A Brief Hello

Hello. From Florence. Still. Since I met up with my friend here, I haven't really had a chance to get away and post. I suppose when I get home I will have to do a thorough post of my travels. Or barring that, I will just post a lot of photos.

Florence is amazing, but I have to say, I wouldn't live here. Maybe in the hillsides of the Chianti region, where we are going to visit tomorrow. Maybe in the Cinque Terre, along the coast, where we went yesterday. But not in Florence. It's a beautiful, historical place, but ultimately, it's just another city, and there are better cities to live in. Even Boston, if you can believe it.

That is all for now. Thursday, we're off to Greece, and I'm REALLY looking forward to that. I've somehow become a beach person. I think about laying about in the sun (or near the sun) a lot. Maybe it has something to do with my broken foot. Makes walking not that fun. so that's all for now.

Florence!

I'm in Florence. The rain has followed me, and so has my traveling companion, but she doesn't get into town for another few hours, and I have another few hours before they let me into our appartmente. So off I go, wandering the streets. Again. My foot still hurts.

In Paris, my six or seven years of French study came back to me, and I could form complete sentences when dealing with a person who didn't speak English. I could also read a lot of words, and everything pretty much made sense. I even watched several hours of TV and understood what was going on.

Here, in Florence, I haven't the faintest clue! The language sounds nothing like French, and there's little resemblance. My BFF, who traveled to Italy a few years ago, told me to just wave my hands around some more if the person I'm talking to doesn't understand me. Sounds like a plan.

Oh, and the keyboard here - way more like the American keyboard. Still different, but at least all the letter keys are in the same place and I can type away, punctuation aside, with similar speed as at home.

Paris, check

OK first of all, French keyboards are weird so you'll have to forgive the typos. After 3 days i've kind of gotten used to it, but not that much. This will probly be a short post b/c typing is a bitch.

Paris is, oddly, just as i remem:ber it from zhen i was here for an exchange when i was 15. I guess when these buildings have been around for hundreds of years, they're not going to change that much in 15.

The oddest thing that has happened was, on my first day, i just walked and walked and walked, trying to stay awake. when i finally decided it was a reasonable time to head back to the hotel and fall asleep, i hear a voice...excooz me...i think i went o school with you. Sure enough, she was in my corporations class last fall. CRAZY!!

Also, i've seen the mona lisa - against my better judgment, i fought the crowds in the denon wing of the louvre - and i'm never doing it again. Unless i can rent out the fucking museum and have the place to myself and maybe a hundred close friends.

It's been cold and rainy. I hate my boyfriend. I think I broke my foot. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with my friend in Florence. I forgot that I don't like traveling alone anymore. I mean, so much wine and no one to enjoy it with!!

Leaving...

My flight is this afternoon. My itinerary is: Paris, Florence, Greece (Ios, Mykonos, Santorini), Barcelona. I'm so excited! I'm not sure how to pack for a three-week vacation, but I hope I've done it. And I think I've left enough room in my suitcase for souvenirs and such. :) My only concern is that I'm flying a lot of budget airlines and they have pretty strict weight limits.

As for the boy - we've been spending a lot of time together this past weekend b/c of my imminent departure. I like him, a lot. I just worry, with good reason, that he doesn't like me as much and I'm just in his life so he has a girlfriend b/c he likes having a girlfriend. I don't know. Three weeks apart will be good in a way, I guess. Sometimes, despite his being really nice and affectionate, he's a complete tool. Like, last night, I'm trying to have a conversation with him about how much we should communicate, does he want me to email, etc. And he's like, oh, crack my back. Umm. Yeah.

So that's that.

My BFF and his boyfriend will be vacationing in Spain in September. I talked to him yesterday, and we said, see you in Barcelona. Oh, so cosmopolitan!

B&B

I know, I know, I seriously need to write less about the boy. But it's new and novel for me, and tremendously exciting. But I will stop.

So this weekend, I stayed at a B&B in NH. The first time I've ever stayed at a B&B. It was really gorgeous. It was in this remote part of NH - a lonesome place is not hard to find in NH - and the grounds were gorgeous. And the hills in the distance. And the firepit in the back. The room we stayed in was cozy and perfect - except for the shower in the bedroom like it was some slummy NYC apartment, just without the slum part. I guess there are erotic uses for such a shower, but trust me, I didn't take advantage of that. Besides the bathroom situation, the thing I wasn't expecting was having breakfast with other people. The first day it wasn't a problem b/c there weren't any other guests, but Sunday morning, there were 6 of us, all sharing a table and breakfast. Making small talk with strangers. True, I will have to do it for the rest of my life, but I just wasn't expecting it. Not that it was bad - it was a nice change of pace, and added a little variety to the weekend. Actually, I talked to a lot of strangers this weekend. It was just awkward trapped around this little table, each person so different, with different reasons for being there, different ideas of what to do for the day. OK, I guess it was kind of neat.

I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't, so I will share this from their website, which obviously was not taken in August of any year.

:-D

I think I just had an amazing weekend. I am in so much trouble. The boy and I went away for the weekend. And it was kinda great. I mean, it was, straight up, not kinda. It was weird. We went hiking, we went swimming, we went shopping, we had many meals together, alone, and some with other people at the B&B. We talked, we joked. He talked more than he ever has. It was weird. And by weird, I mean, well, kinda awesome. Straight up.

And just as I was starting to type this blog, he sent me an IM telling me he missed me. AAAH. I'm in so much trouble. Three weeks in Europe? They're going to be so freaking fun, but kinda hard, too.

I Hate Exes

My boyfriend (I'm starting to get used to saying that) is having lunch with his ex-girlfriend right now.

Yeah, it did strike me as unusual that he scheduled his work for so early this morning, considering he never goes to work before 10, hardly, and usually calls the shots when it comes to scheduling his jobs. And it was nice when he called me this afternoon as I was out running errands. But when I called him 15 minutes later to see if he had lunch plans, that was when he mentioned it. "I'm having lunch with an old high school friend of mine. She's in town for an interview. That's why I schedule the job early today."

He's told me about this girl. He has alternately referred to her as his high school friend, his ex-girlfriend, and the girl he cheated on. I think. And I know he has texted her late on a Saturday night while he was out, continuing the conversation when he got to my place. (No, I didn't take to that too kindly.) While he was I find it slightly unusual that he didn't mention this lunch date to me, I guess I don't tell him about everything either. I am slightly concerned that when telling me about this lunch date, he referred to her as "my high school friend".

Really, I should encourage his friendships because he doesn't have many of those around here. I just wish he would cultivate more friendships that didn't involve exes. Furthermore, I have every reason to trust him, except for the fact that he's a guy. And third, the paranoia is totally on my end.

So I guess I'm writing about it here in case the shit hits the fan and I can say, this is where it all went south. Except I don't really expect it to, but I'm still nervous. Ugh. I hate baggage.

Pit Stop Blog 2

First of all, it really wasn't that bad. But it didn't start out that great. It was SO humid on Friday morning, and the T made me late to catch my bus to NY so I could catch my second bus to the beach. By the time I got to the bus station, I was at the end of a very long line that kept getting longer. And I didn't make my bus, and the next one was an hour later. The bus station was not air conditioned and my back was like a swimming pool, so the choices were throwing a temper tantrum in the bus station, or spending way more money than I needed to buy a train ticket. So I bought a train ticket. I don't even want to tell you how much it all cost, but if I kept my rental car, things would have been SOOOOO much cheaper.

The train ride was so peaceful. The people are so much more civilized and there is just so much more room. I don't know why I would ever bother with the bus. And if your schedule is flexible, the train is only $20 more than the bus.

When I got to the final bus station on the other end, the Boy informed me that he was stuck in traffic 20 miles away. He said, well, you can wait for me, or someone can come pick you up. Seeing as how he was 10 miles north of the exit we needed to go to, and I was 10 miles south, the best solution was to have someone pick me up, despite my best efforts to avoid this outcome. It ended up being his mom and grandma. I nearly had a heart attack waiting for them to get there.

But the weekend ended up being great. His family is amazing. So welcoming, so outgoing, so funny, so fun! HIs grandfather is probably my favorite. He's just got this sense of humor I love. And he's really sweet and not as garrulous and overwhelming as some of his uncles. My second favorite relative was his grandparents' dog.

So yeah, I have realized that I am most at ease with pets and young children. They don't judge. They aren't deciding if you're good enough for their son / cousin / nephew. If you pet them or if you're fun and talk to them like an adult, then they'll like you. So yeah, I hit it off with his grandparents' dog and with his youngest cousin, who's entering the 8th grade.

Also, I think things went well. As we were leaving, his mom told me, I told [the Boy] I hope I get to see you again! And she gave me a hug and a kiss. Yikes. I just nodded.

Then we came back to Boston after an excruciatingly long car ride, and we went to my friend's going away party. He was amazing. I mean, for a guy who's shy and not very outgoing when sober.

I'm going to miss him while I'm away. Hell, I already do.

I think that the bar exam shut me down emotionally. I'm not sure if I've talked about this, but I mean, during month or two before the bar exam, after the first few weeks of dating the boy, I just felt dead inside. I felt nothing for him, none of the butterflies or the nervous pangs that would wash over me. Last week, I felt a slight twitter. Then this weekend, I've been incapacitated, knees weakened by these waves of emotion. I really felt it last night when we were going to bed. We were in the attic full of beds, his uncle and his mom and his brother sharing this large room with us. But they were all asleep b/c we had gotten back late, and I was about to roll over in the dark when he was suddenly there, kissing me good night. I couldn't sleep even though I was so tired, just from the jolt of excitement. Oh my gosh. And that's that.

Next up: trip home to see the fam, then another short jaunt to the cape, then a week and half puttering around the condo and preparing for my big European vacation. I was supposed to go to China in late September with my parents, but they don't want to go there anymore b/c they're afraid of poisoned food. We were going to go to Europe, but my parents decided on Asia instead - Japan, Cambodia, Taiwan... I'm SO EXCITED! But also tired. Also, too tan.

Long Walk

I am not pleased that I got up at 6am. Nor am I pleased with this funny feeling I've got. Crap, I haven't been this nervous since the first and last time I auditioned for a musical ... in 7th grade! Augh!

Pit Stop Blog

I just spent four days at the Cape, and am now home for the night before I catch two buses to go to the shore. Let me tell you a little bit about what I'm going to do this weekend, and you might understand why I am STILL awake, fretting about what to pack and how to pack it and clipping my toenails and plucking my eyebrows.

I am going down to spend the weekend with the boy...and his grandparents, his brother, his brother's best friend who also happens to be an ex-girlfriend, his mom, and probably some uncles and cousins...if I'm lucky. There's nothing really special going on; he is just a family guy and normally spends a lot of time down there. There may or may not be some big party on Saturday night. It's a bit unclear b/c he kind of mentioned some big family get-together party that coincides with some road race through town, and he's trying to play this off as not a big deal, but let's face it, I'm meeting the family and it's kind of a big deal. Because if it doesn't go well, it's not good. (On the other and, if it does go well, it's not exactly sealing any deal. Sounds an awful lot like a lose-lose situation....)

Anyway. My question to you is ... AM I RELIVING THE SUMMER OF 2006??? Just without the big fat paychecks and the endless nights out on the town, and the two- and three-timing. But more or less, this is my life last summer ALL OVER AGAIN. Yeesh.

If this doesn't work out, I'm dating an orphan next time.

If you've got any happy thoughts left over from the bar exam, please send them this way. At the very least, I seriously hope I don't get any more sunburned. I'm feeling quite warm already. but I've never been so excited about a tan line before. I normally don't care to be tan - during the course of the summer, I naturally darken from my assorted outdoor activities. But last week, I looked at myself and realized that I am pasty! Pasty yellow! So I kind of made it my mission to get tan this week at the cape. Done and done!

Ugh, I need to get to bed. Don't need bags under my eyes too!