On the 11th October I took a train from Naples to Rome as the following day I had my flight to New York from there. The first flight of my upcoming three months adventurous trip.
Rome is usually for me an excuse to spend a night with my old beloved friends who moved there many years ago from our hometown Napoli.
This time I was able to meet just Valeria, Piera and Paola with Ursula, since Simona was away for work.
We don’t see each other very often since I live abroad, but they are definitely those kind of people I am sure I will have beside me all my life. And every time is such fun and great laughs. During the past 10-15 years we have grown up together and shared so many things that I would need another blog just to name them. They are just precious to me!
That night they took me to “Teatro Ambra Jovinelli” to see a really cool and bizarre theatre concept called Dignità autonome di prostituzione, which in Italian means “autonomous dignities of prostitution” (http://www.dadp.it/it/):
A show/event with a very special format, where the public can interact with the actors by “purchasing” their performances with monopoly dollars. While holding those fake dollars in my hand I imagined myself few days later in New York spending the real ones in a yummy burger in Manhattan or while showing a barista my preference in coffee (“please very short, I don’t want a long nor a double espresso, yes, short, espresso. Please, thank you, I am from Napoli, I am addicted to coffee, and I like it bitter. Thank you, yes, my name is Giordana, , no, not with J. It’s G-I- O-R-D-A-N-A” )
That show was in a pure Pirandello style: a great Italian dramatist also holding a Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was actually the first writer to break the invisible curtain that separates the audience from the actors, the audience from the stage and where the spectators are better called “participants”. It was amazing to see such a show that night.
So, suddenly the theatre took the shape of a brothel, with red lights and a burlesque environment. I am glad it was just an “art brothel” though.
Every artist was acting like a prostitute, offering a 20 minutes performance to enthusiast clients/ spectators in exchange for few (fake) dollars.
Artists were running up and down the stairs with eccentric dresses trying to gather as much clients as possible and performing in an assigned room.
They acted as prostitutes on the streets shouting sentences to draw the clients’ attention and convince them to attend their personal show instead of other’s. It was pretty funny!
The biggest surprise was to spot Daniele Russo among the amazing artists; we were friends at the time of school, I had not seen him for ages but it was lovely to see him grown up and find out he is a great actor now.
It was about 1 a.m., I had been in that theatre for about four hours enjoying and laughing with old friends but I was also a little confused and excited thinking a lot about my trip, my “jump”, my adventure; thinking about what I was leaving and what I was expecting. But all of those feelings were only positive to me!
At the grand finale the actors went on the scene and started to sing all together.They sang twice a song that in another moment would have not affected me too much. But this time felt like a nice coincidence. While I was lost in thoughts and fantasies, they start singing
“Start spreading the news I am leaving today I want to be a part of it New York, New York”
These vagabond shoes are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill top of the heap
If I can make it there I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you New York, New York
So, I also thought that if I made it to find a way to plan my trip, my dream as a child, I could probably make it anywhere. Listening to that song was emotional, one of the actors even came to pick me up from the stage in the crowd and danced and sung with me.
I was full of euphoria, it felt like dreaming, I took a look at my beautiful girlfriends who were laughing and I felt so blessed. Blessed to have them there in that moment and hoping they will be forever. But also lucky to be in that bizarre place just the night before such an important day. It was pure energy for me!
I was about to start a three months trip on my own, with New York as the first stop. The start of everything. Pure adventure, pure unconsciousness. Only me, few belongings and a cute mascotte.
I wish I could “make it” and stay away for at least the three months in my mind and so realizing my biggest dream ever.
The Gipsy Twin 
It Was a funny night with You my friend….also choosing your Best “dresses” For your trip (giordana baggage For tre months was full of Toys, bags, but not one serious dress!;)
Giordana’s baggage for three months is almost like my weekend’s or max 4 day’s baggage, where a “serious dress”, togheter with many other things, never has to fail. When I’m preparing baggages there’s always some imaginary friend who says : darling you’re gonna need this, you’ll bitterly regret if you’re not gonna take it! and so it goes for all the time. Pragmatism. this is one of the things I still have to learn from u sista !