A wonderful Sunday then back to school
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2007
1
5
16
Trip End
Aug 02, 2007
Perugia, Italy
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
It is Tuesday here and I am in between class times so will update since my last blog.
After Saturday afternoon, at the pool, M and I went shopping for essentials as the grocery stores aren't open on Sundays. On the way M bought a cute little red dress. That makes 2 pair of shoes and a red dress. I haven't really wanted to purchase anything yet. The Italian women dress very scantily and always with high heels. Don't know how they walk on the uneven surfaces here, but they sure look nice, except for some who are too fat and have too many rolls to be wearing the clothes they do. Oh well. We never made it out to dinner on Sat. eve. Tried out the washing machine in the apt. instead. That was a real experience. The loads take about 2 1/2 hrs. to do! No dryer, we have to hang the clothes out on the terazza or on a little covered porch off the kitchen. I appreciate my modern conveniences at home now. Wanted to rest up so that Sunday would be another great free day.
On Sunday morning, we tried to go to the internet cafe, but it was closed despite the sign that it is open all day on Sundays. Another Italian thing I guess! Anyway, we heard the churchbells ringing at the church across the street from our apartment so decided to check it out. Luckily for us mass was just beginning. A real treat especially in such a magnificent place and in Italian to boot. The Catholic religion really is the same anywhere so that made it easier to follow. After mass we returned to the apartment and called Alberto - an elderly man who approached us in line at school and wanted to exchange our language skills. We thought since we had free time, it would be nice to see how well we could converse with someone one on one. We agreed to meet at 4 PM in front of the school. We went back to the hotel pool and had another nice afternoon in the sun. Went to meet Alberto, but he wasn't at the school. We thought we had misunderstood, but here he came at about 4:20. I told him we had been waiting for 20 minutes and he said he had been sleeping. I guess that is an acceptable excuse in Italy. Right away he talked about his car which was a blue Fiat. He said it was a modest car and cost 600 euro. I don't know why he was telling us about his car. He asked us to get in his car to go to his house. Of course I said no and suggested we talk there. Went across the street to a fountain where M and I sat on the pigeon shit splattered ground. Real nice. Talked with him until 6:30. He told us his wife had died in 1998 and I think he is just lonely. He didn't seem to want to practice his English and wanted to talk of American actors, actresses, and films. Weird but great practice for us. Had a little trouble understanding when he would try to say names - Vudy, for Woody Allen, etc. Funny! We made arrangements to remeet on Wednesday at the cafe in front of the school. M and I walked home via Piiazza IV Novembre and saw tons of people there waiting for some entertainment. It is now the time for the Perugia Jazz Festival which is evidently the best in all of Europe. Walked past and saw a stand with two or three huge pieces of roasted turkey that the woman was slicing off and making sandwiches with. We bought a couple and a couple of Peroni beers (they are sponsoring the festival) and ate on the steps of a church. We began to hear the music and walked back to the Piazza. It was absolutely great music! The singer, unknown, was doing a tribute to Ray Charles (which Jack, you would have loved). He had a huge back up band and about 3 female singers. He sang songs such as "Hit the Road Jack" M and I decided we had a song - the Ray Charles song that says, "Tell me what I say, tell me one more time!" It is appropriate for our understanding of Italian! Anyway, we thought it was hilarious, but we had had about 3 beers by then! I will try to attach a couple of videos I took. Matt, you would have loved it too as the drummer was great and you love jazz too. Michael, you would have loved the Italian girls in their tight clothes! Also, I forgot to tell you that the Italian's seem to have great pride in their cars, perhaps that is why Alberto talked of his modest car. As we sat eating we watched all manner of BMW's, Mercedes, and even a Lotus drive by. I don't think I have ever seen one of those
We returned to the apt. really upbeat and having tons of fun. We saw an elderly couple sitting on the edge of the fountain across the street from our apartment. They seem to sit there every night so we decided to go out and sit and possibly engage them in conversation. I approached them and said we were from the US and off they went with their Italian. A very nice couple. He, John Carlo, wanted to talk of his 3 visits to NY to run in the marathon - probably many years ago, and his wife, Gabriella, was mostly content to listen to him. She would occassionally interject something. After at least an hour, we went in and they said they would see us tomorrow. Oh, forgot to say, they have an apartment a couple of doors down from ours. They had great pride in the fact that they occupied an entire floor and it was just the two of them. An absolutely wonderful day in Perugia with many different activities. We are settling in nicely.
Yesterday we were scheduled back at school. Our first lab with Frederica for Italian pronunciation and writing. We were supposed to use the headphones at each station, but alas they were not working. Surprise, surprise. Anyway, she put in a cassette, which went very rapidly, and we had to write the words. Mio Dio again. Frederica is from Rome and taught there for awhile. A young woman of about 30 or so and attractive. We also were joined by two new students, a young girl from France and one from Denmark. Came back to the apt, as usual, in between classes. Went back later for our orali esercizi with Claudia.
We are doing much better in class and she is very encouraging. We are settling in despite the fact we feel a little like pariahs as the younger students don't want to seem to have much to do with us. Back in class, after a pausa (break), the young girl from Munich did start a conversation with us and we had a great time talking of our long trip to get here and why we are taking Italian. Laughed alot and it felt good to interact with others.
At the apt. that evening, we decided to try the oven out. The stovetop is gas, but the oven is electric. M turned it on all the way up to preheat and we went into the living room to converse in Italian. We were very intent, but returned to the kitchen and found it filled with smoke. Also noticed that the apt. was filled with smoke!!! Turned the oven off, opened all the windows. When M turned the oven on full blast to 300, but what we didn't realize is it is in celsius. Oops! Anyway, we went out later to go to the internet, which was closed again and found the downstairs hall really stinky with smoke. All I can say is it's a good thing they don't have smoke detectors! We would have had the fire dept. down our throats for sure.
Walked to the Gelato store and got a cone since we were out. Had chocolate chip - yummy! Well family, that is all for now. Hope you got a few laughs and hope you think of me often, as I do you. We would have all had a blast at the Jazz Festival this week. Just the type of activity we could get into - everyone dancing, drinking, then dancing and drinking more. Maybe next year? Ciao tutti, Vi amo (I love you all)
