Bens: Super Trip

Dear who ever is reading this READ                                 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Ok I have been in school four weeks and I have made my whole class and soccer team as friends. I have been to 2 of my friends houses and 4 have been to mine. There is so much homework.

The pictures post: the first

We've been here for a few weeks now so I've been able to take a few pictures of some of the places near our apartment in addition to those that have already been posted here.  We'll do this quickly.

First, il Prato della Valle, which has been discussed in this place already.  This is generally a place that people like to hang out during lunch, after lunch when everything is closed, during the evening before and after an aperitivo, and on into the night.  So, I guess anytime then.  It is, in particular, a popular hangout spot for the high school students.  Our place is just a few steps to the northeast from the prato, down the street in the first image.  In the backdrop of the image you can just make out the top of the towers at the basilica di sant'antonio, the place that I will never tire of walking near.

 As far as I can tell, there is a two hour window when everyone in Padova heads to the Prato to do some laps (it must be about a half mile around).  Ben has gotten into this as well and regularly will want to go out and get a few in himself, typically when I'm right in the middle of cooking dinner oddly enough.  It is nice that it is possible to go exercise him while something is on the stove.  It's also nice that he enjoys the same things that an energetic puppy might.

Morning, night, midday, the prato always looks nice and feels nice to be around.  There are interesting buildings in both the foreground and in the background from most sides.  As already mentioned, the basilica di sant'antonio is very close.  There is another basilica (sant Guistina) even closer to the south east.  Haven't been inside yet though.

There is more to see of Padova than just the prato though.  If you leave our place and head north/northwest, you are heading down the corridor that encloses centro.

I have goals to take more pictures of this area soon, but it is large and there are lots of interesting things to see.  When you talk to the locals and tell them how much you love Padova, a typical response is "yes, it is a good city.  Not too big but not too small.  Very walkable."  which is all quite true and one of the reasons that we like it here.  Walking around the city is really enjoyable.  I don't particularly like shopping, but I do like walking past all the shops and checking out what is inside.

In particular, I have an affinity for macelleria (butcher), of which there are many.   In the center of centro there is an ancient structure called the Salone.  Sotto il Salone (under the salone) there is a pretty amazing market filled with all sorts of meat and cheese shops with roots that go back hundreds of years, as well as a bunch of other interesting places including cafès and bars.

I haven't done the place justice as I caught the above images during the afternoon break, but it's spectacular.   Il salone is surrounded by several markets where you can buy fruits and vegetables, rice, beans, clothes, simple home goods, and all sorts of stuff.

One of the best parts of living here is my walk to work.  Parts of the building that I am in, marked by the famous tower, are 1000 years old.  But in addition to that, its just in a nice area of the city- just on the edge of centro, a half mile west from our apartment.  I will write more about the Osservatorio Astronomica at some point.  For now, I'll just showcase a few pictures from the first few weeks.

The one on the right was on my walk the first day that I went to the office.  More things that I wont get sick of.  There are canals in and around the city that were built to help ease flooding issues many years ago.  The observatory sits right on one of these.  Nearby there are very nice bridges that provide a view of the buildings that line the canal.  The image on the left is a view just around the corner from our apartment.  On the right, next to the observatory looking to the east.

I even like the stairs that I climb each day to get to my office!

All in all, still so far so good.  We'll do some more adding of images from time to time.  For anyone that likes skinny canals, I'd expect a Venice montage pretty soon!

Scuola: Registering

The boys' school.

Our main goal for our boys while in Italy is for them to learn Italian. As such, Italian public school was our first choice (also, international/English schools are pricy). We did some research on the Italian public schools, and found that public schools in Italy are 'school of choice'. That means that it is not mandatory for you to attend your neighborhood school, but if you don't, you need to find a school that has space and will enroll you. So we had some work to do.

In the fall, Dave wrote to the director of the schools in Padova to ask about the enrollment process. They seemed very confused as to why he would be asking months before we arrived, but said that yes, it would be no problem for them to attend school here. We just had to make sure that the school we wanted to enroll in had room for them. Dave emailed a few different schools, and San Camillo replied that yes, they would love to have the boys attend. They were definitely the most communicative about what documents we would need and what the school hours would be.

Ethan: Losing my tooth

I lost my tooth today.
It is my 2nd tooth that I lost.
I am about to lose a nether tooth too!

Ben: Answering Classmates' Questions Part 4

This is my school.

This cat was at a cat show.

Have you made any friends yet?
     Yes a lot. Like my class and there are way more people than our class.
What types of dogs are there?
     Mostly the same same and I can not tell the difference in the breeds.
Can you have visitors there?
     Yes we are having my friend over for dinner in a couple nights. Also we can have visitors from
     America.
What is the school's name called that you will attend?
     The name of my school is San Camillo.
Are there playgrounds? If so, are they similar to here?
     Yes there are playgrounds, not at my school though. They are similar and not in some ways.
Is there a type of Italian dancing?
There might be. I do not know yet.


Also we have been to a cat show.

Ethan: Soccer

   

Dear coach Eric,

I have soccer Monday and Thursday. 

It is a hour and a half. 

Ethan:school

Dear class,


I LIKE MY CLASS VERY MUCH.
IT IS VERY FUN.
I LIKE TO WRITE STUF I DON'T KNOW.
You are waaaaaay quieter.

Ben: Answering Classmates' Questions Part 3

What are the TV shows like there?
     They are cable tv cartoons. We do not have most shows. We have Bread Winners and Amazing
      World of Gum Ball (in Italian).
What is the land like: Flat, hilly, etc.?
     There is not a lot of grass is Italy. It is more flat.
What is something you are looking forward to doing there?
     Well the top thing was starting soccer and that is done. Now I am looking forward to going
      snowboarding.
What games have you been playing lately?
     I have been to two (due) of my best friends' houses and I have played Fortnight. My phone has
      games on it.
Have you learned any Italian words yet?
     Not a lot but yes.
Have you played outside?
  I run around the Prato.....................................................................

Ethan: game and the house

I got a new game it is called ticket to ride.
It is so fun!

This chair is in me and Ben's room.

This is in me and ben's room.

This is in a guest room.

This is in a guest room.

This is in the living room.

This is in a hall way.

This is a picture of ticket to ride.

Complete

Two weeks in and we have something like a routine.  We wake up a bit earlier than everyone would like.  Eat a pretty normal breakfast filled with sugary cereal and toast.  If I'm moving at the right pace, I get a shower.  If I'm off by a few minutes, well, I can try again tomorrow.  It seems like we are for sure going to be late for the bus as we walk out the door, but inevitably we wait for 5 minutes at the stop.  Pack like sardines into the bus for 3 stops until the high schoolers get off.  5 more stops until we get off, get a warm welcome from Flavio the crossing-guard, and then drop the kids off as the bell rings.  If I'm lucky, Lindsay and I stop at the bar for a cornetto and some form of caffeine.  On the bus back towards centro and I go to the observatory and Lindsay does whatever the day requires.  At the end of the day I cook some sort of dinner.  We entertain the kids for a bit (now with more soccer!), make them get ready for bed, fall asleep on the couch ourselves, and then go to bed for real.  We aren't home, but we are at home.  It's pretty ok.

There are many things back at home that make life easy and comfortable.  I like our house and our life in Ann Arbor.  But though it's only been a couple of weeks, I am surprised by how comfortable I am here.  Even though we don't have some of the things that are nice from our house in Michigan, we have other things that make this feel like a real home.  I've been blown away by the generosity and kindness of many people that we've met.  Of course we are eating quite well.  My job here is going as well as I could have hoped.  And we are finding ways to do some of the things that we enjoy in Ann Arbor, including soccer and board games.

But, while I feel like I have been setting in quite well, I had been missing something.  Until today!

A new addition to the family!

In a few months, Ben will have been born 10 years ago.  Somehow, we were the first out of our local group of friends at the time to make the leap and hatch a child.  When other people saw that we survived the ordeal and subsequently decided that they, too, would have a go, they would ask me what it was like.  My response was always the same: Your life will be different, but different than it was different for me.  I never had much advice for people that were getting ready to have a baby.  I have know idea what your experience will be like.  The only thing that I do know is that it wont be like mine.

Anyway, 10ish years later somehow we managed to bring two kids to Italy for 4.5 months.  While Ethan was, for the most part, excited about the trip before leaving, Ben was sufficiently anxious to make up for it.  So it was, I don't know, good? weird? after the first few days of school to look at them both, see how happy they were, and think, "huh, they are actually going to be sad when we leave this place."  It didn't take much to make this home for them.  It only took convincing the principal of their school that we weren't terrible people.  A few days for them to make friends there.  I don't know, 50 miles of walking around Padova?  A good 10 lbs of fresh pasta.  Parents that seem like they can speak the language.  And just a ton of time hanging out together as a family.

For me, I was at home as soon as Ben and Ethan seemed fine.  It's weird dropping the kids that you've owned for 9 and 6 years off at a new school in a new city with people you met two days ago where maybe 2 adults speak not very much English.  I knew it would be fine. Lindsay knew it would be fine.  Everyone that knew what we were doing knew it would be fine.  But I just didn't know if it would be fine!

It was fine. And now, like I said, we have a normal family routine.  My guess is the next 3.5 months will be much like these first two weeks.  Lots of walking around this place, lots of gelato, lots of Ticket to Ride, King's Corner, and Innovation.  Lots of pizza at Pizzeria del Borgo 1 block from our apartment.  It feels good to be home.  We are comfortable here.  All that was missing was a guitar.

And the best freaking Sicilian cannoli that I've had since Lindsay turned 32!

Ben: Answering Classmates' Questions Part 2

How is Dragon City?
     I think I am on your alliance.

Do you like it so far?
     Sì.

What have you been doing?
     Well I just started soccer. It is a soccer country.

Why did your brother take a picture of a dog's butt?
     He is weird.

What is the music like there?
     I have not heard it yet.

What are some things you have seen that are really cool?
    The piazza, a piazza is a big space with a fountain in the middle.

           We have been to different parks.

How big is the house you're living in? Can I come and visit?
           It has two floors but we only live on the bottom.
           If you can get here.

Ethan: sick

Dear mis. Stones class
I was sick today.
It was really boring because I couldn't go to school.
It was the worst day of my life.

Ben: soccer

    Today I start soccer I do not know who is on my team. Only one person he goes to my school.
He is really good but so is everyone. His name is Davide.

Ethan: soccer and school

Dear class

I will go to soccer today in 1 hour!

I will have a big team too!
I will have so much fun!
It is so loud in my school I can't do anything to help it.

I nostri amici (Our Friends)

Tyler, how do you open a bottle of wine?

We began this adventure three countries ago in Austria with Lynne and Tyler and their family. Before we left, I was looking forward to seeing them and spending time with them. As we traveled, I started to realize how much more comfortable I felt with them around. Lynne and Tyler lived in Italy for almost two years a while back, and had just spent six weeks teaching in Italy before we arrived. On top of their fantastic company, we basically had private tour guides to help us with language and culture. They are amazing.

More kids = Benefit!

Traveling with kids is definitely an adventure. There were many, many times during our days of multi-country travel that I appreciated the fact Ben and Ethan can pretty much get themselves from place to place. We can even count on them to transport a bag or two, so they are starting to pull their weight.

They may have been arguing over who got to push.
I'm going to remember that they were working as a team.

One thing Oscar and Alma
learned more about
due to our boys.

Lynne and Tyler's kids are four and one. They are an absolute joy, though I was reminded of how much harder traveling was when Ben and Ethan were younger. My feeling is that having extra kids and adults around usually helps with kid-wrangling, because as a parent you get at least a few moments of a break and have a few more hands to make sure that nobody dies. (We only lost a child once, and only one child tried to leave a train at the wrong stop.)

More education passed on by our boys.
Look at the view!

The interaction between the kids was fun to watch. It took a few days for them to warm up to each other, but after that they were good buddies. Ethan enjoys playing imaginary games in a way that Ben never did. Having Oscar around to pretend with him allowed him to be a young kid instead of trying to be grown up with Ben. At the same time, Oscar picked up some of my boys' interests and habits. He had more exposure to technology (screens) than normal because of my kids, and hopefully he will forget the fighting games the boys were playing. Ben and Alma were good buddies- Ben loves babies and toddlers, and seeing him interact with them is when I love that kid the most. He puts up a hard shell most of the time, but got right down on Alma's level to play and talk with her. Her understanding of Italian helped Ben try a few words and gain some exposure to the language, which will help him moving on into school. Finally, all four kids got involved with playing soccer by the time we left. It was pretty chilly on the last few days, but they would be outside for long periods of time playing together.

Mike and Liz joined us in Piemonte. We all know Mike from grad school in Ann Arbor, and he and Liz live in Portland now. They spent some time in London and the Milano area before joining us, as it was Liz's first time in Europe. We enjoyed checking out the surrounding area with them and hearing about their longer-distance adventures (they took a few day trips that we opted out of due to the kids) over dinners of fresh pasta, polpette, salsiccia (sausage), etc., etc. We spent a few evenings playing cards and watching basketball, when Tyler, Mike, and Dave weren't enjoying the evening view from the rooftop terrace.

It wasn't until everyone was leaving that I realized we will be completely on our own for a bit. Our first visitors are not scheduled to be here until later in March. We may not have anyone to speak English comfortably with until then! It's a weird feeling not to know when you are going to have a relaxed visit with friends- much less friends that are like family. This was the perfect start to our Italian adventure!

Ciao, amici. Ci manchi già!

Later, friends. We miss you already!

Padova Impressions, Week 1.5

The Prato, near our house.

We've been here for a week and a half, and we are all starting to feel more comfortable in Padova. I haven't had as much time to write as I'd hoped- this week has been full of shopping, cleaning, and finding my way around!

Padova is a big city. As I may have mentioned, I didn't really have time to do a lot of research before we came. Dave told me that it was a university town, so in my mind I was picturing Ann Arbor. Apparently during the school year, it's about five times the size of Ann Arbor! It's big. There are two trams and 25ish bus lines that provide public transport. During the morning when everyone is traveling to work and school, every single bus and tram is full. The city itself has suburbs.

Also in the Prato.

Up until I spent two weeks in London in 2000, I thought I'd enjoy living in a big city. After just those two weeks, I was tired of feeling constantly dirty and missed quiet, green space.

Padova is gorgeous, but it is dirty. There is a large, large population of people here who smoke. Walking around, you will frequently walk through someone's smoke, and definitely will find cigarette butts on the ground. There is a lot of litter as well as graffiti on every block. It hasn't rained since we've been here, and I'm guessing that the lack of water washing away dirt adds to the grime. I've found the level of dirt tolerable, because it's still less than London. We take our shoes off at the door every time we enter as well.

Gorgeous.

I haven't had the feeling of needing green space, though. Our apartment is quiet, and has a nice, sunny courtyard out the window. When I need a respite from the bustle, the apartment has been great. (Especially since the boys started school last week.) As Dave has mentioned, he also did a great job of choosing a spot. We are right near the Prato della Valle, which is a gigantic open oval with a fountain, grass, statues, and a canal. It's a smaller, Italian version of the area around Buckingham Fountain in Chicago. We walk near the Prato every day, and it gives me the illusion of openness and green space.

While there is graffiti and litter, the grass here is pristine. I was hoping that the boys could play some soccer in the Prato, but virtually nobody steps on the grass. For a week, we looked for somewhere we could play soccer. The parks are only open a few hours each day right now, and most have rules posted that forbid soccer and other sports. It's an interesting contrast to how the buildings and streets are cared for.

Another key factor for me is that there is sun here. Almost. Every. Day. Another mom told me yesterday that the winter has been unusually mild so far, but I'll take it. We've only had one day of fog- the other days we've had beautiful blue skies. The high temperatures have ranged from 42 degrees to 55. Lovely.

So while we are in a larger city than I expected, I'm enjoying it so far. It's been a bit since I've published- if I keep working on ideas and adding more here, nothing will ever be posted. I'm trying to do better!

After leaving the park we discovered that we weren't supposed to have soccer balls there. Oops.