My challenge to you...

Benedetto sia 'l giorno, et 'l mese, et l'anno,
et la stagione, e 'l tempo, et l'ora, e 'l punto,
e 'l bel paese, e 'l loco ov'io fui giunto
da'duo begli occhi che legato m'anno;

et benedetto il primo dolce affanno
ch'i' ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto,
et l'arco, et le saette ond'i' fui punto,
et le piaghe che 'nfin al cor mi vanno.

Benedette le voci tante ch'io
chiamando il nome de mia donna ò sparte,
e i sospiri, et le lagrime, e 'l desio;

et benedette sian tutte le carte
ov'io fama l'acquisto, e 'l pensier mio,
ch'è sol di lei, sí ch'altra non v'à parte.

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-Francesco Petrarca

This poem was written sometime in the 1300's by Francesco Petrarca to a woman named Laura.  He actually wrote 365 of them...about her.  Their eyes were the only thing that ever met. But in that instance, that split second....he saw her. 

Before leaving the states, I was told...DO.NOT.GET.MARRIED and come home soon.  Haha, I guess I am an obvious, hopeless, cynical romantic *shrug*.   So, roughly 10 months of me living in Firenze, I went on dates and dated because let's be honest....have you ever met an Italian man?  If you have, you know what I mean...and if you haven't, you should (or shouldn't.  I haven't made up my mind quite yet).  You are never actually sure about them but I guess that is the endearing part of it all.  Because, they are extremely truthful liars.  Oxymoron, yes, I understand.  It's one of those "you just gotta know" things.


Everything in Italy is a feeling.  I didn't get it at first...but now I do and it's hard to explain because...you just FEEL it.  The energy..the history...the beauty..the culture.  You can read as many books as you want about the place, shit, I did...but it will never prepare you for what you would actually experience while you are here.  Even if it is for a short period of time.  In every person I talk to...and let's face it, that is A LOT of people...you get a different interpretation of Italy.  The way they see their history and the leaders from past to current.You have the die hards that would never leave, you have the "wish-I-could's" and you have the ones with their plane ticket booked outta there.  I am lucky to know all three types of people. 

My girlfriend recently told me that she doesn't bode well with "surface level shit".  You know, the kind of conversation that you have with someone you just met.  Just some generic exchanges that help pass the time.  But now that I think of it actually, I guess it's not with just people you just met.  Have you ever known a person for awhile and one day it dawns on you....."I don't know one real thing about you"?  I feel like that happens more times than not.  But there...there, they asked me questions that knocked me off my feet.  On a first encounter, you can cover your hopes, your dreams, what frightens you the most.  Who are you?  Where did you come from?  And no, the answer was not: Nikko Bauti from San Francisco. I am a middle child and the only girl.  I come from a middle class, single parent, immigrant home.  I sat in cafes, sipping on espressos, opening my soul to a people who I have known for less than 6 months.  Watching this person...these people...cradle my soul carefully in their hands while I tell my version of my story.  Ever so carefully nodding with empathy and laughing when I got uncomfortable about certain things in my life so I made a joke of it. Everything is passionate here.  The need for human contact and real live conversations are just as vital as the air we breath.  When they spend time with you...THEY SPEND TIME WITH YOU.  They don't go to dinner to be on their phones.  They don't invite you over to browse facebook on their computers.  They don't have a deeper relationship with technology than they do with people.  And this is why I feel in love.

Coming back home, I made a valiant effort to not succumb to the overwhelming technology culture that we happily adopted.  I did well for awhile...even tried to ditch my phone.  But now, I sit here...typing away on my laptop about the love I have for making connections, organic connections, with real live people...all the while with facebook and gchat open on different tabs and my cell phone sitting next to me. I can't write you 365 love notes.  Or notes in general.  But I do yearn for the passion to WANT to do so.  What lit a fire in Francesco to do such a thing?  Because that's what I want again.

So my challenge to you is: Dump "how are you?" and adopt "When did you feel the most loved today?".  Don't let our interactions be generic.  Let me look into your soul and look into mine.  Tell me your nightmares so we can dream bigger together.