Il mio fine settimana solo

My weekend alone.
This weekend the family went to Guido's parents. I stayed at the flat with the dog and cat. I believe they were all very anxious to go and on Saturday the kids were a mess. But, we got them ready and they took off in time for the bus at 10.
After this, I went to the market. The market is great and it comes every Saturday morning. I really needed a new jacket since I did not pack my winter coat and it is truly getting chilly. I walked to a few places, many having the same, shiny jackets. Then I found it. I found the, as in thee, most perfect coat of all time. It is not fair to call it a coat. I would rather call it something like Grace. Now, I am not one for fashion, as most of you know. But when a person finds something that fits so perfect, and looks so good, and feels so nice, you have to say to yourself, who made this and why are there not stained glass windows of them in churches? I am not saying this jacket is for everyone, but it's for me. I have never loved a jacket this much and I do not believe I will ever love another. Ahem. Scusi. I also bought a red scarf, to go with Grandma's string mittens, and then some calimari from a travelling seafood truck run by these awesome women who look like hard rockers covered in tattoos with painted faces. They are there every Saturday. Good calamari, too. Then I couldn't wait to try on the jacket and scarf together, so I went home.
I did all of my work in the afternoon so I would have the next two days pretty much free of work, besides walking Bella and sweeping once more before the family for back.
After washing the flat and organizing laundry, I went for some groceries. I love going for groceries here. Everything seems so cheap because you are paying half a euro for some things. Which, in any case, is still only about 75 cents. Huh. That's cheap eggs if you ask me. Then I got home and used Skype for the first time!
Well, kind of. My first call was to Kristen. I knew she had been out and it was very early in the morning and I woke her up and, rightfully, she hung up on me. She didn't know it was me. It makes me giggle everytime I think about it. I still remember her loving, "Allo... ugh." Click.
Anyways, I called Alex in Switzerland after that and we made wonderful plans for New Years! I am hoping to get about two weeks off and hit up her home, Munich and Austria. It was great to hear her again too, after almost 5 years. I cannot wait to see her! When she was in Canada we used to talk about me taking a trip to Switzerland. Now I am!
Then I had a bath. A quiet, tranquil, know-that-I-don't-have-to-get-up-early-in-the-morning, relaxing bath. Then I opened the wine I bought! Ah, wine. It had been on sale from 3 euros to 2, so I thought, why not go for the good stuff? You can get wine here for pretty much smiling. It's crazy cheap.
And then, after almost a whole month away from home, I called my mother. Now, don't get me wrong, I wanted to, but we finally got all the parts for the whole. It was great to hear her voice and imagine her having a nice lazy Saturday. It was neat to be in real time with Canada. It was 2 there, 10 at night here. I slept very well that night. (By the way, I have signed up for a year on Skype and can call landlines and cellphones with an unlimited deal. FYI.)
On Sunday I was in bed until 11. 11! This is pretty nuts. I hadn't realised that I have been getting up at 7.20 everyday. I have a daily schedule! I haven't had one of those in years. However, this also means that it is pretty much impossible for me to sleep in ever. Note that I said I stayed in bed until 11, not slept. I ended up reading and what not, but I was definately up at 8. I walked Bella, who had waited not so patiently, at then decided to try out some Italiano. I put in Aristocats. They have a few movies, all in Italiano. Some have an English option, but I have vowed not to use it. However, DVDs and bambini do not always get along. Most of them are scratched as if a chicken thought there was food inside. I watched it beginning to end, but only saw about half of it, having to skip many scenes. It was ok. Except the best scene is missing! You all know the one. This is the same of Ice Age. I think they watched the Dodo scene too many times and it is worn out.
I studies some more, ate and then, as I have been wanting to do since I saw the poster three weeks ago, I went to the cinema and saw Bastardi Senza Gloria.
Bellisimo. The movie was originally in German and English, I believe. When they spoke German, there were Italian subtitles, where they spoke English, it was dubbed with Italiano. It was really neat to watch the movie and listen to the audience react to things that I had no idea about. I pretty much got the story line and I really liked the movie. I love Quentin Tarantino, though. In any language.
After the movie, it was about 10.30, I decided to walk home. The Piazza is different at night. It is as if someone put a dark roof over it, and the lamps are all lit across the walls, and it is quite bright. It's like a ballroom and everyone who is drinking coffee at the tables, or walking their dogs through the streets, or waiting with their friends for the bus, or driving through in their car, they are all part of the dance. People move so well here. Like it was choreographed.
Speaking of which, a note on traffic. The traffic pretty much never stops here. If I were to drive from one side of Urbino to the next and then around it and through it again, I would never stop. There are no lights here. I saw one set but they were not in use. There are no stop signs, only yield, and there are traffic circles everywhere. You would think this would be chaos, but no. I have never seen an accident or even close to an accident, and I only hear people honk when they want to say hello to someone. This is very common practice. Walking in the streets here takes some skill, but once you get into the beat, you move with the cars, sharing the town like a skating arena.
I walked all the way home, only about 20 minutes and I feel very safe here at night. There are lamps every few metres, which is what gives Urbino it's charm from a distance at night. It was when I got home this night that I really noticed it.
The cat was acting super weird.
Now, Mitcha (the Italian equivilent of Kitty) is a strange cat in all rights. But she was being all meowy and spastic. She ran around like she had gotten into the coffee. She even scratched at me and she has never done that before. I starting to remember that all weekend she had ben biting at me or calling at me or doing things she normally doesn't do. Like sit on the table. O man. She KNOWS she is not allowed to do this. And she normally stops after you tell her. But she was on it every five minutes! I know she is not hungry, for I watch her eat everyday. Now, I have never had a cat, but I finally guessed it. She has gone into heat. Gah. Cats in heat are hell to live with. Nothing will make them happy. Well not nothing, but nothing she is going to get. Allora. Povero Mitcha.
Today I had almost the whole day to myself again. I went to the linguistics centre to speak with the prof. and I start classes tomorrow, and every Tuesday and Thursday from now until I leave.
I walked Bella; as you can see this pretty much runs my day. Once in the morning, once in the evening and once at night. I also went to the Fortezza. It is a park where I take the girls sometimes at one of the top peaks of Urbino. It is a beautiful sight from the Fortezza. I had some tea and it was really nice to be there alone and to take time to really look instead of running after children. I wrote some, but it was too cold to hold the pen any longer so I went home. Well, I wanted to show off my coat so I walked through town one more time.
I studied some more and then went for more groceries with Bella. By the time I got home Alessandra and the kids were here! They were very happy to see me and I them I truly missed them. They are the only people I know here and I am a part of their home. It was great to see them. Sarah seemed different somehow, and when I asked Alessandra about it she said it always happens on trips. She grows up a little more each time. Frick. Take that girl around the world.
Anyways, they were very good and I think this trip had them all a little stressed and now that it is over, they are a bit more settled. I cooked dinner and afterwards, Sarah asked me to help her brush her teeth.
What? I almost fell to the floor.
You have to understand that this has been a struggle since day one. She has bitten me on multiple occasions and once went to bed without brushing at all. She always called for her mother, or just didn't want to do it at all. But, we stuck with it. When I was to help her, Alessandra would not, and when she did do it willingly, it was fine and fun and dandy, and now, she has accepted it. I think things will be easier from here. They have finally accepted that I am here to stay and that they would rather spend more time liking me and less time biting me. Although, they also know I am not here to stay. Alessandra has told me they are worried because they know I will leave, like all their Au Pairs, and therefore are a little afraid to get close to me. But, I think they are over it. We had a fun night and the children are sleeping soundly.
Just like I will be in about 4 and half minutes.
My next post will be full of pictures of Urbino!
A final note: I love this town and this family. Even if I needed some time away from the family and alone with the town to realise it.
Ciao and buono notte.