July 4th

Today is the 4th of July. Devin is working. The Admiral wanted to go island hopping today. We are at home. I was going to fill up the pool that we just purchased but guess what, I turned on the water this morning and no water. We usually have low water pressure but never no water. There is an event at Carney Park (the military park) but to get in the park is a one lane street and very limited parking, which means it will take forever to get in and forever to get out. In the US we look forward to July 4th so that we can see the fireworks. Here in Italy, we see fireworks almost every day. Fireworks are legal here so for every birthday or celebration they do pretty amazing shows. I must live around a bunch of party animals because sometimes at 2am you can see fireworks and it doesn't matter what day of the week it is. Last night at 1:30am there were fireworks. The Italians know how to party. It usually is a big event with lots of food and the party doesn't really get going until 2am. Even lunch is a long process. We went to lunch at our landlady's house and it was a 3 course meal. First, we had the primo piatto (the 1st dish) which consisted of pasta with a light meat sauce. Secondly, we had the secondo piatto (the 2nd dish) which was breaded beef, sauteed eggplant and tomatoes, and peas and prosciutto. Third, we had dolce (dessert) which was a pastry type cake filled with chocolate and homemade cream. Everything was delicious. My favorite was the sauteed eggplant and tomatoes. I make that a lot at the house as a side dish or I bake chicken and pour the sauteed eggplant on top of the chicken. I also make the homemade cream. Its like vanilla pudding so I no longer buy the instant pudding. The kids love it. I wasn't much of a vegetable eater before coming here. I can't even remember the last time I had eggplant. Probably when my grandma was living with us. Now I eat eggplant and zucchini. I make spaghetti and zucchini which is not Devin's favorite because it doesn't have meat. I am trying to make a deal with him that at least once a week we should have a meatless meal. He's not buying it. Usually I just make the meat for him. The boys and I don't eat meat every day. Well, speaking of cooking its lunch time and the boys are hungry.........