Riddle Family In Italy

Different Cultures (Revisited)...

I wrote about this before in this article about our four year old learning to make wine.  Now it is my ten year old coming home and telling me about one of his history assignments.  My first degree from college is in history, we live in history rich Italy, what could the assignment be?  Here is what the conversation was like:

Micah: Dad, I need to do some research for history.

Me:  Okay, what do you need to look at?

Micah:  I need to look up how to make beer.

Me:  Great!  My four year old makes wine and now my ten year old is learning how to make beer!  Let's go!

Yes, things are different here in Italy.  There are some things that I can deal with (attitudes in regards to alcohol) and then there are other things that I have a more difficult time dealing with (driving).  For the most part, I have not seen where there are huge problems with alcohol here.  That does  not mean there are not problems, there are, but it seems that the culture as a whole has a healthier out look on alcohol that we do in the States.  There are some things to learn from this. 

Driving School (Part 2)...

Not much has happened over the past couple of days in school.  Mainly because we have bee sick and not been able to go each day.  We are finding that the class is good for our language, but all we really need to know is in the book.  It is amazing though how they word these books.  They say the same thing about the same sign in four or five different ways!  "At the intersection you can turn right...At the intersection you have the possibility to turn right...You may turn right at the intersection...Turn right at the intersection you may (Yoda speak).  We do not think this will be difficult to finish, it is just going to take time.

The sign at the right is just one example of why we need to take a class to drive here.  Who goes where on what road? 

"The Weather is Great..."

One of the things that I was looking forward to about coming to Italy: the weather!  I had heard about the beautiful, although hot, summers and I had also heard that the winters were relatively mild.  The averages are around 50 during the day and then about 40 at night.  That is the average.  Snow?  It had not snowed here from all the accounts we have heard since 2001!  That I could live with.  One thing that I really do not like is cold weather.  Ask Bob Carr if you doubt me.

The summers are great here!  I love them!

The picture to the right is our current weather conditions.  Will this make the Weather Channel?  Probably not!  Yes, that is snow and the temperature is 0°C (32°F) and it is the same thing that we have had for two years now in a row!  "We hardly ever get snow here!  You'll love it!" they said!  Well, I do still love the fact that we are living here in Italy, but I have learned one thing for certain.  I do not like cold weather in Italy any better than I liked cold weather in the United States!

"Snow" Day...

One thing that we have learned here in Italy is that when the kids are in school, that is about all that they do, school work.  We (try to) leave the house at 7:50 every morning, Monday through Saturday and get to school between 8:05 and 8:10.  The boys are in classes until 1:00 in the afternoon.  By the time we wait for most of the other people to clear out of the school grounds and we walk home, it is about 1:45.  Then we eat lunch and the boys get started on their homework.  Homework can take between one and a half hours and four hours, but usually it is about two and a half hours of work.  This is what we have come to call, "The Grind". 

Monday February 9th was a different day though.  After five weeks and 30 days of school, we were all tired and needed something different; so, we had a "snow" day for the boys.  After the boys were in bed Sunday night, Melody and I cut up a bunch of paper and made some snow flakes to hang on their door for the next morning. (See picture to the right)  Each "snow flake" said, "This snow flake good for one day off from school.  Bring it to Mom & Dad when you want to use it."  All three were used on Monday!

The day was a relaxed one to be sure.  Much of it was spent at home doing some fun stuff together, reading, games (Ugly Doll is great!) and just enjoying the fact that we really did not have anything that had to be done.  We had pushed the boys to get their homework done on Saturday so that they would not have to work on Monday.  After lunch and a nap for Isaiah, we all piled into the Multipla and drove down to Polignano a Mare.  For those of you who have visited with us, you will recognize the name.  It is a beautiful seaside town that we are learning to appreciate more and more as a place to just get away for a little.

We got there and enjoyed throwing rocks into the sea and watching the waves crash against the rocks.  The wind was cold but it was still fun to be able to walk along the coast with no one else around and enjoy it all with the boys.  It was beautiful as always. 

We stayed for about an hour and then headed back home for a relaxed evening to finish out the relaxed day.  We stopped by "Blockbuster" (yep,we have them here too!) and got the movie, "Over the Hedge".  Once we got home we ordered pizza and enjoyed pizza and a movie.  It is nice to be able to order pizza for everyone now.  There is a pizzeria that we know that delivers fresh made gluten-free pizza.  It was a good end to a "snow" day.

The Piazza Reopens...

It is good to see that this coming Friday the Piazza here in Carbonara will reopen to the public.  It closed for renovations around the 1st of November 2007 and there were hopes that it would be open for San Michele 2008 (October 2008) but that just did not happen.  Now it is going to reopen and that is a good thing.  It is a place were people meet in the evenings and walk, talk and relax.  It brings more business to the shops that are there around the piazza and it is also an opening for us to meet people in the neighborhood. 

We have had a table in the market a couple of times now and it would be interesting to have something similar in the piazza.  We will look into it and see what happens.  For now we will just enjoy the fact that the piazza is open and we are able to be there in an informal way; walking, talking and relaxing with the other people that live here with us.  Let's see how God moves.

Driving School (First of many entries!)...

We started driving school today and I do believe it is going to be fun.  There are signs that we understand while we are driving but now we are learning exactly what they mean and that is a good thing.  We learned about a pair of signs today that mean you alternate right-of-way when you see them.  That is a good thing to know and now we do.  Here was the discussion in class:

Instructor: That is how these signs work.  One car goes and then the other goes and they alternate like this.

Student:  What happens if a line of cars comes and they do not stop to let you through?

Instructor:  (With look of "Is he really asking this question?" on his face) You wait.

Student:  Oh!

Yep, driving school is going to be fun!  We were able to understand the lecture without a problem and the books that we will get will be in English and Italian.  We will even be able to take the final test in English, so we are hopeful that this will not be too difficult. 

We think that Driving school will provide three things: 1) We will learn all the rules of the road so we know when everyone else is not following them.  2) We will be learning a lot more Italian and we will be exposed to a lot of new terms. 3) If the conversation above is any indication of what we are going to hear the rest of the time, we are in for hours of entertainment! 

Check back here when you get the opportunity and see how driving school is going.  We have class every day, so you never know what we might hear! 

Blessings to you all.

 

SUPER Super Bowl XLIII...

It is 4:33am as I write this and I could not go to sleep right now if I wanted to do so!!  I love my Steelers but they are going to kill me with these tight games!! 

First: Hats off to the Cardinals.  They took the best punches the Steelers could throw and never backed down.  I am impressed with that football team.

Second: Defense does win Championships!  I just never thought it would be on two plays at the end of each half that they would do it with. 

I am thrilled that the Steelers now have six trophies!  It was a great game!  I think I am going to try to get a couple of hours of sleep now.

Our Table (Week #8)

This was our last day in the market for this go around. (Each time we do this we have to apply for permission to do so.)  In a way it was a little sad because we are known there now.  The people do not seem all that afraid of us any more and some even come up to talk to us now.  Yesterday was a great example. 

I was there along with Phil, Lia and Angela and it did not take long for a few people to stop by to see what we had.  What made it so interesting was that each of us was talking to different people!  We were standing there talking to four different people about different things that they had on their minds.  It was really cool!  One girl was asking about the place Mary (Mother of Christ) has in the faith while her friend was asking about the difference between our beliefs and that of the Jehovah's Witnesses.  One lady was searching for a group that teaches from the Bible and tries to live what they teach and another man was asking if God really cares.  All of these conversations were going on at the same time!!  It was so cool!

Did we answer their questions completely?  There have been books written on these topics so, probably not.  Did we give them hope in God and how he cares for them and their questions?  Yes, we were able to do that.  (Photo @ Right: Phil & Lia at the table)

I was able to talk to a couple of young men that are at the market rather often; one of them works there with his father, about a number of things.  It was good to be able to answer questions about why we are here to new people that we meet and talk about some of the things that we experience moving to a new culture.  It allows us to understand them and them to understand us at the same time.

One really nice thing was during this conversation, the one young man that we have known for a long time now was a big help to me and an encouragement also.  "Joe" (not his real name) asked about our church and if it was open to anyone.  Before I could answer "Frank" (not his real name) answered for me, "Anyone can go to there church!  They are good people and are here in the market often!  You can go to their church if you want."  "Frank" has not been to our church yet for a service, but I think that before too long, he may show up.  I hope that he would be interested enough to do so and if he does, it might pave the way for his friend "Joe" and also his girl friend to come.  We are praying for this to happen.

The table in the market is done for now but, seeds have been planted and it will not take long for us to be back there.  We look forward to that time and for the chance to reconnect with the people there again.  The table has been effective and is definitely a way to reach out and get to know people in the community.  If we want the church to grow, this may be the way to do it. 

Super Bowl XLIII...

I am a huge Steelers fan and have been trying to figure out how to watch the Super Bowl tonight but have been hesitant to invite myself to someones house between the hours of midnight and 4:00 am!  Thankfully that is no longer a problem because I found out that two different channels will carry the game LIVE!!  We get both here at the house!!  So, I will have my own private Super Bowl party here in Italy.  Unfortunately the boys will not be able to see the game because it is just too late for them.  It is probably too late for me also but I have not missed a Super Bowl in I do not know how many years and this is a Steelers Super Bowl.  Hoping for the best.

I think the Steelers will win (of course) and in a way think it will be big.  Too many people are playing up the Cardinals offense and how good it is and saying the defense of the Steelers is not good enough to stop them. 

I like the idea that defense wins championships:

Steelers   31       Cardinals   17