Wednesday, January 17, 2007

My stay in Milan so far

The funeral was held last Thursday. Very few people were still in touch with grandma, it was a small ceremony. My first catholic funeral, I think. And seeing grandma dead made it the first time I saw the lifeless shell of someone I had known in life.

The biggest treasury she left behind was a collection of old correspondence, photo albums, and all her writings, published and non. I even found letters from my own father, 10 yrs old, when he first went away to boarding school...!! It all went to fill in the holes of a past that I knew little of. Amazing experience.

Anything of value, like her ring and watch, disappeared. Also a bunch of copies of her books, which she had kept and I had seen in her wardrobe. The president of the institute shrugged and said "You know how it is..." Almost worth kicking his ass, if it wasn't that it was all stuff I had no relation to. I have at least one copy of all her writings, and the things she wore don't tell me much, so I can leave them behind... Sucks to feel helpless in the matter, though.

As she is being cremated, she wont reach the cemetery until this Friday. Then she will rest, in peace, while us living ones continue to walk this earth and deal with mundane things. Like her material possessions. While I'm the only heir, out popped someone with a will where all the money goes to them and some friars... It's from over 10 years ago, and we can't track down any other will, so it's going to become an issue. *sigh*

Funny how these people are being all proper about the will, and they didn't even show up at the funeral. Nor did they arrange any of the paperwork I had to take care of, like her pension, or mentioned that I had to return any of her personal belongings...

Bah humbug.

While I wait for all this crap, I keep busy shooting pics and meeting random new friends. Here is some beauty for the soul, to cancel out some of the crap above.

Monday, January 08, 2007

life is random. in bad ways, as well.

Grandma passed away.

Suddenly, improbably, unfairly.

I'm looking for the first flight out to Milan. No clue what will happen after. I have to retrace a couple of months worth of decisions and thinking.

Randomness must go all ways, doesn't it?

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Happy new year! and last travel plans

Happy new year to all. 'Hope it brings everyone good stuff.

Me, I can't wish for a better year than 2006, but since I'm on a roll, why not. 2007 sure started well enough. I'm still in Costa Rica, lending a hand in organizing things in my hosts' home, with no worries other than to organize my future, and I've just finalized the purchase of my plane tickets.

I'll be leaving Costa Rica to go to Key West, in Florida, on January 16th. There I'm going to give it a shot at writing this book, since I'm visiting one of my old college roommates who has become a writer herself.

On February 1st I'll be reaching North Carolina, to visit an old coworker and his wife, who just bought their house there. It'll be a quick visit, so I can make it back to New York for superbowl sunday.

I'll be making base in New York through March 14th, planning on how to move my life over to Italian soil. During that time I'll also be visiting friends in Montreal and anywhere else I can reach.

All this while grandma is asking when I get back. Through her care-taker, as she can't hear me when I speak over the phone. But she says this between random obsessive requests, so I'm trying to convince myself that she can't really make the difference...

I originally planned a much earlier trip. Be there before march. Then I figured who knows when I'll be back on this side of the pond... i don't want to regret not doing this trip my way. Have enough time to do everything I am planning on doing. No regrets is better than sacrifices. A selfish view, perhaps. But arriving to a cold city, with no home and a whole life to start over again, and a senile grandma to look over, with whom I can barely communicate... I do have new friends and opportunities waiting for me, but I can't help and be anxious.

And leaving March 14th will make it exactly one year of travel. I left March 14th 2006 from NY. I figured it was worth the extra time to make a clean close on it.

So, there's that.

Happy new year.