Hallelujah!

Sunday was another beautiful day here.  We went to a antique market that is held the last Sunday of every month.  Ohhhh how I love antiques!  And especially the Italian antiques we saw spread out for several blocks!  I got a lovely bracelet that matches a Tibetan ring I already have.  Ava was treated to a precious pair of tiger slippers since all the Italians are telling me she must wear shoes in the house.  In the states we're accustomed to wall-to-wall carpet and here we have tile floor all throughout.  Since she has grown out of her little Crocs a while ago, I never bothered to get her any house shoes, and the floors really are hard and cold.  So, we gave in to some Italian hippies who hand-made these.  Ava also got a Buzz Lightyear figure with broken arms, legs, and wings for 1 euro (but she totally adores it anyways since she was on a Toy Story kick before we left the States) and a cute little bag to carry Buzz.  I thought of bringing the stroller, but then figured if it was a market it would be tight and crowded and more of a nuisance.  Well, I was wrong.  Ava's now at this point,understandably, that if she is around lots of people she hates to walk.  And she only wants Mommy to carry her.  So, for about 2 hours she was up and down and I got a good work-out for my arms!  I've now decided we must always bring the stroller in the car so in case the streets are wide enough, I won't have to throw out my back anytime we go antique hunting.

Today has been another wonderful day.  I finally decided to venture out of the house alone with Ava and far away from all things familiar.  No, still haven't attempted the bus, but once I find a place to buy tickets, we'll be on one!  But today Ava and I found a park!  A real, big, honest to goodness park for children!  It is about a mile away from the house, having to walk a long a very busy street with a sidewalk that is just wide enough for us to fit down it with the stroller.  But we made it there safely, and proceeded to have a blast for about 2 hours.  There were tons of moms, grandmas and grandpas there with kids mostly younger than Ava.  A couple kids tried to play with her, and she even played soccer for a bit with another little girl.  I am just soooo relieved to have found this place.  It was safe, clean, with fun things to climb around with lots of benches, shade, and picnic tables.  The mile walk helps me get some exercise, and the park will be great even when the weather begins to cool down.  Though it is quite obvious that we are American (since Ava talks so loudly in English!) maybe I can attempt to speak to some other moms once we get to recognize the kids and learn to play with them.  I was beginning to think there were no places for children in this city, but so grateful this park is close enough for us to walk to anytime we want.  We are definitely going back most mornings we are free...thank the Lord!

Tango at Three

Well I knew I would start slacking off with this blog once we got into the swing of things here!  But the truth is we haven't really been up to anything, so there wasn't much to write about!  Most of last week was spent in the sun in our garden.  We went for a couple walks, and played around the house.  The fun started picking up on Friday night when I took Ava to see her first Tango.  There is a very strange, hidden place in this city where only the locals could have heard of such an event taking place.  Thankfully Ava had taken a good 3 hour nap in the afternoon, so she wasn't very tired when we headed out of the house around 10:30pm!  When we arrived, no one was dancing but tango music was filling the air.  I had come to this place in June, but this time we went outside to a covered dance floor with a small stage with Christmas lights for decorations.  Ava of course could not help but want to dance to the music, even if there was only 1 other couple moving across the floor.  So I did what a good mommy must do...I took her to dance in front of all the other Italians who were eyeing me suspiciously for having a young child at a Tango event, and at such an hour!  But thankfully once we danced a bit, the older ladies all smiled and clapped for Ava when we had finished.

When others finally began dancing around 11:30pm, Ava was content to sit in my arms and watch everyone else and listening to the strange and beautiful music.  I tried not to look to touristy by pulling out my camera, and didn't dare use my flash, so that's why the pictures are so blurry...but that is somewhat how we felt as we sat and watched the couples.  What a strange, sad and serious kind of dance...but it is so compelling to watch and not feel moved.  I would love to learn how to Tango.  But by midnight Ava simply said "Mom, can we go home now?" and without any complaints or tears we quietly drove home and she went right to bed!

The next day was Saturday so we went to have our weekly 'Italian family' meal.  I really do love sitting around a big table with all those family members, attempting to translate in my head everything they are saying, whilst trying to eat all the food they place in front of me!  We stayed till about 5:30pm meaning we had a lunch that lasted about 5 hours!  But most of the time after we ate, Ava spent playing with her new family members and I sat with the adults who were playing a card game that is native to Southern Italy.  It was called something sounding like 'burrachio' and it was rather confusing.  But I think I got the gist of it even without having any sort of translation or explanation!  Mostly it was just really nice to get out of the house and see some smiling faces.  I feel like I am making some progress with the language and it is nice to practice speaking with people when they attempt to speak English, and I attempt to reply in Italian!  It was a lovely way to end a difficult week.

Contented Confusion

It feels like summer today.  The forecast for this week is mid 80s, with sun sun sun!  Apparently I'm not the only one confused in Italy...the weather is too!  But hey, I'm not complaining.  It is so wonderful to spend time outside without instantly sweating or keeling over from heat exhaustion...as would have happened at any point this summer in San Antonio!  But this week looks like it will be fantastic.  This morning Ava and I had some yogurt and cheerios outside in our garden for breakfast.  I decided to risk life and limb and go for a run since the sun was shining and there was a great breeze.  Right behind our house, on the hill up towards Fiesole, there is a European University that has many paths and gardens around the campus.  I remembered walking around there in June, but I obviously forgot about how many hills there were!  So, in about 15 minutes I was completely exhausted...but if felt great to get out and do some sort of exercise after a whole week of doing nothing!  Back at home, Ava and I both did some school work inside (ie, I did my Bible study and she made two lovely paintings) and then went back out to the garden to play.  I've really been trying to help her with the hand-eye coordination, so bouncing and rolling a small ball to each other provides great exercise for both of us since neither one of us can catch a ball to save our lives!  (Above is a picture of our garden in the early evening, with the gazeebo on the left and at the far end is where our neighbor's chickens and rooster live).  We had planned on going to a park to play for a couple of hours, since our cheuffeur offered to take us and pick us up, but with all the fun in the sun this morning, Ava just konked out for a nap!  But how wonderful it was to hear my daughter laughing this morning, and feeling comfortable in her surroundings.  In just 1 short week, I can already see that she's adjusting better than I am!  I'm thinking that it's moments like these that I need to keep in mind what a good life we have and be thankful to be living this incredible experience. 
 (To the right is the view out of my bedroom window...with the small waterfall of the River Mugnone)

I think the sunshine today has helped to lift my spirits a bit too.  The last couple days I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with the difficulties of living in Firenze with a child.  When I lived here before, it was so different and much easier.  I could walk wherever I needed to since I lived a block from the Duomo.  I was right in the center of the city so whatever I wanted was at my fingertips.  I had American roomates my age that I could talk to whenever I was bored or just wanting to talk (as girls certainly love chatting about nothing in particular).  Now here with Ava we are in a lovely house, with a lovely garden, but without a motorino it will take us half an hour to get into the city.  We have new Italian friends, and adopted family, but the language barrier presents tension when I would just really love to talk to them and get to know them all!  I knew all these things would be difficult before I came here, but somehow I'm not feeling as brave as I thought I was.  I know I should just be patient and realize the language will come with time.  But I just feel so stupid sometimes.  The funny thing is, I'm an intelligent person, with interesting and insightful things to say--but it's all totally lost in my elementary translation!  I truly want to learn the language, but any book learning I have attempted doesn't seem to stick in my brain.  Everyone says "You just need to start speaking the language...just anything, no matter how wrong you think you are in the grammer or pronunciation" and I know that's true.  I guess I just need to be forceful and make my friends teach me.

(Here is a view of the garden from the office in which I write this blog)
There is a possibility I could help a friend's son learn better English, meet with him to practice converstation/pronunciation etc....so I must demand he helps me with Italian too.  His father wants me to teach him to speak "American"...haha...not British English, but American English.  And perhaps I should force him to teach me Florentine Italian, which has some different pronunciation and grammar than other forms of Italian (or so the true Florentines tell me!)  Well, all this said, I suppose I just need to get over the fact that I'm going to be in a constant state of confusion for the next few months.  I need to just get over my natural know-it-all attitude that I've had since I was 4 years old.  Time to get humble, ask for help, and laugh at myself when I do or say something completely ridiculous.  I mean really...I'm just a stupid American girl trying to live in a silly European country...what could be more hilarious?
    

A program

Now the parties of the weekend are over, itàs time for Mommy to get down to business.  First, to get activities in line for Ava, and secondly to get activities in line for herself!  This morning we went to look at a school for Ava that I had checked out on-line before we left the States.  It's called Canadian Island, a daycare and language school for Italian or foreign children to go and learn English.  They have a Saturday morning 'camp' for 4 hours each week that I'm hoping Ava will love.  Though the lessons are in English, she will be with Italian children and teachers and be able to play games and interact with other kids weach week.  It looks like a great little place, and I'm praying she will be excited enough to be going to ''big girl school'' that she won't realize I've left her there!  I'm just pleased with the idea that she can talk to the teachers in English while learning and hearing Italian all around her.  We can sign her up for 7, 10, or 12 weeks and see how it goes!   Check out the school here:

After we checked that out, I went to look at a gym for myself.  I already knew the gyms here would not be on par with those in America, but this place was just a little sad.  I am sure there are other gyms around, but I would ideally like to find one close enough so I could run or ride my bike to get there.  If I could find a safe (read: mostly traffic-free) place near our house, I would probably be better off running outside and then finding some free weights to use in the basement.  But seriously, I need to find something to do because all thie pasta is already settling into my tummy quite nicely, and my legs have been restless every night!  Another option is to get in contact with a friend of a friend of a friend's cousin who has taught ballet in Firenze and knows most of the ballet schools.  If I could take some ballet classes a couple times a week, then I wouldn't need a sad little gym, or to get run over by the speeding motorini.  Though, I would have to buy shoes, tights and leotards since I left all of mine at home...and not to mention I'd need someone to watch Ava while I danced!  As the Italians would say, ''Ouffa!''

So, now we know what we would like to do in Italy, how do we get there???  It's quickly becoming clear why Florentines hate using their cars (if they even own one) and prefer their motorini.  But the options I have at this point are taking unreliable buses around the city, or learning how to drive a manual car, in a city where traffic regulations don't exist, while driving around streets I don't know!  Oh, I could also ride a bike and strap AVa on my back papoose-style whilst trying not to get run over by the buses, cars, and motorini who don't adhere to any traffic regulations!  Sooo...what to do...what to do?  I'm thinking that growing a pair of ''palle'' is in line.  Time to buck up and do what I gotta do so we're not stuck in a house or relying on a chauffeur all the time...although a chauffeur isn't always so bad!

Partying with Adopted Italians

''Autumn seems to have arrived in 3 days'' is what the Italians are saying.  It had been hot. dry, and brown before we arrived.  And now it was been raining off and on the entire week we have been here.  I think this means that no one can decided if it is still Summer or Fall and it makes many decisions more difficult.  Take the motorino, or car?  Have a party outside, or inside?  Buy tomatoes or squash?  
For example, we had an amazingly long afternoon in the sun on Saturday.  It was the 16th  birthday of Francesco's nephew and we planned on having his party outside with the rest of his family.  I had met them all before, but this was the first time Ava could meet her adopted Italian family.  They speak a little English, so it is fun for us to learn some Italian while we help them with their English too!  Ava was so happy to meet her Zias and Zios (Aunties and Uncles) and her two new cousins.  She was such a good girl, sitting at the table, eating her lasagna and bread, then playing quietly with the pens and markers her Zia brought for her.  It was pretty easy to see that they instantly loved her, and I am so thankful to have these family members around to see each week for Saturday lunches.  Sadly I didn't think to take any pics of this party...but just imagine 10 Italians and 2 Americans sitting around a huge wooden table in the shade with tons of food on the table and lots of talking and gesturing at one time.  Oh!  And I even made an American birthday cake for them all to try...I was missing 1 egg and had to use olive oil, but it still tasted like a good ole Pillsbury 'Funfetti' cake to me!  And I got compliments from all the ladies, saying it was wonderful...haha...but didn't tell them it was from a box  ;)

If Saturday was a perfect day in the garden, Sunday could be considered a disaster.  There was a welcome party planned in honor of Ava and myself, so our other Italian friends could come over and officially meet Ava.  During the week a couple close Zias and Zios arrived to wish us welcome, but this was a grander affair.  Hoping the rain would hold out again, we set up the party outside.  A few friends came and a couple children around Ava's age showed up.  They colored together, all too shy to to try to speak to one another in their foreign languages.  But then another guest arrived...and unwelcome guest...the biggest thunderstorm I have seen in years!  At first we thought it might rain a little bit, then stop, so we sought refuge under the covered patio.  (See the attempted solution: chairs huddled closely together under the patio)
But once the lightening arrived, with shouts of encouragment in Italian, we all had to run across the yard and back into the house!  It continued to rain like this for the next 5 hours, but that didn't stop our other friends from venturing out to come see us! 

Many brought Ava little toys and tried to speak to her in English.  It was amazing how quickly she became endeared to these new friends.  A funny observation is how touch-feely most of the adults were with Ava.  I'm not sure if it's an Italian thing, or we are just up-tight Americans, but there were many moments of personal-space-invasion.  It was like they were so in love with Ava, they couldn't keep their hands off her!  And that's a little much for a 3 year old, in a new place, with tons of new people.  She would hide in my arms for 5 minutes, but to my surprise she was then running around, dancing and showing off in front of everyone!  Additionally, she would warm up to some older gentlemen, and give them kisses whenever they asked!  Well, it's easy to see everyone loved Ava, and she loved them too.  What a relief to have these adopted Italians help fill the big empty spot we have for our real family who we miss, so far away!

Sounds like Rain

Apparently it hasn't rained in Firenze for a very long time.  And then we arrive, and it has rained everyday!  But that's okay...more time for us to rest and relax since it has been a rough couple of nights, trying to adjust to the time change and the new sleeping accomodations.  We have attempted to go outside inbetween the showers so Ava could run around in the garden and get some energy out!

I've been running around, trying to get us settled in.  All the suitcases are unpacked and closets are organized.  Ava has been painting, playing with playdough, and of course having me read to her.  I think she is happy to just stay in the house and get used to her new surroundings.  Yesterday when we ventured outside to go to the supermarket, she was not used to the hussle and bustle of the busy streets!  All the cars, motorini, and buses kind of freaked her out, and she wasn't happy unless I was carrying her--but I don't blame her!  It is so different living in an area so noisy and busy, particularly to a small child.  Thankfully our house isn't right in the center of Firenze, and so we have a little more peace and quiet.  But then again, even when we don't hear cars on the street, we can hear the roosters and chickens in our neighbor's yard.  When sitting in the nice big garden we can hear the small river just in front of the house...and there is a little waterfall that has become much more rapid and noisy with all the rain coming down!  So many new things to see, and so many new things to hear!

We have Arrived!

Okay...I truly can't believe we are here, and there were no problems during the whole process.  No problems driving to Houston and getting there in time.  They didn't charge me extra, even though I'm sure a couple of my bags were overweight.  Got on the plane, and had two seats to ourselves.  Ava kept herself happy, well-fed and occupied, and actually slept 4 of the 9 hours to Paris!  She woke up happy and had breakfast, and waited patiently till we got off the plane!  The only nervous time was getting to our transfer flight.  It took almost 45 minutes to taxi and exit the plane.  Then there was a 20 minute wait, getting through immigration.  Some kind ladies in the line kept helping me move my bags along because Ava was exhausted and just wanted me to hold her.  Then had to catch another bus to go to another terminal to go through security again.  Right when we got to the gate, we boarded the plane and were off to Firenze!  Another 2 hours of Ava entertaining herself and the sweet Italian grandma next to us :)  Landed in Firenze with no problems, and thankfully found a trolley to load all our suitcases cause there was no way I could have taken them all by myself.  Custom's was a joke: a lady casually looked at my massive amount of suitcases and asked 'Are you here on vacation?'  Yes, we were.  'For how long will you be in Italy?'  Three months.  'Very well, have a good stay!'  And we were off!  Our friend was waiting for us and thank goodness all the suitcase fit in his tiny Fiat.  All in all, the journey was rather boring....a very good thing!

Now the project of getting onto Italian time, and fighting the jet-lag.  The most funny part of the whole day was that Ava just kept going!  A couple little moments of fatigue, and a few tears because she was exhausted, but I am amazed and proud at how well she did!  What a little traveler!  We got to our house and had lunch, she ran around in the garden, played by herself while I unpacked and we had a nice bath.  Then, finally at 7:30 local time, she said she wanted some dinner.  I made her something, and literally 1 minute after she started eating, she yawned once and said 'I'm tired, mom' and she fell asleep leaning against her chair: totally sitting upright, with a bite of food in her hand.  Out like a light!  I have never seen a child 'crash' like that...and I thought she was just pretending to be asleep!  She slept really well until about 10pm and then she was up every couple of hours just disoriented and not sure where she was sleeping.  By 1:30am she was totally awake, so I let her watch a movie for an hour and then she konked out till 10am!  What an odd night, but I suppose it could have been worse.  The next couple of days I hope I can get her adjusted to a good sleeping (and certainly napping!) schedule and we'll stick close to home so there isn't too much shock while we are getting adjusted!  I'm just so thankful we have arrived!   

That's All, Folks!

It looks like this will be my last post, via the USA!  That is, assuming everything goes off without a hitch tomorrow afternoon!  Sometimes you just never know what might happen with flights.  Thankfully we will fly directly from Houston to Paris without any stops.  But the 3 hours drive to Houston is it's own adventure, as anyone knows who has been in the vicinity of Houston in a car!  Some of the most random things can happen in I-10 East, and I'm sure we'll hit traffic the minute we think we are clear of the city, and almost to the airport.  It's just bound to happen.  That's why we'll be leaving with A LOT of extra time to spare.  It's hard enough flying with a 3 year old, and it would be miserable to race through baggage and security to frantically catch our plane!  So I will do what my mother taught me to do: be at the airport about 2 hours earlier than necessary!

So on this eve of travel, I feel oddly calm.  I checked-in online for my flight.  I am pretty sure my bags are under the weight limit.  I think I packed everything we could possibly think we need, and more!  The only rough spots we've been experiencing is a cranky attitude from Ava the past 2 days.  Maybe it's still from her little cold, or from being so busy the past few days, but I've definitely seeing a side of Ava that is brand new--full of lots of attitude, and hysterical weeping at the slightest problem.  I suppose it is normal, considering all the change that's been happening.  And we've kind of been in a state of change since May.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I think she would be used to it by now.  But she isn't...and I'm doing my best to assure her that we will make lots of new friends in Italy and have lots of new things to do.  Some moments she is all gung-ho for the idea of Italy, and other times she weeps and says she doesn't want to leave.  I'm trying to be understanding to her 3 year old's comprehension of what's going on. 

    

No one likes saying goodbye to places that are familiar, and the people who love you.  It's one of those bitter-sweet happenings in life: we are sad to say goodbye, but excited for the future.  I'm really hoping that if we are able to Skype with our loved ones, it will help ease any homesickness.  Though, it's never the same as a real-life-wonderful-hug from someone you miss.  At this time, I think I gotta cut the little one some slack, and give her the hugs and kisses she probably needs, but doesn't really know she needs.  So, that's all folks, from the States!  It will probably take some time to get adjusted over there, but I'll try to post soon so you know we have arrived safe and sound!  Arrivederci tutti!        

Ready, Set, Grow!

Three days till lift-off.  I did a google search for "three days" and this image above showed up.  It says it is a picture of a broccoli sprout at three days old.  Pretty darn cute, in my opinion, and how funny that someone really thought it was important to show a three-day-old sprout on the web.  I love it.

Three days...just Saturday, Sunday, and most of Monday are left.  Really, I think time is slowing down just to irk me.  I keep trying to prepare Ava for the long flight, reminding her that we'll have to sit in our seats for 9 whole hours till we reach Paris.  Mainly I think she would be happy for me to read her ALL the new Beatrix Potter books I recently bought her.  She's been eyeing the small editions each time we go to the bookstore, the ones that match her first Peter Rabbit book from London.  I broke down and bought her 4 new stories just for this journey, and just like her Peter Rabbit book, she wants me to read them nonstop.  I'm not sure how many bookstores in Florence sell reasonably priced children's books in English, so I figured I might as well stock up now or else I would be reading the same couple of books for 3 months straight!  (I'll have to search around the city and see if we can find one and report back!)

My little girl just really loves to read, and I'm so thankful for that.  Not only does she like me to read to her, but she memorizes the books, and reads them to herself!  There are moments when I come into our bedroom, and there she is with all her "Beatrix Potter books" (as she formally calls them) on the floor, turning the pages and reading to herself.  I realize this could be a great way to spend the time on the flight, seeing as she will probably have a hard time sleeping without her car seat on the plane.  I figure if I read the 5 books, one after the other, that's a good 50 minutes!  Cause you know, you gotta read slowly, and with all the silly animal voices, and look at the pictures very carefully.  Now, I just need to do that about 5 times...then have a good dinner break, walk up and down the aisles smiling at the passengers, and maybe my computer battery will last for a 2-hour movie...before we know it the flight will be over!  Then from Paris to Florence, we'll just have to look at a magazine and I will make up stories for her according to the pictures on each page.  She LOVEs when I do this...any sort of spontaneous story or song I can make up.  And it's good for my brain.  Keeps me young and imaginative just like that little 3-day-old-broccoli sprout!

Cold and Cough? CHECK!

Silly me, I seemed to have forgotten on my "Italy Check-list" the most important thing for travel...a common cold for Ava!  All day yesterday she was sneezing like crazy, and had a little cough in the evening, but I figured it was just allergies.  It is well known that if you've never had allergies in your life, the minute you are in Texas, you can suddenly be allergic to everything in the air!  Well, sometime during the night, Ava developed a full-fledged cold.  Snotty nose, mucus cough, and her classic bronchiospasms that inhibit her breathing and keep us both up at night.  Thankfully I had taken the advice of many other travelers and stocked up on our favorite children's medications since they can be hard to find, or are very expensive in Italy.  But the one thing she really needed, a good decongestant, was no where to be found in our medicine bag.

Go figure, the one day I really need to jet out and grab my daughter some medicine, there is torrential down-pouring in Texas!  I mean, this rain was causing dangerous, massive flooding on the roads.  And my little girl, with booggers streaming down her nose, had to accompany me so we could buy the one medicine I had forgotten to include for our trip to Italy!  I'm just hoping she will be over it all since we now have 4 days till our flight.  No one likes flying with a stuffy nose.  And no one enjoys hearing a croopy cough coming from the child behind their seat on the plane.  Purell will now be my best friend until we depart, cause we can't have a sick mommy on the flight too!