Holiday parties

Josh discovered the local alimentari (one block away) opens at 7am. Good thing, too, because we did not have a stitch of food in the house for breakfast; Josh picked up a liter of milk and a couple of rolls. By the way, in case you were wondering (although you probably weren't), that's the only size milk comes in - one liter. Do you know of any family in America that buys a quart of milk at a time? No, everyone buy a gallon - or at least a half-gallon. And here, while they are crazy for milk, everyone buys a liter at a time? We usually buy three liters -- except when it's 7am and you're going to the local alimentari.

Josh and I had our conference scheduled for this morning with Olivia's teacher, Ms. Petiffer. But between Charlotte stepping in "cacca" in front of our villa (again with the cacca in front -- someone must be out to get us) and the terrible traffic (post holiday weekend?) we barely made it to the school for our 9am appointment. And, it was important to be prompt. The conferences were scheduled in 10 minute increments. Apparently, it's a new system for the school because last year they didn't have mid-year reports. The conference went well -- Olivia is a real asset to the class. She has great ideas and is very enthusiastic. If we could only get her to spend a little time on her homework and in particular her writing, she'd be perfect. She needs to get a little more in depth with her book reports. Yes. we agree.

On my way to the conference, I ran in to Miss Ivana (Charlotte AND Olivia's Italian teacher) and she asked me if we would stop by her classroom after we finished with Ms. Pettifer. Miss Ivana teaches only the non-Italian children at the school and thus has the luxury of small classes. Olivia is one of three students in her Italian class, three days a week; and Charlotte is either on her own or one of two students with Miss Ivana. Miss Ivana is one-of-a-kind. She puts so much enthusiasm, effort and energy into each of her pupils, and clearly loves what she does. She is also Italian, so she can talk. Therefore, while we spent a hurried 10 minutes with Olivia's principle teacher; we spent 45 with Miss Ivana -- although we did speak with her about two kids instead of just one. The bottom line is that she is very pleased with both of the girls' progress -- in particular she is so happy with how Charlotte has embraced the language and can communicate. Olivia, on the other hand, is more passive. This is to be expected of most children at the early stages of learning a language -- taking in more than you can spit out. But it would be good for Olivia to be forced to use her knowledge. When we told her that Olivia had just spent the past three days with an Italian speaking babysitter, she applauded. In any case, Ivana made me feel very excited about all of us (excluding Josh) taking our Italian to the next level.

When we finally left RIS this morning, we drove to our favorite bar to enjoy a cappucino. While at the bar, we started chatting with the guy next to us who was wearing a fur hat with ear-flaps like the one I wear in Chicago when it's 25 below zero (It's 60 in Rome today). It turns out, the guy is the "Presidente de Consiglio " which is comparable to being an alderman (in Chicago), or city councilman. He gave Josh his card. Hmmm. Now that's a good guy to know when you're living in Rome.

This evening I went to the AWAR Holiday Party. As this would likely be the only real holiday party that we'd be invited to, I thought it would be a good opportunity to dress up and go out. I had Rsvp'd for both Josh and I, but then Josh realized there was an art opening/holiday party being held at the Pastificio Cerere (an artist's studio and exhibition space) that he wanted to attend and he couldn't do both. So I went to AWAR da sola and he went to Pastificio Cerere. Then we came home and compared notes.

The AWAR party was held in a private residence - a Palazzo - just near the Spanish Steps on Via dell Croce. You don't get a much better location in centro. As expected, the Palazzo was beautiful with original mosaic flooring, and beamed and frescoed double height ceilings. It was like taking a step back in time. The public rooms were all beautifully furnished and candles were burning everywhere. The somewhat bizzarre aspect of the evening is that 50 or so guests had congregated within about 45 minutes, and not a soul was offered a refreshment. I myself was rather perplexed -- and thirsty. About an hour in to the party, a door opened and revealed another living room. We were invited inside and could now pour ourselves a glass of wine or prosecco and help ourselves to a buffet of hors'doveurs. Guests dove in and practically stormed the table of food -- especially all the women!

Then, an hour later we were asked to leave the room so it could be set up with desserts. While waiting, we were expected to gather 'round the piano and sing Christmas Carols. Well, I don't "carol," so I chatted up some of the men in the sitting room. The whole thing was a little -- I don't know -- stiff and formal and bizarre.

Josh's experience was much more on the casual side. He enjoyed the artsy scene. But instead of being served bad food, he was served no food at all. These Italians are definitely not Jewish.