The first thing I feel I need to update on was my great day off a few weeks ago. I spent the morning wandering the Brera district of the city with Meghan. My afternoon was spent wandering bookshops by duomo and finally heading to the Edward Hopper art exhibition which was fantastic! For those of you who don't know, Edward Hopper was an American artist who painted realists oil and watercolor paintings and did many prints early on in his career. It was an exhibit well worth going to! That night I had a nice, casual aperitivo with Harriet.
The next night I met up with a big group of girls to go to a foreign students sangria party. It was a fun way to meet some new people and enjoy the company of my friends! The next night I headed out to Noon...a nice bar right near Cadorna station for another night out with au pair girls. We all had such a blast!
Sunday was the Borra family Christmas party...on Santa Lucia Day. The entire Borra side of the family was present and it was a full day with tons of kids and food. They had hired two girls to come and play music and set up an arts and crafts table downstairs so the kids pretty much had their own party! It really made me start getting into the Christmas spirit!
Tuesday, the 14th, was a very difficult day for me and my whole family. I found out in the morning that my Grandfather, at age 82, had passed away the night before. The family here was great with me and encouraged me to get to Scotland as soon as I could. So Friday morning I arrived in Ayr to be with my family for the funeral on Saturday. Although the circumstances were poor it was great to see my dad and sister, especially with the holidays right around the corner.
The Thursday before I left was the kid's holiday performance at ASM. It was so cute to see Paolo playing the violin, Bea singing, and the whole elementary school performing Coldplay's "viva la vida." I even was able to see my friend Kim who was there to watch her kids too!
After a very emotionally draining weekend I headed back to Milan during a snowstorm in Glasgow that kept me waiting on the runway (in the plane) for over two hours. Milan was just as cold as Scotland when I returned, and snow had dusted everything. Sunday night was slightly chaotic as Paolo had to prepare to go into the hospital the next morning to have his tonsils removed.
Monday morning was just me and Bea. Midday I had to rush out in order to pay for my new language courses in time. This required me to wait at the post office (seriously reminded me of the American DMV...wait wait wait) then pay with the ticket I was given, and then return the receipt to the school. Such a performance! There must be an easier way.
In the afternoon Bea and I were picked up by Bea's friend Phillipa, her sister Maria Jose, and their mom to go see La Principessa e il Ranocchio (The Princess and The Frog). It was such a cute movie and everyone really enjoyed it. I also got popcorn which was a huge plus. While we were in the theatre, Milan got hit with about 15 cm of snow! Unfortunately we were outside the city and driving was practically impossible so Bea and I embarked on an adventure! The girl's mom walked us through the snow to the tram, but because the weather was so bad the trams were running extremely slow and we had no idea when the next one would come. So we proceeded to walk through the falling snow and freezing cold, probably over a mile, to the end of the green line. Bea had never taken the metro before and was pretty terrified. She was so well behaved it was amazing! We managed to get home safely, have a hot bath, hot tea, and great pizza for dinner.
The next morning, Paolo and Gaia returned from the hospital. Paolo stayed in bed the whole day just resting. He could only eat cold things, so his diet has been even more restricted than normal, and his list of medicines has only grown longer. Hopefully the operation will make a difference and he will get sick less in 2010. Later in the week Phillipa and Maria Jose came over to play. They are the sweetest girls and play very well with Bea and Paolo. Phillipa and Bea kept each other occupied while I taught Paolo and Maria Jose how to play some fun card games!
Christmas eve seemed like another normal day. After accidently sleeping in an hour (not really a problem, the kids were still sleeping when i got up) I stayed in the house with the kids the whole day...and played some great games of battleship with Paolo! In the evening we had a nice dinner complete with champagne and a great assortment of meats. I tried to get the kids to sit down and listen to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but unfortunately they were uninterested. The kids were so excited about putting out the right cookies, milk, and treats for Santa and his reindeer. Then Paolo reveled his great plan to me...he was going to try to video tape Santa Claus!
Christmas morning was full of excitement, as it should be. I was absolutely shocked that they didn't get up until 8:30 in the morning. They ate breakfast and THEN made it through to all the presents. The presents were all unwrapped and opened within half an hour! Bea was so excited all day long because it was also her 6th birthday! She felt like a little princess all day :) My presents to the family were all hits. Books for Bea and Paolo, and High School Musical (the first one...she watched 3 times that day) for Bea's birthday along with some HSM pins (which she wore all day long!), and a picture frame and photo album with every photo I've taken since being with the family for Gaia and Marco. They loved the album and all the photos and when the rest of the family (Gaia's side) arrived she showed everyone the album! My gifts consisted of five beautiful Reminiscence bracelets (apparently high-fashion jewelry from Paris), a little electronic money safe, a diary with maps of milan (from nonna adriana...love her), and a nice holiday bonus! Christmas day I felt like part of the family, and although I offered to help with things and continued to check on the kids, it didn't really feel like I was working. The food was all fantastic, catered from Marchasis and Peck, I ate so much! In the early evening, my friend Lizzy came over because her train had been cancelled and she was all alone :( She ate some leftovers and then hung out with me and the kids...who loved showing her all their new toys! All in all a good Christmas. Although I missed my family its always good to know that my Italian family treats me as part of their own.
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