202. Here I Go!

Posted on by gigisimeone

Now it’s for real. On Friday, I leave for a six-week adventure in Italy.

A year ago, I applied for and received Wellesley College’s Mary Elvira Stevens Traveling Fellowship, for my proposal for intensive language study and cultural immersion in Italy. According to the will of Ms. Stevens, Class of 1891, the Fellowship should go to someone with good temper, common sense, a strong desire to travel, and a deep love of beauty. I think I meet all those criteria. The goal of the Fellowship is to create “well-balanced young women” who will “live in a spirit of knowledge and understanding that will assure a reasonable degree of wisdom.” Perhaps that particular ship has sailed.

Bologna is known for its red brick, its landmark towers and its cuisine.

In planning this time away, I sought activities somewhat outside of the typical tourist fare. I will be starting with three weeks of intensive five-hour-a-day language instruction in Bologna, rather than Rome, Florence or Siena, where you hear our loud American voices everywhere. I will be taking a mosaics class in a little Umbrian village. I will spend two weeks exploring Calabria, the toe of the boot of the Italian peninsula, still relatively uninvaded by hoards of you-know-who. I joined WWOOF, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, in the hopes of being able to do some volunteer farm work. Because I have been to Italy so many times as a regular American traveler, I want to make sure this trip is different, to take full advantage of this incredible opportunity I’ve been given.

4th-century Sicilian mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale. Maybe I’m setting my aspirations too high?

Frankly, I’m scared to death. I am a socially anxious person, even in the little town where I’ve lived and worked for three decades. I love my routine, starting every day with a run or a swim, and ending with the evening lineup on MSNBC. I am too self-conscious and shy to use the bit of Italian I do know after 55 years of working on the language, starting with two years at Wellesley. All my artistic endeavors look like they were created by a kindergartener. God knows, I know nothing about farming and can barely keep my houseplants alive.

My last farming experience, 1956. (Note that the hairdo hasn’t changed.)

So to make the most of this experience, I will simply try to stop being me. I will force myself to use my (hopefully) growing fluency in Italian to communicate, rather than immediately reverting to English. I will create a new routine in a new neighborhood, if only for a while. I will try to throw myself into every experience, and not care if I’m lousy at what I’m doing. Rationally, I know that no one cares; I have to make myself not care, too.

My father, in a slight mangling of the idiom, used to say, “Our days are counted.” And he was right. At 72, my memory might be shot, but thankfully I’m strong and healthy (knock wood). I don’t know how many big adventures I have left. So it’s my vow to take full advantage of this one. I hope you’ll follow along.

Dancing with merry abandon by the Duomo in Milan. Will I join in this time?

19 thoughts on “202. Here I Go!”

  1. Have a wonderful adventure. I can only be an armchair traveler now but I intend to get as much vicarious pleasure from your journey to my favorite country as I can. Best Tama
    Sent from my iPhone

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  2. Have a wonderful adventure, Gigi! Can’t wait to hear about all of it, and especially the mosaic class.

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  3. You got this, Gigi!!! Your adventures-to-be sound wonderful, and I know you’ll make the most of this amazing opportunity!!! Btw, I have very clear memories of your artistic creations when we were little, and you were talented then, and I’m sure you still are!!!!

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  5. Gigi,
    I tried to comment on your blog, but was too challenged to do it.

    What a thrilling opportunity and what great goals for the trip. I hope you find the hidden you and new excitement. I’ll be here in Delaware County (We moved from Swarthmore several years ago.) eating my heart out with envy and waiting for your every post. Enjoy!
    Sarah Rehberg

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  6. YES! So excited for you and can NOT wait to hear about your adventures…and to see those mosaics!

    Enjoy, enjoy! Nancy

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  8. You are going to have so much fun! Living and learning one day at a time, you can do this. I am so impressed with your Alma mater, that this fellowship still lives on after so many years. Happy for you that you snagged it this year.

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  9. You are going to have so much fun! Living and learning one day at a time, you can do this. I am so impressed with your Alma mater, that this fellowship still lives on after so many years. Happy for you that you snagged it this year.

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  10. You are going to have so much fun! Living and learning one day at a time, you can do this. I am so impressed with your Alma mater, that this fellowship still lives on after so many years. Happy for you that you snagged it this year.

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  11. Oh, Gigi, this is so exciting! Congratulations on the Wellesley fellowship! I look forward to living vicariously through your travels. You never cease to amaze me! Safe travels and enjoy every minute of every new experience! I know you will.

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  18. Pingback: 204. Learning the Lingo – Gigi's Italia

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