Natale in Italia

Christmas in Italy has been quite an experience. As a whole Italians do Christmas really well. They eat TONS of Panettone, which is a rich, sweet bread with dried fruit in it. They also have a ridiculous amount of gift giving traditions. In Brescia, not only does Santa Claus come to call but also Santa Lucia, who arrives the 12th of December and comes down the chimney on a donkey to give good little boys and girls presents. Apparently she only visits Brescia since she's their local saint, but since they also conform to global pop culture, Babo Natale also comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve. Chimneys get lots of action in Italy. Also on January 8th another mythical person, la Befana- a girl in ripped up dresses, come to put candy in the kids socks (which is why they don't hang stockings on the mantle at Christmas). So the kids just rake it in during the holidays. Especially Alessia whose birthday was on the 8th. She got presents from half the school, so I'm still trying to find space for 30 new toys in the play room.

The kids put on a Christmas show for school, which was all in English. Alessia was given a solo but she was too shy, so they added three of her best friends to sing it with her. We started practicing for the show before Thanksgiving, so I was glad when it was over so I could stop singing the same songs over and over. Gigi was dressed like an angel and refused to let go of his toy gun until we got to the theater (which was ironically hilarious) and Ale was a snowman. It was a little bit disappointing because Alessia knew not only every word to her songs, but the words to Giorgio's songs too. But she was too shy to sing on stage with much gusto. And then Giorgio -who has no problem whatsoever with gusto- is too little to know all of the words. So he just jumped up and down shouting unintelligibly. They did a free dance at the end though, and Gigi was brilliant in that because he LOVES to dance. By the end of the show Ale (who had refused to take a nap) was exhausted and spent the last 10 minutes with her finger up her nose, to her fathers great horror. Of course it's all on video. Fingers crossed it gets played at her wedding someday. 

Christmas day I was invited to eat lunch with them with Valentina's family in Padova. But apparently accepting this invite also meant excepting the fact that I'd be working on Christmas. So upon learning this an hour before they left, I begged off saying I got a late invite to a lunch in Milano. Since everyone I know in Milano had plans or left the country for Christmas, I walked around the little Christmas village market they'd set up for the holidays and bought olive wood spoons like my mom. I flirted with the guy that ran the stand and for the small price of my phone number I got a pasta measurer for free. I also took in the GIANT Tiffany & Co Christmas tree in la Piazza del Duomo. It's magnificent. After I went back to Brescia I finished my packing for my trip to visit Cheryl's family in England and I Skyped my own family during their Christmas get together. Nothing like 20 people crowded round 1 computer. Of course I pick the year to live abroad when my Aunt Dennis and Uncle Lynda come from California for Christmas. Bad timing I say. But it was a Merry Christmas all in all and now I get to spend a fabulous New Year's in England!

Cortina

Right after I got back from Amsterdam we had Alessia's 5th birthday party, which was a ridiculous a fair. A community carnival has less attractions than her birthday did. They had a magician, a Princess Aurora who painted faces, a Mickey and Minnie Mouse in costume, 2 piñatas, a custom Aurora cake, 20 little girls running around in Alessia's Disney princess dresses and a rented cotton candy machine. Right after the party we all piled in the car and headed for the mountains to skiing, which is what Ale decided she wanted to do for her birthday (apart from the extravagant party that is).

So we stayed for 5 days in Cortina, in the Dolomiti Alps of Italy. It was a long trip, because dressing children in 4 different layers and then carrying them through knee deep snow chasing their sled down a snowy slope all day is exhausting. But the scenery was some of the most beautiful that I've ever seen. I couldn't stop taking pictures of the mountains. Alessia was decked out head to toe in Hello Kitty and went skiing for the first time since she broke her leg sledding in Cortina last year. Gigi at 2 and a half went skiing for the first time ever in an adorable little red Gormiti ski helmet.

I went skiing for the first time since Spring Break my senior year of high school. I couldn't fit my ski pants into my luggage when I moved because they're so obnoxiously puffy, and since I can't find a pair here under 100 Euro- I skied in jeans. In one of the most ritzy European ski resorts among the fashionable Italians, I skied down a mountain in jeans. I did very well considering it had been so long. I didn't get wet, because the only time I fell was when I stopped to take off my rentals.

I hate to say it, but the Dolomiti Alps kind of kick the Rockies ass. The ski resorts aren't as good as Colorado as far as I can tell, but the scenery is better if that's possible.

Firenze Revisited

I've already gone out of order for my trips, but I thought that my return to Firenze was worth a post. I went back to Firenze -the city of my first Italian adventure- in the first weekend of November. Unfortunately I took no pictures this time around.

What I did take was lots of shots. My first night in Florence -after walking around to all of our old haunts, and old apartments, and eating pear ravioli at one of our old favorite restaurants- I met a group of Americans. Chris, Jocelyn, and Jordan wrapped me into the folds of what they called "Team America." We sat around the common room in my hostel and swapped Greek Life stories and travel tales. Jordan was an au pair in Luxembourg and Jocelyn was an au pair in Germany, so we had plenty of common ground. Chris was traveling around the world to take a break from life as a bartender since he couldn't put his Chemistry degree to good use. We played some drinking games, went to a bar, and then ended up going out dancing at the club that my Jersey roommates practically lived at 2 years ago. It was a fantastic night of letting everything go and just dancing it out.

The next day we hit up the Duomo and San Lorenzo market together. We ate kebabs twice and played more drinking games and some beer pong on a hostel rooftop with a gorgeous panoramic view of the entire city. It's true what Europeans say, Americans drink a lot :) But I figured since I've seen the sites I might as well have fun for the weekend.

While walking around and shopping for the weekend I bought a great Christmas ornament and a really beautiful, famous Tuscan-leather cowl neck jacket. But it was a really great weekend of going out and bonding with my fellow countrymen and feeling like a part of a group.

Amsterdam

The first weekend in December I got the chance to go to Amsterdam for 5 days. Amsterdam is a fabulous city. It was a fabulous trip as well partly because was great to explore a new city, but mostly because I got to explore it with a great friend.

 Amsterdam is full of canals and bicycles. It was especially gorgeous when I was there because in addition to the Christmas lights and decorations, there was a dusting of snow. Not enough snow to slow you down much, but just enough to beautify everything.

I spent most of my time walking around taking pictures and absorbing the city. I wandered into a posh little hair salon and had my hair cut by an adorable gay Swiss man in herringbone genie pants. He did an excellent job, which is good because it was expensive. I learned in the first 2 hours that Amsterdam is one of the most expensive cities in Europe. Emalise, my fabulous hostess for the weekend, was working when I got in Thursday night, so I entertained myself in an Irish pub where a pint was a ridiculous 5.20 Euros. The Napoli team was playing the Dutch team so the pub was unofficially sponsoring Italian night. Another chance to practice my Italian with attractive Southern Italians. I met lots of people which was good, because I only ended up paying for one drink. I had originally popped in for a pint and a bite to eat, and I ended up closing the bar and stumbling back to my hostel in fine form.

Emma and I were reunited after 3 years by a hug that more resembled a tackle. I wasn't paying attention when Emma attacked me in front of Starbucks in the Amsterdam train station. Best. Hug. Ever.

Our first order of business in Amsterdam was to see Harry Potter 7 IN ENGLISH! I was so happy that the Dutch are too lazy to dub over every single movie like Italians. It was fantastic! While we were waiting for the movie to start, we went over to Winterland where we ate hot waffles covered in chocolate and I introduced Emski to mulled wine. For anyone that doesn't know, mulled wine is like Christmas in a cup.

Together, me and Emski walked through the Red Light District (where pictures are illegal). I wasn't quite expecting it when we walked passed a bunch of women pimping themselves in black light bikinis in windows. It's a cultural experience, the Red Light District. If there aren't women selling sex in red lit windows, then there are head shops, and if not head shops then there are coffee shops. Coffee shops sell excellent lattes, great coffee, and made to order marijuana. It's even printed on the menu: the variety of pot is sandwiched between the finger foods and the beverages.  It is true. In some places in the world (aka Amsterdam) you can buy drugs like it's a cappuccino. It's actually pretty funny. Even all of the fast food places are open super late to cater to their crowd with the munchies.

Major sites that we saw in Amsterdam include the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh Museum. The Anne Frank house was very sad, but much bigger than I though it'd be. It was crazy to see exactly the rooms and the window views that she wrote about. The Van Gogh Museum was maybe my favorite part of Amsterdam. It was organized chronologically to show how he progressed through out his career. I found out that a David Sedaris book cover came from an early Van Gogh painting, Skull Smoking a Cigarette, which happens to be my favorite of his. It was one of the best museums I've ever been to. And outside Museumplein were the giant Iamsterdam letters which were an excellent photo opportunity :)

It was a perfect weekend because Amsterdam is one of the best cities in the world. But it was great to spend the weekend with someone I could absolutely  be myself with. To have inside jokes and a shared past again. To be able to spout out movie quotes to someone who knows the movies to which I'm referencing and only be minutely judged for them. I've missed Emma a ton since she moved to Atlanta but I missed myself too. 

Amsterdam I love you.

Emma's blog of the same trip: http://emaliseinthenetherlands.blogspot.com/2010/12/extra-special-adventure-in-amsterdam.html

Rimini

To go over some of my past adventures....we went to Rimini over the Italian version of Memorial Day weekend which was over Halloween.

Rimini is a very touristic city. The boardwalk is full of arcades and clubs. The entire beach is sectioned off into numbered "beaches" that are small snack bars with volleyball nets and play grounds where you have to rent chairs or umbrellas to be able to sit on the sand in front of them. The concept of a public beach is dead in Italy, but its convenient that for the price of a beach chair you can borrow sea kayaks and the like for free.

Rimini has by far the best seafood I've ever tasted. The uncle of the kids I watch owns a restaurant and when we had dinner there I'm pretty sure he served us the entire menu. We ate tuna paté on toasted bread, and about 3 different varieties of prawns, sun fish, lobster, and crab and every other sort of fish or crustacean you could ever imagine was edible. By the time we were finished I was so full I could barely move, but every bite was delectable.

I took a walk on the beach in the rain one day when I was free, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the kite boarders. I sat and watched them for nearly 2 hours.  So now that is my new goal for the summer. I want to learn how to kite surf. It looks somewhat similar to wake boarding so I hope it isn't much more difficult. I'm thinking that I'll have to do more Pilates to be in good enough shape to do jumps and flips and stuff. I get a month paid vacation in September so I'm thinking that I want to go somewhere tropical for a few weeks. I've wanted to get certified for scuba diving since age 10 so I figured this year would be the perfect opportunity. So I might as well try kiteboarding as well while I'm at it. It looks like FUN!

Living in Brescia, Italy

Hello!

I've finally cracked and started a blog because I feel like no one has a clue what's going on in my life anymore. I barely have time to email my mom, so that is in fact true. So I am now one of 'those people' who blogs about themselves in order to keep you people updated on the world of Caitlyn.

As you know (or may not?) I am currently living in Brescia, Italy working as a nanny and soaking in Italian culture. I arrived here on October 1st and work for a very interesting and somewhat wealthy Italian family with 2 children. Giorgio is 2.5 and Alessia just turned 5. We live in a Villa on a small mountain overlooking the city. We have a gorgeous view of il Castello di Brescia which sits on an adjacent hill. So far the castle is my favorite thing about Brescia. The whole town is built around it and it is an excellent reference point for when you have no idea where you're going.

Giorgio, the father of the kids, is an art dealer so the house looks very similar to a museum. There are giant canvases and statues everywhere, although he can't seem to decide if he likes contemporary or antique art better so there is a strange mix of both. Definitely not Feng Shui but it's free, or at least included in my pay. Valentina, the mother, is a little eccentric but very nice and puts up with my cultural hiccups. Like the time at the grocery store when I held up the line because I didn't know that you are supposed to print yourself a price tag for your vegetables in the produce department. Needless to say she had to go back and find prices for all our veggies. Ale is very intelligent and strong willed but doesn't like to hear the word no. Getting her to do things she doesn't want to takes a subtlety that I had to acquire quickly to avoid temper tantrums. She loves to read and sing, like me :) so we do a lot of both. Gigi is very sweet and very silly. He's also the biggest mama's boy I've ever met. He's nearly 3 and he still breast feeds because he's so attached. He likes to ride his collection of toy motorcycles and paint. Both of them love to bake and do crafts, so we make lots of messes together doing both.

My day-to-day includes teaching English, wiping noses, playing pony, giving baths, and breaking up toddler fights which are a little more vicious than I remember them.  And while living with an Italian family has helped me make great strides with learning the language, I live for my weekends off when I can have adventures that don't involve playing pretend with kids.

Places I've visited so far since I got here:
Milano
Padova
Rimini
Firenze
Amsterdam

Places I'm going in the near future:
England

Funny anecdotes I've collected so far:
Daylight Savings Time is on a different day here than in America, and no one happened to tell me when that day was. So the Monday following the fall back, I woke the whole family up an hour early in a panic thinking that we were running late for school. I was the only one amused, Giorgio told me to buy a new watch lol.

The "American Circus" came to Brescia and me and Valentina took the kids to see it. Somehow through unfortunately timed eye contact, I got called up with 5 guys to play a musical instrument in the clown act. Usually I'm terrified in front of crowds; I tremble at the thought of public speaking. But for some reason I was feeling strangely confident because I had actually showered, done my hair, and put on make-up and a decent outfit that day. I usually do the bare minimum because 2 year olds don't notice. So I strutted in front of a big top full of Italians and played my cowbell with distinction. I bowed and strolled back to my seat rather smugly until I looked at the pictures Vale had taken for me. My sweater was buttoned crooked. I had gone in front of a huge audience with my cardigan off by one button. Typical.

If I think of more, I'll let you know. That's all for now. I'll post some details and pictures of all of my outings as I go. As Valentina says, piano piano- which means slowly, slowly.