Okay, this is a good one.  Italy is divided into regions in the same way the US is divided into states.  The regions are relatively independent with their own laws and taxes.  Soooooo, in Piemonte where we live there is a tax that Funeral Homes have to pay to transport one's "remains" in hearses to and from funerals and cemeteries.  But in the region south of us, Liguria, there is no such tax.  In this country where Berlusconi has still not been put in jail and in fact even came in second in the recent elections, a hearse was stopped coming over the border from Liguria into Piemonte.  Police had been staking them out, watching the procession of mourners following the hearse as it left the church on one side of the border and drove to the cemetery on the other side.  Once the criminals crossed the border the "tax police" stopped them, ticketed them and escorted them to the nearest regional office to pay the appropriate tax.  All of this with the poor dead soul tucked up in his box, along for the ride. 

On a brighter note, I have the date for my written exam.  The 29th of March, 8 a.m..  By the way, the tow truck finally showed up at 5pm yesterday.  Thankfully it came with a replacement car which we have until tomorrow when we pick up our rental and begin the search for a car to buy.  EEEEEEK!  xxoo me

Advice.  Never, ever get in a car accident in Italy.  The paperwork to be filled out alone will put you off, but then there is the waiting around for the police (1/2 hr), waiting around for the police to assess the situation and discuss it amongst themselves(1 + hrs), the waiting for the tow truck to come (another 1 hr or more, still waiting).  And that's assuming it goes as it should.  Then say the guy who caused the accident didn't want to fill out his portion of the paperwork because he would have had to testify to his guilt which means his insurance would not have paid his damages so...in that case the police have to "extra" examine the scene and determine who is responsible and sign off on the papers.  All of this began 2 hours ago as GP was out and about.  A typical driver didn't stop at a corner and took the front end off our car.  Fortunately no one was hurt but really!  Ain't life grand?

So while waiting for GP to come home, I'm here at the apartment with the hot water/heating repair guys.  They are working diligently away replacing some piece that has been making our heater sound like a giant tea kettle.  Right now they seem to be vacuuming it.  One thing I love about Italy is that there is always eye-candy.  One of these technicians looks like he should be starring in a South American soap opera.  Long, black hair in a thick pony-tail; big, dark, soulful eyes; young enough to be my son....  xxoo me

Even after 6 months, this apartment living thing is proving difficult to adjust to.  I miss my privacy.  I don't just miss privacy in my own home where I have no guestroom to hide in for reading and no office door to shut and yell "I'm working!".  There is no privacy from the neighbors either.  We know when they shower, they know when we shower.  We know when they use the bathroom, they know when we use the bathroom.  We hear them argue, they may hear us argue though our volume is definitely lower than theirs.  In fact I know way too much about some of these people though I probably wouldn't recognize them on the street.  I know the couple upstairs sleep separately.  She's in the bedroom, he sleeps on a pull-out couch that opens with a screech every night around 10.  I know that the neighbors across the hall fry way too much and eat fish at least once a week.  I know that the neighbors who share a wall with us have two grandmothers who babysit.  One is very strict and the other plays games and lets the kids stay up late.  I don't know this much about my neighbors in Maine after 20 years.  I miss the silence of my own 4 unshared walls, where if I have the TV off there is not a voice to be heard.

I go back to the DMV on Thursday to get my test date.  I've been doing 3 to 5 practice tests a day for the past few weeks.  I usually pass but every once in a while I mess up.  Argh.  And then the real fun begins.  We'll have to start car shopping soon.  Oh, joy to think of the hours of paperwork that await me to buy a car, get it inspected, registered and insured in Italy.  xxoo me

Italy's elections were yesterday and it seems not much has been resolved.   I don't presume to understand Italian politics at all but this I can say.  People in general are much more politically aware or interested than in the States.  Everyone talks politics and with a lot of passion but much less animosity than in the U.S..  Voting turnout is usually high and people are pretty knowledgeable.  I see much less apathy than at home.  All that said, a lot of politicians here seem to be pretty corrupt or useless.  This is probably why the protest votes for Grillo (the comedian) were so high.  He and the party he represents are the only ones who haven't been ensconced in the government for years benefiting from amazingly high salaries and extras.

What I find funny is that the government could crash and burn, (as it has so many times), and completely close down for a matter of days or even weeks, and it has little to no effect on the day to day doings of Italians.  They are so accustomed to political chaos and drama that they shrug it off like it's no big deal.  Hmmm.

The gardeners are out spring pruning the trees in front of the condos.  I'm taking that as a sign that this period of cold and snow and rain is finally over and that long ago promised early spring is finally coming.  The sun is out and it's about 50 degrees so I'm optimistic. 

xxoo me

Grace went into the city today after school with a couple of friends.  She asked me to pick her up smack dab in the center at 6:30.  Driving in I was against the traffic until I hit the center.  It took me about a half an hour.  Getting home was another story.  Rush hour in an Italian city is absolute chaos.  I think I broke about 20 laws trying to maneuver my way out.  Much of the center is closed to traffic apart from authorized vehicles.  I'm not authorized.  Then I kept getting pushed over onto the tram tracks by aggressive drivers making an extra lane.  Driving on the tram tracks is a no no but I'm afraid to scratch GP's new car.  At a couple of traffic lights I sort of drove through on red.  I was following the guy in front of me.  Hope I didn't get caught on any sort of surveillance tape as I'd hate to have points taken off my license before I even get it.  It took us almost an hour to get home.  Next time she can walk.

I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night with some old friends.  I know them from my previous life here.  One gal is Irish who was married to an Italian and we once taught together.  The other is half English half Italian and was a neighbor here at the condos.  I've only had the chance to see them a few times since we've been back so I'm looking forward to it.  Grace will be home alone as GP is away for work.  I'll lock and bolt her all in and she can fend for herself.  This is punishment for making me drive into the center tonight.  xxoo me

Heading down south made me feel like a tourist again.  Northern and southern Italy are very much like different countries.  In fact Italy as we know it is a newer nation than the U.S., the separate "states" not becoming unified until the late 1800's.  There is the typical animosity between the north and the south here.  The south is more rural, agricultural, poorer and influenced heavily by various factions of the "mafia". The north is urban, industrial and wealthier.  Northerners consider Southerners criminals, (in fact most crime is in the south), and do-nothings,(much higher unemployment), who live off the state.  Consequently the north resents the south being supported by it's tax dollars and would happily revert to a dividing line south of Florence.  All of that in mind I went down there expecting to have my bag snatched the second I got off the train in Pompeii.  It didn't happen.  Of course we spent our time in areas that live off the tourist's dollar but still I found most everyone helpful and friendly and felt perfectly safe wherever we went.

Amalfi

Vicki and Grace being foolish

Limoncello!

Grace on stairs/road

mules carrying building equipment

Deni on stairs of one of Amalfi's breakwaters.

This was especially true in Amalfi.  If you've never considered going there - do!  The Amalfi coast is an array of small towns and tiny villages hanging on the cliffs and crowded onto the very narrow shore of the Mediterranean Sea south of Naples.  We took a stomach churning bus ride from Salerno to the town of Amalfi on Tuesday.  The roads are all twisty and turn-y, very narrow and often right on a precipice over looking the sea.  It is really something to see.  The hillside are covered in orange and lemon groves.  The towns have few passable roads and in fact are mostly trafficked by foot up and down steep stairs and paths.  We spent the next 3 days walking up and down those stairs and paths visiting a few villages, exploring the town of Amalfi and building up appetites for daily gelatos.  We drank fresh Limoncello at a bar by the shore on a sunny afternoon, ate seafood in a wonderful little restaurant tucked into a corner of a tiny piazza, climbed and climbed and climbed, which explains the sore calves.  Every corner was exciting because we never knew what would come into view.  We ran into young men riding donkeys carrying construction gear in the tiny village of Scala.  In fact donkeys and goats are symbols of the area as they are used for hauling stuff up and down these treacherous hills.  I hope to return in warmer weather some day and see the place in bloom.  It must be spectacular.  xxoo me

Pompeii road - stone

theatre - stone

victims

Grace and Vicki

After our visit, sister Deni said when she closed her eyes all she saw was rocks.  There are a lot of rocks in Pompeii.  Stone houses, stone paved roads, stone garden walls and stone towers and piles of stones.  And in the background Vesuvius.  When we were there on a chilly rainy day, Vesuvius looked deep blue.  It's crater was covered with clouds, but when they blew away we could see snow.  Very impressive.  Pompeii has been falling apart for some time because of lack of funding or more appropriately, misused funding.  The EU has gotten involved and thrown a whole bunch of money at the project with all sorts of stipulations including new management and trying to keep the Camorra (mafia) at bay.  Anyhow, if it cleans up the rubble and opens up some of the many closed off areas, goody.  Was a wonderful though cold day.  xxoo me

We have returned from a visit to the southern realms of the Patria, and it was wonderful!  Alas the weather did not always cooperate but it certainly could have been worse considering that we were traveling in February.  Apart from very sore calves, the cause of which I'll explain later, Grace and I got back safe and sound last night at about 9.  I'm glad to say it felt like coming home to our little place here.  It may never be Maine but we are settling in.  Today has been spent doing laundry and catching up on news and basically just
lazing around.  I'm now in my room looking out the window at the neighbor's palm tree that seems a little incongruous skirted by snow as it is.  I was awoken this a.m. by the tapping of high-heels and the hum of the vacuum cleaner from upstairs. Yep, I'm back.

So we headed by train to Rome last Saturday.  We took the fast train, upwards of 300 kilometers an hour, and made it there in 4 hours.  GP went down with us to see the sisters as he had to be in Rome on Monday for work.  There was a woman seated by us with the smallest dog I've ever seen.  It looked like a praying mantis, all skinny bicycling legs and huge bulbous eyes.  It was so ugly cute that while walking by on my way to the bathroom I attempted to pat it, (with two fingers as more would blanket it's weeny head).  The nasty little thing lunged at me and frothing at the mouth tried to take off my finger (or the tip of it).  I was tempted to flick the sneer off it's mini face but mom was quite protective.  Oh well.

Saturday afternoon we walked around the Borghese gardens that cover a huge chunk of Rome.  It would take ages to see the whole thing.  We came out above the Piazza del Popolo.  The day was cool but sunny so the views over Vatican City and surrounds were fabulous.  Our first dinner of vacation was of course pizza and it was yummy.

view of the Vatican from Pz. del Popolo

the colosseum

Grace high above Rome on the Altare della Patria

Sunday we went to the Catacombs where there are 17 kilometers of underground tombs.  Not much to see down there but lots of dank holes in the walls that were once filled by skeletons.  The remains have all been removed for safe-keeping as tourists were evidently pocketing bits and pieces of the deceased.  In the afternoon we went by the Colosseum and various points in the center before catching a train to Naples and then switching to a smaller local train to Pompeii.  The walk from the train station in Pompeii to our hotel was very long.  But we recovered with a great dinner and a couple bottles of wine.  Pompeii on next post.  xxoo me

Forget that spring is springing here comment.  I don't know what I was thinking, believing the weathermen and their predictions for the end of winter.  Silly me.  They've never gotten it right before, why would they this time.  I was hoping against hope.  Anyhow, we are supposed to have snow and rain all up and down the country over the next few days with cold air blowing down from the north.  Of course that means our trip south may well be marred by intemperate weather!  Today it was quite chilly and a strong breeze has come up that makes the views incredible.  I had to pick Grace up at 6pm, (at a parking lot here in our city outside of the city), as she had a school ski trip today.  The sun was just setting as I headed out and the mountains were black and tall against a pale blue sky.  Sometimes I forget how close we are to the Alps and then BOOM, there they are. 

We are meeting the sisters in Rome on Saturday, spending the weekend there, then heading to Pompei and then to Amalfi.  I only hope it doesn't pour so we can do a lot of walking along the coast.  I miss the water!  Southern Italy, (south of Rome specifically), is considered no-man's land by northern Italians.  Where the north is run by local and national governments, the south is pretty much run by diverse "families" who have their own territories.  Crime is very high, everyone is either on the take or paying.  The two career choices are a cop or a mobster.  I don't know which is more dangerous.  Though I know Rome and have visited Pompei once, I don't know other areas of the south at all.  It will be interesting but I won't be able to write about it until I get back as we aren't taking any electronics for risk of having them stolen.  At least the food should be good.  Naples is "home of the pizza".  xxoo me

 It's the time of Carnavale, a celebration that will go on in one form or another until the beginning of Lent.  Around here not much happens, unlike Venice and Viareggio, but yesterday there was a small parade with floats in Carignano, where the Grandparents live.  The parade started at 2:30 and there were 5 floats and many revelers all dressed up and enjoying themselves.  There was a lot of blaring music and confetti and stands selling hot mulled wine, (I had some), and candy.  After an hour or so we went back to the house (Grandparents) and spent the rest of the afternoon waiting around for Amalia to feed us another yummy dinner.

no idea who this guy is but he jumped in front of my camera.

Grace and GP

Five days till vacation!  Can't wait to see the sisters.  xxoo me

One would think that all I do here is eat and shop and socialize by my writings but actually the majority of my time is spent either working or doing everyday household stuff.  So let me tell you a bit about work and all of my little darlings.

I teach 6, 90 minute classes a week to grades 1 through 5.  The classes come in every two weeks so there are 3 1st grades (big class), 2 second grade, 2 3rd grade and so forth.  There are between 15 and 20 children per class which means I have had to learn the names, behaviors and learning skills of 200 or so kids.  They are of a variety of nationalities and this is what I have deduced so far.  Anything I say cannot be held against me as I am not claiming to be any sort of expert and am warning you that political correctness is not my thing.

50 % of the kids are Italian s and they are by far the worst behaved.  The boys are naughty and the girls are bratty.  There are of course exceptions.  I don't think this is completely as much cultural as it is economic.  The Italians are self payers which means they come from money, whereas the foreigners have the school paid for by the various companies that they work for.  There is also the issue that Italian children do not get enough sleep!  Parents take their kids everywhere and they stay up until all hours(as that kid upstairs can attest!).  It is rare to find an Italian child with a "bedtime". 

The Japanese boys tend to be naughty where the girls are silent and submissive.  Many of the Japanese students at our school spend Saturdays is the very strict and traditional Japanese school in the city center.  As the Japanese tend to be so rigid, I think the boys go nuts when they are given relative freedom.  The girls must be kept under even tighter reins as they continue to be so shy at our school where discipline is not a strong suit.

There are a lot of Germans at the school, and in fact I'd say they make up 50% of the "Internationals".  They tend to be well behaved and good students.

The cutest by far are the kids of mixed ethnicity.  There are kids that are half Chinese half Italian, Lebanese Germans, African French etc.  They are gorgeous, smart, well behaved.  I'm all for mixing it up!

The American kids are few and far between and though they are good kids and have the advantage of being native language speakers, they are not the top students by any stretch of the imagination unless they have lived overseas for some time.  This I find sad. 

I love working with the kids and there are a lot of them I really adore but my God they are exhausting!  Between disciplining the naughties and trying to translate, maneuver the language issue for those that don't yet have it, I come home beat.  And alas my pay is diddily-squat. 

Ah well.  A weekend a head of me with nothing planned more glorious than housework and studying (that drivers exam).  Hope you are all well!  Miss you lots.  xxoo me