Ground Zero (part 1)

Date: February 3-4

Well, in case you do not know what happened with me, here it is in a nutshell. As you know, I could not handle Elia again last week, and it was very apparent I was not going to be able to stay with the family for a whole year, let alone another two weeks. When I told Alice, she was very understanding and told me she knew how hard it was to live with such a little baby. I agreed to finish out the weekend, this was Sunday morning, and told her I was going to contact another family and wondered if it would be possible to stay with them until Friday. She told me I was welcome to stay with them, and I left the room feeling good about how open we had been with one another. She told Alfonso on Sunday evening I was not going to stay, and the flood gates unleased their furry. He was upset I was just giving up after two weeks, told me how he was never going to hire another American, and how he could replace me in an instant. Elia’s crying was all my fault, and so on and so on. He had been quietly fuming for the past week when around me, so I was not all that surprised by his anger. I told him I was sorry he was so angry, and left it at that. I certainly was not going to go into verbal combat with him. So, I had arranged for Pam and Sam, the other family, to pick me up at the house on Tuesday at 2pm. On Monday evening Alfonso comes home from work and tells me I am leaving tomorrow at eight in the morning. He would drop me off at the train station. When I explained to him I would be waiting for six hours for the other people to come and pick me up, he said that was not his problem and left it at that. In a rush I was able to call Sam and Pam, tell them the situation, and ended up planning on taking a train half way to their town where it would be easiest for them to come and get me. Of course, after over hearing my conversation, Alfonso told me we would be leaving in the morning closer to 730. The long and the short of it is, he drove me to the train station in complete silence. I waited as he unloaded my bags, and once he did I turned my back on him and did not say a word.
Once in the station I had about ten minutes to make the latest train to Montevarchi, the place where Sam was to pick me up. After getting down the stairs and getting up another set with one bag though, I had only three minutes to get to the train. I ran back down the steps for the 70lb suitcase, hauled it up the steps and ran down to the other end of the platform where the train seemed to threaten me with the prospect of leaving. The first door I got to I threw, yes threw, on my red bag and as I was struggling with my blue, 70 pounder, bag, another woman who was late for the train came to my aid and we both hopped on right before the doors closed.
I arrived at the Montevarchi train station thirty minutes later. The stop was a quick on, so I just kicked my bags off the train and hopped down myself. Then I was alone, and of course on the second platform and had to brave even more stairs. The problem was though, that construction was being done on the stairs and the underground tunnel connecting the platforms. Getting down to the tunnel was not too hard, except for the Italian men who like, for some reason, to get right in your way and then stop, getting thorught the tunnel was another story. The tunnel was so narrow only one person could get through at a time, and what with my bags and the single file stairs heading out to the train station front, well a line started forming pretty quickly. As I was hauling my blue bag up the stairs, the Italian girl at the end of the staircase took up my red bag for me and started carrying it up. I thanked her, met her half way, and carried it the rest of the way up. Still there were more stairs to endure, and after having gotten out of the way, I carried my blue bag up first. The janitor who had been watching me with my bags, put down his broom and went down the stairs to get my red bag. I thanked him for carrying it up the rest of the way, and rolled my things out to the front to meet Sam. About twenty minutes later, Sam calls me to tell me he is actually in the back of the train station, double parked, and wanted to know if I could go BACK down the stairs and come up to meet him. I told him I could, but wondered if he could not come and help me with my bags. He was a little hesitant, but came to meet me anyway. His mind was immediately back peddling once he saw my large blue back. “Why don’t I”, he said, “just pull the car around to the front. I mean there is construction going on down there, and it is noisy, etc.” I told him I thought it an excellent plan, and waited about ten minutes more for him to make it around to the front. By the time I got my bags into the car I was hot, and probably smelled like something that had been rolling around with the animals, but Sam was completely courteous. Once we reached the town at the base of San Gusme, we stopped, killing time really since my room had not been cleaned in a while I think, and Sam bought me a coffee and a piece of apple cake. Then we were off to the little grocery store around the corner. He bought the food to make a Mexican dinner, and I got some milk and yogurt for breakfasts. Randomly, it is ‘Uncle Ben’s’, yes the rice people, who supply Italy with all of the Mexican style food. They even sell salsa, although, not real salsa. I looked at Sam after he told me this and said, “Yeah, but Uncle Ben isn’t even Mexican.” I think he got a kick out of that, but I can never really tell as he doesn’t laugh much, just smirk or smile.
After we were finished with the groceries, we were on our way to San Gusme. I did have to wait for a minute while Pam was finishing up my room, but once I came up I was in shock. The apartment is really an apartment. It does have a kind of loft style, but there is a door at the bottom of the stairs. There is one closet, one chest of drawers, a futon which serves as my couch, a table and two chairs, a bed, a small nightstand, a kitchen area with a little fridge, a hot plate, and a sink, and of course a complete bathroom. There is no washing machine so I have to do laundry over at Pam and Sam’s but that’s ok. I spent a large portion of the rest of the day (we ended up arriving in San Gusme around noon) unpacking and organizing.
Half way through my unpacking I went with Sam to meet the girls at the school bus. When Siena, the oldest girl, stepped off the bus I hardly recognized her. Her hair was longer, but when she walked up to me and said “Hello”, I knew immediately who she was. Then Emma bounced off the bus with her friend Camilla. They have short days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and get home around 1 in the afternoon, which is just in time for lunch.
The rest of the day was a whirlwind. I honestly do not remember half of what I did. I do remember that after lunch I was a little shocked when everyone scattered and Pam asked me to do the dishes before rushing back to her bedroom/office. I knew I was going to have to do the dishes eventually, but to be asked to do so after I had only been there for an hour and a half was a little crazy. Still, I did as I was asked. I remember being so excited to find they had wifi in their home and since Sam and I are often on our computers, and his office is below my apartment, he told me he would try to get wifi set up sometime soon so I could get on the internet from the apartment. He is leaving soon, this Sunday, for the USA to obtain a few necessary documents for establishing another business overseas. He will be gone for three weeks, and about four days before he comes back, Pam will leave for the USA as well. I gather they both need to sign whatever forms they are procuring from the states, but they do not want to both be gone for so long.
There is some more exciting news as well. It looks like I might be coming home for two months during the summer, well, at least for one month. Apparently, Sam and Pam do not tour during July and August because it is just too hot. I already talked to Pam about me going home for a month, but the more I think about it, who wants to be in Italy in the middle of the heat with no A/C? They would not pay for my flight back into Italy, which I guess is the price I pay for not having chose them to begin with, but they did tell me I should not have any problems getting back into Italy. Mostly, I like it here. I like having my own space, and I like the family. I wish there were wifi in my apartment, but as mom keeps reminding me that these people had no idea I was coming until two days ago and they cannot do everything I immediately.
The next morning I woke up so so so sore. I guess I did not realize how much I had stressed my body when moving my bags up and down and on and off the trains. I woke up early to be ready to go with Sam into Siena. He was only there for an hour tops, but I while walking with him I had a chance to scope out the shops and saw some stationary stores I will be checking out this coming Saturday when I go back to the city with Pam, Siena, and Emma. Then Sam rushed back to San Gusme to drop me off, and left for a lunch date. Pam and I ate some soup she had made and talked about scheduling, and what she wanted me to do with the girls. On long days, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the girls do not have homework so after their snack, they come over to my apartment and we work on reading, spelling, and US History. This is a fun time for me. We had our first lesson last night, and it went pretty well. I am now thinking of more things to do with them. (To Be Continued…)