Internet Cafe, Tee-Voo and Hilly Perugia

It has been quite a few days since I have written. Partly to blame is the fact that we still do not have our laptop back from the Technician who is fixing it and partly to blame is the fact that we have been exploring the city and not sitting in front of the computer. In addition, the Internet Cafe has also been experiencing technical difficulties with the computers running very, very slowly. The very kind Giovanna who owns this little place is having some new faster lines put in and by next week things should be up and running. She seems to be frustrated with the slow nature of this change-over but nevertheless she is still open. She does her best to service the customers who often fill every computer station here (there are at least a dozen stations plus the area where you can bring your own laptop to work) with everyone needing her help, which she patiently gives. Many of these users are American students at the University for Foreigners and it is disconcerting to hear so much English whispered in this ancient Italian city. We like this woman who is probably around 40 we guess (only because a young man who works here is her son)- she looks younger. She speaks English very well and has been a source of explanation and information for us at different times when we have encountered something we don't understand or a location we cannot find. I think we have been a source of amusement for her too as we fumble along trying to find our way.

We did receive a call from the computer technician, Andrea, yesterday afternoon that the laptop is ready and we will go on Monday to pick it up. I failed to tell you in my technology tirade that we are also having problems with our i-pod. For some reason it will not play and Andrea is also trying to see what he can do to get it up and running. We are not really sure what can be the problem and hope he can figure it out. The telefonini (Italian word for cell phone) is wonderful, although the manual is all in Italian and we are still trying to download and print an English version from Nokia's website so that we can program the darned thing. We'll keep you posted on all of this.

Our landlords, who are so lovely and kind, have provided us with a television (TV is pronounced Tee-Voo) so that we can watch the news and even if we don't understand everything, we can at least see what is happening in the world. Plus we get to watch some of the silly game shows and tell-all shows which are as ridiculous as the ones in the U.S. We hope this will help us improve our language skills but not sure what kind of words we will be learning!

In the meantime we climb up and down the hills, several times a day, trying to get the lay of the land and strengthening our calves and thighs! Too bad we didn't spend more time going up and down Squaw Peak or Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. It would have been good training for this.

That's all for now. Thanks for checking in.

Rosemary & Bob