Hey e'rybody! Sorry, I haven't had internet in a while. I'll catch you up on what's happened since last I wrote.
After we finished up our genealogical research in Mosezzo and Romentino, we decided to go to Siena for a couple of days. Siena is an absolutely beautiful medieval walled city in Tuscany. It's like a smaller, more compact version of Florence. One of the gates of the city is called Porta Romana, because it faces towards Rome. We stayed with a nice girl out in the tuscan countryside. We walked through the insanely beautiful tuscan hills in the morning to get to the bus stop, and then took the bus into Siena. I love Siena so much, because it's full of narrow streets, insanely beautiful churches, and old Roman-era buildings. It's also home to the Palio. The Duomo of Siena is the most beautiful church I've ever seen in my life, and it's worth a google search! Check it out! We also listened to an opera singer practicing in a house, who we could hear from the street.
Then we went down to the Eternal City, Rome, to visit my friends. We went to a ward activity in the park, and it was awesome to see all the members again. Rome never loses its magic for me. Every time I go I'm always amazed by the cohabitation between the ancient and the modern. The freeway passes right between the pillars of the acqueduct, and new shops and buildings are built right alongside crumbling ruins 2,000 years old. It truly is the Eternal City, because on the same street you can see buildings from the Roman era to the modern era, and every era in between. For a history freak like me, Rome is like a playground. My favorite thing is to lose myself down a random street in Rome, because without fail I always stumble upon something amazing. Some ancient church or obelisk or Roman temple or beautiful plaza that I've never seen before. Rome never gets old! This time, we were crossing the bridge that leads to Castel Sant'Angelo, and we ran into an entire Roman Legion! They were all dressed in authentic Roman legionnaire armor with banners, and were marching in formation singing Latin battle hymns. They're part of a historical group that reenacts pieces of Roman history. Let me tell you, if I lived in Rome I would be front and center among those legionnaires, no doubt about it.
Then we went down to Bari. We visited some of my favorite places in Puglia, including Alberobello and Polignano. Please please please PLEASE do a google search of the following cities: Alberobello, Matera, Polignano, Ostuni, Lecce, Salento. If you do, you'll see why Puglia is my favorite region of Italy. It's simply the best! It has all of the Southern Italian culture that I love so much, but without the chaos and corruption of some other Southern cities. Bari, for example, is a big city, but it's really chill and calm, not chaotic like Rome or Napoli. The people in this region are so hospitable, warm, and friendly. The food is the best food I've ever tasted. It's full of amazing beaches and incredible historic sites. The climate is very sunny and warm. Life is just more laid back and enjoyable here. For a southern Italian, all of life revolves around two things: Family, and food. Everything else, including work, are only of value to the extent that they allow one to provide for their family and eat good food. With such a laid back and family-friendly lifestyle, how can one NOT fall in love with these people? I never want to come home!
Anyways, then I put my mom on a train and sent her back up north to Milano, where she got on the plane and returned home. I'm still here, doing my internship. Now I'll tell you about the house I live in, and my internship.
Bari's the big city nearby, but I live in a village called Triggiano and I work in another village called Capurso, both a short ways outside of Bari. I take the train to Capurso every day to work, and to Bari to go to church, visit members, go out with the missionaries, go to the beach, and to visit Feltrinelli. Feltrinelli is basically the mother of all bookstores. It's like five Barnes and Nobles on top of each other. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time there. Anyways, I'm renting a room in an apartment in Triggiano. The owner of the house is named Anna. She's an architect and interior designer, and so her house is amazing! I feel like I live in a museum! Every inch of space is decorated with antiques and amazing little trinkets that she's brought back from various parts of the world. I feel like I can't touch anything, because I don't want to spoil the incredible decorations. It's a four story house, but each floor only has one or two rooms. Basically, it's a normal sized house that was built upwards instead of outwards, so to go from room to room you have to go up the stairs. I'm going to have Arnold Schwarzenegger legs by the time I'm done, because several times a day I have to climb up to the fourth floor to get my food out of the cupboard, then down to the first floor kitchen to cook it, then back up to put the food away. Anna is a very educated and well traveled person. I'm helping her improve her Spanish and English, and in return she's teaching me Barese, the dialect of this region. Unfortunately, on my mission I only served one transfer in Bari, so I didn't have enough time to pick up the dialect. It's an interesting dialect, and I'm having fun practicing it with her.
As far as my internship goes, there's a TON to learn! In a couple of weeks I'm sure I'll be up to speed and establish a rhythm, but for now every day I'm cramming my head full of new information. I'm basically learning how a translation agency works from the ground up. Oh, and to take a line from the Hail Mary, "Blessed am I among women". That's right, I'm the only dude in the whole office. They're all women! Yet another reason why I never want to come home :p
Well, that's about it! Sorry this was a long entry. I hope not to get behind anymore. Thanks for reading! I was waiting to upload the pictures before I posted this, but the pictures are taking forever to upload, so I think I'll just publish this, and then publish the pictures later as soon as they're uploaded. With this internet connection, it'll probably be a couple of days.
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