This week, I have been mostly....

One of the benefits of being a teacher is, of course, the glorious summer holiday. As well as spending time blogging, cleaning my flat from top to bottom (ish), eating many lovely lunches with my boyfriend and his family, and preparing myself for the drizzle of the UK (I leave at the end of July), I have also been doing, well, other things. Such as:
 

1. Drinking far too much of this. I've already mentioned in another post about how much I like it, but now I'm getting seriously involved. Even realising that it's more sugary than I thought (we're not talking coca cola proportions though) didn't put me off.

2. Lusting after vespas. I'd wear a helmet with mine. Honestly!

3. Being followed around by my favourite stray, Muccchill' (yes, odd name/word/spelling I know..) I'm planning on doing a post about stray dogs in the future, but until then, here's a photo of this lovely (and looked after) canine:

4. Practising my cooking skills. Behold, a feast of antipasto! Details to follow shortly!

5. Seeing lots of naked flesh. And not just this week. When the sun's out, the clothes come off. 

6. Spending time with some fantastic people (and sitting on random doorsteps...ahem..)

Hope you had a smashing weekend!! :D

Early Morning Italy...or- Lazy Amy

Where I live, a lot of employment is in the agricultural sector. This means several things. Firstly, the scenery in the surrounding area is gorgeous. No factories or big industrial sites ruining everyone's view. Secondly, there are a lot of tractors. I mean a lot. But also, it means that my little town gets up early. This type of work definitely doesn't start at 9am.

I'd love to say that I am a total morning person, up at the crack of dawn, prancing about spreading morning joy. Well, I'm not. That's not to say I'm totally grumpy and in a trance at 8am, but I do enjoy a good sleep, and like to wake up naturally, whether than be at 7am or 10am. So, during my summer holidays I often don't need to get up too early. But unfortunately, the rest of my hard working, not so lazy town does.

It's not only those who work in agriculture however. It's pretty much everyone. Now you can see why they love coffee so much here- it's a necessity! But where am I going with this? You may be thinking. Why can't I just continue sleeping and let everyone get on with their business while I bask unashamedly in my laziness? Well, let's just say that certain people aren't so discreet in their early morning routines.

This is what I hear during the early hours of the morning:

Power tools.

The (insert rude adjective here) man next door has been using these for over 6 months now. I don't even know what he's doing with them. 

Men driving around with megaphones.

 Publicising their potatoes/mattresses/cleaning goods that are on offer.

Stray dogs.

It's not their fault, I know. More on this is the future. 

 

Choirs.

OK, this definitely isn't a bad way to be woken up. They sound a LOT better than power tools.

There are a couple of things I can do about this less than discreet morning routine that my beloved southern town has. 

1. Embrace said morning routine. Join the choir and sing myself into a becoming a joyful morning   person. 

2. Pop in the earplugs for a bit.

Hmm. Which one will it be...? ;)

Sunday snapshots...

Doesn't everything just look so much better when it's sunny?

Here are a few snapshots of my little southern town in the gorgeous sunshine...

One of the two elementary schools (apparently built by Garibaldi)

The fountain on one of the main piazzas (have been tempted to jump in a couple of times to cool myself down...)

I absolutely love these beautiful buildings

Ahh shutters...one of the best inventions ever.

Have a fantastic (and hopefully sunny!) Sunday! :)

football fever...part 2!

Remember what I said about Italians being fairly chilled out, not getting too rowdy and hooligan-like over football? Well, I take it all back!

Another evening of football viewing started off well, with pizza, beer and a nice, calm atmosphere. But people got increasingly more animated as Italy (excuse me for saying this) weren't playing so well. In the end however, as you all know, they triumphed over Ireland and ended up winning 2-0. Then the celebrations really began!! Behold, how my small, simple town in the south of Italy celebrated a football win...

The Irish one started very optimistically!!

There's simply no get-together without some food.

Very calm and collected...

The mandatory smoking break during half time.

A little tomfoolery during half time...

And when the match finished, the celbrations began...

How many Italians can you fit into a car...

Even the girls got involved

And underage riders sans helmet. Ahem.

Basically, the whole town hosted a procession of moped riding, flag waving, horn beeping Italians. It was awesome!

Have a look at this (short!) video to get a better idea of what I mean:

And guess what's coming up on Sunday? Yes, I'm sure you all know...England v. Italy. I'm excited and scared in equal measure..being the only English person in an entire town of Italians when THAT match is on?! Help!!

Community spirit...and risk of losing a limb...

It's at this time of year that my region has more festivals than you can shake a stick at. Not only is there Easter, but a number of other celebrations that have two things in common: dodgy music concerts and many, many fireworks. I enjoy fireworks as much as the next person. Ones that are way up high in the sky that is. Not near head height. Which, incidentally, the majority of the fireworks here are. It's an incredibly interesting tradition that people in this particular part of the country observe, many even running alongside said head height explosives, one arm majestically in the air, gaining what I can only assume to be respect from their peers. In my opinion it's just downright dangerous. I need a new pair of trousers every time the darn things are set off. Basically, they FRIGHTEN ME. I, unlike those who fully embrace this tradition and get as close to the fireworks as possible, stay well back. That is, until the jostling crowd pushes me further towards my CERTAIN DEATH FROM EXPLODING SPINNING THINGS. And of course, because of this, I earn no respect. And many looks of bewilderment. A positive thing about all of this though, is the way it brings everyone together. Literally. Everyone. 

FOLLOW THOSE EXPLOSIVES!

I took a walk down the main street yesterday and bumped into about 10 people I knew. And in comparison to the natives, I know practically no-one. We don't have anything equivalent to this in my UK hometown, not even close. Here, everyone huddles together, stops to chat, eats ice cream (this will have a post of its own in the future) and manages to find a parking space where you would never have imagined there would be one (...yep, more on this too!) It's all about the festival. I'm still standing way back though. Preferably two streets away.

Follow this link to see exactly what I mean...