“Yes, this is a place where you can hear your thoughts, I said to myself. This is a place where you can hear God.”

“Touch, though, is something that can be practiced regularly. It’s the gateway to intimacy. You must first learn to incorporate touch into your platonic and familial relationships, he advised. That’s how you open up the body. Touch is what brings you away from the abstraction of the mind and into the concrete richness of the physical world.”

“My sfoglia, however, isn’t going anywhere. While others are soft, puffy, and round, mine is cracked, sticky, and dry. My movements are rough. I am completely in my head, not paying any attention to her. It feels like I am a 16-year-old boy in bed with a woman for the first time—thrusting, pushing, flailing, trying so hard to “get it right," while she’s bored on her back, grimacing, checking her watch and wondering when for the love of God will this just be over.”

“I’m a little nervous before arriving. This is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. I’m here for five days, and I haven’t made any contact with these folks. I have no idea what to expect. When I arrive, a man comes to greet me and shows me to my room. ‘My friend says you want to learn Italian cooking,’ he says. ‘I will learn you.’ Then, he turns and shuts the door.”

“I should start by saying how much emotional stock went into this trip. If you know me, or you’ve heard me speak in the last three years, then you’ve heard me say “Italy” at least several times. So you can imagine, when I finally made the leap to get here, how crushed I was to not be well-received.”

“The scene at the lake was cheerful. Everything in Switzerland seemed cheerful. Groups of threes and fours sipped beers, ate fondue, smoked cigarettes, and talked quietly and happily. When you have a good-paying job, the safety-net of your government, and basic needs easily covered, why steal? Why rob? There isn’t an ideal status of wealth to strive for. You have what you need and so does the guy next to you. So what do you do? You smile, eat fondue, and sip beers by the lake.”

“In many ways, Yelapa feels like a living, breathing organism. Sentient, with intentions. She draws you if she wants you and rejects you if she doesn’t. And she is remarkably clear with her wishes; whereas more passive-aggressive places could send mixed signals for years, Yelapa does not dilly-dally.”