After our busy October, we took several days to slow down and ease into a regular life here in Italy. Some mildly interesting things have happened that I’d like to share.
The first week of November was beautiful here. The weather was perfect. Sunny and mid-70s during the day, 60s at night. We were able to put laundry out to dry, no problem. I must say that I am actually liking not having a clothes dryer. The clothes and bed sheets smell so good when they are brought in. Towels seem more absorbent (but maybe that’s because we don’t use fabric softener). Update: I forgot to mention the stink bugs that show up this time of year. These are pesky little creatures that cling to your clothes on the line, hide in pockets, get into the house, and fly around. You have to be careful you don't annoy them, because they will let out an awful stink. The best thing to do with them is shake them off or shoo them out of the house. They can be very tenacious. Mike tried to flush one down the toilet, but he kept swimming. When she returned home, Maureen found one on the floor of her house in Chicago -- he'd stowed away all the way from Casalanguida! Now that the weather has cooled, we see less of them. Thank goodness!
Then the weather suddenly turned cold and rainy. We put it off as long we could, but finally gave in and turned on the heat. We’ve got a Mitsubishi wall unit that does both cold and warm air. There is one big unit in our kitchen/living area, one in our bedroom. The bathroom upstairs gets pretty chilly at night, so we are looking into getting a small wall unit to cut the chill. Mike was hesitant to agree to that until he heard me scream when I sat on an ice- cold toilet seat at 2 in the morning.
One rainy day we were cosy inside and our friendly fox stopped by to say Hi! She occasionally walks across our patio as if she owns it. And sometimes she leaves a little “gift” for us to clean up. Here’s a photo of her sitting outside our door.
Our neighbor Maria has a small piano keyboard and has offered to let me play it. So I ordered a couple of familiar piano music books from Amazon. One thing I miss from the States is my keyboard. I told myself that when I get my driver’s license I can buy myself a keyboard. I think that the price of a new keyboard is about the same as shipping mine from Chicago.
This last Tuesday we had a potluck lunch for our neighbors. It was fun to have all of us together: Paul and Justina, Maria and Robert, and Giuseppe and Angela. Here’s a photo of us. There was more food on another table, and Angela’s lasagna was in the oven keeping warm. “Ero tutto squisito!”
Giuseppe and Angela brought us some of the olive oil that was pressed from the olives from our trees. I posted a photo of it in Facebook, and it got 54 likes! We are grateful to Giuseppe, Angela, Angela’s mother, and the crew for all their hard work in our olive grove.
I finally got in the mood to knit. It seemed like there was so much to do, I just couldn’t get relaxed enough to knit. I did bring all my knitting needles and some books with me. And I bought some beautiful yarn when we were in Novelli. It’s hand spun and hand
dyed with saffron.
As I think of all we’ve done these past few months, I am amazed. We’ve gone through the process of applying for residency, I’ve been recognized as an Italian citizen and I have an Italian passport, we have residency in our commune, we bought a car, we have Italian health cards, we’ve established a primary care physician and a competent cardiologist for Mike, and we got our flu shots. On top of that, we’ve traveled around Abruzzo and neighboring regions to many interesting cities – Navelli, Guardiagrele, Sulmona, Pescara, Trani, Bari, Alberobello, Roccascalenga, Tornareccio, Assisi, San Benedetto, Bevagna, Deruta, Bologna, and Lanciano. And we rode the Trans-Siberian vintage railway from Sulmona to Carovilli. The regions have so many small towns that are rich with history. Each seems to have its own specialty, and we can’t wait to see more of them.
Next week we take off and head north to visit my cousins Lina, Sara, Simone, and their families in Mirano. We had planned to also go to Oderzo, but the family there has been affected with illnesses, so we will postpone. We hope they all recover quickly. I am eager to see them again.
One our way home from Mirano, we are going to spend a few days in San Marino. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is an independent country in the middle of Italy at the top of a mountain. There will definitely be a blog about it, so stay tuned!
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