Back in the U.S.A. by Hart

As some of you may remember, back in August, I was alone with the children for 3 weeks while Justin started working in Italy. I had them start school since I still had no idea if or when the company would send us out to join him. Finally, we were given the green light, and 3 days later we were on a plane to Venice.

The first two months in Treviso were spent at Palazzo Brando, which is the Italian version of the Residence Inn. It was a great place for us to start, to get used to the town & lifestyle, and to make some friends.

Then we moved into the house that we found our first week in Italy (but had to wait for) in the beginning of November. This was a wonderful change - but then no internet for a month! Just as we were starting to get settled in, everything was unpacked, kitchen was stocked with dishes & pots & pans, we hired someone to help keep the house clean (sorry, but I can't watch 3 kids & clean 4 bathrooms on my own!), our 90 days in Italy was up. In fact, Justin was in the U.S. for the last 3 weeks because he was waiting for his work visa to be issued. That didn't happen in time, so we all had to leave.

Boo hoo.

This time, I didn't have to fly with the kids on my own. Justin flew out last Thursday - got stuck for 10 hours in the Frankfurt airport & luggage never arrived. Then, on Saturday, we all flew back together. Well, now I just sound like I'm complaining, but Justin reminded me that we've had so much amazing luck lately, things were bound to have to balance out at some point.

Now we are renting a little beach cottage in Santa Cruz, visiting with friends and family, and getting ready to enjoy the holidays here in the U.S. Yesterday we bought a little tree & decorated it this morning. I'm happy to see that beautiful angel on top - couldn't have used her in Italy because the plugs are different. We drove down "Christmas Tree Lane" in Palo Alto, & there are radio stations that only play Christmas music here. Things are feeling festive.

The most important thing for me, though, and the children, is stability. This is something we haven't had in our lives for 4 months now. It is taking a toll on all of us. So, after the holidays, my hope is to return to Italy, settle down, and stay put for a while - get back to studying Italian, making new friends, eating & drinking well, and enjoying la dolce vida.

Aack, what am I saying? Let's have la dolce vida here!!!

November, The Lost Month by Hart

So many times in the past month (while we had no internet access) I told myself - write down your ideas for the blog & then you can post them when the internet is turned on. Of course, then life got in the way. Now, I wonder if it is worth it to try to go back in time. So much has happened here & more happens every day. Maybe I'll just move on. However, here are some of the things I was thinking of writing about - if anyone is interested in any of these topics, let me know & I'll post something with pictures.
Our trip to Paris (was going to title this one Food Poisoning in Paris) the trip was mainly amazing.
Our new house - also amazing - especially now with internet!
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Chanukah
Our day trip to Nove (ceramics) & Asiago (cheese)
International Women's Club outings - guided tour of Treviso, guided art tour, Christmas market, hike in Asolo
Kids playdates/ new friends
Yoga
Snow
Justin being in the US while we are here because of visa/document problems
What we like about Treviso/Italy & what we miss about California

Mainly what we miss are our friends. We are making new ones here, but we'd like to keep the old (gold) ones also. Now that we are back online, you can comment here, send email, or skype. Also, if we're still on your holiday card list, our address is:
Vicolo Piave 1/A
31100 Treviso, TV
Italia

Sending love to you all. Will write again soon (I promise!)

Lessons (Italian, Cooking, Cultural) by Hart

Well, luckily we're all flexible in this family, since there are many differences between the home & life we were used to in Palo Alto & our new life here in Treviso.



Out of necessity and interest, I've begun Italian lessons. Twice a week a mom from the kids' school comes to our home in the evening. I put the baby to sleep & Ellie & Liam watch a movie while Justin & I have our lesson. So far it's going well, although the grammar of Italian is difficult (many more articles, sentence structure is different, genders, and everything has to agree in gender & quantity). Justin keeps having work dinners (lucky!) and has missed a few lessons, but overall the situation is working out well.



I'm also working through a language program on the computer which I bought before we came here. It is very helpful - teaching me a few new words & lots of repetition each lesson. But, there are some things it's taught me that are incorrect. For instance, "Io voglio" means "I want". But, (I learned from the real live Italian teacher), it is used by children when they are being naughty & demanding - "I want! I want!" Instead, a polite person should say, "Io vorrei", which is closer to "I would like". So, I take the computer program with a grain of salt.



Finally, I have two language exchanges with Italian women each week. One is a mom from the school. We go to her house & talk (mainly in English for now). The idea is that over time, as I become better at Italian, we can speak half the time in English & half in Italian, so we can both practice. The other woman is a nutritionist that I met through the International Women's Club of Treviso. Most of the women in that club come from other areas: the U.S., other parts of Europe, Japan, Israel, etc. This woman comes because she wants to improve her English. She & I meet & walk around town and talk. Becaues of these exchanges, I am already understanding so much Italian! It's the talking that's hard.

The kids seem to be picking up Italian too. At school they have to speak English, but they are pulled out for Italian lessons and even have some math lessons in Italian. In the playground at lunch, the children speak Italian, so they are also learning "playground talk". This seems like a great age to learn - much easier than as an adult!



Ander is now going to a babysitter 3X/week in the mornings. Originally I wanted someone to come to my house, but this arrangement is good because the caregiver has a lot of toys and there is one other child with Ander. It's more interesting for him there. She speaks English, but with the children she speaks Italian. So, he'll definately get the language! The question will be - will any of us retain the language once we go home? We have a few Italian friends in Palo Alto, so we'll rely on them as much as we can to practice.

This week, when I met for my language exchange with the mom from school, I had a little cooking lesson. We sat in the kitchen to have a coffee, & she started going through her frig to teach me the names of some items: proscutto crudo, proscutto cotto, pancetta, etc. . . There is an abundance of pork products here, and Italians feel very strongly about the importance of each type - where it comes from, qualitites that make it unique, what dishes it is good for, etc. Before this, I really didn't know the difference between proscutto & pancetta (I thought they were the same thing, just cut differently). Man was I wrong! She also taught me how to make Pasta Carbonara, which is a local dish. The pasta sauce is made mainly from pancetta & eggs. Of course, she told me, it is important to use spagetti #5 for this dish. In my mind, who cares? I talked with another American about this later & she laughed. Her husband is Italian & when she made this dish for him (with #3, not #5 pasta), he told her it was all wrong. In our way of thinking, #3 cooks faster than #5 & it tastes the same. For them, each ingredient & step in cooking is a part of their heritage & identity. I hope to take a "real" cooking class while I am here in Italy. Then, when I return to the states, I'll have to take another one - to teach me how to cook other types of food from scratch. Will I be converted? Or will I return to my Trader Joe's ways?


Recently a new Italian aquantance invited me to a shop where you can buy designer children's clothes & jackets for 1/2 off. I thanked her politely, but told her I didn't need anything for the kids. The truth is, I'm not a person who would spend $150 on a jacket for a kid who is going to ruin or outgrow it right away. If the jacket was normally $300, I still don't feel that $150 is a bargain. Why would a kid's jacket ever cost $300? Well, then, she told me that there is another shop where they have adult clothes & jackets. Again, I said no. Really, I wouldn't spend $300 on a jacket for myself either! Of course, here you don't just come right out & say "no". It would be rude. The kids were sick & home from school, so I had a good excuse. The next time she asked, Justin was on a business trip in the US, another good excuse. Then she suggested that we go after school one day & her babysitter could watch my kids. I didn't feel I could say "no" any more without losing her as a friend & alienating myself from the whole Italian community here! It was totally inconvenient for me, but I felt obligated to go. Then, on the way there, she told me that if you spend $500, then you get another $30% off. That's when it hit me - "I'm going to have to buy something! And, it's not going to be cheap." In the end, I was able to find one thing that wasn't too expensive. Another woman was with us & she bought something too, so with all of us, we got the extra 30% off. As time goes on, I'll learn more about how to navigate these situations gracefully. For now, I'm just observing how different things are here, and enjoying the warmth of my new designer coat!

HAIL!!! by Liam & Hart

It was an old boring day. Bleh. The most thing I don't like about boring days is...

HAIL!!!

The most wonderful thing that happened in my whole life. Wow, I loved it. It was really big! My first time seeing actual hail fall from the sky. It's ice. We're going to the mountains where it snows. And, did you know, it snows here?

OK. Actually, the weather was nice in the morning. The kids were at school, Justin was at work. I took Ander out in the stroller to do some errands in town. When I got to the other side of the train station, though, it had started to rain. Of course, I didn't have an umbrella or cover for the stroller. I thought about going home, but remembered that there was no food in the house. Instead of the market shops I planned on going to, I went straight to the close supermarket - then, when we came out, it was sunny and clear again. It stayed nice until the afternoon, when we realized that on one side of the apartment building it was sunny & clear & the other side had very dark grey, ominous clouds. Then, all of a sudden, we heard banging & screaming coming from outside! We looked & huge hail stones were falling - the screams were the neighbor teens hanging out wit their mopeds getting under cover. We all got so excited, that I didn't think to take a picture or movie until it was all over. The photo above is from a while later, after the hail stopped & melted a bit.

It's just another difference from our life in California, but we know we need to be prepared for anything when we leave the house!

Field Trip to Parco Faunistico Cappeller by Ellie

My class and I went on a field trip! It was really fun. We saw thousands of animals. First, we took a bus to the Cappeller wildlife park. It took an hour. I sat with a girl named Kiara. She's really quiet. Then, we got off the bus and had snack. We walked to a presantation. The guide lady showed us skulls, eggs, horns, and porcupine quills. We also played a game. Then, we went out and saw the animals. Seriously, there were at least a million animals in that park. Then, we had lunch. And then we saw some more animals. Anyway, the

picture here was the biggest animal on the planet. Seriously, it was huge! Can you guess who it was ? it was.............CAMEL! It was my favorite animal. When it stood up, it looked like a giant dog with it's tail wagging. :) :)

Day Trips by Hart

Since we've been here, we've tried to get away one day each weekend. We are loving Treviso, but what better opportunity will we ever have to discover all the amazing sights in our backyard?

VENICE

Our first trip was to Venice. We ended up driving, even though the train would have been faster & easier because we had to go to IKEA first to buy a high chair! Anyhow, after that errand, we drove to Mestre & took the train into the city. We walked through town, across the Rialto bridge, and into Piazza San Marco. The weather was perfect that day, & the crowds were minimal. It was like something out of a dream (plus we were still jet-lagged, so everything seemed like it was out of a dream). The kids got hungry half-way to the Piazza, so we stopped at a pizzeria for a late lunch. Later on, when we arrived at the Piazza, Ellie said she thought we were going to get pizza! Um, didn't you just eat a whole pizza 15 minutes ago? All I can say is that girl loves pizza! I found all the shops a real distraction - the kids were constantly asking if we'd buy them something. In the future, I'll let them bring some of their own money & plan on walking slowly so they can browse & pick what treasure they really want. The kids were tired out by the time we got to the Piazza, & there was a larger crowd there, so we decided to skip the rest of the sightseeing & save it for another day - we are only 30 minutes away, after all - we can come back any time we like! So we decided to hop on a water-bus instead of walking all the way back. After figuring out how to buy tickets & getting on a bus going in the wrong direction (it was a loop, so it didn't seem to matter, except it made the trip much much longer) we ended up back at the train station about an hour & a half later! Well, not too bad for our first time out, & at least a lot of lessons were learned.

VERONA

The second weekend here, we visited Verona,which is about 1 1/2 hr. drive from Treviso. When I traveled to Europe after college, I went through Italy two times, but never had time for the little towns - pretty much only saw the biggest & most famous cities. It turns out that Verona is the 4th most visited city in Italy! The weekend we went, there was some big festival going on (which we didn't know about ahead of time), so there were a lot of people there & a lot going on. I always love Rick Steve's guides, so I took mine along & we used it to navigate the city & see all the "important" sights. First, the Arena, which dates from the first century A.D., & is still used for concerts (the day we were there, they were setting up for a Peter Gabriel concert). Must wean the baby, then find a babysitter, then we can talk about going to a concert at the Arena! Walking around town, we saw a marching piccolo band, accordian players, & dancers. We visited the House of Juliet (not really her house, but still romantic - especially since a great friend of mine's boyfriend traveled to Europe to surprise her & somehow arrived just as she was standing in the balcony & then he proposed). Along the walls, thousands of lovers have written their names. Having 3 kids in tow makes it a little less romantic, but we all started off with stars in our eyes! This was a really nice moment to teach the kids about Romeo & Juliette, too, so now they know the story - must think of this as educational for them.

near NOVENTA DI PIAVE

Last weekend we spent the afternoon on Saturday at a classmate's birthday party at a winery the parents own about 45 minutes out of town. It was so beautiful driving through the countryside! During the party, there were entertainers hired to play with the kids, & the parents watched & chatted while sipping prosseco (the wine of this region) & eating tasty snacks. It is typical for all the kids in a class to be invited to the birthday parties here, but it still is so nice to be included & everyone is so friendly!

PADOVA

On Sunday we visited Padua. There is a famous chapel there called the Scrovegni Chapel, which was built & then painted around 1300. It's considered to be the first piece of modern art - although the frescoes were all religious in nature, the subjects were portrayed in a more human way than earlier works. Please don't shoot me, art history major friends, but I'd never heard of the Scrovegni Chapel before - however now I think it must be one of the wonders of the world! It is so well preserved after all this time. Now they have a series of air locks and they limit the number of people to view it & the ammt. of time you have inside in order to keep out the moisture. It was amazing and beautiful & I highly recommend that anyone coming to Italy visit this masterpiece. After our 15 minutes in the chapel, we viewed the art gallery. I would have thought 8 & 6 were too young to appreciate the art & history of Europe, but so far things are working out for us. I really enjoyed looking at the art with the kids, & talking to Ellie about what we liked (& didn't), why some paintings might be important, & how the artists might have created their works (color, shadow, perspective, etc.).

JESOLO

Tomorrow we are going to another birthday party - this one in Jesolo (a beach town an hour away), at the family's beach house. Nice. We booked a hotel room & plan to play at the beach on Sunday. It probably won't be play-in-the-water warm, but we can at least build sandcastles & walk along the shore. Wonder how it will compare to our beloved Santa Cruz?

Hi everybody! wer'e having so much fun!