A plane to Spain

ciao mio Bari, heeellloo spain

25.06.2011

Another airplane, another new place, another adventure beckons me and draws me in. The world whispers my name and I fully run to it. I kiss my best friends goodbye we head down different paths, but only to be reunited again in autumn. We cry, we drink, we laugh and sing. This is the nature of my job, my career path. It is an amazing journey and amazing life and I would never want to trade places with anyone. But when summer comes and contracts come to a close, we must say goodbye or fare well. Through tears we hug, and I am never the one to stay strong during this time. In fact I hate it, I dread it with all my heart and soul. A good man friend tells me “Krysta you are an amazing women, strong and one smart cookie. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you, I know you are beautiful and have this girly persona but I know you are incredible. You never let people staring at you, and chasing after you stop you from doing anything you want to do, you are one courageous girl” I cry even harder, as he packs the rest of his things in a bag. I do not want anything to change, but this is the faith and path I have chosen.
I have fallen in love; I am falling in love because I am not finished. Each day my bond with this man that I never planned on loving, surprises me in the best possible ways. But, I never was the girl to plan anything. Saying goodbye until September to him was heart breaking, we sat on my balcony looking at the stars and moon that decorate and kiss the night sky. He hands me his official military/police pin and hat and with tears in his eyes whispers “Ti amo” I never wanted this but it is better than anything, he tries in English and says “you change my world.” I cry on his shoulder as he stands at my door with his things packed in a bag, his uniform that is usually freshly pressed is wrinkled in the humid night air, tears on my cheeks his kisses me and I watch him walk away from me. Towards something else, something new. Who knows where we will end up, who knows what the future has for us.
What I do know is I am about to have my last lunch with my girlfriends and then board a plane to Spain. I have two nights in Seville in a hostel and then head off to my new job. I will be working at a summer camp for about 4 weeks, and then head to "volunteer" on a farm in Southern Spain. Where I will spend time with a new family and help them garden and pick fruit. They have a pool and horses where I can ride barefoot and free. A change from dripping in designer Italian clothes an making black the new pink. Standing at the corner with huge sunglasses kisses my boys goodbye this morning (I live in the "bronx" of Bari and my neighborhood protects me and feeds me) , I think I can not wait for the change. Adventure and a new life scream for me know, butterflies tickle my tummy as the unknown is fresh and unsettling. Here goes nothing, here goes everything.

Is it true what they say?

Is it true what they say “That all good things must come to an end”? In my heart of hearts I am hoping that this is a rumor. I want the good things that I have made into my life to stay with me for just a little longer. I have amazing friends and people around me; I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the best food in the world and a boyfriend that I am falling for. I love falling in love, especially when you are in southern Italy with your hand out the window of the car, breeze whipping your salted hair around and the smell of fresh fruit growing in the orchards.
We hold hands and sing to the song on the radio, mountains, greenery and vineyards fly by as I fly on new love. We are going to a new place, a new beach. Each weekend is our new adventure. My heart sores above all and I look over hoping that all good things will never end.
I look at my friends that have turned into family laying and chatting on the beach, my boyfriend plays with a lock of my hair I feel that everything in my life is perfect just for a second that everything is in it’s place and that I couldn’t ask for anything more. But, I have said goodbye to many friends that are not returning to Bari next year and I am leaving next Saturday (exactly one week) I must say goodbye to my boyfriend and friends. Luckily most of them are coming back for more Bari action, but this bubble that we have created will never be the same. It is the end of an era; the best year of my life comes to a close. I will be on another plane when I have been in Italy for one year. I have learnt many things about my past, myself and my future. I have met amazing people, kissed boys in the rain, healed my broken heart, ate a ton of pasta and pizza with those I love and exactly one year later I am falling in love yet again. This year I have lived in Sicily with a dodgy, amazing, silly, fortunate family where I learned how to eat and love again. I cooked pasta and homemade pizza, picked fruit and vegetables out of their garden, peeled lemons for homemade lemoncello and spent time being part of another family. A grandmother picked me up each time she saw me making sure I was gaining weight.  I jumped a private gate at 3:00 a.m, rode on the back of motorcycles, went on a date to Palermo, watched a famous concert, learned some Italian words, sailed on a yacht and had a crush on the skipper.
I went to Rome to try to make a life with another man and the city chewed me up and spit me out… as I stayed in a bed and breakfast with a man that dried my tears and brought me breakfast in bed. Perhaps I loved him, a little.  He showed me the historic parts of his city; we drank wine, had our first kiss in a garden over looking the entire city, laughed and fell for one another.  We flew back and forth from Rome to Southern Italy for a few months, skyped every week until we both called it quits because I wasn’t in Rome. He told me he loved me outside of the Vatican on Easter but we can not move forward, everything would be different if I would make the move.
I moved on to Bari, a town that has charm, character and confusion all in one place. I can never pinpoint my exact feelings about this city, but one thing is certain; I have made a family here. We created a Bari bubble and enjoyed Southern Italian living.
Some of us are going on a new adventure, a new place. I am about to set out for a summer job in Spain, will I ever return? Who knows? What I do know is that it’s the end of the best year of my life, which isn’t bad nor good, just life changes, people move on and we grow up. Each one of the places and people have changed my heart, I dare to ever be the same.