Vicenza

Today was the big trip to Vicenza. We’ve never lived anywhere that we knew many of The Linguist’s coworkers well, but here it’s like they’re all family. We had to go in 2 groups since there are so many of us, and the younger kids and I were picked up by a couple who arrived in May (that we’d never met before), and it was like seeing a cousin you haven’t talked to in awhile. I quizzed them on the drive about things like banks,  electricity, houses, etc. There’s such a huge learning curve! It sounds like the house criteria at the top of our list should be space big enough for an American washer/dryer and one with a phone line already installed…and I was thinking about things like bedrooms!

The drive up there was beautiful. There are some volcanic-looking mountains with sharp points near Vicenza and a lot of old houses, etc. along the way. The Autostrada doesn’t look nearly as intimidating as I thought it would, although we did almost get squashed by a bus changing lanes. I’m also really excited to take the train somewhere. It sounds like you can take the fast train and be in Rome in less than 3 hours!

The Linguist passed the driving test, so we’ll be able to get our van when it arrives. (I didn’t even attempt it since I still have another page of road signs to memorize.) I’m sure the arrival of our van will be a great relief for all of those who are having to finagle rides for us. It is truly a group effort! The couple we rode up with had to be back in Ferrara to pick their kids up, so part of us rode home with our sponsor and the other part rode back with The Linguist’s boss. Everyone was kind and patient with Rosa hollering for all talking to stop so that she could take a nap. She did finally pass out, along with The Net and Deep Thinker. Now it’s bedtime and no one is tired but me! 

We got SIM cards for our phones. It’s crazy to me, but our data plans for smart phones are 9 euro/month. It’s a prepaid plan and if we go over our allotted minutes or texts the extra cost is .12 to .15 cents/minute or text. That seems so cheap compared to my Verizon plan for an un-smart phone that had overages for .45 cents/call and was $50/month. We are really grateful to those who helped us get the unlocked smart phones, since a gal here was only able to fulfill 24 months of her 30-month contract and was charged 600 euro for cancelling early. There is no pro-rating here.

Tomorrow I’m going to the Friday market with our sponsor’s wife, who is from the Netherlands. I’m excited to see what’s down there since it sounds like they have products from all over Europe!