Pasqua/Easter with the Fava Family

We spent the day with Fede's family out at their country house in Rivergaro (about 20 minutes from here). We followed both the American and Italian traditions for Easter starting with the egg hunt. Noah really enjoyed finding his 12 eggs that we colored together. It was quite the novelty since they don't dye or hide eggs in Italy. Instead they get huge chocolate eggs that you break open to find a surprise. Noah's choco-egg was larger than his head and he loved breaking it open.

We ate like kings for the entire day. The lunch/pranzo lasted 3 hours and had a starter, then a second starter, then the first dish, then the second dish, then the third dish, then the fruit, and then the dessert and coffee. I'm not sure how I managed to eat so much, but just when I thought I might actually be able to move again, I heard the table being set once more! After all that we also ate dinner. It was like a double dose of Thanksgiving.

B.C. ate an egg and next thing you know Noah had to eat one.

Hanging out in Piacenza

Noah decided to take Dodo-Baby for a walk.

A succo di mirtillo/blueberry juice mustache.

Maggie and B.C. have made a million friends here. We can't go 10 feet without meeting another dog.

Maggie's favorite spot in the apartment.

Via Romagnosi 65, Piacenza

Here's our place! Our apartment is in the yellow building on the corner. Our place has the two windows on the right on the 2nd floor (which in the U.S. would be the 3rd floor). Our shutters are open and we have a window box outside our living room window. The other one is our bedroom window. This is the view of our apartment from Piazza Duomo. The entry door is on Via Romagnosi which you can see there at the corner. Our kitchen window looks out onto that street. That's Jeff and Noah on the other side of the grass.

Noah watching a concert from our bedroom window. You can see the clock up above on the palazzo (that functions as our house clock!).

The kitchen...

Our living room. That's a kumquat tree that I bought in the market in Piazza Duomo.

The bedroom. You'll notice the love seat now functions as Noah's bed. The closet acts as a railing so he doesn't roll off. Hey, this is much better than the famous drawer that he slept in at 5 months. :)

Hanging out in Piazza Duomo.

There's always something going on outside our window. Usually it's the outdoor market or the organic farmer's market, but this time we woke up to a morning concert and a huge flower market. Dancers took the stage later in the afternoon and then at 4pm the Statue of the Madonna came out of the Duomo with a million people behind it and they paraded around town to celebrate the Festa della Madonna del Popolo.

Outdoor market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Yesterday we bought umbrellas there when it suddenly started pouring. Last Wed I bought some socks and a wine opener. :)

Noah's Prized Possessions

Noah’s current obsession is his “ombrellino” which he calls his “ombreyeeeno.” He carries it around everywhere regardless of rain. He’s like the boy with the red balloon, you can spot him from a mile away as he’s the only one with an umbrella over his head. In the apartment he has to open it and put it above his head in order to go from room to room. He closes it when he arrives in each room though. At night, he sleeps with it.

This is nothing new for us and perhaps it is quite typical, but we have found that since Noah was really little he has been fairly object-centered. He likes to focus on one thing and then his world revolves around that for a day, 2 days, a week, or however long. His last prized object was his “Sul Pullman” book. He not only read this book 400 times a day, but he also carried it with him everywhere he went and slept with it. Before that it was two little pocket books called “Gigi, Il Maialino” and “Pino, il Leoncino.” Before that it was his mini-water bottle. Before that it was his bug spray bottle. Before that the “Little Pim” dvd box. The list goes on and on. We find it extremely endearing and can’t help but laugh even when Noah is yelling because he latest fad also needs to go on the walk with us.

Making Rent

After a month of job searching (which went nowhere with the local businesses) and stressing about making some sort of income, we are finally on our way. Last week we started receiving calls out of the blue for English lessons and all of them were from non-related sources. So I started last week and with the clients that I currently have, we can now pay our rent! My youngest client is 2 (little Chiara) and I’m doing English immersion with her with a lot of structured play. Then I have lessons with an 11 yr old boy, a 13 yr old boy, two 15 yr old girls, and a college student.

I’ve been posting flyers since we got here and have more to post this week so hopefully I’ll get even more students so that we can pay for food too. Don’t get me wrong, we’re definitely eating (and we’re eating well), but we’re using loan money until the income takes over. Soon though, soon!

We’re feeling so much better now. And when I say “we” I guess I mean “me” and it’s not so much even a thing of money. It was the actual need to do something. I had thought for a while that I would enjoy being a stay-at-home mom, but apparently that’s not for me. ☺ I almost lost my mind. I went stir-crazy and if I hadn’t at least bought a pair of shoes and started running again I think Jeff would have had to commit me.

Jeff is in the midst of writing some articles and just did a translation for the university here. Hopefully more translations will come in because they pay fairly well.

So that's the latest on the money front. One step at a time!