Under an Olive Tree

What makes me cry...in 1158 words.

2011-12-16T06:20:00.003+01:00

Yesterday there were parent-teacher conferences at my son's Middle School. We had been up there for something similar just about five weeks ago, but this time they were showing us a "little" report card. What this means is that it's a pre-report card, an idea of how you're doing, as the real, mid-year report card, the grades which "count" are discussed at the end of January(I can't even say given out, because you take nothing home until end of June).

One teacher, the home-room teacher we could say, has the grades for all the subjects. You wait on a line outside a classroom door, inching up towards the front, waiting your turn. Once you enter, the home-room teacher gives you a little piece of paper with all the subjects listed and then reads off the grades, asking the student to write them down. This is a great improvement, and not all the teachers do this, but rather some people walk around writing down the grades on the edge of a newspaper or a store receipt. Yea for progress!

After at least 30 minutes of waiting on line I'm already beginning a slow boil as I ask whoever will listen to me...why can't they make appointments? "How would they do that?" my son, who is more accepting of the Italian ways, asks. "THROUGH THEIR WEBSITE, OF COURSE!" I say, which is a big joke because, of course, there is none. Organization and efficiency are not virtues here in Italy, so everyone sees hanging out at the school for two hours to talk to a teacher or two, for ten minutes total, as OK...or at least the way it's always been.

My son's homeroom teacher is the English teacher, so of course he does well in that subject, in fact a 9 out of 10. He finally has an English teacher who recognizes how well he is able to speak (he is madrelingua, after all!) because she herself speaks well and converses in English with him often. Previous English teachers hadn't a clue and would use the standard tactique of grading him medium well at mid-year and then higher at the end, to show he had progressed. Rubbish. He knew the colors and numbers in English in September and he knew them in June.

While he passed most of his classes at a Satisfactory level, he only squeaked-by in French. Dante was tutored twice a week for months in order to catch up with his class. The tutor helped him with all his homework and prepared him for the quizzes. They also did all the textbook Units that he missed from last year. But still...how would it look if he had a decent grade? Like the teacher's efforts last year with the class had little value. So what happened? She had to give him a low grade to show that, of course, he's struggling. Rubbish again. She even told him NOT to do a section on the one and only test this semester because she thought it would be too hard for him...and then gave him a barely passing grade (but higher still than his pre- report card grade). In fact, if you add up the scores he's gotten in French this year and average them, they are considerably higher than his pre-report card grade.

Dante's Math and Science teacher was out the first two months of the school year. The substitute did little to no work with the class. When she returned it was BAM, right into difficult problems from almost the back of the text! He's not a whiz in Math, but attended tutoring for that also. OK, I'll accept his grade, but Science is Dante's passion and even before the teacher lectures he can answer all the questions. When he had his "oral interrogation" on the skeleton, he got two bones in the forearm confused, but another 50 questions correct. Unfortunately, he got the same, barely-passing grade.

In fact ALL his grades were the same except for English and Behavior, which were 9 out of 10. Yes, I was told, the teachers give their grades while looking at what the other teachers give. Teachers even made comments that you can't be "Bravo" in only one subject if you weren't "Bravo" in the others (so they doubt their own independent assessments?). WHAT!! Of course you can be great in one subject and stink in another. What about Einstein? What about learning strengths and weaknesses?

In fact, the grades are totally subjective. There is nothing qualitative that a parent can be shown to support the grade that was given ("That is private information" a mother was told!). I'm sorry to say that I think the teachers give whatever grade they feel like giving. The parents who regularly bring cookies for the faculty room, or who come in to fix the school's antenna, or are the local bigwigs have children whose report cards show terrific grades even if they work little (there are many example of this for evidence). Since not everyone can have terrific grades, the rest of the kids muddle by with mediocre grades across the board which don't reflect or encourage their passions, interests or take into account any learning difficulties they may have. Foreigners--and this includes Dante even though his father was born in this town--must work harder even still.

Part of the problem with the school here is that my son is shy and in a classroom situation he isn't the first to aggressively answer questions. So much of what they grade the kids on is "oral interrogation". This is perhaps the first mismatch between my son's learning style and the teaching methodology here. What about having a variety of assessment methods for different learning styles? Unheard of!

I wanted to talk to his Math/ Science teacher, but after waiting in line for 45 minutes to see her, she told me that I had to wait until she had spoken to all the parents of her homeroom students first. I admit I lost my temper at this point and stormed out of there, sarcastically saying, "Grazie" after explaining we had been waiting so long, the other teacher had told us to come, etc. etc. I have a real fear now that she will "take revenge" for my reaction on my son's grades this year.

So, I continue to find the education here in this little village appalling and I'm back at the point I was 18 months ago when I asked what are our alternatives. Then I decided to do a year of home-schooling with an American curriculum, but for that we had to leave Italy.

I've been offered an English teaching position in the after-school program in my son's Middle School starting in January. Maybe I'll start my own undercover guerrilla warfare plan. Cookies in the faculty room, anyone? Just to get us through the end of Middle School, June 2013! Not that I think local High Schools are much better...

If anyone has any suggestions that don't include $30,000 a year International School in Rome, I'd love to hear them!!

And for anyone who's gotten this far...thanks for allowing me to vent.

What makes me sing, in 400 words, exactly.

2011-12-15T09:13:00.000+01:00

Following a prompt I saw in several places in my early-morning web browsing, I decided to write my own list of what makes me happy, in exactly 400 words. I hope you enjoy it, and then take 30 minutes to write your own.

My first cup of hot tea, milk, no sugar, in the morning. Eaten with toast spread with peanut butter and home-made jam.
Making home-made fig jam (and prune, and apricot, etc.) in spring and summer to enjoy in the winter.
Walking my four dogs up the hill, then back down through the fields.
Watching the new puppy find her place in the "pack of four".
Going upstairs to my office and sitting down to do yoga, meditate and write.
Being alone and being with others, in balance.
Being in the countryside and being in Rome, in balance.
Trying new recipes, finding one we all love and making it often.
Doing word games and jigsaw puzzles.
Discovering a new blog where the writing and content are both terrific.
Online courses, tutorials, youtube and Kindle books.
Amazon.uk.co and .it
TED.org
Book club with an international group of women and books I'd never have discovered on my own.
Long, easy conversations in English. Speaking in Italian, and being understood!
Traveling, with trusted house sitters.
Finding some money squirreled away in a pocket that I had forgotten about.
Being a mother, being married. Having hear-to-hearts with both. Eating nearly all our meals together.
Discovering new music and ITunes music downloads.
Radio over the internet.

Winter: The fireplace, knitting and a great movie. Hot soup. Cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, spinach and broccoletti, brussel sprouts. Reading a book while snuggled under three blankets. The reflections the Christmas tree lights make on the wall and ceiling when they are the only lights in the room. My son's presepio, with figures from Naples and painted cardboard boxes. Baking cookies...and licking the beaters. Then eating the warm cookies. With a cup of tea, milk, no sugar.
Spring: The promise of planting seeds indoors while it's still cold outside. The pruned olive tree branches dancing in the wind. Bulbs blooming, and roses too.
Summer: Digging in the warm earth to plant seeds, bulbs, seedlings, trees. Picking a vegetable or fruit from the garden and eating it within minutes.
Shooting stars. Italian beaches...lounge chairs, umbrellas, snack bars and the Mediterranean Sea. Thinking: OK, in that direction is Greece, in that direction is Africa. Artisanal gelato. Home-grown tomato sandwich with mayo on white. Salads and BBQs.
Autumn: Berries, wildflowers,and mushrooms. The smell of burning wood. New oil bruschetta. New wine.

Being retired so I can notice and appreciate this all more easily!

Ghosts for Breakfast

2011-05-23T08:54:00.001+02:00

An intriguing thought full of possibilities, isn't it? I'm afraid the reality is more pedestrian. I realized that somehow my son is now watching Ghost Lab on the Discovery Channel here in rural Italy, with a panoramic view of the Apennines, while he eats his breakfast every day. Once he goes back into school in September, he won't because he'll be leaving the house earlier. But in these relaxed, sweet, homeschooling days, our mornings are more leisurely and that's his "must watch" show. He likes it because it takes a scientific look at paranormal activities. He's intrigued by the equipment they use. But he is suspect of the fact that they ALWAYS find something (an image, a voice, a story). But, as I explained to him, without that, there's no show! I'm surprised that in the USA it was on late at night (2 a.m. at one point). Partly because it didn't have enough viewers I suppose, to warrant a more prime-time slot; but honestly, it seems more aimed at the young- adult market than at adults with insomnia.

More gardening...

2011-05-21T16:40:00.007+02:00

Another picture, from last summer, since I can't seem to access any of my new ones.

This is an active time of year (thank goodness it will get too hot soon to do all this work outside!) and we've been busy.

We're preparing a new rose and lilac bed, and we've had to remove so many rocks that we were able to make a fence for it. We bought "dirt" to put in this bed (since once we removed the rocks there was little left) and it turns out to be composted manure. I'll need to mix it with regular dirt, so we need to spend more money and wait in order to finish this job. Eventually I'll plant seven rose bushes which will hang down over the retaining wall, and four lilacs in the back row, doing their thing in early spring and hopefully providing me with some early bouquets.

The vegetable garden is planted with close to 40 tomatoes (and Pio said he only wanted a handful this year!), lettuce, spinach, arugula, cucumbers, pumpkins, string beans, celery and...that's about it. We may tuck a few other things into the rose bed as after all this year they'll be some space (zucchini maybe?, melons?) Now if we can just keep the water flowing (sometimes my pump that's in the rainwater cisterns overheats) we'll be OK. Over at the other house we have some potatoes in and we'll use these mostly to make gnocchi ,which we'll freeze and eat throughout the year (did you know that Thursdays are gnocchi day over here? Yup, all the fresh pasta places have them on Thursdays).

We also planted 17 star jasmines, aka Confederate Jasmine (Gelsomino here) earlier this week which will climb up and cover a stone cliff we have in the back yard. We planted one every 10 feet, so they should join together and really be nice rather quickly. They're covered with fragrant little star-shaped flowers for months every year, stay green even in the winter, and don't require much water. Can't ask for more than that!!

Up on that same retaining wall we have some fruit trees and planted a new lemon to replace one that died in the big freeze they had this past winter here (the orange and tangerines survived). Rather than two lemon trees (there had been two), we put in a pomegranate also. I love pomegranates!

Today we had three seminarians (student priests) from Rome over for lunch. They were coming to town for a Confirmation and a meeting with the local priest, all in the afternoon, so they came early and joined us for lunch. Pio knows them from when he drove them around to bless all the houses for Easter. It was a chance to show off the casareccia food we eat here... gnocchi, sauce, lamb, wine, salad, cookies, all homemade (not all in my home however!). It was delcious, I must say. The sheep came through to mow the lawn while they were here, and one (priest, not sheep) had a great time playing ping pong on xbox live kinnect with Dante. They're really young (21, 22, 28), two from the USA and one from Mexico. Nice fellows.

Gardening in my Italian yard...

2011-05-20T09:05:00.000+02:00

My absolute favorite flowers in my garden here in Italy (and I do grow quite a few!) are these three beauties, taken last summer. I love the blue of traditional morning glories, the boldness of the sunflowers (I grow tall and short, yellow and burgundy, multi-flowered and one huge flower above a giant stem...I love 'em all) and roses. Roses do particularly well here in Italy, they must like the soil or something. This year I have black spot on some of them--I guess it's been wetter than usual, but the flowers are beautiful just the same. If I had my camera/ computer connection working, I'd show you the bouquet I picked yesterday...red, pink and white roses! Such an elegant sight, really, the combination works so well. My other fav, not pictured here (now where is last year's picture?) are portulacas. I love portulacas! They grow with almost no water (they are succulents after all) and have the prettiest little miniature rose-like flowers in the most beautiful colors...if I can get my camera/computer connection working, I'll definitely make a post!

Excuses and a little something new...

2011-05-04T08:35:00.000+02:00

I've been major-ly frustrated these last couple of weeks as I can't get my photos onto the computer.... on my old e-machine it says there's not enough memory left (it IS almost 10 years old so surely I can delete some things?) and my laptop doesn't even recognize that I'm trying to transfer photos into Picasso. Dante's laptop is in for repairs (I FINALLY found his original disks, but we couldn't re-install them, so we called in an expert). I need to devote some time to this soon. I hate to post without a picture!

However, in the meantime, I've tagged all my previous posts and put the LABELS up top. Now, it's easy to find all my posts about one particular topic without scrolling through pages and pages. Minor thing and I'm not that happy that I wrote some of them with a capital letter and some of them lower case (anyone know if there's an easy way to changes tags without going to each post?), but it's a start. Want to re-commit to writing here (now, we've heard that about 10 times before!) but I need to get this picture thing straightened out. In the meantime, the garden is growing (I've got some pics!) and I'm still planting, and digging, and homeschooling too (10 more weeks worth of lessons--which we hope to finish in about 6 or 7 weeks with extra hard work, six days a week!). ...

Flowers and showers...

2011-03-14T06:37:00.002+01:00

I was all set to do a post, with pictures, of all the signs of spring's approach I've seen--the apricot and peach trees in bloom, the grape hyacinths popping up on the hills, even the wild asparagus that we've collected for our frittata. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the spanish lavender which is an early bloomer too..but alas, the March rains have returned and it promises to be wet all week (at least it's not snow!). If the sun peaks out later I'll take some pics, my camera is at the ready. Have a good "last week of winter" everyone!

My four-month blogging hiatus!

2011-02-24T15:32:00.003+01:00

OK, I am a slacker, but the last four months plus have been an adventure.
First, when we left Charleston we decided to drive up to NY. We wanted to change our airline tickets with US Airways, but the change fee cost more than the tickets had (!) so we took less money and rented a car one way. We didn't have to worry about luggage this way, and it gave us the ability to stop in Washington DC for a couple of nights and visits the museums and monuments.

Pio was feeling out of breath most of the time as we walked around and I was glad we had called ahead and made an appointment with the cardiologist he had when we lived in NY We were thinking he'd schedule him for a stress test. Wrong!

The cardiologist said that with Pio's symptoms (they were predictable, repeatable, etc.) he needed to go straight in for the cardiac cath. OK, then we started thinking that Pio might need a stent because he was often out of breath with little exertion--and it no longer seemed obvious that it was his asthma acting up.

Long story short--the catheterization showed four blockages--including one in the main descending artery (the "widow maker"--60% blocked) and he was scheduled for a bypass operation the following day, November 18. I must say the surgeon made it all sound easy and routine (for him!) and predicted that within one month he'd be able to fly home.

Well, Pio was an exception to the rule and has had a rough recovery. He spent 3.5 weeks post-op in intensive care because of respiratory distress brought on by a "strong inflammatory response". As they weaned him quickly off the steroids his lungs filled up with nearly two quarts of fluid--which required another 5-day intensive care hospitalization, leading us right up to Christmas Eve.

In mid-January he started cardiac rehabilitation while we lived with my sister in Pennsylvania. He has felt better quickly, building up stamina and muscle tone after having lost 40 pounds while in the hospital! He's put back on about 7 of those pounds and he is actually at his ideal weight now. (Let me say that some of what he lost, I managed to find.)

In any case, we're thrilled that we've finally been given the go ahead to go home to Italy. Pio is still on steroids, though at slowly-reducing levels, he needs his lungs x-rayed every two weeks to see if the fluid is returning, and he needs about six more weeks of rehab. We're confident we can get this all arranged in Italy.

Our six months in the States have been trying, scary and exhausting (4 weeks+ in intensive care, homeschool teaching) but also fun (Charleston, Washing DC, staying with family). It's been great to see family and be able to say, "We'll see you tomorrow"...or "in two weeks"...or "at the birthday party". It's been great to NOT have Dante in school six days a week, but rather make our own flexible schedule (getting him to write all the curriculum-required essays in English, however, is another story!!).

Living in Italy we are isolated from sisters and brothers and my father and cousins,nieces, nephews, kids and grandchildren. Being local to them all once again has been great. It's also been fun to catch up with friends over a cup of tea or a glass of wine...or even on the phone where the time-zone change is more easily managed if it exists at all. Here in America it's standard operating procedure to go out with girlfriends...but I've not been able to duplicate that in Italy and I miss it.

The horrible snowy weather has had a silver lining. Without guilt, I've sat down and watched netflix galore, while embroidering pillowcases as a gift for my friend who's been holding down the fort in Italy for us. I'm also enjoying easily buying all kinds of stuff (a new little Kindle, consignment shop clothing, for example) that are so easy to do here, but a full-days' adventure if done in Italy (and usually more costly too).

And our poor Blackie--how she's suffered in our absence!! Seriously, we'll be glad to get back to the Italian relatives, friends, garden and our pets! There's no place like home!

This picture was taken last month by our house sitters :).

How goes the homeschooling you ask...and will it continue once we return to Italy? Stay tuned for another post--soon!

Charleston Cooks!...and now I can too!

2010-10-27T00:55:00.003+02:00

Last week I took my first ever cooking class at Charleston Cooks! , a demo lesson: "Taste of the Lowcountry" . As I've learned, the "lowcountry" is the area of the USA coast between just south of Myrtle Beach all the way down to Savannah, Georgia. It's about 4 hours long by car and is characterized by the melding of cultures (Indian, African, Spanish and French) and what was available locally--corn for grits, rice from the plantations and shrimp and other seafood found in the marshy waters between the mainland and the barrier beaches.

The class I attended taught us how to make a chocolate version of the southern favorite, Chess Pie ( the name perhaps comes from a woman, responding to a compliment, saying, oh, this is "jus' pie" which in the local accent, sounds like Chess pie), a butternut squash pirlau (risotto dish with Carolina Gold rice), and "blackened" catfish fillets, which are really all in the somewhat spicy seasoning used to coat the fish before frying. It was great fun! The kitchen set up was great, with overhead cameras showing us what was happening on the stove and at the end, we each had a small plate of the food, a mini Chess Pie and a glass of wine.

It was interesting to get some general cooking tips The first one was how to make piecrust (not necessary to cut-in all those pea-shaped pieces of butter until of equal, small size--it's actually betterr if they're not all tiny!) and how to ensure it's flaky, flaky, flaky (make a rectangle, cut it into thirds and stack them up...press down into another rectangle and repeat several times until the butter gets too sticky to continue...this ensures lots of layers!).

Pumpkins and squashes have intimidated me in the kitchen, starting from how hard they are to peel. Tip number two taught me to no longer be scared! Quarter them, oil, and bake the pieces in the oven until soft. Scoop the pulp out and pass it through a rice or food mill. In the class we added it to the risotto right before it was finished and mixed it in. Wow, was that good (I LOVE winter squash and all those A vitamins!).

The blackened catfish couldn't be easier...fry in a good quantity of canola oil (no, not just 1 Tablespoon!) after they have been thoroughly coated with the cajun spices. Good and simple!

The $25 fee was fair as it included a small meal...but of course, I did spend a wee bit in the store afterwards, which is probably the hope of the teacher! I think I might go to another before I leave, it was that much fun...maybe a participation class next time and/or an author's class (Pam Anderson will be there in a couple of weeks).

Apple Store...we love you!

2010-10-15T12:24:00.002+02:00

We joined up with a local home schoolers' group and one of the moms organized a class for our students at the downtown Charleston Apple Store (I think her husband is the manager). Now the Apple Store is our most-frequented destination when we go into the city and improving his techie knowledge is one of my goals for our time in the USA, so he was immediately signed up.

They quickly taught the kids to use iMovie and each group of three (he was partnered up with 11-year-old boy-girl twins) was to make a crazy commercial for a household item on the table. They had a pair of wooden tongs which the boy twin quickly decided would make a great "puller of sister's hair". They collaborated and made a cute commercial with lots of bells and whistle effects. We hope to get a hard copy in the mail soon.

iMovie is really a great program...and now, of course, we all want an Apple iMac 21.5 inch desktop computer (it's so cool...no tower, wireless keyboard and mouse tablet, what graphics).! I was eyeballing it to see if the monitor could fit in our carry on....then we could just nonchalantly walk through customs in Rome...right? Guess those free workshops are accomplishing what they set out to do...sell more Apples! And I bet they're soooo expensive in Italy! No fair!!

We went yard-sale-ing!

2010-09-27T12:35:00.001+02:00

One of the joys of Saturday mornings in America--if you're in the mood-- are the ubiquitous yard sales (where one man's junk is another man's treasure), and this weekend we decided to venture forth. Of course, we can't really buy much with the strict weight restrictions on suitcases these days, but we thought perhaps there would be a few small things at prices to match.

The neighborhood where we are living had they bi-annual yard sale starting at 7 a.m and nearby Daniel Island had theirs on Saturday too. Pio got a set of golf clubs for his golf buddy in Italy and two golf bags--one beautiful leather, and one hard for airline travel--for himself. One of the clubs was identical to one he had bought for himself several years ago for $120...and he paid $20 for all. Because golf clubs are very expensive in Italy, even with the shipping costs his friend will be way ahead.

I got a nice light green leather 9West bag for myself ($1), a green bottle vase for a friend (25 cents) and an embroidered duvet cover for my king size bed that had just been dry cleaned (for more than the $5 I paid). Dante was out looking for some video games or consoles, but only found a free Rubric's cube (to drive us all crazy) and some more shorts--it's been quite hot and I only brought two pair with us.

Yard sales, at least in my area of Italy, are unknown. Maybe because:

A. they are illegal (because sales taxes can't be collected),
B .they are unpopular (because Italians don't like the idea of buying "used items" from strangers)...or
C. Italians just do not have a lot of extra stuff laying around they need to get rid of.

I suspect it's "all of the above"! Though there are some markets where used things are sold, I've never seen things placed out in front of a person's home (well, maybe eggs or honey or a used car for sale, but that's different).

Anyway, this was the way we spent our recent Saturday morning, American-style.

Charleston, first impressions...

2010-09-24T13:07:00.004+02:00

Well, less than a month ago we were eating bangers and mash--now it's grits (shown here with eggs and bacon for breakfast), washed down with sweet tea!

We've been in Charleston for about 10 days now, adjusting to life in the deep south and homeschooling.

So far we've seen dophins in the harbor, walked around downtown, ate some good meals (Jestine's Kitchen and Poe's Tavern are tied for first place in our book), spent a day at a plantation (where the guide-tour-in-training was a retired Bellport High School principal!) and briefly visited a few hot, but beautiful beaches. Pio loves the golfing but has pulled a muscle so is out of commision for the time being. Dante loves the Apple store, a generic version of which can be found is most cities (he dreams about owning an i-touch) and all the fried food. As for me, I'm a sucker for the Spanish Moss which drapes from many of the trees and the different shore birds found here in the marshy low country we are surrounded by.

.Homeschooling is our other big adventure. I think it's going well, but still it's hard not to have some self-doubts about the decision, especially if we are looking to re-enroll him in Italian schools in September 2011. So far, I'm happy with our curriculum, and our supervising teacher (to whom we must send all work every two weeks for grading). We'll get a report card and transcript as he's technically enrolled in long-distance learning program at a private school in Vermont. Dante is cooperating nicely.

It's just a little difficult to find "ME" time as we do school most mornings and find the afternoons too hot to do anything outside. The neighborhood kids Dante has befriended don't get home from school until 4 pm so there a boredom gap for Dante. He's spending his time using Skype to contact his friends in Italy and find out what's new there. He wishes he had his xbox 360 here to help fill some time in the afternoons. He is enrolled in a Monday evening cartooning class and next week we meet other homeschooled kids at a roller skating party.

This coming week brings the MOJA arts festival and we've got tickets to two events that are billed as "fun for the entire family" Tonight there's the kick-off Caribbean Street Parade and Reggae block party downtown, and we'll go for a while, then find a bite to eat. Saturday there's a neighborhood yard sale (haven't been to one of them in a long while!), then the farmer's market in Charleston which I'd like to check out and maybe a wine tour/tasting in the afternoon (yes, Charleston has a winery). Maybe Pio will feel a little less homesick?

Liverpool was Fab, Mates!

2010-09-05T14:58:00.001+02:00

We're back from Liverpool and had a wonderful time. Dante especially loved the bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) and peas, mushy or otherwise, were the only other vegetable, aside from potatoes, we found in the restaurants. Pio loved the draft beer, which, when they added the malt at the end, left sudsy bubbles spilling over the rim of the glass. The Scousers were more than friendly and, with eyes closed, every male sounded like you were talking to Paul, John, Ringo or George!

We originally chose Liverpool to visit Dante's homework tutor who is now aupair-ing there and had the week off to show us around (thanks F!) The Bootleg Beatles and the Matthew Street Festival were a lot of fun and Wicked (which we saw on a day-trip by train to London) was outstanding. Pio can't stop talking about the golf course he had the chance to play twice, thanks to a very nice neighbor. Our home-exchangers loved our dogs and took excellent care of them, which allowed us to really enjoy ourselves. Oh, and we really couldn't get the hang of driving on the "wrong side" (and stick shift too!) so we went everywhere by train, bus or taxi and that was fine too. Cheers Looove!

Liverpool--here we come!

2010-08-24T08:07:00.001+02:00

Our home-exchangers from Liverpool arrived yesterday to settle into our house, meet the dogs and spend a little time with us over some good food and wine. This morning they caught the 7:20 train to Naples and then will head onto one night in lovely, lemony Sorrento, with perhaps a few hours in Positano. They'll return tomorrow night. On Thursday morning...early!... we head to Ciampino, Rome's "low-cost airline" airport to fly to their home in Liverpool.

The weather in Liverpool appears to have been wet and cool lately, but we have our fingers crossed for some sunny days ahead. On Saturday night we'll see the "Bootleg Beatles" in the Liverpool Philharmonic, and on Sunday/Monday there's the Mathew Street Festival. On Wednesday September 1st we'll head to London (which is a 3hour trip each way) in order to see "Wicked" which everyone says is phenomenal. In between, Pio hopes to at least see a few golf courses (Liverpool is on England's "Golf Coast") but he's afraid his game isn't good enough for the challenging courses he's seen on the internet. It's been recommended we also see the Lakes District and perhaps even northern Wales which isn't that far away. Of course, we first have to feel comfortable driving on the LEFT side of the road!! Perhaps we'll stick to the trains?

Our upcoming Homeschool Adventure! Why...and How?

2010-08-22T09:48:00.002+02:00

This September we'll start home schooling Dante (and home exchanging while we're at it--since we're both retired, why not?). Despite the fact that I've got several teaching certifications from New York State and taught for years there, it's a somewhat scary leap into the unknown.

The decision to home school took a while to evolve. It wasn't a decision we took lightly. There's little support out here in the Italian countryside where "scuola familiare" is almost unheard of (though legal--read http://homeschoolinitaly.blogspot.com for a British woman's experiences). As we began to mention it here and there people shook their heads, didn't understand, encouraged us to look at other options--like other local public and private schools. To tell the truth, when we looked, they didn't look all that different from our village school, from which we desperately needed a change.

What I was looking for was something more creative, innovative, flexible--all things which don't come easily in public schools anywhere. Also, five days a week (instead of the six we've been living with) and homework that makes sense and doesn't last all night would be nice. Unfortunately, the most promising local school was no longer accepting Middle School students and the international schools in Rome cost a fortune for tuition and on top of that we'd need a small apartment since Rome is just too far for a daily school run.

Slowly the idea of homeschooling came into focus. It would be much cheaper than an international school, and as creative and flexible as designed. So I started researching.

There is an overabundance of information and initially it was confusing. The spectrum runs from unschooling to school-in-a-box, buy your own prepackaged materials or piece it together here and there, spend a lot, buy on ebay, or join a charter school which will give you the online curriculum for free, but attach strings--like restricting traveling.

There's secular and Christian curricula--and even a site for pagan homeschooling families. On Amazon you can find lots of homeschooling books and there are State-wide association which offer support and field trips for home schoolers (such as this support group in South Carolina which we'll be using when we home-exchange there for three months this fall), blogs and homeschool laws which differ from state to state (but what if you're not a resident of any state?). For a while my head spun round and round!

After researching for several months, we decided to take the plunge and enroll in Oak Meadow, a long-distance private homeschool --with teacher support, grading and transcript (in case we decide to return to Italian public school next year ) and creative options when it comes to assignments. By mixing 6th and 7th grade materials and adding in some library books, I can almost match what he would have been studying here in Italy. I'll supplement also with piano lessons, Spanish and keyboarding--and find a native Italian to tutor him once a week to keep him up with his Italian literature and grammar. For socialization (the first thing that most people ask about) we've joined two homeschool groups near where we'll be exchanging and Dante has a wealth of options--to start he'll be taking art and music classes with other kids.

If it works out I'd love to continue homeschooling at least through Middle School, mixing his education and family travel through home exchange.... OK, one step at a time! Right now we're very excited and looking forward to beginning our grand adventure!!

2010-08-04T09:33:00.003+02:00

You know you're an Italian woman from the countryside when you explain your less-than-spotless house and clothing by saying, "We did the tomatoes today!". And so that was yesterday's excuse for my home's "lived-in" look (breakfast dishes still around come lunchtime) and the very casual, red-splotched old shirt and shorts I was wearing.

We only did 27 jars (instead of our usual 100+) first, because we won't be here all of next year (they'll be another post on that), secondly because we used only our organic, home-grown tomatoes (usually we buy a couple of bushels--but the flavor and quality doesn't compare) and thirdly because doing 100+ jars all at once means it's A LOT of work for several people (washing, rewashing, cutting, putting some through the food mill, filling the jars, sealing them, boiling them--etc.). Every year we'd loose about 15% because they didn't seal properly. Probably because the huge container in which we boil them was overfull. 27 jars was almost ... easy! And a great excuse, even if it only explains one day's dust.

P.S. If you look very closely to the left of the tomato jars you can see a little "Buddha's hand" lemon tree. They are still green, but are the STRANGEST looking fruit I've ever seen! They look like five small, skinny lemons growing in a bunch, like bananas. Can't wait to see how they taste this winter!

Early June flower pictures...

2010-06-02T09:40:00.009+02:00

I've seen some beautiful cactus blooms this spring, have a new geranium with burgundy/green leaves and tiny orange flowers (what was mother nature thinking?) and my favorite blue of all time--the morning glory --is beginning to circle the orto fence.

Been back a while...

2010-02-05T18:07:00.006+01:00

We returned from our three-week New York holiday almost a month ago! My how time flies. I've been thinking lately about what it is exactly we miss about there when we are here. Aside from the obvious "family and friends" (which we'd really like to see more of!) I miss familiarity, a vague word that covers a lot but really does sum it up succintly! More specifically, I miss: big, free libraries with books, audiobooks, music CDs, computers, newspapers, magazines, a children's section, movies, etc. etc; flagels, especially those that have sesame or poppy seeds on BOTH sides of the flattened bagel; diners, which often have kitschy themes (try little octopus lamps hanging over the booths and electronicly projected fish tanks on the walls!); listening to NPR radio while I'm commuting to work; knitting classes, teachers and space with HELP! when I get stuck; anything and everything in English :); yoga class and gyms that open at 6 am; BIG cups of 7-11 tea (which I can brew as long as I like and add as much milk as I want); stores with reasonable return policies (here it's a rarity). OK, in Italy the weather, scenery and food is better than what I got in New York, so I guess that's why, for now, we're still here (oh, and yea, we've got a house, a dog, a cat, two turtles and two aquariums here-- and none back there!).

Thanksgiving Dinner catastrophe (almost)!

2009-11-29T12:12:00.005+01:00

All I wanted was a small fresh turkey, to be picked up on Friday so I could brine it overnight, then cook it on Saturday for our belated Thanksgiving celebration. Not too much to ask...right?

Well, on Friday the butcher said the turkey would arrive Saturday at 10 a.m. OK, forget the brining. Then the truck that was bringing my butcher his meat delivery was stopped by the police at a random truck inspection, failed and was impounded. "Not a problem," said the butcher, who drove off to meet it about 30 minutes away. "No way!" said the police who wouldn't let said butcher remove anything from the truck. "OK, get a large chicken" I told my husband on his cellphone at the butcher shop. "What about a couple of turkey drumsticks and half a turkey breast?" my husband relayed from the butcher. OK, we'll make it work (goodbye to stuffing cooked inside the bird).

So, my husband gets home with two 5 lb drumsticks (10 pounds of dark meat from two turkey legs!) and a 3 lb. half-breast. OK, not bad. I brined it for a few hours, then threw it in the oven.

I sweated making a piecrust earlier in the morning for my pumpkin cheese pie (recipe thanks to Betty Crocker, 1968 cookbook) but it was a piece of cake (figuratively speaking). The gravy was another story.

OK, so I hate to make gravy. My mother and grandmother could take a couple of tablespoons of turkey drippings and make a gallon of gravy. And so they always made the gravy. And I've always had a mental block. So....my nephew brought me too envelopes of cheat-gravy, you know, just add water. So I dutifully followed the directions and it wasn't half bad (stirred it and all and cooked it for three minutes!). Then I decided to flavor it up with the turkey drippings...then I decided to thicken it up (now that I had watered it down) and added some "cornstarch" in a bit of cold water. INSTANT VOLCANO! What!?!? Didn't expect that reaction. I took at better look at the "cornstarch" container and saw that it was BAKING SODA! Oh no. Ruined, way too salty tasting gravy. Well, that's the best part of the meal for me so I was majorly disappointed.

OK, I decided how hard could making gravy be? I got out my "Gravy 1,2,3" recipe and thought I'd give it a try. I didn't let the fear of lumps cause too much anxiety (I have a strainer after all and that's what they're for, right?) and collected the rest of the pan drippings. OK, Nanny always started with some onions. I sautéed onions in the drippings. Added some chicken fat I had in the refrigerator. Added a tablespoon of flour, stirred, added water, more flour, more water, etc. Strained it and...it was GREAT! OK, gravy isn't really that hard, it just is last minute.

OK, so the mashed potatoes were a great hit with the Italian guests, as was the gravy and the pumpkin pie. The turkey and dressing too. The only thing that didn't get rave reviews was the apple crumble desert, which was way too sweet for them (well, that crumble topping was made out of mostly sugar ...and if they knew how much butter they would have fainted!). All in all, a nice evening. Today we eat leftovers (hurray!!).

Funghi Fantasy...

2009-11-25T17:12:00.002+01:00

I came home from work today to find this mound of mushrooms sitting on a large platter on the kitchen counter. Obviously someone...a neighbor perhaps....was out picking early this morning. The porcini mushrooms ended a few weeks ago (still have about a kilo frozen however) but now other mushrooms (these have very long stems) have come into season. Surprised to see them as it hasn't rained in weeks, but perhaps it has rained recently up the mountains where most people go mushrooming. You need a license to pick mushrooms (and to have passed a test regarding poisononous and non) so I'm quite certain these beauties are safe. YUM!

OOPS! I stand corrected by hubby. You only need a license to pick porcini mushrooms. In any case, we fried up a pan full of these last night and ate them...and I'm still here to write about it in the morning. They were delicious!!

Yes, that's Tuscan Kale...

2009-11-20T16:30:00.001+01:00

surrounded by some pansies. Usually I enjoy Tuscan Kale on my dinner plate and pansies in the spring, but I was inspired by two, yes TWO different gardening magazine articles I saw this month where Tuscan Kale was featured as an ornamental. OK, I wasn't about to dig out a 4' x 6' bed (especially after being sick all week with the flu!), so I settled for this. I dug the kale out of the garden (hope it takes!) and bought about six white pansies (small flower type) to plant around the edge. I like it. It was nice to finally get out into some of this sunny, 70F weather we've been having.

I've got to start thinking about Turkey Day. We'll celebrate it with some neighbors and relatives coming over a couple of days later (no one could make it Thursday, including me, as I have to work). Still need to order the turkey (and NO, I don't want a 40 pounder like last time!!!) and see if I can find sweet potatoes without going into Rome...but I've got the apple and pumpkin pie recipes dusted off and ready to go this time next week. We'll probably have some Tuscan Kale too, mashed potatoes, corn...umm, I'm getting hungry!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

Ischia, sweet Ischia!

2009-09-13T16:53:00.005+02:00

Do warm baths relax you? Could you stay in one all day, especially if it never cooled off? You'd love Ischia!

Ischia is an island off the coast of Naples, not that far from Capri in nautical miles, but much less known, and therefore, in my book, much better.

Back in late August my friend Janice from California visited me for a few days. She wanted to see where I lived, and then go someplace nice for a couple of nights. She left it totally up to me.

Well, I wanted to find a place we could get to by public transportation. Someplace where she could get seafood and someplace that wouldn't be crawling with tourists the 21st and 22nd of August--still part of the famous ferragosta vacation period when nearly all Italians head to the coast or the mountains.

I also wanted to go someplace that I hadn't been before but that wasn't more than a few hours away.

The only place that seemed to fit the bill was Ischia. I reserved us a room at a quiet hotel with water view near Panza We took the train from Frosinone to Naples (2 hours), negotiated with a cab driver to take us from the train station to the ferry terminal (15 Euros) and took the ferry over to the island (about 1 hour). From the ferry terminal we took the local bus around the island until we got to Panza, then called the hotel and they came to pick us up.

We were exhausted when we first arrived, so we ate a lunch at the hotel, looking out at the sea, then went down to enjoy the pool. Later we napped, then walked down the road to visit the "Baia di Sorget0", a natural hot springs beach. There are wide stairs winding down to this little cove and a snack bar which was just closing up when we arrived. I've read that it's possible to actually cook food by burying it in the sand in aluminum foil, but when the snack bar is open it's prohibited to bring in your own food.

The water is literally boiling as you step off the sand (well, ok, 194 degrees F). You need to use these little bridges which take you out a bit further where the cooler sea water mixes with the hot springs to varying degrees of tolerable and heavenly. Wow! We only stuck our feet in as we weren't wearing our suits, but it was nice and a place I'd love to return to.

The next day we headed out early for Negombo, one of two big hot spring parks on the island (there are numerous other, smaller parks, and hotels with pools too). We spent all day there, enjoying the sun, dipping in and out of every pool there, most more than once, eating a tasty lunch and we both had a fantastic reflexology session at the health center. It was highly relaxing.

When we left we walked toward Lacco Ameno, a pretty town, full of little shops (I got a great light blue linen sun dress for only 15 Euros) a large flower-filled piazza, fancy and picturesque hotels and restaurants. We tried to get a good pizza (Janice was dying for a Neopolitan pizza ever since reading that book about a woman's search for self in Italy, Bali and India...what was it called?). I say we tried to get a good pizza because we kept asking for them with Bufala mozzarella and I think it was just too wet to give us a crispy crust. But in any case, Janice had two that night...one at a restaurant right near the beach in Lacco Ameno, then one later at a pizzeria our hotel recommended to us (ultimately, she liked best the ones she had right across the street from our house in Giglio). After eating, we wanted to take a taxi back to our hotel, but they wanted 30 Euros. Way overpriced! We took the bus for 1 Euro each and then called the hotel from Panza once again (after we had gotten that pizza that is).

On our last morning on Ischia we headed out with our suitcases (again on the bus) to Giardini La Mortella. Janice isn't that much into gardens anymore, but nevertheless she liked it well enough and I kept wishing I had a way to visit the garden store next to it and bring home some stuff for my empty garden beds... They were kind enough to hold our suitcases at the entrance for us and we spent all morning walking around and sipping exotic teas in the pergola-covered snack bar. Very nice despite the high humidity.

Finally, we splurged on a taxi to take us and our suitcases back to the ferry terminal and the start of our trip back home.

I'm already thinking about when I can get back there! Though next time I'd probably stay longer, visit more of the island (we only saw about half of it), and stay at a more central hotel since the buses are crowded and the taxis expensive.

Back from Sorrento and a quick drive on the Amalfi coast

2009-07-12T23:10:00.004+02:00

We spent a quick two nights in Sorrento with Pio's son, daughter-in-law and grandson. They went to Pompeii one day, we mostly hung out by the pool (which at the Hilton Sorrento Palace was easy to do, with six of them, connected by small waterfalls!) We always ate well, but our last evening was memorable.

Pio saw a little tin sign on a stone wall near our hotel. He decided then and there that we weren't going to eat at a "recommended restaurant" again as we had our first evening, (I check Slowtalk, of course!) but instead at this little "hole-in-the-wall" place that was near our hotel.

Well, we followed a very narrow road up and up, turning here, then there, always following the signs. We envisioned a cheap, home-cooked authentic meal awaited us around every bend. Then we thought maybe the lady closed up shop, went out of business. Where was this restaurant? We continued on after a local lady assured us it was up ahead and the food was good.

Finally--we arrived, only to find that DONNA SOFIA's wasn't a cheap, home-cooking place, but rather a rather well-known place with high prices, fancy dishes and tiny portions. We persevered. The food was quite good. The prices too high (8 Euros for a tiny, tiny plate of penne with tomato sauce for Dante...in fact, he easily ate two of them for 16Euros. )
If you're a foodie and have a special ocassion to celebrate while in Sorrento (or money is no object) than the restaurant, dedicated to Sofia Loren, is worth it. The owner will also pick you up and/or drop you off back at your hotel for free, because in the dark it would be hard to find your way.

The next morning we decided to take the long way home, driving along the Amalfi coast. The road was crowded with cars and buses, but I noticed they now have people with 2-way radios communicating ahead if a bus is coming--cars are stopped so that buses can negotiate the hairpin curves with a little more ease. That was a definite improvement! I'd love to stay in Positano or one of the other small towns clinging to the cliffs, but I'm not sure how relaxing it would be with all that traffic! Would I ever leave the hotel? How would I get there and leave?

In fact, the 2-way radio system isn't perfect and we had to stop on one downhill, hairpin curve so that a bus could negotiate it from the opposite direction (I won't mention all the cars that were parked on both sides, willy nilly). Suddenly a man on a racing bike slammed into the back of our car! OK, maybe slammed is too stong a word, but he hit us. We, of course, were concerned about how he was, but he picked himself up and said he was fine. Luckily his friends were ahead, just around the bend, already putting their bikes on the car to head home and were heading back to help him. No doubt he had some aches, pains and bruises that night.

Ice Tea came to visit

2009-06-11T07:35:00.003+02:00

No, not the rapper Ice-T, but my cyper-friend and blogging buddy from Arizona! She's been on an exciting European vacation, including time in Italy, time in France, and a cruise from Basel to Amsterdam (Linda, correct me on the details!). All of this with her parents. Then, her parents continued on to Norway to visit as-yet-unmet relatives and she came back to Italy for another six days. We picked her up at FCO and she squeezed in a side trip to my little out-of-the-way home in Veroli for one night. Then she was off to Sorrento for a few days and eventually a flight to Venice and home. Whew!

It was nice meeting her in person and we found a lot to talk about. She was so kind as to bring me a little bottle of original cologne from Cologne, a bar of artisanal chocolate (yum yum) and .... a box of THIN MINT Girl Scout cookies! How did she know? Now they are a special treat for us all. Thank you, again, Linda and hope you are enjoying your last few days in Europe!

Of Cactus and London and this 'n that...

2009-05-16T11:50:00.010+02:00

Haven't written here in ages, but people are still visiting (and even linking to me--thanks!) so I guess I'd better start writing again!

With the spring life has gotten very busy. We've been having work done to finish up the outside...brick and stone work on the front of the house, a cement driveway (and it's a long one), finishing up/off the upstairs... and because we use people who have other jobs, that work gets done almost exclusively on Saturdays only...so it's been a long drawn out process and is still not finished.

Gardening fever has also struck and I've got supina (hanging) petunias in my long front flower box (aout ten plants) and tons of perenial daisies along the wall of our upper driveway (OK, 30 plants total!) and we planted 44, yes 44 cyprus trees! They're babies, only about 18 inches tall, but one day, watch out Tuscany! We have two vegetable gardings going too, full of lettuce, eggplants, tomatoes, peas, beans, potatoes and herbs. I want to put in some brussel sprouts and black-leaf dinosaur kale too, but I think we'll wait until July so they can grow in the cooler fall months. Oh, and my cactus had three blooms at the same time! It's only about a foot tall, but it sits above a retaining wall that I have at the upper entrance to my driveway. Another cactus nearby promises to be a blooming spectacle soon (note all the buds!).

I'm still working three full days a week, and my students are busy preparing for a Cambridge Business English exam in early June. It's not easy and they are working hard (though many of them would prefer to forget the exam and just have conversation!). I'm working hard to keep all the photocopies organized, practice tests scored and remembering which class is which!

The menagerie here slowly grows, with our platy tank having two new members (2 sunset plattys) which brings the number in that tank to 10 fish, which includes two babies who have survived. We have another pregnant female (a mickey mouse platty) and hope at least one of her babies will survive too (they seem to be irrisistible snacks when tiny, even to their mom!).

At Easter we went to London and had a grand ole' time. Absolutely loved it. Dante was a little low-energy for the first couple of days as he initially didn't sleep well in the hotel, but once he got into the swing of things, he loved it too. My favorite thing (aside from finally meeting Big Ben in person) was Lion King in the theatre ("on Broadway" I would say if this were in NY, so what do I say when I see a show in London?). The theatre was beautiful, we laughed, ate ice cream in our seats during intermission, went to the martini bar across the street afterwards (and had typical roast beef with yorkshire pudding next door beforehand) and shopped in Coventry Gardens both before and after. Reminded me of the States in some ways, only waaaaaay closer. Yea! (See pictures on facebook.)

Got to run. I'm in an organizing, cleaning, moving furniture around mood (yes, Pio, things have changed a little in the week you've been in NY). I want to accomplish a lot today as tomorrow it will be back to working on the gardens, then Tuesday back to work. Whew! Have a good one, and thanks for reading, Diane

Italian-language blog discovered

2009-03-29T09:57:00.006+02:00

One of my favorite things, when I have the time, is getting lost on the internet...clicking on one link, then another, just to see where I wind up. Well, this morning, through one click then another, I discovered a blog by Dianne Hales called Becoming Italian Word by Word. For anyone learning Italian it's great fun...and even if you're not, it's interesting. Words are taught by association. One post has lots of expressions based on "padre" (father) for example, another with expressions around the word "pane" (bread). Dianne Hales is an author and journalist with a long list of credits. She has a book coming out in the May called La Bella Lingua and I have a feeling I'll be adding it to my collection.

2009-03-06T09:44:00.002+01:00

In the early morning of Saturday, February 21, my father-in-law passed away. The Sunday before he had eaten lunch with us, as usual, but not his usual quantity, complaining of a full feeling in his stomach. On Tuesday he went into a semi-comatose state with two doctors disagreeing as to the cause. On Thursday we still had hope he would come out of it, but on Friday the doctor said to call his children in America. In the end, in his coma, he appeared to have difficulty breathing and swallowing. Was he suffering? We don't know. At 6 a.m. on Saturday morning he passed away, at home, a few hours before his daughter and son who still live in New York arrived. Perhaps it was better that way. May we all remember him as he appears in this photo from a wedding a few years ago, full of fun and life. Rest in Peace Umberto.

Mid-Winter Harvest

2009-01-31T19:12:00.001+01:00

The sun was shining (finally), so I went out into the garden to see what I could find. Aside from the usual lettuce, I picked a large handful of chicory (which was quite bitter but good boiled, then sauted with garlic and olive oil), a bunch of radicchio (made into a radicchio lasagna), some herbs (which I'm drying) and some cabbage roses (for a winter boquet). Not bad for a mid-winter harvest.

New Year's Resolutions--finally!

2009-01-31T08:00:00.001+01:00

I don't officially make Resolutions as I know I'll never keep them up, which is not exactly the attitude that guarantees success. But, in a way, I do have some general ideas for 2009 which I thought I'd share, before we get to February. These are modest, I know, that's why I like them:

I think it's a great idea to visit at least one new place every year. 2007 it was Munich during Christmas season. 2008 it was Naples--three times. I count it even though it is only two hours away, previously my husband wouldn't even consider it! In 2009 I hope to visit Paris, London and/or Budapest. After all, we are in Europe and these places don't cost THAT much to get to. I'd be happy for just one of them. Going to New York to visit the relatives, while wonderful, doesn't count! (It must be a NEW place to properly stimulate the senses.)

Walk vigourously for 30 minutes at least five times a week. This is do-able most days, despite my working (Thursdays will be hard, so I've given myself a little wiggle room).

Keep knitting. I'm into socks at the moment, so that's fun for me and there's always something different to try (toe-up, cables, designs, even different knit and purl combinations). Something to do when I watch Oprah on the sling box DVR most mornings.

Aim for 7 to 8 hours (or more!) sleep every night. I will no longer allow myself to get up at 4 am as my internal alarm clock shifts and then I start doing that every morning. Six hours of sleep is not an option for my brain's proper functioning.

Post to my blog on a regular basis!

See, I said they were modest goals, and do-able too I think. Wish me luck!

Climbin' back on the wagon...

2009-01-30T09:39:00.008+01:00

Well, I guess when I go "on vacation" I really GO ON VACATION!

I was supposed to have only two weeks vacation around Christmas/New Years, but because of a funding snafu, it extended to a full six weeks! I've been in heaven.

Before vacation I had some health issues which I thought were related to the fact that I had trouble sleeping more than six hours a night. And not walking anymore. At least I've had the chance to get into a longer sleep rhythm (between 7 and 8 hours, sometimes more!) and I've recently (now that the near constant rainfall is giving us a respite) gotten back into walking. And taking vitamins again. And I DO feel better. But I haven't been blogging. SORRY!!

What have I been up to? Well, for someone who's lived here for three years and never been to Naples (only two hours away) we went three times in December! I love it. There's something about it that reminds me of New York City I think. Has anyone else ever felt this? Oh, and the pizza and pastries are to die for. And the San Gregorio area is one of those special places in the world in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

I've also wizzed through making my third pair of socks (about two weeks, which is wizzing when you consider the last pair took me a year!). I'm proudly modelling them in the photo above. If they look a little big, it's because they're for my father. I have been doing socks on two circular needles, but was getting stuck at the point where you need to pick up stitches and turn the heel in another direction (from the tube part that goes on the ankle and is normally vertical to the sole/instep part which goes horizontal). I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do it with two needles (actually I wanted to do two socks at a time on the two needles...but it was WAY too confusing for me without a teacher rescuing me every once in a while!). So, I had the brilliant idea to switch back at the critical moment to using four double pointeds (the way people have been making socks from caveman days) and VOILA! it got me around the bend. Then I switched back to my circulars. Ahhh....So, Dad, your socks are done! (except for a few final toe-rows I'll do today). Next will be a blue pair FOR ME! (Does anyone know how to get the picture I've posted down here instead of up there? I suspect I must edit the html...but I have no idea how!)

What else...I've also gone into Rome for a couple of work-related meetings, gone into my worksite this past week to work with a few individual students and do some testing (groups start next week) and have continued with my private English students here at the house--I'm up to 8 hours a week now if everyone shows. Great pocket money.

Which I need more of as I've gotten more fashion conscious. I guess living in Italy is affecting me. I got new eyeglasses that make much more of a statement than the rimless ones I got several years ago in New York and bought a new winter "swing coat" at the January SALDI (sales) at Luisa Spagnola. I'm even eyeing items in the Max Mara window, but I haven't actually gone in the store yet!

Part of the reason I'm now scared to spend extra money is that the money is ending before the month does because of all the work we're having done around here. The brickwork at the front of the house is almost finished and today workers are starting up on our second floor. First they are putting up a few walls (to close off storage areas and cover up the side brick walls) and then we'll have the same heating/cooling system put in the flooring that we have downstairs. Except upstairs we may make it a wooden floor. I will have a classroom up there and a guestroom. We're leaving room for a bathroom and kitchen, in case someday we need a little apartment up there, either for us or Dante. This is typically Italian!

Well, that's it for now. I have a list of things to do...and I find that if I make a list, it gets done! So, I'm off to look at my list.

I hereby promise to write much more often (if anyone is still reading). Again, I'm back on the blog wagon, so please leave a comment, even just to say HI, to let me know you're still there! Some of you have emailed me privately, just to check I was OK. Thanks! (blush blush)

We STILL believe (and here's why)...

2008-12-24T10:54:00.005+01:00

Perhaps this is something that's been widely publicized in most areas, but a few years ago we discovered this website which has become a yearly tradition--tracking Santa. If you want to know where Santa is (or has already been) check out this website, complete with live webcam on Santa's sleigh (you'll see the Coloseum in Rome--though we'll be in bed by then here in Italy--the Great Wall of China, etc.). Have fun with the younger ones in your family!

Naples revisited!

2008-12-15T16:23:00.008+01:00

You may have heard...it' s raining in Italy! It seems like it's been raining forever, with only brief sunny repites. In fact, last Thursday it rained more in Rome in one day than it usually does in the whole month of December. The Tiber River which flows through Rome threatened to rise over it banks and the local river beds which have ALWAYS been dry are suddenly swollen with boiling, churling foamy brown rapids and waterfalls! Our cisterns were already filled in November, so all this water won't directly help us water our gardens come July. We may just have to put in a well, but that's an expensive project as the water table is very deep (at least $15,000 worth of deep).

We DID manage to spend a mostly dry day in Naples yesterday. Twice in three weeks...I guess we really like it! My son is enthralled by the street with all the nativity pieces for sale...especially moving pieces which show a woman feeding the chickens, a man shearing the sheep, etc. He wants to build a nativity "Presepe" this year out of painted boxes and pieces we picked up in Naples.

We also were given a private tour of a church/monastary and a nun took out a special vial which still contained some of Saint Patricia's blood, then solomnly held it out for each of us to kiss. This previously Lutheran American woman did find that kind of strange, I must say.

The fog is lifting...(I think)!

2008-11-22T05:28:00.010+01:00

Aside from the foggy humidity we've had outside the past day or two (which has given us a welcome relief from the constant picking and time to clean the leaves and sticks out of the crates of olives and steam clean the stainless steel containers) I've noticed my brain feels foggy!

I've noticed that I struggle to concentrate when teaching. Day to day here at the house I don't notice anything much different (except I'm light-headed), but loading and unloading the dishwasher or hanging up the clothing doesn't take much mental effort. Teaching the future perfect and comparing it to the future perfect progressive (don't ask!) does. What gives?

I'm in my mid-fifties. Isn't it too early for "cognitive decline"? I mention it to the doctor and he prescribed something natural to help me sleep (melatonin--which I have used in the past) and a supplement of vitamins that I'm supposed to take for 20 out of 30 days a month. Now I DID run out of vitamins a few weeks ago, so perhaps I am missing something important? Who knows.

In any case, I've discovered a great website to exercise the brain in the areas of attention, processing speed, and memory. It's called Lumosity and it's won web awards and gotten lots of media coverage. lt's a lot of fun to work on your own "personal best"(or invite friends/family to try and beat your scores) and they offer a 30-day free trial. If you check it out, come back and let me know what you think (and when I stop playing, I may even check my blog for comments)!

New-oil bruschetta!

2008-11-09T19:42:00.004+01:00

Would anyone like some? It's delicious, great with salt on toasted Italian bread.

Last week two women (I was not one of them for more than a half-day) picked enough olives just from the trees around our house to make more than 150 liters of oil! Pay is five liters of oil per day's work, but because there is just so much we'll be giving them six liters per day. By the time we're all done we'll probably have more than 500 liters. Pio's brother will be taking quite a bit of it back to the States in January...and we'll have more than enough to last us through another year (or three). The trees are making up for last year's meager harvest when we got 150 liters from 400 trees...this year from less than 50!

Halloween in Italy

2008-11-01T03:47:00.005+01:00

Halloween in Italy is mostly a big nothing. It's discussed in English class (Dante's class had to memorize "Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat" as homework this week) and the international schools may do something, but out here in rural central Italy, it's a quiet day, as usual.

We've given two Halloween parties over the past three years, but this year I just didn't feel up to it. I still haven't fully adjusted to working (and still being able to do anything else!), so the idea of 35 nine-year-olds running in and out of my house just didn't appeal. Plus, the bilingual woman and her teenage daughter who helped me last year run the games and prepare the food moved back to Toronto. It just seemed like too much work right now.

Luckily for D. and his friends another mother volunteered to host the Haloween party this year and the kids had a chance to run around in their Carnival costumes a few months early, eat a lot of junk food and tell scary stories. A light drizzle didn't put a damper on their fun. In the photo are just a few of those who arrived early.

We've fallen...

2008-10-26T07:15:00.006+01:00

...back an hour, that is. Have you?

In New York Sunday meant the newspapers and eggs and bacon on a roll. Here the Sunday newspapers don't appear any different than any other day (are they? well, they certainly don't weigh 3 pounds each!) and anyway, the articles are difficult for me to read in Italian, so I usually don't bother (which assures that they'll never get any easier, I know). So, instead I catch up on the terrific blogs that so many are writing (see "Blogs I Read" section), sometimes the newspapers online (though they're often full of bad news, so why bother?) and have Pio bring home a cornetto with Nutella inside! A typical sweet Italian breakfast, except I have mine with a cup of tea instead of cappuccino.

What a lovely Sunday morning. Sunny (where is that rain that was supposed to have arrived yesterday or the day before?), warmish...and only 7:15 a.m. (OK, "what used to be" 8:15, as we'll say every day for the next month around here, I guess we have trouble adjusting our routines)!

This is welcome as we will once again be able to walk at 6:30 a.m. and not have to wear our reflective safety vests. Oh yes, it WILL get dark earlier, maybe 6 p.m., which I'm hoping will make it easier to get Dante to bed at a decent hour (kids in Italy stay up LATE by American standards, partly because many only eat dinner at 7:30 p.m. or later).

Work is going well. How I enjoy working with motivated adults (no behavioral issues, hurrah!) and they make me feel like a genius just 'cause I can speak English! The ego is happy. The regular paycheck is nice...oh, and the free lunches from their cafeteria are really good (how I'd love to bring the family so each could choose what he wanted for lunch...fruit, pasta, rice, fish, meat, vegetables, salad, then we could all bring our trays back and walk away. No messy pots and counter tops to clean, no dishwasher to load...I LOVE it!) I'm just learning, however, little by little, the differences between American and British English when we talk about the weekend (I even told students the first week that they should say "ON the weekend" instead of "AT the weekend" thinking they had chosen the wrong preposition (American friends and family, AT is correct in British English!).

Now it's time to start the day...make breakfast for Dante, get dressed, etc. We're going out for lunch later with some friends at one of our favorite places (rustic Capofiume Restaurant, in the mountains about 20 minutes from here, with a freezing cold shallow stream behind it which is just beautiful--and delicious too my son tells me!).

Oh such neglect!

2008-09-26T05:57:00.003+02:00

Oh dear blog, I haven't written anything here in way too long! So catching up...

As I mentioned in my last post, I've started working. It's going really well, I like it, but...some of the students (all middle and upper level management in a multinational pharmaceutical company) are overworked and stressed out. Well, speaking English all day and being surrounded by stressed out people sometimes makes me feel like I'm back in NY!

I am struck by how healthy the cafeteria menu is...a choice of two first courses (pasta or risotto), meat, fish and/or frittata, vegetables, salads, fruit, yogurt and to drink: wine or water. No soda or sweets in sight. Employees pay a nominal amount for up to five items and it's really really good (cooked on site). Quite a perk in my opinion. I wish I could bring my family in for lunch everyday:).

Dante started fourth grade on 9/15. Right away the homework started, usually around 2 hours a night (up from 1.5 last year!). He seems to be handling it well with help from his tutor (the mother of the tutor he's had for the past couple of years--his usually tutor is on a semester abroad in Holland...the mother is actually an elementary school teacher in a local school). He does get out at 1 pm every day, so theoretically there is time to do it all. But afterschool activities haven't started yet...

Next Monday starts his "long Mondays", the one day a week when he stays at school until 4:30. Oh, how he used to cry in first grade on the way to school on Mondays! Now there are no more tears and it's OK...and the silver lining is usually there is no or very little homework.

Next week starts music lessons too. While he really wants to learn the guitar, it was explained that for the first year everyone will learn to read and play music on the piano where it's easier. Next year guitar. The lessons will be on Tuesdays from 5-6 p.m. and he will be in a group of four, all from the fourth grade in his school. We'll see how it goes with homework, which he'll have to do afterwards since his tutor doesn't arrive home on Wednesdays until 5 p.m. and I arrive home even later.

Also starting soon will be karate, Tuesday and Friday evenings, from 6:30-7:30. I'll see if he can only do it on Fridays as otherwise Tuesdays will be too busy. Maybe we'll do swimming instead, which has many different time slots. He HAS to do something, as physical education at school is ONLY once a week.

He's still wearing a dark blue grembuile (smock) with a white collar (but no bow anymore, thank goodness) and has a book and notebook for each subject. Something new this year--he's using a carry-on suitcase, with wheels, for his school bag. It was really too much to carry back and forth everyday on his back, although perhaps it could have counted as weight-lifting exercise!

On the home front we have way too many pets! The two dogs which we've had for a few years now (puppies of my in-law's dog Lea) have grown big. They are outdoor dogs with time to exercise everyday outside their pen. Well, the male, which NO ONE wanted to neuter (too cruel they yelled!) is escaping on a regular basis. We can't figure out how...

I have to be sure to keep the kitten away from him as I don't trust him with small, darting animals, so she's stuck inside more than I'd like, with a kitty litter box.

The turtles are truly low maintenance, just change the water and feed them...not bad.

But our guppies have gotten sick. The other fish in the tank (platties and mollies) seem fine, although one mollly did die while we were away so the theory is that perhaps they introduced a virus to the tank and the guppies, which are more beautiful but more delicate than years ago, caught it. Two have died in the last two weeks and the two remaining ones don't look so good...

Other news...

We had a great potato harvest his year and so I asked my friend to use about 10 pounds worth and make us some gnocci for the freezer. She made them yesterday. Yum!

And that's all that's new over here....(oh, my Folletto vacuum (a German brand I believe) that I've been waiting for FOREVER (well, two months) did arrive last week finally. Yea! I got busy and vacuumed my furniture and rugs, which were looooooooong overdue!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

I got a job!

2008-09-10T18:42:00.005+02:00

I was feeling a little funky this month with the start of the school year and me not working. Or was it that the bills here have piled up with workers putting down tile around the house, the materials for said job, etc? Pio's retirement check in US $, while going slightly further than last week, doesn't go as far as we need it to. So when I was once again offered a job that I interviewed for back in March, I accepted it without thinking too much. It is 40 minutes by car from home, teaching Business Engish to pharmeutical company professionals. They all seem like nice people, but after only two days (10-6 or 5 pm) I'm wiped out! Good thing tomorrow is my last day until next Tuesday!! And when will the first check arrive? October 11th, I hope!!

Happy New Year!

2008-09-02T05:53:00.004+02:00

New SCHOOL Year, that is! After 18 years of being a full-time student and 20-something of being a full-time teacher, the day after Labor Day is ingrained in me as the REAL beginning of a new year. Today would be full of teacher meetings and setting up ones space (I didn't have a classroom, but rather office space, my last five years.) Lots of air kisses (on only one cheek, not both) and "Hi, how was your summer" going round, and a quick glance at the pay chart to see how much, more or less, I'd be making this year.

Ah, sigh.

Over the summer I turned in my resignation letter (it was either that or go back from my leave-of-absence) after much thought. For me it was the right decision for many reasons, but that doesn't mean it was easy. I worked with the same school system since the mid-eighties and grew up with a lot of people there (most of whom will be retiring at the end of this school year--now how did that happen?!). Next September I can begin to collect a reduced, penalized pension check (don't have 30 years in, won't have 62 years of age), but it's still more than I could make working full time here in Italy! (Which only points our how bad the economic situation is here...while prices for everything are high. But that's another post.)

For all you teachers, and students, out there...have a GREAT NEW YEAR!!

(Dante won't go back until September 15, though most teachers here in Italy started yesterday.)

P.S. The figs as pictured in previous post are literally as sweet as honey! I just wish I could get at least a kilo of them all ripe on the same day so I could make jam...maybe I'll go up and check the tree this morning, early, before I head into Rome. Lots more should have ripened since Sunday. I'm eating them raw rather than baking with them...in honor of my "New Year's" resolution to lose a few pounds!

I haven't been into Rome for months and miss the chaos. Crowds should be slightly diminished, and heat too, so it's time. Visiting a friend for an Indian lunch and a bit of conversation in English.

And now it's the figs' turn...

2008-08-23T10:58:00.005+02:00

We have a fig tree on the property, a bit of a walk uphill from the house. Pio has no idea who planted it, but I bet it was the birds. In any case, it's growing on the side of a small incline which actually makes it easier to pick the fruit, although eventually I'll need to bring a ladder to reach the top. And I'll have to keep checking on them, or the birds (or the foragers who think the tree has been abandoned) will have a feast. Today only two were ripe, within a week they'll be another 20 I'd bet. Lucky for us my father-in-law's tree has tons ripe now, so we're eating them. They're of a different variety, smaller, and obviously ripen a little earlier. They are SOOOO good.

I'm thinking of making the "Fresh Fig Crostata" recipe I found in a recent addition to my cookbook collection (which hovers around 100 titles!): The Best American Recipes 2005-2006. I got it on sale when I was in NY this summer and just couldn't pass it up. It's a compendium of recipes from a wide variety of sources: new cookbooks, restaurants, magazines, newspapers, back-of-the-box or bag and the Internet, published in the years mentioned in the title (I also have the 1999 version and 2000 ). My philosophy about cookbooks, if I find just one or two recipes that I love and make often, it was worth the money. So we'll see if this crostata recipe (a free form fruit tart on a butter crust) is a winner. I'll post a picture later and give you the verdict (now how exactly will this fit with the idea that I'm back walking for an hour every morning and hoping to lose the five pounds I put on pigging out and being a slug while in NY?).

Montepulciano fun!

2008-08-16T17:55:00.005+02:00

When we travel we usually go to New York to visit family, and so consequently haven't really been to many places here in Italy. So when we decided to meet fellow bloggers we read regularly, Jane, Ken and their grandson Casey (Casey, Italy and Other Good Stuff and KZ in Toscana (or KC is So Cal), we chose to meet them while they were lodged in Montepulciano, a Tuscan town that we've often heard about (famous for their red wine) but had never visited.

We were lucky to get a room for three people for one night at La Terrazza de Montepulciano, a 12-room hotel right in the Historical Center of the town. The owners were very friendly and helpful and made us feel at home, but the room was a little noisy at night as our window faced the main drag. Oh well, we were so tired that after a couple of minutes we all fell soundly asleep, but I'm getting ahead of my story!

On our first day in town, we met them at a restaurant that had been recommended to us by our hotel, but we were mostly disappointed in the food, unfortunately. We then followed them back to their favorite place to stay, right outside Montepulciano, Sant'Antonio. It really is quite special with attractive one- and two-bedroom apartments, endless views and a fun pool for the kids to play in. It's a hard place to get into during high-season as they have lots of repeat customers who must book for a minimum of one week. But Dante got a chance to enjoy the pool and play with Casey and some other children there. The boys had fun while the adults chit-chatted about this and that from lunch straight through to an outstanding dinner, a Wednesday-night-only event at Sant' Antonio, prepared by a professional chef who is also part of the extended family. The meal was exquisite, perhaps one of the best I've ever had! I especially loved the famous hand-made Tuscan pasta called Pici, prepared with bread crumbs, and the ricotta cheese "pie" we had for desert which was only held down from floating off the plate by the fruti di bosco that sat on top..

The following day we walked around Montepulciano. I'm regretting a bit not buying that handmade soft leather bag I coveted (OK, it WAS one of the most expensive in the store and I would have probably needed to buy a coat and boots too that would have looked good with it...and where, exactly was I going to wear all this great stuff anyway? You see how my reasoning went, even though my birthday IS this coming week...) and then out to lunch at a small restaurant called La Porta in nearby Monticchiello. We wouldn't have found it if Ken hadn't led the way. The views of the countryside while driving there were stupendous! Rolling hills, cypress trees, baled up hay, sunflowers drying in the fields, views that went on forever, Tuscan-style. Just beautiful...and the food was really good too!

We've invited Jane, Ken and Casey to visit us next summer, especially if they go to Greve and then head down to the Amalfi coast...we're right along the way!

Tomato time has begun in earnest...

2008-08-05T18:47:00.007+02:00

We've been getting handfuls of tomatoes every few days for a while now, that I've either quickly made into the sauce for the day or sliced up with fresh mozzarella for a little salad.
But now the tomatoes are really starting to roll in, so to speak, so it's time to make sauce. Lots of sauce. When I get overwhelmed with them, I'll put them up in jars to use during the winter, but for now I'm making sauce with them, then putting them in bags for the freezer. Ready for a quick meal with little prep mid-winter.
Some women around here even throw tomatoes in the freezer whole to use in sauce come the winter. That's easier than cutting them up, stuffing them in jars, boiling the jars...maybe I'll try it. Now wouldn't you know it, but Dante's got a stomach thing and sauce gives him a bellyache. We've been eating "pasta in bianco" (with white sauce, today it was clams) instead. I miss red sauce!

Lavender, lavender...

2008-08-04T13:11:00.003+02:00

Have I mentioned I went a little lavender crazy this spring? I planted 42...yes 42...plants. Maybe I was just so happy I could grow them here. Maybe it's because I ordered a dozen from my local plant guy, bought them when I found them elsewhere, then felt commited to buying the ones I ordered too! (well, that accounts for 24 of them anyway!)And they smell so good.

So anyway, any ideas about what to do with all this lavender? Searching around the web I found so many sites which had lavender recipes. I had heard of lavender ice cream...but wow, I had no idea there were so many recipes in which I could use these beautiful, organic, lavender flowers! If I make something I'll let you know how it turns out.

Have you ever cooked with and/or eaten lavender or any other flower, for that matter?

Prato di Campoli

2008-08-03T21:11:00.006+02:00

Prato di Campoli is about a 25 minute ride up the nearby mountain, and about 15 degrees cooler! It's part of a national park and has sheep and cattle grazing on the rocky hills. There are big open fields surrounded by deep dark forest (Hansel and Gretel lost in the woods dark!), picnic and camping areas and today, since August and holidays have begun, TONS of people! We were lucky to find a little space to parallel park along the road (after paying our 2 Euro parking fee) and Pio ran off to shoot a golf ball around for a while. Dante just ran around. I tried to start a new novel but the peace and quiet didn't last long. Once Pio got back we took a short walk into the woods where my ankles promptly became a feast for one pesky mosquito and we beat a retreat to the car and then the snack bar.

I forgot to bring along my camera, so no pictures (sorry) but the air was so fresh, it really was quite amazing!

Saint Anne Pilgrimage

2008-07-26T17:06:00.013+02:00

Today is the feast of Saint Ann. Who is she you may ask? Well, I was Lutheran most of my life so I asked too.

She was Mary's mother, Jesus' grandmother. She is often depicted as an older, gray-haired mother with a young girl (Mary) who is sometimes then shown holding a small Jesus. Many women in Italy feel particularly close to her, as she is the patron saint of women in labor (now I find out!) and miners, as well as such diverse places as Quebec Canada, Puerto Rico, Detroit Michigan, Taos New Mexico and the Philippines.

Not far from where I live is a village called San Guiseppe le Prata (St. Joseph in the field), with a church named Santa Anna. She is the patron saint of this small town too, and today is their feast day, which means several special masses and processions with the church, as well as concerts and fireworks at night.

My girlfriends invited me to come along with them on a pilgrimage, on foot, from our town to Santa Anna , about 5 km away. So, at 5 in the morning I joined about 150 other women from the village (and a handful of men) on a slow two-hour walk to the 7 a.m. mass. While walking the women sang and said the rosary. After the mass we each bought a ciambella and caught rides home.

Ciambella is a local bread which we call the Italian bagel, but it's only similarity is that it's ring-shaped. In some parts of Italy it is a ring-like cake made for Easter, but here it is a very plain braided ring-shaped bread, hard on the outside and somewhat softer and chewy inside, about 10 inches in diameter. You break off a piece and start chewing. It's best when you have something handy to wash it down!

Auguri to any Anna's who may be reading this (as well as women in labor and older mothers)!

I was the canary in the coal mine!

2008-07-23T06:42:00.004+02:00

Our flight home on Eurofly was interesting.

Let me begin by saying I didn't feel terrific even before I got on the plane. I had had a bunch of tests in the days before leaving NY, including a CAT scan with IV contrast which I did not properly flush out of my system (meaning I didn't drink tons of water while I was running around doing last minute shopping and packing). My neck was stiff and my left hand seemed a bit swollen. I thought I had sprained it while carrying shopping bags, one on each finger.

In any case, we had a great meal at Pio's brother's house before he took us to the airport. The check-in line was long, but moving and we boarded the airplane on time. We DID sit waiting in line for take-off for about 40 minutes, but since JFK had a few "near misses" recently, I was OK with that.

The food served wasn't good, but we weren't hungry so it wasn't a problem. Then the lights were dimmed and we all tried to get some sleep (it was late). Only problem was, I couldn't get comfortable. I was in a middle seat in the middle section. The person behind me had their reading light on and it was shining in my face. My son's heavy head was in my lap. The person in front of me had their chair all the way back. I think my claustrophobia was kicking in. I felt so hot! I started to feel queasy. I got up and walked up and down the aisle a few times because I suspected my swelling was getting worse (right hand was joining in). Finally, I decided to get up again because I felt nauseous, so I headed for the bathroom.

Well, the nausea subsided, and I decided to walk back to the seat to try and get comfortable again. Suddenly everything spun. The next thing I knew a man was leaning down over me from his aisle seat asking if I was OK and a stewardess had my head in her hands, asking me questions (what happened, was I on any medication). I had fainted!

Well, last time I fainted was in Junior High when they showed a film about the circulatory system that showed a beating heart. Let's just say that was quite a while ago.

I rested in the back of the plane and by the time I ventured back to my seat the A/C air circulation system was on full force. What a difference! Someone said that they had turned it way down to save fuel. All I know is that on that packed plane it was stuffy and HOT. And that contributed to my feeling sick.

Now that I've been home I've also not been that well. I've had swelling in my hands, ankles and knees, in addition to a stiff neck. I've been drinking water like crazy and eating melons and finally I'm beginning to feel better. I've already lost four pounds--of water I'm sure. The mystery of course is why I've been retaining water (and the irony is in NY I saw lots of doctors for lots of exams and was told just about every part of me from head to toe was FINE!).

In any case, I'm settling back in, entertained friends from NY last night, and will be getting back into routines. Oh, and it's downright CHILLY outside (58 degrees, low humidity at 7 a.m.).

Bringing you up to date...

2008-07-07T16:16:00.002+02:00

Apologies for not posting more often, but I'm organizationally challenged I guess! I want to include a photo, but where's the cord that connects the camera to the computer? While looking for that I get distracted with packing and unpacking as we went from Nassau County to the Scranton and then the Philly area of Pennsylvania, and finally to our house-sitting destination back in our former NY suburban town. Whew!

On top of all that moving around, Dante made his First Holy Communion yesterday. He was supposed to have made it last year, but we left N.Y. urgently in March. This past year he attended Catechism classes in Italy and we decided that rather than wait another year (in Italy the children typically make their First Communion at the end of 4th grade, but in the USA it's at the end of 2nd grade...Dante just finished 3rd) we spoke to the church we used to attend in N.Y.

Because the children here made their First Communion in May, he was the only celebrant, but Father Ted made it special. Afterwards family and friends had a great brunch together at a nearby restaurant (we started with breakfast items, then progressed to prime rib and pastas for round two), then back to "our house" for a pool party. The kids enjoyed that, even with the overcast weather.

Now it's back to tons of annual Doctor visits. I MUST start changing them to Italy, so my vacation here can truly be a vacation! Except dentists, as I love my dentist in N.Y. and haven't had much luck in Italy...

Knitting and me...

2008-06-26T16:40:00.008+02:00

I like doing handiwork and crafts, but have never stuck with any projects long enough to get the professional-looking results I wanted. But with knitting, I am determined that things will be different!
When I was growing up I learned to crochet from my grandmother who had crocheted outfit after outfit for my Barbie doll, as well as lots of decorative items that were sold at church bazaars . Crocheting was fun, but the things I made always looked...well....not very sophisticated I guess you could say. Unlike knitting, where the items always looked a little...less homemade?
I finally noticed one day that there was a knitting store not far from my home on Long Island (and if you live in America you may have one near you too as it seems to be a popular hobby now). She had beautiful, unusual yarns, wools, silks, bamboo, corn, hand dyed, thick and thin (no acrylics)...and lots of sample items she had made, displayed around the store. I was hooked, so I started lessons.
I quickly learned how to knit and purl, increase and decrease while making scarves and shawls(thought they'd come in handy in Italy and they have!) . Then I decided that I had to have a pair of hand-knit socks before I die. So I decided to tackle them next.
Now the method my teacher taught involved knitting on two circular needles instead of a few double-pointed ones, which would be the traditional way. This has the advantage of stitches not falling off when you lay it down or tuck it away to work on another day. I had time to make one sock before heading off to live in Italy.
In Italy I haven't found anyone yet who knows how to knit socks, especially on two circular needles, so when I got stuck while working on sock #2, I decided to start another pair with a different ball of yarn, from the beginning, following a book where the instructions were spelled out line by line. I got up to knitting the heel, but then thought I had dropped a stitch as I saw a hole forming as I was going around, but I couldn't find the stitch to fix it. So I put my knitting away and made plans to visit my knitting teacher as soon as possible when I came to NY on vacation this summer.
I stopped in and she needed about two minutes to get me back on track (let's hear it for competent teachers)! So I finished up the blue sock I had started in Italy, and I'm working on the second orange/beige one to match the one I made in class. I LOVE the yarn which is self-striping and has a little bit of aloe vera imbedded in it to soften your feet as you wear them (imported from Germany).
In July I look forward to taking lessons that seems PERFECT for me...knitting two socks at the same time on the circular needles. Making two cuffs, two heels, two gussets, two toes, etc should reinforce what I'm doing making it easier to learn, but more importantly: when I'm finished knitting, I'll have a pair, ready to wear (yes, it may take me until autumn to finish them, so my timing should be perfect, but even if I get them done quickly, they're small and don't heat up your lap while you're working on them if the temps are high).
So, what handicrafts do you do? Any crocheters, knitters, scrapbookers, embroiderers, etc. out there?

Shopping heaven!

2008-06-24T23:36:00.005+02:00

America is shopping heaven. Anything you want you can get, either at a nearby small or large store, or by mailorder. The prices are good too as everything is almost always on sale!

So far I've bought: Buttermilk powder, baking powder, bistro Crocs for a friend who works in a restuarant (1/2 the price I'd pay in Italy), sneakers (also half the price I'd pay in italy), a cookbook I couldn't resist, melodic wind chimes (gregorian chant alto)...socks and underwear for growing son. I'll also pick up some paperback reads as my book club has picked its books through December.

I'm also going for all kinds of check ups. Easy to make the appointment, docs are fitting me in quickly, $18 co-pay, and understanding what the doc says make it all worth while. Eventually I'll start getting them done in Italy (I'll be starting with a mammo this Fall).

Two more mornings of golf camp, then we'll head to Philadelphia for an overnight with my aunt and uncle and a quick visit to the historical center. Saturday morning we'll head back to Long Island. The weather is beautiful, sunny, not too hot (not even warm enough to swim!). We're having fun...

Oh Lucky Day!

2008-06-17T11:03:00.007+02:00

OK, we arrived here in New York Saturday evening, and boy were we lucky!

Lucky that we arrived before the big thunderstorms that delayed flights up to six hours

Lucky that we arrived on time (which sounds like a repeat of the first lucky point, but we were flying Eurofly and we could have been delayed even if it were blue skies from start to finish).

Lucky that we had private tv screens, instead of having to crane our necks to see one movie for all.

Lucky they had a movie Dante liked (Horton Hears a Who) which he watched twice

Lucky we were near the rear which had 10 rows of empty seats. Dante and Pio both stretched out and slept for a few hours.

All in all, we had a great flight!

Yesterday I went into Manhattan to see my friend of many years, Lisa. Even though we speak often through Skype, there's nothing like actually seeing each other. We went to the City Grill near 73rd and Amsterdam and I had a chicken quesadilla with guacamole. YUM!

I've also started shopping (see Home on the Prarie post), buying two aquarium books for Dante, a pair of white kitchen Crocs for G (who works in a local restaurant back in Italy) and black "Capri" crocs for me. I also bought a quart of Rose's Lime Juice after reading in another expat blog (which one? did anyone else read it? Please let me know!) about how it's essential for all kinds of summer drinks (and can be added to our fave Gin and Tonic) but impossible to find in Italy (though they supposedly have an Italian distributor, I see on their website).

Lots more to look for...but tomorrow is another day! Actually, tomorrow we start with the doctor visits (annual checkups)and inbetween I hope to fit in a visit to my knitting teacher too (I'm still struggling to knit a pair of socks...somehow I get through the first one but get stuck on the second!)

Little House on the Prairie...in Italy.

2008-06-05T06:02:00.011+02:00

Even though I'm in a rural area of Italy, we have stores. Even though gas costs $8 a gallon, I recently got my Italian driver's license. Even though these are the facts, I don't really shop that much.

Sure, we spend more than I'd like on groceries (local Sidis and Conad for the usuals, Panorama super-store when we want to browse around in a store with a larger selection of groceries and housewares and stationary and plants and electronics...). But other than food, I don't go shopping.

First of all, I'm not a shopper. I don't love going through store after store on a hunting expedition. I don't need the perfect pair of shoes to go with the clothes I wear around the house. Secondly, the weak dollar is killing us. Those 100 Euro shoes are $160. Expensive to start with, and just too much after converting the currency! Thirdly, parking is often inconvenient so I just don't bother to stop.

So, I make my list of what to buy while I'm in New York. I write it on the back page of our 2008 Diario so that it doesn't get lost and is always handy to add another thing. I spend little on extras all year while in Italy, but when I go to New York next week, I will buy: cooking ingredients (buttermilk powder and baking powder to make my favorite olive oil cake and buttermilk pancakes among other things, kirsch for my fruit sherbet recipes, Thanksgiving ingredients like cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin and evaporated milk), an indoor/outdoor thermometer with both F and C (so maybe I'll learn Celsius without even trying?) sunscreen, camp supplies for Dante, moisture-retaining beads for outside planters, spices and a good quantity of vanilla beans from Penzey's, tortillas, books, magazines, craft supplies, clothing for us all. The list goes on. While some of these things ARE available in Italy, I don't have the time nor energy to track down exactly WHERE to get them, or when I do I don't like the price/quality/currency conversion ratio. And of course when I try and close the suitcases, then weigh them, some things may get left behind to be retrieved on the next trip. (Hey Dad, don't you still have a big box of my stuff in your garage that I was supposed to bring back to Italy this trip when we'd be allowed six suitcases ? Gulp!)

I imagine myself like the American settlers who lived on the prairie, who once in a great while would head into town to do their shopping. A long period of frugality followed by a shopping spree. Now if only our six medium-size suitcases could hold all that a Conestoga wagon could!

Driving in Italy, LEGALLY NOW!

2008-05-28T16:29:00.006+02:00

I've been afraid to say anything specific, but this afternoon I had my driving test...the practical, road test. Over the last few weeks I have taken a total of ten driving lessons. Why, some of you ask, since I've been driving in N.Y. for more than 25 years? Well, first, Italy does not have a reciprocal agreement with N. Y. State, so therefore after one year of residence here and driving on an International Licence, I had to get an Italian license as if I were a brand new driver and then take a road test...on a manual transmission. Why? Because the car in which you take your road test must be dual control and stick shift is the only kind there is around here (I heard a rumor that I could have taken it on an automatic dual control car...in ROME! Talk about CRAZY drivers and traffic, no thanks!!!).

First I had to study for the theory test. I agree this was a good idea as some of the rules and signs here did have me mystified. The theory test consists of ten "situations"...they could be signs, intersections or situations. Each is followed by three statements which you have to mark T/F. They can all be true or all false or any combination, so there are really 30 questions. As a foreigner who "cannot read Italian well" I was eligible to take the test orally (though this is due to change around here on July 1 when it will be offered in several languages and no more oral exams allowed). I found the "who has the right-of-way" questions particularly amusing. Many of them had 5-street intersections, no stop signs, a tram passing through the middle, etc. Quite entertaining figuring out who goes first! In any case there were a couple of good online study sites that really helped (Web Patente and Scuola Guida).

Well, after passing the theory exam I started taking driving lessons. Driving a stick shift terrified me (I was frightened it would stall in an intersection and buck as I drove down the road) but it wasn't all that bad. Once I learned I could "ride the clutch" a bit (and in fact SHOULD when I was taking off in first gear on a hill) I relaxed a bit.

After ten lessons spread out over a month they made an appointment for my driving test. The actual test was soooo easy. I pulled away from the curb (on the only level piece of pavement in the whole town), put the car in second, then third, then pulled over on a straight piece of roadway. OVER. What? No 3-point turns, no parellel parking, no downshifting even? Nope.

15 minutes later I had my Italian license in hand Auguri Diane!! I drank half a bottle of champagne to celebrate, and Pio went down to pay the 650 Euros (approximately $1012. US dollars!) which was what we owed the driving school. Mammamia!

The cost breaks down to 500 Euros for the license and 15 Euros each for 10 driving lessons. The licence cost included all the paperwork, preparing me for the theory exam, accompaning me there, and use of their car for the road test, which is a must. If you don't take the license through a school you must rent a dual-control car and instructor for the test (the examiner rides in the back seat). It's probably money well-spent as they practically guarantee you that you'll pass and there's no waiting on lines (they do that for you)!

Pio's kindergarten picture found

2008-05-28T06:52:00.004+02:00

Last year some teachers collaborated with old-timers and local historians to put together a book about the history of our little village. In it were many old photos that people unearthed in dresser drawers and attics. One was Pio's nursery school (asilo) class picture, and now they've given us a copy. Dante found it fascinating that 1) his father was ever little and 2) his father didn't always have gray hair and 3) it was taken in front of the church (window, door recognizable) which still stands (half a century later) on the piazza (of course).

SERPENTE!

2008-05-28T06:50:00.001+02:00

So, we had a snake--garden variety?--hanging out near the rear foundation of the house this weekend. A few older Italians suggested we kill it, but why? He was outside, after all, and if he can't live in peace there, where can s/he? Maybe it will keep the mice away until we get a cat. (Our neighbor has a kitten all ready for us when we get back from NY in mid-July. ) This one was about 3 feet (a meter) in length and a little thicker than my thumb.

Peonies in bloom!

2008-05-20T18:34:00.006+02:00

This post is a little late, but I hadn't revived the blog yet when we actually did this, last month, and I love the photos!

Dante was off from school on Friday, April 25th (Liberation Day to celebrate the end of WWII in Italy, 1945) so we were looking for something to do. I'd been getting occasional emails from a garden park urging people to visit as they were only open to the public in April and May.

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and Dante's day off (therefore we wouldn't have to hurry to get home by 1 p.m.to pick him up from school) to go to Centro Botanico Moutan outside Viterbo. Viterbo is to the north of Rome, and we're to the south, so it wasn't exactly around the corner...but it was worth it!

The Centro Botanico Moutan is the most important and largest Chinese Peony collection in all the world--and it's privately owned. One well-to-do peony fanatic started it in the late 1980's. It's peony heaven! Unfortunately you're not allowed to wander around just admiring (people were breaking off flowers and pulling plants up by the roots we were told) so you must wait for a small group to gather so that you can take a tour. The tour doesn't take that long, maybe a half hour or so, then there's time to shop at the store which sells peony spa products or the peony plant shed, which is where the tours begin and end.

As much as I was tempted, I didn't buy any, as our garden beds weren't ready and I also thought it would suffer in the hot car while we went to eat lunch and drove home. But I will buy a bare root plant through mail order (yes, mail order in Italy!) which I'll plant this winter. Now to decide which one. I have to say...they were all beautiful! (If you live in Italy, click on the Centro Botanico hyperlink above and request a catalog. Prepare to be wowed.)

Italian Boy Scouts and the Abbey of Trisulti

2008-05-20T05:33:00.010+02:00

On Sunday Dante spent the day on a field trip with his Italian Boy Scout group. They usually go out on a "caccia" (hunt--though there's no hunting!) once a month. This time they went to Trisulti.

Trisulti is a Benedictine Abbey about 30 minutes from us, up into the higher mountains. It was built in the 1200's but restructured in the 1700's. One of my favorite things to do there is visit the little store just inside the entrance where they sell their products. The Cistercian monks use traditional methods to make special honey, jams, liqueurs and medicine herbal bitters. I've read that their brandy and Sambuca are produced using recipes that are among the most ancient in all of Italy. I bought their honey and eucalyptus throat lozenges (1 Euro a bag)as I'm sick, but I wish I had bought a bottle of their "imperial drops". It is said that just a couple of drops can cure the flu. Good to keep a bottle in the medicine cabinet I say. Next time, for sure. They also have made a museum of their original pharmacy which is worth a visit, and outside the entrance to the church there's a large sundial on the wall--which really works!

If you should visit and drive up from Frosinone or Veroli, you'll pass a little restaurant on the left, about 5 minutes before you arrive at Trisulti. It's called Ristorante Capofiume (0775-476004). It's a fairly rustic place with a little garden and a short walk down to a beautiful little river. It's often crowded on weekends, so go during the week or call ahead! The food is typical of the area, delicious and reasonably priced.

Seeing red...

2008-05-17T11:24:00.010+02:00

And I don't mean my roses!

Dante came home from school yesterday (Friday) with tears in his eyes. Usually he's very happy, so I knew something was up. He was upset because his teacher had written lots of words in English on the board (the colors, the days of the week, common nouns) and had told the students to write them in alphabetical order on a worksheet.

Copying from the board has always taken Dante a little longer than the others, the subject doesn't matter. He chose to not make a scrap copy of the words, but instead chose to write them directly from the board onto the worksheet. It was hard for him because he didnt have the ability to cross off the ones he had used already. As a result, he was the last one finished and the English teacher's 30 minute lesson for the day was over.

What got my blood boiling was the teacher said to him that "all the others write better than you in English" and "don't you do anything for the hour that you study with your mother every week?"

I went into school this morning ready to do battle with this teacher!! How dare she humiliate him in front of all his classmates in the one subject he shines in! Insulting me also that we weren't doing anything! Was she just trying to make herself look better at Dante's expense? Was she angry that we took an hour per week out of her class time and was trying to say: well, if you can't write English don't blame me?

And besides, what did copying words fromt he board and putting them in alphabetical order have to do with WRITING except at the most simplistic level? As anyone familiar with writing in English knows, it takes years of reading regularly, weekly spelling lists spelling patterns and PRACTICE to get proficient. It's not like phonetic Italian, which the kids learn to read and write fairly well within six months!

When I saw the teacher I said I wanted to make an appointment to speak with her. She came to the door to speak with me as she explained she has no office hours as she works in three schools. What she did explain is that it was ANOTHER teacher who came on very severe with him. Now that teacher won't be in until Monday. Just as well. I'll cool down a bit, but I will speak my

mind!!

MORAL: When life has you seeing red, make strawberry frozen yogurt! (I am, again!)

A great year for roses!

2008-05-16T09:51:00.006+02:00

So, I should be taking a driving lesson, or at least weeding a new patch of garden, but instead I'm thinking about how beautiful the roses are this year. Not just mine, but everyone's. In New York I always dealt with aphids and black spot, but here I've done nothing and look how beautful my little rose bush is! I'm thinking of going around with my camera (driving my automatic car and NOT the stick shift which I should be practicing on) and taking pictures of all the roses. Most of them have been in the ground for years, so they're gigantic and covered with color: pink, white, red, yellow. It's a great year for roses here in central Italy!

Happy Mother's Day! (Auguri alle Mamme!)

2008-05-11T17:16:00.003+02:00

Dante recites his Mother's Day poesia to Mamma (that's me!).

Making ice cream in the land of gelato!

2008-05-11T16:29:00.012+02:00

So why am I sitting home making ice cream when I live in Italy, where great gelato is just a hop skip and a jump away? Because Pio picked up a Disney brand electric ice cream maker last Christmas from the local gasoline station, that's why! (He paid with gasoline credit card points and a little bit of cash.)

I had my doubts as to how it would work (it sits on big red Micky Mouse-ish feet...) but since local strawberries are being sold by the case at the local fruit store, I decided to make some frozen strawberry yogurt (with Fage Total Greek Yogurt--much richer than the usual whole milk yogurt). I found the recipe in my favorite ice cream cookbook, Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz, but it's also on his website.

Cutting up the strawberries and letting them sit for a while mixed up with some sugar intensifies their color and flavor. Nothing artificial, yet a pink any little girl would love!

And then I made my other most favorite flavor, chocolate! It's rich and creamy, which comes from using quality chocolate-- and five egg yolks! What to do with all those egg whites? Well, I'm not really an "egg white omelet" kind of gal, oh no, so I made the Meringue Nests (small crunchy marshmallow plates you can eat). So good I almost forgot to take a picture!

A Death in Rural Italy

2008-05-06T06:28:00.007+02:00

Last Sunday morning, 6:30 a.m., my beloved mother-in-law Lucia, passed away from a heart attack. While she was 85 and diabetic, like most deaths it was unexpected.

The women who lived in the neighboring houses came over when they heard the ambulance silently pull out of the driveway. They cried, then searched her closets to dress her in her best clothes: the outfit she wore to recent weddings and her 50th anniversary party more than ten years ago.

The funeral agency arrived and converted her bedroom into a small chapel. Her bed was replaced by an open casket on a stand. The mirrors were covered with tablecloths. A rosary was placed in her folded hands. I was surprised that she was not embalmed, but that is not done around here.

As the word spread through conversation and the manifestos pasted on walls throughout the village, people arrived to pay their respects and offer condolences. Some brought food. Slowly, flower arrangements spilled over into the living room.

On Monday morning my husband's sister, as well as his brother and wife, arrived from New York. More neighbors and local relatives visited, all day long and well into the night. On Monday evening the casket was sealed.

On Tuesday morning the rosary was said around the casket, then everyone walked behind the hearse and an open truck full of the flowers, as they drove to the local church where a funeral mass was said. Everyone who knew her or knew us was there. The casket was sprinkled with holy water and incense filled the air, then people offered their condolences once again as they left the church. A group of mourners once again walked behind the hearse as it wove down to the main street and made the turn to go up to the cemetary. From the turn we carpooled, a short ride up to Veroli.

Cemetaries in this part of Italy are above ground, in structures that have up to six levels. The casket was placed in a vault in the newest section, then sealed with bricks and cement and a marble door. Eventually her picture will be affixed as well as her dates of birth and death.

Lucia's passing has left a hole in our hearts. Very opinionated, and never shy to express them, she was at the same time generous to me, the daughter-in-law, living in a strange new land. She always sent me sauce, fresh eggs, jarred tomoatoes, vegetables and fruit from her garden. She made her little grandson happy with her generosity. Who else would slip him coins every morning when he headed off to first grade (and then he'd give away the "1 Euro" coins and keep the .20 and .50 because they must be worth much more)? Who else will hand over a 50 Euro bill so he can celebrate Christmas, his birthday, or the festa of the Madonna del Giglio? Who else will sit with me and have a cup of tea after Sunday lunch?

Lucia, you are missed. Rest in Peace.

My worst fear came true...

2008-05-03T09:56:00.019+02:00

Well, when I filled my canisters I hesitated before putting both sugar and fine salt in identical containers, but I thought as long as I was careful and didn't mix up the tops I'd be fine. Yesterday, while making pumpkin bread I apparently did just that.

Towards the end of its prescribed cooking time, I checked on it and broke off a large crumb that hung over the edge of the loaf pan... and almost gagged! It was AWFUL and I realized that I had put a cup of salt instead of sugar in it. I reluctantly threw it into the garbage, disappointed, especially because it still smelled pretty good.

Today I'll make a favorite, an olive oil cake. you only dirty two bowl s & a whisk and it always turns out moist and stays that way for days. The recipe comes from The Improvisational Cook, by Sally Schneider. It's a variation of her brown sugar lightning cake. The only changes you make is to substitue 1/2 cup olive oil for the melted butter, and instead of vanilla and bourbon flavoring the batter, you use 1 teaspoon each of lemon and orange zest and chopped fresh thyme (optional). Trust me, it's great, especially with a cup of tea in the afternoon!

Gardens, continued

2008-05-01T17:26:00.007+02:00

I did mention we've been busy in the gardens...and this weekend is the big festa in our town (fireworks and everything), including a market which will have lots of plants for sale. Can't wait! I need hanging geraniums for the boxes on the terrace and D. wants plants for his own little garden he started this week.

Over the last two weeks we've planted 40 lavender plants (think I need to learn to make soap or at least sachets!), a cactus garden (out by the front gate, far from the water hose) and agrumi--which means citrus: mandarins, clementines, lemons. Also snuck a peach in and still want an apricot and pomegranate.

This morning on our walk a lady gave me 25 tiny baby seedlings. Each one promises to grown into a small round green bush that will turn red in the autumn, then self-seed before dying with the winter. No one seems to the know the name. I have the little ones each in their own "bassinet" (flowerpot) and all together in the "baby carriage" (wheel barrow) so I can move them around with the shade now that they're kind of wilty looking. They like the shade anyway, and I'll eventually plant them in the flower box they are building out by my front door, this weekend, maybe!

Time to revive this blog!

2008-05-01T08:44:00.008+02:00

I've decided that WAAAAAAAY too much time has gone by since my last post! I was busy (ahem). Last summer we spent about 8 weeks in NY. I initially thought we'd need all that time to change Real Estate agents or find renters for our house in Suffolk County, but on our third day there we got a solid offer so we really could have come back sooner, but didn't want to spend the money to change the tickets!

In the fall I attended a CELTA training course to get updated on all the new methods and materials for teaching English as a foreign language. That course was two days a week in Rome. Aside from leaving my house at 6:15 a.m. in order to arrive on time, it was a great experience. Now I just need a job! I'm looking now to line up something for September/October, part-time, two or three days a week.

My friend G. has been helping me a lot to get my gardens in shape around the house. I have wildflowers and weeds galore! Little by little we are taming the beds nearest to the house.

Last week one of my cactus' bloomed! It was a spectacular sight. G. says if I plant it in the ground it will get quite big, so we did. In fact with plants she donated from her own garden we planted a section out by my front gate(and far from my water hose) of plants that like it dry and hot! Little by little...

The haricot verts are in!

2007-06-17T12:54:00.001+02:00

(That's skinny string beans to most of us...) My in-laws gave me a bagful from their garden yesterday, enough for two meals at least. Today I made half the Italian way--boiling them for a while, then sauteing them in olive oil and adding salt. And because I really didn't have enough sauce already made for lunch today (Pio told me we were going out to eat, then the gate guy came to work on the lower gate, and at the last minute, that was the end of that) I added the sauteed string beans to the rigatoni and not quite enough sauce I had...along with some more oil and pasta water and lots of grated parmesean...delish!

Oh, and Dante and I are excited! After much deliberation, it's decided that we will travel to NY this summer and we got tickets on the same flight as Paul and Sebastian. I'm trying to enroll Dante in golf camp with cousin Brett in Pennsylvania, then soccer camp with nephew Sebastian. I'm also looking for a reasonably priced computer camp...Dante's current obsession! We'll both get our annual physicals where we'll understand exactly what the Doctor is saying (and he won't ask us if we sweated recently, I'd be willing to bet!) and I'll visit my knitting teacher to review exactly how to knit those socks on two round needles???Pio will stay in Italy, with perhaps a short trip to Lourdes, taking care of the house, dogs and Mom and Dad.

Keeping busy . . .

2007-06-16T18:29:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I made a healthy banana bread from a recipe I found a couple of years ago in "Cooking Light". It includes corn oil instead of butter, 2 or 3 bananas and rolled oats (along with the obvious flour, some sugar, baking powder, eggs, etc.). It's delicious. Of course, I've eaten it nearly all by myself so far! Dante is working on the chocolate chip cookies I made with dark chocolate mini chips...the only kind we can find here. They're very yummy, especially made with brown sugar which gives them a bit of a butterscotch taste.

I also have a pizza dough in the bread maker (I run my one from NY through the transformer) and a buffalo mozzarella ready (made from water-buffalo milk, it's got a special tang which I love, wasted on pizza, but it's all I have). Can you tell that two of the things I do to keep busy are cook and then eat? The dough recipe I prefer has 1/2 cup olive oil in it. It's very easy to work with and has a delicious taste. Did I mention I've gained back the 5 pounds I lost while in New York ?

The "Happy Feet" Finale

2007-06-07T11:59:00.002+02:00

Here in small-town Italy Dante only has physical education once a week...with minimal equipment. Most of the year they did an obstacle course inside the small gymnasium (they rarely go outside, and if they do, it's NOT to run...see previous post about sweat & breeze = getting sick). They do, however, have an end-of-the-year show which includes tumbling and dance numbers that show evidence of LOTS of practice. This year's show was great and included a penguin dance by the second graders, ala "Happy Feet". They first did the show last week one evening outside the school, then a second time last week at the local "Campo Sportivo" (which didn't start until after 9 p.m. and ended after 11 p.m) and then once this week for the residents up at the rehabilitation center 5 minutes above the village.

Do these boys look like penguins? Here they were waiting for everything to get organized. That's Dante showing off his "cellulare" which never has money on it to make any calls, but can take photos, video and has cool ring tones! It's a hit with the 8-year-old crowd here.

Fruits and vegetables

2007-06-04T14:58:00.001+02:00

If there's one thing I NEVER complain about, it's the quality of the fruits and vegetables available here in Italy. At least twice a week I visit our local "frutivedolo". They may not have everything--they never carry "american" broccoli for instance, one of Dante's favorites (called Sicilian broccoli here to distinguish it from broccoli rabe which IS very common), and they rarely have fruit that's really out of season (strawberries in November, for example) but what they do have is GREAT. It's probably because most is not traveling really great distances (from Spain or Italy mostly) and also because Italians buy a lot, so there's great turnover. In fact, their tiny parking lot AND the sidewalk out front is often overrun with cars parked every which way and everyone is walking out with several bundles jammed full. They buy in quantity and eat it all. An important part of that healthy Mediterranean diet, no doubt.

Another great tradition here is the family garden and fruit orchard. We are often the grateful recipients of our friends' excess--bags of freshly picked lettuce, lemons, grapefruit, plums, tomatoes find their way to our table. And the idea is to eat it up quickly. Instead of making that little bag of plums last for a week, it's more like I should eat a few whenever I pass the bowl--or make jam when it just seems to be all too much of a great thing!!

I was hearing bells...

2007-06-02T10:38:00.002+02:00

so I ran outside and saw "the great migration". Cows from the valley, along with their shepherds? cowboys? were passing by to reach their summer grazing lands in Prato di Campoli. They had started out at 5:30 a.m. and it was now nearly 9 a.m. (Our little street is one of the oldest roads in Giglio because it was a cow path and it retains its traditional usage twice a year--in the fall they'll head back down.) By tonight they will have reached the Prati (part of Abruzzi National Forest) and there will be a big celebration. Maybe we'll head up there and check it out!

Weather or not...

2007-05-30T20:15:00.001+02:00

Last week people were swimming in the hotel's pool which I can see from my patio. This week we've had storms move through which include sunny early mornings, big black clouds moving in midmorning and downpours at mid-day, right when it's time to pick up Dante from school . And it's been chilly. We can even see new snow on one of the highest peaks we can see from here.

While back in the States many (including me) would dash from car to school or store and back again without an umbrella, here an umbrella is a MUST! They thoroughly believe t hat if you get wet (through sweat or rain) and then there's a breeze, you'll get sick.

Well, I'm sick. The first thing the Doctor asked me when he saw me was "Did you sweat recently?" (this was last week, before all the rain arrived). As fervently as we believe that germs are transferred on a shopping cart handle and resistance lowered by too much stress, the Italians believe getting wet and then a chill is all you need. And, of course, you can always make the connection (well, I sweat every morning that I walk these hills for almost an hour, and living on the side of a hill, well, we get more wind than most places). Who knows, maybe there will soon be scientific evidence that they're right!

A little background...

2007-05-30T19:58:00.002+02:00

A life-long Long Islander, I find myself now living in a small village about an hour SE of Rome. From my patio I see the Apennine mountains and a number of other small hilltop towns, as well as olive groves, grapevines, oak trees and fields. We've built a house here after living upstairs from my in-laws for a year. In the interim we've been back and forth to New York, working some, trying to sell the house there. Let me begin by saying the obvious--living in Italy is WAY different from vacationing here! Here's a bit of our daily story, what keeps us busy, what I'm thinking about. Hope you find it interesting!