Boy in the 'hood

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So here I am sitting at school (on a Sunday)working on this post…still waiting for our internet ADSL activation. Last night I ended up calling our service provider to see what the problem was with our service. I asked for someone that spoke English because my Italian isn’t to the stage of being able to discuss technical matters (food & wine, yes…other irritating details, no). Kudos to the folks on the other end of the line; between my simple Italian and their equally basic English we managed to communicate. The problem: the service still hasn’t been activated on their end and it would be another 3 - 5 days. Yeah, well I won’t hold my breath. One merely accepts that everything takes time to accomplish anything. It’s Italy. This guy told me that here in southern Italy, “Anything that can be done today can be put off until tomorrow.” Yup, I fit right in to this place.
I would like to be able to post pictures to accompany this post and will as soon as I am able. Nonetheless, here is a description of the neighborhood where we are situated.
We live across the bay from the center of the city in the “suburb” of Casale. It is regarded by the locals as the “Hollywood Hills” of Brindisi. This because a lot of the folks attached to the UN live in the neighborhood and there are vacation homes/apartments owned by out-of-towners. It is the newer part of Brindisi. Bear in mind that Brindisi precedes even the Romans historically. The southern part of Italy was first colonized by the Greeks. It is an old city. Nowadays, it is one of the principal ports where tourists board ferries bound for Greece.
Anyway, Casale is newer and there are some rather “posh” and “tony” looking condos in the neighborhood. Virtually very building is surrounded by high walls with gates and the interior can only be accessed by ringing a buzzer that alerts a resident to open the gate . We’ve not seen one single stand alone home in the neighborhood. Apartment buildings might not have walled enclosures but usually have entrances with buzzers. There is a small commercial area that consists of small shops: the green grocer, the fruiter, the baker, the butcher, the fishmonger, the tabacchi shop (you buy cigarettes and assorted stuff - no food), the farmacia (pharmacy), the cafes, the pizzeria, one or two ristorantes, one or two mechanics, the betting shop, etc. etc. These shops are about two US blocks away from our apartment. It is a very small and compact are. The shops are very, very small. Our favorite hardware shop, for example, is so small that only about 4 people can stand comfortably inside the shop. It is crammed to the ceiling with stuff plus more outside that is packed in and out at the beginning and end of each day.
The locals know when there is someone new in the ‘hood. We’ve established some favorite places to frequent. I’ve gotten to know some of the proprietors and have started chatting with them. This place reminds me what small towns must have been like pre 1960’s in the USA before the advent of the big box stores. I like the personal service that I get even if some things are hard to get a hold of…like oatmeal.
My favorite shop is the fruit & vegetable business owned by Aldo & Maria Ana. They have these wine vats from which they will fill whatever container you bring. The first container I took was a regular size water bottle. It cost 60 cents to fill with red table wine. I now take the large water bottle size  Aldo gave me a free bag of fresh figs to try. I had only eaten dried figs before and wowie the fresh stuff is fabulous.
My next goal is to find a regular café or wine bar in which to ensconce myself and do some serious people watching. So far our experience has been that the locals have been very friendly. So far…so good!

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Comments

[Wes Dawson]

blood presure arisen
I think Italy sounds like a great place to vacation. But, given that I do not like loose ends hanging around for my entire life, let alone a week, I would have very high blood presure. It sounds like you are adjusting reasonable well. Just remember, if it gets to bad take three deep breaths and more vino.

[Mark Baradziej]

Life in Italy
Although I can appreciate the slowness and depth of life there, I wonder if i could ever adjust completely? I am SO American! Just look at how I take vacations--"We're burning daylight, get a move-on!" LOL! I like the idea of small separate shops for all of life's necessities--food, wine, bread, hardware, etc. You never did say how the jug wine tasted--was it worth the 60 cents?

[GS arcs]

The freeway or the frontage road?
The jug of wine was acceptable for 60 cents..."a modest, don't have to think about wine while I putter around the kitchen getting dinner ready" kind of wine. If we were to have company, I would go buy a nice bottle. Freeways are all about convenience and efficiency; frontage roads are for accessing all the little byways and lanes that catch your attention. Life here is a frontage road. More on this topic as life progresses, but I have to get to work Israel