Beach
We go to the beach truly every day (I don't go every day, but the boys do). We've been having delightful weather lately, although it has brought with it a most unwanted flock of flies. In fact, this week we're getting some hot air courtesy of Africa, so things will be a little too hot. The humidity isn't too bad, but it's more than a desert girl like me is used to. Anyway, the sea is delightfully blue and gives the kids something to do for the ENTIRE day. They will often go in the morning, come home for lunch, go back in the afternoon, stay the night at a little beach house they have across the street, go to the beach in the morning and then come home. I usually go in the afternoon (as when I go in the morning, I tend to fall asleep).
Baba Beach
Neno, Dimitry and Marco
I go swimming with the kids, but my tolerance level for staying in the water is somehow less than theirs. I mainly get in to cool off, and then sit under an umbrella. How do I occupy my many hours under said umbrella, you ask?
Books
I have been on a crazy reading frenzy since getting here! I started with a modern remake of Pride & Prejudice (a neighbor lent it to me in German while with my first guest family, but I could only understand the gist and no details, so I bought it online in English). It was only okay, but it made me really want to read P&P again. As it happened, Cristina had several books in English including possibly my favorite book ever, so I read it again and devoured it in a matter of days (keep in mind that I didn't exactly have all day every day to read, plus it takes longer to read older literature than modern - I find -). Among her collection was a series of Sherlock Holmes short stories, Wurthering Heights, Shakespeare's the Tempest, and "simplified" editions of Jane Eyre and Great Gatsby. I didn't realize the latter two were simplified, however, until I started reading Jane Eyre and was horrified at how poorly it was written (being perfectly aware of it's status as a work of "genius"). Upon making this discovery, I began searching in local bookstores to see what their English collections looked like. In the first store I found a legitimate edition of Eyre, although I have yet to find Northanger Abbey or the other two Austen books I have yet to read.
Anyway, I read Eyre, followed by Wurthering Heights (I had no idea that there was more than one Brontë - I was only aware of Charlotte). I then turned to a book I had purchased in Germany by Isabel Allende which was a ficticious novel based on the history of the only woman who helped found Chile in the 1500s. I'm now on the Sherlock Holmes short stories, and only have left from Cristina's stash a book of apparently amusing animal tales entitled Dog Stories and the Tempest. Oh, and I read the text of a play that I purchased after seeing it produced at the Royal National Theater in London (The Pitman Painters- google it, it's brilliant).
Boys
Four boys is a double edged sword- sometimes they play wonderfully together and can be content for hours at a time, and sometimes they try to take our their anger by throwing sand and fists. Dimitry has a very dominant personality, Marco is super chill, Neno doesn't need to dominate but also doesn't like being dominated, and Luca is just happy to follow. Sometimes the mix works, and sometimes it doesn't.
I sometimes find myself stressing too much because I can't communicate with them the way that I'd like to, and so the only things I'm able to communicate involve the word "no" (conveniently both English and Italian). Yesterday I hit a little bit of a wall, just because I felt like the boys (by which I mean Neno and Dimitry) were blatantly not listening to me in one of the few instances where they knew what I was saying. Cristina spoke with them, and when I started to cry a little she started talking to me. It wasn't that it was such a big deal, so much as I just felt frustrated. She pointed out something that I know to be true of myself, which is that I need to learn how to relax (she said "I'm not saying this for myself or for my children, but because I think it is important for you."). For as often as I tell the kids to chill, I seem to not be able to take my own advice. There are a lot of Julias (and Giulias) in their aquaintance, including Dimitry's sister, so whenever they say "Julia" I get paranoid and want to know what they're saying about me. I need to learn to not act like a 12 year old girl who just wants everybody to like her. Cristina also said that kids will base their opinion of people based on how people behave, not based on their own distortions.
I was nervous that things would be a little weird between Neno, Dimitry and myself afterwards... but after I showered (we had been at the beach) Neno asked me to play Wii with him, and after dinner I played cards with Dimitry and Marco. Today Dimitry even sat down next to me while I was playing Wii for a few minutes, and while watching the Spain-Germany match Neno rooted for Germany because I was rooting for them (I should stop rooting for teams- as soon as I do, they lose).
This afternoon was so hot that the kids were too tired to go to the beach (except Dimitry, who I think is never tired but didn't want to go alone). I could tell he was restless to do something, and it was so darn how that I needed to cool off... so I told the boys to put on their swim trunks and meet out back to play with water. They didn't need to be told twice and were outside spraying each other with hoses before I had even gotten my swim suit on. They really had a lot of fun, and enjoyed turning the slide into a (what appeared to be painful) water slide.
Beyond
First of all, we celebrated the 4th of July on Sunday! I made pancakes for breakfast, and the kids didn't like them!! Apparently they've never had anything for breakfast besides a bowl of hot chocolate and dunk biscotti cookies in it (seriously, that's what people eat for breakfast - adults drink a bowl of coffee instead of hot chocolate, and occassionally will take toast with jam and drop it into the bowl to eat it), and the change was unwelcome. Neno had a truly pained look on his face as he tried to graciously swallow the half of pancake he managed to consume. Marco, ever pleasant, ate a second one (although he covered it in sugar instead of whipped cream and berries). Dimitry and Luca didn't like it any better than Neno, but at least the parents thought it was good. For lunch we barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs, plus I made potato salad AND fresh lemonade from scratch! When they eat cooked meat (as opposed to cold cuts), including hamburgers, they generally just put the meat on a plate and cover it with olive oil and salt. This is actually quite tastey, but I wanted them to try hamburgers on a bun. None of them wanted to use ketchup, mayo, or mustard... but I made them put at least a tiny bit of ketchup and mayo on the buns and they didn't seem to react too poorly. Of course, they ate no potato salad (I asked Marco, poor thing, to just try one bite. He stuck a piece of potato in his mouth and made the most hysterical face of disgust. He wasn't trying to be dramatic - not his style - but was just genuinely grossed out by it) and were at first adverse to even trying the lemonade. I made them each try at least a little sip, and they all LOVED it! It went really quickly, and I plan to make it again. Sadly there were no fireworks, but there was an American flag. Plus, they got to meet my family on skype :)
Next- I head to Rome on Friday with Gianni and Cristina. They have a wedding to attend, and are bringing me to show me the city. They will return on Monday, and I will head to Florence for a few days before coming back to Villanova. At the end of July, I will fly up to Gothenburg, Sweden to visit some distant family on my Dad's side, and at some point will (hopefully) make a day trip to Nice and spend a weekend in Milan with the daughter of one of Cristina's cousins. Whew, time is flying.
At this point, I doubt I'll be able to make it to Venice, but that's just one more reason to COME BACK! I still need to see the Netherlands, Brussels, and Greece, plus I'd like to visit Norway and Poland, not to mention re-vist certain cities. I know that most people spend a lifetime saying that they'll travel, and if they manage to do so always pledge to go back... but I fully intend on not being like most people.
Last, but not least- I left the US exactly one year ago today. It's absolutely insane to think about how quick and yet how long this past year has been. I can feel the weight of the time, and how long I've been away from home... but I'm not done yet :)
Neno, Marco and Cristina on the 4th of July
A video from playing outside today with Neno, Luca, and Dimitry
Alles Liebe,
~Julia~
~Julia~
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