overload

There is so much to write about I don’t even know where to begin. I had a case of the overwhelms yesterday. Patience and I are becoming better friends. You just can’t be in a hurry in Venice or expect to get anything done quickly. It took me two hours to get the Venetian equivalent to a “fast pass” for the boats.
The communication barrier is starting to become exhausting. Every time I go into a shop I forget for a moment that I will have to speak Italian and then I go into panic “find the right phrase/word” mode. There are so many tourists here that people seem to almost expect that I won’t say the right thing and they start speaking English right away. As nice as this is, I am having a hard time keeping my Italian and English separate.
I continue to be the luckiest girl around. My host Pietro has a very active social life and has been very nice in including me along to dinners. So far every night this week I have had a dinner at someone’s house. Wednesday night we went down the street to a friend’s house and had a meal where every course had eggplant in it. It was amazing!! The eggplant chocolate torte was especially yummy. Last night I had just gone to bed with a English speaking DVD (for a bit of relaxation) at around 9:30 when 6 Italians came bursting into the flat with food to cook dinner. We ate an awesome meal and got to leave the dishes for la Donna (the housekeeper) they eat dinner really late here, which is making my mornings extremely difficult.
Today it has been raining since I woke up and I’m totally unprepared for it. It isn’t cold, just wet. It is easier to get around on the streets when the weather is crappy, less tourists out and about.
When I do get to speak with people in English I am learning fascinating things about Italian culture and history. I met a really friendly Italian named Gianni who used to live in Oakland. He is studding to be a city planner and he was telling that the forecast for Venice is that by 2030 there won’t be any locals living in the city. Right now there is only a 60% occupancy in the houses. Stores for groceries are being closed down and replaced by mask shops. It is kind of like Disneyland here already and He said that it will become more so in the future, with all of the workers living on the mainland and commuting into the city.
Tomorrow I am taking a train to Bologna for the night. I am looking forward to getting to see what the mainland looks like. I would also love to find a hill somewhere and enjoy a view.
Hope everyone is wonderful, I miss my friends and family. As easy as I find it to make new friends, they can never compare to the friendships that have sustained me in the past. I love you all! Goddess Bless! ~Drea