M&M&M

One week at the beach and I can now claim that I am the babysitter of a little fish. It’s near impossible to pull Nerina out of the water. We go to the beach every morning for a few hours and return an hour after lunch. Oh, I’m not complaining. I love the sun and I love to swim. The Mediterranean is a little cold at the moment, but I think it’s going to start getting very hot here soon and it won’t matter.
When we’re not swimming, we’re biking, turtle hunting, eating gelato, or working on her English homework (which is a joke because she’s basically fluent). I adore this child, and I am even learning to love her tantrums—if only because they remind me that she is a child and not just my best friend.
Her birthday is this weekend and there will be over 30 children here. I can’t say whether I’m excited or not. She certainly is.
When Nerina is bored with me, she plays with her cousin Giulia and her friend Alice. They are all the same age and, on occasion, they get along nicely. Three girls together is always tricky. Anyway, during these times I mostly just read or work on my summer course (another joke).
I am very much torn between wanting to go home and never wanting to leave here. I’m trying not to think about it, but I have quite a bit of time to think. Anyhow, after Nerina’s birthday, I have family coming to see me. The next week I have a free weekend so I think I might go to Siena. The next week is my last week with Nerina before they go to New York and it is also the weekend I go to Paris. The next week I will be in Torino, and then I will spend my last day in Florence before I have to go Rome to catch my plane to the States.