I Lost Blood Wine Playing Italian Frogger

…and no, there are no typos in the heading… LOL!

Back in the 1980s, did you ever play the arcade game, Frogger?

You know, the one where you had to get a frog to successfully cross a highway without being squished by the traffic zooming along…

Well, here in Italy, Frogger is a daily way of life – by that, I mean crossing a road – any road – whether at a pedestrian crossing or not – is like getting the frog safely (or not) to the other side. It really is a free-for-all for both drivers and pedestrians.

Anyway, while I was on my way home from the market today, my frog was slightly squashed…

As I was crossing the road – on a pedestrian crossing – a car came along and struck the wheeled bag I was pulling behind me in which I had my groceries, including a couple of bottles of wine.

The resulting impact (btw, both bag and I survived) broke one of the bottles but what was very funny, was that the pool of red liquid that then seeped onto the ground looked for all the world like blood! LOL!

It caused quite a commotion – although not for the frog-wine-killing driver who continued on his oblivious way…

Welcome to life in Italy!

~ Bella

PS the following day:

It’s funny how different situations can affect you…

When I went down to collect my mail today, I was confronted very abruptly by a woman who lives here asking me which apartment I live in – and I told her – and whether I was responsible for the dreadful state of the floor in the foyer and in the elevator.

I said no – she continued to angrily challenge me, again double-checking which apartment I am in and telling me (I think – she doesn’t have much English and I don’t have much Italian) that she had cleaned the floor in the elevator – and again, she checked which apartment I am in.

We went back up in the elevator together – and when I walked in the door I had the most interesting reaction – I was shaking and felt ‘hunted’ – a feeling I had not experienced since I was a child growing up in a not-so-fabulous situation.

…but then also having the realization that it probably was my fault – the wine!

So, I went down and cleaned the floor in the foyer – sent the person who owns the apartment an email telling him what had happened and apologizing for any inconvenience I had caused anyone (and he sent me a lovely, reassuring email back again) – and I sat down to get back to work…

…but this feeling of being trapped, unsafe, vulnerable and wanting to be anywhere else but here is still with me as I write this… It’s funny how different situations can bring up emotions you didn’t even know you still had…

…but you know me, I am Pollyanna so will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed again in no time… 🙂