Reflections halfway through our trip

We're just past the halfway point of our stay in Italy.  It's passing quickly!  Well, except for these last days as we wait for Dany to return :)  We can't wait to see him in less than 24 hours!!

While this isn't the kids' first trip to Italy, it is the first trip that they've really been old enough to reflect on the differences in living in another country.  I asked them to list some of the things they like about Italy so far and some of the things they miss about the U.S.  Here is what they said:

Giuseppe:
Well, he can't speak, but in his own baby language, I'd say that he misses having a quiet place to nap!  His naps have been much shorter here.  We're staying in closer quarters with more people than at home, so that makes for a bit more noise :)  He does like the stroller - really, a bassinet on wheels.  He takes his best naps in there while we take walks.

Elena:
She enjoys having a new place to explore (read "get into" or "mess up").  She loves helping Nonna around the house.  She also really likes their big church with all the statues of "babies" (actually cherub angels) and candles.  She thinks the churches are another place to explore.  It can be rather difficult to take her to Mass because she wants to walk around.  Thankfully, Nonna has been happy to have her stay home while I go with the older ones most of the time.

Chiara:
She said that she likes all the dogs that we see when we go out for walks.  She also likes the Christmas tree lights and the Merry-Go-Round (Carousel) at the Square.  She said that she also liked the balloon she got at there.  She likes to go to the lake and see the ducks.  She also likes the Christmas tree and Nativity at Nonna's house.  She said that she misses her Nemo doll and Papa :)

From my own observations, I would also add that she likes taking walks anywhere!  And she loves getting to play with her aunts and uncles!  She is also enjoying eating lots of pasta, pastina, and fruit.  In fact, she would be perfectly happy if this was ALL she had to eat :)

Matteo:

He said that he likes Lake Como.  He likes to see the ducks and swans there.  He liked visiting Zio Luca and Zia Miriam's house last weekend.  (He went there with Zio Michele, Maria, and Cati for supper and to help put up their Nativity.  Maria and Cati spent the night.)  He likes the Christmas tree and Nativity here at Nonna's house.  He said he also likes watching and playing soccer.  He has watched some games on TV with Nonno and his uncles and he's played some games with them on their old Playstation.  He also said that he likes looking out the window and seeing the mountains.  He also likes the bottle tops that he's using as money.

Of course, this last point requires some explanation.  Here in Italy, they always have bottled water at meals and these bottles have tops.  Well, Matteo and Cati have been collecting them since we arrived and pretend they are money.  Matteo carries them around in his pockets during the day and puts them in a bag at night :)  I think the bottle tops will be coming at a slower rate from now on, though.  They've finally realized how much water we drink (I guess they don't preach the 8 - 8oz. cups of water per day here.  The kids and I easily drink 2L per meal altogether.) and I admitted that we don't drink bottled water at home.  I've been drinking the tap water here at least once a day and it's fine.  I noticed today that they refilled our bottle of water from the tap during lunch.  I say "our bottle" because they also have "Frizzante" water which is strange stuff.  They almost always drink the bubbly water.  We'll stick with the "Naturale" water :)

Matteo said that he misses snow, Wii, his friends in America, and Papa!

Cati:

Cati said...

I like Lake Como, Luca and Miriam’s house, and all the birds, including the ducks and swans. I like chasing pigeons. I also like the Square because it is noisy, it has a merry-go-round, and yesterday (last weekend now) we saw a magic card trick. And, I like the purse Luca and Miriam gave me.

I miss Papa, snow, home, everyone speaking English, and I miss our familiar priest and church.


Maria:

Maria said that she likes…

• The lake
• Ducks
• Pigeons
• Pasta
• Prosciutto
• Seeing our relatives
• The lights
• Walking everyday

She misses…

• Understanding everything
• Friends
• Alter serving

Me:

I like the big family meals.  I love seeing this big family that has become even bigger with all the spouses and our kids get together for meals.  We haven't had everyone together at one time yet, but it's coming!
So far, we've had big meals for Nonno's birthday, the Immaculate Conception, and our Anniversary (even though Dany wasn't here to enjoy it with me).  We still have Christmas, New Year's / Cati's birthday, and Dany's parent's anniversary during the next 3 weekends.  Their 40th anniversary is actually in February, but they want to celebrate it while we're here and have EVERYONE together!

I love walking around Como!  I don't think they understand what a great privilege it is to live in a place where you can walk so much!  We at least walk to church everyday and we've walked many other places, too.  I love looking around to see how things are different from home...tiny cars, people on bikes with bells to warn you that they're coming, window shops everywhere, the Christmas lights...It seems like everyone is out celebrating the season when you go out to some event.  I haven't even gotten to blog about the live Nativity presentation we went to last weekend.  I can't imagine seeing something like it in the middle of a city back home. 

I love going in the churches here.  They are amazing!  Every inch of them hasbeen painted or has statuary.  They're so big and so old!  I don't know how they built them.  Dany's family church was built in the 11th century!  It's huge!  And there are actual coffins under the altars, not just a tiny bone fragment of a saint imbedded in the altar somewhere.  The kids love going in them.  They pull me in different directions wanting me to see the different things they've found.  We went in one church last weekend that is displaying lots of different Nativities.  While we were in there, Dany's mother called me and said (in Italian), "Angela, come meet the Bishop of Como."  Yep, there he was, just walking around the church.  I guess he didn't have anything else to do at the time.  He spoke very good English.  Dany's mother told him that that day was our 12th wedding anniversary, and he said that he still had to say Mass that evening, so he would pray for us during his Mass!  What a wonderful anniversary gift!

I love the elaborate Nativities.  I recently posted about the Nativities here.  They are so unique! 

Things I miss:

There are always little inconveniences when you're away from your home turf, but they are easily excused for the joy of traveling and spending time with family and friends.  I'll mention some of the main things I miss...

-Cloth diapers:  I've rediscovered one of the reasons why I started using cloth diapers many years ago - Disposables and breastfed babies don't mix!  Giuseppe's gone through several sets of clothes on some days :)

-Baby gates:  See Elena's "Things she loves about Italy" list above :)

-Light switches out of Elena’s reach:  Thankfully, the joy of turning lights on and off at will is starting to wane for her...a bit.

-Wheat bread:  I know, my friend, Kelly is going to fuss at me for this...Really??  When you have all that wonderful, fresh, white European bread???  What can I say? :)

-Dany!  19 hours to go, as I post this!!