At exactly 9am this morning if you were to peak into this apartment you’d observe two women sitting on the couch. They look puzzled at each other with a glint of humor in the corner of their eyes. In perfect synchronization, both have their left arm extended, palm upwards while the tips of the fingers of their right hand gently tap their left arm starting from the shoulder down. Then the same with the right arm. They can barely contain their laughter. What on earth are they doing? If the room were bugged, a soothing woman’s voice emanating from a laptop could be heard giving instructions in Dutch. Clued in yet? A friend of Mom’s thought Mara could benefit from a kind of meditation exercise, called Chi Neng Qigong, and sent us a few audio tracks. The lady’s voice is actually quiet pleasant. In the background, while she speaks, the sounds of waves crashing and an Ocean breeze are audible. Both women, a mother and a daughter, with the required ostentatious skepticism expected from a cynical society, secretly enjoy it! Yep…Now, if only they could get Mara to listen to it!
If all goes according to plan, I should pass my practical driving exam on the 24th of September. I am on to my fourth Italian Driving Instructor since April (I won’t even bother to mention how many I had in the Netherlands. Suffice to say this little project is costing me a fortune). I am such an obvious target that I was actually headhunted by this last one. I kid you not. Delio saw me leaving the theory examination room and immediately $ figures flashed in his eyes. The first one, Alessio (with his Lancia Ypsilon), tried to screw me over with the pricing. Massimo (with the Fiat Panda), screwed me over with the times. He’d be consistently late and we’d be running errands during most of my lesson anyway. I’m confident I’d make an excellent delivery person. Both Massimo and Alessio shouted a little too easily and I don’t necessarily enjoy paying to get yelled at. This brings me to Roberta (and her Golf). Super relaxed. Even a little too relaxed. She just never spoke. And now there’s Delio (with his Fiat Brava). He’s an older man with one thick hair growing on his nose just begging to be plucked. Of course, of course, Dad negotiates on my behalf…Delio doesn’t discuss pricing over the phone. First a lesson to establish my level of driving. Then he offers us a package deal, a special price just for us…It surprises me that he doesn’t write it on a scrap of paper and secretively presses it into Dad’s palm. Oh, and did I mention he wants me to take the exam in a different city (village)? But what truly seals the deal is when it turns out his name is Rossini too. Well, then he must be trustworthy. He’s probably a distant cousin, ten times removed. The examinator in the village next door might even be family too. All in all, the bargain of a lifetime…Only a fool would pass on such a golden opportunity…
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