Ups and Downs

After being here a couple of days I am reminded that life in Italy is incredible, but no where close to being perfect as some might imagine!  Just as some idealize 'Il Bel Paese' (the beautiful country) others criticize it's current state of affairs (pun intended...anyone heard of Ruby lately?).  Today was such a day of ups and downs, as I'm sure the rest of our stay will continue in such a manner. 

It started on a negative note: mostly because of my lack of sleep.  Everyone else in the house was sleeping soundly while I was wide awake from 4 to 8am.  Once I finally fell asleep, an hour later I was awoken by jackhammer sounds.  No, it wasn't Ava snoring...I really think it was a jackhammer in the apartment next to our house.  At least they waited until 9am, but still...not the most pleasant way to be awoken after sleeping only 4 hours! The construction continued all morning, and it was actually a welcome excuse to go to the supermercato to buy some food.  This is saying A LOT, especially for me to WANT to go to an Italian supermarket, seeing as I usually have to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming chaos I know I will confront!

Well, this morning we hit the jackpot in the supermarket in more than one way.  First, it wasn't super crowded or noisy, and any pushy clientel and curt check-out ladies seemed to be missing today.  It was actually somewhat pleasant to hear Michael Buble crooning overhead while we decided what to cook for my birthday dinner!  On top of that, joy of all joys, I found peanut butter for the first time in an Esselunga!  The times are changing people!  Not only that, but I also found real, honest to goodness tortillas in the next aisle!  I was about to go into food shopping shock.  Then, to top it all off...just to make my negative feelings towards supermercatos flip into bliss, the check-out lady was actually smiling and laughing and joking with Ava!  Ahhh..I honestly thought I was nearing Nirvana.

A typical pasta aisle in Esselunga..a place close to Heaven, in my opinion

But the high couldn't last for long.  We arrived home and I realized Ava's bedroom was directly below all the jackhammering that was happening next door.  And her ceiling isn't made of plaster, but wooden beams that must be at least 600 years old, with bits of mud apparently holding it together.  There was dust and dirt ALL over her room.  Every nook and cranny was covered, as if Mt. Vesuvius personally erupted just in her room.  Awesome.  I started to clean it up after lunch, only to realize the construction would commence and more dust would cover her room.  I had to wait till 5pm when the workers left and it took almost 2 hours to get the dust contained and out of Ava's room so she could sleep without suffocating on ash all night!

How I felt after cleaning up all that dust!

Well, life in Italy can be wonderful, exciting, beautiful and I'm sure I will have so many wonderful moments here with Ava!  But it also has it's drawbacks, difficulties and distruptions, just like any other place in the world!