Sicily

Landed in Sicily today. I am here until December 31st. My return flight arrives in A'dam at 23:55. Auld Lang Syne, airport style.

I took over 100 photos during my whirlwind 1.75 days tour of German Christmas markets in Dusseldorf and Koln. I meant to blog about the experience and post photos when I arrived here and coud relax a bit. However, my wifi, while reliable and secure, is very slow. I am certain the page will time out before the end of the first upload. I'll no doubt be far away from the Chritmas magic by the time I return so if anything relating to cold and teutonic Sinter Klaus gets posted it will be purely out of nostalgia and (more likely) a sugar high.

It is good that my internet is slow and dodgy, though, as I do have a term paper to write, which is due on the 5th. Less time carousing websites, more time using this machine for the reason I brought it with me: write that paper.

I was up at 03:30, left at 04:40 to catch a bus to Schiphol. I havent used a bus since I got here, being resistant to the mental work of figuring out new things. In an American town this is not so difficult, but I try to stick with things that I already know even if that means extra labor or walking, as most new things involve using a translator for pages that are not in Engrish. Bear in mind I havent bled since Sept and am relieved that I can use menopause as an excuse for mental fragility.

My hotel is on the outskirts of Catania's center, but my room is 51 steps from the beach, which is why I chose the property. That and it is €30 a night. It is a rather rustic tourist bungalow. The heat works well, the fridge not so much, they serve breakfast, the caretaker (the owners are on break) is an extremely hospitable Sri Lankan fellow. there are six other guests on the entire property. The bar, beach umbrellas, beach everything, lights and dancing apparatus are all put away for winter. In the summer this place is bustling. For the €150/nt summer rate the facilities would warrant complaint, but for a California native twice removed and currently holed up in Holland, this place is fucking HEAVEN.

As tired as I was when  arrived at 10:00,  I had to walk on this beach. Well, I had to go to the store to stock up on provisions. When I found I could get to the store using the beach mainly before crossing into civilization I was thrilled.

Tonight I did manage to cut into said term paper. The hardest part is completed: revising my central topic in light of the professor's review of my rough draft. I have whittled out all confusing elements and narrowed it down into the kind of microscopic focus that typifies academic papers. Fine by me. You want simple? Good. Easier on my brain.

Tomorrow I'll head into town, do some exploring, see some cathedrals, hiostoric stuff, wander aimlessly...as I do. At night, nice and tired, I'll lay here on the bed-desk and work on my paper. that is the general plan for the next five days. I will see the entire island on my next trip.

A loose plan is forming for post-graduation in July: tour for a month or so on my bike all the places in southern Europe, north Africa and Turkey that I am itching to see.

No links or pics. I'm afraid the page load time will kill the entire blog. I'll see if I can upload via my phone, which, my wifi seems to work a bit faster on it then this machine.

Ciao!