Oh, She’s Just Being Jen

I’ve been here less than three weeks (yes, I had to look that up because it seems like it’s been more with all I’ve gotten accomplished) and I’ve already fallen (literally) back into old Jen patterns.

I fell. And I hurt myself too. Hooray for medical coverage that I will not use because Jen still doesn’t use doctors even in other countries.

Before you go freaking out (Mom), I only sprained my ankle or twisted it or just hurt in a way that I felt pain, something that I’ve done so many times that it hardly makes an impact on me anymore. You see, I was walking down the mountain that I call home to the bus stop that only stops halfway up for the 11:45 bus to the city. Stupid Jen wore flip flops because I wanted to embrace the remains of the summer season (yes, it’s technically fall, but it’s still feeling like summer) and because of the erratic drivers, I have to stay as close to the side of the road as possible (sidewalks… Italians scoff at these sidewalks you speak about). I didn’t realize that the road ended and the grass began after a little bit of a ledge so after a small misstep I was down on the pavement, sprawled like the idiot that I am. Of course, I rebounded in true Jen fashion and got up and continued walking muttering to myself “walk it off Sandri, walk it off.” And it worked, until later in the evening when I was talking my driving lessons with an Italian named Enrico who tells me to do things in Italian and then my aunt, sitting in the backseat, must interpret them for me… midway through the lesson I felt excruciating pain as I pressed down on the clutch for the hundredth time and then I spent the rest of the day hobbling around the house.

It’s such a Jen thing to do to advertise my idiocracy on the internet eh? I think most people don’t advertise when they fall, but I generally make a habit of letting everyone know… also I want to see if Ms. Leah Artoodeetoo did the same thing since we are co-dependent in that regard (that shout out was also to see if she was reading this since I haven’t seen a comment yet Ms. Plomp). Leah, did you happen to fall at 1am your time on Tuesday?

As for today, it’s feeling better and I will later stupidly put on heels as I go to work for the first time at my job. I’m teaching English in Vicenza twice this week and I think four times next week. I also have a bunch of work lined up here in Schio next week as well, so work is going well and the Euro’s will eventually be flowing in (except, Italians only get paid once a month, so I have to wait another month L ).

I’m currently sitting in the kitchen alone as Livi and Christian are at work and my uncle is out shooting birds. I swear, every morning I wake up in a war zone with shots ringing out in the sky just outside the house. Paradise for a girl that constantly dreams that she is being shot and hates guns :D

I’m also still slowly learning the ways of the Italian life. Such as, you do not drink at the bar at the Schio train station, I arrived early yesterday and went to get a cappuccino, I walked in and immediately knew it was wrong… I personally thought it would be full of old men, just like those that sit outside the bar drinking their coffee. Nope, all men that sat and ogled what was probably the only woman to step foot in there all day. Me being the nice Canadian that I am, felt it would be rude to just walk out, so I drank my coffee and left. When I got home later my aunt plainly told me that you do not go into that bar… you just don’t.

FYI: Cafes in Italy are bars, sadly, I cannot sit in them all day and read as I did in Vancouver, instead you drink your coffee, usually standing at the bar and leave, sitting down generally costs more. Another thing I’ve learned about Italy… you pay to do everything.