Back in Rome

I was fairly grumpy when I got back to Rome on Sunday.  Separating from Sean was harder the second time around (even though now we have only a little less than two months to wait until we're together again) and the experience of being "a stranger in a strange land" had lost its novelty.  Not being able to eaves-drop on strangers, always feeling on the wrong foot in a casual conversation with a shopkeeper, always feeling a bit nervous over whether the cab driver is going to try to screw me over...being plunged right back into it produced a general feeling of "meh" that wasn't alleviated by coming back to the Academy at noon on a Sunday, when the building is at is most deathly-silent.  Only a few hours later, after I had grudgingly marched out to the grocery store to get provisions (having to carry my groceries uphill again! people on the street not smiling or making eye contact!) and was making pasta in the kitchen, did my mood finally break, thanks to a warm greeting and hug from Adam.  That little bit of human contact was enough to make me think "oh, fine, this place doesn't suck that much."  The feeling amplified that evening, when there was a screening of La Grande Belleza downstairs in the lecture room.  Halfway through we stopped and had a potluck dinner together upstairs in the salone; someone had made a vast pot of bolognese, and there were olives, cheese, fruit, and, of course, plenty of wine.  I still laid down that night missing my soft bed, and my quiet house with Sean in it, and my kitchen where all the good mugs are mine and don't go missing, but...this can be good too.

I do have some resolutions that I've brought back with me.  Avoiding the pasta at lunch, having less wine in the evenings (especially when I have to pay for it) and generally trying to save money where possible.  That sort of thing.  I've also decided, a little late, to start Buzzfeed's January monthlong fitness challenge, which is alternating interval running and cardio/bodyweight exercises, five times a week. I decided to just consider Sunday as Day 1, which was, conveniently, a rest day.  I even saved the calendar as a .jpg so every day I can open it in Paint and do this: