Buon Giorno and Aspetta

June 15
Chris and I are debating which is appropriate, 'buon giorno' or 'buona sera'. When does the evening begin and the day end? One means good day (buon giorno), buona sera means good evening. I know that you do not use 'buona notte' until you are literally bidding your adieu for the evening, as in going to bed. Good night, period, final. But after lunch, is it still buon giorno or sera? Chris defaults to buona sera after noon. He thinks all afternoon counts as the evening. I tend to say buon giorno until the sun goes down or I am going out to dinner, then it is officially evening (sera). We both go about our days saying our respective greetings, and both get enough confirmations to keep going, and enough of the other response to be curious...which is it? When does the official conversion of giorno to sera occur? For instance, we went into a market for food yesterday around 1... the woman said buon goiorno. Then we went straight to a cafe/bar for a macchiato and got 'buona sera'. So I guess the official answer is that they are basically interchangeable in the middle of the afternoon. No one looks at you funny for saying either one and both are appreciated. The worst is to not say any greeting at all. In Italy, you say hello when you enter a store. You say goodbye when you leave. It's polite and they like conversational politeness. Our Italian slang has improved little by little too. Instead of saying 'arrivederci' like we did when we arrived six weeks ago, we now say "rivederch".

Long road trips with a toddler can be exhausting. For him, definitely. For us, occasionally... if we don't time them perfectly, they can wear you down. Especially when that trip takes a little more time than you anticipate. Yesterday we made the journey from the Amalfi coast up through the bay of Naples to Pompeii, the 'lost city'. After visiting Pompeii, we drove another several hours up to Rome. After arriving in Rome, we drove around in the rain in circles as our gps lost satellite reception... recalculating...recalculating...is it bad when I start thinking murderous thoughts toward this voice that has no embodiment?!) Our son is in a full whine (get me OUT of this carseat!!!). I am literally throwing toys over my shoulder, and finally pull out the Ipad that i know will provide five minutes of peace. But then he begins to bang it against the car seat. Oi. I really hope it doesn't break. Even more, I hope that I do not break. Snapping at a thirteen month old who is just hungry and tired from being in his car seat for five plus hours is not becoming. but I must admit I started to bark: PATIENCE! Shh. Aspetta. (WAIT) Wait. Just be quiet a few more minutes, I can't hear myself think. I am trying to direct the car...to get us there as easily and quickly as possible, to keep a baby occupied, to keep it all together. But those little moments happen on the road. And we have been on the road a lot... So we coordinate and prepare as best as we can, and hope for the best. Another big trip tomorrow, Rome is just an overnight stopover as we head North again up to Lucca (in Tuscany) tomorrow.

I want to smack the former me for ever thinking this parenthood thing was easy, or even something you can evaluate. I have pooled a good number of people now, and it turns out we are all just winging it.