Five weeks down and our quiet Italian flat has become home. Chocolate banana bread bakes in the oven, the laundry cycle bounces and spins, and Ashley is busy at the desk making a parachute out of tissue paper and masking tape. We have a daily schedule with meals, schooling, and chores, but life is anything but routine or ordinary when it comes to accomplishing life’s every tasks that were simple before.
That is before we sold our beautiful home in California, asked friends to drive our cars, and sold or put the majority of our belongings in storage. After 13 years of marriage it hit us smack in the face that the deepest desires of our heart did not lie in our possessions, our jobs, or the comfort of the familiar. We wanted more… but more of what? More time together. More of a sense of purpose. More of a calling. More adventure. More intentionality.
So we moved to a town where we hardly speak the language and know no one. A country we visited for all of 3 days on a cruise back in 2009. A place where we don’t have a car, or even a valid license. And so far we’re happy. But not just happy, filled with joy and peace and a trusting that at the end of a year away, we will have gleaned some sort of new perspective.
That leads me back to every day affairs. You know, grocery shopping, cooking, emails, housecleaning, exercise, entertainment. Those have not changed, but the way we go about them definitely have.
Today I’ll tell you a little bit about cooking and shopping here in Tuscany.
After being here for a week we walked about 4 doors down to the nearest bike rental shop (there are probably 10 in town) and asked if they had any used bikes they would like to sell us. We walked away with two used bikes for Dave and Arya, and two discounted new bikes for Ashley and I. The former being geared bicycles, the latter being one geared cruisers. All the girls have baskets on their bikes, and all four of us have a rack on the back. Knowing that the grocery store is outside of the medieval walls, we were expecting to carry groceries on our bikes.
We have learned that we can make a weekly bike trip to the supermarket, Essalunga, for the basic supplies. You know, cereal, flour, milk, rice, lunchmeat, and still fit everything on our bikes. When you start getting into meat, produce, and sundries, then it becomes a problem. We overloaded the first few times and didn’t take into account that asking your seven year old to ride with a basket full of groceries changes the balance of the bike completely. As Dave said, “I had to learn how to ride my bike again when I carried newspapers on my paper route.” Also, eggs in a basket are a bad idea. Especially a metal basket. We experienced a bit of an egg scramble that concluded with Arya singing at the top of her lungs, “Eggs are dripping on my legs!”
All of the things we didn’t get at Essalunga are purchased within blocks of our apartment at local independent shops. Bread from the bakery (il panetierre), meat from the butcher (la macelleria), fruit and veggies from the greengrocer (il fruttivendolo), wine from the wine merchant (la enoteca). I look forward to every one of these trips. Sometimes I make a list (in both English and Italian), other times I just go and see what’s available. If it’s not in season here, it won’t be available at the local market. It is October 18th and we have found one place with pumpkins. The thing I’m loving the most is the relationships. Stores are owned and run by individuals or families. They are small and count on your business. They recognize you, for better or worse. At the bakery my kids get free focaccia. At the green grocer they get free grapes, and a free bunch of basil for mom. The eggs are so fresh that they burst open on the first crack, with a bright orange yolk. I get excited about cooking and producing something new. And I cook a lot. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner most days. No packing of school lunches. And time to enjoy meals together. Do we eat out? Of course! And the kids almost always order Margherita Pizza and Lasagna Bolognese.
Cooking new things is fun and cooking from old recipes a challenge. Every thing here is not measured in cups, but my weight. Yet few of my recipes are by weight. Temperatures on the oven are in celcius. Basic ingredients are different. Brown sugar has more of the texture of raw sugar and baking powder (lievito in polvere) has vanilla added to it. Pork is referred to as swine, and store made salad dressing or frozen fruit is non existent. Does this mean we’re healthier… yes and no. Yes we eat everything fresh and local and it is delicious, but my one main problem is bread… and pasta. And by problem I mean YUM!
No comments:
Post a Comment