I left Charlottesville today for the last time. There are a lot of (edible) things I'll miss about it--Foods of all Nations; the gelato shop downtown; Ariana Kabob House; the Greek pizza from College Inn; the most delicious cherries I've ever tasted, fresh-picked. And while Virginia's politics may be fucked up (I was about to write frakked, which is how I know we watched too much BSG), otherwise it's a really beautiful place to live, with the Blue Ridge Mountains as your backdrop. I'll miss that loveliness.
True to form, however, I was really happy to be back in my house in Philadelphia, even though it's only for a couple of nights. After spending a month in Sean's apartment, which, although definitely very nice (and containing Sean, which propels it to first rank!) is still just an apartment, I relish all the space and the light that our house here has, the smell of all the wood, the creaking of the staircases going up. Clearly Phyllis has been enjoying herself in my absence, too, since I found an empty beer bottle in my bathroom, where she likes to enjoy a nice soak in the claw-foot tub. I'm not a bath person myself, but it's nice to look at, anyway. It's home!
That said, on Friday I depart for Middlebury, for an adventure that I'm both excited and really, really nervous about. I hope it's amazing, I hope I meet wonderful people and have a fantastic time, but a little part of me is worried well, what if no one likes me because I'm not funny and intelligent in Italian? What if no one wants to sit with me in the cafeteria? What if I forget how to say "do you guys want to have lunch?" (volete pranzare?) Wahhh!
No, it'll be fine. It's going to be great. Actually, it's going to be BUSY. Here's the schedule they list:
8:00 a.m. - Wake up, eat breakfast, and prep for class
9:00 a.m. - Morning classes (class time ranges from 3 to 5 hours in the morning, depending on the School)
1:00 p.m. - Lunch and rest
3:00 p.m. - Cocurricular activities, free time, homework, and class preparation
4:00 p.m. - Afternoon classes (afternoon class time varies, depending on the School)
5:00 p.m. - Films, lectures, or presentations
7:00 p.m. - Dinner
8:30 p.m. - Faculty office hours, cocurricular activities, homework, class preparation, dances
10:00 p.m. TV and . . . sleep (both in-language)
Like what they did there at the end? They're not kidding about this language pledge business!
Most of all, though, it's going to be hard being cut off from Sean, going from living together to just talking a few minutes on the phone every night, carefully out of earshot of the other dedicated Italian learners. He's going to be in C-ville for another month until the big move. I won't be able to see him until August 12...eleven days after his birthday. Sigh. I miss my husband already.