An Uneventful Week (Just the Way I Like Them)

So I promised a post about present-day events rather than a series of photos about the past. Here’s my everyday routine (somewhat close to what it is I do while in Italy).

But first, a bit of news: I was able to connect with Gwendoline on Facebook and had a good talk with her. For some of you who may not know it, my daughter is in Benin, Africa, on a 27-month assignment with the Peace Corps. It’s hard to get in touch with her because she has limited access to the internet and I am not online at the same time she is. My phone here doesn’t work so Viber is out. At any rate, all is well and she is doing superbly, as attested by this picture which I stole from her FB page. (She is preparing a cake in a Dutch over.) (Please like her project page on FB: https://www.facebook.com/zikorabenin )

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Motherly Tree

 So, the routine: After breakfast, Urie goes (twice a week) to the British Institute for his Italian class and I work on different projects I have (a combination of work—website when necessary, freshman emails and advising, syllabus revamping for the ADP program, grading assignments for my students here—or personal stuff (working on several stories I started a while back).

When Urie gets home, we either go shopping for food (an almost daily task as Urie is growing and eating my budget straight to the poorhouse!). We stop by the grocery store or buy our veggies from the farmers’ market on piazza Santo Spiritu.  (Will add the pictures later; am having problems uploading them)

Piazza Santo Spiritu

Same

On Our Way to CONAD

On TW, I have office hours in the computer room. On MTh I have class either at 3:30 or at 5:00 p.m. Urie swims on MWF from 2:30-4:30; TTh 6:30-8:00 p.m. (with a 50-minute walk before and after the swim). I usually read a book while he swims, or I bring my computer and work on aforementioned writing. In the evening, I cook dinner, Urie takes care of the dishes; we talk, we walk, and then we watch a documentary before bed.

We’ve seen documentaries about the Medici (four parts), Michelangelo (two parts), Brunelleschi, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci (two parts; really liked that one), Botticelli,  and a general one on Florence. There’s more to come! Anyone interested, I can send you the links. (We are about to start a series on the Borgias.)

On weekends, if I’m not on call, we visit museums. We’ve seen the Galileo museum, the duomo, San Lorenzo church (where some Medicis are buried), Palazzo Pitti, plus the ones we see while we accompany the art history class on tours. I've bribed Urie this past weekend: San Lorenzo followed by McDo.

McDo Salad with Olive Oil Dressing (the only choice)

We’ve been to the movies once to watch The Theory of Everything. I sometimes link to RAI direct tv on my computer and watch an Italian movie (of which I understand perhaps 65%). We walk (again and a lot), we jog, we explore, we relax.

The JMU staff is really fantastic to work with. One of our students (and a former classmate of mine!) was sick with a 104 degree temp this past night. Elena (our resident advisor) called the doctor who promptly showed up with his med bag and examined our sick patient. Diagnosis: the flu. Urie and I went to the only pharmacy opened on Sunday near the train station at piazza Santa Maria Novella. I was doing quite well in Italian, getting the prescription filled but asked Urie for a 10-cent coin and the pharmacist switched to English when he heard mine.

On our way back, I took a few pictures of the fashion district: Armani, Gucci, Hermès (of which I saw an interesting little documentary on Sunday Morning about a month ago--which inspired another story I am working on), Prada, Tiffany, Dolce, Dior, Omega, and several Italian designers whose name I cannot recall. Some of the designer shops:

Great Purses and Scarves

Gucci Junior (Urie's comment: "Why would anyone want to pay 345 Euros for a pair of pants the kid will outgrow in a month?"

My Favorite! Love Anything Armani... Except the Price!

Save the Queen (Not Italian)

Need I Say More?

Pucci and Dolce Gabbana (Cool Clothes)

Once Owned an Omega for about Two Weeks! (Price non-negotiable)

Love these Suits

We like to window shop. You can’t go in; in Italy, if you go inside a store it’s purposefully to buy something. You don’t go and try clothes without buying. I have seen amazing clothes in the windows (they change the display every other day, it seems), and clothing I could sew better if I had the time. The Dior window, for example, had an atrocious top with three different mismatched fabrics (both in pattern and quality) for a mere 1,200 Euros (not pictured). The Armani store, however, had beautiful suits (none of which would be of interest to my son who’d rather wear sweat pants or jeans any day of the week).

We did see absolutely gorgeous dishes, a set that was pure beauty. The price of the soup tureen was only 4,950 Euros. The soup bowl was practically given at 545! Needless to say, if anyone were to buy the whole set, it would “set” them back several thousand euros; perhaps my yearly salary at JMU! Thus, we will continue eating on our IKEA everyday  dishes at home and be thankful, when we break a plate, that I didn’t witness $900 go to pieces.

Meanwhile, Urie and I found that La Traviata (Verdi) is being presented in two days in a historical church. He is game to accompany me, so we may have use for our (cheap!) fineries brought here for special events which have not happened. (The Belgium program, which I did four years ago, was a business-based program and required us to attend several dinners and banquets we have not had to deal with in Italy!) So perhaps opera for us, unless that is the day we go to Pisa to make up for our postponed day. (I prefer to stay nearby when a student is sick so Pisa, which we had planned to see today, awaits. And hopefully its famous tower does not fall down in the meantime!)

Well, off I am, to do the "humble" dishes!