I'M PACKED!!
It didn't take too long. I don't have a terribly large amount of stuff with me. That might explain why every day of my life is the coldest I've ever been and I end up asking why I didn't bring more warm clothing. But that's neither here nor there. And at least I have the warmth of Ohio to look forward to, right? (Ohio has carpet and central heating. Italy does not. So really it might end in a draw.) All I really have to do now is go to Rome on Saturday morning, hang out in Rome, and then leave Sunday morning. That should be easy enough, right?
So, with the discussion of leaving aside, I of course have to further analyze Margherita. What an interesting character. The other day she came into my room holding what appeared to be a large bunch of fake cherries. Of course, she did not offer me any explanation as to why she had these cherries and she threw them onto my open laptop. Actually, before throwing the cherries at me, she walked through my charger cord and proceeded to drag the charger and converter across the room with her. She always manages to do things like that. If something can be spilled, broken, toppled over, banged into, or otherwise disturbed in anyway, by God, she will find a way to do it. She also falls down a lot. That should be noted. Right, so she throws these cherries on my lap top. I told her that I was doing homework, which I was, but she didn't seem to care very much. She told me that I had 10 minutes to report to the studio. I complied. Instead of counting up to 10 minutes aloud like she usually does, she went into the other room to do it. I could still hear her. I always follow rules, so I went into the studio 10 minutes later. Margherita was sitting at a table, wearing a knit page boy hat and gloves. In front of her were these little plastic cherries. She was cutting off the tops so that just the cherry and not the plastic stem could be put in a box decorated with teddy bears. Cherry Harvest. She told me that my job was to separate the cherries from one another and then she would go about cutting off the tops. I asked her at least 6 times why we were doing this and she kept telling me to not worry about it. Oh, and she also didn't think I was doing a very good job at cherry separating. We played this game for maybe 15 minutes before Barbara came in, took one look at what she was doing, and made her stop. There was no yelling or screaming or tears; it was a very calm "You have to ask mommy before you do things like this." Because were they a part of her Christmas decorations? Of course they were.
I like to tell stories about Margh's nuances because they are fascinating and hilarious. Sometimes, though, I will encounter who people who say things like Ok, but you know that you're going to miss her when you leave. Well YEAH of course I am. When did I ever say that I don't care about her or I dislike her? She's just a science project, is all, and I have to constantly tell people what she's up to so that we can all put our heads together and make sense of her. I know that she understands that I leave soon but I don't think Arianna does. Last night as I was leaving, their grandmother asked me when I go. I said Saturday. Arianna looked up at me and said, "Wait, where are you going?" And it was this terrifying moment of realization-very akin to leaving Chester but not really being able to explain to him where I'm going and why. So I said "uhh, the United States" and her grandma said "she's going home." And poor baby girl looked so confused. And then I said ciao and I left.
Last night was our final dinner for the program. I ate a sickening amount of food. On the way to the restaurant, I ran into Luca and Chiara, two of my favorite Siena characters. Luca wished me luck in case I don't see him again before I leave and he asked me to please keep in touch and send e-mails. And that pretty much melted my heart because Luca is the best and of course I want to stay in touch! Especially when Chiara has their baby and they realize that the only practical name to give it (regardless of gender) is Katie.
Where are my children? And why haven't they ran in my room and jumped on my bed, told me to get off the computer and then take me by both hands into the studio where I will sit and laugh at them and ask Margherita why I always have to cook and she gets to plant the garden when we play house? Oh, I've also started shouting "No way, girlfriend!" to Margherita. I think it's really funny when she can't understand me and gets frustrated. Because I'm like, welcome to my life...
In 4 months my stomach still hasn't gotten used to no snacks. So. Hungry.
Lesson: Eat a big lunch, I guess.
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