It's Still Raining and Critters (Part 4)

We've now had rain for nearly two straight weeks. Rather than misty showers, the rain has come in soaking downpours. The river (which John crosses every day on his drive to work) looks quite high, although there hasn't been any flooding. Our neighbors and friends say that rain is common in the spring, but this year's rains have lasted longer than normal.

As a consequence of the rain, we have another post about critters. The wetness in the ground seems to have drawn out slugs. This week they appeared everywyere: in the road, on the house, on our patio, and one even got inside. They're huge, nearly as long as your hand when they strech out. Thomas likes to pretend that the slugs are monsters from Doctor Who (which is his favorite TV show...maybe the influence of his British classmates?).

Anyway, we hope that the rains end this week. Next weekend we're planning on taking a long weekend in Florence (monday is Republic Day in Italy). We hope to do some serious sightseeing.

There isn't much other news to report. Thomas went to a birthday party for for some of his classmates, and has started playing extra-curricular mini-basketball at school. Sammy is eating a lot more solid food and is still growing like mad. John and Ann are healthy, happy and sick of the rain!!!

Hungry Sam

Feed me now! Cereal and Bananas! Yummy!!!

Trying to Learn the Language

We haven't really posted about our struggles to learn Italian. Since it's down-pouring rain here today, this is a good time to let you know how we're doing with the language.

One of the most common questions that we receive is 'Do you speak Italian'? Unfortunately, it's been ten months since our family has been in Italy and we just speak Italian like beginners. Frankly, we're really disappointed with our progress.

The Italian language is beautiful, fun, and interesting. As English speakers, we also find the grammar difficult, and some of the phrases cumbersome. We know enough Italian to make appointments by telephone, to buy items and ask questions at a store, to get directions and make it through a doctor's visit. So, we know 'survival' Italian. What we can't do is carry on a meaningful conversation. Also, when someone speaks slowly, we usually understand quite well. However, speaking is another ballgame entirely. We need to 'make the leap' to speaking with ease.

One of our problems is that English is spoken at work and also in our social circle. We're determined to improve this year, and want to be more comfortable using Italian by the end of the summer. So, we're hitting the books (note Thomas in the picture). From time to time we'll let you know how we're doing.

Also, we thought some of you would be interested to know about some of resources that we are using. First, we took a very short course from Berlitz, where we also got a lot of study-aids. Each day, we try to fit in a lesson of Rosetta Stone. A great on-line study guide is About Italian. Lastly, John listens to podcasts while driving to work. One of his favorites is LearnItalianPod.

From time to time we'll try to let you know how we're doing, and also post other language tools that we like.

Happy Sam

Return of the Lizards

Schuman Day

Over the past several weeks, we'd had a frantic weekend schedule. This was the first weekend in over a month that we decided to stay home and get a little rest. It was also Ann's birthday weekend (Happy Birthday!!). We celebrated and enjoyed ourselves. For a cake, John brought a Sacher Torte that he picked up on a business trip to Vienna. It was a nice birthday, and the weather has been fantastic.

Also, Friday was Schuman Day in Europe. It's not a major holiday, since businesses and schools are all open. The day does mark the first steps towards creating the European Union. Thomas' School held a large celebration to mark the occasion. All of the students sang songs and presented their crafts. There was also a display of symbols and items from each of the students' home countries. Thomas was enthusiastic about showing off his classroom and introducing all of his friends.

Sammy had a doctor appointment (just a check-up!). He's doing well, and has started eating a little cereal. He also likes to mimic our actions.

Next week we plan to get back to exploring. We hope that all of our friends and family are well. Have a happy Mothers Day too!

Ruins and Castles in Val d'Aosta

It was another short week here in Italy. Thursday was a national holiday. It was May Day, something rather like the American labor day (but with more political overtones). Many people also took Friday off, but John worked and Thomas still had school on Friday.

On Saturday we took another great trip. This time we headed west, driving up into the mountains, toward the French boarder, into the region of Val d'Aosta. This is a remarkably beautiful alpine region, dotted with both ancient ruins and medieval castles. We spent the morning in the city of Aosta, walking along the ancient roman walls. They're still there, and many of the ruins are in amazingly good shape. We were particularly impressed with the gates and the arches in the roman theater. We also had an amazing lunch in Aosta. The region is known for cheeses, and, of course, the food at lunch was infused with some amazing cheese flavors.

In the afternoon we went castle-hunting (a favorite pastime of Thomas). We visited the Castle Fenis, which is a fairy-tale style castle that dates from the 13th century. We took a guided tour, and really enjoyed ourselves.

We don't have much other news. We hope all our friends and family are doing well.