Freddy is sick. We had to drag him over to open presents, but once he got going he had a little more enthusiasm. Julio is my Mexican name for those of you who don't know the story, it's kinda complicated. The boys know it nonetheless, as I addressed it so on their gift which you can't really see (it was an X-box controller).

Random Note

I watched 'A Streetcar Named Desire' last night by myself. Good thing! I was gonna show it to Nico. I guess it's not that bad, but it is one fucked up story if you ask me. I can't believe Marlon Brando rapes the sister at the very end, it totally took me by surprise. Up 'til then I was sympathizing with him, what with having to put up with a stupid, lying sister-in-law for 4 months. Of course he's gonna be pissed...

If you haven't seen the movie and I just ruined it for you- sorry 'bout that. It's a good movie though, just not one of my favorites.

Bologna With Chris

I’m sorry, I know it’s been a while but not a lot has happened unfortunately. I’ve spent my time reading; a book every two days (literally). In the last two weeks I have read 8 books in my spare time, no shit- some bigger than others. Whereas last year I spent much of my time and money on food and wine, this time around my focus is on staying in shape and reading (but not writing, yet). Trying to be more productive, see.

Work is going well. Freddy and Nico are bigger than last year… and much more to handle, Freddy in particular. But I love these boyz, they’re like my lil’ brothers, man. I’ve been getting them to watch old movies with me. The other day we watched Casablanca, and tomorrow we’re gonna see Chinatown. Others on the list include: Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, various Hitchcock...

I did go Bologna on Thursday to meet up with Chris Lee, his mother, aunt, and charming girlfriend. We had an apperitivo, then dinner with wine. It was fabulous to see Sharon, like a piece of home. How I do miss home... Chris is doing well, gonna be a lawyer next year in L.A. Who knows where I’ll be, but we’ve made plans to meet up again so stay tuned.

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Ciao.

Ahhh, it's been a while.


Look closely at this fountain. Now, take a look at where the water is coming out... look closelier...

Milano

Went to Milan this weekend, finally, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now; didn’t think I’d get the chance. I stayed with a girl I met back on Ios, Marta, who showed me around the city where I saw a church (big surprise), some big ass graveyard, the football stadium and of course THAT fabulous shopping strip! Actually, the city wasn’t anything too spectacular (sorry Milano), but I had a nice trip. I didn’t even bring my camera along the little tour Marta gave me, so no pics. Sorry about that! But like I said: nothing missed.

I stayed in the heart of the city, which is pretty modern so pretty boring. Boston is probably the largest urban-type city I’ve seen and have to compare with, and Boston was definitely more interesting than Milan- what wit all dem’ brick buildings and all!

Overall, it was a nice weekend. I had some good wine, thick-dough pizza (as opposed to the thin, southern style), panini and possibly the best Tiramisu I’ve ever had (we went to some famous restaurant for the last two, called Primo Guisto).

Not much else going atm, but maybe I'll head to Florence next weekend and visit good ole' Chris Lee, who is apparently here working or studying- or something. It would be good to see my old friend, who showed me the path way back in the genesis of my travels. If not for him, well, all might have been lost..

Back in Mirandola

I arrived safely in Ancona last week without any problems with immigration, lucky me. From there, I headed straight to Mirandola to see my old friends and the Benatti family. The older brother, Nico, hasn’t changed much but Freddy is definitely taller and stronger! Stefano has lost weight; I would say about 30 pounds! Whereas I used to compare him to Tony Soprano, now I would say he’s more of a Silvio. Eugenia is the same, ever so sweet. Paltro’s got a girlfriend, but it’s good to see him nonetheless. I have missed Mirandola, and all my old friends! I even went to a super market that I used to patron and a guy named Mario -who always used to hook me up with free bottles of wine- recognized me, and, of course he gave me a bottle of Montepulciano to boot! I’ve missed Italy, let the wine flow!

I was under the impression that I’d be here as a visitor for roughly one month, but as it turns out Eugenia thought I was coming to teach English again. This was a bit of a shock because I was prepared to head home, money is low and times are tough. What a break! I told Eugenia that I wanted to think about it- another Christmas/New year’s away from the family, away from home. But hey, I need the money and it feels right. I guess not ready to come home yet, so don’t ask! I don’t even know what I’ll do next. I have a few ideas/possibilities, but I’m here ‘til January and for now that’s all I know.

So it’s been a week now and I’m already getting into the groove. No word from James, but that was expected. I promised some pictures from my stay in Athens which are now posted below, so there ya go. I’ll take some pics of Mirandola next week. Ciao~

Photos o' Athens

This is James.
This is James' beamer- makes it pretty fun to ride around Athens. He's a pretty crazy driver too, but seemed to know what he was doing...
James' room where I sometimes spent an excess of 20 hours.
My mobile home. As you can see it's gotten a little fat, need to put it on a diet.

Found this in one of them black market shops in the center of Athens: 70% absinthe and made using 30% wormwood (apparently). I'm quite sure that it's not legal, but it was fun to try. As you can see it came in a dropper, which we used to mix into cokes. We didn't hallucinate at all, but I have to aggree with the info on wikipedia- absinthe creates a sort of lucid-state of drunkeness, where you don't feel stupid-drunk, but rather quit coherent mentally, and nor are you inhibited quite as much in the physical sense.
Went out clubbing on occasion, renting out tables and spending way too much money on alcohol and trying to be big shots (well not so much me, but you get the idea).

James' gun. It used to be his grandfathers and is still wanted by the police for whatever reason. Notice the clip is loaded with live bullets. I wanted to go and shoot it somewhere, but he wasn't keen. Crazy malaka...