This is the time. And this is the record of the time.

Greetings, my frisky little brain surgeons!

i know it's been over a week since i last updated, but this computer hasn't been able to access the internet and i'll be danged if i'm gonna update by phone. so hi!

Blogspot just deleted my entire post, leaving only what's above in a draft form. no me gusta. no va bene. so, here goes with the rest of the post as i remember it:

still in Cortona, Italy. working a little, getting some sun and eating. the Eritrean (google it) family i'm staying with made me some zighini. it's vegetables and meat in a bit of sauce, served on plates of this spongy bread-like thing. similar to a taco, which i tried very hard to eat like a taco, but not similar enough. you rip off a piece of the bread-like thing, scoop the vegetables and meat onto it, and put it in your mouth. no silverware needed. it's good, a little spicy.

i've also eaten... falafel, ratatouille, countless pastas, two pizzas, and one lasagna. i'm eating well.

work is good. gardening and nipping buds and weeding and trimming and watering and such. it's different, but not too bad. i've discovered i rather enjoy weeding. it combines my slight destructive urges with my tendency to focus on tiny details to the point of neglecting the bigger picture. so it works well for me, i think. there are only two problems with this. 1)sitting or knealing hurts my back after so long, and 2) i only know two kinds of weeds, so i know i'm missing many other kinds. i'm not efficient enough, but i enjoy it anyway.

i've met many different kinds of spiders. and lizards and frogs and mosquitos and bees and wasps and beetles. but the spiders interest me most. i'm not as afraid of them as i used to be, i think. but maybe i'll change my mind if/when one of them attacks. mostly i think they're interesting, the way they look, and how they interact with their webs and how they live with the other animals. FYI: spiders LOVE daylillies.

anyway. i'm slowly learning the language, picking up words here and there. i use a translator app i put on my iphone when i need to say something to my coworkers, and that seems to be working out okay for now. i've gotten to the point where i can understand most of the directions i'm given. well, most of the directions, i can understand most of them. if that makes sense.

on Tuesday i got a ride into Cortona to run some errands. i got groceries, work pants, and a haircut. i feel much better now.

the haircut was kind of awesome. the guy used only scissors on my whole head. i was impressed.

then i got a coffee, then a beer. waiting for my ride to pick me up and take me back to my apartment. she went to the post office while i was in the hair salon. it worked out well, and a good time was had by all.

i've worked out that i'm only allowed to stay in the European Union for 90 days. so in a little over a month, i have to leave Italy. either go back to the US, or to China, or to some country outside the EU, but there i'd have to stay for 90 days before i could come back to the EU. not sure yet which i'll do, but at least now i know what my options are. extension visas are granted, but only for certain reasons (business and schooling are common. i doubt i'd make a compelling reason.)

so there's that. i think i'm done now. i'm sure i forgot something, but oh well. have fun, and drive safely!