9. April showers brings May flowers

Sunday April 20th.

April is a server at Mesa restaurant in Costa Mesa. I had small intimate going away dinner at Mesa the Friday before I left that Sunday April 6th. One of the managers comes over towards the end of the dinner and we get to chit chatting and come to find out that April is taking the whole month of April off to travel to Europe, including Italy! How funny, I’m at her restaurant having my ‘last meal’ because I’m moving to Italy! So I give her my email address and she emails me to let me know when she’ll be coming into Florence.

And now, she’s here and she will be staying with me, how many days? I have no clue. But I’m opening up my home to her, since she is traveling in Italy by herself and she really only knows me here, well, we don’t really know, know each other, but I’m a familiar face. She comes on a day that the rain finally stopped and I tell her that for the next 2 days, it will be raining again, so she needs to go to Piazza Michelangelo today if she wants to see what Florence is all about. But first, lets go to the bbq so she can grab some food. We walk down the street to Arash’s and I introduce her to everyone, she mingles the best she can and takes off for Piazza Michelangelo. But lord have mercy, she missed out on the homemade desserts! Massemo hands me a plate with a slice of pie like looking thing that has two layers, the bottom layer is dark, but when tasting it, it is some type of cherry marmalade with a custard top layer and bread crumbs on top. I want to go for another slice, but wait! Their bringing out more dessert! Massemo’s sister made a nutella nut bread, another party goer from Lithuania brings this unbelievable nut chocolate layer and layer of ooooey goodness and last but definitely not least, a pie pan that was filled of something that resembled the traditional tiramisu, but really wasn’t, but which I definitely go back for seconds. I feel so full and tired that all I want to do is take a nap. I’ve been here 2 weeks already, but I still feel so lethargic in the middle of the day. Good thing Arash lives a block away from me, so I make the trek to my apartment and take a nap before my first Tandem lesson with Michele.

I wake up and wash my face and meet Michele outside of my apartment, no makeup, super casual. You should have seen the look on his face when I came out, but to me, we’re going to go talk for an hour and learn, not do anything else right? I guess he had a different agenda. He takes out a map and tells me that in our neighborhood, they’re having art shows, at different locations and the last stop is at the garden which is only 10 mins from our house and that we should stop by. Hmm, I brought a notepad and pen because I want to freakin practice Italian. Anyways, then he tells me that he needs to stop by the bank and pull out some money. I got your espresso for you, but he tells me he needs to pull out money anyway. So apparently the atm by our house is out of order so the other one is across the river. Okay, lets just go and get your money and please, can we start our lesson? We’re walking across the river and Michele runs into a girl that he met the night before. She’s from Sweden and then she tags along with us. And we’re walking back towards my neighborhood, Santa Spirito, and then Michele calls his buddy that I guess had a thing for Ms. Sweden and we go walk around the organic market waiting for Ricardo. At this point, I keep looking at my watch, because #1, I have to meet April to open the door for her, and #2 I have to go back to get ready for dinner with April and Mr. Uomo. I tell Michele that I have to go and he asks me to come back to go to the art show at the garden. Yeah, not so much buddy. Didn’t I mention I have a boyfriend? But over here, having a boyfriend, ring on your finger whatever, doesn’t matter. Fair game I guess. So what I thought was going to be my first tandem lesson was really a cover for a date? I say my goodbye to Michele and walk back home to meet April and we get ready to have dinner.

Mr. Uomo and I were trying to see if one of his friends could come out and have dinner with us, so we can introduce April to a hot Italian man. The guy that we had in mind was busy, so okay, its just the 3 of us. But Mr. Uomo has oodles and oodles of cousins that live and walk and dilly dally around town, so while at the restaurant, some stop by here and there. We call Peter to come by but April is not feeling him or any of them, except Ricky. He is one of the cousins cousin from Lebanon that is studying jewelry in Florence and working at the restaurant. He actually calls Mr. Uomo is father. And people buy it. But you see, Ricky is very, very shy and would never ever make the first move. But on this night, he builds up courage to come out with us after the dinner. We all walk to Slowly together, Mr. Uomo and I, April and Ricky, and Ciro and another blonde and Asian couple. Yes, they were pimpin that night. Anyways, we go to Slowly and in the middle of the night, I hear to my surprise that Ricky will be accompanying Ms. April to Rome! Really? That’s cool. And then I think how neat it is to just say, ‘I’m taking off for a couple days and I’ll be back.’ I wouldn’t have been able to do that back in the states. Well, yeah, maybe I did, but my boss’s never knew, or did, but as long as my numbers were there, who cares right? Anyways, we go to Slowly, have a couple of more glasses of wine and you guys, by this point, ive been drinking wine everyday. Lunch, dinner, whatever. Wine is flowing here, and April says who can blame you? My liver is blaming me. So I hang out with Mr. Uomo to give the kids their time together and we just hang out in front, watching the random drunks walk past. OH! I met the most gorgeous GORGEOUS gay man in Florence, his name is Luke. And he was so handsome. So very handsome.

I’m getting tired, so we go in, get everyone and then leave. April’s first night in Florence and then she proceeds to ask me ‘is this really your life?’ I say, ’welcome to my world’ and before I head out to Mr. Uomo’s she says, ’I love your life.’ Honey, you haven’t seen nothing yet.