Packing List

It’s that time of year…and it’s beginning to look a lot like chaos. The oft repeated refrain “you can buy it over there” is sounding less astute than formerly. This calls for strategic planning, for a swift and decisive course of action that will include whatever Ziplock bags I still have and lots of shoving.
This is my packing list. I don’t think much of this will fit in my suitcase, but I intend to carry it with me anyway.
I’m taking an awful lot of memories. There’s a few less not-so-pleasant ones in the mix, but I’m keeping them for a while. I suspect they, like wine or cheese, will taste better with a little time. I also think they will be much easier to get through customs.
I’m taking a new appreciation for my own country. Really, the US is a wonderful place to live.
I’m taking a laundry list of vocabulary and a good start in a new language.
I’m taking recipes for pasta, techniques for olive harvesting, and a delight in blogging.
I’m taking along a taste for new olive oil and for sweet sparkling white wine (which I’ll have to keep packed up for a while once I’m home).
I’m taking habits that are going to be hard to break, such as having a long, leisurely practice after lunch, kissing both cheeks to say goodbye, waving my hands around, and automatic use of “si,” “va bene,” and “ho capito.”
I’m taking a lot of questions about myself. The older I get, the harder they seem to answer. Study abroad has only made things more difficult.
I’m taking some side-splitting stories. And I can wait to tell them…

I’m leaving my naïve, romantic expectations of Italy behind. They took up far too much space on the way over, and I can’t fit them in with my new appreciation for Italia.
I’m leaving many friends. Several of them are two years old and some of them are in their sixties and seventies and most are somewhere in between, but none of them fit in my suitcase (in spite of the teasing of my host family, my piano teacher has expressed no interest in stowing away in my luggage.)
I’m leaving two high school classrooms full of kids who know more English than before I came and whose faces I know will light up with a smile if I ever see them again.
I’m also leaving about five inches of my hair…don’t be too shocked.
I’m leaving my fear of independent travel. It was too heavy to carry and got lost somewhere in one of the many Trenitalia stations I passed through.
I’m leaving a list of places that I wished I could have gone to. They’ll still be here when I come back.

Alright, everyone. I'll be home soon. Thanks for following along on my Italian adventure, and thanks to the wonderful people of Sansepolcro who welcomed me with open arms! I'm off to say my goodbyes and to see how much more I can fit into my suitcase...