Perpetual Change

(First) Impressions III - Gino Signoracci

with a degree in hotel management and working experience all over the 'western hemisphere' from a vineyard to a mountain lodge, it stands to reason that a person would know his way around a kitchen, keep whatever abode he inhabits in good shape, and be full of handy information and methods of accomplishing different practical tasks. john does, does, and is.

hell, this sounds like a letter of recommendation. or a eulogy (might wanna hang on to a copy, john...)

anyway, what wouldn't stand to reason, if you didn't know him, is john's generosity (with food, possessions, and, importantly for peace corps, space), his virtually unflagging patience and tolerance, or his receptivity, responsivity, willingness to help, learn...the list goes on, and not only because the sun is shining and i'm in a flattering mood.

by the way, i'm gino and i crashed at john's place for just about a month after the taize trip. i left in late january, then came back again for a few more days, then left again. for good?

why were you there so long, you might ask? well, my answer is: don't stick your nose into matters that don't concern you, nosy! ok. suffice it to say i was tired, afraid, lazy, stuck, smitten (no, not with john, we're both straight as far as we know, even after sharing a couch/bed for so long), a little insane (that's still an issue), and, a lot of the time, just enjoying myself, which i'm sure about today, but may not have admitted six weeks ago...

aside from showing me around his town and region, Lviv oblast, introducing me to everyone he knew including residents, teachers, students, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and including me in gatherings with all these people on a near-daily basis, john treated me to plenty of rocking comestibles (that's food, to the layperson), loaned me all his stuff, and put up with the inconvenience and disruption of having a second guy live in a place barely big enough for one...by our standards anyway...

'what did this mooch contribute to our john?' concerned kin and friends are probably asking. uh, i washed dishes a few times, cooked a meal here and there, gave him a couple of guitar lessons, helped him hone his linguistic abilities during near-nightly endeavors at boggle, and - via my behavior and occasional inscrutable vocal outbursts - provided a spectacle. some entertainment.

so john's now saying, 'hey, too much flattery and self-debasement, gino, you weren't all that bad a semi-permanent almost-long-term freeloading houseguest.' and i know that but it's been amusing to write this post anyway. as always, i'm doing it more for myself than for you or anyone else...

anyway, for the time being it was an unforgettable month (i mean there's so much forgotten from moment to moment as it is, and eventually everything gets forgotten doesn't it?), and certainly an unrepeatable one, unless it's happened zillions of times before in zillions of prior universes (where prior is the closest word i can use to describe something that can't be conceptualized properly within the confines of temporality).

whence the insanity. good bye time!

Labels: guest writer

posted by jjs @ 1:10 PM