Goodbye, Reggio Emilia

 

It's time to say goodbye to our little town of Reggio Emilia. But, before I do, I feel impelled to respond to my faithful readers.

My last post spurred quite a few people to write to me expressing loving concern. I appreciate you all, and you should all know I am okay (and Conan knows exactly how I feel). The purpose of this blog throughout the year is to keep you all updated and to also document the various aspects of this trip. Think about a typical two-week vacation: there are amazing sights, your energy is up and life is great, you have to leave, you're exhausted, etc. Travel for this many months also takes that rhythm, except you don't go home. You keep going. So that's where I'm (and we) are at. And, if you're really concerned and what to lift my/our spirits, feel free to donate to fun causes: @julianna-griffin-3 (Venmo). We'd love a hot air balloon ride; that would totally lift our spirits. Hehe.

Okay, so our last week here entailed a few things: basketball game in the stadium that Kobe Bryant's father played in (fun fact: Kobe lived here for many years! Way cool, and if you're inclined to watch a video of Kobe speaking about this in Italian, here you go: Kobe: Reggio Emilia). We also went and saw some cool human theater and because there were no more cheap tickets left, we ended up in a rich-person box! Of course, we didn't bring the phone for either of these events, so you'll just have to believe me.

Other than that, we did go to the town of Pisa to see that famous tower; Sila got a haircut; we got gelato and more gelato; and we did our normal routine: farmers markets to get an excessive amount of cheese and prosciutto, exercise, computer work, etc.

We're off to Salerno tomorrow, and we're excited for a new place for a couple more weeks, as well as to see some old stuff, which I'm sure I'll post about. Until then, happy Halloween, everyone! Oh, and I changed the setting on Sila's and my blog: I had it that you couldn't comment unless you have a Google account. If you're so inclined, you should be able to respond now. 

 

How Is It....Really?

 

So staying in one place doesn't really create opportunities for super-fun, awe-inspiring posts, so I thought I would just go more simple and discuss what travel like this (around the world...for nine months) is like.

Conan: could do this every day for probably the rest of his life. 

Julie: would fly home right now if you gave her (me) a plane ticket (and my house wasn't rented).

Sila: would also go home but only if he didn't have to answer any questions about why and if he could spend all day playing with his friends.

Hah! The above statements obviously don't capture each the wide range of emotions we each feel, but it's pretty close.

Traveling like this is hard. When we're in more developing countries, our existence turns more into survival mode: Where are we staying? How do we take the local buses/taxis? Where is the nearest grocery store? How do we do our laundry? What is the conversion rate, again? What are the dangers? What should we go and see? Is that man following us? Where are we going next? How long should we stay here? These questions, and many more, run through our heads daily and can be quite exhausting. 

Staying put--like we are doing now--comes with a whole other set of contemplations: we've been on the road only 2 months! We have six months left. I wish I were home doing ____. When we get home, we should ____. I miss doing _____. Fill in the blanks, but you get the point. How do we create a routine and have a sense of purpose each day? As you can see, staying in one place creates more mental space to think about what life back home is like and makes you miss it... a lot (except if you're Conan).

So there you go. This isn't the most exciting post, but it's real. I've included some pictures of some of the mini-adventures that have filled our days. We have one week left in Reggio Emilia, and then we're off to a town south of Naples called Salerno. I'll write again recapping this final week, but until then, try to enjoy where you're at--wherever that may be!

#1) Sila's creative time with an old bottle and some rubber bands.

#2) Both Conan and Sila have learned to solve the Rubix cube. It's maddening--some days they talk about it for hours.

#3) Forgot to mention we went to see AJR in Milan. Hard life.

#4) Conan's on a quest of all things Boethius (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boethius). He's visiting the town Boethius is buried in--Pavia. There is a street named after Boethius, too. 

#5) My travel shoes are kind of my favorite thing ever. So much color. 

#6) Excitement of the day--plunging our shower drain that is full of sediment and blockage!!

Our Tuscan Kitchen

 The title above is a more couth version of how I really want to title this: food porn. I'm not going to say much here; I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Goodbye, Sengal; Hello,...?

 

Okay, our last few days of Senegalese life ended with us spending a lot of time in the airport sleeping (our flight was 2:30 a.m. in the morning!). Prior to that, we busted out the last few days by spending time riding a four-wheeler through the salt flats, seeing the Pink Lake with Maria Pia's step-mom (which is only pink outside of the rainy season, so epic fail there), eating our last meal of pasta (we stopped eating all street food and stuck strictly to pasta for many, many days), and seeing a few museums. Senegal, you have been fun, but have mercy, it's time to go.

But where, oh where, did we go? Surprise, surprise.....Italy!!!! After about two days in Senegal, we realized there was no way we could last five weeks there, so we pushed up our tickets. Nobody knew we were going to Italy because it was a surprise for Sila. So, if we talked to you and said Kenya was next, we're sorry. We lied. Kenya is next--after six weeks in Italy!

After a few days in Venice (how about some extinction tourism?), we got the hell out of expensive land and settled in a little town called Reggio Emilia, a town very close to Parma, which is the "home" of Parmesan cheese. Ah-maz-ing. It's a quaint town, complete with many parks, a kick-ass Saturday farmers market, and three weeks (maybe four) of snuggling in to some chilly weather and easy living. We're already stressing about the money, but hey, if we go with our mantra of "Go where we want to go; see what we want to do; stay where we want to stay; do what we want to do," how can we not stay six weeks in Italy?