Hi again!
After a few weeks of getting adjusted, we have finally settled down into our routine and schedule here in Italy. Jet lag is always a disaster for me. It seriously takes me a good 3 weeks to get adjusted to the time change every season. I am convinced I get the worst case of jet lag known to mankind! My days and nights are all mixed up and I feel like a complete zombie. It really is the worst feeling to not feel like you are in sync with what time it is! But thankfully that has passed and I am good to go!
Creating a routine overseas has become even more important now. When it was just Tyler and me, we would just binge watch tv shows on Netflix when he was home from practice or on days off (I am laughing to myself right now at how much as changed!) Now that Carter is a toddler, it's so important that we aren't just sitting around the house all day, every day. We try to get him out and do as much as we can - going to the park, going on walks, going to the store etc. We are so blessed this season because we have a large backyard at our apartment(more like a townhouse). There is also a little playground for our apartment complex that happens to be right outside our front door. Those two things have truly been a blessing as we use them everyday.
As many of you saw by the pictures I recently posted, we enrolled Carter into a weekly toddler class. We were out walking in the center one day, and we literally just stumbled upon this little school that was tucked away. I noticed it was an English school and so I decided to google it when I got home. After checking it out, I sent the director a message and asked if Carter would be able to potentially enroll (even though the school is technically for Italian kids to learn English). She was so kind and told us that she would love for us to come down and check things out.
I assumed that since Carter is so young, his class would just basically be for him to go and play with other toddlers. Which was totally fine with us because we basically just wanted him to be able to socialize with other kids. I figured they might point out an English word here or there and the whole class would be in Italian, but at least by us taking him to an English school it would be beneficial on our end because we could communicate in English with his teachers. But I was blown away! They teach the whole class entirely in English and have super interactive lessons and activities for the kids. They definitely have a great curriculum and it was so awesome to see Carter in his first class! It feels so great to have something like this for Carter every week, it makes it feel we are making steps towards making this city feel more like a "home" to us.
Tyler is super busy with long practices and games. Everything is going great though with the team which helps to confirm our choice in coming back to Italy. We are getting familiar with our city and hoping to take advantage of days off and get some traveling in over the course of the season. We were able to make a day trip to Milan a few weeks ago and that was fun to take pictures of Carter and get a little shopping and eating in. I've already had more pizza than I really should have in the past month, but hey we're in Italy and pizza doesn't compare anywhere else! Oh, and we won't even talk about how much gelato we've had (insert the emoji with the girl putting her arms up)! As far as pasta goes, I've had a few good dishes but still on the hunt for the best in this area!
That's just a little update on the past few weeks. I forget sometimes to give ourselves a little grace in getting settled in to a new city. It takes time to get used to the area, where things are, get items that we need that didn't come with our place and just getting acclimated to a new culture in general. It is funny the little things we forgot about Italy, I find myself saying/thinking "oh yeah! I forgot about that!" Now that we are getting acquainted/reacquainted with things, I will have more to share about our life here in Italy.
Ciao!
