What is Today?

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Tuesday? Si, Martedi.

The weekend passes like the days of the week: much ado about nothing, but at any moment something made from nothing. Family stops by for a caffè and end up staying through dinner, even if they choose not to eat; others drop in only to say hello and we end up following them home, 40 km away, for cena.

The one (only) thing that gets me (just a little bit) down about being unemployed is that the week provides no great promise for the weekend. On the contrary, Monday does not loom with despair and sorrowful anticipation, but rather the chance to live another week at life’s pace.

Last night we played our first game of Scrabble. In Italian. And I won. Certo. 108 to Amanda’s 81 to Signora Burigatto's 73. The gamebreaker was zia (aunt) that I played in the fifth round, placing the “Z” (10 points) on the triple letter score for a total 32 points. It’s amazing how many incredible English scrabble words one comes up with when they play in another language.

Now that I've adjusted better (aka, slowed down) to life here, let me walk you a bit through the day in Concordia Sagittaria. First, our neighborhood. Amanda's father built these houses a few years ago in this tiny cul-de-sac on via delle Terme. Terme are thermal baths, many of which were found during excavation of the land for construction. Construction was delayed when a few ancient artifacts turned up in the dirt. He sold all of the homes save one (the yellow) which is now casa di Burigatto.

But take a close look at the homes here. All of them seem to have one thing in common, except the ca' Burigatto. See it? Shutters. Every. single. window. in the entire neighborhood is shuttered. And it's noon! If they do open the shutters, it's a mere two inches--but why? Why??

The weather here has been a bit atypical. It's hardly reached about 80 degrees everyday, and often at night drops below 55. Usually, it's over 90. The sun, though, is brutal. No matter the air temperature, if you're standing in direct sunlight it feels 20 degrees hotter. I've never felt sun so intense. 15 minutes under il sole is enough to burn you. The light here is beautiful and it's easy to see where the early artists got inspiration for their paintings. It's bright early in the morning and the sun doesn't fully set until about 10pm. That provides plenty of time to have a caffe, water the fruit trees and bushes, clean the pool, have lunch, a caffe, take a swim... you get the picture.

Tomorrow we're visiting one friend who roasts caffe in his home for a living. Then we're off to another friend's vineyard for dinner.

My flickr page

Nuove parole:
stuzzicadenti-- toothpick
zanzare-- mosquitoes (which have bitten everyone to death except me. They must not like irish blood)
zanzariera-- window screen (to keep the zanzare out)
goccia-- drop, of water
grandine-- hail. Two ferocious hail storms just this week
certo--of course, exactly.

Ciao!

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Photos

Amanda enjoying a "Spritz Aperol"
Prosecco with a dash of bubbly mineral water and Aperol, similar to campari but distilled from orange and rhubarb. Delicious

Comments

[Patrick's Replacement for the Interim]

O_O
What? NO GELATO?

[the dude]

the rug
my adivce to you is GET A JOB sir, the revolution is over! condolences, the bums lost! the bums will always loose!

[Leslie]

stuzzicadenti
My friend Fran from Chicago, who lived in Italy (Pavia where I lived) for seven years but didn't learn any Italian used to say to me: it takes so long to say an Italian word as opposed to the English one ... like walk is CAMMINARE; ashtray is PORTACENERE; toothpick is STUZZICADENTE ... you ge the picture.