#58: Oh No Poncho
Ciao Nonni!
I'm sitting down to write you this edition of the dispatch on a Friday evening after a very big week.
After the four of us being in the most perfect of health for the 14 weeks of summer holidays, Leo has chosen one of his first weeks' back at full time school to come down with un raffreddore (a cold).
Luckily, but also kind of annoyingly, he was just sick enough to not be able to go to school for Monday through until today. He never had a fever, but he had una brutta tossa (an ugly cough), a snotty nose, and a bit of an upset stomach. All of which kept him from sleeping well.
Which of course meant that I didn't sleep well either.
Each morning brought with it a generally polite but intense negotiation between David and I about who was going to give up their morning activities to look after the little princeling. I would say we ended up being about 50/50, but I'll leave it to David to speak up if he feels that this is wildly untrue.
Aside from spending a lot of time with a grumpy little two year old, I managed to make it to most of my Italian classes. Things are continuing well, although each day I seem to discover more that I don't know. Which, in my less optimistic moments, can feel like I'm getting further away from the goal rather than closer to it. But I am very much enjoying the journey regardless!
The weather in Lucca at the moment is doing a very good impression of Melbourne. This week we had some absolutely wild swings between bright sunshine and driving, almost tropical, rain.
This has two major flow-on effects for us.
The first is that none of our washing is drying. Our laundry system is severely backed up, which means the kids have been going to school in some pretty questionable (usually too small) outfits. Luckily Raffy's grembiule covers most sins.
Clothes dryers are very rare here - usually they can only be found in houses owned by foreigners. And for most of the year, this is totally fine. In summer, everything dries in an instant outside. And in winter, you hang everything up inside and the fantastic radiators take care of things just as quickly. But relatively warm, wet weather is a killer.
The second is on our commuting routine. As I said, it is still pretty humid and warm. But it is also pouring. So of course we need to wear big rain ponchos and jackets when we ride anywhere to avoid getting soaked.
In the mornings I drop the kids at school, before riding straight to Italian class. Usually I am running a bit late, so I am obliged to put a bit of effort in to make up time. The result of this is that I arrive at school feeling like I have just done a time trial in a sauna, such is the effect of a fast ride while wearing a huge plastic jacket over pants and a jumper.
David has decided that he'd rather just get wet in the rain, and so has eschewed the poncho / personal sauna method in favour of shorts, a t-shirt and resignation to his fate. This of course results in stares of disbelief from the Italians, for whom even a drop of rain could seemingly prove fatal. He is happier though, which I guess is all that matters.
I, however, can't face the prospect of spending a day in wet clothes. And so I persist.
The only people who are supremely unaffected by this whole palaver are the kids. They ride in the chariot, which has an excellent rain cover. In fact, they think the whole thing is quite hilarious when we pull up at school and I am puffing and soaked but they are completely dry. Little menaces.
All my love, as always.
Kate
PS. I can almost see you shaking your head at our wet weather antics from here...!
