​Weathering the Storm with the WP#207

Where did February go? It is almost gone and it feels like it had just started. Over there, over there, send the word, send the word, over there, that my worldly possessions, my worldly possessions, are still over there, over there. Thank you, George M. Cohan. Actually, they are finally going to be dispatched across the pond, very soon, in fact, their departure, I heard the other day, March 7, and best of all, duty free. Yes, I could have had them sent late last year, and even could have saved some rent on the storage, but now, I can have my last worldly possessions, including my vehicle, sent, over here. Months of paperwork, confirmation of my residency here, proof of my domicile in America, for as long as I lived there, let’s see, my whole life as a US citizen. Oh, there was the year I lived in France, but that was 50 years ago. In the end, this Year of the Jubilee is finally having doors open up much more quickly than last year when I arrived in Italy, so one more hurdle has been cleared. ​

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As with the system here in Italy, and with any system, it seems, once one door is opened, there is another one to go through. That is the case here. It is like the old show, of decades ago, Get Smart, in the beginning where Maxwell Smart has to go through door after door after door to get to Control. Lots of bumps along the way, but each one will get tackled. In the meantime, life continues forward. Rosa enjoyed a very nice dinner at Bull Steak for our anniversary last Wednesday, and after the clock struck midnight, we were home and back to our normal routines. Again, nothing wrong with our “boring” lifestyle right now. We need to get through these things, so we can enjoy the fruits of our labor, and we will. ​

Today, another adventure is about to start. I have been teaching English, private lessons and group encounters since about October of last year. And, that will still be happening, but another layer has been added to the teaching. What you ask, and I am glad you did. I am actually, once a week, for now, for a couple of hours, going into an Italian public school, not as an English teacher, but that is to be seen, but as a TA (teaching assistant for those less learned, sorry 😊), and simply there to assist each week in a couple of classes of English, imagine that. I have heard, sometimes, teachers aren’t there, from others who were and are there to assist, but nevertheless, another adventure. I will just remind myself of my many years of teaching kids, in many capacities and even back to the time, when I first volunteered to teach English, those many years ago, to students from Brazil, who only spoke Portuguese, and at that time, I did not even know obrigado. In any case, if I have to ad lib, I will be inspired to my call of duty from Robin Williams in “Good Morning Vietnam” and simply have fun. The two one-hour sessions will be fine for me, and it can even be a social club of sorts. I learn about them and them me. Thank you, Sparky. ​

In the end, this past week has been fairly routine between the business and the teaching and the home life. Yes, we are a boring couple sometimes and sometimes not. I like it this way, and in less than 2 weeks, I am on the road, but more about that later now that I have my Permesso di Sogiorno. It feels good and spring is right around the corner, even if there are not the snowstorms of the Midwest or the howling winds of the north Atlantic. The overcast skies, the rain, on numerous days. I am looking forward to spring come around and truly enjoying this shoulder season of the year. Actually, as life continues moving forward, I am looking forward to each and every day as it comes. Waking up everyday to my beautiful wife is a wonderful thing and each day, I look at her and the wedding picture that is on the wall beside our bed and realize how lucky a guy I really am and still realizing that I have been married, celebrated, last Wednesday for a year. ​

Thank you as always for your support of my crazy little world in which I find myself. I am growing everyday with new experiences, some I would never have even thought I would be doing again, including being in a classroom, in an Italian school, teaching conversational English with pre-teens. I thought my classroom days were over. You know what, they are not, and it is another avenue for me to be a part of the fabric of the country, which is my adopted home. And I am sure there will be more and more as time goes by. I will share my experiences next week as I have a chance to reflect on this latest experience.