The end

I made it back to London carrying-on my gigantic backpack just in time to meet the four English boys for some drinks and a night out. With a few ciders and more techno than I could appreciate, we played pool throughout the evening before heading back to the house for wine, Swiss chocolate and some reminiscing about their time in the States (07-08) and my experiences traveling and in Italy.

On Monday I hopped on a plane that in the course of 16 hours had me back to the west coast. I turned my cell phone on to receive a series of messages regarding my account, and a few well-planned texts welcoming me home. I can't believe I'm back.

Looking back on my trip, I couldn't be more happy with my experiences. I had a great time traveling during the first portion, getting that classic American college grad western Europe sightseeing tour out of the way. But by far my time on the farms are what made the trip exactly what I wanted and meant the most to me.

This entire trip was meant to be two things for me. First, it was to re-acquaint me with old friends abroad and Second it was to be a period of time to relax, refocus and recenter before starting the next stage of my life.

I'm spending two weeks in Reno (until the 10th) before I go back to San Diego, where I'm giving myself one month to find a decent job and two months to find a serious job (as in one that is career focused/what I actually want to do with my life). I'm fortunate to have some friends who are willing to pull out their sofa beds for me during that time as I definitely have no income, home, or car and very minimal savings after this trip.

As for jobs, I've been doing lots of research of companies and organizations that I'm interested in since I arrived back to the States. Applying to jobs is a time consuming process!! I adjust my resume quite a bit between each job so as to highlight my more relevant experience and adjust my letter of application and it takes forever!!

If you'd like to follow my life since Europe and all of my future blogs, check out stephusry.blogspot.com. (I promise I won't make you subscribe to anything else!)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Some things about Italy

Over my 1.5 months in Italy, I recognized again and again similarities that appeared throughout the country. I share them here.

1. The people are extraordinary friendly (but most don't speak English)
2. Nothing and no one is on time. Buses, rides, everything runs late (today's bus was 30 minutes behind schedule).
3. The food is spectacular, and the gelato. But this applies to food cooked at Italian homes, not restaurants. Particularly I've liked the spinach tortellini.
4. The mosquitoes in the countryside are evil and torture those of us not used to them. I'm allergic to their bites so they last for days and when they go away they leave bruises!
5. Good words to know are Dove (where) and subsequently a sinistra and a destra (left and right) so you can then follow the directions they give.
6. There is always a main street named Via Roma in every city.
7. You must put the toilet seats down each time you use the toilet because they raise themselves automatically and stay up. (Talk about a culture in which the masculine is the standard!)
8. The headline of today's regional paper exclaimed that a child swallowed a torch and they are now afraid he will have to undergo a long operation (reading newspapers to work on my Italian)
9. Italy is Very hot in August. And humid. And it's crowded because all of Europe is on holiday this month. Choose a different month if you visit here.
10. It is not okay to put your feet on the seat of a train if you have shoes on. If you take them off and then put your bare feet up that is okay. Old people in particular have no problem wiggling their finger at you in disaprovement if you don't obey this unwritten rule.
11. Don't buy pasta dishes at restaurants (particularly in Rome). Find a local to invite you for their mothers cooking if you want delicious, extraordinary Italian food. Otherwise go find a pizza place that charges by the weight of the slice for the best food and best prices.
12. "Di" is the term used to get your attention, or to express frustration/anger/give a lecture to a small child.

I'm sure there's more, but at this point these are of the most importance.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry