back online, in more ways than one

This is the square just outside of our courtyard.
The door under that archway on the very left of the photo
 is the entrance to our courtyard.

 Alberto and I now have internet in the apartment! I'm also back on facebook by popular demand but against my better judgment. I'm a little rusty with this facebook stuff, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it again soon.

Things are going well here in Cinisello. We've been very, very busy getting settled and figuring out this new life. For the moment I'm playing part-time housewife. Alberto comes home for lunch every day so, like the good girlfriend that I am, I've always got lunch waiting for him when he gets home. I'm enjoying this role while it lasts, since I know it won't last long! 

I've started working already too. I'll be working part-time until September when I'll be able to get full time hours. Teaching English in Italy pays better than most jobs in this country, so we are excited for me to be able to pick up more hours in the fall so we can start saving money for things like trips home, trips to visit our friends all over Europe and a 2nd car. Speaking of a second car, I've been learning how to drive a stick shift since automatic cars are basically non existent here. Alberto takes me out every night and I'm starting to get the hang of it. I practiced getting going on a hill last night. I've still got some work to do, but I didn't kill the car nearly as often as I thought I would. We bought a bike too and we are working out our bike/car sharing schedule until we can get a 2nd car. 

Life is good and, as Alissa mentioned yesterday, I'm feeling very zen these days. It's a nice change of pace.

I'll try to post more regularly now that I'm back online.

The church in Piazza Gramsci

Piazza Gramsci

we can also get into our courtyard through a door
 at the end of this alleyway.

New apartment, new job, no internet

We are now fully moved in to our apartment and We LOVE it! We've met most of the courtyard neighbors now, all characters who make us feel as if we've stepped into a sitcom. I'll write more about them sometime soon. I've been playing housewife all week, cleaning and organizing and making our home super cute. Alberto comes home for lunch every day, so hanging out with him for an hour is a nice break in my day. The only little annoyance is that it might be 2 weeks before our DSL connection gets installed, so we are roughing it with internet for a bit. 

I've got lots of major job leads though, so things are looking good. I've got one interview tomorrow for a part-time gig. The interview seems to be more of a formality than anything else, since I was basically offered the job over the phone. The director of this school has one class that she needs covered, and promised that if it goes well, she'll have a lot more work for me in September. I've got a few more leads, so if I can piece together a couple of different part-time jobs to get me through the summer life will be grand.