Obtaining an EU passport? And, Tre Porcellini

I spent the morning at the Slovak Embassy. While that may not sound exciting; it was actually pretty fun. When was the last time I had the opportunity to communicate for 1 1/2 hours solely in Slovak? What's more the concentration required to discuss such technical matters as marriage licenses, name change applications, and bureaucracy -- all in Slovak -- was challenging. Pani Torokova, who helped me, could not have been nicer. She really wanted to me to succeed in obtaining my Slovak/EU passport. She even helped me fill out the applications -- in Slovak of course -- and didn't mind affirming she'd "seen" my original marriage certificate when it was only a photocopy. Unfortunately, at this stage, I'm likely to get held up on a technical matter: my marriage certificate needs to be translated into Slovak and certified by a Slovak clerk of court in order to be recognized in Slovakia. If my marriage, and subsequent name change, is not recognized there, they can't issue a passport to me with that name on it. Well, we submitted the US version anyway (in English) along with my birth certificate and US passport and we'll see what happens but she was not optimistic.

This afternoon, Olivia was performing Tre Porcellini (three little pigs) in Italian for the RIS first grade class. This was an excercize the Italian teacher came up with in order to get her three 3rd grade pupils speaking in Italian. Olivia has learned a lot but she is very reticent to speak. We feel like she is on the verge, and now we just have to push her a little bit. This is exactly why Ivana came up with the idea of having the children present a puppet show. Ivana is so dedicated to her pupils. She even made costumes for each of them: pink shorts with a tail sewn on, a pink pig crown, and a matching pink tank top. Really adorable.

Tonight was to be our "make-up" night. Since we missed Cedar Lake Dance Company on Monday night, we were going to see Pilobolus tonight instead. For five months we've been living practically next door to the Roman version of Lincoln Center and I didn't even know it. There was so much to do and see in Rome that I hardly focused on classical music and dance. But, the Auditorium, as it is known, is a great facility. Meanwhile, we didn't want to see Pilobolus badly enough to sit in the last row. I guess one thing Italians are not relaxed about is buying tickets in advance. Once again, dancing was not to be in our repertoire this evening. However, we did purchase tickets for the Paco deLucia concert later in the month.

Instead of patronizing the arts , we went for Italian culture of a different sort. We took a drive and found a gelateria in Prati. We were told by someone in the business (yes, a guy who makes gelato for a living) that Gelaterria Grachi is one of the best. I'm not sure I agree but Josh enjoyed his apple and pear selection.

Strategically, we thought we'd return home once the kids were asleep. Well, at 10 o'clock, Avery was in bed but not yet sleeping. That is when I got today's question of the night: how do you make a person? How does the baby in you tummy get made? That's pretty heady stuff for a four year-old.