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Hi Sis!
Life over here is going really well. We've been here for a little over 3 weeks and Yousef already started at an Italian school 2 weeks ago. He is loving it and has got a really nice teacher who speaks pretty good English and is really welcoming. She got all the kids in his class to make a welcome drawing and poster for Yousef - so sweet. There is not much of the term left now though. The twins have also been doing mornings at a nursery in the same school although they aren't enjoying it as much. Their teachers don't speak much English at all and they are a bit reluctant to go each morning. But, I think they would be like that at any new school anywhere. Plus they'll appreciate English schools that much more when we return!

We have a nice flat in quite a good area of Genova - plenty of shops around and nice people but it is a little dirty. Par for the course in Genoa though. The flat is really comfortable and the kitchen especially is a lovely place to be. We do wish there was more outside space for the kids to play in though. But, when the summer hols start Jackie will be taking the kids out to the beach and stuff much more.

Jackie is settling in well too but is working hard at keeping is fed and watered at a reasonable cost. The prices of food and eating out here are much more expensive than I thought and that in itself is a bit of a struggle and will probably get worse in the summer. I'm going to have to dig deep!

Love and Hugs,
Bruv!

Ant Free Zone

Hooray! We are in our own Italian apartment and it is most definitely an Ant Free Zone (stylish or otherwise).
Much hilarity last night as we lugged down the last of our 10 cases down 4 flights of stairs only to find that the lift didn't need a key to use it.

The apartment is really nice - but it is a bit small I think and we have one less bed than we were promissed in the boys bedroom. Amazingly the agent told the landlady we only had 2 kids - a plain lie as I told him amny times that we have 3 and need an extra bed - moreover we brought the three little tykes along to sign the contract so they had no excuse!!

A dodgier agent you are unlikely to meet - all he was interested in was taking my money. I am still trying to wash the slime off my hand after I shook his at the end.

Anyway, the apartment is nice and clean although it would be nice if the shower worked!

PS - no internet connection (intermittant or otherwise) from the flat.
PPS - The boys watched Doctor Who last night and thought it was great - I'll try to watch it tonight ...

Sunshine and Focaccia

The forecast was storms and lots of rain but we were greeted with glorious sunshine as we climbed down the aircraft steps onto the tarmac in Genoa airport.

Packing was a nightmare and we arrived with 5 cases for the hold weighed to exactly 15kg and 5 pieces of hand-luggage weighed to exactly 10kg. 6 months worth of stuff for a family of 5 in 125kg - more than enough - we even packed the Wii and a hard-disk media player stuffed full of films and TV shows!

We have spent most of the first few days looking around Genoa and eating out - plenty of focaccia for breakfast, pizza for lunch, pasta for tea and gelato whenever we can get it. However not everything was perfectly smooth as our flat is not available yet. Typical Italian regard for getting things done when promissed. So, we are left in the Uni apartment for a few days yet living out of suitcases. The Uni apartment is far from clean, it is full of other people's stuff and has an ant problem. Nevermind - the excuse for our delay is that they are cleaning the apartment, so maybe we can expect a little better when we arrive there!

PS - I am emailing from an intermittant free wireless point that appears now and then in the flat. And I am downloading Doctor Who. Fingers crossed!