Christmas Week 2012

23.12
Emanuele came over today to try marshmallows. We had worked on them all morning and had found skewers to roast them with. I was not happy with them -- I messed up the gelatin so they didn't hold together as well as they should have -- but they were still pretty good, and roasted up nicely if you didn't leave them TOO long. At least the sugar didn't crystallize this time. He had to get the fire going for me, though; can't roast them in the stufa, and the fireplace hates me. I can never make it start, not even with lighter fluid! He went and got some dry sticks to use for kindling and poof! A fire. I still think it's because fire likes him better.

He also brought Christmas presents. A gold heart necklace for Rose that she went wild over; a kilo of chestnuts that I will roast tomorrow for me; and a truly, truly amazing present for Elise: a woman's practice bow and 15 arrows. He showed her some exercises to work on so that she would be strong enough a) to shoot it, and b) just to be able to string it! It breaks down into a little briefcase about the size of a laptop bag. I am so touched by his amazing generosity to us.

24.12

I fail at traditional Italian Christmas Eve. I had bought steaks for us to have, and since we were going to Ornella’s I just took them over to cook and share (they were pretty big). Ornella and Claudio were HORRIFIED that we were eating MEAT on Christmas Eve! No no! You have fish! They were having pasta with shrimp. There was a ton of it, so they offered us some. Silly daughters don’t like shrimp. Who ARE these people. Not related to me, clearly. I had some and it was delicious. Then I failed again and put parmesan on it. Seems You Do Not Put Cheese On Fish here. I guess kedgeree and sole mornay are never going to fly here.

After supper we went down to the presepe vivente. Rosie got her angel suit; Elise and I just walked in the procession (I had on SCA clothes but who could tell under all the coats -- it was pretty frigid out). Mary and Joseph led the way – Mary rode the donkey for about a minute, but donkey was NOT enthused about the idea so she walked the rest of the way. They knocked on a couple doors seeking shelter and were sent summarily away, very sad. They were admitted to the church (which, appropriately, was FREEZING), then the rest of us went down to visit Herod and hear the Magi chat about following the star. Finally it was back up to the church for midnight mass, which I hadn’t actually planned to stay for, but there we were. Elise got claustrophobic and had to wait outside, but Rose likes going to church and this is the first time we’ve been since July, so we stayed.

Afterwards we got a picture with Babbo Natale out front. Only stockings tomorrow, but I think the girls will be pleased.

25.12

Babbo Natale has done well. Girls got jeweled hair clips and headbands, nutella in snowflake glasses, nail polish in various outlandish colors, and a necklace for Rose and earrings for Elise. Babbo Natale even brought Mamma presents! (I got my own nutella glass and a pair of jeweled hair clips. )

We went down to Salso for dinner with the Mazzoli. We must now add fiochetto to the list of prosciutto variants we are going to live hopelessly without after July. It was yum (and cheaper than culatello, so we can indulge more often. Elise has already asked me to get some next time I’m at the salumeria!). Agnelotti in brodo for primi, always a favorite, and sausages and roast potatoes for secondi. Eva told us how to roast the potatoes so they come out yummy and not hard and dry the way mine always do, so we are determined to try the experiment (mixture of water and olive oil in the bottom of the pan). The girls were cranky and rude through most of dinner, which was quite embarrassing – after all, these are pretty nearly total strangers who took us into their home for the holiday. It was a big deal to me. But Eva said not to worry. She also pulled out a couple of Francesco’s old Latin books from high school and lent me two of them. I started reading one when we got home and had to giggle: I struggle to read the newspaper, but I could read Roman history in Italian with ease! Ah, Second Language Acquisition class, you were right: having a solid base knowledge of the information ahead of time makes reading it much easier. Keeping this in mind as I continue with the writing of the book. (Not that I’ve made much progress lately. But still learning things as I go, so not a total loss.)

27.12

Effectively two playdates today: one with Denise and tea with Patrizia, the art teacher Ro loves so. I dropped Ro at Denise's house up in the hills (they're even more remote than we are, in Casa Veronica -- several ways to get there, but none of them likely to work in real snow!) and ran errands, then came back in time to go to Patrizia for tea (she lives about 100m down the hill from Denise, very convenient). Pat lived in England for a long time, has that very "ordinary" educated British accent (ie, you can't tell where she comes from by listening to her), so she is the only teacher who is really comfortable speaking English with Aurora. We made flowers out of clay and pompoms out of yarn scraps and just chatted for a couple hours. A very happy afternoon all around.

30.12

Emmanuele had a party at his house in Berzieri last night. He owns the little house that forms the back of the Berzieri chapel (not really big enough to call it a church), and has a pizza oven on the terrace at the back. The girls were invited too, though they were the only kids there -- they had some pizza and Emanuele showed them HIS bow (Elise has been practicing her exercises, and she could almost draw it; I couldn't even make it move), then Francesco very sweetly took them home again. I stayed till about midnight. MY primary function, of course, was as Bringer Of Marshmallows. We got skewers and roasted them over the fire in the ENORMOUS fireplace in the kitchen (and smoky -- I smelled like I had been at a club for days afterwards) and it was all quite hilarious. At one point even dipped them in fragolino, the liqueur made with the little strawberry-tasting grapes. Quite satisfactory! (It helps that this was the best batch yet - good texture and no crystallization.) Had a great time chatting with all the various and sundry (and I don't think I was the oldest by more than about 12 years, sigh), and now have five new fb friends! When spring comes and the roads are more predictable, must have another party, out on the terrace this time.

In Which The Lead-up To Christmas Is Quite Busy

18.12

Elise wants to go home. Starting the process of finding out what this means realistically for her school situation.  When I spoke to the registrar at the district office, she told me that the freshman class at Canyon Crest Academy, the arts magnet for Del Mar, was VERY full this year, so the likelihood of getting a transfer spot for the fall was extremely low, whereas getting a spot via the lottery from 8th grade was extremely likely. She said the past few years they have been able to take everyone who applied to CCA, and that it is always their goal to take everyone if they possibly can (though obviously that can change from year to year), so if Elise really wants CCA, she is much better off effectively repeating the last few months of 8th grade and entering the lottery with everyone else.

Interestingly, though the San Dieguito system does not offer Italian, under the California Heritage Language law, Elise would be eligible as an Italian (!) to request an Italian class be arranged for her in some fashion, and the school has to arrange it if they possibly can, and give her credit for it. She is very interested in continuing to take Italian, and whichever school she attends will make it happen. The registrar said that they have in the past been able to arrange easily for Italian, and she was not concerned about any logistics on that front. I asked if it mattered that we weren't really Italian; she said that since we are coming from Italy and Elise has been speaking Italian in school and in the home (a little), she would be eligible for services under the Heritage Language law. So that’s where we’re headed.

The only remaining problem is health insurance. At least here the meds are cheap, even without access to National Health pricing, but at home it’s unconscionable. If we can’t figure out something for the health insurance, she will have to stay with me and just go to regular high school next fall. Matthew is working on getting insurance, but it seems that my old insurance and BPS between them very helpfully failed to tell me when I asked exactly what I needed to do for Matt to get his own insurance, and now everyone is giving him problems. This does not bode well.

21.12

Today was the Christmas pageant in the primary school in Pellegrino. The lead roles were played by the 5th graders with everyone down to 1st grade as supporting cast. (The kindergarten/nursery school class had their own small play.) I don't know how it works from year to year, but this year's play was about San Francesco, or St Francis. If you are familiar with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, you will understand when I say this play had some similarities to that (the kids sang along with a professional soundtrack). It was quite sweet and I got it all on video. Now I just have to figure out how to get all these videos small enough to send to people! Aurora had a solo at the end of We Wish You A Merry Christmas, with the whole school joining in (in English!) at the end. Quite, quite adorable. (She was supposed to sing Silent Night, but she couldn’t remember the words and the other kids could join in easily on Wish You a Merry Christmas.)

We've got a busy few days ahead. Tomorrow is belly dance lesson. Saturday morning is rehearsal for the kids' concert (Italian Christmas carols) Saturday night. Saturday afternoon my friend Emanuele is coming over to experience a new treat: marshmallows. They don't exist in Italy -- I had to make them myself! The girls and I agree that homemade marshmallows VASTLY surpass storebought. they're very simple to make, just a pain to clean up. My sugar syrup crystallized a bit so they crunch ever so slightly, but they sure are delicious.

Sunday and Thursday Aurora has playdates with Sofi and with Denise. Sofi's 2-year-old brother was just yesterday diagnosed with celiac. I feel irrationally guilty about that.

Monday night is the presepe vivente, a living Nativity scene and parade at midnight after church. The whole town dresses up and walks down to the manger scene. Yes, it will be insanely cold (has been about 20 overnight lately) but the whole thing is less than 25 minutes, I'm told, and almost half of that is walking from the church to the scene, so it shouldn't be too bad. We will bundle up! Aurora will be an angel and Elise and I will be townspeople.

Christmas Eve we will have dinner with my neighbor Ornella and her family, ie, the entire population of Besozzola will gather together :) everyone else has fled for the comparative warmth of Parma or Salsomaggiore. Fortunately, the streets are clear and dry, so getting about has not been a problem! Christmas Day we are invited to Francesco’s parents in Salso for dinner – a bit boring for the girls, I fear, but lovely to have been invited.

From the Small World Department: Today I was in the market down in Salsomaggiore looking for some warm socks for the girls. I had found some for Santa Lucia to bring, and as they were a big hit I figured at 2E a pair I would get a few more. I found the stall, picked out the patterns (pink hearts for Rose, solid black for Elise and solid purple for me, naturally) when the stall owner asked me where I was from. I said Boston. He replied, "oh, my neighbor's son lives in Boston. Maybe you know him?"

Now, Greater Boston is home to over 5 MILLION people. So I start to smile politely, when he adds, "My neighbor is Fiorina."

And I replied, "Oh, Paolo, of course! Yes, I know him, he works across the street from me. He helped me find a doctor for my daughters, who are diabetic."

And we all digested that bit of information for a minute.

(I also chatted with them a bit about going to Rome. The wife sighed and said she always wanted to go to Rome. The husband snorted and said it was too far away, no point. From our driveway in the depths of the country to our hotel in Rome the trip took just over 5 hours, and 45 minutes of that was getting to the train station in the first place. They couldn't even imagine having family in the equivalent from here of Kazakhstan!)

Tomorrow is the second Christmas concert with the children. It is not clear to me whether this is the same concert as yesterday or a different one, but I will be sure to video it (charged up all my batteries today!).

22.12

Christmas concert was a little surreal, but lovely. There was the kids’ concert and then the adult choir. What I found fascinating was that most of the songs were in English! Or were barely singable Italian translations of English carols. (Of course, I suppose one must recall that Silent Night is German.) Only five or six out of the entire program were actually Italian. Does English really corner the market on cool Christmas carols? Apparently.

Aurora reprised her Merry Christmas solo of the Christmas play, and was as usual quite adorable. Food and wine at the Franciscan hostel afterwards, but it was cold and Elise wasn’t feeling well, so we didn’t stay long. Aurora was QUITE put out, as she had found friends and they were playing tag in the street.  #villagelife: it’s after 10pm and no obvious parents anywhere to be seen, but no one cares. Of course they’re safe playing in the street in the middle of the night. We’re all here, aren’t we? Of course, I suppose it’s easier when there are only 1100 people in the entire area and virtually all of them are right here. Everybody knows everybody at least to say hi to, and of course EVERYBODY knows us.

Addendum to Christmas party: Among the myriad additional kids that Aurora invited was a 5th grade boy named Matteo. His mom, Ida, came up and hung out for the party (as indeed several of the moms did, which was a great help in keeping the party organized!). Several kids brought little presents -- a panetonne, a bottle of wine -- but Matteo brought really the coolest of all: a little glass Christmas tree with blown glass bubble ornaments and a color-changing LED (blue-purple-red) in the bottom. It is AWESOME and will be part of my Christmas decorations forever now. Ida's other child is Giulia. I wish we could get Giulia and Elise to be friends. I think they'd both be happier, as they seem to have a great deal in common -- too bright for the Pellegrino schools, shy, bookish -- they even look a little alike! But they're both so paranoid about speaking the other's language that I don't think it will happen. Sigh.

December, Part the First

1.12

For future reference, DRIVE to Malpensa. It’s about 2.5 hours. On the train between getting to Fidenza station (40 mins), train to Centrale (95 minutes), bus to Malpensa (60 minutes), and the associated wait times, it took the better part of 4 hours to get Ron to his plane, and 4 hours home again. Ugh.

3.12

Elise has been suffering from stomach stuff on and off for several weeks now. I spoke to Dr Wolfsdorf about it last week, and he said to get a celiac test, as her symptoms seem to indicate that. Since we were going to see Dr Chiari today anyway, I called and asked him to order a celiac test and full blood panel. Naturally, being Italy, it's not that easy. What he did was make up the prescription for the test. I had to make the appointment and buy the urinanalysis kit (!). Fortunately the test doesn't have to be done in Parma. We can go to Fidenza at 7:30 Wednesday morning and get her back to school by 9. So that's the plan. The test is expensive for those of us without national health - $190 - but it's important that we not wait. Aurora should also have a full blood panel done, but we should have our national health cards sometime in January, and we can have hers done for $10 then. QUITE the difference!

In anticipation of a positive diagnosis for celiac, we have bought a bunch of gluten-free pasta, crackers and flour. Elise was without gluten or milk today and says she feels much better. She has been complaining of stomachache and gassiness after most meals lately, and did not today. (For celiac webMD recommended that she also be without milk for 2 weeks until the intestine heals a little, then milk is ok again. In the short term, I'm treating for celiac since that seems to be working. She's unhappy about the no milk, but I pointed out that 2 weeks is no big deal. "Forever" is a little bigger deal. But then, "dead" is an even bigger deal, so we're going to work with it.)

Celiac is a common complication for T1DM patients. Fortunately, it is easy to control: just ditch all gluten. Wheat and barley are off the list permanently if indeed this is what it is. (Dr Chiari pointed out that there are several other GI issues, all of which will eventually resolve, that also respond well to reduced gluten in the diet, so I haven't given up ALL hope yet.) But hey, we all read labels obsessively at this point anyway, so it's just one more thing to look out for. With any luck it will force her to find more vegetables she likes!

Not much else to report. It snowed last night, just enough that there was snow in the grass in shadowy places (none on the road) and a BUNCH on the Alps. I wish I'd had my camera on our way to Parma this morning, as it was quite beautiful. We're planning a Christmas party for the older kids on Dec 15, with invitations to be delivered on Wednesday after Elise finally gets to school, and for the littler ones on the 16th. Not sure what I'm going to do with piles of random children for 2 hours on two days, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

5.12

We went and got the blood and urine panels done this morning. Elise felt very faint when it was all over and was feeling very ill by the time we got to school, so I dropped baby and brought her home. She slept all day and seems in better spirits now. She'll go to school tomorrow. Part of it I think was having to get up very early but not able to eat breakfast until very late -- she was 308 when we got home because I didn't want to give her any insulin lest she get low.

It's cold out, but hasn't been foggy the last couple days. There was an attempt at snow yesterday, but it became freezing rain briefly and then went away altogether -- no accumulation at all.

Parent-teacher meetings for the lower school today. All Rosie's teachers said she's VERY bright, VERY capable, and when she concentrates, an outstanding student. She just doesn't concentrate very often. I was appalled by the English teacher. Woman doesn't ACTUALLY speak English. She couldn't understand me at all. She's not convinced Rose speaks English because "she says she can't understand my accent. That's because my accent is British." No, it's because your accent is so heavily Italian and you mispronounce everything so significantly that *I* can barely understand you. Ugh.

The house is chilly upstairs so we stay downstairs, where it's quite lovely with the pellet stove. I'm experimenting with some more cooking things, especially a few gluten-free, in case celiac really is the diagnosis. I decreed tonight to be the first night of Hanukkah and made latkes and apple sauce. They turned out pretty well! Going to try frying a chicken in gluten-free flour this weekend.

Planning a Xmas party for Aurora's friends on the 15th. Was going to have one for Elise but she is not willing to do it. Aurora talks to her friends a goodish bit in something very close to Italian, so she is making good progress. Elise understands nearly everything, but is unwilling to talk. She is very lonely. I don't know how to help.

7.12

Snowing now but not terribly much - not a heavy blizzard or anything, more like the snow version of drizzle. Fortunately we don't have to be anywhere before Monday, so not too worried. Some slightly more christmas-y pix added distributed to the famille who celebrate same.

Elise has started her morning that last two days by drinking a couple of the anti-nausea mineral drinks the pediatrician gave her, and says she feels better. I'm keeping the gluten to a minimum too, but dehydration does seem to be a real issue with her. Wouldn't it be lovely if it turned out we just had to limit her gluten and give her gatorade every day?

December, Part the Second, Including the Premiere Italian-American Christmas Party

8.12
Snow is all gone on the sunny slope and mostly gone on the shady slope -- it's nearly 40 degrees out and strong sun, so no issues there. Not supposed to snow again for at least 5 days. We've brought in a bunch of wood so it can dry out -- Roisin insists that a fire in the fireplace will warm the upstairs significantly, but it's all so wet at the moment that we are unable to assay the experiment.

Aurora decided that really, more kids at a party is better, so she invited the whole lower school (I had given her a couple extra invites for her teachers, and she gave them out to 4th and 5th graders instead). UGH. Oh well, I remain hopeful that only about a dozen total (of the originally 17+4 teachers, now 23 because there are some siblings) will actually show up. Her favorite teacher has already told me she will be here, so that's good -- the art teacher went to school in London and speaks perfect English, and is very approachable as well, so Ro is very fond of her. We'll make cookies and construction paper xmas decorations, eat the cookies and kick them all out. It'll be fine.

11.12
The snow that fell Friday is almost all gone. Only the shadiest places still have any. One section of road down to Pellegrino was a little slippery yesterday morning, but today it was 50 degrees out at 1 pm so the roads are now completely clear. Except for being a little earlier than I expected, this conforms completely with what Roisin said about the winter -- snow, warms up and melts, more snow, more melt. (No snow is currently predicted for the next week. The less the merrier!)

Santa Lucia arrives tomorrow night. I believe she will be leaving the girls a letter explaining why she didn't bring a lot, but definitely things they had said they wanted. We will leave her a sandwich and her donkey a carrot so they will be well-disposed toward us. Babbe Natale (Santa Claus) only brings stocking stuffers on Christmas eve, and Befana the witch brings candy on Epiphany (6 Jan), so the holiday madness goes on and on. Plus we had latkes and homemade applesauce last week. Lots of celebrating!

The blood test results became available today. I may have to go to Parma Thursday so I will pick them up then. The permesso is still in limbo -- I called one office today to try to get some information on what's holding it up, and she was incomprehensible. I found the phone number for the other office late this afternoon and will try them in the morning.

Getting ready for Aurora's Christmas party on Saturday. Elise will not have to deal with a zillion small children in the house -- she has been invited to go ice skating with the other girls in her class on Saturday afternoon. I am hopeful that this will be a breakthrough in her willingness to stay, but I am trying to stay low key about things. She is still talking about wanting to go home, but beyond investigating the school situation a little we have not made any firm decisions.

I've finally put up my spinning wheel and have made some inroads into the big bag of alpaca fleece that I brought. Elise is also interested in spinning now, and has been working on the drop spindle. She's taken to it much faster than I did -- her yard is already looking pretty reasonable! She wants to crochet a scarf with it. I have a nice pattern that is pretty simple -- we'll see how it goes. She plied the two spools of yarn I finished over the weekend and rolled it into a ball for me, so she's getting a good sense of the work involved. It's nice to have something we're sort of working on together.


13.12
We left a sandwich for Santa Lucia and a carrot for her donkey, and she was sufficiently pleased that she left us a 3D puzzle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a Roman empire version of Risk, and lots of warm fluffy socks. Satisfactory. Aurora is very concerned that Santa won’t be able to find her here, and now that Santa Lucia won’t be able to find her in Boston. I opined that Santa is pretty much on top of things, but that indeed Santa Lucia seems to be a purely European phenomenon and so we probably won’t see her in the US. And Befana only really brings candy. She’s not going to make it to Boston, I can tell.

14.12
Went to Fidenza to get blood test results – not going to Parma yet. Small happy things that happen: as I was getting out of the car, a young woman walked up to me and asked if my errand would take longer than an hour. I said, no, probably about 30 minutes (since I didn’t know where the building with the results was). So she handed me her parking slip, which still had an hour and five minutes on it. It’s one euro. But hey, why not use it?
Turns out I needed every minute of it, because I couldn’t pay for the results at the window where the envelope was. Had to go find a bank to pay, then come back with the receipt to get them. Italy has an odd approach to paying bills. You can almost never pay the bill to whomever it is you owe, but you can almost always pay either at a random bank or at the post office. Which is, depending on your situation at that moment, either great or a serious hassle. So I had to hoof it down to the business district, find an open bank (as it was noon by now and most banks close around then), wait FOREVER for the person in front of me to go through an entire file folder of bills to pay, get my receipt and sprint back to get the envelope before my benefactress’s parking slip died. Made it back with two minutes to spare by the dashboard clock.
As far as I can tell, the blood panel results say this patient is type 1 diabetic and not much else, but I will send them to Dr Wolfsdorf in Boston for confirmation. God bless him for taking care of us while we’re overseas, and more to the point, not paying him.
It started to snow on my way home and is now fairly white out. Remaining hopeful that it stops soon so Aurora’s party doesn’t have to be cancelled.

15.12
Aurora's Christmas party was a great success. We had 15 kids, in spite of some staying away because they thought the roads would be too icy. Yesterday the snow stopped by late afternoon and it immediately warmed up to almost 45 degrees, then dropped again overnight. This morning everything was COVERED with ice. However, it was 42 degrees out by noon and the ice was falling off things in big chunks. I'm told the roads were terrifying at 8 am and practically dry by 1. The kids made some Christmas ornaments, a bunch of gingerbread and sugar cookies, played outside, and went away again. Aurora's art teacher came and brought little headbands for the girls to decorate. The boys made cookies for a while then took off for a snowball fight. Everyone seems to have a good time, so we're calling it a success!

Getting ready for the Christmas concert next week. Aurora will be singing a solo of Silent Night. It will be an adorable, if less than tuneful, rendition – hoping to get decent video of it. And to be able to compress it enough that I can send it to the grandparents.

In Which November Gets A Little More Play  

25.11
Had hoped to go out today but it’s raining, so everyone had a mellow day reading or watching TV. Ron says it’s been the best vacation ever, even if we haven’t done much out in Italy proper, just to get to relax and read stuff that’s NOT about enviro policy for a change!

26.11

Took a walk up toward Pietra Nera in the fog. Not super cold, so that was nice, but lots of places where The World Ends – the fog is so thick that past the edge of the road it looks like there is absolutely nothing. I tried to take pictures but my brain is clearly somehow messed up on this front: The camera never seemed to see what I saw. Maybe I should learn to paint. Of course, if I don’t learn to speed paint it won’t help – the fog patterns changed completely in the hour it took to walk up past the Allelujah and back again. By the time we got back, we were on a mountain in patchy fog, not on an island in the midst of a cloud.

27.11

Took Ron to Arquato today. We found the 12th church door and poked around inside -- beautiful! If the weather is nice Sunday I may take the girls. It was really gorgeous -- 12th altarpiece, 15th c frescoes in one chapel and 17th c paintings and sculpture in the other.  The frescoes are light sensitive, so you have to turn the lights on with 50c pieces, and we didn’t have but one. So only a quick look, but how gorgeous were they! Must go again armed with a roll of 50s! And we didn't even get into the museum! Amazing how much there is to do right here. We also had lunch in one of the restaurants, di Volpe, in the medieval town, and it was DELICIOUS (though, as Ron correctly pointed out, not as good as Trinita'). The pears in cognac with chocolate were amazing. Sadly, had to cut the afternoon short as 4 o’clock was rapidly approaching and we needed to get home before the girls.

28.11

The Facchini brothers came over and fixed the light sensor on Friday. The next day, the boiler unit started to drip. I called them again and they sent one Raimondo Ferrari out to look at it. (He sounds like an expensive sportscar. He apparently is, in fact, related to the expensive sportscars – they make them here in Emilia-Romagna, you know.) He said it was dripping because it's in desperate need of maintenance. It cost 30E to have him clean it up, but he didn't do full maintenance on it – that’s expensive, and Roisin will have to approve it. I’m letting her schedule it. The phone guy also finally showed up and Mamma called last night, so we know it works again! No further problems with the internet at all. Very happy.

In Which November Gets Rather Short Shrift, But It Is Better Than Nothing

10.11 Wifi guys were supposed to come today, but only if it wasn’t raining. It is. Day 3 with no wifi, argh. On the plus side, I’ve finished almost 2 months’ worth of blog! I’m interested to see very clearly how much we depend on the web for entertainment – usually Elise and I never watch tv, but the last couple days we’ve been positively American in our consumption! Now off to clean the kitchen so I can make torta fritta for supper tonight. Ornella said she’d come over and help me do it – especially important since I’ll be doing it without a pasta machine. Forced to use a rolling pin, ack! Do I even HAVE a rolling pin?

Wifi guys have come and gone, and wifi R us. But the phone is still out.

In the end, a rolling pin (which I do NOT in fact have) was not necessary – Ornella brought over her pasta machine and said I could keep it. She’ll fetch it if she needs it. We made about 1.2 kilos of torta fritta pasta, then froze 3/4s. I was going to cook it in my rosemary-steeped olive oil, but she said canola oil was better. (I still plan to try the rosemary oil at some point.)

11.11 Girls are fans of torta fritta. Had to defrost a packet already to make more. We made a bunch of empty ones, then filled some with chicken bits or with prosciutto. VERY yum.

12.11 Star Trek Original Series every weeknight at 7. Girls are determined to watch. I am a success as a parent.

15.11 Today was the last citizenship class. I don’t have to take the exam, which is fine, but because I’m not applying for a long-term permesso I’m not allowed to take the Italian language exam. Have to call questura for place to take a class so I can take test. I want that cert, dammit.

16.11 new season of Big Bang Theory starts tonight. We sing the theme song together and leap in the air on HEY! #familymoments

17.11 Aurora had a playdate with Mati today while I took Elise to the Salsomaggiore Terme, the actual baths. What a disappointment. The entrance fee (36E if just for the day, 19E if you buy a ticket book of 7) only gets you into the spring-fed baths, which, as it turns out, are plenty mineral-y but are not hot. Barely even warm. Then there’s nowhere to shower when you’re done! The Italians apparently like the feel of the mineral mix on the skin afterwards. We felt all sticky. Came home and showered instantly. There’s much more to the spa, but it goes from wildly expensive to insanely so pretty quickly. We were going to buy a ticket book but decided it was definitely not worth it. So we paid our 72E (ouch!) and chalked it up to experience.

Stopped by the grocery store on the way home and got sausages and speck to try. Speck seems to be very similar to pastrami. For dinner I got pizza from the Vecchia Caserma. Saw rabbits, wild boar, and what may have been a badger on the drive down. Raccoon-y looking, working on something in its little hands. Pizza seems to have made me sick as a dog. Up much of night. Bleh. I love tonno-cipolle-rucola pizza. I shall be permanently sad if tummy refuses to like it anymore.

18.11 Tried some of the new sausages – I liked them (fairly ordinary breakfast sausages as far as I can tell) but the girls predictably did not. Pancakes for breakfast – I thought I had put too much vanilla in them, but apparently too much vanilla is a big winner with the girls. I am directed to put too much vanilla in from now on. Aurora not feeling good and slept most of the day, but seemed a little better by bedtime. Hoping she will go to school tomorrow – I have a lot to do before Ron gets here.

19.11 Cleaning up. Ron arrives today for two weeks. Phone guy supposed to come late this afternoon.

20.11 After travelling for the better part of 24 hours yesterday, Ron was exhausted and slept most of the day. Elise made her specialty chicken purses for dinner.

21.11 Elise home with another vomiting episode. Not happy about this. Raffaele and Michele came by to check on phone and auto-light at top of stairs. It's apparently a simple repair for the sensor, but they have to get a part. They said they'd call when Telecom guy can come by, and hope to be back by Friday with part for sensor. Ron and I walked up to Angela’s, in hopes of getting one of her turkeys for Thanksgiving, but no go --  she says she doesn't them. She did however finally give me the recipe for “ceesecake” and for her torta di mela. This makes 4 new kinds of pasta that I have recipes for. Of course, the Italians call everything pasta, where we would say pasta, batter, or dough, depending on consistency. Here, just pasta.

22. 11 Thanksgiving. Both girls home sick, Ro with croup again. Went to see Eleanora’s pediatrician in Salso, who was very nice and said since she didn't really take much time with us there was no need to pay her. She gave saline lavage to Ro, and a mineral/electrolyte pak to El to reduce the nausea. Elise has declared it a great success and notices a distinct difference in the nausea. Stuff looks radioactive, but as long as it works. Ron cooked us a tiny Thanksgiving dinner of chicken and stuffing, eggplant casserole, and bietole.

23.11 Both still home sick. Ro clearly has croup again, though not as bad as in the past. Elise is not much better but is at least eating. Telecom guy showed up unannounced. Fortunately we were here. Phone now works, yay! Still planning to have dinner party tomorrow for 12. Must clean up downstairs if a gerzillion people are going to be here L Ron had to work for a while today so I did three pages on imperfect and future verbs. Progress. Got the nicest note from Cindy Stephens about Thanksgiving parties of yore. Managed not to burst into tears over it.

24.11 Spent the day cooking for our festa Americana. Ron made fried chicken (I am bitter that his is better than mine), chili, and bête noire, his signature flourless chocolate torte. I made green bean casserole, because it’s Thanksgiving and it’s like a law, and banana pudding, and set the table and put out antipasti. Stefania, Federica and GianLuca, Francesco, Alessandra and Maurizio, and the kids all came. Everyone was a big fan of the food, and next to nothing was left. We had a lovely evening, and as soon as I can find some more ancho powder to make more chili I will do it again. Everyone stayed till about midnight, and spoke enough English among them all that Ron wasn’t excluded. It was a really nice evening.