I woke up this morning without the sun shining into my bedroom window, which looks onto the main street of beautiful Sansepolcro. I also knew I had the inevitable task of packing awaiting me when I got out of the bed. This was the first of many signs from the past couple of days that reminded me my time here is coming to a close. I drug myself out of the bed, make a warm cup of tea (one of my new favorites since coming to Italy), and began pulling down the cards and pictures that give my room its homey feel. Amanda was awake at this point and when I opened my closet door to begin taking out my clothes the tears came again. The tears have come three more times since after reading an email from my sister, making a toast to Margherita and Alessandra, and reading an email from my dad. As much as I wish everyone at home understood how I feel as I prepare to return, they don’t. The only people that can truly understand how it feels to pack up and leave Sansepolcro are the people I have spent this semester with who made Sansepolcro their second home as well. They are the women who have sat around the table with me in the dining room everyday for lunch and tasted the same amazing cooking I have, which we are so lucky to get every day. We now have our own memories and “family sayings” which no one else will understand but us.
Sister+ Thanksgiving in Italy+ My New Home in Sansepolcro=…what has made the past few weeks perfect!
I was lucky enough to have someone from home come visit me last week for Thanksgiving. My sister flew into Rome and we enjoyed ourselves around the big city. When we arrived in Sansepolcro on that Sunday night, the same feeling of comfort came over my sister which I feel ever weekend after being away. It is of course different in the sense that she is a visitor and I feel like part of the community, but I was happy to see she was content. I walked her around the city and she reminded me how lucky I was to be here with the expressions on her face and feeling she was really in an “Italian town.” We enjoyed Sansepolcro and the next day went to Anghiari which has as much charm as Sansepolcro. Wednesday night my sister got the chance to come with Chelsea and I to the Tanfi’s for a family dinner. This is one thing I am happy to got to be a part of during her time here. We ate an official Italian meal and my sister managed to make it through because I translated for her and Mrs. Tanfi spoke a small amount of English when she could.
Thursday came and it was time to set the tables and prepare for nearly 50 Italian guests to arrive for Thanksgiving dinner. My sister and I had spent the morning in Perugia exploring, and as soon as we got off the train back in Sansepolcro we headed to the Servi and helped set up. I remembered how much I disliked getting ready for special occasions because everyone runs around and stresses about what they will wear. Of course at the Massey house on Thanksgiving we eat around our old table in sweatpants. I guess I can say along with my parents that was something I missed not doing this Thanksgiving. Once we were all dressed and at the Servi, I was very happy to be with everyone. As guests poured in, my emotions got the best of me because I realized I was surrounded by this new family which was created here in Sansepolcro. Everyone’s teachers from the service learning experience came, as well as our host families and friends which we have made in town. The food was as American as it could be since we were eating in Italy, and as amazing as food can be anywhere because Margherita made it. We had two of the biggest turkeys I have ever had a chance to eat from before, and the normal American cranberry sauce to go along with it. I loved the Italian additions to our dinner, but it more importantly I loved the Italian company that night.
My sister and I ventured to Lido Di Ostia, a small seaside city near Rome where we would stay the night before she left. It was not what we expected, but we had a great dinner and the next morning before she caught her bus to the airport we got to see the ocean. I was once again happy to get back to Sansepolcro and relax at “my house.”
The final week has come and gone as quickly as I knew it would, but faster than I ever hoped. Tomorrow I will have my last run with Nicole in the beautiful countryside, “take” a coffee (as they like to call it here in Italy) after running, walk through the Saturday market one last time, buy last minute gifts for the people I wish I could have shared this experience with, and have one last night with the people who have made this experience as great as it has been. Frederick Buechner has gotten me through some hard days with his devotional book, and he struck again this morning. My sister’s email included Buechner’s quote about goodbyes, and I will wrap up my last blog from beautiful Tuscan Italy with his brilliant words.
"It was a long while ago that the words God be with you disappeared into the word goodbye, but every now and again some trace of them still glimmers through."
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