June Bloom

I have often heard the phrase June Gloom, especially in California, where the morning fog really can be a bit of a downer. but as i live through this June here in Italy, I've got to say it's anything but gloomy. And so, welcome to the month of Bloom. it feels fitting, since there is a lot of growing taking place, a lot of blooming, so to speak. I feel like in my last full month in this wondrous country i'm a lot like an oriental poppy... a red one to be precise. all of my petals have emerged, slowly uncrumpling from the fuzzy green package which restricted them so... folding outwards, still wrinkly, but initiating to form a flower. a flower, which is unlike any other... not in fragrance or appearance, but in it's roots which twist down deep into the earth, it's roots which are nourished by this diverse globe.... the soil which we all share.
And so i'm a happy little red poppy in these days! my last two weeks were so full of fantastic moments, fantastic adventures, fantastic memories. First of all, I made a voyage up to Milano!
and what an incredible voyage. So essentially it put to test all my skills i've learned here. I had to take the plane alone, navigate the airport in Milano, find my train to the Milano Centrale Stazione, then find another train to Brescia, a beautiful little city where my friend Chandler lives, who was hosting me. overall, it was about a 4 hour journey. I had to ask for help, which put to use my italian speaking ability, I had to follow signs, have confidence in my decisions, and most of all I had to take in the amazing fact that i was traveling in Italy alone, with my colorful backpack slung over my shoulders, not as a tourist, not as an italian. Who exactly am I then? if not an italian, not a tourist.... who can I be? and so I sat in that little train from Milano Centrale Stazione to Brescia, thinking. and I came to the whole idea that i'm Tess. It was like an obvious realization, that to you may sound stupid, because obviously i'm Tess. but it was more than just, 'i'm tess'. it was like, here's this girl, who's living in a new place, speaking a new language, and contently experiencing a new way of living, who is traveling alone in a semi-sketchy train, a train that she found on her own. I don't know... perhaps it sounds stupid. For me, it was just a real confidence booster that i could accomplish that on my own. it was like a realization of all i've accomplished, of all i've become, of all who i am- Tess... someone worldly, diverse from just a Californian, or just an italian. i'm a swirl.
So i arrived at Brescia and Chandler and her host mum got me at the station. we took a beauteous walk around the city, it is gorgeous. there are so many mountains and green trees everywhere. Honestly, it really made me miss California. gosh, it was so beautiful! all those rolling hills, forested in a deep green. peeps of red and yellow, and the cloudy sky adding a suppressive hot glow to all the nature. quite the few days there in Brescia. one of the days we journeyed to Milano with another girl Ursi from Australia. that night, we saw Death Cab For Cutie (SO FANTASTIC!!) live in Milano. we ate Mexican Food! we laughed, walked through the streets of the city, enjoying our blissfully young lives. we saw the duomo, had some really expensive cinnamon gelato, and did some shopping:)
The next day we saw Verona, the city of love and Romeo and Juliette! how beautiful! We saw the house of Juliette, the walls full of graffiti, the letters nestled in the cracking walls... quite a poetic sight. all the young lover's names scribbled across the stucco, blending into a twisting and twerving colorful mass of sensations... hallways filled with romanitic energy, all the dreams waiting to be had, all the memories waiting to be remembered.
And then I returned to Trani. my home! for my last day of school - alas, i've finished with school! I had to write a 4 page paper in Italian, summing up my scholastic experiences here, and my friendships that i've made at school. It wasn't too difficult! and with that, I finished up with Liceo Psico-Pedagogico.
The next morning, very early, I left with all my Intercultura friends for a four day camp of all the students in this region in Taranto. we did a whole slew of activities. the second night, they had us all sit in a large circle on the floor... with all the lights out, and they gave us all little tea-light candles. we had to think of a memory that is really meaningful to us that happened in Italia, and when we felt ready, we had to say it out loud to everyone, and then light our candle with a lighter. there was a pure silence, full of so much respect and understanding. so many curious ears listening, so many open hearts loving, relating, and of course so many sets of eyes crying. It wasn't suprising how similar some of our memories were. We began to gradually illuminate the pitch-black room with all the lit-up emotions. and then all the volunteers came and took all our lit candles and placed them in the middle of the circle, organizing them to speel AFS. it was so beautiful.
and then on the last day, they had us all lie on the floor, close our eyes, and imagine all these things, imagine entering into our houses after having been gone for so long, smelling the essences of our kitchens, kissing our mums on the cheeks.
 but overall it was quite the bonding experience for all of us... it was also real sad because we won't see each other all together again until we are in Rome. Until we go home in 20 days. the number is so small. I have found a pack of four friends, we call ourselves the four seasons... Me (autumn) Leah (summer) Ian (winter) and Charlotte (spring). we are all AFS students, and thus have something really strong in common. also, we get along spendidly. I'm really going to miss them when i go home. oh those words, 'when I go home'... are finally setting in with some reality. because i'm going home so soon. but i feel so at home here. so where am i going? this adventure has taken me all over the board... i've found my other home.
With my papa who takes us out in the boat on the Adriatic Sea, the powerful, vast, strong sea... whose gentle swells caress us. lapping softly, the transparent and warm sea surrounds us. It's such a concept, the sea. So impossible to understand, so expansive and strong.. but then again so gentle. such a soft touch. kisses from the sun, strokes from the sea, and stability from our soil. we are all walking, all growing, together producing an infinite wildflower field... and i'm a red poppy