Perugia – fall arrives

Today, the wind was so strong I could hear it.  It would break my concentration as it howled and howled.  I spent the day working on a translation and contacting new potential clients. Thanks to the help of a very good friend (che si fa sempre in quattro per me – who always goes to a lot of trouble for me), I have a rocking new CV (that’s a resume for you non-European folks) and a new work e-mail address, and I really want this translation business to go well for me again.  It did once, and it can again.  I can look for work here, and I probably still will, but gosh – I really love translating.  I’m going to make this work.  Again.  I’m determined.

I’ve decided that I really like living in the center of Perugia.  Last time I lived here I was below the center, and had to climb uphill for a long time to get into town.  Now I live in a beautiful building in a quiet piazza, and while I still have to climb, it only takes me 5 minutes to get to the main street that runs through town, Corso Vannucci.  As soon as I walk out the door I’m surrounded by ancient beauty, and it feels good.

They are setting up the booths for this weekend’s chocolate festival, which will fill the center with tourists.  I remember, when I went to school here a few years ago, stopping at a particular booth for a tiny cup of the thickest hot chocolate for only a euro on my way home from class.  Now that I’m living here again and working, I hope to do the same thing between translations.  I also saw the first chestnuts for sale today.  In most European cities, you can find roasted chestnuts for sale on just about every corner in the fall and winter.  Here in Umbria, I’m sure there will soon be vino novello to accompany those chestnuts.

I’m so glad I came here.