The Kids

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I'd like to think that the children were patiently waiting in high anticipation for their lovely new American au pair to arrive as Costanza and I took the three hour train ride north of Rome. Truth be told, they've had approximately 10 au pairs. Half of these au pairs are from the states so my American novelty has worn off. However, I am the first from California. Kudos to me.

Backing up to the train ride part, I learned a delightful bit of trivia from Costanza, "Did you know it was in Rome where two trains collided head on?" Ay dios mio, why would you tell me that?! As if the sweaty African vendor passengers and rickety carnie looking tracks weren't throwing off enough already.



We arrived safely at the station where Nonna Guja picked us up in her tiny yellow smart car. Nonna Guja is a very kind woman with very terrible skin. Every month she has cancerous spots burned off her chest and yet she refuses to stay out of the sun. She thinks she's getting a tan when in fact it's merely a massive multiplication of her freckles.



We arrived at the house and I was introduced to all the children. All the children being my two responsibilities and their twin cousins, Julia and Leonardo.



The first word out of Matteo's mouth to me was "puzza"...the Italian word for fart. GREAT. This kid is either going to be my best friend or a total nightmare.



We enjoyed a nice leisurely dinner with lots of wine, pasta, fish, salad and bread.



During dinner Alice turned to me and in perfect English, with a flawless American accent, started singing Katy Perry's "California Girls". An homage to me no doubt. When she said "daisy ducks" I corrected her and said "dukes". This led to me explaining to the entire dinner table what daisy dukes were. I told them it's what Jessica Simpson wears when she's having a skinny year.



Post dinner entertainment was a choreographed dance show by Julia and Alice. It was the type of dance show I totally would have put on when I was gearing up to ask mom for a sleepover.



The next day we went to the beach for a few hours. Alice made me do the splits and a back walkover for her. She was floored to learn that I was a cheerleader. I taught her how to do a backbend from a standing position. She was SO EXCITED. She even asked Carlo to buy her a gymnastics mat so that we could practice at home. I should charge extra for these private lessons...



The rest of the weekend was pretty much eat, cards, beach, nap, bouncy castles, eat, drink, sleep.

This morning at the beach while I was lying on my stomach, Julia straddled my back and sat down. I felt little fingers taking my hair out of it's french braid. And then an exclamation of pure joy as she shook my hair free, "Guardare Nonna! I suoi capelli sono così lunghi e belli. Bellisima! Bellisima!" These fits of joy came in waves as she tousled my hair back and forth. Alice's translation, "she likes your hair". Good hair needs no translation.



I'm glad to be back in Rome and get the kids off to their first day of school tomorrow. Their uniforms are to die for.
Carlo will be gone until mid October. It is harvest season for his vineyard so he is extremely busy with grape picking and wine making. Costanza works long hours and travels a lot to Brussels.

Although it's nice to feel needed I'm still feeling homesick. Please pray for friendships to develop soon. I may not be enrolling in the language school until October so I will need to find other means to make friends.

Love you all! xoxo

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Photos

The Kiddos
From left to right: Julia, Leonardo (my crush), Alice and Matteo

The Fam
From left to right: Uncle something or other, Julia, Costanza, Carlo, Alice, Matteo, Nonno Guido, Leonardo, Julia (neighbor girl)