Sunday December 22, 2019
Partly Cloudy & Windy 59°F/15°C in Roma, Lazio, Italia
Buonagiornata,
Life has certainly smoothed out
for me since the tumultuous first week or so. I never fully recovered from the
apartment I had counted on to live in for two months, disappearing at the last,
possible minute like that. Even worse, the Penthouse being such a disastrous
replacement. Even though our money was quickly refunded, the whole experience
left a bitter aftertaste in my craw. I periodically check that listing on
Airbnb, and I am gratified that The Penthouse shows nary one booking for all of
2020! The main reason that I am
even here in Rome at all is an infant named Alexander…my grandson and heir to
the Botula name. He is the first-born child of my son Michael and his wife Laura
and is the first Botula to be eligible for dual citizenship – Italian and US.
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| Alexander and Michael |
Thursday evening, I sent a
message to Maria, the lady who was going to rent me the original apartment,
just to touch base. She was not in Rome. In fact, she was on a train back to
her home in Linz, Austria. It seems all high speed trains in Europe have Wi-Fi.
What’s more she would not be in Rome during my stay. AND, she promised to make
it up to me for the inconvenience of the apartment that wasn’t there! I
promised her that when I planned for my next trip to Rome, she would be the
first person I would contact. It’s always nice to have options. I only pray
that the contractors Maria hired to renovate her apartment have finished by
then. My son had expressed doubt that they would be finished in time for my
trip when he checked out the apartment for me. So, when Maria sent me her
frantic note, I wasn’t totally surprised.
Alexander turned one month old on December 14th. This will be my newest grandchild’s first Christmas, and we could not be happier. He’s a bit colicky, but that is to be expected. Mike and Laura take him to the pediatrician every week. He definitely is growing and filling out. Alexander is Laura and Michael’s first child. As many of you know, my daughter Dana has five children, three girls and two boys; Joshua, Jacob, Jessica and the twins Jaydan and Jordan. In fact, I followed Dana’s family from California to Texas to be near my grandchildren. Alexander’s appearance provides me with more of an incentive to visit Rome. (As if I needed more of an incentive).
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| Laura at the Chinese Store |
I love the neighborhood. It is
chock full of little shops, bars and restaurants. All the modern conveniences
of life without the Texas-sized distances that I’ve grown used to back home. My
entire life is now within walking distance. And, for further distances, there
is a bus stop directly in front of my building with an endless line of buses to
whisk me to the Metro station and the entire city beyond. One such
establishment is known throughout the neighborhood simply as, the Chinese
Store, or in local parlance il negozio cinese. In this day and age
of specialty shops, the Chinese Store is a throwback to the time when
every small town had at least one five and ten cents store. This version
occupies perhaps two or three store fronts, and it’s one entrance is guarded by
an elderly Asian woman sitting behind the store’s only cash register. Inside
every conceivable household product is jammed on the shelves which go floor to
ceiling across the extremely narrow aisles. Laundry detergent, fabric softener
and the ubiquitous drying racks occupy shelf space right across from the flat
ware and dinner plates. Stationery items are at the front of the store. And, the replacement batteries and USB cables
are kept alongside the cash register, under the watchful eye of the Asian lady.
Overhead, along one jam-packed aisle, shower caddies dangle on hooks, high and
out of reach, except for an employee with a long pole with a hook on it.
Everything is somewhere – here in the Chinese Store. The store has a sign that
says SUPER CONVENIENZA! Everyone in the neighborhood knows where it is.
I have never seen so many items jammed into one location as I have crowding Il
Negozio Cinese, except for the old Five and Dime Stores of old.
And, speaking of the
neighborhood, I’m happy to know, that in this small-town atmosphere, my
neighbors are getting to know me as well. There’s the lady cashier at the Elite
Market, who is very patient with me as I fumble with la busta or plastic
shopping bag or my Euros to pay her. She remembered me after one of my
absences. I always try to greet her in
Italian and inquire as to how she is. Buongiorno. Come stai? And, at the
end of the transaction, it is always, Grazie. Ciao! In the case of
Alejandra, who did my manicure at the spa around the corner, she not only
remembered me from last May, but she remembered that Laura made the original
appointment. That left me with no alternative, but to make my next appointment
with her for the next time. Several of my neighbors in the apartment
building have noticed my new face among them and welcomed me with a warm Benvenuto!
Even my friend and sometime landlady, Amina, has gotten into the welcoming
act. When we met for coffee on my first night in the apartment, she made a
point of taking me in to each bistro and specialty shop to introduce me to the shopkeeper
and asking them to take care of me because I didn’t speak Italian well.
And then, there is Delia, who is
technically my landlady. She and her husband Christian literally saved my bacon
when I was forced to move from the Penthouse, and they couldn’t be nicer to me.
Delia offered to clean the apartment during my stay and help me shop and cook.
I opted to retain her for the cleaning chores. She comes every Friday or
Saturday, and when she is finished, my little casa fairly GLEAMS.
I realize that I have a distinct
advantage over the typical tourist. On my extended stays, I actually live
here! Unlike my first couple of trips to Rome when I stayed with Michael
and Laura, I now pack a big suitcase (usually overweight) and rent and
apartment for a couple of months usually in my chosen neighborhood in E.U.R. A
couple of years ago I developed the habit of leaving an extra suitcase with a
variety of clothing to be worn on my next trip. My extra suitcase is joined by
my laptop computer, which I leave with Michael and Laura. That means I can hit
the ground running when I arrive in Rome. The days of the life of a tourist,
with its regimen of hotels and a bewildering array of cities and tour buses is
now behind me. I actually LIVE here, at least part-time!
Next time: Alexander’s first Christmas,
but, for now…
Ciao,MikeBo
[Mike Botula, the author of LST
920: Charlie Botula’s Long, Slow Target! is a former broadcast journalist, government
agency spokesperson and media consultant.
Mike’s book is available from Amazon Books. You can read more about Mike
Botula at www.mikebotula.com]
© By Mike Botula 2020
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