re-entry
after a three-week hiatus over the holidays, there is much to catch up on - but i'm just popping on in this snippet of time before dinner while the crockpot is finishing up its magic and the girls are (dare i say it) both happily playing individual imaginative games (Cecilia is lining up her Little People and singing "do you know how much i yub you", and Greta is leaping onto the couch to lasso imaginary villains with a jump rope).
we were in the States from December 19 through January 5, and it was fabulous. the best part, of course, was seeing our family and friends, but it was also so good and refreshing to be back in the land of the familiar. it was somewhat disorienting to clamber up into the driver's seat of my Escape and just drive -- no waiting for buses or trains, no unwelcome odors or uncomfortable temperatures. i almost cried hearing Terry Gross's voice on NPR (which was especially bizarre because usually i find her patronizing and slightly annoying). i went to Walmart to buy ingredients for Christmas cookies, and stocked up on OTC medications and buffalo wing sauce and got a haircut while i was there. i struck up small talk with cashiers just because i could. we ate at Sheetz, Eat'n'Park, Hoss's, McDonald's and Starbucks -- basically living our trashiest life and loving every minute of it. we just happened to run into extended family twice while out and about in Altoona, and it made me realize just how much our village means to us. technology is incredible and it certainly helps us feel more connected, but there's just no comparison to real-life conversations! my amazing mother-in-law had stocked up on my favourites (sour cream & onion chips, and peppermint mocha coffee creamer!) and we discovered a bunch of Fat Tire Belgian Ale that we had left at Nick's parents' house -- i'm sorry, Italy, but Peroni just doesn't do it for me. we were completely spoiled by our neighbor Kim, who took us back and forth to the airport, opened her home to us to spend the night when we first arrived, bought Christmas presents for the girls and made scones for them to eat while we packed up the car before our flight back! the whole experience was basically like sinking into the fluffiest, softest bed for a delicious afternoon nap.
that's not even to mention the trip to Hawaii with my family that still seems like something out of a dream. that merits its own post, but suffice it to say that it was incredible. as much as i truly enjoyed every moment of our trip to paradise, i enjoyed even more watching my dad watching us enjoy it. (#meta) and seeing my parents and siblings love on my kids is just one of the sweetest feelings in the world.
but now, we're back. after 18 hours of travel (from Pittsburgh to Boston to Istanbul), we arrived in Rome at 4 P.M. on Sunday. i was curious to see how i'd feel when we got here. leaving Pittsburgh was bittersweet -- the 48 hours before we left were jam-packed with seeing precious friends and there were tears all around when we left Joe and Sabrina's -- but at the same time, we were looking forward to getting back into a routine. listening to the overhead announcements at Fiumicino Airport, catching snippets of Italian conversation, and hearing the familiar whining drone of an ambulance outside all felt so familiar, it actually caught me off guard. we ended up taking a shared van home from the airport, and the van stopped in Monteverde Vecchio just a few blocks from our friends' apartment. i had that bizarre sensation of anticipating the van's next turn before the driver touched the wheel, knowing exactly the route he would take up over the crest of the hill, past the Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi, down past the lighthouse, snaking around the switchbacks to get to the hospital and there, suddenly, was the burnt yellow wall of the Pontifical North American College, and the porter waved to us and opened the gates, and we unloaded our bags, and we were home.
this first week of re-entry, i keep flashing back to our very first week here. it's been five months, and of course we still have a lot to learn (in particular, i need to step up my Italian language game -- Nick, on the other hand, is able to have full conversations without resorting to English!). but it's good to be back. i walked to get groceries the other day and the cashier's face lit up when she saw me. "Ciao!" then, after a minute of deliberation: "where is your son?" of course, she meant "daughter" because she always chats with Cecilia (who happened to be home with Nick), but it was so endearing. i wanted to explain where we had been for the past three weeks (which equals six grocery trips), but settled for lots of smiles as she told me the total ("sessantanove settantadue"). i mentally translated the numbers in my mind, and then double checked the register screen to make sure i had the right number (€69.72).
on Monday, we joined the seminarians for pranzo as we do every week, and i was amazed by how normal that felt, too. the girls know to expect salad and bread first, then pasta, then meat, then fruit. they're starting to feel more comfortable talking with the seminarians, and Greta in particular has been in an unusually good mood since we returned. she said several times while we were in Pittsburgh that she didn't want to come back to Rome, but since we've been here, she's been happily getting ready for school every morning, drawing little pictures for her friends here, and playing so sweetly with Cecilia. the jet lag hasn't been too bad for me, although both girls' sleep has been a bit wacky: Cecilia has been waking up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the middle of the night (so painful) but otherwise sleeping well, and Greta has been falling asleep in the early evening and waking up super early (3 A.M. on Tuesday, 4:30 A.M. today!!) but playing quietly or watching the Kindle until we wake up, and still getting 10 hours of sleep a night. and as i said, she's perfectly cheerful and energetic so, i'll take it. tonight she made it all the way til 7:30 P.M. before conking out, so here's hoping for a wake up time sometime past 5 A.M. tomorrow!
and so, slowly but surely, Rome is becoming home. just the same way that Redmond, and Pittsburgh, and Altoona, and Martinsburg, and Thetis Island, and Galway are home. we don't know yet exactly how long we'll be here, but we intend to make the most of it!
we were in the States from December 19 through January 5, and it was fabulous. the best part, of course, was seeing our family and friends, but it was also so good and refreshing to be back in the land of the familiar. it was somewhat disorienting to clamber up into the driver's seat of my Escape and just drive -- no waiting for buses or trains, no unwelcome odors or uncomfortable temperatures. i almost cried hearing Terry Gross's voice on NPR (which was especially bizarre because usually i find her patronizing and slightly annoying). i went to Walmart to buy ingredients for Christmas cookies, and stocked up on OTC medications and buffalo wing sauce and got a haircut while i was there. i struck up small talk with cashiers just because i could. we ate at Sheetz, Eat'n'Park, Hoss's, McDonald's and Starbucks -- basically living our trashiest life and loving every minute of it. we just happened to run into extended family twice while out and about in Altoona, and it made me realize just how much our village means to us. technology is incredible and it certainly helps us feel more connected, but there's just no comparison to real-life conversations! my amazing mother-in-law had stocked up on my favourites (sour cream & onion chips, and peppermint mocha coffee creamer!) and we discovered a bunch of Fat Tire Belgian Ale that we had left at Nick's parents' house -- i'm sorry, Italy, but Peroni just doesn't do it for me. we were completely spoiled by our neighbor Kim, who took us back and forth to the airport, opened her home to us to spend the night when we first arrived, bought Christmas presents for the girls and made scones for them to eat while we packed up the car before our flight back! the whole experience was basically like sinking into the fluffiest, softest bed for a delicious afternoon nap.
that's not even to mention the trip to Hawaii with my family that still seems like something out of a dream. that merits its own post, but suffice it to say that it was incredible. as much as i truly enjoyed every moment of our trip to paradise, i enjoyed even more watching my dad watching us enjoy it. (#meta) and seeing my parents and siblings love on my kids is just one of the sweetest feelings in the world.
but now, we're back. after 18 hours of travel (from Pittsburgh to Boston to Istanbul), we arrived in Rome at 4 P.M. on Sunday. i was curious to see how i'd feel when we got here. leaving Pittsburgh was bittersweet -- the 48 hours before we left were jam-packed with seeing precious friends and there were tears all around when we left Joe and Sabrina's -- but at the same time, we were looking forward to getting back into a routine. listening to the overhead announcements at Fiumicino Airport, catching snippets of Italian conversation, and hearing the familiar whining drone of an ambulance outside all felt so familiar, it actually caught me off guard. we ended up taking a shared van home from the airport, and the van stopped in Monteverde Vecchio just a few blocks from our friends' apartment. i had that bizarre sensation of anticipating the van's next turn before the driver touched the wheel, knowing exactly the route he would take up over the crest of the hill, past the Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi, down past the lighthouse, snaking around the switchbacks to get to the hospital and there, suddenly, was the burnt yellow wall of the Pontifical North American College, and the porter waved to us and opened the gates, and we unloaded our bags, and we were home.
this first week of re-entry, i keep flashing back to our very first week here. it's been five months, and of course we still have a lot to learn (in particular, i need to step up my Italian language game -- Nick, on the other hand, is able to have full conversations without resorting to English!). but it's good to be back. i walked to get groceries the other day and the cashier's face lit up when she saw me. "Ciao!" then, after a minute of deliberation: "where is your son?" of course, she meant "daughter" because she always chats with Cecilia (who happened to be home with Nick), but it was so endearing. i wanted to explain where we had been for the past three weeks (which equals six grocery trips), but settled for lots of smiles as she told me the total ("sessantanove settantadue"). i mentally translated the numbers in my mind, and then double checked the register screen to make sure i had the right number (€69.72).
on Monday, we joined the seminarians for pranzo as we do every week, and i was amazed by how normal that felt, too. the girls know to expect salad and bread first, then pasta, then meat, then fruit. they're starting to feel more comfortable talking with the seminarians, and Greta in particular has been in an unusually good mood since we returned. she said several times while we were in Pittsburgh that she didn't want to come back to Rome, but since we've been here, she's been happily getting ready for school every morning, drawing little pictures for her friends here, and playing so sweetly with Cecilia. the jet lag hasn't been too bad for me, although both girls' sleep has been a bit wacky: Cecilia has been waking up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the middle of the night (so painful) but otherwise sleeping well, and Greta has been falling asleep in the early evening and waking up super early (3 A.M. on Tuesday, 4:30 A.M. today!!) but playing quietly or watching the Kindle until we wake up, and still getting 10 hours of sleep a night. and as i said, she's perfectly cheerful and energetic so, i'll take it. tonight she made it all the way til 7:30 P.M. before conking out, so here's hoping for a wake up time sometime past 5 A.M. tomorrow!
and so, slowly but surely, Rome is becoming home. just the same way that Redmond, and Pittsburgh, and Altoona, and Martinsburg, and Thetis Island, and Galway are home. we don't know yet exactly how long we'll be here, but we intend to make the most of it!
 |
| umbrella pines out my kitchen window ... i missed this view! |
Comments
Post a Comment