23.10 I had a very successful shopping day in Salso. At one of the clothes stalls I found 2 more of the currently fashionable lace tunic outfits (but no more after this! From now on, only things that one can wear to school or are winter-warm!), but when I was trying them on I dropped my sunglasses behind one of the boxes. Didn’t notice I’d lost them until nearly an hour later. SCOURED the market (naturally by then I’d been to about 12 different stalls), but happily on returning to the clothes stall they had them. WHEW. No interest in losing prescription sunglasses abroad!

Next, regular grocery store shopping, where I discovered: ciobar lava cakes. Oh the humanity! Elise made them up for dinner. They are serious about the not more than 8 mins part – after 8 minutes it cooks through and becomes just cake. Enough food in house now not to get more than milk before we go to Rome next week.

24.10 Gorgeous out – laundry to soak up sun! We were almost out of eggs so Rosie and I walked up to the farm at Berzieri and hung out with Rosana for a bit (Aurora got low so we intruded to get her a little juice). The henhouse produced a total of one egg and it was too early in the afternoon for milk, but we had a nice visit and coffee (mistake. Writing this at 1 am. Very bad). When Elise got home, we took advantage of the sunshine and drove to the top of the hill (not QUITE to Pietra Nera, the very top, though we could see it from where we were, about ¼ mile away) – Mirella is crazy, that is not a short walk. 4km. (She had recommended that Mark and I walk up there since it was a great view and “not too far”.) Great view, such a beautiful day for it. We hiked around the ridge and took some very nice pictures, though they’d have been better if there had been less haze.

We had the fresh salmon from the Salso fishmonger for dinner but the girls didn’t eat it – very picky about bones. I’m just not getting fish again here. Too much drama. Made me a ciobar to cheer up. At the veg market in Pellegrino on Monday I bought another set of mystery leaves– the man in the stall said it was like spinach, and it was, a little milder, but tasty. Next time I’m at the Pellegrino market I’ll have to ask him what it was so we can get it again. Catalogna turns out to be chicory – poor man’s arugula, basically, just not as peppery but a tad more bitter. I don’t mind it, but it’s a little strong for the girls. I’ll have to try sauteeing it with garlic sometime, since that’s a way I really like arugula.

25.10 Gorgeous day – likely to be the last for a long time if TheWeatherChannel.com is to be believed. Since I didn’t have anything pressing at home, I decided to follow the other side of the fork on the way to school and drove up to Iggio, about 2 km up the hill on the other side of the little valley where Pellegrino is.  Now, it might have been the sunrise breaking up the mist, or it might just be that Iggio is prettier than Besozzola. It’s certainly more prosperous, with lots of big houses on large plots. Before heading home I took another detour to what turns out to be called Stuzzano, my Brigadoon. (I call it that because it is only visible from certain parts of the road at certain angles because of a spur of the hill, so it disappears.) Kinda creepy, actually – the town seemed totally empty and still, and most of the buildings had lots of broken windows. A couple houses had laundry out or blooming flowers in window boxes, so it’s not COMPLETELY abandoned, but it did look awfully forlorn.

Did laundry, because, well, sunshine. Alessandra called and asked if I could pick up the girls because she had to go to Salso directly after the parent meeting. I panicked. What parent meeting? Why do I not know this? Then when I got down there I realized I had intended to MISS said parent meeting, as it was elections for the school site council. There are supposed to be 4 board members from each school (elementary and middle), and though 15 parents showed up for the elementary meeting, only 4 did for the middle school meeting. The upshot of which is, I got myself elected to the school site council – argh! But Alessandra confused me. I blame her. Trying now at 1 am to make train reservations for Rome, but stupid Cap One decided midnight train reservations were a scam and blocked my card. Now I can’t get through and I’m afraid the prices are going to go through the roof by morning (currently 173, will be up to 225 each way soon L )

26.10 Gloomy rainy colder (though admittedly not COLD yet). Without web access all day – Alice box died. Marcella (bellydance teacher) told me I have the perfect shape for bellydance: “you cannot do bellydance if you have no belly!” After the lesson we went down to Salso in hopes of replacing Alice. The elettrodomestici said they do, in fact, carry that brand, and expect a new shipment next Friday. ARGH! However, upon returning home it occurred to me to plug it back in, just in case… and voila! Works again. Just needed to be jostled around for 2 hours I guess. While in Salso we hit the grocery store for a few things just to keep from having to go back before we got to Rome (IF we go – still can’t get Trenitalia to take my card), and we found not only more Ciobar lava cakes but Pan de Stelle mooncakes! Life on chocolate, here we are.

Elise dropped her iPod in a puddle in the midst of our shopping. Arivu told me to put my bepuddled phone into a bowl of rice for 24 hours to save it, and iPod has been duly entombed in rice. Keeping good thoughts for its eventual resuscitation.

The drive home would have been unremarkable except for one thing (well, actually, a bunch of things): FROGS! WTH, frogs? As we came across the valley toward our mountain, we were all but assaulted by frogs in the road. I know I hit at least one. Leaping, and staring at me from the road. At first I thought they were leaves, but then we saw their eyes. And suddenly realized they were EVERYWHERE. All crossing the road from right to left as we were traveling. I had to keep swerving to avoid more and more and more frogs. They finally disappeared as we started to climb toward our road home. Now we get all jumpy (ha ha, jumpy) every time we see leaves bouncing across the road.