Delusional no longer....

Okay so I was very, very wrong. Delusional, in fact. This place is as Italian as it can be. Since when can one judge a city by the area next to the train station?! When one gets lost going out the door (as Rachel does every time!) because the streets are so winding and narrow, how is that anything like anywhere in the US? And did I mention they are all cobblestone? And anyone who drives, drives small cars that take up the entire street and the rest of us have to scramble into doorways or up against the wall to let them pass. Most of us live in former palazzos that are now converted into condominiums. Ours may be one of the few rentals; the others have balconies, appear larger and seem a lot more grand. Rachel painted a bleak picture of our place but it really is quite sweet. Okay so it has a slightly damp odor but it really has some charm. One of these days we’ll take a picture of the ceiling to prove it. Our bathroom is bigger than ours in the States (and while that’s not saying much coming from us…this one fits a washing machine and a bidet along with the usual accoutrements (now I’m just showing off-trilingual!). However, should I continue to eat gelato every day, I will no longer be able to fit into the shower as it is even a tight fit for Rachel…
Today we met the cleaning lady for the common areas of the "palazzo." and her sweet 9 year old son. He reminded me of my sweet nephew Jack (hand dimples and all!). They moved here from Albania in October and he knew quite a bit of English from school. He sat and talked with us in our kitchen/living room and was patient with our attempts at Italian. Another little girl who visits her aunt regularly also impressed us with her English. We have not impressed anyone with our Italian, I’m afraid, although I have been able to communicate (more or less) as needed. But at least this communication problem has inspired Rachel to listen to the Italian language CDs we brought with us. (She is finding out that her Spanish version of Italian isn’t cutting it). She is cursing like a sailor at the moment because her CD player (on sale at Bartells!) is non funciona.
PS I want to say: I love this place