A very sick Bruno and a chocolate festival takes over Torino.

Plus, a bit of This & That

The Hardest Parts

We’re continuing our Hardest Parts series to share the stressful realities of living abroad alongside all the positives we're experiencing. So many of us, myself included, have a very romantic idea of what it would be like to live somewhere else, whether it be Italy or Spain, Greece or Portugal, Costa Rica or Australia. But, it's important to share the struggles of setting up life in an unfamiliar place, if only to help others interested in making this type of change in their life have a realistic idea of what it will look like once they leap.

Having a sick child is stressful enough, even when you’re close to your trusted pediatrician, in your home where you have the necessary things to help soothe them, and near a pharmacy with medicines you’re used to administering. And, no matter where you are, it's even more challenging with little ones who can't express themselves verbally yet to let you know how they are feeling.

On Saturday, Bruno woke up from his afternoon nap piping hot with the rosiest cheeks. I immediately took his temperature and discovered it was over 102 degrees. I gave him acetaminophen to help with the fever, and he spent the rest of the afternoon lying on me, lethargic and drifting in and out of sleep. After three kids, we’re pretty used to them being sick with a cold or the flu, especially once they start school full-time. But, about an hour after we put him to bed, he threw up a lot and, from that moment on, throughout the night, wouldn't leave my side. My anxiety level started to increase and I felt rather paralyzed, with no idea where to begin. We’d yet to find a pediatrician, and taking him to the emergency room felt like a not great option as we wouldn't be able to communicate with doctors or fully understand what they were telling us. So, I held him on my belly, contemplating what the right thing to do was. And then, I got a message from a mom at school who saw that Bruno was sick. "Do you need a pediatrician to come to the house?". The best text to receive at that moment! And then another and another just like that, all the moms from school jumping to help however they could to get someone over to see Bruno and make sure he was okay.

By Sunday evening, a pediatrician who spoke English came to the house to check on him, and I'm so grateful that she did. Bruno had a very bad sinus infection that spread to both ears, causing horrible ear infections. She wrote several prescriptions for Andre to run out and get and encouraged us to reach out in a day to let her know how he was doing.

A house call by a pediatrician was 130 Euros, and she ended up checking both Bruno and Paolo (who was complaining of a stomachache). She stayed for about 40 minutes, thoroughly checking the boys, writing the prescriptions, explaining them to us, and helping us find the pharmacies open on Sunday. She wanted us to administer the meds to Bruno as soon as possible. In the days following her house call, we continued to check in with this doctor and receive further instructions on treating the children at no additional charge. I should also note that when you call the doctor here, you are calling them, not an office secretary. There is a much more personal connection it seems, and the exchange is not so transactional. And once we receive the payment receipt from the doctor, we’ll be able to submit it to our insurance, Cigna, to get reimbursement. Our insurance deductible is only about 100 Euros, so moving forward, there will no longer be any co-payment. Also, our private insurance family plan for international coverage is a 1/4 of the cost of our policy that we had in Los Angeles and can be used almost everywhere in the world, except the United States of course. In Los Angeles, even with our insurance, anytime I took the kids to the doctor's office, which was normally a 40-minute car ride away, if I was lucky, it was a $80 co-pay per child regardless of deductible. If I could not drive there but needed medical advice, I was required to do an $80 Tele-Visit to speak with the doctor via Zoom. In either case, the appointments never lasted longer than ten minutes. I’d usually have to wait longer than what the visit would take!

While the doctor prescribed antibiotics to address his nose and ear infections, she also prescribed daily probiotics, a saline-based nasal spray to help with his congestion, and another soothing nasal spray to help combat any dryness that might occur in his nose from the saline spray and help open his nasal cavity. The doctor was reluctant to prescribe an antibiotic, but said at this point it was absolutely necessary and we had to counter it with a probiotic. And, for Paolo, who had a stomach bug, she prescribed an effervescent drink to take daily for his stomach discomfort and probiotics. Italian doctors do not like to prescribe antibiotics and medications unless absolutely necessary. I can’t say our experience has been this way with the kids doctors or ours back in LA. I appreciated her approach of using Western medicine when needed and working to prevent future discomfort or issues that might arise more holistically.

I’ve been continually moved by the supportiveness of the school community here. It’s in this that I’ve found an important takeaway. Being able to receive and also ask for help from your community is what makes all the difference when you make this type of move. People want to help and want to support you because everyone knows it does take a village. In stressful times like this, these are the people you will be turning to who will offer support and help you find your way through any situation.

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A Chocolate Festival in Torino

One of our absolute favorite things about Torino is how much is constantly happening here. Art, music, sports, food, wine...there is always something to do or check out in the city. This past week, Il Cioccolato Delle Meraviglie (The Chocolate of Wonders), a huge chocolate festival with hundreds of vendors, took over the city center for ten days. Each day, people from all over gather to learn from master chocolatiers, attend food demos and workshops, and taste the most delicious chocolates from all over the country.

We took Costa and Paolo to the festival yesterday, where we walked around eating chocolate and sipping on hot cocoa with lots of panna (whipped cream). It felt like a real-life Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. The variety was endless. For all who love chocolate, this is a really special event and a wonderful place to make new product discoveries. I found quite a few new incredible brands for Valleybrink Road!

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This & That

• Two new winter coats for this colder Torino weather. One from Massimo Dutti and one from Muji.

• Also, these simple rain boots that will go with everything.