A Week of Celebrations

As most of you know, Indigo's birthday is right between Christmas and New Years, so we pretty much spend a solid week celebrating, opening presents, eating special and delicious food, staying up late, and being merry. It's lovely, and it's...a lot. I think we've just finally begun to get back into the swing of our usual (Roman) routine, now that the excitement's died down a bit.

We had a fantastic visit with Josh's parents, who were able to spend the holidays with us here in Rome. Besides enjoying their good company, it was gratifying to watch them get to reconnect with Indigo. They hadn't seen her since last Spring, and she's changed so much since then. I think she probably astonished them. Kids - they're magical, you know?

We had a few little adventures and day trips (I'll write a post dedicated entirely to Ostia Antica later), but spent most of our time a bit closer to home, in order to show Raye and Candace the nearby areas.

This was not Raye and Candace's first trip to Rome, so they had already seen many of the major sites around the city. They had not gotten to see much of Trastevere, though, so we spent a lot of time exploring down there, since it's just down the hill from us, and is so fun to sight-see. Walks through town started Indigo's newest addiction to "pizza yanca" (pizza bianca), which is essentially pizza bread with olive oil and sometimes salt drizzled on top. She'd often devour the snacks I'd brought for her on our walks, and we'd have to buy a little something more for her, to avoid a meltdown. So now pizza bianca is a new favorite.

Christmas was so fun. While I always enjoy Christmas, it's so much more fun when you can share in a little kid's excitement. It's just so magical; we decorate a tree with toys, put up twinkling lights, eat special food, and then suddenly some old guy brings toys to the house! Amazing, right?

Indigo was a little overwhelmed, and it took a couple days to finish opening all of her presents (which is fine, except her birthday's on the 28th, and we had to start all over again). The biggest hit was definitely the play tent we got her, in the shape of a castle. She loves that thing - and now goes in every day to read books in there. Lovely.

 As I said, we took a day trip to Ostia Antica. We also went to Frascati, a small town famous for a number of villas, for its white wine, and also for its porchetta (roasted pork). The town was ok - pretty enough but since we didn't go to any of the villas, not that noteworthy - but the porchetta was amazing. It may be on my top 5 list of the best foods I've ever had. It's at least on the top 10 list. If you're in Italy, and decide you want to try it yourself, follow the instructions on this blog.

After we ate, Indigo used the leftover bread to feed the pigeons. That's Raye in the red hat and Josh sitting on the bench behind her. Doesn't she look incredibly tall in these pictures?!

And then, of course - Indigo's birthday. Who can believe she's two years old?! I can't. We had a small party with just the family and one friend - one of her teachers from school. We're going to do a bigger, many-kid party with some other birthday boys and girls in about a week.

And finally, New Years. Some people at the Academy organized gatherings throughout the week for the various holidays. We went to them all, enjoying having the chance to chat with other people in the community. After taking Indigo home to go to bed around 8, I was able to return to the party an hour later. I hadn't expected to stay that long, but it's been awhile since I've stayed up late, especially for New Years, so I thought, why not?

The party was up on the 4th floor balcony of the Academy building. There's a telescope up there, and I was able to use it to look at the moon - amazing. I don't think I've ever really looked through a telescope before. I could see craters and everything. It was incredible.

Midnight approached, and people began setting off fireworks. I think that the city launches some of its own, at the Piazza del Popolo and at the Colosseum, but fireworks are legal here, and so everyone - and I mean everyone - began shooting off their own. There's no good way to describe it, and no picture I took could possibly catch the spectacle we saw over the city. Fireworks bloomed in the sky at hundreds upon hundreds of places, all around the city. For a solid hour. Everywhere we looked (and we could see a great deal of the city from the top of our hill) we saw little starbursts exploding. It sounded, and smelled, like a warzone. It was crazy, and disorganized, and over-the-top. It was so Italian. I've never seen anything like it, and probably never will again.

 Happy New Year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It's been a month since my last post. I haven't neglected posting because I have nothing to say or share, but because life's been a little hectic around here. Indigo had a long illness (cough turning to croup turning to pneumonia and an ear infection) that led us to our second ER visit and having to keep her out of school for a couple weeks. And I was sick, and Josh was sick, and then Indigo was sick again, and Josh hurt his back. But now I think - I hope - that's all past us. So onward we go!

And while we were busy being sick, it gradually grew colder and more wintery here in Rome. Yes, Rome does get cold. Not the bone-numbing cold of New England, mind you - but the morning mile-walk to Indigo's school has gotten increasingly colder and is now, some days, done in below-freezing temperatures. It gets a little warmer throughout the day, but some days that just means that it gets up to 45 (although tomorrow it's supposed to be in the high fifties).

Personally, I welcome the cold. It's comforting. A bit of normalcy in a life that is so different from anything that I've known before. December should be cold. Christmas occurs in the winter. That's what I've known, and that's what I want.

Possibly bigger than my head?

So far, this Christmas season has been merry and a little perplexing. Of course, since the Italians don't celebrate our Thanksgiving, there is no kick-off to the Christmas season in November. In some ways, that's really pretty lovely - there's much less commercialism here, and a lot less holiday pressure (and burn-out, I suspect). The first herald of Christmas does begin to arrive in stores in November, but with little-to-no pomp and circumstance. That is Italian panettone, a kind of seasonal sweet bread that I've dubbed "the muffin as big as my head". Seriously. Look at it. Most panettone seem to have fruit and assorted craziness in them, but the one in the picture above was just chocolate chip bread. Delicious.

Our little tree

Some store fronts, especially ones that either specialize in food or are technically a corporation/chain, do decorate beginning in late November. But the vast majority do not. Some begin in early December, but the real start of the Christmas season here in Italy is on December 8th, which is the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. All around the city, Christmas trees and Christmas lights were lit for the first time on that night. Christmas trees are really not available for sale until a few days leading up to the 8th. I tried looking for a tree the week before, and none could be found. When flower vendors did start getting some in stock, I was surprised to see that they had very few for sale, and all of them were potted. That is, you're not buying a cut tree; you're buying a live one. Maybe that's why so few are out being sold? Do people buy a tree and then tend it all year long, year after year, keeping it out on their veranda or in a courtyard to wait for the next Christmas? I've no idea. But I suppose that's what we'll do. We'll leave it on our terrace for the apartment's next occupants.

Lights just before dusk on the 8th

I'm not convinced that the majority of the city's occupants have Christmas trees, anyway (this is an ancient city, and apartments are tiny. Where would they fit them??) But I think most Italian households proudly display presepe - that is, the nativity scene. It is a Catholic city, after all. I'm told that the Vatican has a gorgeous life-sized one that they don't unveil until Christmas Eve. But presepe are all over the city - and as I understand it, in nearly every home. You can even get ones made out of chocolate, like the one in the window of the Sicilian bakery I pass on my walk to my Italian class. But isn't it sort of heretical to want to eat the baby Jesus?  I don't feel all that comfortable with the idea.

Heretical...but delicious

I plan to do a follow-up post to this one in a few days full of pictures of all the gorgeous shop windows, all decked out in their Christmas finery. Stay tuned!

But of course, one more quick thing - the most fun part of this Christmas season, so far, is Indigo's wonder and excitement at the lights, and the idea of "Father Christmas" bringing her a present on Christmas day. She refers to Santa as Father Christmas because that's what UK-created Peppa Pig does - and god, it's super cute and charming to have your not-quite-2-year-old use that quaint old-world name. And all the glitter and dazzle of Christmas decorations are magical when seen through the eyes of a child, and I've found that I'm enjoying this lead-up to the holiday immensely, more than I ever thought that I would. It's lovely.

This is Halloween

A couple of the grad student Fellows here organized a Halloween event at the Academy, which was truly an epic event. I was drafted (willingly!) to be on the decorating committee, but also found myself on the unofficial buying-stuff, including candy, committee. It's not easy to Buy Stuff in Italy, which I should really explain at length in another post. But to be brief: there's no Michael's for crafts or Jo-Ann's for fabric or Home Depot for random building materials. Oh, no - you really have to hit the pavement, walk everywhere, and/or scrounge.

Anyway.

It was really a labor of love, and I think that I can speak for everyone when I say that the party was a rousing success. I helped decorate the courtyard and the main party room - and some of the people I was working with were incredibly talented. Betsy spray-painted a bunch of sticks black and hung them so that they were suspended over the bar. Jackie painted a wonderful pumpkin patch and gravestone area - and there were so many more great touches. I felt really proud of how things looked.

Indigo especially loved the "pumpkin patch" on the wall, and tried to pet the kitties. I guess she thought they were real. ;)

The first part of the party was geared for the kids It was very sweet: it started with a treat-bag-decorating activity, then the kids were invited to trick-or-treat inside the main Academy Building. After trick-or-treating was done, there was a pizza party, then time for the kids to either run around or have their own little dance party in the party room.

After the kids' party was the adults' party, and I think over 275 people showed up, from all the other Academies in town. I didn't attend, since I was tired and home with Indigo, but it sounded like a good time.

Indigo seemed to enjoy her Halloween. She tolerated her outfit (but just barely - I was fortunate to get a few snapshots of her with her witch hat on before she tore it off and never put it back on). She loved running around with the other kids before festivities started, and seemed to have fun decorating her trick-or-treat bag. Sadly, though, she didn't actually do any trick-or-treating. I'm not sure if it was because she was hungry, or tired, or just overwhelmed by the entire event, but she just couldn't deal with the crush of kids piling into the building to go door to door to ask for candy. I think it was confusing to her, and probably too chaotic. So we went back outside, waited for pizza, and watched it get dark. Indigo is, incidentally, fascinated with the dark, and gets so excited when she spots the moon. When she sees it, she'll point, and run towards it saying, "Come here, moon!" Adorable.

Too bad about the trick-or-treating, but I think she had a blast anyway, and probably doesn't know what she missed. And I wouldn't have wanted her to eat candy anyway, so maybe it was all a big win. ;)  Here's one last shot, of our little family.

Happy Halloween!

Today was not a very good day

Yesterday before school I saw Indigo limp, briefly. I thought I had put her shoe on incorrectly (sometimes she curls her toes and the shoe doesn't sit right on her foot), so I took it off and put it back on, and that seemed to help. But after school the limp was back, and much more pronounced. In fact, it was not so much a limp as - a strange stiffness to her gait. She was walking with her right leg out at an angle, with the toes pointed in. Concerned, I called Josh and he came home to take a look. She didn't seem to be in any pain, and did not react when I gently pressed along her leg, rotated her ankle, moved her foot up and down, and bent/extended her knee. There was no swelling or marks of any kind. We decided to let her sleep on it and see how she was the following day.

Today the stiffness/limp seemed a little better in the morning, but it was definitely still present. I took her to school as normal, and talked to the teachers there about whether she had fallen or gotten hurt the previous day. They said that she hadn't, and had in fact been wondering about her limp, and meant to ask me about it. She was crying and clingy this morning, which is unusual for her, so I feared that whatever was wrong with her leg was starting to pain her, even though she wasn't able to really tell me that it was.

I talked to some of the other moms here, and they helped me decide to take her to the children's hospital up the hill. They have a walk-in clinic there, as well as an ER. I tried calling the hospital to figure which I should take Indigo to, but the receptionist spoke only broken english, and I barely any italian, so I decided to wing it. I then did the thing that no one - especially a mom - should ever do, and looked up Indigo's symptoms on the internet, to try to figure out what might be wrong. Maybe it was foolish, but it made me feel better prepared for some of the possibilities. I thought that the most likely culprit was toxic synovitis, which is just a fancy name for hip inflammation that follows a viral infection. Indigo's had a cold for several days, and her symptoms seemed to match up.

Josh and I picked up Indigo after school and rode a taxi to the hospital. We went to the clinic and a pediatrician before being directed to the ER, kindly escorted by a volunteer who spoke excellent english. We were at the hospital for nearly four hours. Her walk had deteriorated - to the point that I was fighting tears whenever she would walk. Her leg was sticking out to the right at an alarming angle, and she had become clumsy, and kept falling down. She was terrified by her examination in the ER, and quite clearly felt some pain when the doctor rotated her hip. She was equally terrified by the ultrasound (and also by that time, exhausted and hungry - the snacks I had brought were not nearly enough).

Turns out my internet sleuthing was right on the money. The doctor's english wasn't perfect, but he essentially said that her hip inflammation was due to a virus. He didn't see signs that anything else was wrong (scarier things like meningitis or bone fractures), and told us to give her ibuprofen for the swelling...and to not let her walk for 5 days. At all. I have no idea how we're going to keep our energetic (and otherwise very healthy) child sitting down for the next 5 days. And I need to find her a pediatrician, to have a follow up appointment next week.

So the upside is, she's fine. It's nothing serious. It was just a terrifying, heartbreaking, exhausting day, and the next bunch of days are going to be a challenge. Poor little girl.

A little reception

This post is really just an excuse to show you all some pretty pictures.

The Academy hosted a Welcome reception tonight (What?! Two-and-a-half weeks in? Yes.) at the Villa Aurelia. It is a gorgeous estate, and I would seriously consider living in a tent, nomad-like, on the grounds, if they'd have me.

A checkerboard of lemon trees

A fantastic wrought-iron door

Indigo, caught in the act of eating a canapé

Lovely fountain, complete with lily pads

Josh looking spiffy, indulgently following Indigo on her explorations

A view from one of the gardens

Yet another amazing fountain. The water drips from the top of the arch

Sunset and dusk. We saw bats fluttering amongst the trees

The lighting at dusk is gorgeous

The first week, in pictures

Here is a peek inside some of the Academy buildings. These are shots of the interior courtyard of the main building, where lunch and dinner is served on nice days (and there are a lot of nice days). I caught a quick photo of Indigo dropping a few pebbles into a drain/grate.

Here Indigo and Josh are walking into the courtyard.

We're up on the Janiculum, a high hill outside of the main area of Rome (on the other side of the Tiber River), and just up the hill from the Trastevere, an area where a lot of the charming medieval-era buildings are still intact. Here's a view of the city from the Janiculum.

Here is the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, home to the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome (circa the 4th century).

The piazza

The basilica

The city (what I've seen of it so far) has approximately a bazillion fountains. Some for show, some to drink. There's a fountain (sometimes just a pipe) in every park. The tap water in Rome is supposedly excellent, some of the best in Europe. It tastes good on a hot day, that's for sure! And Indigo loves any opportunity to play in water.

I can't remember the name of this fountain, but it's impressively large.

My water child

Transitions are hard

I've heard those three little words so often this past year. Indigo's teachers were fond of saying that phrase, whenever Indigo or another child would cry and throw a fit when coming to the classroom in the morning or when leaving at the end of the day. It's very true, too. Little kids are like, the quintessential illustrations of inertia - when they're in motion, they want to stay in motion, and when they're at rest, that's where they want to be. I've become accustomed to trying to ease transitions with Indigo by explaining ahead of time what's to come - she prefers to have a little notice if something's going to change, rather than have change be a sudden surprise.

I've learned two new things this past week and a half. One, is that there's absolutely no way to prepare a 20-month old for such a monumental change as moving to a new country and culture; and two, that transitions aren't just hard for kids. They're hard for everyone.

How do you explain to your bright, inquisitive little kid who is so incredibly verbal for her age, and who is used to not only being able to understand, but also to express herself well and be understood by others - why suddenly most of the adults around her don't understand her? And speak in gibberish? How do you explain the concept of another language? And how can I, her trusted and adored mother, leave her in a strange place with these people?

I'm not enthralled with the school here. It's not bad, you understand - it just can't compare to what I am used to. Her school in Northampton is exceptional. Beautiful facilities, amazing, smart, encouraging and warm teachers, progressive education. The school here falls short in so many ways. In the U.S., there are ratios of how many teachers you need for so many kids. I think for Indigo's age, you need 3 teachers for 9 kids. Here, at this school in Italy, I think there are 3 teachers for about 15 kids. AND - the third teacher only joined the classroom because he can speak English, and so can converse with the three American children in the classroom.

Which, is a positive thing, yes? Obviously the school cares enough about our children to have brought in an English-speaking teacher. He's quite nice, too. But it's just...it's not what I'm used to. It's not exceptional. Indigo's been having a rough time this last week, transitioning in. Of course, any place new would be difficult for her to adjust to, but it's doubly frustrating when I cannot really converse with the teachers, either. I can with the man, Lorenzo. Now. But he's not really one of the main teachers, and is just there for my kid and a couple other kids. I'm not entirely certain that he's a preschool teacher at all.

Still, they tell me that a few minutes after I leave in the morning, the tears stop, and she seems to enjoy herself. I worry somewhat that she's not getting enough stimulation in that classroom, but I don't know. Apparently she engages with the other English-speaking children and a new Spanish child and brings them together, and they all play. That's my girl.

She's been throwing a lot more tantrums than usual, this week. I suspect that it's because of the overwhelming amount of new information her poor little brain has to process, on top of all sorts of crazy change. It may also be that she's getting closer to the terrible twos. She's beastly, at times. I've found myself wondering, several times, whether she'd still be my sweet, happy child if we were still in Northampton.

I suppose that sounds a bit dramatic. She's still sweet, still happy most of the time. I'm just worried. But we all are - all the parents here are in the same boat. As one of the other mothers, Jessica, said - "You can only be as happy as your most miserable child." Indigo isn't miserable, not by a long shot. In fact, I'd say she's coping well, and it is comforting to know that all the children are having some of the same challenges. But I'll be enormously happy and grateful in a few weeks' time when we're through the worst of the transition, and we can settle into life here a bit more.

Indigo and Henny

As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of other children at the Academy this year. Twenty-two in all, in wide range of ages. Indigo is lucky enough to have two of the kids here, Henny and Charlie, in her class at her preschool. Henny is four months older than Indigo and Charlie is about two weeks younger.

Indigo has been playing with 2-year old Henny and her 5-year old sister, Sophia, a lot. Henny and Sophia are the daughters of Patrick (an American) and Katrin (a German). They are such sweet girls, and Indigo has really taken to them. They've been playing together every day.

Today at the Triangle Garden, Indigo and Henny played together on the slide. I couldn't resist posting a collage of the photos here.