Crud, Torbole, and a little family porn

Frank was the last to get the conference crud, but it has hit him hardest, of course. He is sleeping a lot and missing out on some outings. We wandered Trento, Torbole, and Malcesine without him. :-(

In Trento the other day, we had our first taste of frescos, saw the duomo and the castle, walked the winding streets, etc. The streets are narrow enough (10 feet or less in some cases) and people are casual enough about sidewalk usage that I'll be wandering down a stradina, thinking of it as a pedestrian mall or something, and then be totally surprised when a car comes along.

I love Trento. Chiara, from her more youthful perspective, finds it pretty boring, and from an Italian perspective, it might be. But for an American tourist visiting her first Italian city, it's pretty darn special. (I took dozens of photos, but you'll all just have to wait to see them, because Chiara's computer is a dinosaur.)

Likewise, the drive from the lake to Trento, which Chiara didn't think we would find overly scenic, knocked our socks off. She's a funny girl.

Yesterday, MJ, Chloe, and I visited Torbole, a resort town on the north end of Lago di Gardo. We shopped, had maxi-pizze (individual pizzas that would each be considered sufficient for a party of three in America), and continued our quest for hot Italian boys. Pretty fun.

I am a little embarrassed at how intimidated I am to do simple things like make a purchase or walk into a ristorante. I completely freeze up when it comes time to speak a few words of Italian. This stems mostly from my Spanish/Italian confusion: I'm never sure which language is going to come out of my mouth, and the one doesn't consistently translate to the other. But we're muddling along (mostly because all the shopkeepers are tri- or quatri-lingual).

When it comes to understanding the Italian we hear and read, I do pretty well. I can get the gist of or at least the subject matter of conversations between native speakers, and I can translate the news pretty well with all the video providing context. I'm enjoying the attempts, anyway, and wish we could stay longer so I could keep learning.

Saturday night, the four of us sat down to watch a little Italian TV. The lake house doesn't get many channels, so we surf a lot, hoping for an American movie that we know well enough to be able to follow along. We caught 'The Matrix' the other night, for instance. (In English, there is no spoon. In Italian, the spoon doesn't exist. It's a subtle but important difference, I think.) But on this particular evening, what we found was porn. It was so strange that we couldn't turn away, even though it felt VERY weird to watch porn with my daughters. The program was sort of a travelogue, filmed in the 30s I think, in New York City. Our Italian protagonists toured the city, visiting the Empire State Building and so forth, and every so often the travelogue would be interrupted with a period nudie shot. The big conclusion was the protagonists' return to their hotel, where they proceeded to have very awkward sex (for example, their shoes were nearly the last thing to come off). It was pure (unintentional) comedy. And while the most graphic parts were fuzzed out, it was still like nothing you would see on American TV.

They also show nursing mothers in their Pampers commercials, and we saw a non-tabloid German newspaper at the newstand that had a full frontal shot on the front page. We're definitely not in Kansas any more, nor even the wild West coast.

Anyway, today we are back in Trento. Gloria, Chiara, and Max put on a little birthday luncheon for MJ: bruschetta, formaggi, pizzina, salami, etc., followed by chocolate torta and apple streudel. It was lovely. Later, we will go visit Gianguido's mom and perhaps do a little shopping: Chloe is dying for more reading materials.

In the morning, Frank and the girls and either Gloria or I are taking a helicopter ride to tour the Dolomites. Who will be the fourth passenger depends on the state of my stomach. I get queasy just thinking about being up there. We'll see.

Gianguido, aka the tour guide, arranged the helicopter and has made reservations for us all over Italy. Wednesday, we drive to Roma for a few days, and then we come back north to Venezia before returning to Milano and our flight to Dublin. Pretty nice to have such accommodating hosts!

I have a handwritten journal that contains so many more details than this, but I keep forgetting to bring it with me. Maybe tomorrow. I also have to remember to bring the reservation info for the Venezia hotel we no longer need. If I forget, my mom will be getting another phone call. :-)

Ciao! Biacci!

P.S. to Gillian: What do you want to know about Live and Learn? I've decided I kicked ass on my first talk; perhaps the delusion of distance, but it feels good to think it. :-) The other talks were all excellent: so nice to hear Ren and Anne in person, and Beth's Peaceful Partnerships talk was very special if a bit different from the one she did at LiG. I didn't get to any funshops except the sign-making one that Kelli ran. I spent all my spare time drumming, I think. The girls hit the ground running, knowing just enough people to be able to dive right into the teen groups. Frank and I felt more tentative, thinking we were surrounded by strangers, until we started putting faces together with screen names, blog names, and so on. Still wish you all could have been there.

Favorite moments: At my first talk, looking out from the podium at this big group of people on my right who were all there to support me (family, Steph, Traaseths, Stonebrakers, etc.). The end of the dance. The video tribute someone made for Kelly, sung to the tune of 'Live and Let Die' but titled 'Live and Learn,' which shows a classroom full of bored kids breaking free to run across a beautiful open meadow. Eating in the cafeteria with everybody else, even though the noise level was pretty overwhelming. Sitting in the first drum circle looking out over the hills -- er, I mean mountains. It was a good and beautiful time.