Fordices in Italy

More family arrives!

2008-05-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. It's been crazy here, trying to finish up work, pack our things, and see a few more places before the parents arrive. And in fact, I'm now posting after Wayne and Marnie and Jeff and Jenny have arrived, as you can see. We are thrilled to have them with us for the final two weeks of our time here. I am now officially on vacation, and have to resist the temptation to check the blackberry for news!

Here is a picture of our friends Roberto and Maria Paola, and their daughter Martina. We enjoyed dinner with them on Saturday night at Taverna di Bati.. a great local pizza place.

Finally I got a picture of Cami and me at the Esselunga grocery store. She has been my shopping buddy the entire trip, helping me keep the fridge stocked with food on our twice-a-week grocery runs. She steers the unwieldy shopping cart and keeps me entertained, while I feverishly try to find what we need and hustle us through the check-out counter, so that I can get back to work at a reasonable time! Love you, little darling!

We are off to the Cinqueterra today. We'll see when I can report in next!

Beach day!

2008-05-17T00:57:00.000-07:00

Well, today it's rainy, but I finally am getting a few minutes to post pictures from our great day at the beach last Sunday. It was a beautiful day, with big puffy clouds and lots of sun. We bought a couple of beach blankets at Carrefor, the mini-mall, and also a few beach toys.

Most all of the beaches are semi-private here. That is, everyone has a right to water and a few meters of sand, but beyond that, private clubs organize their umbrellas (ombrello) and beach chairs (lettini) and charge a fee for use. When the water actually warms up, in July and August, the beaches are packed. We found this little club and a decent fee for entry, so we headed on in.

The girls had a blast playing in the sand, and wading in the water. A nice older couple had Maisie grinning and waving at them.

I bought Jessica a pair of AUTHENTIC(!!) Versace sunglasses from one of the many men who carried bags of goods along the beach. I talked him down from 25 euros to fifteen, which I thought was good. But I asked the old man next to us if I spent too much "Troppo caro?" and he said "si!" He managed to communicate to me that I can never spend more than half what the street vendors offer.

2008-05-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you wonderful moms out there (especially our own, Marnie and Jenny). We hope you have a great day! I (Jessica) and my wonderful little family have already had a delicious French toast breakfast and we will be spending the rest of the afternoon in Lucca (again). May your day be full of blessing and relaxation...You are a life-giving, beautiful creation of the Lord and your value is immeasurable.

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb."
Psalm 139:13

"[We did not] seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children."
I Thessalonians 2:6-7

"A capable, intelligent and virtuous woman, who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far Above Rubies or pearls."
Proverbs 31:10

My Mother Gave Me The Moon - by Patrick Regan
My mother gave me the moon.
My mother gave me the stars.
My mother gave me the universe and all it's little miracles.
My mother gave me warmth.
My mother gave me security.
And all the while, my mother gave me room to grow
And the freedom to discover the world for myself.
My mother gave me the gift of countless sunny afternoons.
Of wheelbarrow races
and butterfly chases,
Bubbles of all sizes
and sweet surprises.
My mother gave me childhood,
pure and joyful.
My mother gave me friendship.
My mother gave me faith.
She instilled in me a sense of wonder
And the wisdom to be gentle with all living things.
My mother gave me dreams
And the courage to believe in them.
And she still does.
My mother made everday days seem special.
And made special days nothing short of magical.
She taught me to hold traditions dear...
And family close.
And long before anyone else did...
My mother showed me what love really is.

Driving in Italy

2008-05-11T02:11:00.000-07:00

Some would say that drivers in Italy are a little bit insane, and I will certainly agree. But I've come to really enjoy the "flair" with which the Italians get around- driving is far more of an art form than in the U.S. In fact, I've come to prefer driving here, especially compared to the boring, slow-moving freeways and surface streets of Beaverton, Oregon.

I like the roundabouts. I like that lanes mean little. I like that you can pass whenever you want. I like that you can park *mostly) wherever you want. I like that many people use mopeds and motorcycles- it cuts down on the number of cars that are taking up space. I like the speeds on the Autostrade- sort of whatever suits your fancy.

Here is one fun little video about driving (and life) in Italy, and I've found most of it to be true. http://www.lifeinitaly.com/flash/

Loved Lucca!

2008-05-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

Lucca was marvelous! I won't be able to write a lot about this great city because sadly I have to do a little work this evening. But I have included a map of the route we walked below, and a number of pictures from our day there. We had such a nice time that we'd like to go back. It was a perfect, lazy Sunday, with lots of Italians out strolling the old city. We found great food, fun shops, and the girls had a blast.

Hailey says, "I like to play fairies in Lucca. And I liked the bell towers." Cami says, "I liked seeing the horse drawn carriage. And I liked finding a four leaf clover!"

Here is a map of our day's adventure:

View Larger Map

Marble Day

2008-05-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we decided to go and explore the mountains behind us. I wrote about them when we arrived. They are called the Apuan Alps. See http://www.michelangelosmountain.com/excerpt.htm. Everyone said that it's good to go and see where the famous Cararra marble actually comes from.

We used our little AVMAP GPS unit to get us going in the right direction. There is a cut-through road between Massa and Cararra, which winds up into the hills a bit. Once in Cararra, we begun to head up into the mountains, on winding little roads. The first big tunnel we came to was full of traffic lights, but no other cars. All of the traffic lights were green, so cautiously I kept my foot on the gas pedal. I felt like I was doing something wrong, but eventually I came out of the tunnel into the bright sunlight.

Now we began to climb upwards, more and more. Lots of chunks of marble on both sides of the road, and switchbacks galore. We stopped for a quick picture at an interesting little "garden" of stone- all sorts of marble statues looking back at us from the road. One looked like caesar. Others might have been dwarves. Animals, too. It reminded me the White Witch's castles from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

When we reached the little town of Colonnata, we had to ride a little bus the final 500 meters, up a very steep road. The driver was sure to pack the bus full. It seems like we could fall right off the side of the mountain, with such a tall bus on such a tiny road. But we made it to the top- now a captive audience in this little town.

We meandered a bit, and looked up towards the big marble mountain above us. Trucks were heading down, heavenly laden with rock- rumbing down the winding roads above. The sun beat down, so we looked for shade. We eventually found it in a little restuarant.

Now, Colonnata is known for it's "Lardo". Lardo is basically cured pig fat. My co-workers agreed that it is actually quite good. So I was game. We asked the nice waiter for a menu, but he spoke no english and only waved his hand, as if to say, "We have no menu". Who knows if he understood. He rattled off in Italiano, and I think I heard the words "bean enchilada", but I must have missed it. So finally, after he realized that I just wasn't following, he had me follow him downstairs to the kitchen. Three nice ladies were working away, and they literally showed me everything that was available. So I tried my best, "Un po di tutto!"- A little of all, hoping that we'd do okay.

We ended up with a huge spread, including no less than seven pig-derived products. Yes- I tried to lardo. It was surprisingly good. Read about Lardo.

We also enjoyed the pickled antipasti plate- that is, Jess and I. Cami enjoyed a few items. Maisie slept. Ellie just played with her straw, and dipped her bread in her water glass. Hailey didn't like the smell too much, and spent a lot of time peering out the window at another restuarant below.

So, I pounded down way too much meat and cheese. I didn't want it to go to waste-so I kept on eating. And it was good. Plus- I thought, "What will they think of us?"- that is, for not finishing more of the (good) food. "Come on, Jess- eat some more!" I pleaded. Finally, in some ridiculous attempt to make our spread look a bit more picked over, and lest we offend the kind cooks, I grabbed a bunch of meat and stuffed it in a little plastic bag! Jess said, "You will never see these people again in your life!" That didn't matter to me. I snuck the mt out of the restuarant, and threw it away in a garbage can on the main street!

We rode the bus back down to the parking lot, and then drove to the main marble (marmo) cave, at Fantiscriti. There was marble/rock dust all over, and the sun was now quite warm. I convinced Jess that I would always regret if we didn't go check out the quarry/cave, and she agreed- so we loaded up the bags, backpacks, and kids, and rode another little shuttle bus up to the quarry.

Of course, like much of our time in Italy, figuring out what to do, or where to stand, or how to get something done, is an adventure. We watched as some other families cut in front of us to ride the tour bus into the mountain, and eventually squeezed into one of the next tour buses. Deep in the dark mountain we went, all rumbling over uneven terrain. It reminded Cami and I of the bouncy Indiana Jones ride at D-land.

Inside the cave was very cool. We donned hard hats and actually had a semi-English-speaking guide explain the marble-harvesting methods. Huge columns of pure marble, 50 meters high and just as wide across, were left after the cutting, so that the mountain doesn't collapse! Apparently, engineers determined that columns of this size, and so far apart, is safe. How do they really know? Trial and error? What is remaining is a huge cavern, like the Mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings if you know that book. It was dark and damp and eerily expansive in the cave. Cold air meant the cave was consistently around 55 degrees. We got to yell as a big group, and then enjoy an amazing echo throughout the marble walls. These are the same marble fields where Michaelangelo selected pieces for some of his most famous works, such as the David in Florence, and the Pieta in Rome.

We rewarded the girls for good behavior with the usual helping of gelato down at the beach. The nice lady behind the counter now seems to know us and welcomes us back each time!

New feature on our site

2008-05-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, we're way behind, but we finally started adding friends/family/favorite blog links at the bottom of our web page. Wish you didn't have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see them, but that's where they go with this blog template...

Hailey's Birthday - May 1st

2008-05-04T15:49:00.001-07:00

Our very own Miss Genevieve turned five on Thursday- May Day. And May Day is synonymous with "labor day" here in Europe, so I had the day off from work, and the country celebrated the holiday.

Hailey received online greetings from family in Portland. She enjoyed watching the little greeting cards on dad's computer.

Jess baked a cake- which is tough, given that finding ingredients is a challenge, and the oven seems to cook unevenly, and we can't find measuring cups, etc. But the cake turned out great, and we had a fun little family party. The candles I grabbed were (accidentally) the kind that re-light themselves, which Hailey found only mildly amusing.

We loaded up our gifts, and headed down to the coast, because Hailey's wish was to play at the park and ride on the little coin-operated rides again. Once again, the weather was fantastic, and we had a wonderful afternoon celebrating this precious little girl.

Afternoon in Paradise

2008-05-02T16:11:00.001-07:00

Trying to catch up here!

Here's a brief note about our incredible day visiting our friends, the Galloways, in Fiesole (prounounced Fee-ay-so-lay) on Sunday. This day was was absolutely MAGNIFICENT--we ate a delicious picnic lunch that Shandra prepared out in the middle of this old olive grove, beyond Fiesole in the Tuscan hills. We spread out our blankets under an olive tree--in foot tall grasses--on a hillside that had one of the most spectacular views I've ever seen.

Behind us were these old ruined buildings that were just above us on the road. The Galloways had dreamed of buying and renovating to live in, but for now enjoy the view for picnics and walks--without paying a cent!

The girls played with Shae and Shad while we adults visited..The boys were very accomodating and sweet to our girls, especially considering the big age difference between them. It was truly a dream to see our kids playing under the tuscan sun! Butterflies flitted past, and an occasional airplane left Florence and flew over the hills in the distance. Maisie enjoyed patting the Galloways dog, Primavera.

A perfect afternoon, forever now in our hearts. Thanks, Sean, Shandra, Shae and Shad, for being such kind hosts!

Castello di Massa

2008-04-29T14:26:00.001-07:00

Another beautiful sunny day. I could spend my whole life in this nice weather! Puffy white clouds, seventy degrees, warm sun, gentle breeze, coast of italy in the distance, great mountains of marble just behind me.

Our little town of Massa is even more fun in the sunshine. I visited the big marble church while the girls tossed a ball on one of the "safer" (foot traffic only) streets. We meandered down the tiny streets near the main square, looking in shop windows and watching people walking past. Jess spent a few minutes in a store full of baby and kids' clothing. Too bad the dollar is so weak against the euro, or we would have probably bought some cute dresses for the girls! We found a little bread shop, and bought focaccia, pizza, and water. I kept seeing signs for some event called "Spina Fiorire" taking place this weekend. I finally figured out that it was some sort of special occasion, taking place at the castle- the same castle that we tried to visit the last day that Joyce was with us. (It was raining that day and the castle was closed. See how sad the girls looked!)

So after we went back to our apartment to freshen up (aka "everyone go use the potty!"), I went online and roughly translated the Spina Fiorire article on the Massa-Carrara website I found. The family that owns the castle- the Malaspina family, which roughly translates to Bad Thorn, has a spiny, thorny plant named after it. That plant/bush is found througout the many castles that the family owns. This particular castle in Massa was gutted by the Axis powers during World War II and is no longer full of decor. Nonetheless, the Spina Fiorire is an annual celebration of the blooming of the thorn bush, and the castle is open with free admission. Winemakers, cheesemakers and various other people from all around Tuscano and beyond come to the castle for a four day festival of sights and tastes. We could see red banners adorning the castle wall, even from our apartment.

Sounded like an adventure of us, so we loaded up the girls and drove just a few minutes to the parking area below the castle. There were so many cars jammed up and parked everywhere that we knew something neat was going on at the castle. We headed on up the cobblestone path, around the back side of the hill, and took pictures of the view along the way.

The castle gate was open, and people were coming and going. We found one passable English speaker inside the castle, who explained to us that we could walk throughout the castle and see the wares of the many artisans. I bought a wine glass, which entitled me to sample the free wines. There were banners, and people dressed in medieval costumes.

There were tables set up throughout the castle, and people constantly offering us cheese, olives, sips of wine, tastes of limoncello, and all sorts of other goodies, including pig heads

We couldn't have imagined a better afternoon. Jess found a great deal on a marble rolling pin, made right here in Massa-Carrara from the quarried rock. (Now I have to figure out how to get it home without breaking it!) The girls watched a man juggling swords and enjoyed some lollipops while we walked along one of the top walls of the castle. From way up that high, we could see our apartment and beyond, down towards Marina di Carrara and La Spezia.

Most of the time, I had either Ellie or Maisie on my shoulders or in the backpack. Climbing steps and slopes, I feel my legs getting stronger day by day! So far, this one of my favorite memories of our trip.

Parma-Reg

2008-04-29T13:51:00.001-07:00

A bit of an inside joke, but I'll share it with you. The family back in Oregon thinks that regardless of the sex of baby #5, that "Parmagiano Reggiano" seems the most appropriate name. So when we saw this banner, we couldn't resist taking a picture. Even the arrow is pointing (nearly) at the bambino/bambina!

Toys and Lost in translation

2008-04-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture Cami took at the little toy store in Massa. It’s almost as if no other part of the store existed. Cami and Hailey were mesmerized by the high-detail plastic animals, insects, and characters. We bought a few to give to Hailey for her birthday on May 1st. (BTW, if you have a moment and want to send her an online birthday card, please use Jessica@fordice.com or my account.)

I took Cami with me to the car wash. Again, I let her take some pictures. What I really liked was the instructions for the coin-operated vacuum. I thought, "Oh, cool. Something actually translated into English”, because I never see that. Funny thing was that the translation made no sense to me.

Festa della Liberazione

2008-04-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

So the time here is flying faster than I (Jess) expected! We can hardly believe we are approaching one month abroad. This Thursday will be the one-month marker- Hailey's fifth birthday. We have had some great experiences this past weekend, so I will share...

First, we are so thankful that Mark got a three-day weekend this past weekend due to Italy's national holiday celebrating their independence (like 4th of July in the States only w/o fireworks). It was a plus that the weather was sunny and 70 degrees everyday from Friday-Sunday.

Friday we went down to the Marina (di Massa) and found a big park for the kids to play at. The city name, actually, was Ronchi, but Massa sounds better, doesn’t it? After we parked, we unloaded the stroller and the kids. As we were approaching the intersection to cross over to the park, we heard all these sirens and honking cars and watched as several police cars, medical vehicles, motor cycles, and a handful of other "important" looking cars came cruising through the intersection. We were puzzled by this at first, thinking maybe an important political figure was coming through, but then we saw one lone cyclist in competitive racing uniform come past, so we thought maybe there was a bike race passing by. There was a man directing traffic looking rather official and he wasn't waving us across the street yet, so we wondered if more was coming...Sure enough in a few seconds a whole group of cyclists came through! Zooming fast- probably a hundred or more! It was some sort of race and we all got a kick out of seeing them come through.

After the guard waved us through, we walked across to the park and the kids had a blast playing. We are so glad to have found a nice park like that! The bonus is that right next to the park is a little tiny amusement park (if you can call it that) that has a covered area with bumper cars and arcade rides like you might find at Chuck E. Cheese or something. There were probably twenty different rides and the kids were thrilled (as you would imagine)! They also have a small group of inflatables you can pay extra to bounce on if you want, but we decided to save that for another day (maybe Hailey's birthday or something). Cami and Hailey quickly discovered the bumper cars and had the time of their lives trying that out. Mark rode around with them first, to get the used to it and then they were hooked.

(Now Mark writing) After our stop in Marina di Massa, we headed south along the coast. The freeway is called the A12. You can go as fast or slow as you want, and everyone does. At one point, I was rattling along in the minivan at 130-135 kph, which is roughly 80 mph. About once per minute, a car going at least 90 is passing me. Occasionally, a sports car going 100. No big deal. I’m passing small cars going about 50 mph, too, it seems. But the freeway driving is nothing compared to the surface streets. If you’ve ever been in Italy, you know what I’m talking about. It’s both horrifying and wonderful at the same time, driving within inches of walls, cars, mopeds, and people- on both sides, all day long.

So, we made our way down to Viareggio, which means “Way of Kings”. It’s a sea port now well known for it’s yacht manufacturing, but also for it’s Carnival festival in January. We parked a few blocks from the main promenade, and enjoyed a nice walk along the river leading to the ocean. As has now happened many times, a very friendly older couple, counting the number of kids, will call out something like “Bravo!” or “Bella!”, often then asking about our daughters. I pick up the words “Tutto femina?”, meaning, “All girls?” and do my best to explain that I don’t speak Italiano, but that yes, their all mine and all girls. I love then pointing at Jessica’s tummy, and saying, “e incinta!” (She’s pregnant) which yields even further response and cheering! The Italians are now well known for having very few children, and it’s a concern to many people that they country will not be able to sustain the older generation.

Of course, we ended our day with a round of gelato. We’ve never seen all four girls so messy at one time. Ellie completely covered her outfit, and Maisie wasn’t far behind. But the grins on their faces, for such yummy cioccolato gelato, is well worth the mess!

On the way out of Viareggio, back to our apartment, I made a wrong turn. We were heading to Rome, instead of north towards Parma or Genoa. No big deal, I thought- we’ll just turn around at the next exit. Sadly, the next exit was like ten minutes down the freeway. Upon exiting, I shot onto an older (non-toll) freeway. Not much better- it’s moving slowly and it’s going to take forever to get home. Eventually, I found my way into Pisa and then back onto the freeway. But at one point my GPS system was providing me some outrageous directions, which are captured in this great photo. The green is where I was supposed to go!

Daily Life in Massa

2008-04-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few snippets of life in Massa, over the last week.

On Sunday, after we had "church" in our apartment, we took a drive down to the sea, and headed left when we reached Marina di Massa. There are so many little private beach clubs, where you rent your little beach chair and umbrella, that one can barely see the ocean at all! So we drove until we found a free, open beach. Ellie enjoyed running down to the water, and throwing handfulls of sand at the sea- then shrieking and running back when the waves came in.

There is no denying that we produce a LOT of trash. When it's time to take the trash out, here is where it goes. Blue for bottles, yellow for paper, and gray for everything else. It's not a long walk, but since it's a common trash area, and it serves a number of buildings, it's a few hundred meters away. There is a big dog in one of the yards that likes to bark at me. First time he rushed to the gate, teeth glaring, I almost jumped out of my skin! Where did he come from?!

When we were leaving the grocery store one day, I looked up and saw all the clothes drying for two particular apartments. At first I thought, "The one family only wears white" and "that other family must only wear black". Which of course would be quite humorous.

Jess pointed out that "MOST people tend to wash the SAME color clothes in a single load, UNLIKE you". She used this opportunity to remind me that brand new reds simply can't go in a load with whites- a mistake I made last week.

Okay, check this out. My kids are a bit tired of the pasta and pizza, and they enjoy fish occasionally, so why not find some fish sticks here in Italy? I'm thinking, "Oh, this will be great. Pop 'em in the oven- lunch in just a few minute. Nice change of pace."

I must have failed to read the packaging, which I translate loosely from the Italiano: "Picture on the front cover has nothing to do with the fish by-products on the inside. Be forewarned that we have put something we found at the dock inside a box and now give it to you." The word Nasello on the cover is strangely similar to the word "Nasal", and given the resulting lunch we created, nasal was about right! One bite, and it all went in the trash. Come se dice "Disgusting"?

So, mama needs some new clothes. Her little tummy is already pooching out! So we went up to the Oviesse store, which was probably equivalent to a tiny Kohls or Meryvns. From what I could tell, quite a decent selection of nice, fashionable clothes. While Jess picked out some maternity pants and skirt, I took the girls next door for lollipops. It sure beats having Ellie barking like a dog, on all fours, inside the department store.

Various topics

2008-04-20T14:08:00.001-07:00

Genetic influence: Hailey is very much like her Uncle Zach, and apparently Grandpa Jeff and Aunt Joyce to a lesser degree. All had very "sensitive" noses as children, and Hailey is demonstrating the same. So, if she smells the eggs at the grocery store, which are not refrigerated, she instantly starts gagging. She refuses to walk down most rows at the grocery store now. While we are tremendously sympathetic, we think she may be imagining many smells as being worse than they are. For example, she now can't stand the aroma of peanut butter, and runs out of the room. But she was eating it just fine a few weeks ago.

At dinner the other night, she was very upset about the smell of fish in the ristorante. We finally had to convince her to hold a lemon up to her nose, so that she could keep functioning. Poor thing!

Since she doesn't have a mixer, Jess bought a can of whipping cream. Next best thing. She made pancakes and the girls had a blast. Ellie looks magnificent, I'm sure you agree. What a cute little lady!

At my office on Thursday, there arose a commotion out on the main street. A massive yacht was being moved down the street, towards the harbor. I knew that they build yachts about twenty minutes south of here, in Viareggio, but I didn't know that Carrara also has a shop or two. This beast was probably a hundred feet long. We wondered whether or not it would fit under the overpass!

We have three little scraggly plants on our deck- our herb garden. The basil is simply not going to make it, but the rosemary and mint are saving us money each week. The doll featured in the mint plant can't find her clothes. The girls gave all the little dolls a bath this week, and most of the clothes are now missing.

Sunny Sunday

2008-04-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

It was hard to get up today! I wanted to lay in bed. But it was a beautiful sunny day. So then I wanted to lay in the sun on our patio. I played with Ellie and Maisie, with their little dogs and pegasus (pegasi?). My shoes became cars, and the big orange blanket on the patio was the sand.

After a nice morning at "home", we decided to head out for awhile. When Momma is pregnant, Momma wants a hamburger! So we made a stop at McD's, before driving down to the sea.

The private beach clubs seem to go on forever. We drove for twenty or thirty minutes, enjoying the sun and scenery. Again the kids got to run out on the sand for a few minutes. We also washed the car, became rather confused at the gas station (did that man just steal my receipt?), and I bought a big frying pan and cutting board for our apartment. The drive back up past Carrara was very nice, but eventually we made our way back to Massa.

At the grocery store, here is what I bought: Salami, berry jelly, croissants, yogurt, eggs (dropped these in the car, losing a few), a pineapple, oranges, bananas, strawberries (devoured at dinner!), cookies, more cookies, gelato, Coke, Sprite, frozen pizzas, and gummy bears. We usually do a little better when Jess does the shopping.

Inside the apartment, we have now set up the DVD player. Thanks for sending that, Scott. It's great to have the occasional distraction it provides. Sort of funny though, it only plays black and white. My co-worker Aaron thinks that's because the U.S. is NTSC, which is 30 frames per second, and that Europe is on the PAL standard, which is 25 frames per second. The girls don't seem to mind. They watched a Chip and Dale cartoon while Jess fixed dinner.

Exploring our area

2008-04-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

Not to be a downer, but I would say that the last two days of this week for me have been the hardest so far. I won't go into great detail, but I think the kids and I finally reached a point of feeling the reality of the fact that this is where we're going to be for the next few weeks and the "honeymoon" feeling sort of wearing off. Don't get me wrong...we are still so grateful and blessed to be doing this, but the reality is that there will be hard times and I am praying we'll all grow in those times too. Cami and Ellie both told me on different occasions that they wanted to go home, so that was hard. I think we were able to recover a little bit by talking about all the fun that we've had so far and the fun that is yet to come. I think we also did well by making it a priority to get out of the flat yesterday and enjoy the weather.

Yesterday was probably the warmest and nicest day we've had since we arrived here--very mild and sunny! We spent the first half of the day having a nice brunch, cleaning, and resting.
In the afternoon, we ventured out to try out the Massa mall (called Carrefour) which Mark equates with a little bit higher-end Beaverton Mall (the original mall itself, not the nicer additions to Cedar Hills Crossing). They have a giant super store, much like a Walmart, within the mall as well as many clothing stores and other typical mall-type stores. We went into the largest super store and were a little overwhelmed by the number of people shopping there (should have expected that on a Saturday). The kids felt at home there with a nice toy section where they recognized several of their favorite characters. I found the women's clothing section and bought a maternity skirt for my already-expanding belly (see picture below).

After the mall, we headed to check out Mark's office in Carrara. The kids had a great time seeing where dad sits when he's at work during the week and I did too.

Next, we drove on to explore Marina di Carrara more. Mark didn't realize there was so much in the city near his office and we found a nice big park with play equipment for the kids to play on. Everyone else had the same idea we had because everyone in the city, it seemed, was out with their children enjoying the weather. It was so nice for the kids to get out and get some exercise and it gave Mark and I great relief and pleasure to see them having such a great time playing with the other Italian children and just getting to do one of their favorite things from back home. We'll definitely be doing that more while we're here!

Last on our list was letting the kids get their feet in the sand at one of the beaches near where we're living, so we drove back down to Marina di Massa to accomplish that goal. First, we walked up the pier to watch the fishermen catch fish with their giant yellow nets. The kids really got a kick out of that! Once again, Maisie charmed the crowd :).

The beach was nice and the kids were so happy to play in the sand and watch the sea water rolling up toward them. Maisie hasn't played in sand since last summer when we were at Wayne & Marnie's condo at Cannon Beach.

Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano!

2008-04-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

"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!

Sun is back (temporarily)

2008-04-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today (tuesday and wednesday) have both been sunny and mild. Such a nice change from the rain of last week!

Yesterday the girls and I sunned ourselves on the terrace, did some fun homeschooling assignments and just enjoyed being together. Cami and I made paper dolls and then drew pictures of the scenery around the apartments and tried to guess what the other person drew. Cami, Hailey & Ellie gave their miniature dolls baths on the deck--each girl had her own "tub" with soapy water to wash in. This was a big hit (and a big mess!). Later in the afternoon we took our first walk (mom & girls w/o help) to the bread shop across the street for incidentals. Maisie rode in the backpack while the other girls held hands as we made our way to and from the store. Everyone did great! They were rewarded for their good behavior and following my directions when we got back (each girl picked out a treat from the store and I told them they could eat it when we got home if they did well on our little walk).

Today it has been a little cooler and cloudier, but still mostly sunny so that is nice. Mark checked the extended forecast and it is supposed to be clouds and rain (indefinitely--ugh!). Needless to say, we are praying that system will blow over quickly. I know, I know. We're from Oregon and we shouldn't be phased by this, but being in a little apartment with not a lot of room for the kids to run around is pretty challenging here and I think the pregnacy hormones are causing me to feel more depressed without the sun shining (which is how I felt last week).

Sorry that there aren't pictures to post this time. I may get some in tonight when Mark is home, so check this post again later if you want...

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and for following along on our days here in Massa. Friends and family, we miss you and love you all!

Rain, rain, and more rain

2008-04-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

This week has been cloudy and rainy! We feel like Oregon weather has followed us here. Mark went to work every day and Joyce and the kids and I basically stayed in doors and read books and did housework and played. During the brief dry spells, Joyce took Cami and Hailey across the street to the Non Solo Pane store a couple of times for bread and incidentals, while I stayed back with Maisie & Ellie. Also when it’s been dry, they have been making good use of the terrace. Ellie took the initiative to make her own little picnic out there and invited her sisters to join her. On another day, Joyce bought the three older ones each a water color set at the Coop store, so one day they did some painting…

One afternoon I was particularly exhausted and (a’hem) very out of it, so Joyce took the three older girls downstairs to run around in the courtyard at the first floor of our building while I napped with Maisie. They needed that (and so did I).

The only major symptom of my pregnancy that I have been experiencing so far is tiredness. If I get cozy either in the car or on the couch, I nod off within a few short minutes. It was a miracle that I didn’t fall asleep with the kids last night (since I have done that every night for the last week.)

This week we finally found the larger grocery store that is in our area, Esselunga (thanks to the tips from our landlord, Franca, and Shandra Galloway.) It is much bigger than Coop and is a lot like the supermarket in the states that we’re used to. Maisie went along with Mark and I the first time we went and quickly charmed the ladies in the bakery. She had fun and even got a free piece of foccacia!

I have continued to have fun trying out some of the fun types of pasta they have here and experimenting with ingredients I have on hand. So far I’ve only used a recipe once. The ingredients here are so good that even the simplest foods taste delicious! I’m trying to enjoy it while it lasts because usually I avoid cooking during the first trimester of my pregnancies as soon as nausea and food aversions set in. I’m praying that those symptoms will be mild for me here so that I can continue to enjoy cooking and eating here!

We had fun with a “beauty parlor” one evening with the girls, before going out to dinner. Joyce did nails and I did the girls' hair. The girls had a blast, especially Maisie, who loved having her nails done.

Wednesday night we went to dinner near the Massa city square; more pizza and pasta. It was pretty good and the lady who served us was very kind. Cami enjoyed the "tartufa negro" for dessert (dolci), which I roughly translate to "yum".

Friday night Joyce took us to a beautiful restaurant up in the hills above our apartment. The name is Il Trillo. It was recommended to us by our landlord—one of her children had their wedding reception there and we could understand why when we stepped in the door…. The restaurant itself was modern and bright inside, unlike many of the common restaurants we’ve been to that are dark and rustic. They have a patio that I assume is open on dry warm days that has lemon trees growing overhead. Absolutely gorgeous! With the view from the hillside and the lemon fragrance wafting through, I’m sure it would be a spectacular place for any event. To say the food was amazing would be an understatement. We tried two pasta dishes that originate in Massa, so that was fun. A nice man- possibly the owner, picked a nice lemon and gave it to Cami. She carried it around with her baby doll for three days. We finally convinced her to enjoy it before it rotted, by making lemonade. (Well, one half she walked around the apartment, licking.) Thanks again for the great meal, Joyce!

We have been trying to get back into a regular schedule, too. Joyce helped this week with learning games for Cami and Hailey. Here Hailey and Joyce used some little toys that Lufthansa gave us on the flight to make equations. Hailey seems to be really enjoying addition and subtraction, and is really picking it up quickly. She also made up a code this week. “A plus A is B, dad! And D plus D is E!”

Fosdinovo

2008-04-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we decided to brave the weather and check out some local castles. The one here is Massa is not still in use, according to my co-worker Roberto, so it does not present as much to see. But we headed up there anyhow, to see the view of the city. It was Joyce's last day with us, so we were all a bit sad. The castle was in fact closed, but we were able to see Massa from above, and get a few pictures before the rain started up.

We then headed to the northwest, out of Massa, up into the mountains. Roberto recommended the castle at Fosdinovo as a good stop. It's a very small, medieval walled city with a castle at the highest point. We wound around the hills and mountains, higher and higher, and narrow curving roads. Go minivan go! Light mist and heavy cloud cover didn't deter us, but we did end up being quite a bit cold later in the day. Finally, around another bend and the little hilltop city was in view. We had to pull over for photos because the view was so magnificent. It is sad that our little cameras just don't do it justice.

Fosdinovo dates back to at least the 1200s. Stories of ghosts and poisoned kings add to the intrigue. The famous Malespina family still owns this and many other castles, and visits this one in the summertime. It was probably only 40 or 45 degrees in the city, and we were underdressed!

We found a little Ristorante, and since we were hungry and needed to find a bathroom, we headed in. The waitress seemed put out that we'd arrive so late for lunch. (It was 2:40, and lunch is typically 1-3.) Nonetheless she gave us a table in the otherwise empty back room. There were paintings of little bats on the wall, which the girls loved. I told the waitress that I was sorry and that I didn't speak Italiano ("Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano", but she continued to speak to us in Italian much of the time.) We quickly realized that she probably hated her job, and was not too keen about us, so we tried to keep our best manners.

There was no menu. We ordered pasta- pasta with olio, pasta with ragu, pasta with pesto, and pasta with cinghaule (wild boar). The adults loved the noodles- home made and nice and hot. But the girls, well, Cami and Hailey, were not big fans. So they ate bread. Ellie and Maisie chowed down. The warm food helped warm us up as well! The waitress seemed bothered that I would ask for more bread.

The ultimate was when she and another girl came into the back room and started playing video slots. I commented, "This is probably her only hope of getting out of this little city!"

After lunch, Jess decided to take Maisie back to the car, because they were cold. So Joyce and the other girls went with me up to the castle itself. It was fabulous! We walked into the little room where the tour started, and they had nothing written in English- and nobody working there could help us. But we met Gastone and Alessandra, a nice older couple up from Roma for the weekend. They were so sweet, and the spoke enough English to help us get us onto the tour which was about to start, and Alessandra even helped me negotiate a discount because of the language barrier! I snuck a few (illegal) photos on the tour, and we enjoyed walking up and down little staircases, and out onto parapets and castle walls, and through old kitchens, a dungeon, and a throne room. The girls really enjoyed themselves, as did Joyce and I. Gastone would tell us the salient points about each room, after the guide was done speaking. The guide told the men on the tour that tradition said they would become "prosperous" if they rubbed the carved wooden pomegranate on the big bed's headboard. The guide turned to me, and made a joke in reference to all my children, which Gastone translated, "You don't need to rub the pomegranate!, she says' "

The girls enjoyed the big dirty bathtub, out in the courtyard. So what if it was marble and from Roman times!

The special part of the castello tour for me was realizing that virtually no Americans make it to this tour. Massa-Carrara is already way off the beaten path, Gastone said. Let alone up into the hills to this little town. "Most English tourists will only go to the Cinque Terra, if they come up this way at all", said Alessandra. We walked back down from the castle with our new friends, and learned a bit more about them and their mini-vacation. Then we parted ways near the little ristorante (the evil waitress glared at me for asking if the girls could use the bano again!), and headed to our car.

Jess fixed an incredible dinner of insalata caprese, grilled zucchini, and steamed broccoli. Joyce bought flowers for Jess to celebrate the news of bambino/bambina cinque. We capped off the great day with three flavors of gelato.

Joyce and I got up at 3:45am to get her back to Peretola airport in Firenze. The drive over was fine, and Joyce and I shared great conversation about our two weeks altogether. She was a huge help for our family, playing with the girls and taking them for walks and otherwise just helping us get adjusted- so we are all very sad to see her head home.

The drive home was hard! The rain poured down, so I slowed to 70km/hour at times, and I missed my turn to Massa. But the road down to Pisa, before rejoining the A12 to the north, was actually much straighter, and dawn broke and the rain stopped before I got home. Today has been a cleaning day, though we might go for a walk up to the town square in a few minutes.

We have NEWS!

2008-04-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

Yep! Just found out that Baby #5 is on the way! Woo-hoo!

We bought the test at the Esselunga grocery store, so it was of course in Italiano. Jess couldn't read the instructions but she is certain of the results. She's already really sleepy- a sure sign for her.

2008-04-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

Cinque Terre, Pisa and Fiesole (Saturday & Sunday)

Saturday was a day of adventure as we set out to visit Riomaggiore and Manarola, two of the five fishing villages that are set high on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean sea.

We drove from our flat to catch a train in La Spezia, which is very near the Cinque Terre, but just makes getting there easier. Simple as this may sound, we used our GPS, to hopefully make it even easier, and it actually made it a little more complicated. Our GPS guide who shall remain nameless took us down cramped alleyways and winding up and over the hills overlooking La Spezia to the point that Mark questioned whether or not the GPS had any idea where she was taking us at all. The kids were a little freaked out (as was I) to be winding up and up on sometimes switch-back roads that were often only wide enough for a compact car in our rather bulky minivan. But the views from that high were fantastic, so our little detour was, in hindsight worth it.

In mild relief, our not-so-trusty GPS guide led us eventually back down the hill on a much wider and safer road back into the main city and we found parking and got ourselves to the train station.

The kids were beside themselves with excitement that they were going to ride a train! We got our tickets and stopped in at the train station McDonald's to pick up a quick lunch before boarding. Please don't balk at us for eating at a European McD's. In our defense, it was the first "american" food we had eaten since we arrived and keep in mind we have 4 young children to feed (ha ha ha). We did manage to score a red ballon for each of the girls, so I guess it was worth it. ;-)

Mark warned us that we would need to eat quickly because the train from La Spezia station to Riomaggiore was very short, 8 minutes tops. We had only a couple of minutes to see the last of La Spezia, then entered a very long dark tunnel and as we emerged from the tunnel, we caught our first glimpse of the crystal blue waters and cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean sea. It was a gorgeous, sunny, 60 degree day, so it was an amazing introduction to this historic and romantic place we were about to visit. The kids have a magical love for the ocean, so they were just as in awe of the sight as we were.

When we got off the train we couldn't see the town we were expecting to find, and from where we were standing on the train platform it was sort of disorienting to figure out which direction to go to get to where we were going (Riomaggiore). We looked left and right and decided to follow a rocky path out and around the cliffs to our left. As we looked down at the gently rippling ocean below, we saw the tops of what we are pretty certain were dozens of purple jellyfish foating in the water. We rounded a sharp corner and there before us was the great wide ocean in its magnificence!

We took a few photos and then climbed a very narrow, steep staircase that led into a shadowy and rustic alley that seemed to be taking us into the city. On our immediate left was a stone stairway heading up

and ahead of us was a narrow pathway. We chose to stay on the pathway and were directed by a kind woman to stay on the path because it would be easier for the girls.

Before we knew it, we were on the main winding street of Riomaggiore which leads down to the docks for the boats. We first headed away from the docks (a very steep hill) to explore and find a place where we could try their famous Ligurian foccacia. Within a couple of minutes, we found a little shop selling at least 10 kinds of foccacia and we ordered enough for everyone to enjoy. What a treat! We now understand why they are known for the foccacia! WOW.

We had a blast taking photos of the kids who were thoroughly enjoying this city:

We made our way down to the boat dock and Maisie quickly began making friends with several cute older Italian couples who were enjoying the sunshine there. They may have also been waiting for the boat that travels between the towns. Mark went over with her to one gentleman in particular, who she was for some reason very intrigued by. Once they learned her name, they were all calling to her and she was eating up the attention! We were snapping photos and taking video of it because it was so funny to see our one year old charming the crowd like that! She was waving and dancing and just cracking us up!

The time passed quickly in Riomaggiore, and we headed to catch the next train to the next town called Manarola. Here we got off the train, followed the crowds down a tile stairway and into a long tiled tunnel which took us out to a square that overlooked the main street heading to their boat dock. Little did we know that this was the very town we had used as our main photo on this blog. So, from the ocean, the photo at the top of this page is what Monarola looks like--pretty amazing, huh? This town seemed much smaller than Riomaggiore and the little street heading down to the ocean view was very quaint and charming. Mark and Joyce teased me because I said I appreciated how "clean" it felt, so now every town we visit, I give it my "clean"
rating/approval. We ate at a cute little restaurant and enjoyed some amazing pasta dishes. Joyce and I peeked into a pottery shop on our way out of town and the kids enjoyed running around in the square and meeting some italian children who were close to their age. Cami even got to practice a little bit of Italian with them; interestingly, one of the girls she was talking to is also named Camilla. She also really gets a kick out of telling people that her middle name is Firenze :).

Sunday was our day to visit Pisa & Fiesole. Mark decided to give our GPS another chance, and this time she did alright (it helped that he had been to Pisa before). The kids were beside themselves (once again) because the Leaning Tower of Pisa had been their #1 Italian landmark they wanted to visit (since it is one of just a few they were familiar with). The old walled city of Pisa was busier than we had imagined it would be at this time of year, and there were a lot of students visiting that day for some reason. The Leaning Tower did not disappoint! Joyce said it was just as big as she thought it would be and I thought it was bigger than I imagined. Prior to our trip, I had heard others say it was smaller than they imagined, so I guess I was really setting my expectations low. There were big wind gusts that day, so the clouds in the sky were moving rapidly above the tower, so it looked like the
tower was actually falling at times---pretty trippy. The kids had fun seeing the tower and I just kept pinching myself thinking about the fact that we had our kids with us in such an amazing and historic place of the world--it's still unreal to me at times.

The kids immediately found the big grassy lawn next to the tower and began chasing the pigeons that were congregating there, then we grabbed some lunch and did a little shopping; each of the kids bought a sparkly, purple miniature statue of the leaning tower. What else would you expect from 3 little girls? We found out that kids under 8 years of age can't climb to the top of the tower, so we just decide to enjoy it from the ground.

After visiting Pisa, we were off to see our great friends Sean and Shandra Galloway in Fiesole. Six (or seven?) years ago, Campus Crusade assigned them to begin the Campus Crusade ministry in Italy. During that time, they have lived and worked there, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with Italian college students and others and have been recruiting more workers for this area of the world. They live in Fiesole, which is a romantic hill town that overlooks the [also very romantic] city of Florence (Firenze). They graciously welcomed us into their amazing flat in the center of the city, which contains an Etruscan tomb that predates the time of Christ! Shandra served us some delicious foccacia she made which is a local favorite, and then we celebrated her birthday with Sean and their two sons, Shea and Shad--great job on the cake, boys!

Shandra took us to the patio of a close-by restaurnant so we could see the glorious view looking down to Firenze--the girls were so excited to see the Duomo. Did you know that the Duomo of Firenze is the largest free-standing dome in the world??? I didn't remember that from our last trip here, so that
was a fun fact to learn.

Last, but not least, the Galloways introduced us to their favorite restaurant in their town. I wish I could remember the name...Our food was delicious and we all had a fantastic time visiting. The kids especially enjoyed getting to go peek in the kitchen while the chefs worked on their entrees. It reminded us of the Ratatouille movie.... :) Hopefully this will not be our last time at that restaurant.

Maisie certainly enjoyed herself there!

Fiesole was such a beautiful town, it is now in my top three places to visit in Italy, so far... I can't believe we missed it last time we were here!

We were all so tired from our weekend of touring, but what amazing memories we made!

Saturday a.m., April 5: Recap of first four days in Italy (Jessica)

2008-04-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ciao! This is the first time I’ve had even a remote chance of writing some thoughts on our blog, so I hope I can get through this with some coherency.

First, let me say that this experience so far has had its ups and downs, but God is definitely giving me strength and peace about everything and I’m feeling very optimistic about the rest of our trip and living here for the next several weeks! Thanks to everyone who is praying for us and who has helped us in any way.

Mark already talked about the travel day (leaving PDX and heading to Florence), so I won’t go into that much, however, I did want to say that those flights were one of my biggest concerns and I was so relieved that everything went so smoothly with that. Mark joked about Ellie stepping on him, and I was as surprised as he was that she didn’t sleep more (she’s such a good napper usually), but I was thankful at least that she did get an hour of sleep on the first flight, an hour at the Frankfurt airport, and another hour from Frankfurt to Florence. It was a huge blessing that the first flight (PDX to Frankfurt) was not so full that we couldn’t move around a bit when we needed to with Maisie and Ellie being so young and active. Another praise!

The last 4 days have been all about getting the family acclimated to this time zone (which is nine hours ahead of Pacific Time) as well as unpacking and getting the flat (apartment) set up with enough food and supplies to help us function while we live here. Of course, we have been enjoying the food and culture, though Joyce, the kids and I have been staying pretty close to home thus far.

Sleep:
The kids all slept remarkably well the last few days despite the challenges we had two nights ago with the power going out and a couple of other mid-night awakenings during the week. Last night they slept all night and I think we are now fully transitioned to this time zone. I am so glad I talked to Shandra Galloway about this transition before we made the trip so that I would know how to prepare myself mentally for it. She said it would probably take 5 days, and we are now beginning day 5, so I’d say we’re right on track.

Playing “house” [in Italy]:
I am very pleased with the flat we have here, and wish I could have everyone over for a party! We have a great view of the mountains behind us and the sea in front of us (we are actually about 2 or 3 miles from the beach, but it’s fun to be able to see the blue water even if it’s way off in the distance.)

I think our kitchen is better than I could hope for in this situation, though small. It has been fun trying some new and different foods here and cooking in a kitchen so differnt from home. As you can see in the picture below, the kids were so excited about their new kitchen that they immediately set the table with the brightly colored children's dishes that were provided for us by people from Mark's co-workers here.

Here's me enjoying cooking for the family in Italy :)

Between Mark and I, we have made about 4-5 trips to the Coop (pronounced Cop by the locals in Mass and Coop by the locals in Florence) to get food and household items like foil, plastic wrap, garbage bags, laundry basket, detergent for laundry/dishes, baby wash, etc. The plastic wrap purchase was not only for food storage but for covering the bidet (the European toilet) that is in both bathrooms so that Maisie doesn’t play in it…

The first grocery store we have tried (Coop) is very interesting. It’s about the size of one of the bigger-sized Walgreens. It is about a 10-minute walk from our flat. We have gone twice with Ellie and Maisie in the double stroller, but often there are either very narrow side walks or no sidewalks at all, so I don’t know if I’ll want to do that much on my own when Joyce leaves. Mark found out there is parking at the store, so we may do the bigger grocery store once or twice a week on Mark’s lunch break, and then just get incidentals at the Non Solo Pane (“not just bread”) store across the street from our building. I’m looking forward to getting together with Shandra Galloway so she can give me more tips for shopping while we’re here. The main thing I’ve noticed is that they have far fewer choices in each category and the quantity available is also much smaller than what we are used to in the States. Costco-sized quantities wouldn’t work very well for people who live in small houses/flats, so that may be one reason, but going to the store frequently during the week is just their way of life here. I romanticized this idea at first, but realistically it's going to be a bit of a challenge for us. Shopping is a great way to experience the culture and get out of our flat, though, so I think it will be fine. Check out the seafood section at the Coop below.. big squid, octopus and strange fish (though I can't tell if you can see them or not.) Hailey gags every time we walk past that section and now refuses to go back to that store altogether!

Another interesting thing we noticed at the Coop is that they keep their eggs out on the shelf, not refrigerated. This was funny to Mark and I because we recently visited an Asian grocery store in Beaverton that had all of their eggs unrefigerated and we were sort of grossed out by it. I suppose refrigerating eggs is mostly an American thing?

Appliances: I had not even thought about the possibility that our appliances would all “speak” Italian, so I hadn’t considered the challenges that a language barrier would present while using the dishwasher, oven, and washing machine. It took a couple of trips to the grocery store to finally get laundry detergent, and when we finally were ready to do a load of laundry, my aunt Joyce and I were stumped. I could decipher a little of what the instructions were, but it took several hours to get it started. The next day, Cristina (the admin from Mark’s office who is helping us get settled) came and explained it to us, thank goodness. The dishwasher was not as hard, but we were uncertain about whether we’d be drying everything by hand or if there was a drying feature on it. Cristina confirmed on her visit that it does not dry the dishes, so we just need to prop open the door when the cycle is done to air dry them (much better than drying everything by hand!).

I don’t know if it’s the added heat that laundry dryers and dishwasher dryers bring to a home, or the extra energy that it uses, but whatever the case, here in Italy everything is air-dried. I am a romantic by nature, so I have actually enjoyed hanging the laundry out on the terrace to dry each day and folding each thing into the laundry basket when it is done. I just imagine that I am living in a period in history when they did this all the time and it was part of the daily routine to hang out the clothes to dry. More than once I have thought about one of my favorite childhood Golden Books called, We Help Mommy by Eloise Wilkin. Cami has enjoyed helping hang up the clothes for the same reasons I have—like mother like daughter, I guess.

The kids love their new bedroom and a couple of days ago they “decorated” it to make it feel more like home. Cami especially enjoyed this as did Hailey. Ellie couldn’t care less about decorating, but LOVES having her own big-girl bed with her older sisters. A few nights ago we were all very tired and thought it might be better to have Ellie sleep with Mark and I so that if she woke up in the night she wouldn’t cause a commotion for everyone being in an unfamiliar place and all. But she was insistent (to the point of tears) that she wanted to sleep with “her friends” in the big girl room, and there she has slept every night since then. It is so cute!

The other thing the children have enjoyed (and that I am so grateful for) is our wrap-around terrace. The kids instantly took to it and love to play out there. There were concerns before we came that the railing around it was a temptation for kids to like to climb (aka Ellie & Maisie), but we talked to Cristina about it and she contacted the owners of the flat about it. They installed a sort of plastic mesh around the entire thing and it has been exactly what we had hoped for in terms of safety. It was very dusty the first few days so the kids would come in with black feet, but it was nice for them to be able to play outside during the day. I mopped it all down yesterday, so we’ll see how long it takes for it to get dusty again.

Speaking of mopping - I have a feeling I have a lot of mopping ahead of me because our entire flat has tile floors! Cami is excited about helping mop, so maybe I’ll get some extra mops and we can have mopping parties (if I can keep Maisie and Ellie off the floors while we work—we don’t want any major injuries while we’re here).

Entertaining in Italy:
Two days ago the owners of the flat came for a visit (which we did have a few hours notice about, thank goodness). They are the sweetest couple in their mid-sixties. The wife, Franca, speaks just enough English that with my limited Italian we were able to have a conversation. They came because the toilet seat in one of our bathrooms was broken, so while the husband went to go get a replacement, Franca stayed and we had a nice little visit. I was nervous about this on the outset, but quickly relaxed when I learned what a sweet lady she is. She really LOVED the kids and Cami especially enjoyed getting acquainted with her. Even Maisie warmed up to her a little bit by the end of the hour-long visit. Franca speaks a little English because she worked for a marketing firm (I think) that did some international business at one time. They are now retired and living in a house on the mountainside just above the castle that overlooks Massa. We can see the house and the castle from the terrace. Interesting to note that the water in Massa comes from the pure mountain springs of the mountains behind us, and Franca lives right near a spring where she said we can come and fill our water bottles whenever we want at no charge. How cool!

Yesterday was the first warm and sunny day that we have had since we arrived, and it inspired Cami and Hailey to put on some of their new-for-the-trip summer clothes, hats and sunglasses and pretend “party” on the terrace. They brought out some of their toys and books and then asked me to make some party snacks and juice to eat while they read their books. Joyce, Ellie and Maisie joined in as well. It was so cute! The party food consisted of Fette Biscottate (miniature whole-wheat toast slices) with Nutella spread (chocolate/hazelnut), Integrali crackers with mixed berry jelly spread on them and each girl had a small cup of juice. It was messy, but yummy and they LOVED it.

Joyce has been such a great help while I work on getting our house set up. The kids have enjoyed playing and reading with her, but the big hit has been Hailey’s idea to have a drawing competition. My kids love drawing so this was perfect for them. So they choose a subject to draw and they each draw a picture of it, then Joyce judges to see which one “wins”. Joyce has actually entered the competition now too, which she says is improving her drawing skills. They had their first “competition” 3 days ago, and they were at the kitchen table drawing for literally 3 hours! Yesterday they did it again, but this time it was probably about an hour or so.

Touring:
Last night was our first night out with the family for dinner. Mark took us to a pizzeria/restaurant (ristorante) down at Marina di Massa. We arrived just in time for sunset and it was such a spectacular site. The ocean was so blue and the sky on the horizon was bright pink. The marina is lined with restaurants, but this time of year is very quiet because it’s not tourist season yet. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the ocean on one side and turn around and get this amazing view of the snow-capped mountains on the opposite side of us with just a little light remaining from the sunset. I am getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it!

Our dinner was very good—we ordered 3 pizzas, gnocchi, two pasta dishes, 2 salads, and of course, french fries (patattine fritte) for the little ones. It was more food than we could eat, so we brought home half of one of the pizzas (there was another one that was taken from the table by the server before we found out they had boxes for us to take things home in). Live and learn, I guess. Afterwards, despite the cold of the dark night and ocean air, we went next door and bought gelato. Delicioso!

After our meal/dessert, Mark drove us to see his office building, which is in the very industrial area of Carrara. I look forward to seeing in the daylight.

Today is supposed to be 61 degrees and sunny, so we have been encouraged by Mark’s co-workers to make sure to go to the Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore) and take it all in. I need to get ready because we want to get a good start.

Summary:
All-in-all, we are having a great time here, definitely full of adventure and new experiences. We are learning that most people in Massa don’t speak English which is making me even more motivated to work on my Italian. I’m hoping to write more frequently in the future so that my blog entries aren’t so long, but I just had to talk about all that we’ve been experiencing here from my perspective as I promised myself and others I would.

Dinner at the sea

2008-04-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Got home from work at 7:20. The Italians work late. Grabbed the fam, and we headed down to Marina di Massa, about 5 minutes away.. by the sea (hence, "Marina"). I showed the girls the hotel where I usually stay when in Italy, near the pier. We enjoyed the sunset and chatted, or at least tried, with a friendly old couple. The old man kept saying, "Goodnight, my good friends", even in the middle of the conversation. The nice lady was enjoying the girls running around and was trying to figure out where Oregon was. "Nord di California" was the best I could figure out and that seemed to make enough sense.

We enjoyed a nice pizza and pasta dinner at La Carreta, and then of course stopped in for gelato next door. The Limone was a bit strong, but the Creme and Tiramisu flavors were fabulous. Maisie danced around the little shop and all the other customers waved to her and smiled.

Lost Power Last Night!

2008-04-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Around 11pm, while I was getting ready for bed- and everyone else was already asleep, our power shut off suddenly. No clear explanation. I heard a lot of talking in the apartment upstairs, so I figured it was affecting them as well. I brought along a tiny Maglite, so I used that to take my contacts out, and to keep from stumbling around. I tried the breakers near the front door, as instructed by my office admin, to no avail.

Of course, as the girls woke up in the night, as they often do, they were upset by the almost complete darkness, which I have sampled for you..

So we were up with all four of them from 3am until 5 or 6. We made hand puppets on the wall with the flashlight. I overslept and was late for work. But it was fun, actually. Other buildings had their lights on, and I could hear the noises of the city more clearly.

In the end, it was the dishwasher and the washing machine going at the same time that triggered the problem, and a "master" breaker in the apartment's basement had to be reset. The owner, Franca, and her husband showed up mid-morning, and apologized profusely. They were headed off on a holiday cruise to Spain and Portugal, but wanted to make sure we were okay. It was just a little power outtage, already!

In fact, they came by yesterday because the toilet seat was loose, and they wanted to fix it before they left town. Her husband- forgetting his name (Ricardo? Sam? Henry?) went to the store, and Franca stayed for an hour visiting with Jess and Joyce. She insists we visit a particular restuarant she recommends, down by the beach. So that is our plan for dinner tonight.

Today I feel like I am already good friends with some of the technical guys here in the office. They took me out to coffee, and refused to let me pay for my own, and we talked about our plans for the weekend. I drank an espresso, sort of out of peer pressure, and to see if I like it anymore than I did three days ago. I don't think I will become a coffee drinker, though. These guys pay over 50% in taxes each year, before property tax. All medical, dental, and healthy retirement and education benefits, but just like us in the states, it's still too much to pay.

Now reporting from Massa, Italy

2008-04-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Where to begin?

First off, we made it. We are in Italy now, mostly moved into our fifth floor apartment, looking out towards the Med. Huge thanks to Jeff and Jenny for helping us get to the airport on Monday. There are already many fun little stories to tell.

We went to the airport extra early, just to be safe. I had been given the run-around on our seats, which was disconcerting. We ended up spending about a half an hour at the ticket counter, because they had record of us travelling with two infants on laps, instead of one in a seat. I had to plead with Lufthansa to provide us with good seating, all together. Then we stopped for lunch before going through security, and the restaurant was a bit slow in serving us. So we went through security as fast as we could (given four little girls with baby dolls and a stroller), and ran to the gate, and they were just closing the doors! Hooray, the opened them up for us, and we scurried onboard. At least no waiting time at the gate!

We ended up having two rows (middle four seats) to ourselves, which was nice. The flight wasn't completely full, so we even found a window seat so that the girls could peek at Scotland and Ireland from above. Maisie had her moments on the plane, and Cami felt queasy at one point, but overall they were all complete gems. When Maisie became impatient and needed to move around, either Jess or I would let her walk up and down the aisles. She would stop and say "Hi!" to each and every person.

I ordered a vegetarian meal, to conform to my naturopath's orders, and kid's meals for all but Cami. Turns out the kids' meals were quite good! Breaded chicken, corn, potatoes, great fruit, cheese, candy, dessert, bread. Wow. It made the regular meal seem even less appealing than normal.

The interesting thing about having so many little girls on an international flight is how they each can adjust to the time change in their own creative way. Translation: Cami slept when we asked her to try. Hailey slept later, only when I bargained with her. Maisie took two or three good naps- one was quite long. And Ellie, well Ellie stepped on me right when I was on the verge of nodding off. So I went without sleep then and in fact most of the time, except maybe 30 minutes when we had a four hour layover in Frankfurt, and Jess got maybe one hour on the flight. Aunt Joyce was a trooper, also going without almost any sleep, and helping out in so many ways throughtout the journey.

The short flight from Frankfurt to Florence was just long enough for Ellie and Hailey to sleep for a few more minutes. Those who were awake enjoyed seeing the snow-covered alps.

At the airport in Florence (Firenze), we met Luigi. He's the "professional driver" (aka taxi driver) for Jeppesen Marine, and he helped us with our luggage- driving it to Massa, with us following behind in our minivan. Luigi is known for insanely fast driving, so I decided to take it slow and risk losing the guy. But he was understanding- maybe of the fact that I couldn't take curves in the mini-van at, what, 160km/h, so he kept a more reasonable pace.

The apartment is great. View of the sea, snow-capped mountains behind, and a castle that is lit up bright at night. We have three bedrooms and two baths, and we figured out how to turn on the heat. That means we won't be as cold as we were last night! Cute little kitchen with new counter and appliances, though no microwave, toaster oven, or disposal. Utensils are also a bit lacking. Thanks Linda for the advice on packing our own knives!

There is a tiny little elevator. They gave us a special key, "In case anyone gets locked inside of it" (!!!). It's too small even for the double stroller, so Jess may have some challenges once Joyce heads home to Portland. We have parking space under the building, but I'm hesitant to use it because the minivan is so big and the parking spot is so small!

We've been trying to catch up on sleep, and adjusting to the time change. Each daughter is on a different schedule, with Hailey dozing off at the dinner table, and Ellie still going strong at 12:53am. She's watching Mariposa on the iPod.

Unpacking is almost complete. Marnie's good advice on packing helped- check out the efficient folding that Jessica demonstrates..

The larger general grocery store is about a ten minute walk to the north, towards the center (Centro) of Massa. So far, nobody in the store, and only one in nine or ten people I've tried to speak to in Massa, knows any English. That's actually made it a lot more fun! I can say, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Italian" which seems to at least garnish some sympathy. Oh, yeah, back to the grocery store. What fun! An "etto" is 100 grams. I ordered "due etto" of some cheese (fontina?) which tastes different than I expected. The breads, meats, cheeses, and seafood selection is fabulous. We made delicious little mozzarella and salame sandwiches last night. Gnocchi and salad in our apartment tonight. The girls are having a blast with breadsticks and Nutella.

Today we did more grocery shopping, and we pushed the double stroller around Massa, finding roads that are safer than others for our troops. Of course, we stopped for gelato.

I only got lost twice on my drive to work this afternoon. I needed to head in for a meeting, and tomorrow I'll start catching up on email and spending time with the likes of Paulo, Maurizio, Francesco, Roberto, Alessandro, and Manlio! Roberto is "trying to learn better English by watching the American show, 'Friends' ".

Almost there...

2008-03-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

Around 2:30 p.m. this afternoon, I happily told Mark we are [mostly] packed! We ran a couple of quick errands this evening, and are now heading to get kids off to bed EARLY. I had another late night packing last night, but tonight I will hopefully get a really full night of rest with packing behind me. There are so many unknowns about how tomorrow's travel will be, but we are praying for wisdom, strength and grace as we embark on this adventure. Please pray for us if you think about it!

More later...

36 Hours and counting..

2008-03-30T00:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we leave in 36 hours. Jess has been working all day on packing, and you can see from the picture that there are still a number of things to decide on. But she made great progress today, and I had Josh Williams over to learn about taking care of the yard while we are away.

The next challenge is Lufthansa. I've called eight times, trying to get our seats figured out for the flights. Since we are travelling with such young children, being able to "corner" the younger ones is crucial. And sitting together is paramount!

Well, my stress level went through the roof when I saw that we'd be sitting in 32F, 33F, 34F, etc. You get the drift. Clearly ridiculous. How annoying! I have record of good seats they gave me at one point, but now the CheckMyTrip.com website is reporting no seats assigned! So we are praying that the Lord will take care of the seating, and we'll just try to get to the airport a bit sooner.

Passports arrived; ready to go?

2008-03-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

The passports arrived last week, and I found Jessica's in the office. So we have all six. My picture is horrid. I look like I have the flu.

Jess stayed up until 3am last night, packing. It's the only time she can find to really get things done. So we are now in good shape for leaving next week. We have five suitcases, each about three-fourths full. And another bag if we need it.

I'm expecting that we'll have:

Six Fordices, plus Aunt Joyce
Five or six suitcases
A double stroller
A baby backpack/carrier
Two backpacks
One smaller bag of clothes and snacks, for the plane
Two children's backpacks (for Cami and Hailey to haul around)
One carseat
Three booster seats

Before we are ready to go, we have to wrap up some last events here in Portland. Jess had her Mom's Bible study in our home tonight. Tomorrow night our friend Jamie from Chicago will stop in with her kids. Thursday night we'll have dinner with my side of the family. I have to figure out insurance, stopping the mail, putting other services on hold, cancelling dentist appointments, etc.

But I think the packing is coming along pretty well now, thanks to my lovely wife!

Got to start packing!

2008-03-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

We have a table in the bonus room set aside for Italy. I'm concerned that we are planning to take more than we can fit into five suitcases, so I loaded up a bunch of things into a few boxes today, and shipped them ahead.

I took a picture so that we can remember what we sent. Otherwise I'll forget and pack too many pairs of shoes! I threw in the PC video camera so we might be able to get the kids able to see family back home. I also packed a headset- I'm hoping to use Skype for cheaper phone calls.

Check out that exchange rate! It's brutal. The dollar is getting hammered. 1.57 per Euro. I'm glad that Jeppesen is covering such a tremendous amount of our costs.

2008-03-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that in less than a month, my husband, my aunt, our four children (ages 15 mos/3 yrs/ 4 yrs/ 6 yrs) and I will be starting this adventure. We are in the beginning stages of thinking through packing lists, figuring out how to get 2 1/2 months worth of diapers over to Italy, trying to decide how many suitcases we'll need for us all, and praying that it all comes together.

For anyone who is curious, we are going to be living in Massa, Italy (on the west coast of Italy) because my husband is going to be working in offices there (Marina di Massa).

Being homeschoolers, it would be an understatement to say that we are excited about this opportunity for educational experience.

I have had a dream of staying in Italy for an extended time since I was a teenager. I think it began when I first watched the movie "Only You" (which was filmed on location in Italy). In fact, the first time I saw that movie it was while having a sleep-over at my aunt Joyce's house. Joyce, ironically, will be making the flight over with us to help us with our children and help us get settled for the first couple of weeks while we're there. THANK YOU, JOYCE!

My husband, Mark, and I had a wonderful, albeit a whirlwind, vacation in Italy just before our first child was born in spring of 2001. We even chose her middle name (Firenze) because she was in utero while we were there. I am looking forward to getting to really take our time and enjoy the culture this time around. Last time, we were rather rushed trying to "see it all" since we didn't expect to be able to return for a long, long time (if at all).

The end of our trip will hopefully be the crescendo of an already wonderful experience as we plan to take a couple of weeks to tour some of our favorite places before we head back to the States and the BEST part is that both sets of our parents will be joining us for that part of the trip. We'll be taking them to the major sites in the Tuscany region and then heading to Rome for a week. I fully anticipate a beautiful time together, and hope it will be an amazing first experience in Europe for them.

Stay tuned.....