Sheila e Joe a Firenze: December 2011 blog

December 2011 Blog

November was month of “settling in” more deeply. The crazy summer tourist season has been over for a while. There are still tourists, but now the non-Italians are more likely to be foreign students or Chinese (who for some reason continue to come en mass). The weather has been cooler (but not cold by Montana standards). The Italians seem to have hunkered down to their work a day worlds and we have followed suit. We traveled less this month, but did get to spend a weekend with our AFS son Francesco, his wife, Giulia and their 13-month old ”Principessa,” Irene. We enjoyed Giulia’s fantastic cooking and got to see the “fauna” (Francesco’s term for the animali roaming the the Milan high end shopping district).

We had a very low-key Thanksgiving. Sheila found a restaurant catering to American tourists and ex-pats serving a traditional Thanksgiving fare. Sheila brought a friend from yoga who was a wonderful young American woman studying philosophy here and in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship.

After this period of time in Italy, there is a small amount of “deconstructing” and “reconstructing” of our identities, which seems to be taking place. Like most people our age, we have long since created the form of our lives from our families, professions and friends. Here, we are doing the same anew, albeit in a different culture and different undertakings.

Sheila continues to meet several times a week with her conversation exchange friend “Lorenzo” and (while not fluent) can now carry on a limited conversation in Italian for an hour without being exhausted. Lorenzo, an engineer, is looking for work and has been trying to improve his English skills. Sheila has edited his English job applications. Sheila continues to study Iyengar Yoga three days a week (in Italian). She plays tennis one day a week (on wonderful clay courts) with an American woman who is a buyer for Williams/Sonoma. She is also working one day a week at a local food bank associated with the Florence Episcopal Church. Most of the volunteers are ex-pats who are married to Italian spouses. She describes them as an interesting motley crew. She is contemplating some additional language classes after the New Year. “Fluency” in a foreign language is turning out to be a nebulous standard measured by an increasing awareness of the extent of the project. Nevertheless she makes steady progress.

We have discovered that we have different learning styles when it comes to language acquisition. Sheila is exacting. She likes to feel like she is using the proper word, verb tense and pronunciation before she opens her mouth. She is always understood, although she sometimes doesn’t say anything because she isn’t sure of herself. Joe on the other hand, is likely to wing it. He is frequently wrong, but never in doubt. Sometimes he comes up with interesting creative phases and at other times leaves the listener with a glazed look on their face.

Sheila has begun to experiment with Italian fashion and is slowly finding her shopping legs. Tight velveteen pants, red tennis shoes, a few beautiful sweaters, brown walking boots and black knee high boots are some of the purchases, which are being admired on our evening walks. (see photo) Joe is a slower learner, but due to weight loss (about 12 lbs.) he is seeing a pant size he hasn’t seen since law school. So, he had to buy a few skinnier pants (and why not in black and purple?)

One of the joys of Joe’s morning walk to school is his seeing Italian parents taking their kids to school, often on the back of their bikes. (see photo). He has just finished his first trimester at the Florence Academy of Art. It has been an exhilarating, if humbling experience. Prior proficiency or achievements in other areas or even age, account for little in the fierce meritocracy of art academia. The brain and hand are slowly adapting to the demands of training (although the ego rebels at every turn). (see photos of some of his latest work).

We are looking forward to our two gorgeous boys coming to Florence for Christmas vacation. We will go to Bergamo, Italy to be with Francesco’s extended family for Christmas day. Conner has a job as a ski instructor in Telluride, CO so will have to join us after the New Year. We are still enjoying our great adventure.

Buon Natale e Felice Nuovo Anno!!!