All morning we field phone calls from our realtor (she is Italian but lived for 20 years in Rhode Island - so has the East Coast Italian qualities we are used to (the Major's grandfather was from Gaeta, Italy - only a short jaunt north from Naples, and most of his family settled in Boston). We are working on a "pre-contract" for the apartment. The first available appointment with housing is not until August 29th. Everyone is on vacation in this country. For the whole month of August. We were warned that this would happen. We settle a bit more into our temporary lodging while we continue to hurry up and wait.
Today, while the Major runs errands at the SS, the Smalls and I made a trip back to the local market for some frutta e verdura. I only know a few Italian words so far, but everyone is so nice it is really easy and fun to shop. Here is what seven euro can buy you...
I can't remember when tomatoes smelled so good. Make-your-mouth-water-I-have-to-eat-these-right-now good. Luckily we just happened to have some fresh mozzarella in the fridge.
Smalls toyed with a basil leaf as I prepared the lunch. She is not sure about the flavor, but I could tell that the leaf's easy handle won her over.
She's been doing quite well with finger food. I considered mashing up the fruit to make a popsicle, but the fruit looked so perfect just in slices... we'll see what she thinks about it frozen.
Grocery shopping is such an adventure here. I know that we have only been here for a short time, so perhaps that will wear off, but it's the same feeling I would get when picking up our weekly CSA box, or pretty much whenever we would go into Whole Foods - you KNOW it's going to be good.
The Major does most of the cooking at our house. My job is to keep the kitchen stocked. I think this will be easier here than in the States... last night we decided to stay home and make a family favorite - Hot Macaroni. It's a quick tomato sauce (tomato, garlic, olive oil, onion), on your pasta of choice. Our choice was Maccheroni Calabrese - a shape I had never seen before...
Long rolled hearty rustic fingers of amazingness.
We also tried a type of wine we had never heard of before - Morellino di Scansano
More about Morellino here
We will be keeping our eye out for this Tuscan treat in the future. I've already made a mental note to search out one of the Morellino di Scansano wineries in Maremma when we are in that area. Fantastico!
There is something about traveling that makes people want to embrace alter egos... You can't be quite yourself, it just isn't possible. The Italian me hasn't turned on the television in days. I hear the energy of the day in our neighborhood through traffic levels and neighborly noise. People make eye contact on the street with us. Little old men come up to the baby to talk to her, sing, and make faces.
In fact, taking Smalls along makes us extra-welcome wherever we go. Our waitress at the restaurant the other night saw me headed to the bathroom with Smalls for a diaper change. She stopped me, put a fresh table cloth on a table at the back and insisted that I change her there. Then, when I accidentally opened the door to the kitchen instead of the bathroom, she took the diaper right out of my hand and threw it away. I was floored.
The population in Italy is declining. Many families are choosing to have only one child, or none at all. I guess this may be one reason for a baby's star quality... Italy Population Decline
Whatever the reasons, taking Smalls around town is an easy icebreaker, and "Cara" isn't complaining one bit.
