A Summer Afternoon in Italy

Here is a glimpse of an afternoon for us here in Italy.

  After Gio woke from his nap we headed up to the huge chestnut forest for a hike.

A rare moment when Gio is not dawdling behind!  

 Gio likes to think of this alternatively as the monster/dinosaur/gruffalo woods.  Today, it was gruffalo. For those of you who may not know this wonderful book, put it on your wish list.  We are obsessed with it here in the Belli house! (And there is also a terrific short film version available.) 

Anyway, the path to the forest begins just above our house.  The climb up is steep.  Gio is always very pleased with himself when he makes it.  Enzo, being a mountain dog, is less impressed with his own self.  

Here is the view of our house just before we enter the woods.  

After spending so much of his life in Kyiv, always restricted to a leash, this life is a gift for Enzo.

Once we enter the forest, both Gio and Enzo begin serious stick hunting and exploration.  Today Gio was busy trying to find the snake, owl, fox, mouse and gruffalo.  He had no luck.... 

....and so both boys switched to sticks.  Each competes to see who can find the biggest ones.  

On the way home we pass by our neighbors who live in a small group of houses and barn at the top of the hill above our house.  Their houses are REALLY old...like, let me see....getting out my calculator...853 years older than ours!

Later we headed to the car wash.  My parents are arriving on Monday so we are trying to clean up our act a bit. 

Gio was fascinated by the "car bath machine".  I promised that next time we would stay in the car and watch from the inside.  He suggested we go home and throw mud at the car so we could come back that evening. 

And to finish off the evening, a scooter "ride" which really means crossing the street and then parking the scooter to investigate the sand pile in the neighbor's driveway.  Soon it was time to head home for pasta and a movie (The Gruffalo, of course!).

Thoughts on Trash

First, a few images from this week....

Bath time for our stinky puppy.  

One of my boys is NOT having fun.

Rainy day fun with Megablocks and marbles.  

"A parking garage for really tall dragons."

On the phone: "How many more days, Pappa?" Clearly we are both eager for  Paolo to come home!

Now to my topic for today....GARBAGE.  I must admit I never thought too much about it before I began these adventures overseas.  Yes, I dutifully carted my can to the curb every Tuesday and Friday. I filled my recycling bin for its weekly pickup.  I grumbled when people did not pick up after their dogs in the park but otherwise was quite unappreciative of the cleanliness of our neighborhood in Georgetown.

And then we moved it Delhi.

A trash heap in Delhi

 Trash was everywhere.  You really could not take a step without encountering it.  There were no public trash cans and few seemed to care about simply discarding whatever they were finished with right where they were standing.  Stray dogs and cows lived off of these massive piles.  As for actual trash collection, we paid someone to come to the house every morning; it was hauled off in a cart to be picked through, sorted, dumped and/or sold.

A trash collector in Delhi

I recommend this book.  The author spent years in one of Mumbai's slums following the life of a young garbage picker.  

And then we moved to Kyiv.  Public trash bins abound.  Teams of women are out each morning to sweep and pick up trash.  People are still prone to leave food wrappers, beer bottles and cigarette butts on the ground but, in general, I do not feel like I have to watch my every step as I did in Delhi. As for our own trash, there are two large dumpsters in the alley outside of our apartment.  One is meant for recycling but it is treated as a regular garbage dumpster by all.  I still dutifully put our plastic, cardboard and glass into it though it is disheartening to see construction debris, old car tires and rotting food in there already.

Ok, so this is not a dumpster in Kyiv, but it is the closest image I could find.
This is often the state of ours;  it is usually not emptied until past over-flowing.  

And so now we come to Italy.  Certainly, Italy has its own bad reputation when it comes to trash.  Mob ties and strikes come to mind.

Remember the strike in Naples a few summers ago? 

Well, we live in the north of Italy where the mafia has much less influence and the rural population means less trash to handle. Here is how the system works here:

Every 10 houses or so there is this neatly maintained collection of  containers on the side of the road.  Big dumpster for general garbage, white for plastic, blue for paper, green for glass-aluminum and brown for food waste.    In some spots there is also a large brown dumpster for landscape refuse (leaves, etc).

In the towns the containers are bigger and there are more choices.
 The big yellow one is for clothing to be recycled.  

And battery recycling is readily available.  I must admit this is the first time in my life
 that I have properly disposed of them!

Of the 4 countries I have now called home, I like the system here in our little Italian village the best.  From what I have observed everyone is very compliant with the idea.  I watched an elderly woman this morning carefully pull a bag from her purse and gingerly deposit her milk carton, soup can and apple core into their respective bins.  The areas around the containers are always neat and when one bin becomes too full, someone puts a large rock on top of it which sends the message to go on to the next collection site to leave your things.  It is difficult to imagine such system ever working in India or in Ukraine.  And, yes, perhaps these trash containers along the road at such frequent intervals might be considered eyesores to those of us in the US who hide our bins in garages or behind gates most of the time. However, I do think the compliance with recycling here is coming from its availability and ease of use.  

Ciao!  xoxo. Clara

This is my GOOD Big Tom.....

A few months ago I wrote a post about Gio's thumb-sucking.  While the habit continues as strong as ever, there has been a marked increase in his other comfort behavior- his attachment to his stuffed dog, Big Tom.  I suppose this has something to do with the sudden change of scenery this summer- our move to Italy, his new school where no one speaks English and 4 weeks without his papa.  Gio has gotten through all of these big changes well, and I think Big Tom has a lot to do with it.  The teachers and children at his school quickly recognized that Gio and Big Tom go together; all have been eager to make sure that BT is always nearby on the rare occasions when Gio's grip slips from one of the worn ears.

As far as history goes, Gio was given the original stuffed animal when he was about 6 months old.  He was a gift from his two Italian cousins, Cristina & Giacomo.  At first the toy was just one of a few in Gio's crib, but within a month it became the one thing Gio pulled out with him when we lifted him up each morning.  His thumb-sucking began soon after, always coordinated with a gentle rubbing of the dog's belly.  This was, and is still, the way Gio learned to put himself to sleep.

Once Gio began to talk we learned that Gio had named his puppy "Tom".  Although we do not know exactly why this name was chosen, we speculate it may be from the nickname "Tomby" that our Indian cook gave to Gio while we were in Delhi.  Over the last few years I have collected a few more of the stuffed dogs for a total now of 5 big ones and 2 miniatures (or "baby Toms") for fear that the original might one day get lost.  Despite the increased population, the original remains the most important.  "He is my GOOD Big Tom, Momma!" This has something to do with the feel of the dog's belly.  He does a careful inspection by rubbing each one until he finds the right Tom.  I try every so often to get the good one into the washing machine but it is difficult to find a 2 hour window when he will not be missed.  As a matter of fact, as I write this, it is in the machine. On cue Gio just asked, "Momma, where is my GOOD Big Tom?"  And so begins 90 minutes of distraction, diversion and a few lies.  Yesterday I discovered that one ear is about to fall off.  Gio has agreed that surgery can be performed, but only by his beloved Aunt Luisa. Wise decision to avoid your momma's sewing "skills," dear boy.  I suppose one day Gio will retire Big Tom, perhaps when peer pressure rears its all-too-often cruel head.  For now, however, I am charmed by the the boy-puppy friendship and am happy my fellow is still very far from being all grown up.

I thought I would rummage through my iPhoto files to capture a timeline of Gio and his puppy...

7 months old.  Napping during a hike in Italy.

On a flight back to India.

The ears became favorites early on.

Gio's beloved pediatrician in Delhi, Dr. Kumar.

On a hike in Maryland.  Big Tom always came along tucked into the stroller.  (Topher was dressed for deer hunting season.)

Gio and Paolo's first trip to a Bob Evans' restaurant!

First birthday.  

Searching for the "good" one....

Found him at last!

Gio will still be holding his BT when this sweater actually fits!

BT has listened along to every book we have read to Gio....

...and stayed on guard through countless naps.

He has visited Momma's old teaching grounds (The Potomac School)....

....and comes along on strolls (this is actually one of his  "Baby Toms").

A pillow for reflection. 

One of our first days in Kyiv.  

How many dogs have actually ridden a pony?

Once in a while Gio tries out other love objects.  This did not go well.  Her head was removed just after this shot. 

Passing a cold winter afternoon together.

Sledding....

...and taking a break on the long trip up to our apartment. 

Gio obviously inherited my own fear of birds. Even BT could not comfort him here!

And then Enzo entered our lives.... Gio calls him "my REAL dog".

Halloween 2011 in Georgetown. Two BTs were needed to get through it.  

Back in Kyiv, fall 2011.  Almost 3.  

BT has taken every airplane flight with Gio....watching the iPad....

....or simply serving as an accessory to a FINE outfit.  

Here are my two boys about to embark on their 100th flight!

Big Tom is there for sleep....

...for ice cream....

...or for just about any other adventure.