At Home

We really like our home near Formello (outskirts of Rome). We're lucky to have a lot of space and to enjoy incredible weather. Were loves to sit in the garden to reply to downloaded email, to plan, and to teach Clara to ride a two-wheeler!


The boys, as always, love soccer and also play a little tennis.













Clara has a rope swing that we all take turns pushing her on.



Cheryl has enough room for yoga with Rodney Yee and the kids. Namaste.

Elan turns 10

We were in Nice for Elan's actual birthday. We spent the afternoon on the pebbly beach and strolling through the old part of the town. As you can see above, Elan enjoyed some gelato, too (Clara was upset that only the birthday boy got whipped cream on top).

Elan celebrated with a sleepover party. He and 5 of his friends played tennis, soccer, and some games before watching a few movies. They all fell asleep by midnight and woke at 7am (it's great that running around can encourage fatigue). They seemed to have a good time with each other, and Elan had a blast. It was his first slumber party.

Pruning, Pups, Reading, and Roadtriping

The upkeep of our house has included pruning olive trees and taking care of Gaia and her eight puppies. Luckily someone else did the pruning and burning of branches, but the puppies are still ours. They're incredibly cute but no one seems to want them because they're mutts. I guess folks in Rome don't appreciate hybrid vigor. The kids and their friends love playing with the pups, making them perfect pets for a family. Any takers?














We returned from a great drive to Barcelona last week. It was a wonderful trip, and I'll supply photos and details soon.

I just read The Hummingbird's Daughter with my bookclub. It's a sort of historical fiction written by a wonderful storyteller, Luis Alberto Urrea. There are many Christian and liberation theology themes that have been considered heretical by the Catholic church but more than inspiring to Native Mexicans. I highly recommend the book.

Tivoli and Religion

We went to Tivoli last week. Tivoli has been home to the lavish summer estates of emperors of Rome for a long time, including the villa of the Emperor Hadrian. We didn't get a chance to see Villa Adrian but we did strolled in the gardens of Villa d'Este, built by Cardinal Ippolito in the 16th century. He's apparently honored in the town for redirecting the river, saving the old city from floods.


The gardens were magnificent! There are over 150 fountains and various kinds of statues and plants. Interestingly, there are grottos and sanctuaries for both Christian saints and traditional Roman deities. And all was built on a hill (As Clara learned, the hill was fun to descend but a pain to hike up).





I also went to the church of Santa Cecilia last week. It's one of the oldest churches in what used to be the working class area of Rome, called Trastevere. Among other pieces of art (including marble from both Egypt and Turkey), the church has a spectacular 9th century mosaic, depicting Jesus with the same kind of light that ancient Egyptians bestowed upon holy figures, an Orthodox sign of blessing, and God as a hand (an unknown). I learned that it was only in the 15th century that European Christians felt bold enough to put a face to God--they previously adhered to Jewish (and Muslim) practices of expressing God as an unknowable force.

I also learned that basilicas all have the same shape -- a rectangle with something circular at the front. The rectangle, where there are pews for people, is imperfect, like people, because it must be made from 4 different elements. Also, there was a belief that people were made from the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth. So, the people sit in the rectangle. The circular element at the top is where the mystery of God is represented. And circles, like God, are perfect. Cool, huh?

Best and Worst

Best part of living in Rome...



Clara: having pasta and pizza. My favorite kind of pasta is spaghetti with cheese sauce and pizza margarita (it means cheese and tomato sauce pizza).

Elan: getting to know a lot about soccer, getting to know people from around the world, and learning about Roman and Italian culture. It was cool to learn that ancient Romans took over a lot of Europe.

Theo: soccer and Italian food. Soccer is intense, passionate, and fast paced here. Everyone gives their all. My favorite food is pizza: margarita pizza, pizza bianca, and anchovy.



Worst part of living in Rome...

Clara: bullies. There are a lot in first grade. They lie, mostly, and they twist people's wrists.

Elan: aggressive drivers. They annoy my mother, and it's annoying to hear her scream all the time.

Theo: soccer because it's so intense that people get mad if you mess up. The uniforms at school also are bad.

Daily struggle

Most of this blog shares our outings in and around Rome. I guess I have found a need to show the good things, our enjoyable moments. Truth be told, it's usually quite a chore to live here. As a foreigner and limited Italian speaker, I just don't know or have access to many of the charms of life here. I can't figure out how they make the artichokes taste so good; I can't negotiate a better price for fresh kiwis (or for repair of my gate); I don't know good places to buy shoes or how to play Italian cards; I don't know the difference between tripe cooked in Florence to that of Rome (I also don't like tripe)... I could go on.

I guess the fact of the matter is that much of Italy (Rome, in particular) is closed to me. I don't know many Italians, although my children go to a school that is more than 50% Italian and their classes have even a higher percentage. The few that I have me are busy with and keep to their families. They don't simply invite folks like us home for lunch. It must take years to really penetrate their rich, family-filled worlds. This is different for me, who has lived in other places 'round the world and shared many a meal with "locals."

So, I live like a pseudo-tourist. It's pseudo because as I site-see, I still must come home to negotiate with the man who fills our gas tank; I must listen to the indignant non-apologies of service people who fail to show up on time (or at all); I must interact with the caribinieri who stop me randomly as I drive down my street; I must try to convince the horseriding teacher that shouting, "You know how to ride a horse," doesn't encourage; I must cutoff other cars and gesture if I want to get anywhere... Strange existence.

I also don't have a strong expatriate community to help. We are scattered. Many of the women I do know have lived here for many years and repeat, like a mantra, "It's so much better than it used to be. You're lucky." They've been through the fire (inferno, maybe) and can't imagine why I feel lonely or legless in 2007. Well, I don't know what they've experienced, but a little help and extension of friendship never hurts, no matter how trivial it feels to the giver.

sigh.

Naples

Naples is very different from Rome and from all of the little Medieval towns we've visited--it's a city. It's bustling, busy, large, economically diverse, and dirty. We didn't bother to see the historical center and instead stuck close to the bay, which was beautiful. We loved Piazza Plebiscito, with is columns and live band.

We also enjoyed imagining life in the two large castles/fortresses on the bay.

Just before a dinner of pizza, we shared a mixed seafood antipasta. The kids learned that they like squid, mussels, and clams. Yum!

We spent Sunday exploring the excavation of Herculaneum (Ercolano). This seaside resort was covered in ash and lava when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Because it was covered so quickly, archaeologists not only found the remains of buildings but petrified, organic materials. They discovered bread prepped for baking, beans, and, yes, skeletons. The eruption of the volcano was recorded by Pliny the Younger, who described the darkening sky, the ash and the wailing of residents. Listening to a reading of his letters on our audioguide made the tour of the excavation even more poignant.

It was very cool to see how people lived here. Most of the large homes were formed around open atriums, which contained private gardens. Homes also had plumbing--water was carried in lead pipes to the kitchen and toilets. Paint decorated walls and mosaics covered most of the floors. And there were large, public baths for men and women.

Cerveteri

The children and I visited the necropolis at Cerveteri on their day home last Friday. The huge, Etruscan tombs were made of tufa (a volcanic rock from which our home also is made). They were surprisingly inspiring. Similar to Egyptians, Etruscans built the tombs to prepare for life-after-death and often resembled very clean homes--they included chairs, vases and art. In Etruscan Places, DH Lawrence wrote of his visit:

“We went down the few steps, and into the chambers of rock within the tumulus. There is nothing left, it is like a house that has been swept clean, and the inmates have left. Now it waits for the next comer. But whoever it is that has departed, they have left a pleasant feeling behind them, warm to the heart. The tombs seem so easy and friendly, cut out of rock underground. One does not feel oppressed descending into them. There is a simplicity combined with a naturalness and spontaneity. Death to the Etruscans was a pleasant continuance of life with jewels and wine and flutes playing for the dance.”

The children were most fascinated with the florescent yellow water that flooded a number of the tombs. We never figured out what kind of chemical caused that or what it's for...

Etruscans were remarkable. They built sewage systems, arches and roads and, later, taught the Romans. Romans refined and spread many of these technologies all over Europe, North Africa, and the Byzantine world as their empire increased.