Yes, it’s been a little crazy lately. I’m trying to get all of the last minute necessities taken care of, plus I’m still working and plan to keep working until the last possible minute.

The latest thing we had to take care of was choosing and buying the bombonieri. What’s a bomboniere, you ask? Many of you may know them as wedding favors, but here they’re used for any occasion. Basically, if someone may bring you a gift, you give them a bomboniere in return. So, births, baptisms, communions, christenings, and weddings all necessitate a bomboniere. (Like lucky shirts and bombonieri, I’m finding that there are a lot of “necessary” things that I didn’t know about.)

Many times these items are small silver knick-knacks, but we wanted to do something different. Fortunately, we found a Disney store here in Vasto which had this great looking bomboniere cake. Each slice is a small cardboard box that has a little Baby Disney character on top. Then, on top of the cake is a music box that we can then retain as a keepsake.

But, what goes in the little cardboard box? Why sugared almonds, of course, otherwise known as confetti here in Italy. I think everyone knows what they are, but just in case you don’t, they’re almonds, covered in chocolate and then a hard candy coating. They’re also sometimes called Jordan Almonds. And, since we’re in Abruzzo, we had to get our confetti in Sulmona. After all, it’s world famous for its confetti.

The blue ones are to go in the boxes and the mixed ones are to be placed in a nice dish to offer to anyone who comes to the hospital or to the house. It’s considered good luck to eat the confetti.

Now, in case you didn’t know, you must put 5 pieces of confetti in each box. The five almonds represent health, wealth, happiness, fertility and long life.

So, we’ve got our confetti and our bombonieri - one more thing crossed off on the list of must-haves.

Here’s a close-up of the little Baby Disney characters.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Filed under : Observations, Me, Miscellaneous

8 Comments »

Everyone hears about all the “usual” pregnancy side-effects - morning sickness, tiredness, backache, etc. But there are some pretty strange ones too.

I was lucky enough to not have morning sickness - thank goodness - but I have been afflicted with some other, rather strange things that I never expected. Suffice it to say, that your entire body changes when you’re pregnant. It’s not just a matter of your belly getting bigger.

Here are some of the stranger things I’ve noticed:

Skin sensitivity - My skin seems much more sensitive to little annoyances. Things that didn’t bother me before are now very uncomfortable. For example, I used to use an epilator instead of shaving - you know, one of those things that pulls the hair out from the roots instead of shaving it off? But, since about the third month of pregnancy, I can’t seem to tolerate it. My skin is way too sensitive. Fortunately, in the third trimester I’ve noticed a…

Change in hair growth - the hair on my head has been growing like mad since the beginning, but the hair on my legs has stopped dead. Now, if only it would stay that way…..

Strength - I’ve never been a wimpy person, but I’m having trouble opening jars. Plus, I have to have O pull the car out of the garage now because I have trouble opening the garage door - of course that may be mainly because it’s hard to bend down to reach the handle. In order to do that I have to put myself in a strange position which doesn’t lead to easy door opening.

Stuffy nose - since about month 2 I have had a continual stuffy nose. Fortunately, I’ve avoided any colds or flu, but the nose is constantly stuffed. Which may in turn lead to…

Snoring - since about month 5 I’ve been snoring or making very strange noises in my sleep. My research shows that this happens to a lot of women and it’s a combination of the stuffy nose along with the level of progesterone. All I know is that I put another pillow under my head and it seems to help. Of course, if my head falls off the pillow we’re in trouble. As I said, it’s not just snoring, but strange noises as well. One night I made this strange growling noise deep in my throat. It was so loud it woke me up and I opened my eyes to see O looking at me in alarm, at which point we both burst out laughing.

Carpal tunnel syndrome - or, at least, I think that’s what it is. My wrists alternately hurt and the skin even itches. I can deal with the itching, but it’s the pain inside that drives me crazy. No matter how I move it, it hurts. So, I put some ice on it and try not to type for a while since that makes it worse. Who would have thought it would be a side-effect of pregnancy? Strange….

I’ve found that the best way to deal with these things is to find a way to laugh at them (it’s easy with the snoring). Of course O helps a lot of that. Especially when he tells me that when I’m getting up off the couch I look like a turtle that’s stuck on its back and trying to turn over.

But, none of this takes away from the joy of expecting a child. And, of course, these things just make me more aware of how incredible nature is.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Filed under : Me, Miscellaneous

3 Comments »

There’s a saying in Italian, “nato con la camicia” that is often translated as “born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth”, but those two phrases aren’t interchangeable.

In English, when we say that someone was born with a silver spoon in their mouth, we’re basically saying that they were born into a rich family. In Italian, anyone can be “nato con la camicia”. It only means that someone is very lucky - someone who always falls on their feet, so to speak.

I’ve read that the Italian expression comes from babies that were born with part of the amniotic sac still attached to them. In English we call that being “born with the caul”. There are various traditions around the world regarding this phenomenon. Some say the child we be lucky (as is the case here in Italy), some say that the baby will never drown and others say that he or she will have a second sight (some sort of psychic power).

It is apparently from this event that the tradition in Italy of giving a lucky shirt to an expectant mother was born.

I, of course, was unaware of this tradition, so the other day when O came home and told me not to worry about the lucky shirt because his sister-in-law was going to buy it, I just looked at him like he stepped out of a flying saucer. (Obviously, I wasn’t worried about it since I didn’t even know what it was.)

He then explained the tradition to me. It seems that this shirt has to be a gift and it is put on the baby right after birth, under whatever other clothing he has. So, I couldn’t go out and buy one myself, it wouldn’t convey the “luck” at all then.

Obviously, I was then curious to see what this shirt looked like.

It’s very delicate - made of thin silk with just a tie in the back and “buona fortuna” sewn on the front.

Here it is…

So, now my baby will be born with his “lucky” shirt on. I hope it will bring him lots of luck.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Filed under : Observations, Culture Shock, Miscellaneous

8 Comments »

Since it’s about time to put the winter clothes away and get out the summer clothes, I picked up a couple of Italian Space bags the other day. You know, the ones that you use your vacuum to remove the air and it packs everything down.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed as they’re not as sophisticated as the real Space Bags, not having the valve for the vacuum cleaner (not to mention the price!). Instead you have to stick the end of the vacuum inside the main opening and pull it out once all the air is gone, hoping that you don’t let any new air in.

But, the funniest thing was the instructions that came in the box. Rather than actually write them out, the manufacturer decided to use pictures to “tell the story”. I guess it makes sense if you’re selling internationally - it saves money on translations. (Are they trying to put me out of business?)

Here are the instructions. Pretty simple to follow, don’t you agree? Although I wouldn’t really call them “Assembly instructions”…

I’m sure glad they put that “Vrrr” next to the vacuum in steps 3 and 4 to show that you have to turn it on. Otherwise some poor soul might sit there all day with the end of the vacuum stuck in the bag and wonder why it wasn’t working…..

Popularity: 7% [?]

Filed under : Observations, Lost in Translation, Miscellaneous

6 Comments »

Today I have to drive into Vasto. Now, that may not sound like much of a big deal to you and it really shouldn’t. After all, Vasto isn’t a big city (population about 35,000), but I avoided driving into the center of town up until last week when I had to make my way in, driving on my own.

So, what’s the big deal? Well, I have to admit that I’m still not that comfortable driving my stick shift car. Even though it rarely happens now, I’m still nervous about stalling it Not only that, but what a pain in stop and start traffic to have to constantly be shifting the thing.

That’s not the main reason though. You see, for some strange reason that I have yet to figure out, the town turns off the traffic lights at odd times of the day and night. What’s up with that?

Of course, it always seems to be when traffic is heaviest. Or maybe it’s because traffic slows down to a crawl because of the havoc caused by having no traffic light. I mean, obviously the traffic light is there because it’s needed, right?

But, you can forget about people being polite and taking turns going through the intersection. I remember going to events back in the states where there would be 1,000 people in their cars, politely taking turns getting through the intersection. HA! Not in Italy! Here, it’s every man (or woman) for himself. There is actually a rule - simply stated, priority goes to the person on the right, and you can get fined for not observing it, supposedly - but that rule goes out the window too. People just keep nosing forward until someone manages to get through the intersection. Then it’s the next person’s turn. It almost makes you want to just close your eyes and hope for the best.

Of course, if you manage to get through the traffic, there’s the fun of finding a parking place. It doesn’t matter which direction you’re going in, people park on both sides of the street. But that’s a topic for another day.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed under : Observations, Miscellaneous

5 Comments »