Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano!

"I'm sorry, I don't speak Italiano."

This is a great phrase. I find that I can say it to pretty much anyone in Massa, and occasionally it buys me a little bit of sympathy or help. At one store, however, the checker didn't seem to care, and rattled off something while waving my credit card at me, and I took that to mean that either my credit card wasn't working, or that he was gassy. I hoped it was the former, so I offered him a different credit card, and thankfully he settled down.

I tried to find a few things at the grocery store today- such as pancake batter, and baking soda. I called a co-worked back at the office, and for baking soda, he sent me to the soda pop row. Oh well. I eventually found "levito", which might be the right thing. There are lots of interesting pictures of pizza and bread on the front, and the name sounds promising.

Other fun grocery store tidbits:

1) You must put a one-euro coin into a slot on the shopping cart in order to free it from the prior one. You get your money back when you return the cart to where it belongs. There were no stray carts in the parking lot, as a result.
2) You weigh your fruits and vegetables yourself, and sticker them with a bar-code price. Saves the checker time, apparently.
3) Oh man, the choices of meats, cheeses, and breads is out of this world!
4) If you buy tiramisu to take home to your wife, be REALLY sure to actually put it into one of your bags, or you'll accidentally leave it in the store, and not find out until it's time for dessert- and then you are an idiot.
5) I kid you not- no less than 5,000 different types of pasta
6) Peanut Butter- if you can find it, is expensive. One small jar cost $6 USD. We will consider it a luxury to be enjoyed infrequently.
7) If you have a cute baby with you, the bread lady at the back of the store will give you (and the baby) a nice piece of warm foccacia bread while you shop!

In the afternoon, the sun disappeared, and clouds rolled in. By dinner time (7:45 tonight), big flashes of lightning and booming thunder sent the little ones scurrying. Heavy rain pelted the windows. It was sunny and 65F yesterday! So we enjoyed gelato in the apartment while watching a Mickey Mouse video on my laptop. I was able to get the video driver on the other PC working, so the kids can play some educational games during the day.

Now, off to bed! Buona notte!