I haven’t written much this week because I have had some friends visiting from California. We have been having a wonderful time, cramped into my tiny studio with wine, food and old episodes of Top Chef. One of them left yesterday morning and the other one leaves on Tuesday, so we have a few days still together.
The city right now is a little crazy. School just started for most people yesterday, so hordes of children in smocks and otherwise are bustling off to school, while teenagers block traffic and smoke and fill up all of the buses. Then the buses have changed their schedules, but I think someone forgot to tell the drivers of the bus I routinely take to work, because yesterday I stood at a stop for 45 minutes before it showed up. Oops. That being said, the beginning of school hit a special note for me this year, because Dante started his first day of what might be equivalent to kindergarten (here they start at age 3).
He seems to really like it, though his Italian is rusty. The teacher said that he follows all of the instructions, but has a little more difficulty in speaking. We’ll get there.
Another reason the city is so crazy is that it is preparing for the Mondiale di Ciclismo or the World Cycling Championship. Nobody really knows how it will work or how it will impact the day to day. Bus drivers and taxi drivers don’t know, the Commune doesn’t know. It should be an interesting adventure though, and it is great that cycling has good support here.
With the schools starting up, and so many events, I believe Fall has arrived. I got out an extra blanket and have now started wearing a cardigan out in the mornings. Fall is my favorite time of year, by far. Routines and beginnings, roasted chickens and soups. There is something so magical about the crisp freshness that Fall brings, as if all the wrongs of the past have been erased and the world starts new again. As you may have guessed by now, I am a girl who loves a fresh start, a blank page and a chance to dream of what will come next.
Tags:
bicycling, Dante, Firenze, Florence, Italy, love, parenting, simplicity, spaghetti, travel, words
2 Comments
Tell me about it: Fall! How I love thee! And congrats on the behbeh starting school! I know you’re not worried, but really – don’t be. Ezzie started school entirely in French at age 5 and he observed for a couple of months, before even really trying to do anything but count. And now he’s in fourth grade.
Excuse me, I have to go sob uncontrollably.
September 12, 2013 at 4:33 pmI think he’s a little frustrated because he has to remember how to speak Italian and the kids don’t understand him, but I know it will just take a little time. How big our boys are!!
September 24, 2013 at 7:07 am