La Passeggiata. A Right Of Passage.

The verb "to walk" in english translates to "camminare" in italian.  It's the physical act of walking.  For example: to "walk" to the store, to "walk" quicker, to "walk" next to me.  La Passeggiata is something else entirely.  It is "The Walk," and Italians have become quite famous for it.  I've done a lot of walking in the last couple of days in a lot of different places.  La Passeggiata is something I'd like to bring home with me.  It's long (today's was 10 kilometers...that's a little over 6 miles for those of you who need the conversion...), and at times arduous (especially with kids...and hills...and sun...) but there is something ever so lovely about taking a stroll through the countryside or in the streets of a city near the square.  I've loved getting to know my family better during these treks through the various terrain that north eastern Italy has to offer.  On Friday, Silvia and I took a stroll through Vittorio Veneto.  This is the small, hillside town that her parents live in.  They watched the kids so that we could have some girl time together!  Saturday, the whole family went to Cansiglio in the mountains where Silvia's parents have a summer home.  Today, we were in Valbona walking through the Prosecco vineyards.  I think the pictures will explain more for today's post.  Enjoy!

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba

New idea for feet pictures.  I want to take one of each city or important thing I ever visit in life.  This picture is on the trail behind Silvia's parents house, leading us down to the city centre of Vittorio Veneto.

There is a church (St. Augusta) way up on a hillside in Vittorio Veneto, this is where the staircase up to the church once started, most of the staircase no longer exists.

A river runs right through the town.  Beautiful.

The square.

Sivia's father!  A lovely man.

Got these raisin rolls at a bakery before we arrived at the mountain home...we needed a little sustenance for our long walk!

The view from the mountain house's front porch...

This is an artists home across the street from the mountain house.  It's made entirely of wood.  Look at the details below. Note that the chimney is a fountain pen!!

The house is made to look like books.

And the gate...colored map pencils!!!

View in the mountains.

We walked all the way up to a tiny cheese shop on the side of the mountain.

Taking a rest.

Midday nap on the porch after a hearty lunch.

Feet pic.  Mountain House.

This little guy was at an aperitif party we went to Saturday night.

The Italians do a great job at throwing a pre-dinner affair.  This is their version of a happy hour.

Our host (sitting) and our hostess (in red)

One of our host's hobbies is cultivating bonsai trees!

A walk this morning in Valbona, through the Prosecco vineyards.

Grapes!

Lovely countryside.

Family

Just chillin' with the grapes.

Did you know that rose bushes are grown next to the vines because they are a delicate flower.  If the roses get sick, chances are the vine is not far behind!  Learn something new everyday!

The guys.

Met this little fellow on our journey!

Family foot pic.  Valbona Prosecco vineyards.

10k...

This is the church that Laura and Giovanni got married in!!  Shout out to the TIKI-TALIANS!!

At a winery.

Towards the end of the walk.

Andrea had lost his shirt by this point...it had started getting a bit on the warm side...

Prosecco trail.

The Secret Life of Sweat.

I believe in magic.  Call me childish, call me a dreamer, but there are some things in this life that can't be explained and don't need to be.  Stop trying to logic your way through it, chalk it up to magic, you'll feel better.

This morning something magical happened.  I went for my first run in the rain here.  If you know me at all you know that I really like to run, but my ideal run is had in the rain.  Not torrential downpour rain, not monsoon or hurricane weather, just a nice, steady rain.  A drizzle if you will, a shower, a sprinkle even...  Anyway, the perfect rain fell over San Vendemiano this morning and I ran in it, and while I did, magic occurred.  You see, I believe that when you run while it's raining you are able to physically leave your stamp on a place, and that place is able to physically leave it's stamp on you.  When your sweat mingles with the rain of some new place and then drips to the pavement, or cobblestones, or vinyard path what-have-you, something special happens.  When it's raining you can actually turn around and see the foot prints you're leaving behind, it's true!  Even on an asphalt road, the impression keeps for a brief moment.  And so this morning, while the Italian rain was seeping into my pores and my pores were weeping my mingled sweat into the Italian landscape, we shared a moment, Italy and me.  We were sharing something of ourselves, something sacred and pure and sweet.  In that moment I wasn't thinking about the run at Memorial that I could be sharing with friends (although I miss those terribly Val and Steph), and I wasn't thinking about how many weeks I have left on the trip or how many weeks I've been here, I wasn't even thinking about where I was going because at this point my feet know where to take me in this place.  I was just thinking about enjoying each and every moment of this experience that I'll never be able to repeat.  I was thinking about what kind of mark I want to leave while I'm here.  What impression will these people have of me (aside from "there goes that crazy American girl again running circles around our town...") It's an important question to ask of your time in any place, small scale or large scale, don't you think?  What impression will I leave on my home town?  How about the city I live in now?  What about the world?!?  What kind of impression can I leave on this place and with the people that I have the privilege of spending this little time with...?

When I was having that brief bout with homesickness at the beginning of the trip, Silvia told me that the first fifteen days are the hardest.  She said, get through the first fifteen.  Cry whenever you want, feel what you feel, but get through the first fifteen, those are the hardest.  I woke up to rain on day fifteen.  I went for a run.  I feel at peace with the impression that I'm striving to leave here.  I will not know Italian very well when I leave.  I will not come home with an Italian lover.  I will not be much different in appearance or attitude, but I will leave a piece of me here.  The people here will remember me.  I want it to be because I was kind, and generous and compassionate and at times silly and quirky.  I want them to remember that I smiled more than I frowned, and that I laughed more than I cried.  I want them to know that I'm thankful and grateful, and that my heart is overwhelmed by their generosity.  I want them to feel at peace around me, I want to show a helpful spirit, and I want to be selfless more than I'm selfish.  This is the impression that I want to work towards leaving in the little time I have here.

Silvia also told me the other day that Franco, the man that is working on painting the outside of the house, told her I had a beautiful smile.  Little does Franco know that I smile at him so big and so often because it's the only communication that I'm really good at in this place.  Of course I know how to say "hello" and I do, frequently, but my best tool of communication in this particular world has become my face.  I'm glad he noticed.

Smile at people.  Everyday.  All the time.  It makes them feel good and it communicates more to a person than your "good mornings" or  your "hello, how are yous" probably ever will.  I'm sending you the biggest smile my face can make!  Love you all.

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba

SMILE!!!

Kid's Play

I keep wanting to write a post for you to wake up and read, but the truth is, it's hard to write about the day to day.  This week we're just doing what I came here to do.  LIVIN'

So, what to write about when I'm living the life of an au pair?  I'll give you my basic schedule and then show you a little of what the kids and I have been up to.

Morning: Wake up, exercise a little, shower, come upstairs to drink some coffee, eat some breakfast, answer some emails and usually write the blog.  Like this morning!

Afternoon:  See to the shopping with Silvia and the kids, help prepare lunch, get food prepped for dinner, see to the kid's lessons (one at a time for an hour a piece, a day), go for walks, run errands, play outside, etc.

Evening:  Help make dinner, chat with Silvia and Gian, set plans for the next day, watch some TV, get to bed...

That's pretty much it on the regular.  Of course we have days that are completely out of the normal where we take a day trip to the sea, or we head to the pool with friends, or we go to a swim meet in Verona and on those days it's extremely easy to post. But, during the week, when we get into our routine there's not much more to show you than what we're working on here.  So, today's post will be about what the kids have been up to.  Don't worry!!  There will still be plenty of posts to come with new places and faces and adventures.  Silvia, Gianluca and I are planning a trip to the mountains without kids soon, I believe, and I still think that towards the end of the trip we're going to the cote d'azur for holiday if Gian can get away from work!!  For today, however, you get the daily grind!

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba (the au pair)

Andrea's depiction of me.  He enjoys my polka dot pants.

Laura's depiction of me using words.  I'd say that pretty much sums it up!

A gift I found on my bed one night from Laura.  I think we're ghosts.

Okay, here's what Andrea and I are working on in his lessons.  Andrea is an incredibly creative kid.  He loves fantasy and reading.  So, we're creating our own book.  He's drawing the pictures and I'm writing the words based on what he can explain, in english, about his drawings.  Vocabulary is our main focus.  When he doesn't know a word we act it out together with sound effects and a very descriptive type of charades until we can come up with the right word.  This is page one of the Mario's Mechanics Garage saga.

Laura has much better english so my lessons with her focus on me asking written questions, her responding in writing, then me correcting the grammatical errors and us talking through her answers together to understand the rules.  Today we'll begin a session where she asks me questions and then writes the answers I give her in the third person.  She's terrified to speak still but I think, by the end of the trip, she'll be a pretty darn good little english speaker.

I Stood Where Romeo Did!!

Andrea competed in a swim meet yesterday that took us to Verona!!  As you may know (or maybe not because I understand that not everyone is as zealous a Shakespeare fan as I happen to be...) Verona is the place where Romeo and Juliet lived!  I stood beneath Juliet's balcony and wrote on her wall.  It was extremely touristy and dripped with gushy love knick knacks and kissing couples but I'm a serious romantic so it's something that needed to happen.  We also did quite a bit of shopping in Verona...quite a bit..  I think Gianluca is beginning to think that I'm a bad influence on his wife.  Every time we go somewhere together we spend money...we also end up getting at least one matching item.

::SIDE NOTE:: the other day Silvia was hanging the laundry to dry (because everything is dried by the sun in Italy!) and she noticed that my choice in bras was inadequate.  Seriously, she came into my room with the bra and said "This bra is not good for you, I take to show you the bra you need"  then she took me to buy Italian lingerie.  Lot's of it.  I freaking love this woman.  Also, I'll be coming back to The States with huge looking boobs.  Do not be alarmed, it's just boob mirage.  Totally false advertising but hey...when in Rome... ::END SIDE NOTE::

I'm so glad I got to see Andrea compete at least once.  He's a fine swimmer.  I really enjoy being in this athletic family.  We've got runners and swimmers, bikers and gymnasts coming out of our ears!  It's fun, and challenging and there's never a dull moment.  This morning I joined a running club for the summer.  I had my first run with a delightful group of sixteen year olds.  I was really nervous at first, not because of their age, I deal with sixteen year olds on a daily basis for a living during the school year.  I was nervous because the prospect of doing anything athletic with a group of people ten years younger than you is terrifying.  But, as we ran for an hour through the countryside this morning I realized that I'm kind of a runner.  It's something that I've never been good at.  I'm slow, my breathing sucks, my legs usually feel heavy or tight but I realized today that I am, and probably always will be, a runner!!  I was at the front of the pack the whole time!!  I paced with a kid name Marco; he didn't speak any english.  No one spoke any english, which was perfectly fine by me because talking is not one of my favorite activities to do while running.

The weather is turning cooler here.  We may get a brief respite from the hot, humid Italy that's been dogging our days for a bit.  If you're around any balconies in the near future try to remember to be geeky and tell someone you love them.  Everybody should be gazed at from a balcony every once in a while!

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba

Ready? Set?

GO!!!

He's in lane 2, with the blue bottom, left arm raised.

Pretty parents.

Okay, this guy was a riot!!  He used this high squeaky voice like a baby.

He got Andrea to hold him.

And then, he told me where to position my hands on his buggy to take a picture... 

aaaaaaaaand then, he totally looked at my boob...which was not in a bra...

Still trying to figure out how these guys did this...

The balcony of Juliet (Giulietta in Italian)

Me and Julie.  Note the bags...yikes.

Locks of love.

Writing on Juliet's wall.

Cool! 'Merica!