At times I feel that maybe I've gotten in over my head a bit. I mean if you get right down to my roots I'm just a hick from Nebraska. Sure, it's been decades since I've had any real association with the place but still... What I'm talking about here is the fact that I also give glass bead making lessons in Italian. (How is it even possible that the person I was all those decades ago could today be someone that lives in Europe and teaches an ancient art form, let alone doing so in another language?! I always thought I was so incapable.) The reason I'm writing this installment, however, is not something so simple (relatively speaking) as me teaching glass bead making in Italian to Italians, but rather to non-Italians with whom my shared common tongue is Italian. For example, I once taught a 12-hour course to two young women who were both Japanese, one of whom also spoke Italian (To some degree. Honestly, Dante wouldn't have been real impressed by either of us). Unfortunately the other young lady only spoke Japanese and was dependent upon her friend to translate. Believe me, it wasn't pretty. In fact, it was a language massacre.

 I feel bad because truth-be-told, the quality of the information being passed suffers when I teach in Italian. It's just that I'm so much more eloquent in English (Not necessarily a word I would have previously used to describe myself). I can clarify a point in English in a way that is just not yet possible in Italian because I don't have the same vocabulary at my disposal. Hell, in English I can ramble on and on endlessly, it seems, without lifting a muscle (So to speak). In Italian those same muscles feel atrophied.

It has crossed my mind that I should offer a discounted price because of the disparity but man, I have to work so much harder for it in Italian! And then to get paid less?! No can do. I am a bit of a perfectionist so hopefully I'm overstating the difference.

Learning another language has not been what I expected. In fact, it has been much more difficult than I imagined, especially after reading all of those I-moved-to-Italy novels where people become fluent in a few weeks time just by hanging around their local cafe. Now, I wasn't so foolish as to think that, but I did think that just by being immersed in the language and country itself I would ipso facto arrive at a certain, base skill level. And now that I've written that, I suppose that is indeed true to some degree but not in the way I expected. Now that I am more fluent I am more able to interact in Italian to a greater degree and for longer periods of time, therefore working that muscle on a more consistent basis. That has and will continue to speed up my learning process, feeding on itself more now than before. It does not, however, happen by osmosis. Some type of studying is necessary, and I mean book-study, study by watching TV (As bad as it is - Although it isn't so harsh an experience as it is in the states because the violence factor isn't there), and study by interacting to the best of your ability at the local cafe. The cafe is perfect because they are a captive audience, paid to stand there and deal with you (And yes, they may even come to like you).

What surprised me about learning a language is that it isn't so cut and dry as: a) You speak a language, or  b) You don't. A very long time is spent between the two; Not being able to express yourself fully and not being able to comprehend what is being said to you. Gradually, Slowly over time you will inch your way along, literally word by word. As mentioned previously, it does at some point begin to gain momentum and I certainly don't mean to dissuade anyone from this noble task, I'm just attempting to paint a more realistic picture than the one often portrayed. And certainly it is different case-by-case! The younger you are, the easier the process will be (Us old folks... Ugh!). Our daughter was 9 years old when we moved here and threw her into the Italian public school system. Now, at 18, her true personality is her Italian personality. Lily and I are both American born and therefore live our home life and the management of our business life in English. That has obviously slowed our progress. What has sped our process in recent years is having a public business in an artisans neighbourhood, forcing interaction that then becomes, over time, the norm.

(Another sure-fire way to speed the process is to get a dog, as that increases interaction with your neighbours 100-fold.)

Learning another language takes time. Fortunately in Italy time is defined differently then it is elsewhere. Here time allows for the creation of a 50-year set of doors or for the duomo to sit without it cupola for a century. Time in Italy moves along at a gentler pace, so relax, have another cup of coffee and work that Barista!

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Or a morning in the life, anyway. This installment is mostly about Siesta, our Miniature Snauzer. Why, you ask? Honestly, it's because I'm so impressed by the impact a 7-kilogram critter can have on its environment.

Born in San Casciano, a gorgeous area in the Chianti just outside Florence, Siesta became part of our family 3+ years ago. As puppies are, she was incredibly cute (and of course in our opinion she was even cuter than all other puppies, but that goes without saying).

The thing I didn't realize about having a dog is that because of the sheer number of times you need to go traipsing around the neighborhood waiting for her to pee and poop, you invariably interact to an even greater extent with the people that make up the area within which you live. Socially it opens an incredible amount of doors. If you move to a foreign country and then do this, as we did, the impact is even greater because your status as a "foreigner" begins to more quickly fade, day-by-day, interaction-by-interaction. All of the sudden neither of us are quite so strange to the other as we once seemed. I mean, my dog pees and poops just like their dog pees and poops. I have to deal with it just like they have to deal with it. It's becoming quite clear that the familiarity of the shared minutia that makes up each of our lives is what inevitably bonds us together. Of course it helps if your dog is cute as can be, which Siesta is. The process may take a bit longer if your dogs tendency is to go for the jugular...

As you may or may not have seen elsewhere on this site, our studio is located in the Oltrarno district, Florence's "Left Bank." Specifically, our area is known as the SoPo (south of Ponte Vecchio). This area has been the artisan quarter since the renaissance and beyond. Each morning Siesta and I stroll over to a cafe that has been owned and operated by two sisters since not too long after World War 2 (Was that the war-to-end-all-wars or was that the first one? Anyway...). While I have my caffe macchiato, Siesta is given her usual morning treat by one of the sisters while others in the cafe coo and aww about how cute she is standing on her hind legs at the bar. Guardate il piccolo cliente!, I hear (Look at the little customer!) Vuoi un caffè? (Would you like a coffee?). Ahh... Life in Siesta's shadow...

Immediately after, almost like clockwork, we walk a block over and Siesta takes a poop on the street where Mona Lisa was born. Yep, that Mona Lisa. That's one of my favorite things about being here; History isn't stored only in museums, it's all around us, it's real, we're steeped in it. I doubt I will ever lose my fascination with that...

After Siesta's morning constitutional we walk the two more blocks over to our studio. This is when the morning greeting festivities begin. Our street, Via Toscanella, is very much a neighborhood street consisting of the folks that live all around us and above us and the artigiani who have their studios here. Siesta brings out the best in almost all of them. She is absolutely Thrilled to see everyone and is literally hardly able to contain herself. She races from person to person and dances at their feet, elated to be with them again. As you can imagine, this makes her quite popular. People yell greetings to her from the windows overlooking the street. People get off their bikes to come over and say hi. The number of visitors she has in a day truly amazes me! My social life pales by comparison. Old-school local guys are especially entranced by her. All of them know her by name and she is equally thrilled to see each of them.

Siesta is especially fond of Roberto and Stefano. Roberto is what I call the Mayor of Toscanella. He has lived in this area for 50+ years. When I first met him he told me that when he was young he moved to our area from San Frediano, as if it were a major move. I can walk to San Frediano in about 15 minutes. I still can only understand about half of what Roberto says, as is often the case with the old-school guys. However, having said that, the two of us have nonetheless built a pretty nice relationship over the years. Of course a lot of that is due to the presence of Siesta, with whom Roberto interacts throughout the entirety of the day. The amount of joy Siesta brings into this guys life day-in and day-out is truly a beautiful thing to see. Two thumbs up, girl!

Stefano, on the other hand, is a much more modern type of guy. He uses the internet, for one! For decades he has been working right here in our quartiere as an antique lantern maker, specializing in star lanterns that are truly spectacular (You can view some of his work on their site: www.bieci.it). As you walk around this area you'll see his star lanterns hanging in many windows and outdoor areas - We have one in our window!

Recently Siesta has become Stefano's apprentice, of sorts. For the first 45 minutes or so of every day she can be found spending time with Stefano and Fabrizio (Stefano's brother-in-law, with whom he works), keeping an eye on their handiwork and hoping for treats (Siesta is known as a bit of a prostituta per il pane, willing to do most anything for a piece of bread). Afterwards she parks herself out in front of our studio and keeps an eye on all of us...

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The problem to date has been oxygen. I'm running a propane/oxygen mix torch (Nortel Minor Bench Burner - It just works!) and propane is economical enough but oxygen (Yeah, like we breath) is painfully expensive here. And when I say here, I mean here as in Florence. Somehow Lily and I chose the one place in Italy to live where you pay up to 3 times as much as other areas for oxygen tanks. Each tank, of which we use about one a week, cost 67.00 Euro, plus annual tank rental and other miscellaneous fees. Grrr...

What we needed was an oxygen generator (or oxygen concentrator... I don't know which is which; The machine that creates oxygen for you so as to free you up from tanks). 

Years ago Lily and I drove to Switzerland (isn't it Cool to be able to drive to Switzerland?!) to purchase a reconditioned oxygen generator. We had a wonderful trip and I wouldn't trade it for the world, however, the machine we bought was a joke. Of course we didn't know this until we got it home and were sadly disappointed by the lack of oomph.

While still in Switzerland we were concerned because the English-speaking person with whom we spoke prior to our visit was not available (The company is located in the German-speaking section of Switzerland). There was someone who spoke Italian, however, this was years ago and our Italian skills were not what they are today. Plus, as it worked out, we were given a rushed demonstration by a German-speaking attendant because his Italian-speaking co-worker wasn't acquainted with the machine. Oy vey...! In retrospect we obviously should have more forcefully requested to speak to their English-language attendant.

After-the-fact, when we spoke with the company owner, we were informed that the machine was for hobby use, not professional use and so of course it was lacking. Why a hobbyist would be OK with a weak flame is still a bit unclear. In the end we shipped it back for a refund and have been gun-shy ever since.

Years and much online investigation later, we decided to bite the bullet and try again. This machine, however, was not a reconditioned medical-use unit but an all-grown-up, intended-for-lampworking oxygen concentrator... That cost an arm and a leg. Actually what it cost was $1600.00 plus shipping; A true consideration since this one wasn't even on the same continent but in the states. In addition to all the other expenses we would need to pay a steep dogana merci (customs) upon arrival in Italy. The good news was that the Euro was strong against the dollar, so that softened the blow a bit. Of course that same fact means that it is more difficult for our US customers to purchase from us online, or when they are in town visiting. Oh how we long for the days of the Lira!

Actually getting the unit shipped was a bit of a fiasco and for some unknown reason the company recalled one just as it was arriving in Italy, which meant further delays. Plus, once the machine was physically in our possession, we found that the all-important Christmas tree adapter that would allow us to hook the machine up was not present. After much deliberation with the old guys in the neighborhood, it was determined that purchasing a similar adapter here in Italy would not be possible as the size would not be the same as the US-made counterpart. Since we were talking about oxygen under pressure, size does matter; Any leaks mean loss of pressure and therefore loss of a flame powerful enough to lampwork. Sigh... The company from which we ordered the unit sent another adapter to replace the missing one, which had been mailed separetly prior to the machine itself. The first one that was sent arrived the day after the second one did - Welcome to Italy!

And then... The moment of truth! Would this unit live up to its press? Would we indeed be free of the costly albatross that is oxygen tanks? Would I still be able to use More heat then I need when beadmaking? The answer is... Yes. I am very, very pleased with our unit. It's well made, it's simple to use, it's portable, (on wheels) it's low maintenance and it has enough oomph so that I'm never wishing for more power. Of course I'm working soft glass; For boro I can't say. Plus, on top of all that it is quiet, which was an important consideration for us because our studio and store are one. It isn't silent, it has a mechanical-type hum but not bad at all. You could even have it in your living room, if you were so inclined (As I once did for a year or more).

All-in-all I give our Regalia (by SeQual) a hearty thumbs up.

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Finally our glass order arrived from Moretti/Effetre of Murano today! ...It has really been a long time coming. I was actually out of black and down to bits and pieces of clear and ivory.

The minimum to order directly from Moretti is pretty high: 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of each color, minimum 60 kilograms (132 lbs.) overall. What that means is that it is expensive to order a rainbow of colors, and instead it is necessary for us to accumulate colors over time. 

On the up-side, it is (relatively) cheap to ship from Venice to Florence: 200+ pounds of glass costs about 30.00 Euro. Now if you try shipping outside the country... That is a different matter all together.

New colors this time: Sky Blue (Celeste Chiaro) / Blue (Pervinca) / Medium Topaz (Topazio Medio) / Medium  Amethyst (Ametista Medio) . Colors that didn't come? Copper green (Sorry Lorenzo, Elena & Leslie). Why didn't it arrive? Boh... Chi sa? you would say in Italian: Who knows. There was no indication on the invoice that we even ordered it, although we most certainly did. There was some vague indication that it was a special color and would have higher minimums, but you'd think from a business point of view they would address the issue in the hopes of us ordering it anyway...

Now, where to store all this new glass??? That is a question I'll be addressing when I get to the studio this morning...

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