A Holiday Lull

Christmas has come and gone and now it's that odd week before New Years where it feels like a holiday but everyone is working. Nothing is quite normal. Some stores are open but most are closed. There are lots more people out cruising during the daylight. Restaurants are full at lunch too instead of just at dinner. The PSG offices are officially closed until 10 January, but no one bothered telling America to close too so a few of us will be working here and there to take care of our US customers. It's not too bad because if I wasn't in the office I'd be at the house trying to watch as many episodes of Dexter in a row as possible. That much serial killing really isn't healthy.

Since no one has to work during the days, there is something to do every night. Last night I went with some friends to Chiaravalle for an aperativo and to watch some live music. As I've mentioned before, I love the aperativo. It's meant to be a cocktail and some small bites to loosen the appetite for dinner. But the spread usually put out is more akin to the all you can eat line at the Hometown Buffet or a small Indian casino. What could be called a line but has more similarities with the lift scrums at Meadows (their motto: if you aren't moving forward you're going backwards) forms early and doesn't go away until the final piece of pasta is scrapped off the table. It's the perfect situation for someone with my gentille and delicate appetites. On the way back to Ancona, a friend called and when she heard we were in the car invited us to stop by for dessert and limoncello. She lives with her family on the fourth floor of an apartment building and the ceilings of the apartment easily had to be fifteen feet. What's with all the tall ceilings in this country? We played Wii (I watched. It's an Italian Wii and therefore isn't set-up for an American.), ate chocolate and drank their homemade limoncello. An early night since I was home by midnight.

Raimondo went to his parents' house for Christmas. He wasn't supposed to be home until the 29th but couldn't stand his family any longer and came home last night. Even though I was expecting to be on my own for a couple more days, I had put on pants in the morning and kept up with the dishes so fortunately it wasn't a disaster when he walked in the door.

On my way home this afternoon I'm going to take the food route back to my apartment. It's what I've taken to calling my favorite way home. I walk to a small pizza place and get a slice to go. I can arrive in front of a bar (a coffee shop to an American) right as I finish the slice and have a caffé normale. As I'm leaving I buy a piece of dark chocolate. I finish that right in front of the pizza place next to my building. Another slice gets me through the lobby door and up the stairs to the apartment. Perfetto!

I'll close with a very public thank you to Shelby for her beautiful card that arrived on my birthday and Pidgeon, Jenn, Eric, Morgan, Luke, Max, Sara, Sam and Tommy for the huge box of treats and cards that I opened on Christmas. It was wonderful to receive. And an early thank you to Carl, Sharon and Dave whose are unfortunately caught-up in Italian customs. Guess you should have used a bit more coffee to wrap that weed.

I wonder what Eric is doing right now?