Staying home on Saturday

We don't watch much TV any more, so we don't really see what's going on out in the world. We look at the news on the Internet, read the headlines, and believe we have a general view of what's going on in the world, but we don't. We don't even keep up with the local news either. I read some of the headlines when I go to the giornalaio (the newspaper vendor) when I buy a few magazines, but I don't keep myself very well informed any more.

Dave is feeling sick today with a sore throat. My friend Debora called and asked me what his symptoms were and that maybe I should go and get him some antiobiotics. I'm not the quickest one to run to the pharmacy. I usually try homeopathic remedies and other homegrown ones that I've learned along the way.

For example, if I feel a cold coming on, I always make spaghetti aglio, olio pepperoncino. It's spaghetti with lots and lots of garlic, olive oil, and Italian dried peppers (the ones that are put in chocolates too!). It's really spicy, but the garlic supposedly cures you from anything or at least keeps sick people away from you so you don't get sick.

One other remedy I have learned in Italy is cooked rice in chicken broth with lots of olive oil and a little bit of grated parmesan cheese on top. It's one of those hearty dishes that warms you up. It's delicious on a cold, wintery day...I made it the last time I felt under the weather here.

Dave's parents called and they said that there is a bad case of flu in Italy. We had just heard about it today when an American friend of ours, Kristin (who used to live in Florence and just moved to Parma) came by today and told us that 1 in 100 people in Italy have the flu right now.

Supposedly this flu virus makes you have a sore throat for three days and then that's it. I guess today is Dave's first day, so he should be better by Monday.

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