A knotty problem

I left you last week with a bit of a mystery, but before we come to the solution there was another matter that needed clarification: responding to Giordano’s request that we drop in to his office to find out what he had found out about making an application for Italian citizenship.

This we did on Monday afternoon after Stephen had called him earlier in the day to check when would be convenient. Anytime, he said, after 5 when the office opened, so that’s when we went - but we still had to wait for several minutes while he finished dealing with a gentleman of more than a certain age who seemed unable to grasp what Giordano was telling him despite it being repeated slowly several times.

We, on the other hand, understand what he had to say pretty quickly, but unfortunately it was not altogether the news we had hoped for. Giordano and his wife had done some digging and found an approved English course in Macerata of twenty-five two-hour lessons with a test at the end and reasonably priced at €100 plus exam fees. This in itself was not so much of a problem; what were though were the new conditions imposed by Matteo Salvini, Italy’s populist right wing politician and former Interior Minister with ideas above his station.

The first, which alarmed Stephen, was that the language test now has a written component, but this was comparatively minor compared with the second, being a requirement to have an annual income in Italy of €11,000. Whilst this would apply to us as a couple and not individually, it is still an impossible figure given our present circumstances. The only glimmer was when my teacher’s pension was mentioned, and Giordano is going to find out whether that would be acceptable. We await his feedback.

We come now to Tuesday and the solution to the puzzle I set last week. OK, it might not have been all that difficult as the mention of a yoga mat might have given it away, but it was still a great new adventure for me nonetheless and this is how it came about.

A few weeks ago I mentioned to Stephen that I had been thinking that taking up yoga might be a good idea, but the tentative attempts to find somewhere local online hadn’t been very fruitful, especially as I didn’t really want to be spending ages driving to and from a lesson. This must have come up in a conversation with bff Manuel, who, it turned out, went to yoga ten minutes up the road in Francavilla. He said he would get in touch the man who took the class to see if he was able and/or willing to take on a beginner and, to cut to the chase, he was. Consequently, I went with Manuel on Tuesday night to the school in Francavilla for the first session of the new round of lessons.

It was a select group of about eight or nine people, and the good news is that it included another newbie, Renzo. I did feel a bit conspicuous as the teacher, Giuseppe (Beppe to his friends) Trapè seemed to have to spend a lot of his time with Renzo and me, partly because he was not sure if I understood what I was being asked to do. Whilst I can’t say I understood everything, I felt that I followed well enough and the problem wasn’t so much not knowing what to do as not being able to do it with my untrained body. It was all very well for him to keep saying “Spalle giù” when not only was I having to think about keeping my shoulders down - and back - while trying to lift up one leg and balance on the other without leaning over to the side as at the same time making sure my stomach and buttocks were tight - oh, and remembering to breath.

I’m not sure if I can say that it was fun, at least not in the accepted meaning of the word, but my body certainly felt different, and in a good way, afterwards and I slept fabulously, so I will definitely be back for more.

When this will be, however, became something of a moot point on Wednesday when Manuel told Stephen that Mr Trapè had called him still expressing concern about whether I had understood or not (but according to Manuel, whenever he glanced over to see how I was getting on, I seemed to have a better idea than Renzo). Beppe also said that he was thinking about having a beginners’ session before the 7 o’clock one as there were also some new people in his Thursday night group and it would allow him to focus and explain more on what we needed. That sounded like a decent idea to me, and not just so I could be home earlier for dinner and feet up in front of the tele.

Thursday saw the return of young Rocco and Laura now that October has rolled around and Linea Pelle is out of the way – they both work at Pellami Due C, a leather supplier five minutes up the road from LCDDB. This meant that I had a comparatively busy day of three lessons so it’s as well I had a free day on Friday to recuperate. This was also the day that Giordano ‘phoned about the €11,000 requirement for citizenship. His wife had been in contact with the offices in Fermo who confirmed that the income had to originate in Italy and that my pension would only count if I transferred it here. Well, that’s not going to happen so we are going, as they say, back to the drawing board. He said that Stephen could call him back if we wanted it explaining more clearly, but I guess we will have to wait and see what happens at the end of the month before making any further decisions.

And so to the weekend, and with the weather continuing to be warm and dry it seemed a little incongruous to choose today for the great wardrobe changeover from summer to winter. That, though, is what occupied Stephen for most of the morning and part of the afternoon while I offered my consultation services at cost rate. I don’t want you to think that I was completely idle, as I did try out a new cake recipe from the free Sigma magazine. Very agreeable it turned out, too, being a lemon and poppy seed tea loaf (or plumcake as they are known here) – classically simple but tasty, as all the best things are.