Last night, the air was so humid that I was tempted to turn
on the new AC and end my suffering. I could see the haze in the streetlights
and feel it as around midnight I was sitting outside and my shirt was soaked
from sweat. There was no hint of a breeze and no movement of air. However, I
avoided the AC, figuring that a good sleep sweat was something my body could
use. I put on the fan and hoped for the best. I hardly noticed the heat once I
fell asleep and was comfortable in front of the fan in the morning.
Zia arrived this morning on schedule, 9 a.m., with an
updated list of activities. I wasn’t to drive her to the fruit market and street
market as planned. I was to drive her to the fruit market and then the Pronto
Soccorso (emergency room) because she had a little bit of blood in her eye.
When I say a little, it was not the least bit concerning to me, nor to any of
the personnel she saw at the hospital. They prescribed her some eye drops and
sent her on her way. She was convinced that the blood had formed in her eye
because she was hot and spent time in front of the fan. It’s amazing how afraid
Italians are of comfort.
We then went to the Municipio/Commune (town hall) then to
the office of the Tecniko (garbage removal) all to find out there is a phone
number we need to call in order to have our bags of garden scraps picked up.
Everything in this country is complicated, even the recycling. I have five
little buckets and I need to separate all of my trash into these five buckets.
Plastic, glass, and paper each have their own bucket. Then there is the dry
trash bucket and the organic trash bucket. I’m not even sure how those operate.
My suggestion of efficiency would be the one bucket for recycle, and one for
everything else. But trash is one area where Italy is not efficient, ask the
residents of Naples (or Google Naples and trash for more info).
As for the fire nearby, I took this photo this morning. When
I was watching the planes yesterday, I was facing the opposite direction. The
photo attached shows the view when I walk outside the look through my neighbor’s
patio. The hills are charred. (If you click on the photo, it enlarges.)
I ended up going to Ristorante Nettii today for lunch. It is
my favorite restaurant in town. I had stuffed eggplant, eggplant parm, and the
best rice balls I’ve ever had. Sorry I failed to snap a photo. It looked plain,
but was flavorful as usual. They use a meat sauce for their eggplant parm and
it is out of this world.
Tomorrow morning I need to return the rental car. It’s been
fun having wheels, but I feel myself choosing the car over exercise in this
heat wave. Tomorrow my adventures will likely lean more local.
