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Hey, wait a minute. Those aren’t chestnuts…those are huge slabs of beef! This is shaping up to be my type of party!
For a whole number of reasons, the kids and I don’t get out much, but we did receive a much appreciated invitation to spend New Year’s Eve with friends Simona, Giuseppe, and their son Pietro. Simona and Giuseppe live nearby, but they have a place in the mountains as well.
This is part of what was once a sheep herders’ enclave. My friends own the far end of this building, and have turned it into a really lovely retreat. Located in the Apennine Mountains, it’s perfect for ski vacations during the winter, or hiking in the summer.
Playing board games on New Year's Eve.
Whoa! Looks like someone got too close to the fireplace!
Apparently ‘buring the witch’ is a local custom; their version of ‘out with the old, in with the new.’ The witch in question is no one we knew, so no harm done.
And she was just old clothes stuffed with newspaper and hay anyway.
There was a blizzard at the time, so copious amounts of gasoline were required to get things started. Just the sort of thing to get us all arrested Stateside.
Here’s another disturbing photo of what appears to be immolation, but which is in fact merely the Italian version of Guy Fawkes Night, with resident arsonist Giuseppe in the foreground.
For God's sake! Drop and roll!
New Year’s Day proved to be infinitely less pyrotechnic.
That’s Pietro on the sled, waiting his turn, and Alex on his way back up the hill. Giuseppe and Lia are at the bottom of the hill, getting hats and scarves sorted out after a tumultuous ride down the slope.
My cherub son on a sled.
Lia’s turn.
Can I just say I would have killed for a treehouse like this when I was a kid? To be honest, I still would.
A good start to what we hope will be a good year!
Goodness! No posts since August, and yet we’ve done so much!
- Lia’s a Witch, and Alex is a Giant!
Halloween, for example, which is finally gaining some ground here in Italy.
And Lia turned eight!
Lia, Mom and Lia's faithful sidekick, Maria Grazia.
Here’s one of just me, for good measure:
And of course Christmas!
Lia
Alex
Maria Grazie and Lia decorating a gingerbread house.
Christmas 2008
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Best Wishes for a
Healthy, Happy, and Serene 2009.
And now a word about my resolutions for 2009: more frequent updates!
Life as a expatriate means the occasional trip to the American Consulate for one thing or another (this trip included signing up for an absentee ballot) so I headed to Florence on Tuesday for that, took Alex with me, and made a day of it!
Follow me!
Here’s one of me, just to prove I was there.
Quick Italian lesson: that dome in the background is Florence’s Duomo, but ‘duomo’ doesn’t actually mean ‘dome’. It means ‘Cathedral’, and the one in Florence must be seen.
A closer view.
A further demonstration of why the Italian fashion industry is universally envied. Apparently my bare shoulders were an affront to Catholicism, thus the ‘coprispalle usa e getta’ (disposable shoulder cover). This was the first time I’ve encountered this in an Italian church.
Alex took this one of me and a horse. The smile was the fruit of a friendly exchange between me and a young girl whose entire large family walked obliviously between me and the camera at 5 second intervals.
And this is just because I lked it.
In case you’re wondering about her conspicuous absence, Lia was not invited on this particular journey. Every once in awhile mother and son need a little of time for uninterrupted bonding, no?
We had a really great day. Alex was in a good mood, the weather was lovely, we got things done, and just really enjoyed it. On our way home we stopped off at Ikea and bought a thing or two…photos to follow once I have assembled it all!
Why is this the one chore my kids are happy to do for me?
And am I mistaken or are they getting along?
Good job, you nut cases. Now let’s go home.
I lived in quite a few neighborhoods when I was a kid, and because I was shy, making new friends every time was a little tricky. To help out, I remember my mom going door to door asking each family if they happened to have any children my age for me to play with. Alex’s life is different because we have always lived in this same small town, but sometimes he is, like me, a little on the shy side.
This evening I managed to talk him into taking a walk with me, him on his bike, and we ran into his friend Luca. I soon found myself abandoned, as Alex went off with his pal with my blessing and encouragement. “My job here is done,” I thought to myself, remembering my own mother’s efforts on my behalf. Thanks, Mom!
The kids and I decided to venture to Modena today to a comic book / fantasy game (i.e. Dungeons and Dragons) / geek paradise because Alex has developed interest in a card game called ‘Magic’. He found the name of the comic book store in a magazine, and given that our own small town is not a good source for the coveted cards required for the game, he asked if I would take him to Modena. Getting out of the house and doing something a little different sounded like a good idea, so we decided to make a day of it.
We took the train to save on gas and parking, and just because it seemed like a fun thing to do.
Lo and behold, we found the shop, bought some Magic cards, and then stumbled right into the middle of Modena’s “Festival Internazionale Bande Militari” (International Military Band Festival) also known as a ‘tattoo’.
There were bands from Italy:
Little known fact: the headwear of Italian soldiers is made from their own plucked eyebrows.
Great Britain:
Bulgaria:
Ukraine:
Bing Crosby is apparently alive and well and living in Kiev.
And my personal favorites, Turkey!!
We wrapped up our international adventure by having some Chinese food, and then we took the train back home. Good day!
After a week at a special camp for deaf children and their siblings, Alex and Lia returned from the beach by train today. The young woman behind Lia is Chiara, Lia’s sign language interpreter. They all arrived tanned, hungry and tired (and Lia, camera shy).
Even the trains are built by Fiat…
It’s not uncommon to associate the color white with hospitals. White hallways, white nurses’ uniforms, white linens, white food…
Huh?
What’s the deal with Italians and eating in bianco (‘in white’) when they are under the weather?
I know some artificial food colorings can be carcinogenic, and some foods can be hard on a person’s delicate digestion (broccoli, for example) but surely there are foods found in nature which are both colorful and good for you. Carrots, for crying out loud. Bright orange and absolutely harmless.
Is it any wonder Lia looks so glum? We were at the hospital 3 days and two nights, and every single meal (for both of us, as I was provided with an equally appetizing trayful of splendor) was as monochromatic as the one pictured above.
And the cincher? Neither one of us was ill! She was there for tests, and I was merely there to keep her company.
Tonight for dinner I’m going to make something Mexican, or possibly Chinese. Doesn’t matter as long as it’s really flavorful, and most importantly…COLORFUL.
These two characters remind me of my best friend Barby and me when we were the same age. They have become best friends since we moved into our apartment, and play, fight, and then play again, all day long.
This picture was taken this evening at the “Grest” party at the Parish. “Grest” stands for “Gruppo Recreativo Estivo” (Summer Recreation Group) and is the summer activity organized by our local church. We have so few day-care options in this country that during the summer, we all become devout Catholics if only to have a place for the kids.
Alex and Lia go to Grest every morning, where they play, spend a little time being indoctrinated, and then play some more. It’s risky, I know, but it’s the price we pay.
This is one good kid, let me tell you.
The EEG technician told Lia to sit still with her eyes closed, and that’s precisely what she did. She looks like she’s sleeping, but it’s actually just a Zen state of meditation.
I was very proud of her, of course, but then she outdid herslf by staying completely immobile during the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) as well. That was the one that had me worried, not so much for the potential outcome, but because they had planned to sedate her. In the end, they decided to try it without sedation, and Lia performed like a little champ.
The results of both exams show that she does not have epilepsy (not that we feared she did) and no brain damage despite the complications surrounding her premature birth. I’m honestly not sure what comes next, or what these results will mean to the doctors trying to determine why a bright, deaf seven year old who has had speech therapy since she was 6 months old, still speaks so little.
“Are you happy with the results?” I asked the neurologist.
“Yes, I am,” he said, “but I don’t know whether or not Lia’s other doctors will be. I’m happy because there’s nothing there that needs the sort of help I can offer, but that just means the other doctors still have a lot of work to do to figure out what’s wrong.”
Hear that, doctors? Get to it!
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