Aye Dio!

We had our company holiday party last night. It was a nice 5 course dinner for all of the 40 or so teachers and staff. The 5 courses consisted of croquets (fried balls of mashed potatoes or fried balls of rice, peas and meat), seafood pasta, meat pasta, then veal (side of potatoes optional), then desert...which was a huge surprise, panattone. I took about 3 bites of everything to be polite, and ate my whole 5 lb serving of panattone, to be really polite. Oh, and I had no problems with the champagne. It was a very nice evening that lasted way past bedtime. Funny that an Italian 5 course meal consists of purely starches and meat. We will be eating salads and veggies tonight for dinner.

The rain has been non-stop for days now. We had a storm, complete with thunder and lightning keeping us awake all throughout the night. Any time the thunder crashed it shook the whole apartment and startled me out of sleep each time. Huge news here in Roma is that The Tevere River by our house is at a record high. Isola Tiberina, which is a small island that sits in the center of the river is slowly going under and the patients from the hospital on the island may even need to be evacuated. The bridge is packed with people wanting to see the overflowing river - the water is even close to the top of the bridge! Hopefully it isn’t closed off, or we won’t make it to work on Saturday...hmmm, not sounding so bad. Sean and I have been notoriously leaving our umbrella in random places. It keeps turning up at some point, but we are often stuck in the rain without cover. We are both in need of new rain coats, as Sean has pointed out to me, “you aren’t in OC anymore”. The other day a woman kindly shared her large umbrella with us while we waited at the bus stop, which I thought was one of those random acts of kindness that should be acknowledged.

Our apartment is filled with the sweet smell of Christmas tree, and the twinkling luci sono bellisime (lights are most beautiful!) - probably my favorite thing about Christmas. Sadly, in Italy it is considered a sin to buy a real Christmas tree. As we ignorantly told people we bought a real tree we received such responses like “Oh DIO!” and “AYE Madonna!”. We don’t tell anyone that we have a real tree anymore and are strategically plotting how we will get rid of it once Christmas is over. I know the old saying “when in Rome” blah blah blah...but I have to admit, this is one tradition I would never want to change! I love our little albero di Natale (Christmas tree).

Tevere Prima e Dopo

Siamo pronti per Natale

Bella Sera

Sunday morning with the papa

We got up just in time to hear the last 30 seconds of the pope's speech this morning. What an amazing experience to get up, walk to the Vatican and see the pope himself, in person, wishing thousands of Italians and visitors a happy Sunday. Here is a picture of him in the window where he delivers a speech every Sunday morning.

We walked to our favorite store with specialty foods from around the world. I couldn't help taking a picture of the American section, as the Skippy and Hershey syrup made me nostalgic for my childhood and my American home. We also bought a panetone, to join in the holiday spirit. It was wrapped in shiny, glittery, yellow paper and tied closed with red and green Christmas ribbon. I almost felt like I should wait until Christmas morning to open it because it was wrapped so nicely. Instead we opened it right when we got home and ate some. It is about 20 lbs of sweet, moist bread, complete with raisins and other dried fruits. We were hoping to find a Christmas tree to liven up our apartment, but couldn't figure out how to get one home on the bus...another time a car would be useful. Either way, we had a nice Sunday walking around the center with the rest of Rome doing their Christmas shopping. The Tevere river is officially overflowing because we have had so much rain, but the last 2 days have been gorgeous meno male (thank goodness). Christmas lights are flooding Trastevere, making the city even more beautiful at night. Tomorrow is a holiday and we are both welcoming the time off from teaching! We have both vowed to not mention our lessons until Monday night.

Saturday morning

Saturday morning, during a break between teaching I stopped at a lovely cafe for a cappuccino. I observed the Saturday morning families stepping in and out of the cold, brisk, but sunny morning. A baby kept screaming out of joy in discovering his voice, while other children bundled in puffy jackets and snow hats discovered each other and their parents mingled and adored them. Tons of panetone, traditional Italian Christmas bread, wrapped brightly like exciting gifts begged to be opened. The hand-baked cookies reminded me of Grandma Jean's on Christmas: chocolate dipped with sprinkles, cream puffs, fruit tarts and canoli - each made with care. The scene was similar to the hustle and bustle of Starbucks on a Saturday morning - but so different at the same time. It was warmer, friendlier, more home-made. I only wished that mom, dad or Frankie would have walked in out of the cold to sit with me and enjoy a cappuccino too.

Thanksgiving

This post is long overdue, but here is our Italian Thanksgiving. It didn't feel quite like Thanksgiving at all here, just another day...although we both decided we have many things to be thankful for, including our families and friends, this amazing experience and each other.