Per Emanuele

Do you have roots in Umbria?

Les M&M's, week 36th

Four weeks to go. Tic-tac, tic-tac, tic-tac*…

(*) According to the book I am reading now, ‘The Expectant Father’, it is absolutely normal for expectant fathers to feel a sudden sense of panic during the last month of pregnancy…

Our Agriturismo

Il casale (the farmhouse)

View from the garden

Les M&M’s in Umbria: Todi

After Assisi, Gubbio, and Perugia, our discovery of Umbria continues.

I went to Umbria for the first time when I was eight, on a summer camp in a farmstead on the hills near Gubbio - in what remains one of the best memories of my childhood. I then returned to Umbria about fifteen years later, in Orvieto, on a New Years Day during an Umbria Jazz Winter - in what remains one of the days (if not ‘the’ day) in which I suffered more the cold in my life.

But apart from these two experiences, Umbria has for long been out of my routes, and has remained until today virgin soil for me.

But since we moved to Rome, this is already the second time we travelled here, and - considering its proximity to Rome (and its beauty) - I have the feeling it will soon become one of our favourite destinations for long week-ends or short vacations.

This time it was the turn of Todi, typical Umbrian small town, perched on a hill, walled in by medieval walls, and surrounded by the breathtaking Umbrian countryside.

It is nice to rediscover the beauty of Italy…

Our last vacation in two

Worn out by months of travel, the heat of the Roman summer, the preparation for the baby to come, we have decided to take a week of break, and to go on vacation.

It will be our last vacation in two, and, in a way, it is the closing of a cycle - before opening a new one. We know that in a few weeks nothing will be as before, and even when we’ll leave Baby to the grandpas to rediscover the thrill of a week-end or a short vacation in two, there will always be a third one (and perhaps a forth one, and a fifth one) accompanying us in our hearts and in our minds.

Used to fill our backpacks, catch a plane, and explore every corner of the world we could reach, from Morocco to Gabon, from Sao Tome to Arizona and Utah, from Yucatan to Iceland, and Alaska, and Colombia, and Ladakh, and many many other destinations, the destination of this vacation - an agritourismo in Umbria within the ‘two-hours-from-Rome’ safety distance - may not appear particularly exotic.

Well, that’s life, and we’ll try to get the most out of it. Here below are our resolutions for this vacation:

- Write or call friends we haven’t heard from for long time;

- Read the book that has been on my bedside table for the past six months;

- Choose the pictures of our wedding we want to print out;

- Choose Baby’s name;

and of course spend good time together and stay well together.

Because the basis for building a life in three, is to have a solid life in two.

A spasso per Roma - Il Celio

In Rome be like the Romans are

Photo pour maman

Apres l’effort, il y a le reconfort

“I miss you”. “Come back soon”...

There is nothing more fulfilling when you are travelling a lot and you are far from home for long periods of time, often alone in your hotel room in front of the screen of your laptop, or by yourself at the restaurant reading a draft document while waiting for your dinner, to feel you are missed at home.

Little I knew that behind those (to my ears sincere) words of love, anything but that feeling was hidden.

Of course I was missed. Of course Mathilde wanted me to come back soon from my mission. But nothing else than to clean our terrace!

Our terrace is gorgeous, but maintaining it’s a job itself. Watering the plants, sweeping the dead leaves, brushing the clay tiles… If you miss your duty for a couple of days in a row, the terrace becomes a mess in a twinkling…

And so the same day I had come back from Pakistan, I was already in press. To recover the two weeks I missed….

Luckily, as the French say, ‘apres l’effort, il ya le reconfort”… (“after an effort, there is a reward…”).

Mathilde & Mathilde

Welcome Duccio!

You may remember that some time ago we announced that several very good friends of us would have had a baby over the summer*.

Well, the first baby (Duccio) landed among us just three weeks ago. And yesterday we went to officially meet him. Welcome Duccio!

Mum and dad look tired but happy, and the baby… well, he looks ‘small’!

Mathilde seemed absolutely at her ease with the baby, and showed an incredible natural talent in handling him (the mother instinct is coming out?), whereas Matteo… well, let’s say he still needs to practice a bit…

(*) Ref. “Baby and his/her friends”.

Mathilde & Raphael in Rome (Lucullian breakfasts and dinners on the terrace)

We told our family and friends to take advantage of our guestroom before Baby gets possession of it*, and we have been taken at our own word.

L’auberge Les M&M’s is now working at full capacity, and after the recent visits of Sara & Tommaso, Patricia, Ingrid, and Maman et Papa Iweins, this week-end has been the turn of Mathilde & Raphael.

As for most of our French friends, everything revolves around meals, and we soon realized that sightseeing was in fact a collateral activity to fill the time between two meals.

Conclusion: not many museums in the past couple of days, but Lucullian breakfasts and dinners on the terrace.

Who’s going to be the next?

(*) http://www.matteoandmathilde.org/2011/02/les-m-have-roof-in-rome.html

A pleasent surprise

“Ciao Matteo! sono a Roma per una conferenza, e sarebbe bello potersi beccare*”.

This - totally unexpected, but truly pleasant message - was the first message I found in my ‘In Box’ this morning. And it was the message that set my mood for the whole day.

It was Gianni, a very good friend of us from our times in DC. Distance in the past two years made us, unfortunately, lose a bit tracks from each other - but every time we meet, it seems as if we have been seeing each other until the day before.

And so it was this time.

And while, at the end of the evening, we were saying good-bye to each other, a few random thoughts quickly run through my mind. First, how much this itinerant life indeed offers us opportunities to meet 'special' people: people with whom we discover an affinity or a connection. But, at the same time, how much the same 'intinerant' life often (sooner or later, in a way or in another) pulls us apart from these people…

And while still pondering on whether in the end you gain or lose from this kind of life, we started speculating on where we would meet next.

We said next time we’ll be in Prague. Do keep on following us, and let’s see if this prediction comes true…

(*) Hi Matteo! I am in Rome for a conference, and it would be nice to meet and catch up.

Happy birthday, Federica!

The woman who embroidered this coverlet received a training on embroidering and quilting from one of our projects. Once she completed the training, she applied and got a loan from one of the microfinance facilities set-up under the project to start-up her own business.

Today her business is flourishing: she sends and sells her products to the provincial capital, she provides training to dozens of young women who want to initiate a similar activity, and - once the trainees have completed their training - she buys and sells their products.

And, considering how much she asked me for this coverlet, she is certainly out of poverty now…

Anyway, with a little bit of delay: happy birthday, Federica!

Matteo & Riccardo

Guess who is Matteo, and who is Riccardo...

27 June - two years later...

Twenty-seven June, two years later. In between many, many things.

And many more to come…

(Ps: looking back at the comments to the post of last year, I have to say they have been almost prophetical…)

A spasso per Roma

Mathilde, week 33rd

Matteo, week 33rd

Back home...

It has been a long and tiring mission: long working hours, a lot of kilometers, a lot of heat.

But after two weeks like this, there is nothing like being back home.

Back to my family…

Habemus incunabula

Red as my scooter, red as our couches, les M&M’s (or, better, Baby) has now his/her new baby carriage.

The father would have liked it with BIG driving-wheels, as that of the Americans, to show off in the park with the other dads. Unfortunately it wouldn’t have fit in our elevator. The mother would have liked it as light as a feather, to easily manoeuvre it on the sidewalks obstructed by the parked cars or to easily load it and unload it on our car. Unfortunately they have not yet made them in titanium. In the end, the simpler, the better.

We thanks grandpapa et grandmama Iweins very much for their present - which, by the way (knowing us) probably saved us from neverending discussions on which baby carriage to pick.

Merci! J

Les Iweins chez Les M&M’s

While Matteo is wandering about the mountains of Kashmir meeting community organizations, woman associations, widow groups, etc. to discuss livestock packages, poultry packages, microfinance packages, mobilization strategies, feeder roads, small dams, etc. etc. Mathilde received a pleasant visit: Madame et Monsieur Iweins on a pleasure trip to Rome.

And while thanking them for having taken care of Mathilde in my absence, and for having replenished our new home with new tools and household appliances, I am sorry I missed their visit, and look forward to seeing them very soon.

In August…

Greetings from Muzaffarabad

Artistic picture from a local newspaper

Salaam. Greetings from Muzaffarabad, AJK (you can check on Google Map where the hell it is J).

After a few days of internet troubles, today internet has been clement, and I am back on line. Just to say that all is well, food is bad but I am eating regularly, I have not yet been shot, kidnapped or carjacked (and therefore I could not yet put in practice the teaching of the UNDSS Security in the Field Training Course), and that I’ll probably be back to Islamabad on Wednesday.

Insha’Allah.

In partenza verso nuove avventure! (Leaving towards new adventures!)

Kashmir has been no doubt the part of India that I liked more. Now I am going to discover the 'other side' of Kashmir: the Pakistan side, or, as they call it here, ‘Azad’ Kashmir: ‘free’ Kashmir.

See you in a couple of weeks!

L’auberge ‘Les M&M’s’ is getting ready for the crucial test

After Silvia, Sara & Tommy, and Patricia, our auberge has been tested by another distinguished guest: Ingrid from Brussels, who stayed with us for a few days in the past days.

We do thank Ingrid for her company (and for her salads!). And while waiting for her official review, we feel we are ready for the ‘crucial test’: Les Iweins, who will be visiting us in the coming days…

Les M&M’s in Umbria: in giro per le viuzze di Perugia*

(*) Les M&M's in Umbria: wandering around Perugia's alleys...

Les M&M’s in Umbria: Perugia

Perugia, the last leg of our short journey in Umbria, was probably the city that I (we?) liked the most. Assisi and Gubbio are indeed beautiful, two little medieval jewels - but at the same time a bit ‘too much’: too clean, too tidy, too ‘for tourists’.

Perugia on the other hand is a nice mix: certainly as precious as Assisi and Gubbio, but at the same time more lively, more vibrant, more ‘true’.

University town, I decided I will study there in my next life…

Les M&M's in Umbria: Gubbio

Assisi, a mosaic of churches. Gubbio, the second leg of our journey, a whole of medieval palaces and houses. It is nice to (re-) discover Italy…

Below, ‘la Fontana dei Pazzi’ (the Fouls’ Fountain). They say that if you go round the fountain three times, you get crazy. Saying demonstrated…

Les M&M's in Umbria: Assisi

We may disappoint a bit our followers, but for once we decided not to take a plane, not to embark in ‘exotic’ trips, and to discover instead our own backyard. On the occasion of the June 2nd long week-end, we thus decided, together with Agnes and Xavier, to discover the green and gentle Umbria, a couple of hours by train from Rome.

The first leg of the trip was Assisi, birthplace of San Francesco and 'spiritual' capital of Umbria - as it has been defined.

More on this leg and on the rest of this short trip in the next few days. Good night for now…

Il gelato di San Crispino

Thanks to Riccardo (true Roman) for the hint. Our review: the ice-cream is certainly good, but the portions are a bit too small, and the attendants are unpleasant…

Mathie, Patty & Matt in Rome

Mathie & Patty in Rome

Two bachelorettes in Rome...

While Matteo was playing at Indiana Jones in Indochina, Mathilde was enjoying her last few weeks of ‘freedom’ in company of Patricia (who you may remember from our India posts), who came from Seville to visit Mathilde.

Above the two ‘bachelorettes’ who get ready to go dancing. Guapas!

Les M&M's in Angkor

Mathilde 2008

Matteo 2011