And Summer Begins

I was enjoying my weekly attempt to post something on this blog... my reliable hour or two in the evening on the computer because I knew the baby and two big kids would be asleep. But, summer has arrived and there is no preschool to rush out the door to in the morning and, therefore, bedtime is non-existent... not because the kids are refusing, but because life is more enjoyable here when the 90's sink into the mid-70s and the townspeople begin to emerge from their hot little houses. Life begins fresh again at dinner time with my after-dinner espresso, as it did at the breakfast hour with my morning cafe latte. Without air-conditioning, it is too hot to be in a hurry for anything so we don't rush eating, playing, or sleeping.
 Last week was a whirlwind of school activities, air shows, and living the seaside life.
Because last week I could not fit in a single moment to post, I will catch up in photos I took this past week.


Friday
I rushed 2 kids and baby out the door while my husband finished a 24 hour shift at work. He met me at the school later to catch a little of the show and pick up the baby to take her for her first vaccines.

A friend and Rachel get ready for their end-of-school year recital as a caròta e melnzana,

or carrot and eggplant.

There are also tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, and parsley running around.

Little Samuele is the dark green parsley between the two light green parsley.

Later that day, after we met back at home and napped the kids, we went to watch the Frecce Tricolore practice for an airshow that they would have on Saturday.

The kids asked for earplugs...

but, the baby doesn't need them.

Frecce Tricolori literally translates to tricolored arrows. It is the world's largest military aerobatic team and is regarded by many as being one of the most prestigious. The Frecce Tricolori aerobatics team is made up of ten Aermacchi MB-339-A/PAN aircraft from the Italian air force.

Saturday

We began the day with errands into the center of Lecce which usually lands us at McDonald's, a rare treat since this is the only Mc D's in the area, and is not a short drive, nor is it easy to find parking. Next, grocery shopping, home for naps, and a mad dash to get ready for a trip to the beach. On the way out to the car, a neighbor stopped us and asked us to come up rooftop instead to watch the airshow again, Saturday's version using the colored smoke. He had bought ice-cream for everyone and so as not to disappoint the kids already dressed in swimming suits, we hauled up buckets of water and a kiddie pool.

Cars line the roads in the surrounding fields.

At bedtime, little brother comforts big sister as she loses her first tooth!

Sunday

My husband hits the water at 5:30am for some spear-fishing and when he gets home we head out for a day on the beach.

The baby falls asleep after her first swim before I can even put a diaper back on her!

Then we head over to a seaside resturant where a man grills and fishes at the same time.

The food is amazing, but the kids like the bread.

Our Greek friends enjoy the pasta too.

The best Italian food comes on plastic plates while you sit in plastic deck chairs.

You know this if you have spent any time here.

Octopus meatballs

And so, in all the chaos of the weekend, we forgot to buy toilet paper. We'll fit that in Monday before we head outside to watch the Italy soccer game and cook out with friends. 

Eating Snails, or Maybe Frogs

Starting out my kids in school at such a young age, I know what it is like to have a small bribe to get them out of the car and in the door of the school in the morning. I usually promise these particular chocolate eggs with a surprise inside called Kinder Eggs. They sell them everywhere here in Italy so I can always pick some up while the kids are in school, and have the treats waiting for them when they get home. It might not win me any parenting awards, but it helps. So one morning, taking my kids to school, I wasn't surprised to hear another mom coercing her son into school with the promise of something enticing when he got out of school. I was just mildly shocked when I understood that it was snails for dinner. Lumaca, snail, I'm sure I understood correctly.

 Now, the Italians do have a taste for some things that you would rarely find on an American menu and since we moved to this southern region of Italy, I have often seen older folks wearing tall rubber boots, out for a Sunday drive, scouring the countryside with plastic grocery bags in hand. I asked my husband what he thought it could be and we concluded it was either wild herbs, or snails. As time went by, I concluded snails were the object in question because I noticed the cars parked roadside mostly on days when it had just rained. I shouldn't be surprised that they feed their kids the same things they are accustomed to eating.

Luckily, my kids usually just come home from school with snails in their pockets, not in their lunch bags.

The other day I was on the phone with my mom and she had just posted a photo to Flickr that she had taken of a small peeper frog on my dad's Mini Cooper, and my son walked in as I told her I thought it was a fantastic picture, that I loved the little frog. My son continued to play on the floor with some airplanes and my mom continued on in small talk, describing the steak dinner she had fixed for my dad the night before. "That sounds SO delicious!" I replied emphatically, because a good steak, like one from Oklahoma, is hard to find here. My son, not looking up from what he was doing, asked, "The frog?" He thought his Gram was serving delicious frog for dinner. But of course, why would eating frog be strange to him. We eat octopus and other creepy sea creatures, why not frog, too? I can't get the kid to eat his veggies, but he'll suck the heads of scampi.

As a loyal Oklahoman, I should probably not be disclosing this next piece of information, but some Italians, not all, eat horse. It is always sold in the supermarket. In fact, they even make jarred horse baby food, sold right along next to the jarred turkey, chicken, or beef. Italian babies also have the option of eating rabbit, lamb, and at least 4 varieties of fish-- all served in a baby food jar, ready to eat. Culturally, my children are being raised, and fed, totally Italian. I grew up riding horses, my kids grow up eating them.

My mom eats snails in the Veneto