Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Getting Settled...

We have, for the most part, settled in.  All the boxes have been opened and most of the stuff have been given homes. We went to Ikea and bought a new bookshelf to put our DVD's in.  I managed to get it put together.  We also bought a new Entertainment Center, but I've not put it together yet.  None of our things really match, but I've decided that it doesn't matter.  I'm waiting for someone to say something (not that we really have anyone in our house).  If they do, I may just go off on them.  It's hard to find anything that looks halfway decent that doesn't cost an arm and a let and as much as I hate to admit it, our kids are monsters.  They love to destroy and I don't want to waste money on things they will destroy or will get destroyed in a move.

Ikea was an adventure.  The first time we went was on a Sunday and half of Sicily was in there.  It was a mad house and it was our first time in an Ikea.  We were extremely overwhelmed and left promptly.  The second time we went on a Friday.  It was me, Cody, Gavin and Norah.  (Ethan had school).  It was much more calm and we felt better about the situation.  Thanks to the advise of my best friend, we were more prepared too.  Lesson learned=do not go on a weekend.

We've ate out in a restaurant twice now.  The first time was at Alphio's Garden, across the street from housing. It was decent food and the menu was in English and Italian.  We enjoyed our food.  Ethan missed out on that trip because he was camping on Mt. Etna with his Boy Scout Troop.  What a great adventure for him!  Mt. Etna is an active volcano.  He also got to climb in some lava tubes (caves and tunnels created by lava that has cooled into rocks).

The second restaurant we went to was Pizzaria Donna Fortunata in Motta.  The guy that Cody replaced had his going away dinner there.  The food there was good as well.  The menu again was in English and Italian and made it easy for us.  They tolerate our loud kids!  They even let Gavin make a mini little pizza in the kitchen!  It was relaxing and nice.  I'd like to go back again in the future, just our family and see if it's just as relaxing.  I felt a little bad, we didn't leave a tip.  I'm so confused by the tipping here.  I've had some people say that you don't have to because you pay an extra fee for the use of the table etc.  Then I've had other people say you should still leave a tip.  We did leave a tip at Alphio's, but did not at Donna Fortunata.  I don't know which is right!  I don't want to be a cheap American.  I guess I better get that figured out.

I've been going to the market in Motta every Wednesday morning, (that's the day it's open).  I've become addicted to tomatoes.  I make my own little version of capese salad.  I adore it and want to eat it every day. Norah has made a friend at the market.  The last two times we have been there has been this little old man that tries to talk to us.  I have got to learn some Italian so we can talk to him.  He gave her some candy today.  I also need to learn the names of the fruits and veggies so I can ask for them easier than just pointing.  The vendors there are pretty nice  and don't have any problems understanding what I want, I just want to make it easier for all of us by using the proper name.

I think that we are slowly coming out of our shell here.  We are always anxious when it comes to doing something off base.  We don't want to do it wrong.  I'm a little better than Cody.  I tried to get him to go into the bread store for us by himself,  but of course he said no.  I've done it, but he won't.  We're also silly and only go to the one gas station across from Nas 1 because it was the first one we went to and we kind of feel like we know that guy (we don't, but it feels comfortable).  There is a guy selling stuff on the side of the road that has some really neat pumpkins but I'm too chicken to stop and ask how much they are and buy one, even though I really want one.  Ugh.  I hope I can get braver.


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