one week in

Another quiet, relaxing day at home, with the first rain we've seen since we arrived one week ago. There were thunderstorms and showers on and off throughout the afternoon, so we stayed cozy inside and read lots of books together. Earlier in the day, Nick stopped back at the apartment to show us his new bicycle! He had asked one of the other faculty about where to acquire one, and it turns out that there was a bicycle left here with a note on it saying it was free to whoever needed it. It's very nice, complete with saddlebags, and craziest of all, the person who left it here is actually one of the priests who will be assigned to our home parish, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, in the fall. So it all seems very fittirng. The actual experience of biking around Rome will likely not be so heartwarming, between the cobblestones, traffic, and narrow alleys, but apparently there is a nice path that runs right along the Tiber River. 

The rain cleared up around three, and we went out to explore the grounds for an hour. It still seems surreal that we live here -- that this entire gorgeous campus is essentially our backyard. We visited the statue of Mary outside the refectory and the girls wanted to pick the potted flowers to give to her. A sweet and timely sentiment on the eve of Ferragosto (the Feast of the Assumption), but I made them pick the tiny purple wildflowers growing in the lawn instead. 😉 

Then we happened to find Nick at the gym. Since no one else was there, the girls "exercised" for a while. You can connect your phone to the sound system via Bluetooth and play your music over the gym speakers, so Nick was listening to the DVE Morning Show on the I Heart Radio app ... pretty crazy to hear the Pittsburgh DJs blasting throughout the gym. 

walking back down toward our apartment (which is in the bright yellow building beyond the garage)

Home again to start cooking tonight's ragù. I followed this recipe but quadrupled the carrots and celery, and no one was the wiser. Once the sauce was bubbling on the stove, I turned down the heat and let it simmer for the next few hours. The girls got baths; I did a few loads of laundry, and skimmed through Lidia Bastianich's book Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy (which I'm borrowing from our local library in ebook format). Fun to read about the varying cuisine in different regions of Italy, but the recipes are a little too complex for me to tackle right now.

The ragù turned out to be delicious served over penne, and Greta had great fun grating her own parmagiano on top. Cecilia devoured the meat sauce and kept asking for more "passa" (pasta), but screamed when we pointed to all the noodles on her plate ... until we deduced that she wanted more ragù. Smart girl. 

The rain is pattering on the windows and the terrace now, and there's a quiet hum from the dishwasher and the whirring of the air conditioning units in each room. Tonight marks one full week since we've been in Italy. In some ways it seems much longer. We've settled into our apartment, and I no longer have to think about which drawer to reach for when I need a knife, or where I put the Qtips, or how to use the washer and dryer (last night Nick found me sitting on the floor in front of the dryer googling the instruction manual so I could understand the symbols). We've settled in to more of a routine and adjusted to the time difference. We still have lots to learn (like the language and the bus system), but I feel at peace. We have more time to spend together as a family, and we are surrounded by such beauty -- thoughtfully cultivated here at the NAC, ancient and enduring outside the walls. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings.