First Week in Italia

It's been almost two weeks since I arrived in Arma di Taggia. Since then, I have spent many afternoons walking around the town, trying all flavors of gelato and granita, and lying on the beach. I have also started officially babysitting and tutoring in English. Though my schedule varies from day to day, I'm always upstairs and ready to go by 9:00 AM, when Luisa leaves for work (Massimo has already left by then). I wait until I hear Emma shouting, "Mama!" from upstairs (meaning she has woken up) and go and get her and start the morning by watching cartoons. Mostly we watch Pippi Longstocking (the film from the 70s that we have in the US has been edited and dubbed into a TV series in Italy that is just airing now! So weird.), which Emma loves (good for me because less screaming is involved than with other activities). We try to sing along to the intro song, but we can only sing the part when they say, "Pip-pip-pip-pip-piiiiipppiiiii," me because I don't speak Italian, and Emma because she is 2. I get a little bit confused when Emma says Pippi, because it's pronounced "pee-pee" which is the same thing as when she has to pee; we've had a few issues with the yellow peepee stuff...

The porch at Luisa and Massimo's house (where we eat most meals).

View of the beaches from the house.

Anyway, after Peepee (the redhead girl with braids, not the yellow stuff), we usually go play outside. And by play I mean run around and throw things, usually dolls, into the pool. Sometimes we throw balls over the fence and then we can't use them anymore (because we live on a mini mountain, so over the fence = down the mountain), and sometimes we actually kick the balls to each other (I think Emma will make a great soccer player someday). Sometimes we go in the pool for a little baño, but sometimes we shout instead. At around noon, either we go to the grandmother's house or the grandmother comes to our house and makes "pa-pa" (babyfood) for Emma, and lunch for me/the family (the constant refrain in the household is that Luisa is a terrible cook so I guess the grandparents want to make sure their grandchildren are eating). I think eventually I will be alone with Emma until 2 when Luisa gets home, but they are trying to ease her into being with me (which I think is working...).

Scott! Ciao Scott! He eats everything except lemons but including plastic.

 In my afternoons I help Nico with his English homework for about an hour (though this week and next week he is at tennis camp). He is hilarious and very personable, so even if he doesn't really like doing his homework, we have fun. I'm burning him a CD of American music since he seems to share my taste for danceable techno beats (i.e. Calvin Harris/David Guetta. He has to translate an English song into Italian for homework, and he chose Calvin Harris' "Drink from the bottle"). After this, I usually head into town and walk around or to the beach. I've found a new spot on the rocks at a public beach that is a little bit of a walk from the house and away from the more crowded beaches in the center of town. It's really peaceful and is a great spot for swimming!

View from one of my walks down the coast, such clear water, notice the couple in the water on the right for a sense of scale.

Peace rock. Bliss.

This past weekend the Carleton alum who contacted me for this position invited me and the other 3 Carleton students who are working as au pairs here to her house. She lives about 15 minutes away, into the valley behind Taggia and up the side of a mountain. She drove the four of us in her tiny car up all the bends and turns in the road to her isolated country cottage. Basically, she and her husband bought this run-down, centuries-old stone shack and slowly rebuilt/remodeled it themselves. It was adorable and just as one would imagine an Italian country home to be, i.e. kitchen with a brick, domed ceiling, a woodstove fireplace, grape vines hanging above the patio, roses growing up the stone walls of the house...it was lovely and the perfect getaway from living with a family of five. At night as I was falling asleep, I noticed that the air coming through the window above my head even smelled different--fresher, more like grass. The five of us had a great time drinking wine, eating cheese, and reminiscing about Carleton (then and now) into the wee hours of the night on Lynn's patio. It was also nice to have her two dogs, Q and Ruffolino (another golden!), around.

View from Lynn's house.

Lynn's patio with beautiful views and a ceiling of grapes!

 We slept at her house on Saturday night, and then on Sunday we went out and drove through some of the surrounding valley towns. We stopped in Badalucco for gas and a snack, and went to a secluded spot on the River Argentina to go skinny dipping, crossing an old Roman bridge in order to get there. The river was freezing, but very clear and very nice to swim in after a short hike.

Roman bridge, looks a lot smaller than it is.

Climbing down to the River Argentina.

高山，流水

Streets of Badalucco

This weekend I might venture into Nice/Monaco, which are both less than an hour away from Arma, but I need to start planning! At the very least, I'll head into San Remo, the nearest city. Luisa and Massimo promised me to get their old bike out, and there is a great bike path that runs between Arma and San Remo. I plan on taking advantage of it now that I've practiced biking with Sara, ;).

Ciao tutti!