One month in and we’re still in the intestinal phase, where naked twisty tubes breach the walls and floors, leaving a series of channels and crevasses that cause the boys to constantly prolong their gate to step over them. And Ciccia to ‘help’, gleefully digging into all the gravel and dirt they are using to cover the new plumbing and electrical.
Luckily Rita- my new 83 year old upstairs neighbor- is hard of hearing and so most of the jack hammers are lost on her. She smiles and pantomimes and dramatically lips her speech like many deaf people, overly concerned at her own volume levels.
So far all of new neighbors assume that I am just another worker because I’m wearing work clothes each day and because I answer their matter-of-fact questions about moving trucks or what time ‘the rest’ of the crew will be arriving.
The move and all the work has also coincided with the closing of a major street in Lecce, causing half of the city’s entrance traffic to need to pass my way. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
My month at Roberto’s B and B has come to end as he is starting to fill for the year. I need to move to another one, which at least has a little kitchen where I can progress beyond starchy take away and all the cellophane wrappers of a month’s worth of crackers.
The next phase of the restoration of the new school and home is much more aesthetically-driven and while I’ll be happy to have plumbing and electrical again, soon they will be hidden by the more exciting elements of a new home: tiles, paint and custom-made furniture.
Silvestro
Lecce
