It's moving time.....

Although we thought we'd be in Genova for almost a year, things have changed.  Boy oh boy, things have changed.  At first, the charm started wearing off.  That's fine, that's normal.  You get used to what's around you, it's not as exciting.  But then our struggles started really building.  Several factors came to a clash at once:

1. When you set aside the language difference and the wonky store hours, Genova is actually a lot like DC.  Only not as pretty, and with crappy weather.

2. The public transportation system here is far from ideal, but most of the people here have to use it.  Sometimes the bus comes every 5 minutes.  Sometimes you have to wait 45 or longer.  It's often reeeeally crowded, which makes for interesting grope-avoiding tactics and missed stops because you aren't able to reach the exit in time.

3. It has rained every day for the last two and a half weeks.  Poured.  Every day.  Now, if I could sit inside with a book or a friend or a movie or whatever, I could just watch and listen to the rain with a sort of detached enjoyment.  I'd probably get cabin fever, wishing I could be seeing the sights or whatever, but it'd be somewhat tolerable.  But spending 3 hours a day commuting, often standing in the rain with a bunch of other cranky workers, it just makes me unhappy.

4. It's grey and smelly here most of the time.  When walking outside in Genova, I'm either breathing in bus fumes or smoke.  (Everyone, and I mean Everyone smokes here.  And throughout most of Italy.)  Tough to stay upbeat when you feel invaded by stink.

5. My hours at school - they're usually in the afternoon/evening.  By the time I come home, it's rush hour.  The buses are slow due to traffic, and cramped beyond belief.  The only places open at that time in the evening are restaurants, serving 2-3 hour dinners, and McDonald's.  Ew.  The grocery stores and markets are closed.

6. My actual work hours - though I thought I could work as many hours as I wanted, often the maximum available is 1-3 hours a day.  Again, max.  The commute alone will take up 2-3 hours, plus I need an hour of prep time, which isn't paid.  It's frustrating.

So here's my day today: this morning is relaxing.  I'm cooking, doing laundry, and running errands.  I was supposed to have an hour class at 1:30, then an evening class.  However, the bus and rail workers are on strike today.  (Happens often.)  So I don't have a way to get to work!  It would take about an hour and 15 minutes to walk, but of course it's raining again.  The afternoon class is cancelled, as the students haven't been showing up all morning anyway.  I'm still supposed to come into the city's center for my evening class because, "the buses are supposed to come every once in a while to get people home from work."  Still, I don't know how I will get home from work tonight.  

Ok, enough whining, and back to topic.  Two weekends ago, Kim and I visited Assisi.  It is an incredibly beautiful, charming place.  I already knew I loved it, and Kim quickly fell in love as well.  After a long, wonderful, first day, we had a lovely dinner and a bottle of wine.  Soon we found ourselves discussing a move to Assisi.  What?  And leave our jobs?  Our homes?  Our stability?  What would we do?  Where would we live?  Are we being quitters?  Taking the easy way out?  A few phone calls and one night's sleep later, we spent another lovely, rain-free day in Assisi.  We looked at two apartments.  We discussed.  We drove back to Genova.  

After some more thinking and some more perspective, we agreed.  We're unhappy in Genova, and we're moving to Assisi.  We have an apartment, we have some plans, and we are counting down the hours until we can leave this city.

The only really sad part is that I'm leaving my roommates.  They have become good friends, and they are fantastic people.  Unfortunately, the blatant unhappiness that Genova creates for me is too powerful for me to stay.  

For those of you still reading this long, not-so-exciting post, thanks for working your way through all this negativity!  A lot of things are still up in the air (2009?), and believe it or not, there were many more factors that went into this decision than those shared above.  But the bottom line is that we're moving this weekend, we're optimistic about the next leg of our adventure, and we'll keep you posted!

More soon.....