Italian Holiday

Today is an Italian holiday. How do I know this? Very good question. It is because we went to the gas station on the autostrada (freeway) to fill-up and the place was packed! I mean people were parked everywhere. We were barely able to squeeze out of there. So are they all in line waiting to fill up before heading out to Nonna's? NO. Are they filling the boat to head out to the lake? NO. They are hanging out, talking, meeting family, shooting the breeze. Wait, I get it. They are tailgating! That's it. It's like a football game without the football! They tailgate at highway rest-stops to celebrate national holidays. Why didn't anyone say so before?

Sexy??????

So this is how Mother's Day is celebrated at a local restaurant/club. No flowers and breakfast in bed here!!

Stores

Sicily has two major "Walmart" like stores. Auchan is kinda like a K-Mart and Carrefour, a major European chain, is like a nice Walmart or a Target. They are nice because they are actually open all day instead of shutting for Riposo (siesta) like all of the small stores. Everyone knows that there are a certain number of layouts for Walmarts right? You can walk in and you immediately know where everything is going to be based on the layout. It's very nice to walk in a huge store in a new town and not have to walk up and down every aisle to find what you want.

Not so much at Auchan. No sir. For one thing, items are VERY seasonal. You want to find an umbrella in February? Sorry. That was a December item. How about a snow sled in January? Nope. Should have bought the one you saw in November. Oh you think that you are going to barbeque because it so nice out this fine February day. You're kidding right?! That stuff is only out during the summer.

So we've adapted and learned that if you see something you anticipate needing, you have to buy it right now. Impulse shopping is the name of the game. Because if you don't, I hope you can wait for next year.

All of that is bad enough. But they also have a compulsive need to rearrange things constantly. We have been going to the same store for almost three years and I still have to wander the aisles to find things. Yesterday, the sporting goods aisle was gardening, the pet food aisle was toothpicks and paper products. The clothes aisle was toys. Now that would be OK if they just had too many employees and needed to find things to do. But no, the cashier lines are always long. Even if the store is empty, they make sure there is only one cashier so you feel like you are there during rush hour. Heaven forbid you get through a line in less than 15 minutes. Sorry, we don't have enough employees to open another line. They are busy moving the electronics over to the cheese aisle!

Gggrrrrr. OIS

Water

A bit over a week ago on a Monday morning, a crew arrived on our street and started to dig up the sidewalk directly across the street from us. We did not pay much attention to it and continued living life normally. Dishes were washed, the house was cleaned, and multiples loads of laundry was done. Later that evening as the last load of laundry was put in, we ran out of water. I went and checked and our 2 thousand liter tanks were empty. Doh! I wish someone had told us they were going to turn our water off. That must be what the crew was doing across the street! So I filled the inside tanks with water from the yard tanks so we could at least flush the toilet and take really fast showers in the morning. Usually when the water is shut off it is only for a day or so.

Tuesday evening I get home from work and still no water. I walk over to the landlords business next door to ask when it will be turned back on. What? Your water is off? Ours is working fine. O.K, that's odd, but they are one house uphill from the hole so that may explain it. So they call the water company and the reply is, everybody's water is on. We finished the job and it should be on. Great. That means there is a real problem. I walk over and look at the hole. They replaced a piece of the main line, but did not dig deep under the pipe, so most likely dirt and debris got in and jammed in our line. The landlord put in a ticket with the water company to come out and we wait for the next day.

Nobody shows up the next day and we are out of water again. The landlord pulls his hose over to our tanks and fills them up. We are going on vacation to Florence the next day and the kids are staying home with their aunt. great, we are leaving them with no water. We buy tons of bottled water, wish them luck, and head off to Florence.

Saturday we get a call that the pump is now not working. So I call the landlord and he sends a tech over to look at it. The kids all bath at a friend's house and they fill the toilet tanks with bottled water to flush. Just like camping in a house!

Monday when we get home i see that the water is out again. But it is an Italian holiday so no crews were working. I call the landlord and fill my tanks up again with his hose. He is so embarrassed he disparages his homeland, "Sicilia bad," in his non-existent English. He vows to light a fire under the water company the next day.

Tuesday---no water crew.

Wednesday, look, they're here! the landlord is out yelling at them for their slow response. they take 30 minutes to blow out the lines and poof, we have water. It took a week to do 30 minutes of work. Nice. A family with four small children can wait a week for running water.

Va bene!!!!

Need a Jump?

We were driving the other evening and looked across the road where there were a few young guys standing around a scooter and a car. We were making a u-turn at the next round-aboutso we drove back by the gentlemen a realized what they were doing. The scooter was connected to the car by jumper cables. The scooter was on, and there was a guy trying to start the car. That's right. They were trying to jump start a car with a moped. Giddyup!!!!

Presepe

Italy is well know for elaborate presepes around Natale (Christmas). They really are amazing. An entire room will be transformed into a miniature Italian village complete with river. The manger scene is then incorporated into the village. Every year, the stores are full of different sized people depending on the scale you want to use to create your own presepe. They have straw, rocks, water fountains, windmills, props, and even premade stables. It is a big deal and one of my favorite things about Italy.

So it's mid-November, and just like in the states, all of the Christmas stuff is already out in the stores. In the Italians' defense, at least they aren't overlooking Thanksgiving like American stores. Anyway, I was looking at the presepe stuff, seeing if there is anything I can add to the one we built last year and I see this little guy who is poppin' a squat and droppin' his drawers. Hmmmm, that's interesting. But I guess if you recreate a village, you need to have an outhouse right??!! I mean, that's a part of village life. But then something caught my eye and I leaned in closer. Could it be? Nooooooo, couldn't be. But yes it is! The little dude is actually taking a dump, dropping a load, pinching a loaf, dropping the kids off at the pool, taking the Browns to the Super Bowl...you get the idea. He actually has a piece of poop coming out of his butt. Hopefuly no one puts him too close to the manger scene. Seems wrong somehow.

I Love Trash!

Yes this blog is about Sicily, not Naples. I can attest personally to the nastiness that is Naples and the trash covered streets. But the problem has now come home. Trash pickup in Catania is a daily occurence. We put our trash out in a little basket and it gets picked up everyday. Great right!? Well, it was while it was actuially happening.
The word is that Catania "waste management" is out of money. They can't pay the trash dudes, who then refuse to work for free. Selfish selfish. Anyway, trash builds up for a couple of weeks, then they come and clean everything for a few days, and then back to build-up. Has anyone considered that maybe every other day or every third day pick-up would be cost saving and avoid huge piles? Maybe, but then the unions would throw a fit. And how is Catania out of money? If anything, the tax base is increasing. Oh wait, people have to actually declare their incomes and pay their taxes. Right. So maybe Catania deserves it.