It's a ...

boy!!!!! Yesterday the three of us went down to Prima Porta just north of Rome to have the 22 week ultrasound, and the doctor showed us some pretty definitive evidence that the soon-to-be younger sibling of Eli is in fact a boy. His words were, " E maschio... E molto maschio." Loosely translated that means, "He's a boy... very much a boy." As he said this, on the ultrasound monitor was the undeniable presence of an appendage that we can only assume was the newest jewel of this family. Needless to say we are all very excited even if Eli is still a little iffy on the whole idea. (One of the nuns at the clinic asked Eli, "Vuoi un fratellino?" I translated for him, " Do you want a little brother?" His answer was a swift, "No." The nuns response to that was, " E chiaro," or ,"He's very clear." Then again, if she had asked whether or not he wanted a million dollars, the answer and conviction would most likely have been the same. Such is his contrary nature these days.)

The clinic we went to for the ultrasound is the same place we are planning to have the baby in January (January 31 is the due date). It is a private clinic run by Catholic nuns. They were very welcoming, at least more so than your average health care worker. The place gets good recs from a person we know here in Viterbo and our O.B.Gyn., a french woman who speaks English and works out of an office on the Aventine in Rome. I'd be lying if I said all of the international intrigue of this whole ordeal isn't an added bonus. It's sort of like "Ozzie and Harriet" meets James Bond...at least to me. Anyway, we are very glad the the baby and mother are healthy and happy, and we are also glad to have nailed down all of the necessary infrastructure to have this baby boy here in Italy.

Now the name game begins. We are in the very preliminary stages/negotiations. It's time to dredge up all of those ridiculous attachments to various names (My favorite is Caroline's connection of the name Virgil to the chimp in Mathew Broderick's acting tour de force, "Project X."). I have my own absurd name associations that shall remain, well, nameless at this point. Suffice it to say that we are happy to have 4 plus months to deal with this aspect of Mr. Little Man #2.

All else is well here in Viterbo. School was crazy last week with all sorts of drama, none of which I can detail here unfortunately. All is well now, and my classes seem to be on track. I am teaching an extra section this year which is making my days a bit busier, but I am enjoying each one of the classes. Eli is more or less settled into his asilo nido (or "nursery asylum", a.k.a preschool). He is having a good time with the bambini in his class, and Caroline reports that the days of tearful goodbyes are over. He eats lunch there with the other kids, usually a three course affair. I don't how he (and the rest of us) are going to get over the gastronomy of this place. Caroline is going to start an art class in Rome this next week, and she has taken on several conversation partners here in Viterbo. Our lives here have taken on more of a routine than they did last year, and for this we are all thankful. Next week we are off to Perugia and other points in Umbria for the school's orientation trip. We will not return to Viterbo with the group, however, because we are going to spend the weekend in Tuscany in search of zuppa di funghi porcini (which are in season now) and attending the semi-annual antique photography open-air market in Arezzo.

That's it for now. We'll post again soon. Drop a line or log on skype if you get the chance. Until soon,

Sam

Second year, many firsts.

We arrived only two days prior to the students this year so we hit the ground running. We arrived on Thursday and spent the weekend fighting jet lag. Sam was back to work on Friday with meetings and placement tests etc.

Monday was also Eli's first day at the asilo nido (Italian pre-school). It was a rough week. Much confusion and many tears were involved. By the end of the week Eli would cry if I even mentioned the word "kids". (I mentioned kids often because I thought would be a selling point for the whole experience, "There'll be lots of kids there....") Doh! By the end of the week though, there was less emotion behind the tears and I think (I hope) he was beginning to settle in. We're gradually working our way up to half days, 9 to 1pm, so I can take an Italian class in the mornings. I'm trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but any and all supportive messages would be much appreciated ;-)

Speaking of Italian class, I attended my first on Friday. I'm taking the class with the high school students at Sam's school. They're definitely a very professional bunch. I, however, have forgotten what it's like to hold a pencil. I have to spend some extra hours this next week getting my act together.

We also interviewed our first Italian ObGyn on Friday. Actually, she's French and speaks English which is a plus. In fact we love her. She doesn't have patience for Italian superstition nonsense, of which there is much surrounding pregnancy and birth. It'd be very Brangelina: French doctor, the birth in Rome... But we have to work out the insurance first. She might be off limits to us. Next up is an Italian doctor in Viterbo. It's rumored that they don't allow drugs during the birthing process at the hospital in Viterbo (example A of provincial beliefs). If that's true, it's going to be either Rome or Umbria! We'll keep you posted.

Even with all that going on, we managed to fit in the Santa Rosa festival on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. We also went to Orte last night to take part in a huge feast celebrating their patron saint. The food was fabulous. Both events hold up in our second year in attendance. All in all, a good start.

Summer Highlights

Here are a few pictures of the highlights from our Summer spent stateside.

PS. One definite highlight to add to the list: Caroline is preggers again! The baby is due at the end of January. We're going to have an Italiano bambino!

The Savages visit more Savages in Phoenix

Above: Eli and Papa on Big Cheese. "Eli, do you love it?" "Love it!"

Below: Sam and Eli go for a ride in the roping arena as well.

Above: Eli and Big Papa read and play together.

Below: Eli splashes around at the water park at the Phoenix Zoo
(which was already scorching by 10am that morning)

Above: Eli explores at the Children's Museum

(highly recommended if you happen to be going to Phoenix)

Below: A little afternoon reading in Mimi's new kitchen

Cousin Cody's Birthday Party

Above: Auntie Debbie made a fabulous light saber cake out of Twinkies and Ho-Hos

Below: The cake was a huge hit with Eli and cousin Lexi

Eli Turns Two!

Above: Caroline made a truck cake (yes, the whole thing is edible!)
Below: The entire Savage family came to Walnut Creek to celebrate

Above & Below: We had a great time catching up with old friends and their new additions.

Stephanie & John get married!

Above: We were so lucky to be able to attend Stephanie and Jon's wedding in Napa. The occasion was definitely worth the wait!


The Savages' East Coast tour

Our tour included NYC, Mahopac, Long Beach, Fire Island, Skaneateles, and Deerfield, MA. With all that travel we didn't have time for much picture taking, but here are a few from the gorgeous days we spent in Fire Island. Eli and Ceci hit it off with flying colors.

Tarot Garden

Before heading to Puglia this month, we had one very noteworthy day trip to a little town in southern Tuscany called Capalbio. It's a wealthy little town on the coast that's a bit of an Italian Communist retreat. We're not sure why this town is especially attractive to wealthy Italian Communists, but that's the town's niche market, and I must say Italian Communists have good taste.

We had a great meal there, followed by a nice walk around town. We ended the day by visiting a nearby sculpture park that was Niki de Saint Phalle's passion project. It's made up of enormous, interactive sculptures. She was obviously very inspired by Gaudi, but leans more toward sculpture than architecture. It was absolutely FANTASTIC! Definitely one of the most underrated sights this region has to offer (probably because Niki was French). Adrian, you would have loved it!

Nana & Jhaju

So, I'm finally getting to post about my parents visit. It was wonderful, horrible, and exhausting all at once.

It was absolutely wonderful to see my parents after such a long time away. It was especially nice seeing them with Eli. They are in full-on grandparent mode these days and are loving every minute they get to spend with him. They were the most playful and engaged audience Eli has had in months. Eli still calls for Nana and Jhaju with regularity.

My dad had never been to Rome or Florence so I thought it would be a great trip for him. I thought we'd have a great time showing him around as well. We had a few days in Rome, followed by a few days in Viterbo. My parents then headed up to the Cinque Terre for a few nights on their own. Eli and I met up with them in Florence for the weekend. However, my best laid plans were for naught. I quickly found out that my dad doesn't have much interest in travel anymore - or sightseeing, or eating, or spending money on anything. Oh, and Italy is run by the mob and tax evaders, therefore everyone here is dishonest and intentionally ripping you off. Though this statement, made by my dad often during the visit, is probably at least half true, it doesn't make for pleasant touring. Needless to say, it was a rough week. (My mom would want me to note though that she was a perfect angel during the trip, which she was.)

I'm looking forward to seeing them again soon... on their turf.


Above: Touring Cappranica during their Santa Maria festival. The town was blanketed in paper flowers. It was home spun beauty at it's best.
Below: My parents at the Villa Lante.



Above: My parents with Eli at the Boboli Gardens in Florence.
Below: Nana and Eli in the Boboli Gardens.



Above: A view of Tuscany.

f*ck, f*ck, f*ck... cock!

We are officially very behind in our blog posts. I still need to post about my parents' visit, several day trips, and our trip to Puglia. First though I want to give a little update on Eli.

Eli is a full on toddler now, complete with whining, tantrums, and constant demands. He's pretty darn cute though as well. He's been talking up a storm and his vocabulary is expanding everyday. He likes to point and label. He's still working on his pronunciation which is making for some hilarious situational comedy, especially in kitchen. He wants to use a fork for all his meals now, so he'll call for one whenever we sit down at the table. Trouble is, "fork, fork, fork, FORK!" comes out sounding like "f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, F*CK!". Luckily we're in a foreign country where this situation in a restaurant is not nearly as embarrassing as it would be in the states. The other great one is "clock", which comes out sounding like "cock". And I don't know if you've noticed but clocks are everywhere especially when you include wristwatches.

Here's the latest:

Finding his belly button

Playing in the curtains

Montefalco

Before I start, I want to let you know that we had a great visit with Caroline's parents. She will post about that soon. I'm going to skip ahead and write about last weekend.

Hey there, everybody. The school year is ending, and we are finding ways to get out and enjoy the nice weather and the countryside. Along those lines, this past weekend two of the American faculty who are my faithful cycling companions, Rolf and Chris, and I rode into Umbria to Montefalco where Caroline, Eli and Ashley, another American teacher here, met us. The ride was 108km through some of the most beautiful countryside that central Italy has to offer. For those who are curious to check out the route you can google map the directions from Viterbo to Montefalco and click the "avoid highways" box. We rode through several picturesque medieval hill towns, green valleys, vineyards, olive groves, etc. It was really incredible. This is the longest ride I have ever done, and I was pretty psyched when we rolled into Montefalco after 5+ hours on our bikes.

When we got to Montefalco, we showered and headed out to the town for an amazing lunch outside on the main piazza. Of course we sampled a bottle of the local DOCG red, Sagrantino. This is one of our favorite wines in Italy, and this bottle was especially good. After lunch we hung out on the piazza and took in some rays. A brief visit to the tourist office informed us that the following day was Umbria's "Cantine Aperte." Basically, wineries all over Umbria were opening their doors for tastings accompanied by food and in some cases entertainment. We all agreed that our fate was sealed for the following day and headed back to the inn to nap or in our case, watch Eli run around for three hours. Dinner that night was nice, but I was absolutely exhausted. We got to bed early having spent a truly spectacular day in Umbria.

After breakfast the next morning we headed out to check out what this Cantine Aperte thing was all about. The deal with the Cantine Aperte is that each person buys a glass for 5 euro, and the glass comes with a pouch for carrying it around your neck. That glass will get you tastings and food at any of the two or three dozen vineyards in Umbria that were participating in this event. The proceeds went to charity. Anyway, we headed to the first vineyard of the day (at 10:45 am), Perticaia, whose Sagrantino we had tried at lunch the day before. This was a beautiful place just outside of Montefalco. They were serving porchetta (a very tasty roasted pig, a regional specialty), local pecorino, local prosciutto, and crostini with local olive oil. They labeled each food with the appropriate wine pairing. Everything was incredible, the wine, the food, and the views. After an hour or so there we headed in the car for a brief tour of the area during which Eli fell asleep. We ended up at another Sagrantino vineyard outside of Gauldo Cattaneo. We successfully transfered the sleeping cherub into his stroller and proceeded to check out the scene at Scacciadiavoli.

This vineyard had a very different feel and a lot more people. The food and the wine here did not let us down. We all sat around amazed at our good luck for happening upon this great wine tasting event, awed by the beauty of our surroundings, and generally ecstatic about being in Italy and doing things like this. The ride back was crowded (the three bikers were now in the car with Ashley, Caroline and Eli) but scenic. We retraced the route we had rode the day before and relived our feelings of euphoria as we remembered each hill, each field, and each town we passed on our bikes.

This was a truly memorable weekend, and if there are any bikers out there I highly recommend that you come here and do something like this. Preferably with me next year. Italy by bike is a phenomenal experience. I will miss sharing it with Chris and Rolf, but I hope that others will come to take part next year. Here are some pics:

Above: Caroline and Ashely at Scacciadiavoli in Gualdo Cattaneo. Notice the pouches for the wine glasses. Brilliant!
Below: the two of us at Scacciadiavoli

Above: Mother and son on the scene
Below: the view from Montefalco (the same as the view from the room at our inn).

Above: the Savage's at the Perticaia winery outside of Montefalco
Below: tasting Sagrantino


Above: Eli taking in the view at Perticaia