Vignettes

Some insights from our past week...

1. We had arranged with Nonno Enrico's wife to pick up a 3-liter tin of olive oil on Saturday (this was Friday).  However, Friday late afternoon we were down in the village and weren't sure whether we really had enough oil for our dinner.  I went over to Enrico's stand (the lights were on! Hurray!), and the lights went out...Luca was leaving.  I gave out a shout, and he gladly re-opened for me -- and upon seeing me said immediately that he hadn't got around to decanting my 3-liter tin, he was so sorry, but he'd have it ready tomorrow as promised.  Responding that it was fine, I just needed a small something to get by for dinner, he gave me a 250-ml (8.4-ounce) bottle.  Yes, you read the verb correctly... gave.  I love our community here.

2. Tricia asked the bishop to bless a rosary that James had given her.  He happily did so, saying that he'd bring us each one blessed by Pope Benedict to the following week's Mass.  When I was waiting to talk to Don Enrico after Mass the next week, the bishop saw me, came over, and said that he had our gifts.  Sure enough -- not just a rosary each, but a beautiful signed photo of our retiring pontiff.  Isn't that lovely?

3. Tricia couldn't resist a beautiful purse in one of our local shops, and was also eying a blouse.  In Italy, returning items isn't terribly common, and one must ask if it's possible.  Anyway, the lady said that Tricia could take it home & think about it...if she decided to purchase it, please bring just the tags back.  When she rang up Tricia's purchase, there was no charge on the blouse at all -- it was taken away on the honor system!

4. Leo saw me hefting the heaviest.cart.ever up the hill -- we were just at Consolazione -- and stopped to give us a lift.  Just because.  Speaking of whom, he called me from the airport as he was leaving for vacation in Argentina just to confirm Tricia's and Michael's travel arrangements so that Sandro would be there on time and in the right place.

5. I went to the garden store, and got some more plants.  The lovely lady (whose name I've forgotten...something Maria) put the pot, plants, and soil in the car.  We went to pay (after everything was loaded!), at which point she told me that I couldn't pay today because her cash register was on the fritz.  "Just come back in the next couple of days and we'll get you all set up," she said blithely.  I suggested that at least we should write down what I'd taken so we didn't forget something by mistake?

6. At the dentist: Ashley had a sore tooth and Florence was concerned about her tooth grinding.  I took them both in for an evaluation with a private dentist.  He saw us at 4, agreed with the night guard for Florence, and had a very specific recommendation for the type of guard based on her bite.  Rather than scheduling an appointment for the molds, etc. he went ahead and did it right there.  I remembered when I had mine done how much I wanted to gag...Florence, who has a much more sensitive palate, reported that it was completely fine and she had no trouble with it.

Moving into another room for Ashley (already cleaned), he wanted to do an x-ray to confirm his visual evaluation that everything was okay.  I did ask specifically if he could shield her neck (thyroid protection), and he assured me that that was fine.  The assistant showed up with a style of x-ray vest with a built-in neck guard.  Who would have expected that, given that we're in the middle of nowhere? I certainly wouldn't.  When the x-ray had been developed, he explained why her tooth was sensitive, described extremely clearly exactly what was going on with it, and answered all our questions very knowledgeably.

The time came to check out.  Rita, the assistant, set up the 2-week appointment to pick up Florence's guard.  She was ready for me to scram, and I had to cough hesitantly and ask how much I owed them.  Looking surprised, she signaled for me to wait for a minute.  After conferring with the dentist, she decided that we owed them 20 euros.

Alexandra