Buondì.
2 giugno (months aren’t capitalized in Italian) is a ‘giorno festivo’ here in Italy, that is to say a public holiday. It’s La Festa della Repubblica Italiana and the Wikipedia page I linked to there will tell you all about it (in Italian, of course!)
For which reason, I have the children here, or those that remain, as two daughters are away at college. On a normal Wednesday, the boys would be busy at their respective high schools and baby-care facilities, so I’d have time to write more… But as I said, in Italy this isn’t a normal ‘mercoledì’ (days aren’t capitalized either.)
So that means finding child-friendly ways to pass the morning, cooking a suitably celebratory lunch – I’m planning a BBQ – and, to the point, having MUCH LESS TIME FOR MY OWN STUFF!
Work will be squeezed in whenever I can manage it (like now), but my language-learning? I already cancelled my regular Wednesday morning Turkish conversation lesson (my teacher has a picnic scheduled, so wasn’t bothered) and a lot of my other usual learning activities will likely end up sacrificed to the cause of making the holiday one to remember.
I will still try to listen to the news headlines on Swedish radio (approximately 30 minutes) and, of course, flick through the French and Spanish newspaper apps I pay for. At least that! Paying for things is a great incentive to use them, I find.
And maybe I’ll have French and/or Spanish radio news shows on while I’m clearing away the BBQ plates and glasses. And in the evening, given that it’s sort of like a weekend, there’ll be Turkish FM radio (commentary and popular music) while I’m preparing something simple to eat.
But that’ll be it, no time for anything else today!
Ever noticed that you can get LESS done on a public holiday than on ‘giorni feriali‘?
Why IS that?
Tomorrow’s ‘giovedì’, thank goodness, so back to teaching.
And learning!
A venerdì.
