It is hard to believe that nearly ten months have gone by. It's beginning to feel like "home" in the deepest sense of the word. Such a different feeling than even after four years in Monroe and a year in Delaware.
The lady upstairs, Lucia, thinks we saved her life (we didn't, we just tried to help when she had fallen down the stairs). Walking anywhere results in a constant parade of "Buongiorno!" and "Ciao!" from all the people we now know. Luciano, the photographer on the corner. Giovanni, my husband's barber. Raffaela, the lady who owns the little housewares store. Donato, the man who also has housewares and where we get Harry's kibble and most of our wine. Emidio and Gabriela from the insurance office.
Then there are the piazzetta neighbors. Margherita and Tony, across the street. They have brought us figs, cucumbers, tomatoes from a friend of theirs with a small farm. And Domenico, who does woodworking and has insisted we take two candelabra as a gift, just yesterday gave us three bottles of strong red wine vinted by a friend of his with a local vineyard. Have you ever had wine from an unmarked bottle?
Also there is Hugo, with his dog, Hugo (yes, it's true) who was Harry's first friend here. And Luca, owner of our favorite restaurant. And Aldo, who lived in Queens for 28 years, and Francesco, who lived in New Jersey for 20 years.
Even the pharmacist likes me now and slips into using English a bit, although I prefer to speak Italian. Beyond all those, there are the people whose establishments we frequent for various reasons (coffee here, a glass of wine there, the shoe store, the gift shop, the manager of the supermarket) whose names we don't know but it is imperative to give a greeting.
The rhythm of the town is seeping into our lives. I get up in the morning now and I stay up, whereas I used to feed Harry and go back to bed. Then, in the afternoon, when the town is sleeping, so do I...if not sleep, rest.
There was a bread store I used to love when I first arrived. Just a tiny little room, really, with shelves all around, run by an old man. Besides the wonderful smell of the place, it barely looked like a "real" place - beautiful loaves, pizzelle, cookies, little individual size pizza rounds, red checked cloths on the shelves...and a sign saying "Pane e vita".."Bread is life." He always had a little radio going on what I suppose would be called an old-fashioned station because the music was reminiscent of what you used to hear in 50s and 60s foreign movies. Just after Christmas he retired and I was really sad about that, but glad for him.
I just discovered another bread store and it is across the street from the supermarket. Their bread is authentic and wonderful. They also have cookies and tarts. A new favorite place to add to our list.
We have picked up our applications for permission to stay for the next year. Really hoping the process is a bit easier this second time around.
I don't know how to thank everyone for their welcome and their generosity. Perhaps a simple buffet "open house" around the holidays?
Here are the bottles of red wine from Domenico. They are all for my husband as I am allergic to red wine, but I understand this stuff is quite strong. The breadsticks are hand made and infused with rosemary, insanely good.
The lady upstairs, Lucia, thinks we saved her life (we didn't, we just tried to help when she had fallen down the stairs). Walking anywhere results in a constant parade of "Buongiorno!" and "Ciao!" from all the people we now know. Luciano, the photographer on the corner. Giovanni, my husband's barber. Raffaela, the lady who owns the little housewares store. Donato, the man who also has housewares and where we get Harry's kibble and most of our wine. Emidio and Gabriela from the insurance office.
Then there are the piazzetta neighbors. Margherita and Tony, across the street. They have brought us figs, cucumbers, tomatoes from a friend of theirs with a small farm. And Domenico, who does woodworking and has insisted we take two candelabra as a gift, just yesterday gave us three bottles of strong red wine vinted by a friend of his with a local vineyard. Have you ever had wine from an unmarked bottle?
Also there is Hugo, with his dog, Hugo (yes, it's true) who was Harry's first friend here. And Luca, owner of our favorite restaurant. And Aldo, who lived in Queens for 28 years, and Francesco, who lived in New Jersey for 20 years.
Even the pharmacist likes me now and slips into using English a bit, although I prefer to speak Italian. Beyond all those, there are the people whose establishments we frequent for various reasons (coffee here, a glass of wine there, the shoe store, the gift shop, the manager of the supermarket) whose names we don't know but it is imperative to give a greeting.
The rhythm of the town is seeping into our lives. I get up in the morning now and I stay up, whereas I used to feed Harry and go back to bed. Then, in the afternoon, when the town is sleeping, so do I...if not sleep, rest.
There was a bread store I used to love when I first arrived. Just a tiny little room, really, with shelves all around, run by an old man. Besides the wonderful smell of the place, it barely looked like a "real" place - beautiful loaves, pizzelle, cookies, little individual size pizza rounds, red checked cloths on the shelves...and a sign saying "Pane e vita".."Bread is life." He always had a little radio going on what I suppose would be called an old-fashioned station because the music was reminiscent of what you used to hear in 50s and 60s foreign movies. Just after Christmas he retired and I was really sad about that, but glad for him.
I just discovered another bread store and it is across the street from the supermarket. Their bread is authentic and wonderful. They also have cookies and tarts. A new favorite place to add to our list.
We have picked up our applications for permission to stay for the next year. Really hoping the process is a bit easier this second time around.
I don't know how to thank everyone for their welcome and their generosity. Perhaps a simple buffet "open house" around the holidays?
Here are the bottles of red wine from Domenico. They are all for my husband as I am allergic to red wine, but I understand this stuff is quite strong. The breadsticks are hand made and infused with rosemary, insanely good.
It sounds so much less isolating than here in the U.S., where most of us don't even know-- much less like-- our neighbors. I'm allergic to red wine, too! My face turns purple and my tongue swells, even though I can't drink more than about three ounces. Italy is truly becoming your home. Hai scelto bene--is that right for "You've chosen well"?
ReplyDeleteThe sense of community here is quite strong and one of the reasons I wanted to be here. My husband spent 20 years in a town in NJ and didn't say more than "Hello" to a couple of neighbors. It's like stepping back in time...
ReplyDelete