that Mike sent me when I was in Vietnam -- it was quite a memorable ordeal -- and though I've left it in the States, I'm aching to read it again.

The following text was found on the internet, and so I can't accurately credit the translation (I own the Stephen Mitchell version, who also translated my Tao Te Ching):

"We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors. If it has abysses, these abysses belong to us. If there are dangers, we must try to love them, and only if we could arrange our lives in accordance with the principle that tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us to be alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience.

How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races--the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses. Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are only princesses waiting for us to act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love."

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring Forward

For a week, we're going to be seven hours ahead of EST, ten ahead of California and five behind Vietnam... Italy observed Daylight Savings Time as of this morning so pay attention if you're going to call me!

Starting in 2007, the U.S. is going to extend DST, which was first suggested by Ben Franklin in 1784, to three weeks earlier (second Sunday in March) and end one week later than usual (first Sunday in November). We didn't catch on till WWI. Slow to learn, I guess.

On a grey day in Burano.

How could anyone not be happy living in a place like this? Even on grey days, it's quite colorful.

All mine.

I love the Italian table setting. By the time we're through with a meal, the entire table is covered in glasses. Here, I have one each for red wine, vin santo, marsala, caffe, and acqua. I skipped on Marco's homemade white wine, though I'd had it a couple of nights before -- delicious.

This was just lunch.

Benefit concert

Does it seem incongruous to you to watch an asian woman belting out tunes like "O mio babbino caro" and classics from Verdi's La Traviata and Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Italian? It was well done at the Autism Free benefit concert in Roma last night, where we watched Sumi Jo, a Korean soprano, perform at the auditorium conciliazione just down the street from San Pietro.

Buon Primavera!

Well, I know I always say I spend all my money on food and travel (what else?), and that I do my best to uphold the function and beauty rule, but the other day I went to the market with my friends Stephen and Elisa and I had to get myself this plant. Occasionally, when beauty is great enough, I make an exception.
Happy Spring!

On the subject of food.

While we're still on the subject of food... I spent most of today cooking. I turned most of what's in this bowl (items purchased from a truck that comes to town on Saturdays) into a colorful ratatouille and then I made a delicious tomato sauce for my fresh pasta using my herbs from the terrace.

Wednesday I'm having lunch at my friends' B&B and then I head to Roma for a musical concert in front of the Vatican.

Of Cravings

For a kid from a family so obsessed with food, I hate to admit it, but it's true. I am having a craving for mi goi... instant noodles. Yes, Kung Fu brand to be exact. It's the kind we grew up with. Luckily, JK brought sesame oil and soy sauce, while Ashley brought BBQ sauce and lemongrass for me. Still.
After I saw this picture that Souris took, I'm craving a burger, too.

Long live the Umbrians

Mmm, mmm, good.
Stephen, who runs the B&B down the street with his wife, Elisa, told me that Umbrians have the longest life span of all Europeans. They're renowned for their olive oil and artichokes. Ashley and Sarah and I think it might be because they close everyday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for their lunch and afternoon. Nice life!

Twelve states, two continents and one more year.

Another year gone by. Twelve states and two continents and 30,000 miles covered last year. My annual letter was designed in January but never distributed (a plethora of technical difficulties to be had here in Italy)... so here it is, at least in blog form with the last six years if you've any interest or time to kill.

The whole collection:
* 2005: Saigon, Vietnam to Kapa'a, Hawaii
* 2004: Rome, Italy to Saigon, Vietnam
* 2003: Santa Monica, California to Rome, Italy
* 2002: Sydney, Australia to Santa Monica, California
* 2001: London, England to Sydney, Australia
* 2000: Montreal, Canada to London, England
* 1999: ??? to Montreal, Canada

Office Space

View in 2004............View in 2005............View in 2006


The view from my office keeps improving (though I must admit, there might be some correlational affect on my income).

Hey, who's to complain? Not me. Not JK. Not Ashley or Sarah. No complaints to be had. Nuh-uh.

Somebody's got to play.

I wrote this email to my friend Desmond last night. We used to work together in a large windowless room divided by green cubicles.

I hope you [...] laugh when you think about the things I've been doing [...]:

Eating more homemade fresh pasta than you could shake a stick at
Drinking the best cappuccini in all of Italy every day for only 80 euro cents each
Sitting on my sunny terrace with a glass of red wine soaking in my soaring views of the mountains and countryside
Going to a private concert for 30 in a private palazzo built over 600 years ago, of a quintet playing Astor Piazzolla's tango music
Drinking home made limoncello and home made white wines made by my friends
And learning bad words in Italian.

Hey, I know. Life is hard. Somebody's got to play. It might as well be me.

places to go, people to see

Ashley and Sarah were here for a cobblestoned-street-packed week, and we took trips to Perugia, Citta della Pieve, and Assisi. My friend Gianni was sweet enough to drive us the hour out to Assisi (to drop us off!), I had a dinner party for my landlady and two friends (try making Vietnamese food in Italy... it's a challenge), and they in turn invited us to their stunning country home on the top of a hill for a pre-dinner gathering (as we also had dinner plans with another group of friends that same evening). A full week with men all over my girl friends. They all ask me now, "when are your friends returning?"