La giacca

"Ti sei tolto la giacca," says the bakery lady (baker... bakeress? boh.) at the little bakery where I go pretty much every morning for a nice little fresh roll.

I glance down, and remember that I did indeed choose to leave my jacket at home today, electing to walk to school in just jeans and a sweater. It's a good 60 degrees out, though, so I don't really feel that it will be a problem, even though i Reggiani are still all bundled up in their scarves and whatever else.

I nod and smile stupidly, unprepared for this exchange and thus unable to formulate an appropriately friendly/humorous response.

"Non dovevi," she continues, "I took my jacket off when I went for a walk yesterday evening, and now I have the sniffles. See?" she turns away to blow her nose. The other bakery lady nods sympathetically.

"Infatti," she says.

I continue my idiot nodding and smiling routine.

"You have to wait another few weeks, okay?" the first bakery lady counsels me, handing me my receipt. What's great about these two ladies is that despite my continued inability to converse like a normal person during these sorts of brief exchanges at the cash register, they still always chat with me. I wish there were a non-awkward way of thanking them for their patience.

"Si, forse è meglio," I agree, finally managing to mumble a semi-intelligible sentence. "Grazie, buona giornata!" I rally, because this is my stock phrase for people in stores (or anyone, really) and I am totally brilliant at saying it by now. (Um, not that it's in any way difficult, but whatever.)

"Anche a te!" they smile back at me. "Remember - put on your jacket!"

Aw. You know that stereotype of Europe where people go in the same little shops to buy their food every day and eventually they are friends with the people in the little shops and they ask after each other's families and all that kind of thing? It feels kind of like that.

The next time I go to the bakery, I wear my jacket.

Take two

Okay, so, now I think it really is spring. The trench coats have come out (speaking of which, does anyone know how to tie the tie thing so that I look neither obese nor retarded? I just can't seem to do it...) and today I wore ballet flats senza calze and didn't even get weird looks. Huzzah!

In other news, mia mamma is coming to visit and I'm meant to send some winter clothes back with her so that I don't have to haul everything back myself when I leave again this summer. The thing is that in order to do that, I kind of need to deal with the fact that I'll actually be leaving. Which... okay, well, I won't get all melodramatic about it, but... yeah. Boo. (That's me not being melodramatic, see.)

Oh, the life choices. I hate making choices. People who know me in real life will tell you that I'm not even capable of picking which pizzeria place to go to. Or which exit to get off of on the highway... which may contribute to the amount of time I spent lost and/or making u-turns. But those are little things. So little in comparison to this sort of choice. US or Italy? Medicine or... some other (very) vaguely defined career path? Sleeplessness and stress or gallivanting around on the weekends, occasionally bored?

I don't know. I really don't. Being unable to commit to sending a couple of wool sweaters home just underlines that fact.

Then again... come on, self. Just pick yourself up off your arse and deal with it. There are people in the world who have real problems.

Just kidding

Says Reggio. About the springtime, I mean. Apparently up in Albinea there were 70 cm of snow last week. Here in the center a bit less, but still...

The Duomo seems slightly overwhelmed. Also, if I were five, or had access to a five-year-old to share the snow with, I would have SO MUCH FUN playing on that pile of snow.

And also, tromping into school on foot and acting as the emergency snow phone chain in a foreign country? Something else I can check off my list of Things to Do in life.

Springtime!

Let it be known that springtime has come to Reggio, despite what the return of the uber-fog may tell you. I know this because on my way to work on Monday, I noticed that the little cafe off to the right of the theater had put out its tables and chairs. (Marginally related: have they changed owners? Where is the lady with the really long black hair who calls everyone "bimba"? Also, I don't think they even had outdoor tables and chairs last year. I am confused.)

Yesterday we sat out and had our first outdoor coffee of the season at the little cafe under the school. Yay for coffee in the sun.

Today the uber-fog is back, but it's okay, because you can see the springtime off in the not-so-distant distance. Um. Metaphorically. Or something.

Love

Kind of loved being a teacher today. Maybe because I spend the day in an extreme sleep deprivation-induced fog. Maybe because of the recent med school business has reminded me that these could be my last few months doing this. I'm not sure.

One student was his usual lovely self. Another was his usual nitpicky self but my superior knowledge of grammar and - dare I say it? - burgeoning didactic skillz managed to satisfy him. A third burst in halfway through the second lesson just to say 'hello! hi! ciao! come va? how are you? ciao!' And with the last guy we spent another half hour after the end of the lesson just talking because we forgot to end the lesson. And I think I forgot to give him homework. Oops.

Anyway, though. I kind of wanted to hug them all. Not really sure why...

How lovely is that, though? How many people can say that they smiled when they sat down and reflected on their day at work, and are happy to go back tomorrow?

Check in with me tomorrow when the alarm clock goes off, but in the meantime... isn't that nice?