The bottle castle

Like sooo many great ideas this came from Kindergarten. Miropiko Kindergarten were making an Igloo from milk bottle's, we were leaving just as they were collecting them, hundreds of them!

Love their Igloo

We here in Catania have water with wee stones and a shady appearance, so bottled water was always on the cards. And since the 1.5 & 2 litre bottles were relatively cheap, there was always going to be plenty of spare empties. 

After Milan & Brig came up with the idea to do something with them .. a massive castle, we then let the San Gregorio team in on the idea. They were awesome!!! We'd go around with massive blue IKEA bags that they would fill with their bottles and the kids would thank them and make payment with their artwork pieces .... that the guys actually kept. When we go again they'd be displayed on fridges & walls, that's major to the kids.

Ciao Paewais - Corban, Alana and Pharus -
 this is late off to Posteitalia again x

 

Cleaning

Planning

It was a team event cleaning, planning, constructing. Most days we did something related to their project which was perfect over the short Sicilian winter.

All it took was supermarket cardboard as the floor, a hot glue gun – to secure the bottom bottles down and 5 rolls of clear packing tape to secure the walls of bottles together. In total we used around 530 bottles.  

Another cool bottle creation we did courtesy of Aunty Vie - was bottle jelly fish.

http://bhoomplay.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/diy_jellyfish_eng/

Our little principessa asked her Papa (she has better odds with him) for an entrance door, a window and that it be big enough for the whole family.

Setting up for a sleep over

On Carlos's first turn in the castle he went inside to the window and asked whether Brig would like a hamburger or cheeseburger – Classic Carlitos.

It then came time to bring it down, they were sad for a brief moment though with Papa's help the castle transformed into a tackle bag. The recycling of the bottles, was vital for Milan. She constantly remind's us how we have to look after nature. In the likely future my darling we look forward to you looking after us x

The strut - Passeggiata

Just a quickie blog about something we're still fascinated by – Passeggiata.

In our town of Aci trezza a Sunday mid- morning .. this is - Passeggiata

All over Italy they do it so well, while we sit back and watch and still sort of wonder why.

What is passeggiata ...

Here are the key elements to doing it –

1 – the walk – it must be done very slowly ; )

2 – see & be seen– the idea seems to be... you see and look at everything, their physique, their clothes, & even if the kids are well behaved

3 – when – best time Sunday afternoons, or whenever the sun is out

4 – where – piazza's, parks, for us its the Lungomare – the long stretch out the front of Aci Trezza

5 – touch – hands held, his hand on her back, intertwined .... crucial

6 – food – the only thing you see them eating is gelato or peanuts

Its the heels that amaze us, how the girls don't topple over more, this is a big part of the Nordstrom interest to be fair, at any given passegiata its how many will fall, and they do. 

We do it our way usually, with a rugby ball for passes and dressed tidy. Milan & Carlos are mindful of it now and they dont seem to mind, they both dress themselves with a little help. Their clothes that are back to front are never a major. Our girl is in her element as she loves accessorizing and shopping. We told her that if they look you up and down, its just because they like your shoes, lol. 

At least its an improvement from the looks we got in North Italy, as they are even sharper dressers. It was always classic going out in winter with Brig in shorts and jandals.

Here is our go at passegiata

In Villa Belini a stunning garden in central Catania,
Note: the family of four in the back getting their passegiata on

They totally love each other - there just so few places with soft grass

San Gregorio - Raggazi

Heres a favourite moment  - a tradition after team lunch the San Gregorio squad do Passeggiata in whatever suits them, which we love.

Our favourite FOOD

If you have plans to go on a diet, come to Sicily, THEN begin one & you'll have impressive results.

The food here is all good – buonissima, we naturally are into it all. Here are some of the Nordstrom families top picks.

Arancini - this is the meat pie of Sicily, it's a bite of rice heaven. An Arancini is beef ragu (bolognaise with peas) & gooey cheese wrapped in rice, breadcrumbed then deep fried. They are so good especially hot, the best part is they are all over Sicily shaped like a cone/ball. Whatever it is they taste great.

Arancini - like us the kids are total fans

We actually like to get them to go 'portavia' like a lot of our food, because they wrap them so amazingly, ribbon and all. Outside they've never lasted more than a few minutes though.

A moment on the lips ..a lifetime on the hips
ohh so worth it though 

Next

Dolce torta - I was spoilt around birthday time and received 3 cakes, yeeow !! one of which was ….  La Torta Settevelli!!!  or the seven veils cake. She's seven layers of different cakes, it takes its name after the dance of Salome to make Herod confused with want & lust. This cake definitely elicits want and lust.......for lots more of it.

The layers are Chocolate Glasse, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate disk, Hazelnut bavarian cream, Chocolate disk, Hazelnut bavarian cream, Cereal praline, Chocolate sponge cake. Naturally I remain a great customer more than a creator, no way would I try this. Imagine the shopping list & the stress it would cause.

Frutta del mare & Pesche – we live Acitrezza the fishing village and a town with a major fish market, I got up one morning at 5am to barter for an exquisite red snapper, but that was the first & last. I was the first female some fishermen may have seen in months .. it was'nt worth the one euro savings.

Acitrezza fish market at 6am - just leaving never to return ; )

 We now do the traditional central market, where there's a fixed price & it's still reasonable and fresh.

The Seafood 'frutta del mare' is a hit with Carlos.

In a meal the boys could have 5-10 small octopus each

We had a great fish Banquet at a friends birthday that included the famous spada or swordfish. I chose not to get the camera out though, to avoid the 'we hardly do this' novice look. Wish I did though, as fish is what they are famous for, and is prepared with great care & creativity. 

Cavallo - Horse, I know horse.., this meat is also a speciality in Catania and it actually tastes good, sweeter and  more tender than beef. The kids both love horses and their experiences with them. We didn't expect them to try it after we were honest and told them what was on the menu but they were up for the experience. 

Pranzo -lunch from a Trattoria, beef & horse burgers. When in Rome. . . or Catania 

This is our central market, love the colour of our Cauliflower, often this will get served with balsamic flash and an array of cheese's.

The rich flavours & colours found at the market - cool purple Cauliflower

Who knows if it's the super fertile volcanic soils here or the century old pearls that are passed down through the casalinge (housewife's). They do their food very well, and the proof is in the puku.

The Godfather in Savoca

The family trip to that film setting . .

No doubt like countless others that have touched down in Sicily, our thoughts of seeing real life 'Godfather' style Mafioso's running the streets weren't far from the mind. However, it's proved to be one of the least visible things. While discussions with some of our local friends tend to confirm that La Cosa Nostra is still alive and kicking, the extent of the old mens 'grumpy talk' in our village - Acitrezza, seems reserved to weather and fish. You can walk past them and their stern looks and simply throw out a hearty Buon giorno or Salve (polite greeting to older folk) and they are all smiles and keen to pat the kids on the head.

Acitrezza's main piazza & old men

It seems more likely now that their children would be in those respected & influential positions, still having a say and collecting a form of pizzo (protection money) if it's on the cards. Talking on it is not really the best conversation starter anyway.

Around central Catania there's the odd graffiti mentioning
 Mafia/Mafiosi but it's minimal.

Whenever we see tagging, both kids give their 'tagging is for losers!' line that had been taught well by Uncle Jazz. While I've seen the odd snippet from the Godfather Trilogy, Brig and his brothers seem to appreciate it a bit more than most so for a bit of fun we decided to take the kids to some scene locations. The story of this Italian American Corleone family has obviously interested others too, so we knew where to go. It wasn't the central Sicilian town of Corleone either, tricky Hollywood had filming done in Savoca, a town between Messina and Taormina.

This fortunately made it closer for us, so we were off up our trusty A18 Autostrada. It's so quick and easy to jump on and off. From Catania it costs 2.50 euro and you can go 130km/hr, though we find our car hums nicely around 90km's as it heads through tunnels in the mountains, unlike the mighty NZ where we go up, down, and around. Savoca is high in the hills. A quaint mountain village that still seems relatively untouched from the film scenes taken in the 70's. It's pretty, has loads of Art about, and not so tricky to navigate if you dont mind tight one-way streets.

Here at the Bar Vitelli you can sit at the spot where Micheal expresses his interest in Appolina, to her  father. Unlike the movie, we didn't have quite the same reception party waiting for us or people that might pay good money for information of our whereabouts.

Godfather

The boys trying to give their best Mafia gesture...
as Milan comes to terms with the 'closed' Restaurant
where she was suppose to get a hot chocolate.

In the one tiny town theres four churches, we didn't get to the main wedding one but the kids had a dance by another. They've been doing dance classes at their Scuola Materna.  Milan keeps getting picked by a nice kid Gabriello, making Carlos jealous and her papa a bit weary.

Outside Chiesa Madre

The town also has a entry gate, a Medieval arch,

up til 1918 it would lock the town up at sun down.

One spooky thing in Savoca was the Catacombs. This practise of mummifying their deceased in vinegar & lime was initially reserved for the honoured Friars – then it became a status symbol and of course in true Italian style they were preserved in the latest styles of the time.

There are more of these in the Capital Palermo, where we've yet to go, though chances are it won't be top of the list for the kids. In fact, I can almost hear Carlos telling me now to "forget about it".

Ten more minutes

Brigs Maiden post  ; ) 

Like a kid on their first day at a new school or working that first day on the job. The opening game of the season provided a similar mix of excitement, anticipation and a fair amount of the unknown. I was naturally curious but also relieved that 6 weeks of pre-season training was at an end and the fun part of simply playing rugby was beginning…or so I thought.

From the outset, getting the big “W” on the score sheet after 80 mins seemed a stretch as most of the team talk in the week leading up to the game was geared around “being competitive” and having “self-belief” code for…hmmm.  In any case, the game against Prato would be historic for our newly promoted club as it was a home game and also a first in the premier Italian Club Rugby Competition. Game day arrived and a positive vibe filled the air on Mt Etna as spectators began to fill the stands. 20 mins into the game, things were looking pretty ominous though I did manage to score our teams first try…little consolation for what was in store.

A short while later after making a tackle, my ankle got wrecked. The cause, 140 kg of prime front row beef landing on my ankle after it was twisted. To make matters worse, I later discovered from the video it was a prop from my own team ... dang it. No pain could outweigh the joy on my son Carlos’ face watching his papa play rugby though, right? Hmmm. Clearly I missed my que to leave the field, but then again - how valuable is hindsight?

The Panelbeaters arrive.

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Trying to soldier on.

The first half ended and rather than heed my coach’s suggestion to come off, I uttered those fateful words “It’ll be alright, just give me TEN MORE MINUTES”. However, before I could exit the game as intended, I took a strange tackle and ended up on the ground. This time the pain was further up the same leg. Having dislocated shoulders before, I knew something wasn’t right as the pain felt about 3 times worse. Trying to get up was a joke and my attempts must have only been in my mind as I was stretchered off in the Ambulance (for the first time in my life). Maybe it was Rugby Karma finally catching up with me? Funny thing was - of all the things that could be running through my mind, I was shaming out to myself that my 2 year old boy would see me like that - as if boys his age even care.

When the grey skies set in.

As always, my trusty wife was by my side along with Carlos as we headed down Mt Etna with sirens blearing to the nearest hospital. I’ve heard the expression ‘Heaven on Earth’ but this 45 minute ride seriously felt like my ‘Hell on Earth’ as we drove over pothole after pothole. (Those who have driven the fancy Sicilian roads from Nicolosi to Catania will understand). To make this living hell sweeter, I was told that I could get gas / painkilling medication at the hospital, which I did about 2 hours later.

5 memories of my pre-surgery Ambulance ride are:

1. Looking away from my wife and son while holding onto the window bar to brace my hip from the bumps. I was also trying to keep the sound effects down while practising my pukana (handsome facials).

2. Imagining the pain my wife must have felt giving birth to our two beautiful children and honestly thinking (to myself of course) “I’m sure this pain must be on par with that, if not worse”? Okay, I can hear all you mothers saying “yeah, whatever” but in the absence of a pain-o-meter, I’d have to say it is clearly an Apples v. Oranges thing . . . . . . unless there’s a mother out there that has experienced a posterior hip dislocation and wants to comment?

 

 

3. Being an LDS Christian, my mind even wandered off to Jesus' suffering on the Cross. Perhaps this was done unconsciously as a reminder of how much worse things could have been. Though I vividly remember saying to myself, think about something other than the baby thing in case you actually talk about it and spark less empathetic responses from wifey. Pretty on to it aye - can't be biting the hand that feeds you.

4. Always asking my wife how far from the hospital we were and being told every time, "we'll be there in TEN MORE MINUTES".

5. Laughing at the involuntary noises coming out of my mouth while trying to convince myself it was impossible for me to make such weird sounds. Then hearing my son ask his mama, “Is papa okay? Is he not tough"? Maybe the noises were mine after all.



The good old hip - Out and about.

Fortunately for me when we finally arrived at the hospital, I was able to be operated on quite quickly (thanks to our Team Doctor knowing surgeons – classic Italian style. When they say "it's all who you know" they really mean it here). Eventually when I woke up on the Ward, I had a brief moment to reflect on both my many blessings in life and then of course the rehab that lay ahead. Trust me, for every Canoli or Siciliana sweet I received from the Club players, partners, supporters, and management, my lovely Physio wife had a Medical Article or email from an NZ physio or consultant friend for me to consider. She was all about dealing with it. 

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My kiddies and Team mates outside our Apartment -
the perfect Welcoming party.

After almost a week away from home, I was finally discharged from Ospedale Garibaldi with instructions from their surgeons to stay put in bed without movement for 4 weeks. A slightly dated approach it seemed, so more passive exercises and a more aggressive rehab plan was the preferred way to go once the feedback from all Kiwi and Aussie specialists pointed in this direction. Opinions among the Medical staff here put my estimated return to play at 6 -12 months, although the more optimistic goal of 16 weeks was what we were working towards at home. "You can do it Papa"!!!

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In good hands - totally experienced.  

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This is the way we walk properly...

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and this is the way we kick the ball properly.

In the weeks that followed, my 'personal physio' and her little assistants went busily about their work to "teach papa how to walk properly" and to "fix papa's weak hip". Aqua-therapy was used early on to improve range and the lovely ocean outside our apartment meant their were no excuses for bunking when opening hours at the pool didn't suit. Strengthening work followed in the gym and eventually the ball skills and rugby practise at home with my 'little assistants' were tested back on the field with the big boys. 

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Tackling again - Game time 16 weeks later against Mogliano.

While I'd be lying if I said I'm 100%, it was great to be on the field again - and you guessed it...16 weeks to the day (Whaia te iti kahurangi!!!) True to form, my wife was also on hand for the comeback game played away. The plan was to only play the first 40 mins, but I figured I'd get her heart-rate up a bit and run out after half-time. Fortunately this time round, I got to play out TEN MORE MINUTES before leaving the field without injury. To the expression "In bocca al lupo" I say, "crepi il lupo!" and may the wolf remain dead for the rest of the season...lol!  

Italian Language

As people close to me left on trips to foreign lands, I had this FALSE impression that if you are in a place for 6 months or more, surely you should be fluent in the new language. Yip, and that was even with the tough languages like Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, and French (how hard is that pronunciation). I figured 6 months was sufficient time whether you stayed with people that spoke your first language, stayed locked in your home, or simply had to learn it because of work or study. Well, we are now over three and half months...and how are we doing? Abastanza bene .. good enough x

The kids particularly Carlos, are at a stage in life where they are sensitive to language acquisition. At least that's what a Montessori book told me :)… so they are doing pretty well.

Agrigento down the south of Sicily, Templi galore

Us older Nordstrom's are still far from dreaming in the new language. We are being aided by a number of language books, Ipods downloads, evening classes and we fumble along with friends.

We now understand nicely, speak basic and are still shocking with the older Sicilians. It's their cool thick dialect. Countless times I've left a shop chuffed that Ive said and found what I needed, only to push the door that say's pull – Tirare.

We were told by someone holding a Masters in Linguistics - that an adult requires seven opportunities to adopt a new word or concept. Hear it, say it, read it, say it again be corrected in it and then quite possibly it's yours. Though the difficulty for adults is that we stop at the second attempt...when the shame kicks. Fortunately now as a mum I have very little shame, i.e. public temper tantrums, kids touching all the wrong parts at the wrong times and of course wardrobe malfunctions while breastfeeding.

We talked with our friend Alonzo, yip that's not his name, he'd feel a little singled out if we used it. He said we were doing fine, then asked whether we'd seen the movie 'Tarzan' sure we replied. Alonzo follows with "ahh okay... so you know you could stop now and talk like Tarzan or keep going and try to speak more like Jane” ...true ?!!.

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We will often find ourselves doing a sort of language dance with our Italian friends. They are often wanting to practise their English with us. So this language dance might begin with us speaking Italian then the other takes the lead with English, one may stumble in what they are saying, so the other starts to lead again. There are sweaty palms and strained eyebrows within the dance, a bashful look when your partner is getting it completely wrong but you still want to dance again so you don't over correct.

Today we both depart to play Mogliano near Venice, as it's Brigs first return game. He's penciled in to play just 40 mins of Tarzan action. I'm travelling on my first away match as both Team Physio & his Jane. A treasured Australian friend is with the kids which they've been excited about all week.

Carlos didn't want Mama here.
This is a house that didn't do so well after a Mt Etna eruption.

When I am doing Physio and Brig is at training we have tons of opportunities to dance, I'm sure we'll get there. Carlos & Milan have great opportunities also, they are doing well at their new Scuola Materna, the are making friends quickly. Milan at the start like a typical little girl wanting to please, came back looking knackered & wanting a hug. She told us her head hurt, and that she was trying to speak on behalf of her and Carlos. The other children are always keen to talk with them. Who knows whether they are getting coerced at home to befriend the English speakers!!. What ever the case we know its tough, so give a little thought to the foreign kids starting school with yours this year x

Either way, we pump up the kids "effort tyres". This seems to give them enough confidence to meet the bilingual challenge and to get their own back by cutely correcting their parents when occasion permits. Ciao for now.

New beginnings 2012

Happy New Years all !



 A new year is upon us 2012!

Didn't you love spreading your hand across a new exercise book maybe even giving it a sniff ? New beginnings are the best, whether its the start of a new day (well some days) a new pair of shoes or even a new course to run. Each of these is an opportunity for change, to re-create, simply to do something a little different.

A quick ride with Papa Natale in San Giovani la Punta,
they really go big all over Sicily at festive times  

The few adjustments for the Nordstrom casa will be

• a new Asilo for the children
• Brigs return to the field
• arriving in more of Sicily's finest spots  
• a more aggressive (yeoow!) attempt with the language



New Years Eve Central Catania

We like other parents are picky kindergarten/childcare people so when we arrived, the kids were in Privato Asilo. The kids only went three mornings in the week to enjoy others kids their age, be exposed to Italian and allow us to continue with both of our Rugby commitments. Their new Asilo or more correctly Scuola Materna comes really well recommended. 
 



An earlier Scuola Materna of Sicily !  now still in 2012 the Grembuili are being worn,
 just with Hello Kitty, The little Mermaid and Spiderman on the front

Our new Kindergarten is Aci Trezza's public preschool. It's large, has a uniform (even a gym one), free and has dedicated teachers. A blog may come later. Carlos needed to be closer to 3 years old, which now my baby is : /  We've also been waiting on their Italian comprehension to increase, which it has. We think they're doing better than us, as we hear them constantly add new words and chatting & playing with other kids. They have just had their second day and are still chirpy about the change.

Our home field -  Nicolosi just beneath Mt Etna

I've reduced my time as team physio, now I liaise with a larger well equipped Sports physio centre and look after team pre-match and match care. The orange and blue physio belt bag is still getting some wear and tear and I still get my weekly run onto the field - I'd miss the action otherwise. In this arrangement it doesn't spread me to thin. Earlier it felt like I was attempting a lot while mastering minimal.

Carlitos putting the big hits on Vittorio

Brig has returned to team gym & field training, he's looking good though being at a satisfactory level for return is hopefully late January. In the period of injury, he's still been busy and as positive as one can, in order to contribute. San Gregorio are a group of really talented guys and passionate management so we're looking forward to continuing from last years season in the Top 10 series.

We have made 2012 the 'year of love & kindness', hopefully ; ). It's really caught on with the kids and we are hoping to enact this better both inside & outside the home. Brig came up with this concept (though I'd like to claim it) we've given names to years in hindsight as well as at the time. We've had the 'year of madness' the 'year of houses'.

Monkey village outside of Bangkok - Lopburi
Go the year of the Monkey

I think this idea may have initially been inspired by our honeymoon in Thailand. They have this 12 year animal cycle. This year we are in the Year of the Dragon – Bee Marong. Our Thai friend was born the year of the monkey and he wanted us to see the Lopburi monkey village.  They literally just roam everywhere and are especially keen on tourists snacks and hair accessories. We were glad we went, his wife was born the year of the Rat, fortunately there wasn't a village for that. 

This past Sunday our church speakers gave talks on kindness. A 15yr old girl gave a great talk and spoke on her shift from the States to here, and how it hadn't been so hard with the kindness shown to her even before her arrival. She also gave this neat quote 'Kindness is love with working boots on'.

We wish you well in your 'year of the ______' this 2012 x