Farewell Mirandola, Farewell Italy

It’s been a good run. I hope I see you again, Italy, but once again the time has come to move on. I’ll miss your food, your multi-colored towns, your coffee, and of course your people. I wasn’t so social this time around, I know, but I had some good experiences- saw Chris again, even Sharon (his Mom), got to see Milan & once again learned the meaning of ‘summer romance.’ I ate well, read a lot & had a good time with my surrogate family of Europe. With the Benatti's, I feel like I’ll always have a home. I only hope one day I can repay them for the kindness they’ve shown me.

Paltro claims I inspired him to make his own exodus, something for which I am flattered. He is heading to South America in a month. I told him to start a blog and hope he does. I hope we stay in contact. Ciao Antonio, Beppe and all the others. Good luck to you guys.

And now Prague. The first stop. Johan is waiting- that malaka. Oh, it’s gonna be good times, I can hardly wait. Johan has been there before so it’ll be good to have someone to show me around. I wish I had time to see Budapest, but dem’s the breaks. See you in Prague~

25

Talked to the parents last night and they wished me a happy birthday. Birthday? Holy hell, another year man, didn’t even know… I mean, I knew it was coming in the back of my head, but really hadn’t given it much thought. I’m not doing anything for it. I’m stuck here in a time-warp as I wait for this god-forsaken visa, which hath forsaken me-my flight to Prague on Wed. Apparently, the visa won't even be ready until Wed. So, this time I will wait ‘til my passport & paperwork are back in my hands before I go purchasing any more flight tix (damn I shoulda’ bought the flight insurance).

But I do feel older in some ways. Voyaging off into unknown lands lends a sense of experience and personal accomplishment for me. I like it, but I certainly don’t feel young anymore. No. I’m doing my best to stay in Neverland, trying not to grow up (it feels). But I read Peter Pan back in England last year, and as I recall even the Lost Boys eventually left Peter behind to return to the world.

Bowling For A Passage To India

Alright I finally got some action for you guys~ It looks like Clint’s European Adventure has begun its transformation- a transcendence into what will soon be Clint’s Asian Adventure (though I suppose if you went back, you could count Africa/Egypt from before), but it looks like this thing is really happening and I am jazzed. Yesterday, I finally managed to relocate my passport, which was sent to Sweden along with a visa application for India. Why Sweden? Well, my friend Johan (from Ios) is gonna be my partner-in-crime and his mother is assisting us in the process. She seems much more reliable than the knuckleheads I tried to contact in Roma. But, everything seems to be going wrong. We are a little late you see, and yet everything can still work out as long as it doesn’t take too long to process my shit and have it sent back before March 4th. Why March 4th? Well, because Johan and I have already purchased our tickets. We are flying out of Prague to Bombay (or Mumbai), so there’s a little bit of gambling happening on the side here. Hopefully, if everything goes alright I’ll be spending the next few months in India, Thailand, Malaysia and/or whatever else our western hearts desire. We’re gonna live on a whim and I’m gonna do my best not to get sick, but there’s only so much one can do. I learned a harsh lesson in Egypt, and I’ve a feeling India may be a lot worse. The only form of preparation which I'm considering are preventative pills for malaria; but the verdict’s still out on those. I hear good things, and bad. Any advice? Vaccinations? I know, but it’s complicated…

After India it’s all gonna be spontaneous whilst frugal. You see, I’ve got another gig lined up in London come June, so I’ve got to make 2k euro last for 3 months. Think I can do it? India & Thailand are cheap, so I think the chances are good. No matter, I look on it as a challenge.

So what's to come? Well all travel plans aside, I went bowling last night with the people from the office at Studio Benatti. What a shitty American sport. But, we had a good time and beforehand we went out for gnocchi Fritti, which is like Italian fried food, hard to describe and very oily, but so delicious! Molto buono, malaka. And the bowling, well that was great. Everyone was just as bad as I, and now recall why I never liked bowling...

No pictures unfortunately, I know, damn I’ve got to get my camera-eye back come March. Ugh.
Ciao.