Sarah's Lessons from Lipari

So I'm nearing the end of my Italian journey and I can't believe how much I've managed to do and how many new things I've managed to try in the last week. Having been in Europe for almost two weeks now (wow that's hard to believe, it feels like a month) I've been thinking hard about what this year should mean to me and really what is it that I want to accomplish, who do I want to become because of this experience. I think I've really narrowed it down to the fact that I really want to figure out exactly what makes me, well me. The more experience I have and the more people I come across the better acquainted I seem to get with myself, deciding what I really do like versus what I really don't like, how I really feel versus how I think I feel or should feel because other people think like that. I really want to make the effort to stop caring and just do what feels good, to take self responsibility and stop being a P.C version of myself in front of people, and Europe really seems like a great place to do that, especially since I've been allotted this fresh start.

Things I have learned so far in Italy:

I do, and always will I think, hate fresh tomatoes, and they serve it on everything here, even when you ask not to have it

Always ask for EXPLICIT directions when trying to explore an Island that you don't know (otherwise you end up roaming around on the edge of a cliff looking for the ancient ruins that are hiding behind an abandoned building way up higher on the mountain. You get sunburned, run out of water and end up having to hitch hike home with a crazy Italian who doesn't speak a word of English, nor does he have any front teeth. Then you realize when you get home that you were in exactly the right place and you made the hike successfully only to have missed what you were hiking to see in the first place completely...not that I'm speaking from experience).

Italian wine is the best wine ever, it's smooth and easy going, France has good wine too, but it just seems a little more, shall we say, uptight? :)

Pizza in Italy, is the best thing ever, the cheese they use here is different from anything I've ever tasted (buffalo milk cheese), it kicks all manner of Chicago, New York and California Pizza's Asses

Italians and all Europeans for that matter, have no clue how to drive, do not use turn signals, pass on the right, left no matter what size of curve you are going around and be it blind or not.

It is good to have a local native on the island to buy you crap, there is a "tourist" price for everything, and a "islander" price. This price difference is usually enough to buy you a decent bottle of wine later.

Driving a vespa, is much harder than it looks, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, or you will die. They are heavier than they look and at the slightest bump in the road or pothole they tip and swerve...I have new respect for hell's angels riders.

When you hike up to the ancient city of Lipari, there is an ancient amphitheater that still has a stage in it...you must go out and sing on it, it is absolutely mandatory and the best feeling ever (even if it takes you 15 minutes to work up the balls to do it in front of all the other tourists)

It is necessary to learn at least a few words in the local language before arriving, because otherwise you stand around like a bumbling idiot pointing and grunting at what you want. That being said, if you speak French, you can usually pick up on about 20% of the conversation if you listen for key cognate words.

It is impossible to say goodbye to your in-laws, or stop in and have a quick visit with them; this always takes at LEAST 20-30 minutes.

During an intense lightning storm, it is best to travel to the tippy top point of the the island and watch the lightning illuminate the expansive view in front of you, highlighting all six of the islands in the distance for you to see. This will truly be the most majestic thing you have seen to date.

Do NOT let your relative or anyone for that matter talk you into the mud baths on the island of Vulcano (volcano island), they smell like shit from far away and like your wading in a pool of hot rotten eggs when you're in them. Also, do not go bathe in the sea after said experience, because it smells just as bad (since the sulfur that heats the mud, also heats the water).

Gelato is way better than ice cream, just way better and Limone is the greatest flavor ever

Homemade tomato sauce is incredible, the amount of tomatoes needed to be picked for this event and the production it takes to produce it, almost makes it not worth it.

My cousin Nattie, is the only European I know who can make a proper cup of coffee, thank god for personal espresso machines in the house...however a real Italian espresso, tastes like dirt and like you're chewing a coffee bean.

That's all for now, island life has certainly been an eye opener, and southern italian culture for that matter is a time era that exists in it's own frame of reference; very old world very black and white. I have enjoyed my visit here but I am very anxious to get back to France and back to my friends. I start teaching next Wednesday so I am so excited to have something to do! Mom has shipped over my ice skates from the states and I'm enrolling in ice skating classes in French (we'll see how that goes, theres a whole load of vocabulary I don't know yet). I'm already planning my next trips and working on my "bucket list" of things to do before I leave Europe. Pictures are below.

I love you, I miss you

Sarah♥

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