Reinout Bosman
'Ciao Reinout, what time are you in Orbetello, then I'll pick you up from the train and take you to your hotel,' the girl on the phone is my co-organizer of a big event we're having on the Peninsula Monte Argentario organize. We had already skyped a few times so I knew who to expect. When I arrive, I see her, Carolina, and she greets me warmly.
"Welcome, today is still a fairly quiet day, so we're going to do some flyering for the festival and in the afternoon we're going to take it easy and go to the beach." I let it all go and we make our way to the hotel. In the meantime, Carolina's mother has called several times for some information and some family observances. It almost makes me laugh. "You often need it!"
'Ah,' is her answer, 'she is just very curious. I don't work with Dutch people every day, so she finds that extra exciting, haha. You will meet her again'. After I've freshened up, we head out to pick up the flyers and stop by the event manager's house. There we have a short briefing. Then it's time to do some flyering. Because of the heat, that quickly changes to 'let's go to the beach and have a bite to eat.'
Full house
Carolina calls her mother and asks if the house by the sea is free. "Of course," she says. "There's no one there right now." Until we arrive and I hear talking and clattering in the house. "There was nobody there, was there?" I ask. Carolina also looks at me somewhat surprised. She puts the key in the lock and opens the door. I see her turn pale as her mother approaches us and greets us warmly. 'Yes, hi! We thought, let's surprise them with an extensive lunch! Nice right?' I hear Carolina swallow and she asks in despair 'we?'
I glance over her mother's shoulder and see that the whole living room is full of people. It is very busy and I slowly but surely get the impression that I have ended up in a movie and now officially have lunch with the whole (!) family. Somewhat tense I look at Carolina who gives me a look of 'I can't help it either'.
Biondo, you are with us
As I sit down at the table, I hear Carolina's aunt yelling from the kitchen, "No, biondo, you're sitting at the end of the table with me, my sister (Carolina's mom) and nonna." I start to smile spontaneously and think about what a friend of mine once said to me: 'even if you are just the colleague… you still have to convince the family of that.' And indeed, as soon as I sit down, her aunt launches the first question. 'Hmm, you're Dutch, but what are you doing here?' and 'Florence is far from here, how long will you be in Monte Argentario?'
Slowly I start explaining, while nonna puts her pasta in front of me. "Yes, we have no idea if you eat everything, because yes, of course you are not Italian so maybe you are not used to our food." I laugh and assure her that it will be okay. In the meantime, aunt has arrived at the work and income questions. I squint at Carolina and give her a "can-we-get-out-of-here" look as I answer her aunt as diplomatically as I can.
E l'amore…?
The moment the fruit is put on the table, I see Carolina's mother getting restless. She moves up and down in her chair and I feel her want to ask that one pressing question. Carolina holds her breath as her mother clears her throat and says 'Gosh, Renato, how's your love life anyway?' It becomes dead silent at the table and all eyes are on me. I take time to think about my answer as I look around the table. 'You know,' I say after a few seconds, 'I have embarked on one of the greatest adventures of my life, and I have embarked on it with a very clear purpose. I work hard and a lot, and see what else comes my way.'
Her mother looks deep into my eyes again. "Very sensible, although I can imagine you're in the market, lad." She winks. At that moment Carolina stands up abruptly and says: 'So, and now I'm going to show Reinout the beach and we're going to chill for a while. The interview is over.' I thank the family very much and walk behind Carolina into the garden where there is a gate directly to the beach. We put down our towels and splash in the sea.
Fun family
After a few seconds I say, “Well, that was lunch for me. You have a nice family and your nonna is such a good cook.' Carolina laughs. 'I know, they're a bunch of figures put together. Sorry, I didn't know this, otherwise I could have kind of prepared you for it.'
The beach is still completely empty, only our towels are there. We decide to go for a swim. At one point I look around and suddenly see a dozen towels lying 50 meters from us. "Gosh," I say dryly. "I don't think we're the only ones with the good idea of going for a swim." Carolina looks around, turns bright red at first and then laughs out loud when she sees her aunt and mother standing with the rest of the family behind her.
I look at Carolina and at the same time we say: 'let's go for a swim.'
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