Brand new MN Little Italy (22)

[Francagoestohollywood]

hello, ciao, etc

Never heard of that Rosa, sounds fun.
The village we lived in when I first came to Italy had a tradition of going round banging stuff in the middle of the night. It was in december and just so happened it was the very first night we spent there. We were wondering wtf we ha moved to!

vogalonga
This is it ...It was great dd met 2 asilo friends so they clapped , shouted and even got an 'alza remi' from a group of Venetian rowers....well 3 girls all cheering and shouting and jumping - made her day !
Hot here in fact both seem a bit pink and they had hats and cream on .....

Awww vogalonga sounds like great fun and it looks that your dd enjoyed it a lot !

We had dd's birthday party yesterday at inlaws, mil was a star and organized a tresure hunt with lots of "prove"... and ds and his cousin were fantastic referees...
Lots of sunshine, at last!

And now I'm off to cook for dh's birthday dinner...

Oh happy bd to your dd.And your dh.

Sputnik - hope the therapy goes well.

Also summer in London now - lots of suncream (oh back to my noone is immune from skin damage) and water.

DS had a birthday party last sunday and the next day we were off on holiday- ds enjoyed it ALOT. The whole thing. We spent a fortune so next year we'll be spartan.

Right - take ds to nursery and so FINALLY - I can clean up from the party.

Birthdays all round then. I have cake 1 to do for tom pm . Thing is SIL wants crema pasticera in it so I am torn as to doing it this pm - or tom afternoon as the party is at 16.30 . Am worried that the crema pasticera might sort of go liquid and get absorbed in the cake ..BOH . NOt sure how nice it will be either but that is what she wants !
Warm here as well ( hence another reason to be concerned as the cake won't fit in the fridge ......)Mind you forecast says its going to change again at the weekend !

Hello rosa, I made a pavlova yesterday!!!

How about making the cake and then fill it with crema pasticc tomorrow? I'd worry it'd get soggy otherwise. Dunno!

Yes, it's very hot here too, I really hope it cools down a bit, otherwise our flat becomes an oven (as it's exposed to the sun from dawn till dusk)

Oh you brave girl. Its too humid here to do Pavlova mine always goes chewey.... DH for some reason makes a good meringue .
We have a good breeze thankfully and just think next summer we will have Air conditioning - HURRAH !
I bought peaches today - not bad for the first ones .....
I think I will do the crema domani and just hope it all works ok as I won't have any time to correct mistakes !

Mine turned out crunchy on the outside and chewey in the inside...

Ah, I haven't dared buying peaches yet, as they all come from spain, I'm just waiting for the italian ones.

But I did buy some cherries, as the children love them

Giveitago, I forgot to say, how did the birthday party go? Did you manage to tidy up? Yesterday I struggled to find some space for dd's presents (a playmobil camper van and art kit etc)

Hello lovelies....Popping in as you've risen into active convos..... at losing my LI mojo recently....have been very busy being a depressed but defiant lefty. (making voodoo dolls of the Cleggerons etc- y'know, the usual stuff)

Nearly finished at scuola media and actually already been paid for the POF thingy I did before Easter which was a nice surprise. Dd just had 4 days off with tonsilitis (dp went to guardia medica after she'd had 2 days of temperature- not high high, sort of 37.5 ish and got shouted at by doctor for not coming before and antibiotics a must etc. )

Sput-good to finally have some concrete result about ds- hopefully you can now get some help with sorting it.

You lot up there won't be getting many of our cherries this year by the way, verrrr bad year, so the "ciliegie della ferrovia" (which I used to think meant they grew by the tracks ) won't be worth sending up north.

Nooo I have been holding off buying cherries as they look so small send em up please.
I was asked if I would be interested in doing the conversational English in a media school - 20 hrs I believe . I am a bit interested as want to earn some money !
Seen your lefty posts on FB ..Onwards and upwards They still can't find my voting forms........

Oh Bucharest, hello !!!

(and then of course if you're not depressed enough by the cleggerons, gelmini and co can give you the final blow )

Bad weather. Yes. Mil's cherries are still very indietro, they are usually ready at the end of may. uffa!

Oh go for it Rosa, do it do it do it!

lol- I alternate between thinking wtf with Gelmini and then kind of thinking she has a point.....Something needs to be done to the education system here, I'm just not sure what. The whole concorso system needs binning for starters, people need to be employed as teachers because they are or would be good teachers, not just because they've got to the top of a waiting list.

Rosa, definitely do it! My POF was 30 an hour which made a nice little bit of extra when we weren't really expecting it. Mind you, I think I'm going to concentrate on the PONs next year as 80 an hour, is of course, rather even more lovely!

Ciao - I know it's been ages, life is pretty busy atm as I am working (from home) and still building our house, plus obviously have 4yr old and 14mth old. Hopefully the house will be ready for Sept (would like August, but this IS Italy!). I've just popped in briefly to see if anyone know of any decent Scuola Materna/Infanzia in Rome for my 4 year old. DH is still working in Rome and I've been in Trentino for 2 years now without him...so we may have to bite the bullett and go to live with him down there...if you've got any reccomendations that would be great - even the names of places where friends go that would be useful too. It's tricky because where DS is atm has a lovely garden, is bright and airy, and only has 24 children (only 4 boys though!) so getting something equivalent and cheap as possible will be tricky! Hope u are all ok xx

Hi Buch
I thought I was funny for refusing to buy Spanish peaches.
Go for it Rosa

Oh hello Tantik! . You need Gio for recommendations of scuole materne in Rome! (mind you, it could be too late for iscrizione in sept)

Bucharest, of course school needs reforming in Italy, but what they are doing now is just cutting money with no paedagogic (sp???) program behind it. (good article by Francesco merlo in la repubblica today)

Sput ! I don't like to buy foreign fruit/veg when it'll be soon in season here, food miles etc.

Hi Tantik, as Franca says you have probably missed the boat for a state materna, but for those you are usually allocated a place in the one nearest you. Anyway traffic here being what it it you're going to want something close. I have seen some ads for ones in the area near my DD's school but no experience really. If by any chance you think you'll be living in the deep southern suburbs I can ask around.

I don't buy foreign fruit and veg either, other than bananas and avocados. One of the things I like about living here really.

no foreign fruit and veg here either. Have become very anal re seasonal stuff and drive my family mad when back in the UK passing comment on strawberries in the supermarket in Dec and the like.
Tantik I think you possibly would be too late although you may get on a waiting list to take place of any drop outs (loads dropped out of mine last year). Would depend where you will be as you will be restricted to one close to you. Mine is 2 mins from my house and I love it but definitely couldnt be described as being airy and green.
Sput how did the therapy go?

It went really well, she is really lovely and got an immediate rapport with him. She has given a list of concrete stuff to work on, which is great for me.
Shame I had to drive to the other side of Rome though.
Poor DH fell down a manhole in Uganda! He is ok though apart from cuts and bruises. Think he was lucky, most people break their legs. Unfortunately it happens alot as people steal the covers, even concrete ones.

Marking my place again... Buch, seen your fb posts... we might lose our boss now, on top of having been 2men down for the last year and her covering 2posts.... and now the school reform... and tests at 6!?! Back later, smelly bum to change (not mine :-) )

Thanks for the tips so far guys - useful to know about the waiting lists. I had kind of figured that we would have to go private, so I think we'll have to make that Plan A. Previously we lived in the Appio Latino area, so would be happy to live there again or even further out if it gave us access to better schools. Otherwise we are planning on finding the school and then the accommodation. Sputnik - what is deep south of Rome? What about living outside of Rome - any recommendations there?

As regards local fruit and veg I think it's great that we tend to only get local here - but I do miss not having the choice. I can't believe it though when I go to Tescos and struggle to find local produce - even European is hard to find! I got a right rollicking from my hubby for buying egyptian fagioli the other day (I didn't even look where they were from, I just fancied some!) and he's constantly checking my tinned tomatoes!! I get him to import my tahini from Rome so that I can make hummous!

Quick post ...I agree but after being on this diet I had a wanting for peaches when I saw them one offer - good though. I do buy strawberries when they start though but now they are all Italian. I I amore anal when in the UK though and only buy 'seasonal' stuff as I honestly think people have no idea .
Hi Tantik - good luck with finding aplace you never know you might be lucky as Gio said.
Sput great about ds and good that you have stuff to work on.
My father fell down a man hole cover in Bombay and a rat went up his shirt. He then walked back into a very posh hotel where he was staying covered in sh*t. He had the courage to bring his shoes home with him.....He said he wasn't drunk but I don't think we ever believed him ....
Made Crema past at 6am and now off to decorate it god help me if it goes wrong as I have no time for errors !!!

Rosa, good luck for the cake... your father's story made me (at the rat, how scary!) and at him going back to the hotel !

Sputnik, glad to hear you are on a good start .

Camo, sorry to hear this. Yesterday night I went to the assemble dei genitori of ds's school, as the Gelmini cuts will be really effective from this september. The school will lose 3, maybe 4 teachers.
The "tempo pieno" will lose (most likely) its pedagogic nature. Bastards