No matter what we do over the holidays, we know we are blessed. We made it here; we live in a postcard; have made new and dear friends; we’ve waded through most of the Italian paperwork (for now), we and the pups are healthy and happy.
Christmas here in Italy is not only about decorations, baking, shopping, gift giving and the like, but mostly about CHRIST in Christmas. You can visit live nativity scenes, whether created as whole towns on hillsides or within the piazza in your local comune. Families assemble elaborate nativity scenes inside and outside their homes – ‘presepi’, and I mean, very elaborate and intricate!
Christmas Eve (La Vigilia di Natale), we got to experience the live Nativity in Atri, with the characters making a lovely procession through the medieval alleyways of town. Two bagpipers, clothed in black hats and capes, let the procession. The bagpipes played are very Italian, and the shepherds that play these instruments are the Zampognari. As the procession wove through the old town, blacksmiths hammered away and a monk-like character ladled out hot mulled wine to outreaching hands. 😉 The many beautiful churches of Atri were open for worship throughout the evening and night.
Live Nativity characters lead by the Zampognari.
A visitor staying warm….
Christmas morning rose beautiful and by the time I got rolling, it was about 55+ degrees. Romeo and I set out to hike out of our valley to a spot where we could either gaze to the mountains or the sea. I stopped for a few moments on our trek to listen and I heard absolutely nothing…..just the stillness. No human-made sound and even the birds were quiet. Just utter silence. It was breathtaking in the fact that I hadn’t experienced that for a very long time. Even hiking in Nelson County, Virginia, we would hear the jets making their long journeys over the mountains that were in their flight paths. So Romeo and I continued on to our spot and just relaxed in the silence gazing over the Adriatic. It was a time to remember Christ in Christmas.
Christmas evening was a much anticipated event – dinner with Luigi and his family. We were so looking forward to being with our new friends as well as tasting the delights of a tipico abruzzese Italian Christmas meal. The food was plentiful, of course, and delicious, of course. Laughter, cross talking, loud talking, jabs right and left all in good fun made for wonderful memories of the evening. And I was transported back in time and place when my family in New Jersey would meet for holidays and weekends to share such a blessed time together. Here are a few shots from the evening. I’ll leave you with them and a Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo.
First time seeing waves. And he really wanted to test the waters, but the exercise was to teach the dogs, at this point, to remain on shore while the handlers approached the water. Lots of fun and we’re invited back as either a guest or a member.
It’s one thing to chat with our new Italian friends in our basic Italian and to have them take the time to make us understand or even speak a little English back to us. But when you need to get some official paperwork completed, such as a visa, you better be up on your Italian, have a friend come to interpret and pitch hit for you, or you’ll be using Google translate and still be misunderstood and also not understand. All in a day becoming a new resident of this country.
A few weeks back, I mentioned us signing up for our Italian classes. Twice a week, we meet at a school, for our class. Our teacher, Cristina, is a lovely young lady, that speaks rapid fire Italian with just a smidge of English. And I mean a really small smidge! Sink or swim as John and I see it. It’s a good review for me, as I have had weekly Skype with Stef for over a year, and definitely a great start for John. The other students are all from Africa, progressing toward their work documents. Brave young men that risked all coming to Italy on a boat with many others. Last night we chatted with two young men from Nigeria, who both have high hopes of making it to the United States for jobs. They are all drawn to New York City, Chicago and LA. John and I admire their courage and determination, and wish them all the best. We will all be together in this class for the next 6 months, as 100 hours are required to complete.
But first a bit of a summary of the trip over, then I’ll share the good stuff about our first week here. Checking the dogs in for the flight was my biggest concern, and it was for naught. Nate with Capital Pet Movers met us at United Cargo about 3 hours prior to takeoff. The boys loaded well into their crates and just settled in for their part of the trip. When we landed, Annamaria from Bliss Pet Services took over and had the boys through their vet checks and customs. They were loaded, crates and all, into their van and met us at the house about 4 hours after our arrival. They were smiling and feeling fine. So all four of us are smiling now.
The need to be able to converse! Yes, you all have heard, just like us, the importance of learning the language of your new country. But it doesn’t hit you until you meet someone like Hugo, who cannot speak a lick of English, what you’ll be missing out on. Thankfully, my lessons with my teacher/friend, Stef, and my conversation friend, Giuliana, have given me basic conversational skills. Hugo and I can communicate. Unfortunately, John is at a loss right now and it has really hit home with him that he needs to get up to speed on a basic level. John had been swamped finishing up our house to sell over the past year and that took up the lion’s share of his time and energy along with working a part-time job. But now, John is ready to learn and I think it will happen faster than he expected. 😉
The dogs had their health certificate exams this week. These are needed to fly. Our local vet clinic, which happens to be excellent, have vets certified to complete these exams for international travel. The certificates are then sent FedEx overnight to USDA office in Albany, NY, approved and sent to our pet mover. Hopefully that will all be completed by end of this week. As I said in an early post, a bit nerve-wracking but under control.
Navigating Life in Abruzzo 