la patience est une vertu

They meant it when they said that serving in the Peace Corps requires dedication, patience, and flexibility. Due to the recent presidential election in Guinea, Peace Corps Guinea has been delayed until January 13 (tentatively). Guinea has been in the process of completing its first democratic election for many months now, but not without complications. The unofficial results of the election were announced today, naming Alpha Conde as Guinea's president. At the moment, I cannot say whether this outcome is good or bad, but it has further deepened ethnic cleavages between two of Guinea's most prominent ethnic groups, the Malinke and the Peul. A conference call for all Peace Corps Guinea invitees has been scheduled for next week... Stay tuned for updates concerning the election results and my eventual departure.

it's official

I just accepted my invitation to serve with the PC as a Health Educator in Guinea, a French-speaking country on the coast of West Africa... more updates to come.

prêt ou pas

It's officially time to set Italian aside and dedicate all of my efforts to learning (hopefully mastering) French. I received a call from my Peace Corps placement officer yesterday. He followed up on some of the concerns that I expressed in my original interview back in February. We spent a long time discussing my diet and whether or not I'm willing to adhere to the advice/demands of my PC medical provider. Apparently, the doc will have the final say on what I do and do not eat or I will be sent home. Just the thought of eating an animal makes me cry. This will definitely be my biggest challenge... and without further ado, I guess I should disclose what I know of my final placement. I'm definitely going to francophone sub-Saharan West Africa, my placement is definitely rural health care, and I'm definitely leaving either in mid-October or the first of December. I should know the exact location and departure date by next week. The key word in my placement is "rural"- my PO (placement officer) stressed the importance of learning French before my departure, as my in-country training will focus on the local language of my village. Rosetta Stone, please come through for me. It's hard to believe that in only a few months I will be able to speak four languages.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying life back in Athens. Saying goodbye to my Italian little sisters was probably the most emotionally wrenching thing that I've ever experienced. Only a few days after my return to the States, I headed off to Lollapalooza in Chicago along with two good friends, Casey and Lisa. We experienced a crazy three days of incredible music, with notable performances by The National, Arcade Fire, The Dirty Projectors, MGMT, Grizzly Bear, and Lady Gaga (I never thought I would say that, ever). After Lolla, we hit the road for two weeks of pure madness. We hit up Denver, Boulder, Flagstaff, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Austin, and New Orleans, enjoying the hospitality and generosity of couch surfers all along the way. We also had a fabulous stop-over in Mississippi to visit all of the grandparents. The instability and constant change of scenery was most refreshing after a quiet and stable summer in Italy. And now, I'm learning to once again be still, at least for the time being. Life is such a trip.

tanti auguri

We celebrated Luce's 4th birthday on Sunday. Here's a little glimpse of the festivities...

i am a my size barbie

With only a week left here in Staranzano, I think that now's a good time to reach some sort of conclusion about this summer and my experiences as an au pair in Italy. First of all, this is the best job that I've ever had, but it's coming to an end at the right time. I had no idea coming into this what to expect. I knew nothing about this family or this region of Italy. I also didn't know if I had the patience to deal with kids for 30 hours a week or the ability to conduct effective English lessons. I have learned that I have a whole lot of patience. I also have reconfirmed that my heart is bigger than Texas- I don't know how I'm going to leave these girls. It's truly been an incredible experience to live and function as part of this family for the past 2 1/2 months.

Here's what I did wrong- I never established an ounce of discipline with these kids. My philosophy is always to just shower everyone with love, which works great when those getting showered are receptive. I'm not saying that these kids aren't loving, but they are kids and I've learned that kids tend to be selfish to the core. I wouldn't say that I've spent the whole summer being taken advantage of either, but what I am saying is that my job title would more appropriately be "My Size Barbie that can move and talk" rather than au pair, teacher, or babysitter. Sure, these kids have learned a lot this summer, but they don't realize that at all. They still think that I'm a shiny new toy that came all the way from America to do tricks and entertain them. Having arrived only a week before the family's new cat, Neve, I can greatly sympathize with the torture that she has endured. Neve has also learned patience.



Only a few weeks ago I was teaching Ginevra the differences between the many titles for females. In order to demonstrate two of these, I said, "You are a girl. I am a woman." Her reply was, "No, Whitney, you aren't a woman. You're a girl." "No, Ginevra, I am a woman." "OK, You're a big girl." But that leads to what I did right- I am Ginevra's friend. She's had some issues with the girls at school this past year... You know, that age when the queen bees arise to suck out the souls of the weak. I remember being targeted myself... I was in the 5th grade and, according to the "mean" girls, I had head lice and wore high-waters (only the latter was true). As a big sister and a former victim of the insecurities of other females, I've been able to relate to Gine and many of her current struggles. She tried to run away from home a few days ago just to see if Luce would get upset. I immediately recognized this and did my best to coax along the appropriate response from Luce. After Gine successfully fit into my suitcase and told Luce she was heading to America with me, Luce was in tears telling her that she was sorry for whatever she had done and that she loved her. The whole thing ended with Gine sitting on the stairs, Luce in her arms, both girls crying and holding onto one another with all of their might. After it was all over, Gine said to me, "Whitney, I wasn't really going to run away. I just wanted to see if Luce really loves me." I told her that I knew all along. She asked, "But how did you know?" "Because I have a little sister, too."



So here's a little summary of the progress that we've all made together these past 10 weeks. I'm sure there will be a few additions after our 11th and final week...

Things that Ginevra has learned:
Present continuous tense
Simple past tense and many irregular verbs
Expressing future intentions using “going to…”
Prepositions of place, movement, and time
How to write a friendly letter
Synonyms, antonyms, and homophones (she’s even beginning to pronounce these words correctly!)
Plural forms of irregular nouns
Comparative and superlative adjectives
Giving simple directions
Talking about daily routines, the weather, hobbies, etc…
Common occupations and job titles
Body parts
Idiomatic expressions (her favorite is “It’s raining cats and dogs!”
Marco Polo, Simon Says, and I Spy
“The Hokie Pokey,” and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”

Things that Luce has learned/can say:
“It’s mine!!!”
“It’s my turn!”
“Stop!”
“Good morning,” “Good night”
“How are you?,” “Fine,” and “Thank you”
“I can do it”, “By myself”
“Help”
“Again”
“It’s ready”
Me, I, you, she, it (and sometimes she even uses them correctly!)
The verb “to be” (once again, sometimes she conjugates correctly!)
“Sooo cute!” (usually said in reference to Neve)
“Bad cat!” (once again, in reference to Neve)
Colors
Numbers 1-20
Letters (more or less, even though she screams her head off every time I try to sing the ABCs)
Body parts
Many basic nouns, including names of animals, toys, foods, places, and every day objects
The concept of “big” and “small”
Making comparisons using “bigger” and “smaller”
“Itsy, Bitsy, Spider,” “I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice cream,” “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”
Simon Says

Things that I’ve learned:
Patience
Understanding
Humility
A few words in the "Gradese" dialect (only spoken in Grado and in our home)
How to say "thank you" in German
More French than I probably realize
The many uses of tea tree oil
How to teach English (more or less)
How to effectively bribe children (it has come in handy many times)
How to practice yoga in a very non-Zen environment (i.e. amidst screaming children)
How to make paper flowers
How to get rid of lice naturally
How to explain to children that just because you have breasts does not mean that you’re lactating (thank God)
How to make rice milk and almond milk (though I haven’t tried either yet)
How to gulp down a bottled beer in one swallow (I only witnessed this, but would be happy to show anyone the technique)
How to properly use and appreciate a bidet
The Italian postal service is more inefficient than that of most third world countries
Buses are only on time when you’re running late
You can find School House Rock and Sesame Street episodes on YouTube! (Ginevra loves them)
The Italian version of “Rock, Paper, Scissors”
Couch surfing is the only way to travel
Where to find falafel anywhere and at anytime of the day

not just any trip to the opera

Today I went to the opera, but let me start at the beginning. I should be in Ljubljana, Slovenia right now. I found someone to host me through Couch Surfing about 3 weeks ago and was really looking forward to meeting her and exploring the city, but well, that didn't go as planned. For some reason the automatic ticket machine at the station wouldn't give me a ticket and, shock of all shocks, there was no one working at the ticket window, so I couldn't go on my trip. I was slightly bummed but there's still that part of me that believes everything happens for a reason, so I told myself that I'd come up with something grand to do today (my free day). That's when it hit me- I'll go see an opera in Trieste!


So I decided to take the bus to Trieste first thing this morning. Once again, I didn't have a ticket and couldn't figure out where to buy one on a Sunday (everything is closed), so I decided to just hop on the bus and plead my case to the bus driver (similar to what I did last weekend when I rode the train without a ticket, but that's another story)... Anyway, it turns out he told me "va bene" and I had a free bus ride without even having to plea, cry, or yell (yelling is quite effective in Italy- typically whoever yells the loudest wins the argument. Oh yeah, as a side note, the customer isn't always right here). Trieste is beautiful. I can't believe that I've been so close to the city this entire time and only visited for the first time today. I spent the morning on the pier and later walked around the city. I somehow managed to find the way to San Giusto (a castle) without a map, but I guess not really because this homeless German hippie pointed me in the right direction. We had a nice chat about waiting for yellow submarines, travel, Buddhism, and just life in general.


Then it was time to find something for lunch. I walked around for a while and then I saw it- those trusted words that always ensure tasty falafel is only moments away- "KEBAB." After an hour of enjoying air conditioning (it's hard to find around here), listening to Turkish dance music, and reading "Catcher in the Rye," I decided that it was time to locate the theater. I found it alright but- I'm sure no one will be surprised by what's to follow- the ticket window wasn't opened. I eventually realized that something was wrong when the show was scheduled to start in one hour and there was absolutely no one in or around the building... right about then is when I met Attila. I asked him if he knew where I could buy a ticket and he informed me that the opera was at another theater! He was nice enough to accompany me there and we struck up a little conversation... Turns out that he's an opera singer and is performing in another opera that begins later this week. When we got close to the theater he asked me if I'd like to pay for a ticket or go in with him. What?! Get in for free?! I'll take that option, yes! He told me to keep quiet and stay close, so I did. He took me through the back door and we entered behind the stage. After wading through people, props, and cords, we made it to the front of the theater. Sensing that I was a little nervous about this whole stunt, Attila insisted that we share a coffee so that everyone would see us together and not suspect anything. Then we chose my seat, which changed a few times because some people actually had reservations. Finally one of the attendants caught on to the act and asked us if we had tickets. Lucky for me, Attila was who he said he was. He whipped out his special card that proved he was part of the opera world and told the woman that I was his girlfriend, although I'm not sure that she was convinced because he was easily 20 years older than me. She suggested that she show me to a seat that had not been reserved and walked me right up to the front row. I couldn't believe it!


The "operetta" (little opera) was called "Sissi" and told the story of Princess Sissi (as she's known in these parts) who was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary back in the mid-late 1800s. She's kind of a big deal around here. I'm actually not really sure what was happening because the opera was in German, but it was nonetheless amusing to watch and the music was just lovely. Anyway, Attila gave me his number and told me to get in touch with him if I want to see his opera this week... So maybe I'll actually see an Italian opera while I'm here.

I'd say that I had a nice experience in Trieste.

villach

Where to begin? First things first, Villach, Austria is one of the most beautiful places that I've ever visited, and it's hands down the cleanest place that I've ever seen. You can drink the lake water, seriously... I doubt that anyone has ever drank the water in Allatoona and lived to tell about it... I had my first couch surfing experience and it couldn't have gone more perfectly. My host, Nathalie, met me at the station with her friend Andrea. The two of them took me to a nice little restaurant in the city center (similar to downtown Athens in size) where we ate greek salad al fresco and sipped on something called "squash" (kinda like a non-alcoholic daiquiri). Then we headed to the local cinema for an international short film festival. Unfortunately, we missed the first half, but the films that we did catch were awesome (strange thing though- the films were all in different languages (mostly Arabic) but were shown with English subtitles, not German). Then we went to hear this Serbian band called Repetitor play. We were skeptical at first, but ended up having a lot of fun. The highlight of the night was this old guy (in his 70s) who whipped out a harmonica and started playing along (I forgot to mention that this was rather loud music). It was awesome.

So the next morning, I woke up to a beautiful spread on the table that had been prepared by Nathalie's mother... fresh baked breads, fruit, oats, honey, homemade jams, coffee... they don't make them like that in Italy. This family was beyond hospitable. After breakfast, they took me to Monkey Mountain. It was a little bizarre to see monkeys in Austria, of all places, but we had a great time and the park was beautiful. We then returned home for lunch- Nathalie's mom had prepared a traditional Carinthian dish that was comprised of fresh pasta (kinda like a dumpling) stuffed with creamed potatoes, garlic, and spices. It was delicious.


They also fed me some sort of cake that tasted like cinnamon raisin toast and Austrian chocolate. We left the house full and happy as we headed off to a little island on one of the lakes. I can't even begin to describe the view from the island. But even more impressive than the mountains was this lake... the water was blue! and you could see the bottom! and you could drink the water! Unbelievable. Ah, and we also ate apple strudel.



Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to spend in Villach. After the little island excursion, we had to head back to the station. I'm now convinced that couch surfing is the only way to travel. I was completely blown away by the hospitality and generosity shown to me by Nathalie and her family. I was a complete stranger and not only did they take me into their home with no reservations, they devoted themselves to making sure that I had an authentic experience of their city and culture. I hope that I can one day return the favor.