I know I left many of you hanging on the edge of your seats with my last post, but I’m afraid in this post the pendulum swings to the calmer side. I’m not going to talk about steamy sultry first or perhaps second encounters with apparent strangers over a coffee or spritz. But don’t worry, I expect there will be more in the future. However, September delivered many exciting things, as I stepped out of the dating pool for a bit, and dove into my 52nd year.
I always believe birthdays are important days. As I grow older, I spend more of them alone or with different company than in the past. When it comes to age, the pendulum swings only one way. I try to make each one of them count.
Aida a Giuseppe Verdi masterpiece
The week before my birthday I saw an advertisement for the Opera of Verona’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. So with just a few days of planning, I booked a train, found a hotel and purchased an opera ticket. I had always wanted to see an opera in the famous Verona Arena. It seemed like the perfect birthday gift to myself.
I had spent time in Verona last year when I was scoping locations for my next apartment and thought I could actually live there. It’s a great city with beautiful architecture and a incredible central historical district.
The Verona Arena is similar to the Rome Colosseum, although much smaller. It has been restored and maintained as an event center. Each summer there is an opera series as well as a number of concerts.
Aida was a spectacular opera to see. Because the arena is so large, the production had ample space to dazzle opera fans with an incredible spectacle.
Aida did not disappoint in failing to deliver a tragic ending. As in almost every opera, the protagonists always die and the antagonists regret it. If you Google “operas with happy endings” the list is relatively short. Apparently the Baroque German operas are a bit cheerier in their endings.
The photo above is the closing of the second act. Although it doesn’t do justice to seeing it in person, I hope it conveys the sheer magnitude of the production and the sensation of being in an open-air setting for such an event. The photos below are outside the arena.
Overall, it was a great birthday weekend. I had much to be grateful for and the opera was the icing on my proverbial birthday cake. I returned home with good memories, and the desire to see more operas throughout Italy’s famous opera venues.
How about a colonoscopy to go with that birthday
As I mentioned in my last post, I had some deferred maintenance due in my lower intestinal tract. I returned from Verona to a 2-day liquid diet, no wine, and I got up close and personal with the Italian version of colon cleaner called, Clensia. Unfortunately, even the Italians couldn’t improve upon the experience. Although I will say it wasn’t that bad.
When I met with the doctor to schedule the procedure, he gave me one option for a date. It just happened to be right after my birthday.
I said to him, “Dottore, quella settimana è il mio compleanno. Doctor, that week is my birthday.” His response was, “Buon compleanno Luke. Passerai il tuo compleanno nel bagno. Happy birthday. You will spend your birthday in the bathroom.”
That’s the kind of sense of humor he has. He actually is a great doctor, and one of Italy’s best.
We discussed the procedure and most importantly the sedation process. He asked me if I wanted sedazione leggera. In Europe, it’s very common to use the “light sedation” technique. That means that patient can talk to the doctors and get play-by-play commentary on the exploration.
Who on Earth would want to know what’s happening in there. If you’re reading this, I applaud your courage. There are some things I just don’t need to present for, at least consciously present.
I asked him is their another option, because I was quite comfortable not remembering anything.
The doctor said maybe I should consider sedazione profunda. Without even thinking, I immediately responded with a “Sì, profundissima.” I wasn’t even sure if profundissima was a word, but he got my point.
So he summarized everything for me: two doctors, an anesthesiologist to assure me a sedazione profundissima, a nurse, and the operating clinic. The total cost would be $415. That was without insurance.
In America, I would expect the same procedure with all of the extras to be around $5,000. It’s also unlikely that the clinic in America would sit in a beautiful tree-lined piazza.
After 25 years in health care administration, I have nothing but good things to say about the Italian system.
Why am I writing about my colonoscopy? I want to talk about the anxiety that I was carrying around for the last few years when I knew I was overdue for the procedure.
After seeing my husband die due to cancer in the same region, and knowing that I lost my grandmother to the same disease, it forever changed me.
I think it is a version of PTSD. Anxiety finds space in my head when I’m not distracted by other things. I’m sure I am not the only person who has these fears, but as I get older and live a more independent and perhaps solitary life, I’m aware of it now more than ever. I have a lot of time on my hands to allow anxiety to creep in to the space.
When I awoke from the procedure, I grilled the doctor over and over again with many, “Did you check this? Did you look for that?” He only had good news for me that day. Apparently, he became very familiar with my colon.
Despite all of my anxiety, I received an all-clear. My mental pendulum swung to the calm side. I could finally exhale and with it release months of worry.
One last afterthought–the pendulum swings to the far right in Italy
I think it’s important to mention recent events in Italy as I talk about how the pendulum swings.
This week I voted in my first general election to decide the party that would choose the next prime minister in Italy. The election process works a bit differently with a parliament. One votes for a party instead of the actual prime minister.
Italy also has a president, Sergio Materella, but he is more of a figurehead of the country. He plays a somewhat paternal governmental role and oversees the military.
If you read the news this week, you may have heard that Italians voted in a very far-right coalition, led by Giorgia Meloni. She will likely be the first woman prime minister of Italy, and she will achieve that with the the backing of the two other major parties led by Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini.
These three represent the most right-wing government since Mussolini, and we all know how that ended. Imagine, anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-European sentiment. There is definitely a Mussolini-esque fascism style in their roots, although they no longer speak of it.
They actually achieved a fairly sizable share of the votes, which tells me that Italians want change, but just like America and England’s nationalist shifting elections a few years back, perhaps this might be too much of the wrong change.
I’m not going to debate the political beliefs of the Italians. I simply do not understand them well enough to have an opinion. However, there are enough signs and historical lessons that tell me the next several months and years will be interesting times for Italy and Europe.
This growing nationalism throughout Europe will of course be a central point of contention as energy prices skyrocket throughout Europe this winter without Russian oil and gas and the war wages on in Ukraine.
So as the pendulum swings to the far right in Italy, and the rest of the world is a bit unstable. We have to wait and see.
It doesn’t change my belief that I am only sure of what is possible today. I want to continue to live fully, love big, and find gratefulness and happiness wherever I can.
We all find ourselves in interesting times. Whichever side of the pendulum you are on right now, I hope you can find gratefulness and happiness. Life doesn’t have to be an Italian opera with a predictably tragic ending.
I am sending big love and gratitude your way. Thanks for following along.