Fitting in...

I may have mentioned this before...I can't remember. The people here in Jersey are a little different from everywhere else we've lived. I mean, deep down, people are basically the same everywhere you go. But I don't think we've ever lived anywhere so...ethnic. This can be a great thing. Especially when you go to the grocery store and are looking for a difficult to find cheese: it's there. It can also make you feel like you stand out a bit, though.
Here are some last names of people at the kid's school: Giacoio, Avalo, Pospisil, Zuzeck, Della Penna, Skorupa, Terracciano, Borgese, Orsino, Tarabocchia, and Dipiazza. I looked through the whole school address book and found no one with the last name of Davis or Jones, but I DID find ONE Smith! My kids go to school with other kids named: Sergio, Frankie, Vinnie, Dominick, Rafaella...there are a lot of Catholics here so we do have a few Marks, Stephens, and Anthonys (but Anthony is pronouned "Ant'ny" and you have to say it really fast). I looked through the whole school address book and my kids were the only Sam, Caleb, and Peters in the entire school! (I did find one Samantha, though). The worst part is when you're supposed to be writing down someone's name and you have no idea how to spell Tarabocchia. Surely they're used to people asking them how to spell it though, right? Capener sounds so very tame and easy to spell all of a sudden!
One more thing: Peter told me that there was a teacher at his school that he saw last week and even though she is a girl teacher (a.k.a. female), she had a mustache. He was very intrigued by this and made sure I understood the gravity of the idea of a girl teacher having a mustache and that it was NOT part of a Halloween costume!