daily life

American Heritage

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Since today is the Fourth of July, I have spent some time thinking about what being an American means to me, and especially what I would like to give to my children from that part of my heritage. Being a little distant gives me a different perspective, and allows me to separate out the good from the bad a little better. It also allows me to focus more on the ideals and less on the sometimes disappointing present reality.

Today I told Axa about how the United States wrote a special letter to the King of England to tell him they were their own country, and then about the Revolutionary War.… Read more

Facelift

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

So, how do y’all like the new look? Since the family website has a notorious history of pirating content off my blog, I decided to steal some design elements off the website. I also copied almost all the posts off my old blog. Casteluzzo now tells the entire story (up till now) of our search for a dream to call home.

So here we are. We have a moment to breathe. All we have to do now for citizenship is to periodically take Gianfranco in the Anagrafe cookies, so he’ll remember to work on our case.

Tomorrow’s the Fourth of July.… Read more

Lockout

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

If we were to tell all the kind Italians who’ve helped the poor inept Americans do everything from buy bread to open a bank account, that we are actually responsible, competent people in our native country, I don’t know that they’d believe us. Yesterday, we locked ourselves out of our apartment.

It was a Saturday, and we were going out for our sacred weekly gelato. In the excitement, it slipped both our minds. We weren’t sure what to do. The door is like a fortress. It latches with four heavy pins, and then the dead bolt locks it like a hotel door chain.… Read more

Lagasco on Foot

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

We took a little jaunt yesterday and walked the 5 kilometers to Lagasco with the children in their snuggle backpacks. It was a beautiful day, and the walk is charming–all neat rows of fruit trees and green fields with stray daisies and poppies. There was huge purple clover by the side of the road, too.

We took the letter from the Waldensian Church to show to the Priest in Lagnasco and ask him to write us up a similar one. Unfortunately, we chose a Monday, and it turned out to be some kind of holiday. A holiday peculiar to Lagnasco, evidently.… Read more

Saturday Market Networking

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yesterday Tony was at the weekly market buying fresh zucchini from a local farmer, and looked over to see Teresa, our semi-nemesis in the stato civile/anagrafe, buying zucchini too. They exchanged pleasantries, and he thinks it was helpful for her to see him living here and not just shopping at the grocery store.

Alicia, my friend who works in the Center for Immigration in Cuneo, confirmed that all we need is a letter from the comune saying we’re applying for jure sanguinis, and the Center can get us our Permesso di Soggiorno from the Questura. But Silvia said she wasn’t sure if they could give us the letter unless our documents are perfectly in order.… Read more

Ciao with an Argentine Accent

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Today we went to Church in Cuneo, the provincial capital, which is about one hour away by bus. We had a bit of a scare yesterday when we set out to find a way to get to Church. At our hotel, the manager said the busses don’t run on Sunday, so we should go to the train station. We went to the train station, and after poring over a schedule where everything said either that the train went on weekdays or that it didn’t go on holidays (Sunday is considered a holiday), we asked someone, who confirmed that the train simply doesn’t go on Sundays.… Read more

House Hunting in Saluzzo

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Our (and our relatives’) efforts at procuring lodging in Lagnasco having proved vain, and having discovered that there are neither busses nor reliable internet in Lagnasco, we have decided to move to Saluzzo. We’ve been staying there anyway, and falling by degrees in love with it. The town is built right up against the hills, on the edge of the fertile plain. The beautifully preserved but still very much alive old city winds up the hill, culminating in its own castle, currently under renovation. We found a beautiful little apartment right in the middle of it, cobblestone streets, painted frescoes, and spacious vaulted ceilings and all.… Read more