I'm coming home!!

Short update:
1. Abe got a new job and will not get deployed.

2. I'm visiting lovely sunny California for 5 weeks. I arrive Dec 9th and leave Jan 14th. First order of business is to acquire a cheeseburger from In-n-Out or a taco de pescado from El Taco Nazo - I refuse to call them by their new name.

3. We are officially staying in Italy until June 2010. That's a whole year longer than planned and it pushes grad school back for me but it's a small sacrifice ; ). (I'm finally biting the bullet and taking the Bio GRE in Pordenone in April, most of you don't know but I've registered for that test at least twice before and I chicken-out both times)

4. I have an appointment at the Italian embassy in LA on Dec 10th. Hopefully, I can get all the necessary paperwork before I leave to get a visa and possibly a work permit.

5. I turn 25 next month. That is 2 and 5. Eeeck!

Misc.
I finished up my first Italian class last month and start the next one in the series in January. It really makes a big difference to learn with a teacher than to try to learn by myself. I can now conjugate verbs! -but only in the present tense. I have discovered Italian shoes! Personally, I never been a shoe person but this might be the country that changes me. Now, if I can only learn how to walk in them.

Che cosa fate di bello?

Here are some pics from the idle-ness of the last couple weeks:

These are from a hike we did in Val d'Oten between the Antelao and Marmarole range. We could barely walk at the end of this one. We decided 18 kilometers and 2200 meters is all we can do in one day without our legs falling off. I wobbled for days afterward.




View of Antelao


Val d'Oten where dolomite rock to the left (Marmarole) meets limestone to the right (Antelao).

View of Mt. Pelmo from Forcella Piccola

These are from a very short trip to Verona. All that driving (6hrs roundtrip) was almost worth it for the miso soup. La prossima volta, andiamo in treno. We did a whole lot of walking in the rain looking for the Galleria d'Arte Moderna and never found it. We had awesome Japanese food and called it a day. That is one of the things I miss about the states; being able to get any type of food within minutes.



Frescoes in Sant' Anastasia.

Now if I only knew how to play chess. We went to the medieval town of Marostica to see a play in which two dudes fight over a hot babe. Winner takes the hot babe, loser takes her little sister. Pffff.

Hay moscas en la casa

I need recommendations for reading material; I want to read a non-educational and addicting novel.
Any suggestions?? Some of my old favorites are Poisonwood Bible, Kiss of the Spider Woman, & To Kill a Mocking Bird.

The last few books I've read:
Blessed Unrest (currently reading)
1491 (recommended by Charles)
Botany of Desire (recommended by Pam)
Collapse
Watchmen (graphic novel recommended by Abe)
Kingdom Come (graphic novel recommended by Abe)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass (because Burton is directing the movie!)
The Art of Happiness (recommended by Susana)
La Reina del Sur (only got half way through, spanish reading is difficult for me and it's 640 pages long!)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (because I wanted to read it before I saw the movie)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Underwater to get out of the Rain

On the Queue:
Your Inner Fish
Natural Acts
Heart of Darkness

I need something good!

Short update:
1. Abe is most likely getting deployed to Iraq in January. Ay ya yay....I'm hoping for Korea but it seems unlikely. Merda!
2. I signed up for Italian classes because I am bad self-learner.
3. I started running again. I've gained like 10 lbs with all the baking...Ay ya yay #2 (When my Padre saw the picture of me with the Dino prints *see below*, he said, "Esta gorda la guey". Don't worry we use 'guey' as a term of endearment- I laughed for days)
4. It's hot as hell here and the flies are going nuts!
5. I can't sleep.

muddy Mt. Pelmo and the dino tracks

Gentianaceae, Gentiana brachyphylla

Pelmetto side of Mt. Pelmo with fossilized dino tracks at the base.


Six individual sets of fossilized dinosaur tracks @ 2050m. This chunk of rock broke off the Pelmetto.

View of the Val di Zoldo valley from the base of the Pelmetto with the Civetta in the background.



Gymnadenia odoratissima

In a sea of dwarf mountain pine.

Carne sin asar a 2000 metros de altura.

View of the Marmolada.

Note to self: Buy some hiking boots!

Spalti di Toro-Monfalconi

2.5 sweaty hrs and 700m later

next stop: Middle School...AHHHH!

Aydee's graduation from Allison Elementary. Mille grazie Nany per essere mia ambasciatore.

Babe, you are too cute even with the "Caution" tape in the background. Maybe it's foreshadowing...I can't believe you are growing up so fast. ::Sniffle::

Mia bella Nany e mia sorella. Me encantan los diseños florales de mi padre.

Mio padre e mia sorella celebrating the best way possible...In-n-Out.
Could the look on my Dad's face be any better?

Camping in Hrvatska, the cheaper way to do Europe

In order to avoid becoming a mojada (literally -since I crossed the Atlantic) in Italia we drove out of Italia into Slovenia and into Croatia. We stayed at a pimped out campsite about 5km south of Umag on the Istrian Coast. We camped under the oak trees among folks from all over this side of Europe. Walking among the sunbathers was a little like taking the bus to UCLA, where no one is speaking English or any other language I understand. I apologize for the lack of pictures I was too paranoid to leave my precious on the rocks while I swam in the calm crystal clear Adriatic. I've resumed sprinkling some italiano into my writing since I've received complaints. You know who you are...Douglas!

Pine trees on the coast...water dispersal? Not likely.


Sun bathing on the rocky coast of the Croatian Adriatic, at least you don't get any sabbia in your costume de bagno.

Why can't I get a simple sorriso out of mio marito? How does he do that with his upper labbro?

Reading up on who murdered the mountain gorillas in the Luglio issue of National Geographic.

Croatian lichen action... :) One of the most beautiful organisms on Earth that goes unnoticed...thanks, Dr. Werth for teaching me to appreciate these freaks.


Dov'e mio Speedo? Wearing board shorts here is like wearing a flag that says "Hi, sono Americano!"

my f-ing shitty shoe in Venezia

we require infinite amounts of macchiato e gelato

I unknowingly tracked dog merda all around the Galleria d'Arte Moderna...
I spent the rest of the day trying to get it off and suffering the teasing from Dr. Scofield and Mr. Marquez

"no photos!"
there are too many casts of this 'Thinker' dude, I got overly excited for no reason

Museo di Storia Naturale was chingon!
still no photos...



Piazza San Marco

pigeon attack in front of Basilica di San Marco



Piazzetta San Marco


another 'Thinker' pondering tourist-y questions in front of Santa Maria della Salute