SonoPizzitano
Post Title. 06/20/2010
 
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Summer 2010 06/20/2010
 
29 June 2010: I am staying in on a Sunday night and trying to be good by not going to Kaipira ( a bar in the marina) and I have decided to go on the wagon and try to lose some weight.  I may need a knee replacement operation and losing weight is a necessity probably.  It is difficult to turn down the beer offers and especially in this hot weather.  So far, It has only been a few days but a start has been made.  The books from Ireland are due to arrive tomorrow and so a launch must be planned.  y sisters and their friend arrive on Sunday next so I shall probably wait until then at least.  This blog may now be resurrected as I will have more time to devote to it.
 
Post Title. 05/20/2010
 
Now I want to launch the book in Italy and so plans are afoot to get more books from Ireland and to have a Pizzo launch of the book, in June 2010.  Watch this space for more details.  A tranlation into Italian is also a possibilty and translator are now being sought.  The locals would appreciate a view of the place by an oursider, I do believe.  This will take some time but it will be done.  Books are on sale in Vibo and Pizzo bookshops already and in Pro-loco, the tourist office in Pizzo, at the sea end of the piazza. 
 
stop the blog 03/30/2010
 
I am afraid I am too busy to keep writing this so I must cease until I have more time but I will probably begin again in summer.  Thank you to all who logged on and keep on reading.  I hope to publish a new book within a year.
 
 
This was a quiet weekend, helping Alan with painting on Saturday and  then relaxing for the rest of the day.  I phoned Bren who was hosting Aoibhe’s birthday party.  Afterwards, I met Paul, Lorraine and Mark in Bar Dante before wandering down to Kaipira and saw an Italian Seria A match, Roma and AC Milan which ended in a boring scoreless draw.   I went home early to bed and tried out my new phone with little success.  On Sunday I was up early preparing the meat for a dinner for eight tonight and cleaning and organising the house.  It was cool enough and a day for staying in close to heat.  So I went to Paul’s to check emails and skype.  I soon returned to start food preparations and do some preliminary cooking.  There were many vegetables to clean, slice and dice, carrots, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes etc.  Never before have I used so many and prepared them this way.  Maybe I am learning.  The steak is salted, peppered and oiled and in the fridge since morning.  Eggs mayonnaise and corn on the cob are ready for Lorraine and the sun-dried  tomatoes and all the salad (rocket and some other fluffy kind, sprinkled with flakes of parmesan),  she or others can eat.  I will drizzle it with oil later (just had to get that in).  

In the afternoon I “played” with my new phone, which is very advanced for me.  Dinner is about 6 or 7 pm.  A new intended guest is Wilma’s husband, a man from the north of Ireland, I believe.  I went off at one stage to check emails in Paul’s place.  When I was coming back I met Mark who had just been to my house and we went in and started the cooking and preparing.  Alan and Claire arrived with Fred, the dog, and we waited for Paul and Lorraine but the other couple did not come as she was suffering from migraine.  I was very happy with the meal and so were they.  They had had a rough day getting an apartment ready for a couple and were in the mood for relaxing and a big steak with all the vegetables.  We had plenty to eat and drink, including a bottle of martini and another of whiskey, as well as the usual beer and wine. 

 
 
Saturday 27 Feb 03/03/2010
 
 Sleeping late, I got a text to ask did I want to go to Vibo market and it was a no-brainer, better than tackling house-work.  Lorraine came with me and I showed her some places she did not know about and was interested in, particularly the young plants for putting our in your garden.  She got her bargain also, 3 curtain poles with endings ( finale?) and we had a coffee along the way.  Then it was back to the area near the hospital where we had lunch, in a lovely clean, well stocked delicatessen/bistro type bar, “Cin Cin”, which I had been to before and which Lorraine greatly enjoyed, it supplying her vegetarian needs and my more carnivorous ones along with beer and wine at a reasonable price.  

I lay low for the afternoon, on the internet mostly and watched Ireland beat England, but on my own in SPQR and had nobody to crow over.  I went to Kaipira at night for a quick drink and check on what happened the previous Saturday and they were fine but I was going to Sicily the next day as my friend had made contact and Paul agreed to let me have the car.  So it was an early night for me but, of course, I did not get to sleep being too excited and having to prepare my bag to bring with me.  I charged my phone also and eventually dozed off at about 2 am.


I lay low for the afternoon, on the internet mostly and watched Ireland beat England, but on my own in SPQR and had nobody to crow over.  I went to Kaipira at night for a quick drink and check on what happened the previous Saturday and they were fine but I was going to Sicily the next day as my friend had made contact and Paul agreed to let me have the car.  So it was an early night for me but, of course, I did not get to sleep being too excited and having to prepare my bag to bring with me.  I charged my phone also and eventually dozed off at about 2 am.

 
 
 
 
Monday 22 – Friday26 February
I was glad to get up on Monday, anything is better than Sunday.  Work was organised for classes.  I was really wrecked after the day however.  Dinner was stew in Lorraine’s and it was well received by all, especially me, of course.  I also got books from Tony for the other class which should make things easier.  We are now sorted almost, apart from the cd to go with each book.  So listening exercises are not the best option now but I could just read the items.  Classes on Tuesday were very easy but organisation of programmes to go with the books is another job.   I have to cover as many topics, functions and tenses etc as possible and to improve their general levels of English.  I finally got to phone the bank of Ireland and sort out mortgage payments etc, I think.

During the week all final details of classes were sorted out and programmes were distributed to students and new timetables adopted.  I had hoped to go to Sicily but got no word from my contact there. On Friday Ray arrived and we went out for a drink with him to Bar Ercole.  Francesco the owner asked me for my book and Aoife's email or blog address.  Ray was being bossed by two women friends and going to Sicily with them on the morrow but declined my offer to take his place.  

I also had my second swim of the year and gathered an audience of smiling girls who asked me as to the water but I was honest and I told them it was cold, but much colder in Ireland.   I enjoyed it better too as it was not as wild as it had been on Sunday last. 
 
 
 
The first swim of the year in the sea!  It was a bit sunny but biting cold at times and the sea was rough, waves lashing over the pier.   I had had too much to drink on Saturday night and so deserved the punishment.  It was ok and not really a pleasure but I was glad I did it.  Apart from that I spend a lot of time downloading lessons from the internet and cooking for myself .. I hate Sundays really.

 

Monday 22 – Friday26 February

I was glad to get up on Monday, anything is better than Sunday.  Work was organised for classes.  I was really wrecked after the day however.  Dinner was stew in Lorraine’s and it was well received by all, especially me, of course.  I also got books from Tony for the other class which should make things easier.  We are now sorted almost, apart from the cd to go with each book.  So listening exercises are not the best option now but I could just read the items.  Classes on Tuesday were very easy but organisation of programmes to go with the books is another job.   I have to cover as many topics, functions and tenses etc as possible and to improve their general levels of English.  I finally got to phone the bank of Ireland and sort out mortgage payments etc, I think.

 
 
 
An early Monday morning start was made as I had to meet Amelia, the secretary to the boss in the private school in Vibo who had given me this new job.  At 8.15 Paul, Lorraine and I had arrived, despite landslides blocking the coast road, only to receive Emelia’s call to say she would be arriving at 9am, not 8.30 as arranged.  A coffee was in order.  At nine we met her and went to my new assignment in Eni, a country-wide oil, gas, electricity company, with several other irons in the fire, where I was due to teach.  I made it well before 9am and then heard the class was not due to start until 10.30.  Time is not of the essence in Calabria, I knew, but I had thought business people might be more punctual.  I was introduced to several people, including a Signor Frank, whom I recognised from living in Pizzo, and my contact, another Emilia, in Eni.  The class consisted of two, out of a possible four, and we were away learning and teaching the present simple in no time at all and absorbing phrases and introductions.  It went well, I thought, for a start.  Books were on their way so I had prepared some lessons.  Paul and Lorraine picked me up at 12.30 and we went to their place for lunch and then on to Vibo for my other classes, of there are five on Monday.  On Tuesday I have four classes in Vibo and a one hour break at 6pm.  I tried to see the match between AC Milan and Manchester United but only got the last half hour.  However, there were three good goals in that time and United won.   

Wednesday and Thursday went fine too and I had the car on Thursday to go to Vibo and return myself.  Paul and I went to Vibo Marina for a drink as it was such a nice warm day.  On Friday we met Helen and her brother, Liam, who have bought here.  Alan had called me to go for a drink and Claire, Paul and Lorraine and Mark also turned up.  We had a good night and repaired to Il Poldo for pizzas.  I was going to take the car and go to Vibo but Paul advised against it so I didn’t, which was a good idea, in my condition.  

 On Saturday, four of us went shopping and I bought a camera for €70 in IperSpar in Vibo Centro Commerciale and a few items for the house.  I saw Helen ‘s place off Via Nazionale.  It is a ground floor apartment, with a good-sized terrace looking onto a large garden or plot of land.  I went to Paul’s for dinner and then went to Vibo and back to the marina in Pizzo looking for some music and life.  There were a lot of very young people in The Happy Hour so I went to Kaipira and met some nice Italians andhad too much to drink, I am now sorry to say. 

 

 
 
 
I hate wet Sundays, just in case you didn't know.  No matter where you are it seems there is nothing to do.  Some people just shop but that is not for me, thank god.  In my home town the malls are full on Sundays, as if there were nothing else possible.  I hate that also and the people who do it..  Nasty person ,amn't I.? 

Yes, you can read the paper ( I cannot get an English one in Italy, except on the internet).  I might do that for an hour, even at home,  but get fed up then.   Watching football on the tv might be an option  but yesterday it did not work for me.  So I visited friends in the afternoon. (God help them).  It just poured all day and in Pizzo there is less to do so I spent a lot of time on the net.  My day started slowly and finished early.  As my old friend, Tommy Quigley, used to say "two and a half hours to Monday" in the countdown.