Italy Journal
Friday, July 20, 2012
Summer Break!
Today is Peter's last day of class before summer break! He goes back in September. We're going to have some company for the first and last weeks and spend 2 weeks doing research in Torentino (mountains) for a long-term project Peter has. That leaves us two weeks to travel. Too bad, huh? I feel sorry for us, too! :)
I'm off to the street market (chair cushions and tomatoes), the bike store (flat tire), Giolito's cheese shop (mozzarella), then home to clean the house for special company on Sunday night for the week. Tonight we will take the caprese to Karin’s birthday party at the Gastronomic Society Center. Tomorrow, we're going to Skype with Harldur at this birthday party (2 years old!), shop at the Dogliani artesan street market and celebrate our monthly anniversary! Sunday, Peter is helping Wild Dan with his Whisker Jack brunch while I play tennis with Kelly and eat at the brunch. Then in the evening, Lori, Stephen, Valerie and Victoria ARE coming in on the train from Paris in time for supper. I emphasize ARE because a transportation strike has just been announced for all of Italy’s buses and trains through Saturday night. Che Bello! The ones that are announced like this, usually stop when they announce they will. It’s Italy, though. It’s all just a suggestion! Who knows what will really happen. We're busy beavers, but still having a GRRRREAT time!
Translator Man
I had two situations where I wanted to use the right Italian this morning, so I used Google translate, then I called Translator Man (Enzo) for help. I was amazed at how far off Google Translate was. Note to self: Always ask a native speaker to correct your Italian when you are doing business with someone. It worked out well, and I told Enzo that I need to make him some buttons to wear…Amazon Man!...Translator Man! What will be next? He’s such a helpful guy! I always appreciate him.
Our evening was spent at a birthday party that Karin (Netherlands) gave herself at the Gastronomic Society Center. She speaks beautiful English but didn’t understand when I told her that I heard she was “throwing” her own party. She pulled Peter aside and asked if I were mad with her. We have that situation a lot, where colloquial terms are misunderstood.
There were over 30 people at the party, and we sang “Happy Birthday” in at least 5 different languages. Charlotte’s and Maya Brazil’s parents were there, and Maya’s brothers were there, too. And, Douglas came for his last event with the group before returning to the states for work. It’s been great to have him here as another mascot! Everyone brought a dish, so of course, the food was delicious. It was a great time.
La Casa del Cane (The Dog House!)
Afterwards, the fun began. Peter locked the house key in the car…in the locked garage and he was in La Casa del Cane. Che Bella! I didn’t have my spare. Che Bella! Our condo English speaking contact person was in another country and didn’t respond until mid-day the next day. Che bella! And, the owner of the apartment was nowhere to be found. Che bella! So, what do we do when we are in a “key” situation!!! Call the KEY MAN…Enzo!!! Unfortunately, he was asleep when we called him, and he didn’t have a good suggestion other than the steps we had already taken.
Italy Journal
Saturday, July 21, 2012
La Casa del Cane, cont’d.
After a night in the lovely, patient, welcoming, nearby Battelino Hotel (I teased Peter that it was a planned 194 monthly anniversary scheme! He wished he had thought of that!), none of us had a better idea than to wait for Luca’s real estate office to open and ask Roberto (Luca is in the States on vacation.) to contact Sergio, our not-very-highly-esteemed landowner, to come and unlock the door. Still no success, so we went back home with Enzo to reassess the situation. We thought about who might have a 30 foot ladder. Peter even considered buying a ladder for Enzo’s new house with the understanding that we could use it between now and March. We thought about a locksmith. Enzo didn’t even know what that was. They don’t have locks that can be opened without the key or explosive material. I thought of trying to shimmy something through the center crack in the garage door, but the connecting section was made of steel. Enzo considered going to Sergio’s father’s house to find Sergio (Enzo knows everybody in town!) Then, our neighbor Roberta (speaks only Italian) who goes to the church next door came out of her apartment, and I suggested to Translator Man (What a guy that Enzo is!) to ask Roberta if the church might have a very tall ladder. She didn’t think so, but her brother then came out of her apartment, and Translator Man explained that the key was locked in the garage. The brother told Enzo that they had a special tool for their garage that disconnected the garage door from the electric opener. Eureka! Then, Enzo remembered a tool he had never used that was in his garage. Seconds later, Key Man’s tool had disconnected our garage door from the electric opener, and the door could be opened manually. The key to the house was retrieved, and the electric opener was reattached using the garage door tool. Peter found the same tool in our garage, too…for future use. But, we also hid a key to the garage outside and put a key to the apartment’s front door inside the garage. We’re covered from every situation, and Peter was out of La Casa del Cane.
After all that fun, I went on my way to Dogliani to get some Baci de Mama, salumi, and juices for the upcoming week with Lori, Stephen, Victoria and Valerie. Peter said to get some extra to give to Roberta and her brother for helping us save the day and get back in our house.
Thanks, Roberta’s brother, for solving our problem! And, of course thank you, Key Man/Translator Man for coming to our rescue…again! I teased Enzo that we could just come to him with our list of lost things every day, so he would know what to expect the day to be!!! He thought that would be…great!
Now, if we can just get over this Italian train/bus strike so that Lori and Stephen & girls can come to our house by train from Paris tomorrow night! Che bella!
Colleen
No comments:
Post a Comment