coincidence? synchronicity?

There I am - arrived in Milazzo, Sicilia, Italia via train! Then checked into the hotel with a sea-view (the Tyrrhenian Sea (yet another name I will learn to not only say but also spell before I leave here LOL - remember Aberystwyth? It's now about 18:00 - where can I get something to eat? I ask the very nice Italian woman at the reception desk. It's been a long day - train ride from 9:42 Napoli to 16:23 Milazzo. Ahhh...a restaurant just there she says - on "la spiaggia", and shakes her head as she looks at her watch - not open now.

Ahh, yes, how soon I forget..."mangiare per la sena" begins around 20:00 -- way past my usual eatting time for "la sena". Oh well, it is what it is! As I do not feel like walking into town (wherever that is).

Anywho, I can certainly amuse myself for an hour or so until the restaurant opens, especially since I have this cough and congested sinuses to keep me company.

So I walk into the restaurant sometime after 19:00. Large place overlooking "la spiaggia e la mare". Empty - but of course, it's 19:00. Yes, I am a tourist. Yes, I stand out. So what's new, you say? Anywho, not feeling so well, I am not up to speaking in Italian. Yet my comprehension is far better. So I manage to say I'm here for dinner. One man sends me out to the patio. Where the man there sends me back inside. LOL. So I sit inside and order. "Caponate al formaggio y orrechetti al fruitte de mare!" YUMMMMMM! Even with congested sinuses, these two dishes were delightful and tasty. And a huge portion as I was STUFFED!

As I wait for my order, I realize folks are not in a good mood. So I ask Source - please replace all of our etheric grids now. And as for me, let me be as fun as possible. As time went by, I noticed that the waiter was a bit nicer to me. Thank you Source. And then when they put on a movie - I asked in broken Italian and pantomine, to move outside because I did not want watch the movie. What followed was so comical. The waiter handed me my wine glass while he and another waiter lifted up my table and moved it out into the patio. LOL LOL. I got to sit outside after all.

So what's the coincidence you ask? Ok, ok...the waiter makes the usual small talk only it's in Italian. So I surprise myself that I'm able to have a conversation with him off & on as he walks past my table. And towards the end, I introduce myself.

Mi chiama Nina, et tu? Nino. Come e scrivi? N..I..N..O. I laugh at the coincidence. And tell him Nino. Maschile. Nina. Femminile. And point to each of us. He's somewhat amused, yet does not break a smile. Oh well, I was amused at the coincidence of it all. And the fact that I am remembering maschile and femminile for the Italian nouns.

And the coincidence with names continues...

So I'm walking to l'ufficio postale one day ... and thinking, I need to find something herbal for the last bits of my cough. I pass by this small shop and notice the word "erboristeria" and something tells me to go in. I did not make it to the l'ufficio postale because for the next hour or so, the lovely shop owner and I managed to "converse". She knowing no English. Me minimal Italian. Yet we did it - thank you Italian dictionary & intensive Italian class! Turns out her name is Pena rhymes with the Italian pronunciation of Nina. She's a naturapath. Also teaches yoga and is familiar with Reiki. So I show her how to use a pendalum.

From the erboristeria I move to my manicure appointment ... the manicurist knows a little English, so I end up managing to chat with her in Italian. Turns out her name is Lina. LOL LOL. Pena. Now Lina.

This is not the end of coincidences with names...

Days later I take day tour via ferry to two of the local isolas (islands)...Panarea and Stromboli. As I stand at the front of the boat a-awaitng our departure, the woman next me strikes up a conversation. She's Philipino and lives in Germany with her husband (who's standing next to her). So after a good while of chatting, I tell her my name and she laughs and says 'that's my name also'. I laugh and tell her she's kidding. No, seriously, that's my name. Only she spells it Nena which in Italian would be pronounced Neh-na. And I spell mine Nina. We got a good laugh out of all this. Especially when her husband was calling Nina later and we both turned around.