piano piano piano--- slowly slowly slowly

Hello all,
I am slowly getting adjusted to life here. My work schedule is very structured, and my play time is very unstructured. The World Cup started a couple weeks ago and so I've diligently watched all games that Italy plays (in fact there is one in the background as I write this now) because it's a great way to meet people. In Rome, there are not sports bars like there are in the United States-- most people watch the game in their home or while eating dinner at a restaurant. However, the English and Irish have introduced pubs to Rome, so I went to a few of those last week. At the pub, there are no obligations to buy a fancy dinner in order to watch TV, and you get to be boisterous. There was a fun match between US and England and the bar was divided 50/50, so there was good clean competition between the two fan groups. However, I was lucky to discover that a nearby park (the 3rd largest in Rome) has a giant screen TV that thousands gather at for the big Italian games, so here I have met many friendly local people.



Villa Borghese's screen

Many of the Italian friends I have met have been very excited to practice their English, so they are always willing to give me a tour of their favorite haunts in exchange for the opportunity to practice English. It's a fair trade, but I think my Italian is worse now than when I left!
I also discovered a great fancy jazz club in downtown. I saw an Italian swing group play and it was just classic Italian atmosphere; I wish I had taken a picture but I'm trying to avoid advertising myself as an American tourist in local haunts.

My work schedule is roughly like this each day:
Wake up at 7 am, play with Max, feed him (a long, arduous chore because he thinks he can get by without eating!), get him ready for an excursion (also a big task because if you forget his graham crackers, apple juice, safety blanket, or toys you'll hear from him the minute you step out the door), explore the local streets and parks with Max in his stroller), feed him lunch, put him down for a nap, calm him down when he wakes up, and play with him until Nick (his father) comes home from work.




Max on the go!















I am really enjoying the house dynamic and my work schedule, and I thoroughly enjoy getting lost in Rome and stumbling across views like this:




This is blocked by a gate, at the end of a small street, with no explanation or sign as to what historic site it is. Rome is full of these mysteries at every twist and turn!

I'll leave you with this funny Max-ism I discovered today:

Max has many "talking" (noisy, loud, battery-operated toys), but one of them is a color wheel that tells you the colors as you press on each colored button, and you can switch the languages between English, Spanish, and French. Max's favorite color is "rouge." Just a few minutes ago, Max had the biggest meltdown his parents have witnessed, and they couldn't trace what had caused it, until they discovered the language had accidently been switched from French to English, leaving Max with the awful word "red"! Max immediately calmed down once he heard the reassuring sound of rouge. I think Max will have a thing for french girls when he's older!