Champion's League + Language School

We continue to keep really busy. This week in particular was the Champion's League game Barcelona vs. AS Roma and me starting language school (insert deer in headlights).   To give a slight explanation for those that don't follow football (soccer), I'll be posting an outline here in the next day of how/why and the basics of following football here.

Wednesday's game was a big one for AS Roma. Barcelona are reigning European (club) Champions, so for AS Roma to be seeded in the starting bracket for Champions League, was less than ideal.  For anyone that missed the game, Barcelona had averaged about 70% possession of the ball, yet AS Roma was able to hold on tight to the end for a 1:1 draw.  It was an exciting game, although a relatively quiet stadium given the fan base was on strike (it's like they're a Union or something) because they were upset about the security issues, (I think, if I understood correctly, yet those are the joys of communication barriers). In the end each team received 1 point. (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a lose). The two teams will meet again in Barcelona over our Thanksgiving weekend. If all goes as planned, we'll take that opportunity to visit Barcelona with the kids (Darcy will be with the team and unfortunately not get to take in the sites with us) and watch the game.

On Thursday I eased into a language course offered across the street from the kids' school. It's only 90 minutes 2x/week. And quite honestly, that's enough for now. I'm still working to keep the dog exercised since we now live in an apartment, I'm trying to figure out how/where to get a couch, dining table, grocery shop daily (hence the old lady cart), get our home life in order and research my surroundings.  It's amazing where the time goes! For anyone that's never taken a language class, it's not easy for me because it's not like taking a class where someone speaks English and they're translating the meaning or explaining anything. It's straight up Italian, so when I get lost I fall off the wagon so fast I'm just a deer in headlights.  It's been so long since I've been in school, my brain just isn't computing as fast as the language is coming at me.  So not having it daily will at least help me come home, review, get on google translate, practice and memorize.  The good thing is that I can immediately practice what I'm learning to anyone standing around me.  Italians are very friendly in that way. They are happy to help me with the language and also happy to use their english, if they know any.  I'm actually surprised at how many people know english. That sounds ridiculous, but I had a hard time finding people that spoke english in my neighborhood when we lived in Munich. So I was prepared for the worse case in communication barriers. It can be discouraging, frustrating, exhausting, at times -hopeless. It's all fun and games when on vacation, knowing it won't last long and I can go home to english. But when my livelihood depends on it, I can get overwhelmed. It can make one want to go home, sit in a corner and put a blanket over their head.

Today is Saturday, September 19 and the kids and I are laying low at the pool. We currently only have one car and Darcy needed it to get to work (we trade carpool days with another family we're getting to know really well). It's hotter than hell. Last night at 11pm it was 86 degrees and 90% humidity. I thought this high alpine girl was going to die! Thankfully we have AC, but most places don't. Temps are suppose to cool down after today. Roma plays tomorrow so that will fill our afternoon, and then we're off and running for week #4 in Rome.

Thanks for reading! -Inger

Upcoming posts:

• Our new friends, The Lippies
• Our Neighborhood/Our Flat
• American Overseas School of Rome
• Lack of Good Mass Transit
• Grocery Shopping & Portion Sizes
• The Italian Culture and The Why's
• Random Observations
• Driving in Chaos

First Real Weekend

When one doesn't know exactly what we want to do, or how to do it, or where to go for it, it's easy to take our time getting out the door.  It's almost like avoiding the pink elephant in the room. But with a 13 and 10 year old who are both conditioned to going hard day after day (especially coming off summer), I knew it was time to confront the pink elephant!

When arriving in Rome, most would want to go see things like the Colosseum, or the Vatican. Nope. Not these kids (or many kids that I know for that matter). We ventured out to find City Beach Surf Shop in downtown Rome to scoop up the last few skim boards on the shelf (better for Mediterranean waters vs. surf boards. The Med is no surf Mecca).  With skim boards under our arms, it took an hour to get out of the city and into Ostia - Rome's closest beach community (30k from downtown).  Really only 30 minutes from our house, but an hour from inside the city, I was determined to figure out the beach scene.  Right off the bat I learned that no beaches (side by side, cabana/resort style) allow dogs, except for this one beach in which we got lost trying to find. Another hour later (this is where expat meltdowns happens, ie, mom tears up because she's lost, tired, everything takes 10x the effort and 5x longer than it should while trying to keep the mood upbeat for two discouraged kids) we finally found the needle in the haystack.  "Beach #1", also known as "Free Dog Village" is specific for dogs. "Free" is poor marketing because they require you to rent an umbrella for 7euros so that the dog has shade. Whatever! "It took me 2 hours to get here dude, you can have whatever is in my wallet at this point!" (In all seriousness, Italians love there family and apparently their animals just as much). "Ok, I'll take the pink umbrelle!"  The kids and I had a great 1/2 hour (yes, that's right. We only had time for a 1/2 hour because we had to race home to meet our new friends (future blog story) in time for the AS Roma game (an away game we weren't able to attend).   But sometimes when you've done something once, ya have to return to enjoy it in it's full capacity. So we came back the next day and it only took us 1/2 the time, and was there 10 times longer. Sunday was an overcast, windy, beautiful, warm water day.  Kite surfing is a big deal here (Hahna counted 39 in the water) and we had a blast spending all day in the water/on the beach, including the dog! Everyone was happy. We ended the day at AS Roma's training facility (pics to come) to pick up Darcy. Very exciting to finally see where he spends countless hours a week.   Champion's League game coming up on Wednesday:   AS Roma vs. Barcelona. This will be mine and the kid's first game of the season. Set to be a late night, we're thrilled to go. Can't wait!

Random Thoughts

I don't know where to start. I'm realizing that if I wait for the perfect time to write my thoughts in a clean organized manner, I may never get around to finishing a paragraph. Everything keeps us so busy. there hasn't been much down time. Our flat is still 50% empty, we have a language to learn, a city to explore, friends to make, systems to figure out. Our heads hit the pillow hard at night, full of over-stimulation. So in nutshell, here's a snapshot of what's inside my brain regarding my experience so far...

I'm lost in my own building. I swear when we came in last night, despite a 30 hour delay in my arrival, we went down these stairs. Or was it up this elevator? The dog has to pee and I can't figure out how to get out of this building.  //  Wow, that woman is owning it! Not sure if she's a hooker or a mother of a child that goes to my kids' school. //  Everyone was right, the lines on the roads are just "suggestions". //  The european toilets gross me out. //  Everyone is so nice. They're so willing to help me or at least be patient with a smile. //  This city is overwhelming chaos. //  I love how the apartments are built of concrete. I can't hear neighbors above, below or behind.  However I can't seem to hang anything on these walls unless I hire someone to come and drill holes.  Hmmm.... inconvenient. //  If I keep eating this pasta, drinking this red wine and inhaling this gelato, my ass is going to be huge. There's got to be a gym around here somewhere.  //  Holy cow, everyone smokes here.  //  Stilettos on vespas, ha! Love it! //  It's apparent that if I rode a bike here, I'd die. That's too bad. //  I love the dish drying rack above my sink.  Thanks Aunt Jean for telling me what that was. Otherwise I'd of had no idea.  It makes so much sense!  //  Shoot - I just did 3 loads of laundry with fabric softener.  Thought it was laundry soap. Oh well, at least we all smell good.  //  I now own a grocery cart like the old ladies.

Those are about 20% of my thoughts within the first week.  Thanks for reading. -Inger

Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Welcome to my blog (a.k.a diary, sanity tool, purge plate...). Read at your leisure, but know that I won't be offended if you don't have time for this snapshot into our experiences here. Life is full and busy and I understand if it would just be easier if you came and visited us vs. reading all this off a blog! (No seriously- the door is wide open and we have space.).

Years ago I started a blog when we moved to Munich to keep friends and family up to date on everything we were doing, where we lived, how we spent our time and our experiences of our travels. Our parents might've been the only ones reading the thing, but when our 2 years was up we turned our blog into a book. It has become a great reminder of our time there and we hope this blog serves the same purpose.  The blog also became a tool to keep me sane, a place to purge my thoughts, experiences and opinions. I have no intensions to keep this longer than a year or two. I'm sure as I get more familiar with my surroundings, the entertainment factor will go down. But in the meantime I will take you along with me, showing the good, the bad and the ugly as a foreigner trying to figure it all out. 

I hope you will join me as I work towards being comfortable in an environment of discomfort! I could use the company.

Thanks for reading.

Inger

ps- This is a work in progress.  Bare with me as I play around with this Blog.