Comfort Zones

*Disclaimer - you might wanna grab a cup of coffee. This is a long one!*

I may have mentioned once or twice in previous posts that I’m a bit uncomfortable with the location of our 2nd apartment in Moscow. If you didn’t get that vibe, you must have been reading someone else’s blog! I don’t think I’ve been very subtle about my nervousness. Childish may be a more appropriate term…kinda like Danica Patrick stomping her feet at Michigan. My fellow race fans know what I’m referring to here! (Interesting side note, Danica & I are pretty much the same size but that’s about the only thing we have in common.)

I digress…sorry. I had one of those “A-HA” moments where I realized everything was going to be okay. I found myself thinking about times where I experienced either physical or emotional discomfort, or both. I’ll only share two for now because I don’t want to bore you to tears on this lovely Friday evening.

For our 5th anniversary we decided we would take a “real” vacation. We were going to start on Saturday by kayaking a 9 mile portion of the James River, and Sunday head up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire for a week of camping. I’ve been canoeing and white water rafting plenty, but never kayaking. We’re huge outdoor enthusiasts, so it would have been the perfect week for us…if only we’d been able to make it past Saturday. We each had our own kayak, which meant I was responsible for getting myself down that river all on my own. 9 miles is a heck of a long way to paddle if you’ve never done it before! (Oh yeah, and also if you’re feeling slightly lazy.) That, however, was not the issue. While we did remember to lather up with sunscreen prior to stepping foot into our OPEN kayaks, we failed to remember that we needed to reapply it throughout the day. ESPECIALLY to our feet, ankles and shins since they were continuously doused with water for 9 miles/4 hours – courtesy of the open kayaks and my obvious lack of paddling skills! The damage we did to the tops of our feet, ankles and shins wasn’t obvious until we pulled into our driveway Saturday evening…and couldn’t walk to our front door. Literally. Could not walk. The pain we both woke up to Sunday morning was excruciating, and it didn’t relent Monday - Friday. Finally the following Saturday we were mobile enough to make it from our couch to our garage, but that was about it. I will be shocked if sometime later in life we don’t end up with skin cancer on our ankles from this oversight. So, while our plans for our 5th anniversary were slightly thwarted and I was very disappointed at the beginning of the week, we actually were able to find some humor in our situation towards the end of the ordeal. We spent “quality” time together, made each other laugh, realized how pathetic we were, supported each other and sympathized with each other. Here we are, 8 years later, and I can admit that the week wasn’t so bad (if you don’t count our physical pain) but it certainly wasn’t how we originally envisioned spending our 5th anniversary.

When we went to Rome last summer, we stayed at the Borgo di Tragliata for the first portion of our trip and then switched to the Best Western Hotel Canada mid week. I was so excited to stay at the Borgo because the grounds fascinated me. Check out the link. This Inn is located in the countryside, probably about 45 minutes outside of the center of Rome. As beautiful as the buildings and grounds are, our stay was nearly intolerable at times. Like when we were awake or trying to fall asleep! Yeah, pretty much 24/7. The rooms had no A/C, no floor or ceiling fan, no radio, no TV, no clock. Nothing. It was well over 100 outside and with no fans/AC/cross ventilation in the rooms, it was absolutely sweltering. Taking showers almost made things worse because the bathroom didn’t have a vent for steam and we had a hard time regulating the heat of the water. Also, there were no vending machines, no ice machines, no soda or water available, no stores within walking distance. Again, nothing. Nada. Nyet. Only one employee spoke English, and thankfully she was extremely friendly & funny. She made sure we were taken care of as much as possible but in reality our lodging was, well, primitive and beyond basic! On the bright side, because there’s always a bright side, we were introduced to a side of Italian culture that we would never have had the privilege of experiencing had it not been for our stay at the Borgo. Our last night there we were invited to dinner with about 20 Italians, only 1 of whom spoke English & played translator for us. This dinner was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be totally immersed in another culture and it was fabulous. It was also Norm’s first experience with Espresso – the boy who has never even sipped coffee - and THAT is a story in its own right. Anyway, this dinner was definitely a highlight of the trip and made our sweltering room well worth the discomfort we endured.

When we booked our room at the Best Western Hotel Canada, we knew we would be away from touristy things, and slightly off the beaten path. We purposely chose this hotel because it was close to one of the outermost metro stops – so easy access to the heart of Rome - and also in the middle of a very cute, very Tuscany looking neighborhood. We wanted to see as much Italian culture as we could, and this hotel definitely allowed us to do that. It was great because we made friends with the guys at the pizza shop enroute to the metro, the guys at the trattoria’s we passed offered us gelato (yum!), and we really got to know the neighborhood well. It was truly amazing.

So my first point is this – I guess I can be classified as Type A when it comes to planning trips and when things don’t go as I plan, I get a little nutty. On the flip side though, the little surprises that came from having things NOT go my way introduced me to unexpected treasures and memories that will last a lifetime.

My 2nd point relates to our stay at the Best Western Canada. We purposely chose to stay away from touristy stuff because we wanted a true sense of Italian culture. We wanted to be on our own and explore to our heart’s content. By doing so we met some great people, became experts in reading Italian maps, enjoyed absolutely wonderful walks on beautiful Roman streets, and proved to ourselves that we could survive in a foreign country with limited language skills.

So what makes me think it will be any different in Moscow? Are we staying in an area I had originally planned? No. Does that mean it’s going to be miserable and unbearable? Again, no. It dawned on me today that I really shouldn’t think of our 2nd apartment as being any different from the Best Western Canada. Slightly off the beaten path but perhaps a step closer to the culture and lifestyle of my child and his/her birth family and caregivers.

I’ll leave you to ponder this entry and the opportunities that come our way when we step outside of our comfort zone. Thanks to the Discovery Channel and Man vs. Wild, I’m signing off for now because I need to hide for a little while. I have an eye phobia (which I may decide to share more about another day), and the main character in Man vs. Wild is enjoying a lovely meal of sheep eyes. And one just squirted when he bit into it. Lovely. I’m outta here.