Cathedral Dates...

Sept 30, 2009

Matteo visited me yesterday morning, and he was to arrive at 2pm. Hahaha. I was busy writing my “Parma” blog, leaving an hour to shower and look pretty before his arrival. He, in his adorable thoughtfulness, decided to arrive 1 hour early to surprise me with a bagel and his presence! Oh my goodness, lets just say that I would have been much more pleasantly surprised had I not been writing in my blog and not showered! I dashed around the house in a frantic trying to tidy my room, throw on some makeup, and put on at least deodorant and a pair of jeans. Mamma Mia! Oh well…It happened as so.

He was very cute, and he was happy to give me his surprise of an “American bagel” and he had bought me one of his favorite films of all time, “Quinto Potere” or “Fifth Power?”—it is an older film. How sweet! He read the paper as I showered and got ready, and I presented him to my roommate from Sardinia, Viola, and they talked for a while in the kitchen.

We took a walk, talked in the park, got a coffee, and roamed to Piazza Duomo. He asked me if I’d like to go to the top of the Duomo….what a great idea! I had never gone to the top before, and I had been wanting to for some time!! He had never taken the climb either, and he told me that his grandparents took a picture together from the top when they were first married. It was a gorgeous day, clear sky, with hot sun beating down on the cathedral. We climbed to the top, and I took many pictures from this lofty magnanimous marble rooftop of Milan.

Cathedrals will always be unimaginable feats of human hands, minds, ideas, and beliefs. Viewing the large and ornate buttresses of the church, the grand dynamic forms, and its many carved intricacies truly is humbling and uplifting at the same time. The light of the day fell in and out of crevices, sparkling around and about statues and pinnacled structures, and the colors bounced off the white emitting a heavenly glow.

Once on the top, we literally walked on the roof tiles!! There were many tourists exploring the rooftop, lounging on the marble nest, and taking in the view and the sunshine-primarily Chinese, go figure. We just sat in the sun for a while. He gave me sweet kisses, and I went about taking my photos like a mad woman. I like this boy, and it was nice to share that experience with him.

There was an interesting blog article about using Cathedral-mentalities to solve the bigger problems in our world like environmental resources, etc. I’ve always been bothered by the idea of the fast ever-changing product of poor quality has diminished the idea of permanent lasting projects of value and beauty. However, when applying this “cathedral mentality” to our current socio-political problems (instead of tangible products), it becomes interesting and not so incredibly depressing. Read:

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/on-cathedrals-dreams-and-climate/?scp=1&sq=cathedrals&st=cse

Matteo and I got a Panzerotto—a famous guilty-pleasure food in Milan, which is fried dough with sauce, cheese, prosciutto, or many other combinations inside. We claimed a bench in the piazza outside The Scala, and he laid his head on my lap as we laughed and talked about tons of things…primarily laughing about my embarrassing episode from two weeks ago.

That night we went out for an aperitivo, and we met Benni and friends at the Columns of San Lorenzo for some drinks. We had a fabulous night, and I was happy to see that Matteo excels in public personal relations. He is very easy going and friendly-I like that.

I really like Matteo, and it comes as almost surprising to me. He is so sweet and considerate, and we enjoy one another’s company. He is respectful, and he asks me often, “Where did you come from!” He has also said, “I love the way your mind works.” Haha! Which is funny because I’m lucky to express myself when discussing complex issues in Italian. Given my tendency to digress in English, this becomes even more hilariously exaggerated when it takes me longer to arrive at my thoughts and their “supporting material.” Sometimes I close subjects--for my own satisfaction of finishing an argument--hours later because I never return from digressions in Italian. He is a good listener and teacher--helping me out when I need a grammatical boost to finish the sentence! In fact, I get 3 kisses when I say something complicated--is that cute or obnoxious? haha

We have interesting conversations as well, which is important to me. Oh….and he likes saying that I am a “crazy and strange American girl,” laughing at me with a tender smile. Another line becoming more frequent is that I am “a very difficult girl,” originally blurted out by yours truly! Apparently I can’t hide my goofy and complex inner circles in any continent or language—and this is incredibly amusing! I am glad, however, that he likes me exactly for who I am.

I introduced him to my sister last night—haha, it was hilarious. He gets so embarrassed to speak English, and I was teasing him and translating for him and my sister. These conversations fluster him enough to say, “Che ignoranza! Mi vergogno (what ignorance, I am embarrassed).” I think it has ignited a fire to learn English, which would be great!