2008 August « Same ol’ character, just with different backdrops.

Archive for August, 2008

Toof Business

August 25, 2008 · Filed under FYI, Family Life

So for those of you keeping up, I got my tooth fixed today, which normally wouldn’t be scary (as I’ve had this procedure done twice already on the same tooth), except I was in an Italian dentist’s office, and not only were communication abilities extremely limited, but the tone of voice he was using with his assistant always had this noticeable tone of disappointment. Not exactly the most comforting thing to hear and be unaware of what exactly is being said.

Everything so far though has turned out alright, aside from having to shell out 120 euros and leaving me with a very, very tight budget for Venice in 2 days. It’s not great-looking, but it’s also not a disaster and by all means much better than missing half a tooth. I think (/hope) it’s more a matter of just getting used to something new. As Ben said, the best I could have come out of this with was mild satisfaction, and he’s probably right (he’s a smart one). He also said he wouldn’t care if I showed up in Venice with no teeth at all (he’s also a liar, but at least a commendable one).

When I was laying in the chair and they were examining my tooth before beginning the procedure, little Giulia came next to me and said smiling with excitement, “It’s not a cavity!!!” When she came back in after the procedure was done, she asked me the standard question she asks anytime we’ve been apart for more than an hour: “Did you have fun??!”

I am still, unwaveringly, an anti-dentite.

I did, however, get Giulia saying “tippie toe!” and “lemon tree!” today as code-words (points, anyone?). This cracks me up to NO END. And as a bonus, I feel much better about smiling now… but still getting used to it.

Longing for the Familiar

August 23, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized

Tonight I am downing a bottle of 3.60 euro delicious Salento red wine (i.e. incredibly strong wine) by myself, thanks to the tooth incident and my unwillingness to go out in the social public, and I am listening to some awesome jazz by a music professor I was once taught by at Stanford, and I am missing Austin, and my room, my sound system and my drumset, and my friends, and the comfort of everything familiar. It’s kind of fun though. Fun in the “I am really far away from home and everything I know” way, if that makes any sense at all. I guess it’s a very bittersweet night, but the jazz makes it all okay.

I’ve noticed something about myself and my relationship with this distance from the familiar: I love new adventures so much, that the weight of the factual doesn’t hit me until around this time, day 50 or so. The same thing happened in Spain. It’s not until now, when I start to feel a routine instead of a vacation, that I start missing the things I know.

Fact: Italians consume what I would estimate to be about 92% strictly Italian food. I have seen one solitary Chinese restaurant in Lecce since being here, and it looks to shady for me to be willing to try it out. I have seen only one other- a bar that serves both “American” and “Tex-Mex” food. Other than that, every single eating establishment is Italian. Since being here, there have been only 2 occassions on which I have had a meal which was not Italian, both of which were provided by lovely ‘Mericuh-tasting McDonalds. Don’t get me wrong- I am loving the Italian food and the authenticity of it here, but I come from America, where I could have a different culture’s food every night of the week, and it be legitimately tasty too. I am dying, DYING for a dinner other than Italian food. Luckily I’m not displeased at all with what I’ve been consuming, and thus far the wine and cheese in itself is making up for any longing I might have.

Anyway, time to get back to chatting with friends online and going upstairs at 3am to sneak some gelato out of the freezer. Yep, despite any longing I possess, there is most definitely a solid list of Italian advantages I can take comfort in.

Just imagine how good this gelato tastes. I’ll always have my drums I suppose.

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Reporting from Olive Garden (but without my unlimited soup and salad, hrmph)

August 20, 2008 · Filed under Big Ones, Family Life, Photos, Touristy

Just got back Monday night from spending 4 days in the Italian countryside! Here are the entries I wrote during my time there. Also, gorgeous pics of it all!

Day 1

I’ll admit, with some hesitance, that there have been a significant number of times when I’ve wondered if this was the right choice to make. These are usually when I’m missing the familiarity of the U.S. (and it never fails to amaze me of how many, many differences there are), or when my work-day has been particularly stressful, or what have you. I’ve had a fair share of rough days and lonely nights.

Then, there are the days like today, when it hits me with an astounding gravity: I am living in Italy, one of the most unique, beautiful, and culturally saturated countries in the world.

The child, mother and I are staying with G’s grandparents in a little town in the countryside of southern Italy for a handful of days, and Day 1 has been absolutely wonderful. This area is famous for the trullo, a world culture protected by UNESCO, and we are staying in one to my intense delight. I never even knew these things existed! And it’s not just a little cluster that’s like this– it’s literally the entire area with these types of houses. They really do work too– I never knew a house could be so cool inside (without air conditioning) when it’s over 100 degrees outside.

So not only is the scenery in itself a total trip, but holy GOD the grandmother cooked the MOST AMAZING lunch, including grilled peppers from her own garden; in fact I’m eating a plum which I just picked off the tree right behind me, as I write this sitting out on their porch in 75 degrees with a perfectly cool wind at midnight.

Anyway, around 8pm we went into town for the festival of the guardian saint of the town. The streets were FLOODED. The best way to describe it is as a gigantic flea market, except the vendors span the entirety of the city center streets, and the food vendors have buckets after buckets of the most amazing olives and nuts of infinite varieties, and also candy like you wouldn’t believe. Also, I’m pretty sure every inhabitant comes out for this. There was a group of maybe 10 of us, including Stef’s awesome sister (who went to law school) and her boyfriend, and a bunch of the grandparents’ friends, haha.

The funny thing is that everyone seems to LOVE these flea market-ish tents on the street. 5 euro shoes, knock-off bags, cheap toys that will break in the car, all sorts of cheap shit you’d see on the Reynosa border. I swear though, I could have spent my week’s earnings on bags of olives and nuts. I limited myself to just one gelato and mooching off the bag of olives Stef’s dad bought, which we finished before getting back home.

I think it’s a distinct possibility that the family is hanging out with me on the porch just to keep me company, so I’m gonna stop now. More on how incredibly nice of a family these people are tomorrow. Surprise, surprise- we’ll be spending the day at the beach.

Day 2

So not only did I wake up to the most gorgeous cool morning weather and have delicious Italian espresso and biscuits brought out to me on the patio, but Giulia didn’t feel like going to the beach and we therefore went without her!!! Stef told me G would stay here at the house with her grandparents, and in the mother’s own words, “Today, we are free!” which pretty much summed it up better than she realized. An entire six hours at the beach and being able to do whatever I wanted!!! I was so thrilled I got a sunburn.

For the night, we headed over to some friends-of-the-family’s terrace for dinner and watching fireworks for the continued guardian saint celebrations. Everything was going splendidly, and then disaster struck. I have been complaining intensely about the quality of Italian breads. Don’t get me wrong- it all tastes great, but why, WHY do they not understand the concept of soft bread? I’ve gotten so tired of struggling to rip and tear apart my sandwiches. Anyway, I was served one tonight, and I didn’t want to be rude and decline in front of a big group of people, or be a blatant foreigner and use a knife and fork to eat my sandwich, so I (quite literally) bit the bullet. Then I noticed something funny-feeling in my mouth. I excused myself to the bathroom, looked into the mirror, and let out a huge sigh of relief to see that my front tooth, of which half is fake, was still there. Then, I touched it, and off it came.

I called Stef in and started crying, but luckily she has a friend who’s a dentist and will supposedly fix it for me for free so I don’t look like a damn gap-toothed hillbilly. Anyway, everyone was really nice about it, and when Stef told Giulia why I had been absent from the table for awhile, G immediately yelled out (which I heard from the bathroom) “ASHLEE WHERE ARE YOU??? ARE YOU OKAY?!?!” all in this cute panicked voice.

The rest of the night was pretty much a downer, but I’ve just been telling myself, thank god this didn’t happen in Venice.

Day 3

Woke up and went to a massive antique street market event with the family. Also happened to catch a lunar eclipse. The highlight of the day though was going for another huge family dinner, this time at Stef’s uncle’s GORGEOUS trullo. I took a ton of pics of the inside so Dad could see.

I really like the way Italian family dinners feel. Everyone has continuously been so nice to me, and in a very honest way. Everyone is always hyper-talkative but it’s all equal amongst everyone, and I don’t feel excluded either. I’m really impressed at what good conversationalists Italians are. On top of that, it’s hilarious to watch them talk with their hands all the time.

If that wasn’t enough, this dinner had 8 courses, to my count, which included 2 different types of focaccia, multiple pizza varieties, salads and a ton of other things I can’t remember. There was also about 5 different kinds of german beer to choose from with the pizza, then an amazing rose wine later, amaretto with the gelato, and 3 or 4 different kinds of liquor for the final push.

Day 4

I’m obviously writing the latter part of this blog being back in Lecce already, so not quite as detailed. The highlight was going to this farm, where it was just really pretty and such. What was awesome is that we bought a huge bag of bite-sized mozzarella balls that were hand-made in the kitchen probably about 10 minutes before. We sat out in the grass and ate, and it literally fell off like string-cheese, except 100 times better.

So all in all it was a pretty fun time, despite the tooth incident. I’m also getting better at Italian.

Venice in 7 days. Tonight, we agreed on an ending date for my time here in Italy to be mid-October, and then it’s off to my next European country. Anyone know of a job for me (NOT babysitting)?

Pictures here, including a new folder with pics of Giulia’s 6th birthday party.

Roma

August 14, 2008 · Filed under Big Ones, Photos, Touristy

Oops, I’m slacking on the blog posts. Rome was incredible, and for more reasons than it just being Rome. It was also hotter than you could believe, especially considering that we walked everywhere. Or, per usual, sat atop a tour bus. Just as hot but at least this way, in both senses of the word. Anyway.

Here are the basics of things I checked off my list. Because of the sheer quantity of things I could write in this post, I’m going to try and micromanage and make this somewhat of an interactive post, or something like that. Mouse-over or click on the titles to see a pic (from my own camera) of what I’m talking about.

Colosseum. It was cool, and definitely one of the more populated touristy spots, but I can’t really say I was absolutely stunned by it like I think would be the natural thing to expect. It’s just like a really old stadium, and honestly it wasn’t that impressive looking either. I might have simply been to tired at this point to appreciate it, because I think I might have enjoyed bathing in one of the nearby fountains a bit more. That’s DEFINITELY one fantastic thing about Rome… they have all these CLEAN fountains that spout out fresh, cooold water to either drink or wash your hands and arms off. I LOVE THESE. Uhh and clearly I wasn’t too into the Colosseum. Next…

Piazza di Spagna (and the Spanish Steps). One of our more frequented areas as it was right next to our hotel. I actually really liked this area because it was so social. We were walking around this piazza on our first night, and then ended up catching an opera that was being performed at the base of the stairs, so that was pretty awesome, even though all the opera tunes they sang were strictly the identifiable ones (Figaro, etc.).

Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) is, simply put, breathtaking. It’s just gorgeous, especially at night. Not only is the intricate artwork amazing, but the construction of the fountain looks as if it’s just these gigantic rocks jutting out of the building like something exploded. So like, you have this ridiculous combination of beautiful, very deliberate artwork- the expressions on the men’s faces, the horses going crazy, the poses the statues are in, etc.- combined with the base of the fountain which is intentionally left looking very natural… and all of this is in front of a backdrop of this awesome building. And then there’s this gorgeous pool of water and little waterfalls all underneath it. Genius design.

Campo dei Fiori. If I ever go to Rome again, I will want to stay closer to this area. Definitely the most social, “happening” area we went to at night.. there are bars and restaurants with tons of little tables all encircling the center “court” (the best way I can think to describe it), which contains another of the infamous Italian poles with a saint on top of it; however this Fiori one in particular I swear is Darth Sidious. Had some absolutely delicious house red wine, and was entertained by the BEST DAMN CLOWN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. Like seriously, everyone was laughing hysterically at him, that guy really knew how to do it. We gave him 2 euros. We also returned to the Campo during the day to watch Batman at a theater there, which was particularly awesome because we went to the little store next door, bought a bottle of white wine, some incredible cheese and a box of crackers, and brought it into the theater. This was all, to our knowledge, allowed.

The Vatican. I actually enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. St. Peter’s Basilica was just incredible, like I can’t even think of a proper way to describe it. We were in there as a mass was starting (not with the Pope) and we got to hear the choir do some opening hymn which was beautiful. Catholicism might have some really strange aspects, but damn, they really got art and music right.

The Vatican Museum (and the Sistine Chapel). So the first time we tried was after hitting up St. Peter’s, at which point we were informed that the Museum closes at 4pm (yeah who knows what the logic behind that is). We were just like okay, well tomorrow’s Sunday and they’re closed, but no probs we’ll come back on Monday. Well instead of paying the 2 euros to take the Metro straight there, we decided we’d get there for free by hopping on our tour bus that we had already paid for. Except we must not have thought this completely through, because the tour bus took forever and by the time we walked all the way past St. Peter’s to get to the Museum, it was 4:03, and everyone was already being shooed out the door. Our flight was the next day, but as the Sistine was at the top of both our lists, we thought we’d wake up super early and catch it. Naturally, Ben’s iPhone ran out of battery and failed to wake us. Undeterred, Team Ben and Ash came up with a very time-sensitive plan, and we finally made it, albeit only having a strict 1 hour to spend there. It was so worth seeing some of the most intricate and amazing artwork that exists in the world.

Pantheon. I saved the best for last. The Pantheon is just awesome, not because it’s so old but I think I love it because it’s just so THERE. In your face type thing. It’s strong, and solid, and beautiful without being flourishy and superfluous or blatantly religious. In fact it was the one building we can remember that didn’t have any saints or religious icons on it. I’d also strongly suggest going at night. Something of the magical variety in them parts.

Other adventures included seeing where Mussolini gave his speeches, the supposed location where Caesar was stabbed by his bff, and where Romulus and Remus, founding brothers of Rome, suckled on their wolf mother. At this one $$$ restaurant we splurged on one night, I had the best sausage I’ve ever had in my entire life, considering I don’t particularly like sausage. It was so good that I swear to you- I dreamt about it that night. We tried asking the waiter to see if it was some special variety or something like that, to which he pointed to it and responded, “Sausage.” Heartbreaking.

Also of note was the pizza. I was feeling potentially dehydrated one evening after walking around everywhere, and my awesome boyfriend (!!! yep) went out to pick up some pizza for us. He came back into the room saying how nice those Italians were to him, how they chatted it up about London the whole time. We were both really looking forward to some Margherita pizza, especially to help with my headache, except upon opening the pizza box we found it to be topped with a plethora of little oysters in their shells. Not something either of us can really stomach. So Ben took the pizza back, being really nice about it like he always is, and told them in very clear English, “We don’t like seafood- we just want the most BASIC pizza, we will take a MARGHERITA PIZZA.” He came back into the room with the most curious look on his face, opened up the box and said to me, “I hope this is chicken.” Well, it was squid, which I thankfully found out after some poking and prodding and not after some tasting. And it smelled just like you’d imagine, too. I was instantly convinced they were fucking with him and immediately began to plan my counterattack, although Ben to this day insists that they were too nice, apologetic and good-hearted to have done something so RIDICULOUSLY ILLOGICAL with sinister intention. We ate fries and gelato instead, which was quite the acceptable alternative in both our opinions.

Also I don’t know why no one has ever mentioned this before- why have I never heard or seen pictures of those awesome Roman trees??? I love them!

Anyway, now that I’m not completely broke, we’ve booked our next stop in Venice 2 weeks from today. Bridges and canals and unaffordable gondolas, oh my! Not to mention the uber tacky Venetian-designed Bed and Breakfast we might reserve… seriously what were they thinking? Also, I’ll be going with the family to Stef’s grandparents’ house in the countryside of southern Italy.. leaving tomorrow and probably won’t have internet for the next 5 days or so.

Check out the entirety of my Roma photos here (and by “my” I mean “by Ben”).

THANK GOD THIS POST IS FINALLY DUNZO.

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No kidding

August 12, 2008 · Filed under FYI, Family Life

So this evening, whilst cleaning up after the little one, I brought the infamous ratty plush kitty into her room and her mother informed me that the kitty does not sleep in G’s bedroom; she sleeps in the kitchen. Why? Because G is afraid of it- her most favorite toy. I DON’T BLAME HER. I’m scared of the damn thing during the DAY. I told you it looks so decrepid it’s unreal!! Giulia even said (in her little English translations), “I am disturbed by it!” still regardless of it going everywhere she goes during the day.

Anyway, I know I need to do my Rome update and I SWEAR it’s in the making!! Just haven’t finished yet due to a number of issues including laptop malfunctions, work, oh and also planning a trip to Venice at the end of this month with Ben. So let’s see… Washington DC, Austin, London, Rome, and now Venice? Yeah I’m pleased with that track record.

Life is good. Thanks for the love from everyone- I’ll be more responsible soon. Gotta get back to this Tuscan Merlot for now… ciao ciao.