Number 2
Well,
Ecco noi siamo a la fine da settimana secondo. (Yay, the second, kinda of Italian email that I have written!) Here we are at the end of my second week in Genova and things are settling down a little. With reference to my previous email, I did find a laundry and this leads me into my funny/wired story of the week.
As stated previously, I am staying at a Bed & Breakfast run by a woman named Laura. As you can imagine, winter in Genova isn’t the busiest season for tourist so I am generally (you to the best of my knowledge) are the only guest (there is only one other room). Last Saturday I asked Laura in my pigeon Italian if there was a coin laundry close that I could use. She went on to explain that, in Italy, there just aren’t many. There is one in a part of Centro Storico with a lot of new immigrants but no where else. She said that I could use her casing machine and in fact insisted that she do it for me. After lots of no… really… are you sure… etc… I got my dirty clothes and Laure WONDERFULLY did my washing for me. She even offered to iron my shirts for me, but I thought this might be pushing the boundaries of B&B a little too far. I ask her if I could borrow her ironing board and she said yes, went and got it and set it up. Then proceeded to show me how to iron a shirt (I think she was saying that because one of my shirts isn’t all cotton it was harder than the rest). Well after I had been shown how to iron a shirt, I took over, well and truly on my P plates. Laura watched how I did it and tisked quietly away when I did it the way I know (thanks dad!). I stupidly picked one shirt that is particularly hard to iron because it is a heavy cotton. When I was done, Laura picked up the shirt, looked at the less creased, but none the less creased collar, looked at me, shook her finger and told me off. I managed to convince her that it was good enough and kept going.
Well… Part two of this story continuous last night. I got home after work and went to my room only to find that all the washing that I had pilling up from the week and that I was meaning to do this weekend, was washed, dried, ironed and folded for me on my bed!! Well I promptly went into the kitchen where Laura was and said “Grazzie MOLTO MOLTO MOTLO MILLE” (Thank you VERY VERY VERY much) to which she responded “Prego” (Don’t mention it) and got told that my whites would be ready for me the next day!
To say that i found this all slightly amusing/wired/wonderful is an understatement. Today at work I was talking to my friends at lunch time and asked what’s the deal?? To suggestions were put forward;
1) There is some arrangement in place that I am not aware of and that it is part of a barter arrangement for which I don’t know what I am meant to return the favour with…
2) She is treating me like an Italian male, that apparently get treated VERY well by their mothers and dotted upon. So much so that when they finally leave home, if they are unfortunate enough to move in with their girlfriend/spouse/etc.. there are often many arguments until the ropes are learnt.
I tend to think (hope) it is the second option.
Other than that I have had dinner with two colleges Ottavio and Chiara (they’re married) last night and last Saturday. They live in a top floor apartment in a newer (ish) part of town. The area they live in was once the weekend holiday area for the well-to-do of Genova and is full of big houses that have been turned into apartments. The are both wonderful and put my none existent Italian to shame with the quality of their English. To make things worse, they are incredibly modest about their abilities as well. Chiara was telling me about her families holiday house in Tuscany. It is near a very small town with 6 full time inhabitants and swells to 12 when her and her family arrive. Their house sounds phenomenal!!! The oldest part was built in the 1200’s and then newer (sic) bit in the 1600’s. As I pointed out, her house is actually more than 3 times as old as modern Australia!!! Ohh well. They also have a small number for wine grapevines. Ohh how much I enquired… About 1.5 Hectares!! but they are old now and don’t produce that much wine!!! I don’t think I can do the place justice with my description, but it sounds fantastic. For me the concept of a house sooo old is foreign, but to them it is just normal.
Well, you’re probably all sick of my ramblings so I’ll sign off for the week. I am doing pretty well, have started Italian lessons and are progressing SLOWLY, i can’t speak English (just to speak Vilija) so a new language will take me a while.
I hope your all doing brilliantly. Keep your emails coming, it makes my day getting to work and hearing reports from oz. I am sorry if I don’t reply to you individually. I have summarised responses to our emails below;
Michaela - I am sorry about not sending you my emails, you are right to tell me off, there is not excuse. It is fixed now… I hope
Andrew B (&SEMF) - As you can tell I m doing well and there is quite a bit of culture shock!! I’m gad you can understand the list of important words I sent you, to me they don’t mean much, yet, other than to remember NOT to say them to my boss, or any prospective land lord
Kylie - I not sure if Vilija received your message about your housewarming, but I will ask her. Vija, have you heard anything?????
Amie K - The grapevine worked very well. I am sorry for not making your b’day but Vija and I were in the US at the time. There will definitely be floor space at the least if you can make it when your in Europe. Same applies to anyone…
Jules - I am aware of skype, but without a home let alone easy (unrestricted) access to the internet it is hard to use. It’s high on my list of things to organise when I get our apartment.
Elizabeth - I have just signed up for email notifications about cheap flights to the UK. RyanAir fly to Genova so I might be there sooner than you think/hope. Do you have an mobile that I can call/message you on?? I hope you had a ball in NY. It is one of Vilija and mine’s favourite spots, you can get lost for days… Ain’t it GREAT 
Cheers
James
Tags: Italia