Il Pesce d'Aprile

4-1-2009

I cannot believe that it is already April. Where did March go? I'm really down in the dumps today. I've been really sick and today is the worst. My ears are ringing, I have the chills ... not good at all. Every time Peter is sick, I am sick. He is always sick. Che noia!

Sunday we all go to Tuscany. I was going to take a bus to Bibiano next week and travel to Perugia this weekend with my friend Sarah, but I just don't think I can go to Perugia. I feel so bad, I don't even want to go anymore. I just want to lay in my bed and stare at the wall. I couldn't even stand to look at the computer screen yesterday.

I just wish there was Internet in Bibiano, but I am going to write letters the old fashioned way, and watch movies like La Strada and Casablanca. I'm not going to let myself get down. I plan to travel to Siena for a day and I am going to explore the winery. I wonder what the vineyards will look like now that it's spring.

I had to drag myself out of bed and to school today because I have to make up the hours that I will miss while I'm in Tuscany. I've been going to class from 9:30 until 1:30 this week. Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy for not staying in bed. Oh well. We are learning the past tense by reading fables (favole). Now we are reading and discussing Sleeping Beauty (Bella Addormentata). Tomorrow we are discussing Pesce d' Aprile. This is April fools day for the Italians. The traditional pesce d'Aprile (the fool of April) in Italy consists of a school kids taping a small fish (pesciolino) to the back of one of their fellow class mates. Then everyone laughs at the person and says -- L'hai visto il pesce d'Aprile? (Have you seen the April fool?) Oh the Italians and their fish.

Also, I've been working over time, so there's been no time for rest. Camilla received a call about a very important painting that was hand delivered to Rome today. She's been working frantically ever since. I wonder what painting it is, but I haven't been able to ask her. I was on my own this afternoon and this evening with the babies. And Anna's friend Francesca was visiting as well. Chaos. Anna and Ludovica would not stop fighting. They fought all night long. They fought in the bath and at the dinner table. They fought while putting their pajamas on. I can't really raise my voice right now because I'm weak, so I just ignored them eventually. Anna can be really aggressive. She will go after Ludovica in a rage. It's not a pleasant sight.

One thing that is keeping my spirits high is my trip to Morocco. I will be in Morocco in 20 days. I can hardly wait. I was getting anxious about travel plans and so I emailed Caitlin to see if we could meet up to discuss the itinerary and car rental. I expected her to email me back next week some time and for us to be completely unorganized about the whole ordeal. This was stressing me out, but she emailed me back within hours and included a complete itinerary of the entire trip. I was amazed. I'm glad to be making this trip with her because she's a seasoned traveler.


Morocco Itinerary
• April 21 flight from Rome to Madrid 9:40 to 12:10. Sleep in Madrid hostel on the 21st
• April 22 flight from Madrid to Marrakech at 7:30 am. Arrive in morning and sight see all day. Sleep in Marrakech
• April 23 desert tour in Marrakech to Zagora. Spend night in desert (but keep hostel ??)
• April 24 continued desert tour. Sight see rest of day. Spend night in Marrakech hostel.
• April 25 pick up car in am and drive to Casablanca, spend night
• April 26 am drive to Rabat, spend all day and night
• April 27 am drive to Fez. Drop off car in Fez and catch train back to Marrakech. Or spend day in Fez, drive back to Marrakech in early afternoon and spend night in Marrakech.
• April 28 either head to airport from hostel in am (may need to drop car off at airport) and catch flight back to Madrid/Rome