I hit a new low (or high, its matter of perspective) yesterday when I tried lard for the first time. Not disguised in the pasta or salami I eat, but literally straight lard. We went to a famous butcher, Dario Cecchini, in Panzano in Chianti who is quite the character. As you walk in there is opera music playing and you are greeted with a glass of wine and free samples of salami, olive oil and salts, and of course the lardo. This is cured lard with spices and the particular kind we had was used as a spread on bread. It was pretty delicious but one taste was enough; I could hear my arteries screaming as I swallowed.
My spring break consisted of Barcelona for four days and Dublin for three. It was a crazy week of no sleep and meeting wonderful people. I realize a little more everyday that these travels, and this trip is all about relationships. We met a guy from England named Harry who ended up hanging out with us everyday in Barcelona. We had two guys from Boston take a picture of us on the top of Gaudi's park and we ended up walking around together and talking for a while. Then randomly saw them again in the middle of Barcelona. The odds? Low, yet you get this feeling that people come into your life for a reason when events like that occur.
Another student we met in Rome on the Spanish Steps has been studying in Dublin and when we were there he was able to show us around. We continue to make aquaintances with people we may or may not ever see again but the warmth we have felt from even their brief encounters is a memory I will always have.We managed to sit in the rowdy section of a Siena soccer game where ladies got in for only 1 euro...because it's Italy. We celebrated a birthday at this beautiful jazzy tea room where we danced to Frank Sinatra. I got caught in the dragon contrada's parade during the picking of the palio contradas. I have finally made it in with the baristas at the coffee place I go to every morning. Luca is the man who works in the afternoon and told me I go in there enough I should probably learn his name. The woman who works in the morning knows my order by heart and always laughs when I ask for two shots of espresso. I met a man at the market this morning from Arezzo who had all of his salami and pork products for sale. He gave me enough samples to count for lunch and when I finally bought only a 2 euro package of meat, he didn't care, and gave me his card. I walked behind two old women holding hands because not only were they best friends but they were holding each other up, and probably not just physically.
In Dublin, I broke off from the group and walked along the Grand Canal for a solid hour, thinking about my life and this trip. I looked up just in time to see a tree in front of me covered in flowers and trinkets and signs with sayings about friends, family and love. I automatically assumed it was a memorial to someone who had died, like in America where there is a memorial on the side of a road. But as I searched and searched the tree for some sign of reason I came to realize the only reason it was decorated and celebrated was just because. People were celebrating love together at this common tree with no other purpose than to make someone else smile.
Studying abroad makes you realize a lot about yourself and others. You see who you want to keep in your life and what things will make you happy. I've learned that happiness is something all too often taken for granted or replaced with other things. I've learned that people and connections and relationships are what make this world go around and that those experiences are what I truly want out of life. I was sad for a while thinking that I only have 6 weeks left in Europe before I realized that all of life is an adventure, wherever you are. Your attitude determines so much in life and as long as I can have adventures, have those relationships I want and love something - whether or not that is a person, a career, or something else - then happiness will always be there. I told Mackenzie my dad's saying: that a person needs something to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. We all agree that this trip has solidified the reality of that statement.
Jenny gave me a book before I left that I have re-read a lot while being here. It's called "As a Man Thinketh" and she told me how inspirational it was. Proving once again we are soul mates, reading it was one of the most inspirational things I have ever experienced. The entire book is dedicated to showing how one thinks determines their reality. Positive thinking means a positive life; circumstance is a product of your mode of thinking. It was a great book but one chapter stuck out the most to me. It was about a certain group of people in this world sometimes cast as useless and unrealistic...the dreamers. The people who contribute beauty to a world that is already beautiful but that is often lost on those who don't take the time to look for it.
"The dreamers are the saviors of the world. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish."
I enjoy reading your posts, Meredith. Glad you're embracing all that Italy has to offer!
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