Update on life back home

I’ve been back home for two weeks now so it’s time I give a quick update.

I’ve found adjusting back to UK life difficult. I don’t know whether it is some sort of culture shock or a slight touch of depression or whether it has something to do with the events that happened on my first night home (I’ll explain in a bit) but I find myself feeling uncomfortable about going out of the house or talking to anyone who isn’t a member of my family. In fact we hosted a BBQ last weekend and invited round my mum’s friends and I pretty much hid away in my bedroom because I didn’t want to answer all of the questions they were bound to ask me about my year abroad. Strange considering that I loved my time away and should want to share it with people.

I don’t know if this is normal behaviour or not for someone in my position. I mean on your year abroad you are so independent and you are constantly experiencing something new, whilst at home everything is so…familiar. My view of England has definitely changed. Before I left for Germany I appreciated the modern aspects of my country but now I feel myself yearning for traditional things. We went to my sister’s school fête the other day which is in a very small village just outside of my town. The town is so…English. Tudor buildings, Saturday markets in the square, a town crier, etc etc. This is the type of place that I want to live in. Somewhere full of culture, history and community. This time last year I never gave that village a second thought.

It’s hard to tell whether I’ve been keeping myself in the house because of my melancholy or because I don’t have a choice. I don’t have a huge amount of friends in my home town and the one’s that I do have aren’t here at the moment, so even if I did want to go out with someone, I can’t.

I promised that I would explain about the events of my first night back home. I went to one of my best friend’s birthday party after only having landed a few hours earlier. I was still emotional and a bit overwhelmed by I went for her. She was too busy hosting it all and the only two people there who I properly knew were two girls with whom I’d had a massive falling out with just after I went to uni. To cut a long story short my friend asked them to talk to me but I couldn’t handle the fakeness of it all, all of the hurt that I’d kept pent up over the past three years about what happened made me feel so vunerable and upset that I left after just an hour.

I don’t know if that had some type of effect or not but it sure did make an emotional day even more emotional.

Anyway enough of the doom and gloom, I am off back to Germany on Wednesday for two weeks to see friends, deal with unfinished business and watched the F1 German Grandprix :D I’m so excited for it all, I can’t wait.

I’ll be sure to post about it.

Until then, bye, 

Counting down the hours

All I can think right now is wow, I’ve made it.
It doesn’t feel like I’m going home tomorrow at all. I was walking through the streets of Naples today and it didn’t feel like goodbye.
I had my last gelato today, lemon and zuppa inglese (a flavour that I’ve been curious but scared to taste ever since I arrived…it was just as odd tasting as I thought) and I’m off to have my last vera pizza napoletana with my friends later.
It’s funny to think that 10 months have passed since I was sat all alone in the Ibis am Dom hotel in Cologne, crying my eyes out and hyperventilating. I remember in the end my boyfriend had to phone the hotel phone using skype (my mobile couldn’t receive any signal in my room) and spoke to me for 3 or 4 hours to keep me company. I feel so detached from that girl. I admit I still get afraid and lonely but that 20 year old girl who had never travelled alone, let alone live alone, she was at breaking point. Even the next day when I arrived in Marburg, I still felt so dead inside.
Go back even further. Go back to August when I started this blog. One of my first posts is all about how much I don’t want to go. How much I was dreading this year. But do you know what, it has ended up as being the best year of my life so far. I know everyone says that, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I have never had so much fun.  
When I got on the plane on the 31st August 2010 I cried during take off. It wouldn’t surprise me if I do the same tomorrow. But this time the tears will be a mixture of emotions. Happiness for going home after 10 months away with just a 2 week break for Christmas, pride at how much I’ve accomplished this year, and also sadness, sadness for my year abroad that literally passed in a flash.
I will make the most of my last few hours here in Naples and I will go back to the UK and tell everyone the wonderful things and people that I have seen during my journey.
I’m not going to shut this blog down just yet. There is still some stuff that I can add to it.
I’m so thankful to have been “forced” to go abroad. :)

2 days until I go home: starting to get teary.

Today is the 23rd of June which means tomorrow I hit the 18th week mark of stay in Italy (my university’s minimum requirement) and the day after I’m flying home.

I can’t believe it. I’m in a state of shock.

I’m excited, god how I’m excited, to go home, see my family and friends, eat all of those food that I have been missing for so long………..the list could go on and on.

But I’m also sad.

I didn’t think I would feel sad until saying my proper goodbyes on Saturday, but it’s come early. I’m not sad to leave Naples, I think everyone knows that that, but I’m sad to leave behind some people who I’ve really come to care about.

It’s different to when I left Marburg. I left Marburg knowing that I would return and see everyone at least one more time. But I can’t promise that I will come back to Naples. I definitely want to come back to Italy, but my plan is to concentrate on the places I missed out on up north. Flying to Naples isn’t exactly cheaper either unless you fly from Stansted. There’s the chance I’ll see my mentor again. She loves London and hopefully she’ll let me know if she’s coming. The same with the teacher who I give private lessons too. In fact she has family in London, so there’s even more chance. But there is one special person who I might never see again. My host mum has been wonderful. She’s been generous, kind, supportive, caring. She’s made feel part of this family and I have to say that in these four short months a daughterly love inside of me has grown inside of me for her. She’s not in a financial position to travel, as a matter of fact, she’s never travelled outside of Italy in her life, so unless I come back…well that’s the end of that.

To quote the Biebs here, I’m never say[ing] never to coming back. I’d like to see more of the area, explore the other two islands, see the famous Amalfi coastline, but I don’t see it happening in the near future.

I thought I’d just get this all out before I go to bed. My room is a mess at the moment. Everything is on the floor. I’ve half packed. The next few days are going to go by so quick. Before I know it I’ll be at my friend’s 21st birthday party on Saturday night in a surreal daze, recalling all of my adventures during the 297 days of my year abroad.

The girl who lives here is CRAZY

You may recall me talking about a mystery girl who moved in with her dog and cat. Yes well a few weeks on I’m still non the wiser as to why she is here but I have noticed that she is a little…OCD.

We share a bathroom, something which I am most upset about, I miss having such a large, beautiful bathroom all to myself…wahhhhh, and I’ve noticed that she loves to clean it. She also loves to clean her bedroom. It makes me feel bad for never actually cleaning while I’ve been here. In all fairness I did ask at the beginning, but my host mum was adamant that I didn’t need to lift a finger.

ANYWAY getting back on track, today mystery girl’s dog found a cockroach in her bedroom. Well let me tell you it was the most hilarious, over dramatic scene ever. She comes running into the bathroom clutching her dog, despite the fact that I am in there (luckily I am just doing my hair). She’s all hysterical and I go out to see what the fuss is about. Host mum has killed the cockroach but girl is still refusing to leave the bathroom. The next thing I know the room is being fumigated with anti-bug spray and all of the furniture, including the bed, is in the hallway. My host mum was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor, sweeping the mattress, the bedding was put in the washing machine, the dogs bed and toys were bathed in disinfectant and left in the bath tub. Seriously it was just a cockroach.

God knows I have my fair share of freak outs when I see 8 legged mini monsters, I refused to open my window in Germany for fear of them and ended up with a bill of over 100euro because of the mould that had grown thanks to poor room circulation. But this is too much. Seriously get a grip woman.

Worst thing is my host mum hurt her back from this and spent pretty much the rest of the day in bed.  :(

Death finally caught up with me

So many people have been affected by death this year.
I blogged ages ago about how it was starting to affect me and how I was afraid of that day that someone that I care about passes away.
Today, after a day at the beach I was all ready to blog about hairy armpits, speedoes and the absence of one pieces in Naples when someone’s status on Facebook caught my eye.
It was an ex-colleague who had written an RIP message. I assumed it would be for Ryan Dunn from Jackass, there were a few of those statues on my news feed, but this one stood out as being different. I read the name and assumed it was some sick joke. I even, for a moment, thought that he must know someone else with that name, but that was stupid of me since her name is so unique.
I read the comments underneath and her wall and it was true. A woman who had been so supportive to me and a real friend had died alone in her house in Taiwan. She’d gone back to Taiwan last year after a fall out with our boss. It was only supposed to be temporary and she was planning on returning to the UK soon to continue with her studies. She was a remarkable woman. She was caring, fun loving and very unique. Although she was old enough to be my mum she was extremely young at heart and was more like an older sister. We’d kept in contact during this year and I hoped to see her again soon.
She was unlucky with love and had never married, nor did she have any children. I can’t believe she’s been taken from this world in what has been described as an “accident”. I don’t know what the cause of death was, and I don’t know if I want to. All I know is that it is going to take a long time for me to understand that she is gone.
This is all probably sounds so stupid in comparison to the deaths that have affected my friends this year but like I said I had been lucky so far to have never have a friend or family member die (ok that’s a lie my Nanny died, but it was so long ago and I was only 7 so it didn’t affect me).
Life is so short and so cruel. I just hope she didn’t suffer. RIP my friend, I’ll keep you live in my heart.  

A wee update

So as today is now Saturday that makes it exactly a week until I go home.

Ahhhh there is so much that I need to do.

At the moment I’m pretty much spending all of my free time writing my essay for my home uni which I’d like to finish before I leave. I’ve only written a 1000 words so far, which isn’t great since I’ve pretty much spent a full two days sat writing it. I keep getting distracted by everything.

I really needed to sort myself out!

Here’s to a productive weekend.

Capri + Scooter = Awesome

On my boyfriend’s last day in Italy we went to Capri, one of the three Islands which lay in the Golf of Naples. It’s well known as being a tourist hot spot as well as very pricey. (Random fact for you all: Did you know that Angela Merkel likes holidaying yearly on the larger, less touristy Island of Ischia?)

Now everyone has told me since I arrived that I must not miss out on a trip to Capri and that I must go there with my boyfriend because it is sooooooo romantic. So it was always going to be on the itinerary for his visit, although it moved to the Friday due to the weather.

We travelled to Capri, unsurprisingly by a small ferry. I ferry ride was awful. We were not allowed on deck so it was incredibly stuffy and the sea was very lively, so you can imagine how incredibly seasick we both became. While we tried to distract ourselves from the persistent rocking of the boat, we read a flyer that had been handed to us when we boarded. It advertised a company who rented out boats for you to drive around the island. The boats appeared to be mini motorised yachts with space to lie and sunbathe. At 80 euro for two hours we were very tempted. I imagined us driving around the island for a bit, then stopping in one of the areas on the leaflet which is suggested for swimming, playing in the water for a bit, then carry on a bit more, the boyfriend at the wheel of the boat, me working on my tan. Unfortunately when we got to Capri all of the boats were occupied and there was a line of people waiting for them to return. We only had four hours on the Island so we decided to abandon our dream.

But all was not lost. Just before we got to the boat stand I had seen a sign advertising scooters for rental. In a bid to try and see as much of the Island as possible in our limited amount of time, I suggested something completely out of the ordinary: “let’s rent a scooter”. I’m usually against motorised two wheeled methods of transportation and refuse to let my boyfriend buy or even ride a motorbike or moped, however I did always have the hope that when I came to Italy I could ride around the streets on a Vespa. This was thrown out of the window as soon as I stepped foot in Naples and saw the reality of driving in the city. But now we were in Capri, this was my chance to tick something else off of my bucket list and my boyfriend’s only chance to drive a moped with my full support.

I admit I was a little apprehensive when we went into the shop and the woman continuously asked “You have driven a scooter before? You do drive one everyday? Everyday day yes?” but it was fine and very enjoyable. The views were amazing and we practically saw the whole Island, something which wouldn’t  have been possible without the thing. There was one awkward moment when my boyfriend drove on the left hand side of the road, luckily the on coming traffic was quite a distance away when we noticed. The scooter itself wasn’t the coolest moped on the block, it was some tacky yellow thing, but we weren’t the only ones riding one. In fact renting a scooter seems to be the thing to do in Capri, and why not, it is the easiest and most liberating way to see the Island. It’s also the coolest way. I mean cool as in temperature wise. It was such a hot day but on the scooter you barely noticed. I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself nearly as much if I’d been walking up and down the cliffs in the sweltering heat.

^How can such a beautiful place exist?

We had the scooter for 3 hours and we ended up with a spare 30 minutes before needing to catch the boat home. We stripped off into our swimwear and spent the half an hour on the free beach next to the harbour. It has literally been about 10 years since I’ve been in the sea and I stupidly forgot that it was salty. One mouthful and I was gagging. The waves were also quite big which meant that I looked very ungraceful, especially when I tripped over a huge rock on the seabed when I tried to make my way to the staircase out of the sea.

All in all an amazingly fun filled day, and one that I will never forget all thanks to the scooter. Literally it is something I will tell my grandparents about. When we went back to Naples we ate at Rossopomodoro, a Neapolitan food chain which supposedly has restaurants in Chelsea and Covent Garden. It was probably the worst food we have both eaten here in Italy, I’d like to say that’s quite an achievement since I’ve eaten over 200 Italian meals since being here.  I would not recommend the place to anyone. Please don’t waste your money on the place.

^ Appetizing?? I think not. Is it possible that is tastes worse than it looks?

 

Phew I’m glad that all of these long posts about my week as a tourist are over, now I can resume blogging about important things like Cumana strikes and buying toiletries ;)