I’ve fallen into a pretty regular schedule here and it’s making the weeks go by very fast. Every day I wake up, bring the girls to school, go to the gym, run any errands that need to be ran (grocery store, etc.), come home, shower, eat lunch, get the girls from school, play all afternoon or go to swimming lessons, eat dinner with the girls around 6, and pajamas around 7. It’s kind of mundane but it has made the time go by really fast and between working out and eating right and going to bed early every night I feel really great! A few weeks ago I was playing with the girls on the couch at the end of the day and Vittoria fell off the couch and smashed her face in the corner of the coffee table. It was definitely the most dramatic thing that has happened so far with me and the girls. She was screaming and shaking and all I could see was blood all over her face…a scary sight on a 2 ½ year old. I was certain that all of her teeth had been knocked out. Me and Rosa got her cleaned up, put Chiara to bed, and Bruno came home and took Vittoria to the emergency room. They came back about an hour later and miraculously enough, Vittoria was fine! She had a big gash above her upper lip and the entire right side of her face was swollen and bruised…but her teeth were fine, her mouth was fine, her eyes were fine, no concussion, nothing. It’s truly a miracle that her teeth didn’t get knocked out or that she didn’t seriously damage her eyes. Now, a few weeks later, she is all healed up with just the slightest hint of a scar above her mouth. It was a bit of a traumatic experience but I’m glad it’s all over with and she is okay. Other than that big news, everything else is pretty much the same. Once in a while we go out to eat or go around town on a Saturday and visit with family or go shopping. For the past few weeks we’ve been celebrating Carnevale! We bought the girls costumes (Sleeping Beauty for Chiara, Barbie & The 3 Musketeers for Vittoria) and they’ve had several parties to go to. It’s been fun seeing the whole city and the girls’ schools being decorated for the festival. I’ve also got to taste some sweets that are specifically only for Carnevale…the most famous and my personal favorite being Chiacchierre! Chiacchiere is a type of fried sweet dough that is usually dusted with confectionary sugar...it almost reminds me of the funnel cakes you can find at fairs back home in the States. It is traditionally paired with a chocolate/cinnamon sauce called sanguinaccio. Historically, sangunaccio was made with pig's blood (the italian word for 'blood' is 'sangue', hence the name 'sanguinaccio) but in recent days there is absolutely no blood in the sauce! (Of course!) Still, it's very interesting! This past weekend I went to a little Carnevale party hosted by Alessia, a girl I know through Lucia. The theme was Disney and I dressed up as the witch from Snow White :) Besides Carnevale, a couple of weeks ago was Rosa's 34th birthday and we went out to a wonderful dinner at PepeNero in Caserta. I had the girls color pictures of cakes and balloons and signs that said 'Happy Birthday' and 'Tanti Auguri' and we hung them around the house to surprise Rosa.
Other than that, everything is the same around here. Time sure is flying by and it's making me have a really odd mix of emotions. I'm excited to get home and be with my friends and family, to move into my parents' new house, to go back to school, to enjoy a wonderful North Carolina summer, and to begin this new chapter of my life...but at the same time, I don't know how I can ever say goodbye to these girls and this family and adjust to such a huge change in my life. In fact, a few days ago we went ahead and bought my plane ticket for me to come home because the prices have been really good lately. Obviously I knew all along that I would be going home in May, but now that my flight is purchased, it makes everything 'official.' I told Rosa I booked my flight and she got very emotional, which made me get very emotional. She wants me to come visit them every summer and I am determined to make it out here as often as possible. The one thing that will get me through this difficult transition is knowing that I will always have a family here in Naples, and that there will always be a bed for me here, and I am welcome to come visit whenever I want. At first I thought that once I said bye I would never see this family again; now I know how silly of an idea that is. They want me to come visit as often as possible and of course they are always welcome in my home in the States! With that said, I have done some research and have found out some pretty interesting information regarding my future career as a teacher. I have found that I can work for the DOD (Dpmt. of Defense) as an elementary school teacher at schools on military bases anywhere around the world! I can work right there in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Camp Lejeune or....get this...I can come right back here to Naples and work on the American military base at the elementary school, teaching the children of military families who are stationed here in Naples! Or I can go to Germany...Spain...the UK...Japan...there are a ton of different options! Additionally, DOD teachers make almost $10k more per year than public school teachers! That is something I am definitely going to look into. It makes me very happy to know that my traveling days are definitely not over once I come home in May, and that I can actually incorporate my love for traveling with my career!
That's about it on this side of the world! I hope everyone is happy and healthy and as ready for SPRING and some warm weather like I am! The freezing cold and rain everyday is getting really old! Everyone take care, and I promise to post again sooner!
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