VV, I’ll Miss You Forever </3

October 24, 2014 ccandido1 Travel bugs, food, GMO, GMOs, italy, jungle, laundry, life in italy, living in italy, northern italy, passion

As my precious time in Italy has ended, I wanted to compile a list of what I will and won’t miss about living in the most incredible country in the world…

What I’ll Miss:

SECURITY: I have not sensed one ounce of insecurity on anyone; men cross their legs and hug each other, women dress stylishly yet comfortably, and everyone seems to eat and drink what they want (though in much smaller portions!).
SELF-EXPRESSION: Similarly, Italians are edgy! They’re not afraid to express themselves and don’t seem to worry about being judged. They rock crazy hairstyles, outfits, etc. – I give them a lot of credit!
PERSONAL SPACE: There is no such thing as personal space in Italy. Not only do people stand extremely close to each other, but it is also socially acceptable to stare. If someone looks at you too long in the US, it’s seen as confrontational (or, at minimum, creepy). I don’t get “skeeved” easily and I’m a fan of strong eye contact, so I’ll honestly miss these!
CLASS: Italians and Europeans in general are open, yet classy. Neither sex nor nudity is shameful, and they’re typically presented very tastefully. Exception: male speedos on the beach.. nothing tasteful about them. 😐
AFFECTION: Whether you’re an acquaintance, close friend, family member, or lover, you will be greeted with affection in Italy. Even men are affectionate with each other!
RELAXING: Italians relax. All stores close for a few hours in the afternoon, as workers are entitled to a real I can’t tell you how many times I walked a mile to the grocery store just to find it closed! That aside, Italians get way more vacation time a year than we do. Actually, European law mandates that every country offer at least four weeks of paid vacation. Italians work hard, but they take time to rest, reflect, and regroup, as well.. usually in the most incredible spots.
- Note: they even take a break at the movies.
PASSION: Italians are passionate in everything the do – in how they talk, how they love, how they fight, and how the feel in general. It’s so inspiring.
DRIVING: As I’ve written about before, Italians are psychotic on the road. I love it because I’m crazy, too (sorry Dad!), but most of my friends who visited hated it! They drive fast, tailgate hard, never use blinkers, and will pass you in risky situations – like, while scaling a mountain on the Amalfi coast with oncoming traffic quickly approaching risky. It’s absolutely thrilling B-)
CARE: Italians truly take care of each other: the sick, the elderly, the disabled.. and they respect each other. As far as I’ve seen, there’s no stigma on mental health in Italy like there is in the US – not even close!
SOCIALIZATION: Italians socialize and enjoy each other’s company, face-to-face and leisurely. They don’t take their coffee to go – they drink it at the bar. They seldom rush – even the trains take their time! They know there is more to life than working and running. The only time I’ve felt a sense of urgency in Italy was in the left lane on A13.
MARKETS: Italians shop at markets where you can find nearly anything you need. At least in the north, each town has its own market usually one morning per week. VV’s is on Monday and spans over several blocks, featuring clothes, food, accessories, décor, household appliances, and even smaller furniture.. and it’s all cheap! I will miss those markets like crazy.
RECYCLING: It seems as though recycling is HUGE in most of Italy, or at least up north. There are separate bins for paper, plastic, glass, regular garbage, etc. EVERYWHERE. They are hardcore recyclers!
POSING: Has anyone ever noticed that Italians don’t smile in pictures? At least not with their teeth. After some inquiring, I learned the consensus is that people look like bunnies when they smile with their teeth. I’ve yet to master the Italian photo pose, but practicing it continues to crack me up.
FOOD: I think it goes without saying that I’ll miss the food in Italy, but not only because of how delicious it is. I’ve eaten more here than I ever have at home, but my body is probably in the best shape it’s ever been (even better than when I was in my prime at a youthful 19). All 20 regions of Italy are against the cultivation of GMOs; the country is fiercely concerned with the quality of its products, and it shows. I’m eating a ton, but eating well and healthy. It also helps that Italians walk/cycle everywhere, and elevators are few and far between. Endless stairs, my butt thanks you. :-*

What I Won’t Miss:

LAUNDRY: I will not miss doing laundry in Italy even a little bit. Washing machines have literally 30 different settings on average, and dryers don’t exist. My balcony is covered and gets a limited amount of sun exposure, plus I live in a valley between the Dolomites so there’s always rain and humidity. My clothes, therefore, take days to dry; once the ~3 hour wash cycle is complete, I hang them outside and pray for good weather.
BUGS: Italians don’t put screens on their windows, so there are no bug barriers. This country is a jungle. When I first moved into my apartment, there were flies and spiders everywhere and I even had a lizard roommate. I put so much pesticide in this studio that I should be dead. However, I do admire how carefree Italians are when it comes to bugs; everyone just coexists.. I’ll be having a conversation with my landlord on our balcony and be cringing as gnats are swarming and she won’t even flinch. What are we so worried about, anyway?! (JK bugs, I’m still scared so please don’t follow me home)
- Roomie:
POST OFFICE: I’ve read horror stories about the Italian postal system, and they’re all f’ing true. First of all, as much as I’ve praised the Italians for not rushing, I’m all about tracking my packages online and impatiently awaiting their arrival. Tracking is unreliable and packages are not delivered if you aren’t home when carriers arrive. To pick them up, you have to go to the post office, pick a number (like when you’re at a deli), and wait to be called. Italians apparently take off work when they need to go to the post office because that’s how long the process takes. My first experience ended in being told I had to return the next day after waiting nearly two hours because my package was “special.” It was a book. 😐

A Dignified Life

October 16, 2014 ccandido1 Print a dignified life, alzheimer's, best friends, caregiver, dementia

I am too in love with this book! A Dignified Life: The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer’s Care is absolutely incredible. I must admit that I am biased, though, as its suggestions nearly mirror my own therapeutic approach to geriatric caregiving. The authors describe a refreshing, respectful, mutually beneficial caregiver/patient relationship that fosters trust and relieves anxieties. Aside from being extremely well-written, its combination of anecdotes and recommendations offer hope and strengthen optimisim.

Making Out With Mr. Reaper

October 4, 2014 ccandido1 Travel death, dolomites, dolomiti, french kissing, ghiacciaio, glacier, glacier crossing, horrifying, making out, nike shox, sorapis, sorapiss, sticks, trekking

Born and raised in suburban New Jersey, I have never been familiar with or a fan of strenuous outdoor activities. I love any body of water, am a certified SCUBA diver, and have my boating license, but before traveling abroad I’d never stepped foot on a mountain or spent any considerable amount of time exercising outside. I don’t even like exercising inside, let alone in the woods – give me sand, but keep the grass.

Here in Italy, however, “trekking” is huge. What exactly is trekking, though? I have always naively assumed it to be “hiking,” or walking briskly up a clearly defined, easily navigable trail to a viewpoint. Trekking attire, I’d imagined, consists of leggings, UnderArmour, and colorful sneakers. I often see Italians using sticks (?! canes maybe?! who knows), but figured perhaps those trekkers had equilibrium imbalances to begin with. I’m 26; I can trek without the stick.

This past week, I learned the hard way what this trekking actually entails. After reading the few articles I could find about getting to Lake Sorapiss in the Dolomites, I excitedly told my friend Chrissy to pack sneakers for an easy walk to a beautiful hidden gem. Specifically, I referred to this excerpt on Dolomiti.it:

“From Passo Tre Croci, 1,45 hours; sign n. 215: from the Passo go downhill, towards Misurina. Enter the comfortable road on the right that after few ups and downs will lead to the Rifugio Vandelli, and from here to the lake.”

Perfetto, facciamo così! It said it’d take an hour and 45 minutes, but we’re two young, relatively in-shape girls – we’d for sure make it in just over an hour. Should I even put my hair up? It sounds like I won’t even sweat…?

At Passo Tre Croci, we parked our Fiat500 and prepped for our adventure: I tied my neon pink Nike Shox and threw my coat in the back seat (it was sunny!), while Chrissy zipped her leather jacket and put some euros in her Chanel. We didn’t drink, we didn’t stretch, and we certainly did not pack supplies or carry sticks. We were ready! 😀

Long story short, the trek was an f’ing nightmare. We scaled the Dolomite mountains, climbed iron ladders, clutched steel ropes, and kissed death on the lips. None of that compares to the most terrifying part of our journey, though: WE CROSSED AN F’ING GLACIER. A glacier. Un ghiacciaio. A large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface, according to Merriam Webster.

At first, we had no idea what it was. How beautiful! We’ve stumbled across some large white structure.. Maybe stone? Granite? We’re in the Dolomites, isn’t there lots of granite? Once we approached this gorgeous mass and I was able to touch it, though, I realized it was a snowy, icy, slippery, freezing-cold glacier. How fun, we get to cross a glacier!!!

For those unfamiliar with glacier crossing techniques and equipment, this website serves as an incredibly helpful resource. Apparently, those sticks are useful, and my Shox are a joke when it comes to this kind of terrain. Glacier walks are extremely dangerous and require not only advanced equipment, but a certain degree of experience or, at minimum, an accompanying guide. Nevermind the initial peck on the lips – death’s tongue was down our throats.

Three hours and two panic attacks later, we arrived at Lake Sorapiss, one of the most stunning natural phenomena I have ever seen IRL. We were able to have a quick coffee at Rifugio Vandelli before hurriedly beginning our trek back to Passo Tre Croci to beat the sunset. I will refrain from describing our return trip over il ghiacciaio, as I’m truthfully not ready to revisit it. Let’s just say that if it’s soon announced that either of us is knocked up, we know who the father is: Mr. Grim Reaper himself.

All of that being said, Sorapiss is totally worth it.. as long as you are not a member of my family or a friend who’d like me to join you. In any other case, go for it! Just please, for the love of God our Savior, bring a stick.

In Love and War

October 4, 2014December 26, 2014 ccandido1 Travel a farewell to arms, ernest hemingway, for whom the bell tolls, in love and war, italy, sandra bullock, the sun also rises, travel, vittorio veneto, world war i

As two weeks of playing tour guide to friends winds down, I finally have some time to sit and reflect on what’s gone on lately. It was brought to my attention that an American movie was filmed in my tiny town of Vittorio Veneto in the 1990s, so I of course had to immediately rent it on iTunes. In Love and War takes place during the First World War and documents Ernest Hemingway’s experiences as a Red Cross volunteer. Apparently, he was injured and fell in love with one of his nurses during recovery. Their relationship unfortunately did not work out ( why couldn’t the movie just pretend?! 😦 ), and it is said that Hemingway remained forever heartbroken over his first love, Agnes von Kurowsky.

The film is so incredibly cool to watch because I live in the heart of its setting and it hasn’t changed a bit. Being a historic town, VV looks as though it did during both World Wars (or at least extremely close to it). After playing In Love and War on repeat and sulking about the breakup, I began researching “Ernie” and pulling together some of my favorite quotes of his.

“There is nothing else than now. There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow. How old must you be before you know that? There is only now, and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion. This is how you live a life in two days. And if you stop complaining and asking for what you never will get, you will have a good life. A good life is not measured by any biblical span.” – found in For Whom the Bell Tolls

“Try to learn to breathe deeply, to really taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, to really sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good & angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”

“Out of all the things you could not have, there were some things that you could have.. & one of those was to know when you were happy, and to enjoy all of it while it was there and it was good.”

“Life is unpredictable; it changes with the seasons. Even your coldest winter happens for the best of reasons. And though it feels eternal, like all you’ll ever do is freeze, I promise spring is coming, and with it brand new leaves.”

“You talk like a timetable. Did you have any beautiful adventures?” – found in A Farewell to Arms

“Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.”

“I can’t stand to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.” – found in The Sun Also Rises

“Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.”

As I’m sure is apparent, the excerpts I’ve shared are all related in that they have to do with living and appreciating life. Hemingway, though perhaps broken and in pain (he married four times and eventually took his own life), certainly offered great advice about living. In the scheme of things, our time on Earth is so excruciatingly short.. to worry serves no purpose, to wait is ludicrous, and to simply exist is one of the saddest ways to spend your days.