The Beginnings of our Sojourn in Italy

We arrived in Rome for the Frenchman's four-year workstint last summer. Our apartment is glorious if not a bit too "rustic" for my tastes at times. It is the third and fourth floor of a "villa" which itself is located in the Villa Borghese, the Central Park of Rome. Our villa is called the "Villa Santini", named after its owners, the Santini family. The Santinis claim to be Italian royalty from southern Italy, princes and princess and the like. Last time I checked, Italy was a republic but they don't seem to have caught on to this fact. Never mind that the principessa is charging us unheard of thousands in rent per month for the privilege of living in what is effectively her attic. When we asked if she would be so kind as to replace a few things in the 110 year old palazzo, she was aghast that we would deign to make such a request of her. The furniture that she has provided us (she had to give us some, as the apartment is being rented on a furnished basis) looks as if it has been here since the house was built, in terms of style, state of repair and cleanliness.

The house itself looks magnificent, even under the chipped paint. There is a beautiful English-style (or is it French style?) garden in front of it, with a little basin of water in the middle. Upon moving in, I checked the garden basin more closely and noted that, in fact, there was not water flowing into it and the water already in it was stagnant, making it effectively a breeding ground for mosquitos.

When we moved in last August, the apartment was as wonderful as I remembered it to be the previous May when we looked at it for the first time. Only in August, it was very very hot. The Frenchman located the air conditioning unit but it was broken. Also, I had not realized that we were really effectively living in a forest and the house had Other Residents, including some spiders (acceptable) and many many ants (NOT acceptable). I purchased Raid, lots of ant traps and other legal insecticides but to no avail. The ants finally disappeared for the winter but now that it is springtime, They Have Returned. We have two terraces - a small one over looking the city and a larger one overlooking the forest. We prefer the smaller one for dining as it is closer to the kitchen. We eat on the terrace to avoid feeding the ants in the kitchen.

Unfortately, the awning on the terrace, intended to shade us from the hot summer sun, was also broken when we moved in. It is electri and when we flipped on the switch to bring it out, it would not move. There were also numerous electrical sockets that did not work, as well as the apparatus to clear out the chimney. The electrician finally came. "Capisce l'inglese?", I asked. "No, ma lei capisce italiano," he replied (no, but you understand Italian). I do? He then proceeded to explain to me, in minute detail, the ins and outs of electricity at the Villa Santini. I understood none of it but nodded as if I did. Our awning worked after that but we had to wait a while longer for the air conditioning.