It was cool last night, down into the 50s. I hate to admit it, but summer is drawing to a close here in Montepulciano.  Yesterday was the official last festival of the season, the annual barrel race.  I’ll spare you all the details since I wrote about it at length last year, but my Contrada, Gracciano, won this year, so it was pretty exciting.  I watched the race with a bunch of Poggiolo fans (Bonnie’s gang, Antonella) so I had to cheer quietly.  If you have ever summited this town, which is quite steep, imagine pushing a 200 pound barrel to the top while you’re at it.   The festivities went on well into the night and since my apartment is really close to the Contrada’s home base, I got to hear numerous songs in honor of the win!  Our Queen cover band has been playing “We are the Champions” all summer, but last night it really seemed appropriate.

I checked on my Permesso last week with Siena and they said it should be ready in another week or so, so that’s good news.  Of course, I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that by the time I have it in my hand, work opportunities will be evaporating into the autumn fog, along with the tourists.

I’ve been the recipient of tons of tomatoes and plums over the past few weeks and I’ve tried my hand at making some traditional Tuscan recipes for tomato sauce.  I also made a plum applesauce, but didn’t attempt the marmellata that they do here because I want to see it being done first.  My creation came out good and I even succeeded in vacuum sealing the jars by turning them upside down, which was a trick Fabio taught me when I was working at Poliziano.  Basically it eliminates the need for the water bath after putting the jam or sauce in the jars.

With the cool temperatures today, Cinder and I took a long walk toward San Biagio.  The grape vines are getting heavy with their sangiovese grapes and the olive trees are preparing for another season’s harvest of the their precious oil! I’m also quite excited about this week’s trip to the market as I just got a text from my fruit vendor that he is back.  I’m looking forward to seeing him, as well as to my discount…a girl can’t survive on plums and tomatoes alone!

Our Gracciano flag throwers in the parade before the barrel race

Plums and tomatoes were "abbondante" in my house this summer

The great plum applesauce experiment

This year's olive crop...yum!

My friend Nadia who sells flowers at the mercato told me this when I relayed the birthday news:  “Life begins at 40.”  I’m sure the Italians have a similar expression at 50, but I’ve still got a decade to discover that one.  I had a nice, albeit mellow birthday weekend.  I received lots of birthday cards and emails from friends and family so I felt special, although my parent’s gift didn’t arrive.  For some reason whenever they mail something, it gets sent over the arctic express.  Hopefully it will arrive this week.  Marinella bought me a pretty blouse and some sandals and Antonella gave me a gorgeous leather wallet and pretty scarf.  I had a lovely lunch with Janet and Ken on Sunday, work at Poliziano on my actual birthday, which was an awesome gift!, and margaritas and guacamole with Bonnie and Mark on Tuesday.  That was particularly fun since none of us had had margaritas since moving to Italy.  Massimo from my bar supplied the tequila and triple sec, since neither Bonnie or I could locate ingredients in town.  The limes alone were a mission and a half.

I also made my self-imposed deadline on book revisions and sent off a completed manuscript to my editor friend Signe.  Hopefully, she’ll have positive feedback.  I’m waiting to add an epilogue about receiving my work permit.  That would make for a happy ending!  Should be ready this week… Fingers crossed.  If you pray, say one for me, please.  I really need this!!!!!!

Yesterday, I helped Mark with all the boys who were participating in a flag competition in Piazza Grande.  Bonnie and Natalie are in New York having a girl’s weekend, so I pitched in to get four kids dressed in tights and tunics so they could participate for their contrada, Poggiolo.  I felt a little disloyal to be cheering for a contrada other than my own, but I’ll cheer extra loudly for Gracciano at the bravio at the end of the month.  It was a fun day, loooong, but fun.  The kids all received medals for their participation and Zack, the eldest, got a trophy with his squad.  For Americans, the kids really got into the Italian tradition.  It was also fun for me to see so many of my students that I teach participating.

This week I have a new student starting and my kids from Poliziano just got back from an English camp in Switzerland so I look forward to seeing how their English has improved.  They texted me in English for my birthday and I was quite proud.

Pre-birthday lunch with Janet and Ken and a gift of beautiful roses

Margaritas with Bonnie and Mark

The boys preparing for their flag throwing debut!

Kyle shows off his moves

I took way too many pictures, but they were so darn cute...

Did we win?

The summer is flying by.  Sunflowers are blooming, temperatures have been in the 90s and I have been eating way too much gelato.  I’ve been busy this month teaching English to a group of  elementary school kids.  Marinella’s niece Lucia organized this, telling me that parents were interested in having their students practice speaking with a native English speaker.  I was skeptical that anyone would actually turn up as the sign up sheet had one name on it for weeks… and that was Lucia’s son Francesco.  We spoke to Father Marc at Sant’Agnese and he offered me the use of a room in the cloister of the Church.  I set about preparing a class for kids aged 6 – 10.

The course had six students for the first two weeks and then more kept showing up.  Some came without their parents, just holding notebooks and telling me they’d heard about the class from friends.  So by the end of the three weeks their were ten kids in the class.  We played fun games, the kids learned (or reviewed for the more advanced) body parts, the house, the family, food, moods and anything else I could think of.  They earned prizes and were enthusiastic students.

The response was more than I could have hoped for.  I did have one sour note when one of the moms who told me her sons were too advanced, then influenced a couple of the other parents.  I tried explaining that the course (which by the way was practically free) was designed to be an opportunity to practice speaking and pronunciation, both of which her kids could have used, but she’d made up her mind.

I continued the second course this week at Lucia’s insistence that other parents were interested and there were three students, probably five this week when some get back from their vacations.  That’s a good number and the main goal for me was to meet some of the parents and just spread the word that I am here and available if anyone needs tutoring during the school year.

I also did another week of work at Poliziano last week, which was fun and energizing albeit a little chaotic juggling that and the teaching.  I’m now waiting for the Permesso, and this week makes one month.  With any luck it will be ready if not by my rapidly approaching birthday, soon after.  This Leo is turning 40.  I’m not having a party, but maybe a night out with friends, followed by carrot cake.  And Bonnie and I are definitely doing margaritas on her roof terrace one night.  For those of you who know my love of the margarita, this will be the first one in a year and a half!  Still not convinced we can actually find limes since I never see them in the supermarket, but I do have a friend in the fruit business, so I’m confident I can locate some.  Anyway, another year older and let’s hope a little wiser…

Lucia helping me organize the "classroom" at the church

The cloisters at Sant'Agnese

My class of six...

If you teach it, they will come...by week three there were ten students!

Two weeks of work and I feel rejuvenated.  Not only did I have a wonderful time working at Poliziano, but I met terrific people who were here enjoying Tuscany on their vacations.  Some, like me, knew the wine from the States, but others stumbled upon the wine at dinners in local restaurants or just saw the sign and decided to come take a taste.  I gave tours, helped prepare lunch and even conducted tastings.  The last was probably the most fun for me since I already loved the wine.  My immediate boss was Fabio.  He’s in charge of the in-house sales, the tastings, and the tastings with food.  He does A LOT and my job was basically to make his job easier.  Fabio, whose English is surprisingly good for someone who just began speaking it only two years ago, was a delight to work with.  He is funny, easy-going and patient.  He answered my ten thousand questions about wine, the vineyard and didn’t run screaming from the room every time I asked, “Posso farti una domanda?!”

I met Americans from all over the country and some days it felt a bit strange since I kept meeting people from places I’d lived, Palo Alto where I was born, Vermont where I went to high school and even a woman who worked at the same hospital that I did when I was in law school.  After a year of speaking Italian almost exclusively, it was quite fun to catch up with Americans.  I especially enjoyed a couple from Maryland who have a restaurant there called “A little bit of Tuscany.”  They sell Poliziano in their restaurant and love the wine so it was quite enjoyable to show them around and spend the morning with them.  Rose and Kirk tasted some of the wines in the morning, and then decided to wait for lunch to continue so they wouldn’t be as Rose put it, “shitfaced.”  Not having heard that expression in a year, I laughed until I cried.

All of the groups that I took around were lovely and quite generous.  I kept receiving tips (including a very nice bottle of wine of the vineyard’s reserve Vino Nobile from a group of friends from Washington DC and the Hague who couldn’t believe I hadn’t yet tried one of the wines!).  The wine is delicious and may be my new favorite.  It’s called Asinone – which is named for the shape of its vineyard and literally means “big donkey.”  Unfortunately, one of the Americans re-christened it, and now I can only think of it as the “big ass” wine!  I want to say a special hello to Erik, Mary Ann and Mindy, Paul and Tom, and everyone else who suffered through my first two days of learning curve as my brain overflowed with details of how long the vintages spent in french oak, and then in the bottle.  Everyone was so supportive of this Americana who was happily learning and working!

Everyone who works at the winery from Federico who was seemingly in all places, to Stefania and Tiziana in the office, were welcoming and helpful.  Tiziana drove me home each evening to save me another trip on the bus and Stefania has made it her mission to help me resolve my issues with my documents.  As of yesterday, I was given a date to present myself in Siena and may just may receive my long awaited Permesso.  I made brownies as a thank you, but it hardly seems adequate!

I’m working again two days this week and maybe a week in July, but as I said to Anna and Federico after my lessons with the kids, even if it was just this small amount of time, I am grateful for the opportunity.  It was so nice to feel useful, and the work was truly a pleasure.  I’d forgotten how well you sleep after working nine or ten hours a day!  I hope there will be many more such days in the future.

In the kitchen with Fabio

The "tasting" room at Poliziano

The dining room where you can taste the wines and enjoy Fabio's delicious food!

Tiziana and Stefania in the Poliziano offices

I met Mary Ann and Mindy on my first day of work and they came back the next day with friends Tom and Paul. They all live in Arlington, Vermont where I spent some of my youth!

Jeff and Maria - a wonderful couple from Texas that read my blog and asked me to show them around Montepulciano. They were fun and quite generous! Thanks again, guys! Don't forget to have a margarita for me!

I can’t believe it’s the end of May and it’s just now beginning to feel like spring.  Temperatures are finally warm, and the fog seems to have departed for now.  The sun is hot and promises lovely hot Tuscan days ahead.  The swallows have returned and delight in pooping on my newly washed duvet as it hangs on the line.  White fluff from the poplar trees is carried on every breeze.  Poppies are blooming and covering the hillsides with their delicate red blooms.  The market is bursting with strawberries, asparagus and the first cherries of the season.  Sadly, my fruit vendor has gone to Sicily for the summer so I am back to paying retail prices for my produce until September!  I am trying my hand at growing basil again this year and my windowsill is home to two small plants that Antonella gave me.  They’d been struggling with the cold temps, but finally seem to be content now that there has been some regular doses of long-awaited sunshine.

If it sounds as if my outlook has become slightly more cheerful it’s because it has.  The last month has brought some welcome news.  WORK.  I’m going to be teaching an English class at a nearby church, Sant’Agnese, to some elementary school kids at the end of June.  This is all thanks to Marinella’s niece Lucia who has come up with this plan and is helping me organize it.  It still remains to be seen how many parents sign up their young ones, but Lucia says she’s spoken to many so I’m cautiously optimistic about that.

I also spoke to Anna and Federico from Poliziano this week and they have offered me work for the next two weeks at the winery.  I didn’t fall on the floor in gratitude only because I didn’t want to embarrass them, but I’m pretty darn grateful.  It’s been very tight surviving with babysitting and teaching and in June my regular students are departing for the sea.  This couldn’t have come at a better time.  I’m looking forward to learning more about the wine business and for the opportunity to interact with the public.  Marinella has graciously volunteered to take Cinder out for me so she won’t have to cross her legs for the whole day.

I’m also going to be giving a tour of my town to a couple from Texas who contacted me after reading the blog. I look forward to sharing some of the wonders and curiosities of my new paese!

I’ve been spending as much time as possible outside.  Cinder and I sit in the parking area and I write while she naps in the shade of the cars.  We’ve also been taking some long walks in the morning.  While the pace is slower this year as her age is really beginning to show, especially on the walk home, we both still enjoy a chance to lift our heads into the air and smell the freshly cut grasses, burning olive wood, and the first whiffs of jasmine from hedges along the way.  My kitchen window faces Marinella’s jasmine-lined fence and I look forward to a summer of that delicious fragrance wafting through the window.

Other than that, I’m just writing and re-energizing my spirit after a long winter.  I’m on the last chapter of my book and will soon have a completed first draft.  Editing will be my task over the next couple of months.  I turn 40 in August and that is the unofficial deadline I’ve set for myself to finish.

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring.  I’ll write more after my first week at Poliziano.

Early morning walk in the countryside

Poppies in bloom

More poppies along the road

My new basil plants...a gift from Antonella. (The wall of green in the background is Marinella's jasmine lined fence.)

Antonella receives 24 roses for 24 years of marriage from Cesare

Sant'Agnese, the church where I will be doing the English classes

Yesterday was my anniversary.  A year ago, Cinder and I were just arriving here in Montepulciano on a fog-filled chilly morning.  I was excited and nervous about the new life I’d chosen.  Looking back, I can honestly say that I made the right choice.  I love my new home.   I love the people, the town, the olive oil, the wine, being surrounded by nature, the pace, the intimacy.  And my Italian has definitely improved.

That being said, it hasn’t been an easy year.  The work issue has overshadowed what otherwise would have been a fairly smooth transition.  There were of course the language issues, the fish out of water feeling and struggles for connecting with people, but these things were easier to overcome than the empty job prospects.  I’ve learned a lot this year about an Italy that I had never really seen on vacation trips.  Little things like in Tuscany they say good evening “buona sera” as early as two o’clock, to more important lessons about living in a small town and the hazards of everyone knowing everything about your life.  (As much as I enjoyed my first romance with an Italian, I’ve learned that “separated” is still married.)  Most of the good, the bad and the ugly has gone into the book I’ve been writing about surviving my first year here–the reality of what it means to follow your dream.  I’ve tried to find the humorous side of even the most difficult things I’ve encountered.  I’m almost done with the first draft of the book, and have been writing a lot these last few weeks.  This is the reason I haven’t been so good about keeping up on the posts, as more than one of you has pointed out to me.  I’m glad that people are still enjoying to read about my life here and I’ll try to keep the posts coming with a little more frequency.

I hope in the coming weeks to be able to report that I have a job, and I’ll admit the amount of near misses are dizzying.   The fact that I was ready to wash dishes and shovel manure should tell you I’m pretty much game for anything.  With the latter, I even got so far as a starting date before being hampered again by paperwork.  I’m now awaiting the director of the Tourist office’s call.  We’ve spoken, they need help and maybe just maybe this will be the job for me.  Of course when he told me he’d call me right back it was yesterday, but I just figured he’s on Italian time and I’m not giving up hope!

Spring is late this year, but finally it's here

I know I shouldn't pick favorites when babysitting five, but how can I resist this?

Marinella's cat Teo is one of Cinder's many admirers

Trying to capture the church bells as they ring