January started with a celebration to bring in the new year. Nothing fancy - in fact I was at home but my cousin and her husband came about 9 p.m.. We watched a little bit of the Netflix documentary "Dogs" (if you are a dog lover check it out!), then toasted in the new year with some prosecco and panettone. The holiday season does not end in southern Italy until January 6th so on the 4th I had a few friends over to celebrate the season. This was my first "party" without any cousins - a fun time was had by all.
My days in the winter are usually non-eventful (which I hope for) - cleaning, shopping, stopping for coffee with friends, going to the outdoor market on Friday, going to the gym to work out. Pretty routine - which here in southern Italy can be a good thing. And believe it or not it fills your days. I'm sure I mentioned it before but things just take longer to get done here. So many chores take planning (good weather so your clothes will dry - stacking wood for the stove when there is no rain. In winter, weather becomes a very important element. But in southern Italy your days are never without some drama - both good and bad as evidenced by the two events below.
I lost my Internet connection one morning. I must admit the service is pretty reliable so when I did lose it I was a bit surprised. I reset the modem a few times as many times that will help. But nothing. By early evening I still had no service so Luigi helped me call the provider. A service ticket was issued. This, I must admit, concerned me as I had no clue when/what/where but kept my fingers crossed. The next day I received a call from the technician that he would arrive shortly. Well he got lost in the village (I don't even want to explain that one) but while I was waiting for him to find my house ( I was outside) I noticed a wire hanging from the pole that has all the electric and other cables. OMG - it was my Internet cable. The day before the "comune" had come to "trim" a tree in front of my house. Well it was more than trimmed AND they cut my cable. I about flipped out. So l discovered the problem so when the technician finally found my house I could show him and definitely save some time. He fixed the cable temporarily telling me an entirely new cable would need to be strung - but that would be another day - sigh! So he fixed the cable on Friday, January 4th. I am still waiting for the new cable to be strung. Needless to say I am not holding my breath and I lose Internet connectivity multiple times a day.
My days in the winter are usually non-eventful (which I hope for) - cleaning, shopping, stopping for coffee with friends, going to the outdoor market on Friday, going to the gym to work out. Pretty routine - which here in southern Italy can be a good thing. And believe it or not it fills your days. I'm sure I mentioned it before but things just take longer to get done here. So many chores take planning (good weather so your clothes will dry - stacking wood for the stove when there is no rain. In winter, weather becomes a very important element. But in southern Italy your days are never without some drama - both good and bad as evidenced by the two events below.
I lost my Internet connection one morning. I must admit the service is pretty reliable so when I did lose it I was a bit surprised. I reset the modem a few times as many times that will help. But nothing. By early evening I still had no service so Luigi helped me call the provider. A service ticket was issued. This, I must admit, concerned me as I had no clue when/what/where but kept my fingers crossed. The next day I received a call from the technician that he would arrive shortly. Well he got lost in the village (I don't even want to explain that one) but while I was waiting for him to find my house ( I was outside) I noticed a wire hanging from the pole that has all the electric and other cables. OMG - it was my Internet cable. The day before the "comune" had come to "trim" a tree in front of my house. Well it was more than trimmed AND they cut my cable. I about flipped out. So l discovered the problem so when the technician finally found my house I could show him and definitely save some time. He fixed the cable temporarily telling me an entirely new cable would need to be strung - but that would be another day - sigh! So he fixed the cable on Friday, January 4th. I am still waiting for the new cable to be strung. Needless to say I am not holding my breath and I lose Internet connectivity multiple times a day.
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| Workers "trimming" the tree |
The finished product 😱
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| The problem! |
But to counterbalance this mess, January brought an amazing discovery. Remember that the Gentile Family had 7 children of which my grandfather was one. There was always one brother for which I had very little family information for the family tree. I only knew the name of one second cousin from that line and at some point I would have to start to try and track her down - which could prove to be very difficult. Well no need now - as the family found me.
Mary Gentile (no relation) works at the bar near Luigi’s Parafarmacia. She also lives in Acquavella. She knows Luigi and Angela (my cousin) very well and knows of our family. She was contacted via FB by a Pat Gentile in the U.S. Pat wanted to know if Mary was related (because of her name and village). She told Mary that her family had 4 brothers that immigrated to the U.S and 3 siblings that remained in Italy. Well that can only be one family - OURS! Mary told Luigi and he said yes she was probably related. So Angela and I went to the bar to see Mary the next day. We read Pat’s message and sure enough she mentions she is a granddaughter of Alfonso (the brother). It was so exciting. Angela and I were jumping up and down in the bar - someone should have had a camera. We had goosebumps!!!! Sometimes technology can be a pain in the behind and other times it can be wonderful!!! This was one of those wonderfuls!!!
Since that time I have now been in touch with 3 of the second cousins from Alfonso Gentile and one "second cousin once removed". I actually know what this stuff means! HAHA!
Prior to this connection I had finally started to enter the family tree data into the software package I purchased. Great winter time activity and was on my list of "things to do" for way to long. So talk about more motivation!!!! My poor house will never be clean until summer time!!
And to add to that excitement I have been gathering family documents as well. The most exciting of which is my great grandfather's birth and baptism record. With this knowledge I now have the opportunity to continue to go back in time! I may finally crack into the 1700's!
And one final shout out to my sister Sue and niece Tatiana - congratulations on achieving your Italian citizenship!! 💃❤️🇮🇹🍾
Stay tuned for February's blog - I'm going to Carnevale in Venice! That's sure to be an amazing experience.
