Last Day

I thought that I would enjoy blogging while abroad a bit more but I've found it to be more cumbersome than anything. There is something disenchanting about trying to put these sorts of experiences to words. It never quite reads as "magically" or as profoundly as I would like. Instead it just seems to come off as a litany of places I visited and things that I did. In reality traveling is always more.

Since my last post I visted Viterbo which is a larger town about 20 minutes away by car. We had a walking tour with a history professor named Massimmo (which means "the greatest"--imagine how cool it is to be named "the greatest"). I bought a knit purple dress from a market that we walked through and haggled the price down two euros (obviously I am no pro). One of the most memorable moments was when we passed this iron rod that was FILLED with Masterlocks. We asked why and the professor explained that couples come to this particular rod and place locks on it and thrown away the key to profess their love to each other. I appreciated the metaphor. We ended the day with a really delicious gelato (hazlenut and coffee for me).

The rest of the week there were papers to write and finals to take for us. The one noteworthy experience was my first shot and taking a dip in a hot spring near Viterbo. The hot spring was literally a giant hole in the ground in what looked like a rural parking lot. The first few steps out of the car toward the hot spring was almost unbearable given that it was 40 degrees outside and raining. Once I got into the water though it was extremely relaxing. The water was full of weird algae and white sand and smelled slightly of sulpher, but it was soothing nonetheless. Unfortunately when I got out of the water I started to black out. Someone here told me that it has to do with a rapid change of blood pressure when going from extreme hot to extreme cold. In any case, when I got out of the water everything got blurry, then started to move, then slowly a black cloud with white flecks started to take over my vision and my ears started to ring and feel like they were filled with water. I had to hold onto the side of the car for a while and be helped into the car where I lay completely still for 10 minutes until I subsided. Almost passing out is the worst feeling ever, but I'm glad I managed to stay conscious. I definitely don't regret going--and my skin is still really soft from the spring water.

Today, my last day in Tuscania, I'm not sure if I want to stay or go. I miss eating eggs and bacon for breakfast (ironically) and I miss speaking fluent English rather than this weird hybrid Spanish-Latin-Italian-broken English I've been speaking for three weeks. I miss my bed. I also miss a few people. But I don't miss the city, or city folk. There is something beautiful about the simple kindness of so many of the people I have met here and the slower pace and simpler way of life. Not to mention the beauty of the surroundings. I guess I'll be more aware of what I'll miss when I get back home.