We have now been in the United States for three+ days. The houses are strange (an eclectic variety of styles and materials that evoke everywhere and everytime without actually being anything, a collection of mini domestic kingdoms named Cape Cod, Georgian, Neo-Classical, Spanish Colonial Revival, Clapboard Bungalow…). The roads are needlessly wide; there are lawns everywhere, and they are trimmed and edged; people pick up after their dogs. People talk loudly with Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia accents–vowels are strong, angled, harsh. Everything is bigger: cars, buildings, portions, people.

There are fragments and reflections of Italy here on the East Coast — at Uncle Gino’s Pizza in Margate, the restauranteur  noticed Simon’s Juventus jersey and Simon was able to practice his Italian (though not try the pizza; he wasn’t ready for that). We saw stracciatella on the boardwalk in Ocean City, but no one wanted it, at risk of modifying the memory of the divine products from our beloved Gelateria Gambrinus in Perugia. As we go west, even those embers will wink out.

We may be putting up a few more posts — stories and images we didn’t have time to share as we packed up. For now, the boys have decided to start a YouTube channel that is meant to introduce kids in America to European soccer; to share, peer-to-peer, their observations and insights. It’s called “Soccer Stuff”, and episode 1, though a little long (they need to get each show down to 5-8 minutes), is below. It’s about the World Cup. They begin to find their stride about halfway through.