There are a lot of things that happen during the week that don’t fall into any particular theme in a blog post, so I’ve decided to gather these thoughts into a brain dump at the end of the week. This week’s dump, in no particular order:
When we went to Casacalenda yesterday, we took advantage of free parking in a 60-minute zone, knowing that we were just running a few errands. 30 minutes later, we passed a guy on the street who had watched us park, and he reminded us that it was 60-minute parking. I appreciated him looking out for us, and we thanked him kindly for reminding us. (Remember that our car has French license plates, so it is clear that we are not locals and we might need some advice.)
People usually figure out pretty quickly that we are not Italian. However, as soon as we attempt to speak a few words in Italian, they are all so friendly and helpful, sometimes to the point where I want to say, “Slow down! Slow down! I only know beginner Italian!” We’ve experienced this in all countries where we’ve traveled – make an attempt at the local language, and people will be very helpful.
Guardialfiera is a small, tight-knit village. You always say “ciao” or “buon giorno” when you pass someone on the street, even if you don’t recognize them. When you go into a little shop for the first or second time, the proprietor is polite but not generally so welcoming. Since you are a stranger, they are not sure if they will see you again.
When you go back to the shop for a third or fourth time, hoo-boy! Now you are part of the community and there are so many questions about why you’re here, how long you will be here, and why you should move here. It is really charming.
It also helps when you ask the advice of people. Chad asked the butcher about different products, and then we are magically having samples of the butcher’s homemade sausage. We go into the little grocery shop to ask about the cheese that he has for sale, and the owner says, “the best cheese comes directly from the cheese-maker, you should seek that out instead.”
One thing that has been fun is that fact that people just walk up to us and ask a bunch of questions. People will cross the street to come quiz us. “You’re new here.” “Where are you from?” “Why do you have a French car?” “I’ve never seen you before.” “Let me tell you about my life.” Once again, it’s quite charming and is making us feel very much at home. And I’m practicing Italian on the fly, trying to understand the dialect and vocabulary.
We’ve met several people during our week and a half here. Most of these people are retired men or local shopkeepers. Younger people go away from the village to work during the week, and the older women and stay-at-home moms don’t hang out in the town square or at the bars during the day. In any case, everyone we have met has been friendly and welcoming and, well, curious. I’m guessing that we will setting into a social routine sooner rather than later.
A cold front came through earlier this week. We left our house for a stroll one morning, and when we saw the police lady, she yelled at Chad to go back inside and get a jacket. (She doesn’t like the cold.) There was this whole exchange about the weather and the need for a coat. Of course, I was bundled up in my ski jacket.
On Tuesday night, Chad and I went to bed and were jiggled awake at 11:55 pm by a terremoto. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Italy. When we were here in 2018, we experienced one while in Monteferrante. What was unique about that one was that we actually heard it echoing around the mountains. In all of the earthquakes that I experienced in California, I had never heard one before. The quake this week was just a bit of a jiggle and was enough to get the village dogs barking like crazy. We learned the next morning that it was a 4.6 quake near Campobasso. And, of course, it was a topic of conversation in the village the next day.