Thursday...Vicenza furniture

Thursday, the furniture from Vicenza was delivered. They loan us wardrobes for the time we're here (8 total since there are no closets), several kitchen cabinets, a washer and dryer, and 2 refrigerators (one is supposed to be a freezer!). They brought a few other pieces, as well, but those will have to be returned within 90 days. I learned the word for ugly from the driver. Now I can tell everyone who comes over that the furniture is "bruto," but with a smile, since we really are happy to have it! The wardrobes were a foot shorter than we expected, which has already resulted in some moving, and the kitchen cabinets are longer...so more moving. I'm sure it won't be the last!

The washer/dryer situation should be interesting. We have 7 kilo European appliances...which meant nothing to me until I looked inside. The washer I had in the U.S. was about 3-4 times bigger. We hear, though, that you stuff these full and that since the washer heats its own water, the whites will actually be white (without bleach) after we wash them! The electrician told us to make sure we don't run too many appliances at the same time. The dryer, especially, sucks electricity, and if I run the vacuum and the washer/dryer at the same time, it's likely we'll trip the breaker, which will sound an alarm, and the lack of electricity will also cause the house alarm to go off...should be quite the experience the first few times that happens! Notice I'm saying when, not if...

The best part of Thursday was that our landlord's wife was at the house -- we think to make sure the folks working were actually working. She is wonderful! She speaks a little English, but is very patient with my Italian. She drove me into the little town that is beyond the really little town we live in and showed me the salumeria (meat shop), paneteria (bakery) and the mini mercado. Next we went for coffee. Most places have chocolata calda (hot chocolate that is so thick it's almost like pudding), but this place didn't...something about the son who runs the restaurant didn't make it yet because it's not cold enough...next she offered me cappuccino. It's still hard for me to find any words in Italian -- let alone the ones to explain the drinks we don't drink for religious reasons! I settled on "No, grazie," in lieu of a more detailed answer and had juice instead. We drank standing up at the counter because that's what you do in Italy.

She told the woman behind the counter than I had 5 children and that stopped traffic for awhile. The man behind me started exclaiming, the woman behind the counter threw her hands up in disbelief! It seems to be a combination of the number and my age. Italy has a negative birth rate, and more than 2 children is really uncommon. They also marry and have children later (like mid-30s), so the idea that I could have that many children and be so young is startling to them! I don't mind...it's kind of nice to hear over and over, "But you're so young!" -- especially now that I'm getting a wrinkly neck, a wrinkle above my mouth and wrinkly eyelids! Maybe I'll starting taking all 5 kids to the grocery store for an ego boost every week!

Rosa took one look at the landlady and asked if she would be our Italian grandmother because we don't have one in Italy. That tickled Chiara, who already thought it was so cute that Rosa had a broom and was helping me sweep the floor. "Brava! Brava, Mama!" was what she said (basically, good work, Mom). Then Rosa dragged her around by the hand and introduced the boys to "nonna." (grandmother). I love that about kids! They could care less whether they speak the same language. Rosa just liked the look of nonna and that was that.

We spoke in Italian for 4 or 5 hours, and my head felt 12 sizes bigger when I got home. I hope that she'll visit often and we can both improve our language skills. I can't tell you about my funny mistakes, since I don't recognize them yet, but Chiara was trying to tell me about a drawer (casseti), and when I would say "drawer?" she would say no and describe a drawer. It finally dawned on her that I was saying "drawer," not "door." I never realized how similar they are! At one point she also said, "Let's go down to the chicken" when she meant "kitchen." She caught that mistake quickly and corrected it, but laughed anyway. It's funny how I can catch those words myself in Italian and Spanish (kitchen in Italian is almost identical to pig in Spanish and pig in Spanish is about the same in pronunciation as cousin in Italian), but I've never thought about door and drawer or kitchen and chicken in English.