Small world in Italy

We have Le Gas. We have hot water. We are bathing and living La Dolce Vita - or so I was told we would be living by one of the many men who have come into the apartment to stare, but not do anything to, the hot water heater. Maurizio came through and installed a new unit (fairly small, but supports a Brian sized shower ie; super long) unfortunately the HORSE HAIR they use to make the connections between the pipes tight is leaking le gas. So I anticipate a few more visits from Maurizio in the near future. Until then, we keep the kitchen door closed and the kitchen patio doors open to ventilate the smell & gas. On another horse front, I was super glad I had my dictionary with me at a restaurant lately... Cheval was on the menu and I almost ordered it until I realized that it was horsemeat. Pretty interesting...

So this week really has been spent waiting for various workmen. The kids have enjoyed the downtime at the apartment playing games and watching a few movies on the computer. I was really glad I threw some card games in the suitcases. Uno is pretty universal for all the ages. We got a ton of laundry done - even with the length of time it takes to do one load. A few days in a row at about the same time in the afternoon, the skies opened up and just poured down on us. This sent us frantically to the balconies to pull the clothes in - not anxious to repeat the °whole ° washing process. The last day we had a true thunderstorm with marble sized hail. The kids loved it.

A few days I have taken the kids into town to walk around a bit and get our bearings. It was the first day when we discovered what a small town this really is. They enjoy the °risposo° here in Rieti. It's like a siesta: everything (practically) shuts down from 1-4:40 pm. People go home to eat the midday meal and rest from the heat. Then things open up again until 7:30 or 8 when they then close for the day and everyone goes to dinner. We haven't really gotten used to the eating late thing, but since we have our own kitchen now (Hooray!) we can eat when we like. It's later than normal for us, but still early for Italia. I think most of Italia in the small towns practice the riposo in the summertime. It's actually quite a nice idea. Thankfully, the big cities don't do it as much, so we'll be able to sightsee more in Rome without worrying about things closing.

I have started driving the car more now. Not well, but driving just the same. When Brian had the car last week, people at the plant would come up to him and say "I just saw your GIANT car parked outside!!! How do you drive that?" In truth, the car is smaller than my Toyota Sienna at home. BUT (and it's a big one) the roads are so much narrower here, that I might as well be driving a Hummer. Seriously. I nearly had a heart attack yesterday when I was almost squashed between a huge bus and a guy on a bike on the windy road back home from Baxter. Did I mention that if you go slow enough (read: me) people just pass you on the left - regardless of oncoming traffic? Nerves of steel are what it takes to be behind the wheel over here.

The town we live in is ridiculously old. Older, literally, than dirt. It's pretty awesome, in the truest sense of the word. Castle fortress walls, 2500 year old sunken bridges, the whole thing. I took the kids to see a castle in the Sabine hills today (yes, that Sabine, from the Bible) but it was closed for rennovation. We walked around the village and then the kids found a playground to occupy themselves for a while. It was nice to be outside - a good change from the apartment.

I have gone grocery shopping a few times now. Our fridge doesn't hold as much as the ones at home, so I need to go more frequently. The store is a mystery to me: how the Italians remain thin on this diet still confounds me. There is a decent produce section, but the produce is only the stuff in season, so the variety is small. Then the deli section is half cheese. There is one whole aisle of fresh pasta and 2 LONG aisles of dried pasta. 2 long aisles of bread products - note: the Italins package toast and sell it. Not crackers. Toast. It's very odd. Then there are 2 long aisles of sweets/biscotti. It's more than half the store the toast, pasta, bread and cheese. WTF? The kids have a theory about the smoking - that maybe that's the reason people are skinny. Julia and Ed ask constantly: "Don't they know it's bad for them??????" Gratefully, there is no smoking allowed in buildings, so restaurants here (unlike Switzerland and Austira) are smoke-free.

I met a Pizzeria owner last night who, with his daughter, speak English. His wife is British and coincidentally teaches English courses at the Baxter plant for the employees. He is also Maurizio's brother. Small world here in Italy.

Ciao, Ciao,
Joelle
ps - the winner is Patti who guessed "Waiting for Godot" on the last question.