(not necessarily in that order)
We’ve really enjoyed our stay here at the Utoring complex in Aldesago, but it’s time to say goodbye — to this little apartment and to the expansive view of Lugano and the distant mountains.
Day after tomorrow we’ll say goodbye to Lugano itself for a little over a week while we visit Italy; first Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, then Ananda Assisi.
Feeling extremely grateful right now.
Another late night for us, but the moon sure was beautiful as we drove home!
Today (May 5) was also a lunar eclipse, so there’s lots of moon energy happening these days!
But I’m so tired right now that I’m just grateful for bedtime and sweet dreams.
It was almost exactly seventeen years ago that Ramesha and I packed up our Pregassona (Lugano) apartment and put everything in storage.
He had taken a leave of absence from his middle school teaching job, and we were heading off to live in California for one year — mainly so he could experience some established Ananda communities.
Of course, as most of you know, we were asked to stay and be part of the music ministry at Ananda Village, which meant that on our visits to Switzerland we had to gradually get rid of all that stuff.
Year after year we gave things away; transported what we could to America in suitcases; consolidated what was left into a few storage locations, and — bit by bit — forgot we even owned a lot of the remaining items.
But we recently decided that — for various reasons — this would be the year when we finally emptied the last few storage areas.
It wasn’t easy. First of all, it’s amazing how you can not have thought of something for over fifteen years, but then you see it–! And you immediately remember how much you liked it and how much it means to you and you’re suddenly as attached to it as if you had been using it every day for the past decade (and it’s a thousand times harder when it was a gift). 🤦♀️
The solution in this case was to find new homes for certain items. That way we feel good about passing them along to people we love.
The other challenging aspect of this is that one of the final storage spots was the “locale” (or studio) where Ramesha’s band used to rehearse. When I first moved to Lugano, I would go to rehearsal with him, studying my Italian while wearing earplugs.
At this point, Ramesha hasn’t sung with the band in forever; the band itself broke up a number of years ago; and his friend, Dudo, will very soon be letting go of the locale altogether.
So. yeah… it’s been a little sad and nostalgic, because today was about letting go of some precious memories and releasing some strong attachments. But it was time.
Does Mercury retrograde also affect laundry?!? All I know is I spent hours in the laundry room today and only got one load washed.
The washing machine looks deceptively normal, but pretty much everything about the process is a challenge.
The money goes into a black box that looks like something from the last century; the coins go in and it starts, but you really have no idea what’s actually going on.
For example, I came back expecting the load to be finished, but it still looked wet even though the door was open. So, I closed the door to see if it would resume. It didn’t, but I couldn’t open the door anymore. I finally pushed some buttons in frustration and…it started up again — from the beginning! Why, I have no idea.
Then, the symbols on the machine are different, but when you try to read the instructions they’re in Italian.
I spent a lot of time studying them because the second time I came back — after setting a timer to be sure and arrive before it finished — the machine had stopped, with the door closed, and nothing I did would get it to go again.
Finally, in desperation I added another two coins — and it started…at the beginning yet again. At this point I knew I couldn’t leave; I had to stay and try to catch the moment when I would be able to open the door and take out my clothes.
Actually, the instructions are in Italian if you’re lucky — sometimes they’re only in German! (The photo below isn’t very clear but it doesn’t really matter because most of us wouldn’t be able to read it anyway.)
I won’t bore you with every detail, but I did finally figure out how to get the washing machine to complete its full cycle and let me get my clothes out.
Bottom line? I truly do love the multilingual reality that is Switzerland, but it does make things more difficult when it comes to laundry.
Saturday before last we learned that there was going to be an Ananda event here in Lugano. We knew that our Ananda friends Jayadev, Arudra, and Ruby would be there.
Well, tonight we attended that event and were thrilled to find a number of dear Ananda friends in attendance — starting with Peter, Aanadi, Triveni, Rita, and Monica; but including many new “old” friends that we were meeting for the first time.
It’s always a thrill for me to experience the joy of being with spiritual family no matter where I am in the world.
No particular theme here, just a miscellany of images that caught my eye. Some are beautiful, others less so, but I found them all intriguing.
Though it originated in Valtellina (northern Italy), yesterday’s pizzoccheri is a dish typical to Ticino (the part of Switzerland where Lugano is located).
Today was something completely different: Ramesha and I fixed a full-on American brunch — French toast, scrambled eggs, and potatoes — for our dear friends, the Lo Menzo’s.
There was even peanut butter, although we made sure to explain that’s not typically offered when you order French toast in an American restaurant!
I’m happy to report that they thoroughly enjoyed the entire meal. And we thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them; so much so that it was almost 6:00pm before we managed to tear ourselves away!
For today’s adventure we joined Fulvio in making pizzoccheri for lunch. It was great fun and turned out delicious.
I hope Mantrini won’t mind, but I just have to share this story…
As I’ve mentioned before, I was one of six Americans who moved to Ananda Assisi in 2002 as part of a singing group that toured Italy for a couple of years. Of course, we all tried to learn some Italian as quickly as possible.
We were frequently at the home of our manager, Rosella (for meetings, rehearsal, coffee, or delicious meals), and there were usually a few outdoor cats hanging around.
The Italian word for cat is “gatto.”
As we were arriving at Rosella’s one afternoon Mantrini (another one of the singers) didn’t see any cats, so she asked: “Quando il gatto?” (When is the cat?).
Now, we all knew that what she meant to say was: “Dov’è il gatto” (Where is the cat?), but it was too adorably funny and we couldn’t resist teasing her about it for days.
Fast forward to our first three-week tour, which included Lugano. Much hilarity ensued when we happened to see the boutique, “Il Gatto”!
Now that you know the backstory, I’m sure you can appreciate how delighted I was to discover that the “Il Gatto” boutique is still there, reminding me of those sweet memories from over twenty years ago.
The other day we visited one of Ramesha’s oldest and most important friends.
When he was seven years old, he started attending yoga classes with his mother, and Adelia was the yoga teacher. She eventually became a close family friend and it was from her that he borrowed Autobiography of a Yogi (in Italian, of course) when he was thirteen years old.
An key moment in finding his spiritual path in this lifetime.
