Now this is Italy

Now we're really getting in to the heart of the Italian experience. The other day, Josh had an incident with a motorino. This was inevitable. Not only because of the way in which Josh drives, but because - as anyone who's been to Rome knows - the motorinos are equally aggressive and all over the road. So really, it was just a matter of time.

But the most interesting part of this story is the civility with which the parties conducted themselves.

1. Both were in a rush to get somewhere - as is generally the case - so mobile numbers were exchanged.

2. The next day, the scooter guy calls and Josh meets him down the street to fill out some paperwork.

3. They hit it off and the scooter guys offers to buy Josh a cafe....so they can chat some more.

This is one big difference here in Italy. People like to talk. Information that can be parsed in less than a minute, generally takes at least five if not ten minutes because so many flowery descriptive adjectives must be used and examples given. To be direct is considered rude.

That was yesterday. Today, the BIG story is that we received a call from Charlotte's swim coach to let us know that there would be no practice tonight. Why? Because of the "abrogazione." We didn't get it. We looked it up in the dictionary. Abrogation: the act of abrogating. Abrogate: to abolish, to annul, to do away with especially by authority.

However, Olivia would have her swim lesson tonight. The issue being that the facility would have to close by 7pm and she would be done by 7pm. Josh was too curious about what exactly was going on so when he took Olivia to AqaAniene, he inquired with the director. The explanation (in Italian) was something to do with an injunction against the club. There was a lot of legalese involved and even for a fluent Italian speaker, it was difficult to get to the bottom of it. Interestingly, when Josh started asking questions, all the other Italian parents huddled around to hear what the answers were.

Josh suspected, though it was not said, that the issue stemmed from the construction/permitting for the new facility in that there was a tight timeline for delivery in time for the World Championships last July...and something ran afoul.

Now back at home, armed with some information and a genuine curiosity, Josh pulled up the article in Il Messagero. The injunction was not only against AquAniene, but 1o other private clubs in Rome. Just as I explained earlier, wordy, lengthy and not to the point, reading through the article (Josh was translating for me) you finally get to the fact that some structures were built on State property without permission and the director of the World Championships is already under investigation.

Then the phones start ringing. Avery's invitation to a birthday party - at AquAniene - this weekend is cancelled. Josh gets a call from his Italian cycling friend - who is on the inside track - and explains that there will be a lot of politics involved. That the party in power has just changed and they are going hard after the abusers from the prior regime. This is going to get really nasty!

But on a practical level, it could also be a nightmare. Charlotte may no longer be able to train at this wonderful new facility. And, where will I work out? I just joined the gym at AquAniene two weeks ago.

When I picked Olivia up, the place was going into lock down mode. No one was allowed into the parking lot. I was told the entire facility would be closed through the weekend but that talks with the "the group trying to close us down" will begin tomorrow and they hoped they could reopen by Monday. As we all know, we shouldn't hold our breath!