Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Home and back again



Happy New Year!



Duomo



Italian English class



Santa Maria Maggoire


Happy New Year! I guess it is three weeks after the fact but I probably haven’t spoken to you since December 31 so it probably still applies. I’ve been back in Kuwait for almost three weeks and my trip home seems like a dream because it’s almost like I never left here. But I did have a great 3 week intermission from the Middle East. Italy, home, Iceland, and back…

I have two good friends that live near Milan, Chiara and Fede. They came to visit my family for Christmas 2004. I have had a standing invitation to visit since then so I took advantage. And there is no better place to go after 8 months in Kuwait than Italy.

In the few days I was there, I had spaghetti carbonera cooked by an Italian grandmother (DELICIOUS!!!), taught to 4 almost completely female English classes at my friend’s mother’s school (I’m sure I fulfilled on of my teenage fantasies), visited Lago Maggiore and hiked around Santa Maria Maggiore in the Italian Alps. Each day I had beer, wine, and a few different pork products. I have been twice now and everything is beautiful there. Seriously, go visit Italy.

As great as it was to visit friends in one of the most enjoyable places I have ever been, it didn’t match the excitement I felt as I flew back to Chicago. I was home for 14 days and tried to see as many friends and family but it was impossible to squeeze 35 weeks of catching up into two. But I was able to see a lot of people which was great. And apparently I was good last year because Santa Claus treated me well.

My two weeks at home fly by and before I knew it I was on a plane again, to re-visit Iceland, and to experience New Year’s Eve in Reykjavik. Unfortunately, United Airlines didn’t want my trip to be smooth. I missed my connection in Baltimore because my flight was late out of Chicago and they sent my bag with all my outdoor gear to Burlington, VT. So I got to my hotel at 6pm on NYE but the night was still amazing. I think every Icelandic man, woman, and child buys up all the fireworks in the northern hemisphere because I can’t imagine there were many left after seeing the display that night. The sky was in flames. Unfortunately, the next day the weather and the airlines did want me and my brother to climb Iceland’s highest mountain, Hvannadalshnúkur, but it gives me a reason to go back again.

So back in Kuwait. I have definitely cheated winter this year. It was cold (40-50F) for about a week but has warmed up to 65F this week. And I’m scheduled to go to Vietnam for my next assignment after a visa run to Tanzania so I’ll escape the cold temps that are hitting Chicago now. But I guess that’s the benefit of surviving the 120F summer here.