Volare oh oh

Few days ago I went out for dinner with 2 of the most illuminated people I know, and since they both happen to be paraglide pilots, we talked a lot of the beauty of flying. “Why do you fly?” was one of the questions. It is hard to answer in words, since it is not a rational decision that can be elaborated in your head, but it is more a strong energy wave that passes through every cell of your body telling you to go.

It has not always been like this. On my first flights I was surely scared to death and could feel the adrenaline running through me, but with time I learned to take full control of my feelings, my body and to a lower extent, of my wing. (I saw Andrea flying with my wing in strong condition, the wing seemed to be an extended part of his body, it was beautiful to see. I am not closely this expert).

Inspired by different whitewater kayakers that I met in 2008, since the start of this year I have been longing for some excitement. Returning to the sky flying was maybe a physical gesture that symbolized I am back to myself, strong and alive.

When flying I am in a zen status. Nothing exists outside that moment, there is no past and no future (interrupted by few automatic nearly unconscious calculations on where to land, the height from the ground in relation of my vertical and horizontal speed…), and at the same time I am part of the whole world, I am suspended thousand of foot above the ground by an invisible mixture of gasses. It is magical. The air plays with my wing shifting my weight, lifting me up or pulling me down, and I react to it to keep the control.

Mother nature is playing with me and I am playing back.

Maybe this is why I love and crave for flying so much. And surely there is much more, but that, you will only know when you fly!

(the pictures were taken by Andrea)

Bruises

I know I disappeared from the blog scene for a while and my entries are being fewer and fewer. Truth is, it would be a sin to stay home here, and when I am home i am simply physically in need to sleep. Or, if it is raining and i need to be home, chances are that the internet connection won't work.
I have never been covered with so many bruises in my whole life like in the past month.
My knees are black from the rock climbing, my hands are blistered from the Ferrata (I should explain this tipical Alpinian activity better one day), my arms are buised by the paraglider strings (which lay there when you are taking off from the mountain), and two days ago i even got a nice well-defined black eye, while flying from one side to the other of a catamaran after being violenty hit by a wave (I was leaning out weigting the boat down).
All my relatives asked me if I am seing any violent guy while, on public transportation, the kids left me the seat (like I were an old lady!).
Soon after I left the island last febraury I recieved a nice job offer which I postponed because, after 11 years travelling like a gipsy, I truly needed to take care of some things here in Italy. With the end of June, I now start feeling pressure to get everything done soon, if by september I want to be fully funcional in (I will wait a bit longer for the scoop, do not even try to guess!). Given the dimesion of the goals I want to achieve by September, I am truly working about 30 hours a week toward them, buffering any free time with all sort of "mountain-games".
Yesterday I had a great flight (and taking off and landing! ;-)) from the mountain close to my house, I turned a little thermical, and I feel incredibly in peace with myself. A part the fact that I love my wing (which the some other pilot called "matress" because, to be honest, it is in effect a very old stlye... I bought it 11 years ago now!), I also got a nice feeling up there in the sky. I can do it, aua le popole.
The big town party of Trento is coming soon (feste vigiliane)... there will be raft races, old medioeval games, fooooooooooodddddd, tortures, music, a weekend of intense party followed by another week of activities... That makes my think i better go to sleep now to be fresh tomorrow!

Proverbio del giorno (by Ivan --mi ha fatto ridere troppo):
"Siam tutti ricchioni col culo degli altri"

il mio destriero

She is definitely a female, but I do not have a name for her yet... I do not think she is coconut proof as my old truckosaurous, but runs great anyway!

friday nights at my grandma

well, i wasn't there last night because i went out for a pizza with my brother, my sister in law and my cousin Lisa, but I thought about some of you which my enjoy this video... At the battery my uncle Tony and then my cousin Tommy (the guy I am living with)... This room was built in the garage beneath my grandma house... she is so cool! ;-)

About me, I have been seeing Andrea a lot, but we did not fly much due to weather (strong wind and bad clouds too lately). He did try out my wing (which other pilots call "the mattress" because, in effect, it is a bit old style and slow respect the new designs...) in strong wing, which gives me some peace of mind (not that I would be able to hold it in strong weather, but at least I know it won't break).
Turns out that Andrea's family and mine are from the same village (my granda moved to other one ~40 years ago), and consequently my grandma could tell me everything about his family history (and how Andrea's dad was hiding in her house when playing hide-and-seek), while his father was to show me the house were my mam was born. It was really in a way a return to the origin!
Since I could not fly much, I have been rock climbing a lot. Few years ago my ex and I were going mad looking for a place to climb, now I see that there are places everywhere! Most villages on the mountain side of a nice site for rock climbing withing few minutes. I have been to 3 different sites only last week. My sister-in-law organized a while ago a blind date with a guy that climbs (we meet in front of a castle... how romantic! ;-)!), and through him i met a lot of other guys to climb with...the house hunting is going slow, but i am making progress in other fields...

Island sickness, the sweet one...

I bought a Banana tree today. I put it in the corner of my room. Then I bought some nice blue material and covered one of my bed room walls. Then I bought a cocunat, but it is still too watery to make some good oil out of it. I like just looking at it. It is not too green here, the Alps is just the perfect place, but wearing wool sucks on top of my samoan flip flop does not always feels right.
My friends here asked me if I miss the island... well... i do!!! The bright colors, my cats, my co-workers, my friends. Tumau! No one to braid my hair in the morning! And Josie! No one sitting next to me!
My connection with the island is still strong, cybernetical (including many religious-oriented e-mails...), spiritual and physical.
This weekend I met in Florence with a good friend I met when I was living there, Mary, and in 1 month I am recieving the visit of one of the most amazing women ever, also met there.
Three years on the Rock, what an amazing experience! I learned a lot (I do not necessarily agree with all of them), including:
1. Take it easy, enjoy the day
2. Aua le popole, things will always solve out by themself
3..... me

Sorry, I just got a call... the wind is good... need to run out in the mountain, flying time!!!
Miss you island life! But digging the mountain one too! :-)!

Baci!!!

Samudra (and Brian!)

(Samudra, Brian and I at their wedding in Sri Lanka... maybe 4 years ago?)(Samudra and I at Tisa's in American Samoa, Christmas 2008)

How long does it take to make a friend? Certain people simply ought to be in your life; they may lead a path parallel to yours, or they may simply cross your life at a certain point but still leave an indelible sign.

Samudra, Paty and I were part of the same scholarship program that paid for our studies while in Oregon. We shared our knowledge about our home country (Sri Lanka, Peru’ and Italy), while learning about the funny habits of the North Americans (how wonder now if they also knew not to ask for “rubbers” around, but rather for “erasers”). Surely we had a lot of fun together! And more amazingly, even if our roads took such a different directions, we always find a way to see each other and support each other when in need.

Pure life! Samudra and her husband Brian arrived here the day after Paty and Jennifer left to continue their trip and enjoyed with me the mountains, lakes and tastes of Trentino. Here a selection of their pictures to give you a taste of the Alps from a outsider point of view. Maybe you will come and visit soon then! ;-)

So, Samudra, how is the grappa?

Going to the Dolomites!!!

Our enormous trucks! jajaja! Jokes apart, I did saw some real trucks around recently...

Got wings in the bel paese!

"the landing field is about there..."

Maybe there is not such a thing as the perfect place, but the Alps get very close to this description: health care is free, so as medicines; if you want to buy a bicycle, the government will give you back 30% of the price; food is indescribably tasty, the weather is awesome…
Paty and Jennifer left last week to continue their adventures in Florence, soon replaced by Samudra and Brian which visited me for a week.
My sister-in-law set me up on a blind date with a nice guy to go rock climbing, while my cousin Tommy sent me another nice guy to go paragliding. Pure life! So, I am back on the rock, I am back in the air, I am back! It has been 3 months since I left Neverland, surely I miss it a lot, but culturally is like being back there (only that this time I am 100% involved, with families ties, village stories…) (and only that people here do not laugh using all their bodies here, shaking arms around life it was down there).
I moved in with my cousin Tommy, which is… surely the most loved man I have ever met (by all women), also spoiling me a lot. Moreover, having a bed and closet after 3 months of traveling too is wonderful!

Last Saturday somebody knocked at the door, and a smiling guy jumped in saying “Hi, I am your cousin friend, do you want to go flying?”. Everything was so immediate that soon enough I was flying way too high for my first flight, with my heart pounding loud, a guy just meet flying behind me shouting me the way (I bought radios yesterday!), some nasty electric cables underneath me… Once landed, I was totally reborn! Here a video of the area I flew.

(Andrea following me and screaming me directions... too bad I was sinking!)

At the landing field. I was reborn (Andrea and I)!

Yesterday Andrea gave an hard try to my wing with stronger wind conditions. It did not brake! yeah!