Work trip to Bologna

Last week I had to go to Bologna for a day for a work meeting. The meeting was over by lunch, but our flight didn't leave until the evening so we had the afternoon to wander around downtown Bologna. This was fun for me, since it was really my first time traveling in Italy to somewhere other than Rome. Here are a few photos I took during our stroll. Enjoy!

- LG

Omelette, anyone?

One of the small pleasures of living in Arcavacata, our neighborhood, is the near-daily barrage of trucks with megaphones. Every day or two one of these small trucks drives by, with the driver announcing his daily specials. The first time it was mixed vegetables, then oranges. After a big storm, another truck drove by asking everyone to check on their gas connections.

Last Sunday, while walking around enjoying the sun, a truck passed us and we were perplexed. No easily discernable product was on display, and I did not recognize the monotone phrase being blurted over the loudspeaker.

Two minutes later, our next door neighbor solved the mystery. Chickens! He purchased three for around 25 Euro, by my estimation. And we were in luck...no roosters, only hens. Come visit us in Italy, and we'll make you an omelette.

Hey it's good to be back home again

Hi all,

So, Tyler finally returned to me a little over a week ago and I couldn't be happier.  We hadn't seen each other in about a month and I think we've both agreed we don't want to do that again if we don't have to!  It has been great for me to have him back in the apartment, and it's been nice for both of us to have a home again.  We moved out of our apartment in Ann Arbor last July, and we feel as though we lived as vagabonds ever since (despite actually having this apartment in Italy for the month of November).  So needless to say, we are enjoying trying to find a sense of normalcy again.

Tyler has only been back for a short time, but already the apartment is really shaping up. We finally have a couch, some drawers in the kitchen, a dresser, coat racks, a grill, and even some flower boxes on the balcony!  It's really the little things that make the place feel like home.  Tyler is also enjoying starting his gardening project.  He has planted some seeds in the yogurt cups that we saved for the last several months and every day he excitedly tells me how many more have sprouted.  I think we're going to have a lovely vegetable garden soon, thanks to him.  We also have the good fortune of being able to borrow a colleague's car for the next month while he is away for research and that has made life in Cosenza so much easier.  We hope to soon buy a used, inexpensive car of our own.  We also started to paint our house this weekend.  The living room is finished, and the kitchen and bedrooms are under way.  We will post photos of the finished product soon.  Good riddance to our salmon and sunshine-yellow colored walls!

However, as you might guess, not all of these things have been as easy and painless as they might sound.  This is Italy, after all.  When Tyler arrived I was so happy to have purchased the couch and dresser.  Of course, assembly was required.  We put together the dresser the morning after he got here (a good first year of marriage, first day of jet lag activity).  It went smoothly until we tried to slide it into the designated space in our bedroom (a little nook in one of the walls), which I had measured at 85cm wide and the dresser was 82cm wide.  Perfect, you might think.  However, the walls of this space apparently do not have 90 degree angles, so the dresser would only slide in half way.  I was so bummed!  My first furniture purchase for our house and I didn't even get it right (although I didn't even think to measure both the front AND back of the nook! I've learned my lesson).  At least we had a place to put Tyler's clothes.  He reassured me it would be ok and has since installed some shelves in the empty space behind the dresser so now it is quite functional.

Then, a couple days later the couch arrived.  I purchased a brown couch.  However, when Tyler pulled it out of the box (again, assembly required) he did not find a brown couch.  He found the same style that I had purchased, but instead it was cream with giant brown Hawaiian style flowers.  Not really the theme we were going for.  I walked in the door that night to find Tyler sitting on the stairs staring at a brown floral pillow.  I gasped and said "I did not buy that!".  We laughed and thought about it for a while, and decided that the hassle of calling the store, having to explain the situation in Italian, and then wait (for who knows how long) for a new couch was not worth it.  So brown flowered couch it is.  It's not so bad anymore, and we enjoy sitting on it to watch the BBC in the evenings (one of the few channels we get).

Anyway, there is always an adventure to be had here, and some days are easier than others.  But it is much better to experience all of this together.  More than anything I love going home to Tyler every evening instead of an empty house.  I love seeing all of our things in one place, instead of in a suitcase or in boxes.  I love cooking meals together.  I love going for long walks in our neighborhood (and I love actually having a neighborhood).   And soon I will love having a newly painted apartment that we can settle into a little more each day.  New apartment photos to come soon!

Love and miss you all,
Lynne

"It's the sweetest thing I know of, just spending time with you
it's the little things that make a house a home.
Like a fire softly burning and supper on the stove.
And the light in your eyes that makes me warm"
- John Denver 

Hiking in Pollino National Park

Today is a national holiday in Italy to celebrate 150 years since the unification of the country. So my friend Giovanni invited me to go hiking (or "trekking") with him. He can never get any of our other friends to go with him so he was excited that I was up for it. We drove about 70 km north of Cosenza to the Pollino National Park, which is one of the largest national parks in the country. The park is in the northernmost part of Calabria and also runs into the neighboring province, Basilicata. The mountains in this park comprise the southernmost part of the Apennine Mountains, which is the mountain range that runs north-south in Italy. I think the trails are a little easier to hike later in the year when the snow is gone, and perhaps this time of year is a little better for cross-country skiing or snow shoeing. But we did some hiking anyway. The trail was snow covered but still possible to follow with the help of other hikers' tracks and the occasional trail marker. It was sunny today, and although it was cold we were fine once we were moving. It was fun to get out and see some of the region outside of Cosenza. I look forward to more hiking trips as the weather continues to get warmer and Tyler gets here! Here are a few photos from today. Enjoy!

Love,

LG

Adventures of an American girl in Cosenza

Yesterday I locked my keys inside the apartment.  I realized this at lunch when looking for something else in my purse.  My two friends said "Lynne, look again.  They aren't in your computer bag?  Maybe your pocket?  Please you must have a spare".  Their look of panic (and laughter) suggested that this would not be an easy problem to solve.  Especially because my landlord lives over an hour away, and we all know now that it is not easy to get him to visit our apartment (moldy couch was here for how long?  right.  4 months).  I called the landlord and he was happy to help, minus the distance.  Although my colleague's husband works in the same province as my landlord and we thought he could bring the spare keys up in the evening, the two men were still about 80 km apart.  Translation: not close.  To make matters worse, my friends (and boss) kept saying "you really need to have a spare!".  I replied in angst "yeah well the spare is usually with my husband, and well, he is in the US.  So, go figure".

In the midst of trying to solve this problem, and probably due to the look of panic on my face (since the idea of not accessing my apartment, my safe haven from all that is Calabria, was not very appealing) another colleague picked up the phone and called the fire department!  They kindly agreed to go directly to my apartment and let me in, free of charge.  So my friend Laura drove me home, and as we were approaching my street we saw a large fire truck with its lights on.  I thought, oh sh*t that is for me!  The laughing began here.  We pulled up to the apartment right behind the fire truck.  I expected one man to hop out and somehow pick the lock on my door.  Oh no.  This truck was like a clown car.  One after another, approximately six Italian fireman stepped out of the truck, ready to save the day.  The head guy asked me several questions about whose apartment this was, where I was from, etc.  I provided sufficient documentation (as you know I am always prepared now for such situations) and convinced the man it was ok to let me in.  I think it helped that I batted my eyelashes and stumbled through broken Italian.  He gave the ok to one guy, who seemed to have something resembling a metal rod in his hand.  I thought he was about to break my door down until unrolled said object into a plastic sheet.  Like a giant credit card, he slid it between the lock while another man pushed the door open.  "Hooray!" I exclaimed.  Then the men proceeded to ask Laura and me about what we do here in Rende/Cosenza and even asked our thoughts on air quality in Japan right now.  Mostly I think they wanted to demonstrate that they could speak some English (and as usual, they were convinced that Laura was also American, or perhaps Russian.  Not Italian, which she is.  This happens to us ALL the time).  Eventually they left and I happily retrieved my keys from inside the house.  Laura and I laughed hysterically several times about this situation, both yesterday and today. As usual, the two of us when faced with needing something from some Italian officials were able to get what we asked for.  We make a good team :-)

In other news, I bought a couch tonight (finally).  And today was one of those really good Italian-speaking days.  All by myself (even though Laura was there) I managed to ask the salesman about different models and purchase the couch I wanted.  Afterward, Laura said to me "Lynne you did that all by yourself!  You are doing so well!".  I felt really proud, because for once I believed her compliment about my language skills.  We celebrated by going for pizza and beer.  Pizza, because tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy (and therefore a national holiday), and beer because tomorrow is also St. Patty's day.  Tomorrow for the holiday I am going hiking with my friend Giovanni.  I am really looking forward to it.  I only wish my handsome husband could be here to join us, since I know he would love it.  I will scope out the trails for him.

In summary, Happy 17 of March to all, whether you are celebrating Italian unification day, St Paddy's day, the start of March Madness, or in my case all three!

Love,
Lynne

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day here on Saturday, so after a little house cleaning I took a walk up Julius Caesar Way into our neighborhood, Arcavacata. And when I say "up", I mean up. It is a solid uphill walk into Arcavacata, but it is beautiful when the sun is shining and you can see the valley around us. Enjoy the view!

Also, yesterday the landlord came to our house and took away the old couch and oven and some extra twin beds that we did not want. Finally! So we have a working oven now (photo included) where we can actually set the temperature correctly and the gas burners on the stove have an automatic lighter (no hand-held Bic lighter needed! This is exciting for me... I do not like fire). He is giving us some money toward a new couch, because he first tried to suggest yet again that we just wash the cushions on the old couch. I held my ground and said that the moldy couch, which has been outside for two weeks collecting other allergens, needed to go. Period. Washing it was not an option. He was fine about it though (he is a very nice man actually, even if a little slow to act), and this way we can go choose a new couch that is to our liking. I went to one store yesterday and found a couple options and will check out one other place today. I am trying to find something quickly because as of yesterday we also have a functioning television! We even get to watch the BBC, which at home would maybe be only a little bit exciting, but news in English is like a dream come true here. So now we have a living room with a working tv but nowhere to sit! Baby steps I guess. On of our neighbors helped us get it set up and it was the first time I met him. He just moved here in February. He is very friendly and even speaks English pretty well. This is a nice contrast to "out of work tenor" in the apartment on the other side of us.

Ok, enjoy the photos and enjoy your Sunday. Love to you all.

- LG

Lyle Speaks No Americano - Courtesy of Dad Corn

If they won't give me a work visa, what will I do in Italy?

Answer:

Max relaxin.

(Just joking, Lynne! You are a great sugarmama!)

I'm sorry, but where is YOUR documentation?

So here is a story about adventures in local Italian offices, specifically the Azienda Sanitaria (health services office).  I went there for the first time last week when I was trying to obtain residency here in Rende-Cosenza.  I thought that I needed a copy of my official apartment inspection in order to obtain residency quickly, and because the inspection had already been requested by one of my colleagues for Tyler's Visa application, I went to the Azienda Sanitaria to obtain a copy of said inspection report.  The office is located in a converted apartment building.  We eventually found ourselves in the office of a very confused woman.  She neither recognized my name, my colleague's name who had requested the inspection, the name of my landlord, or the address of my apartment.  I was surprised when she did not sit down at a computer and search for any one of these things.  Instead, she seemed to be trying to recall the inspection purely from memory. She then opened a cabinet and pulled out several huge binders which contained paper copies of similar inspections. She flipped through the binders from the last few months and could not find the report.  In her mind, it did not exist.  I tried to ask someone if there was an electronic copy somewhere, and everyone looked at me as if that would be an odd thing to have.  In the end, we could not find a copy of the inspection and are still not really sure what happened (even though my colleague claims he had it done).  Turns out I didn't need it anyway, so I moved on but still felt there was something odd about this office.

I had to return to the Azienda Sanitaria three days ago in order to obtain a card for my sanitary assistance (aka medical coverage).  This is when things really got entertaining.  I first presented a receipt to show that I could obtain said assistance.  The main looked at me like I was crazy.  He said (in Italian) "well do you have some sort of documentation? ID? etc.?".  Of course I have learned to carry everything with me these days after numerous trips to the local offices, so I presented him with my passport, Visa, residency permit, permesso di soggiorno, work contract, rental agreement, etc (all of which I carry multiple copies).  He was satisfied.  However, he then proceeded to take out a spiral notebook which apparently contains the names of people who have requested sanitary assistance so far this year.  He turned to a new page, drew several new columns with a ruler and pen, and started to enter my information.  It took me a few minutes to realize that he was not going to later enter this information into a computer.  This was the official documentation that I was receiving sanitary assistance.  I know because my friend Laura was with me to obtain a new card (which she has to do once per year), and he pulled out the notebook from last year, looked up her name and ID number, and said "ah yes, here you are, ok you can have one more year of coverage".  Then he changed the date of expiration next to her name in that notebook and handed her a new card.  And the "card" is not a plastic card like we might receive from BCBS in the US.  It is a piece of paper with name, date of birth, date of expiration of coverage, and a stamp on it.  The end.  As Laura says, "very technological".

As we walked out of the office, I said to my friend Laura "do they really not keep electronic records of this stuff?".  "No" she said, and laughed.  I replied, "Where are we?  What is this, 1950?".  She said with a smile "We are in Cosenza, Lynne".

Although, even if it seems archaic, maybe this is one thing that is actually easier to do here than in the US.  After one visit to the doctor yesterday (without an appointment), I now have new prescriptions (with essentially no questions asked) and will probably pay less for these medications than I would in the US (especially without insurance in the US).  I was even told at first that I couldn't have a prescription for one medicine without an endoscopy, but after asking a few more questions (in my pathetic version of Italian) the doctor wrote the prescription anyway.  Sometimes you just have to seem a little desperate I think :-)   So in spite of all of the crazy bureaucracy here, Italy does have its benefits.  Medical coverage - pretty easy to obtain.  I just still haven't figured out which parts of life here require strict documentation and rule following (e.g. Visa applications), and which parts allow a little more flexibility.  In the mean time, I continue to carry all forms of available documentation with me.  Just in case.

Nice work - Lynne.

Lynne is a rock star. She created a blog.

This is what I think of the Italian bureacracy:

Apartment Photos!

I took a few photos of our apartment this morning. Please keep in mind that these are basically the "before" photos... the apartment is still pretty bare. We intend to paint the kitchen (green), living room (blue) and our bedroom (brown). Also, I still do not have the new oven or new couch (not surprising!). Thus there are no living room photos now. We need to put some things on the walls and buy a few small furniture items (perhaps a butcher block for the kitchen, and a dresser for our bedroom). So as we start to make these changes I will post new photos. I just wanted to give you a brief visual of where we're living. Sorry if some of the photos didn't turn out that well... some of the rooms in our apartment are fairly tiny!

Enjoy!

Love,

Lynne

To give some context...

Here is the original "We no speak Americano" (which is actually titled "Tu vuò fà l'americano")



followed by the Euro-pop version...

Week 1: the return to Calabria

Hello friends and family! Welcome to the first post from our Italy blog. Many of you have asked for this for a while. Now that I, Lynne, am finally back in the country I feel compelled to start sharing our experience with you.

Many of you know that it has not been an easy road for us to get here, and the journey continues. I arrived in Rende-Cosenza one week ago after a long flight from Detroit to Amsterdam to Milan to Lamezia Terme. I arrived without my luggage, which was the first sign that the adventure would continue even once I was here. Fortunately I had a ride from the airport and I had many friends ready and waiting to take care of me. I spent the first weekend sleeping anywhere but my own apartment and eating wonderful home-cooked Italian meals. Our friends here are really great and continue to take very good care of me.

I did go to our apartment over the weekend to do some cleaning, turn on the heat, etc. I have now been sleeping here since Monday when my luggage finally arrived. The apartment is good, and this weekend I expect the landlord to bring me a new couch and oven (which many of you know are two things we have been waiting for for several months now. What? Wait for something in Italy? Never.). I am also happy to report that our same neighbors are still here, including the young man who feels compelled to randomly sing at the top of his lungs at all times of the day. Tyler once dubbed him "out of work tenor" and I think the name still fits.

This week I got settled in at work, but also traveled all over Rende-Cosenza in search of residency permits, bank account, fiscal code, and anything else that would allow me to live here officially. I am happy to report that after three solid days with the help of a very good friend I have accomplished most of these things. Only a few small details remain, and then I can actually do some work at my job (oops! I almost forgot that was part of the deal...)

My next mission is to get Tyler's Visa issued so that he can be here too. It was very hard for me to leave him behind in the US (even though I know he is in great hands), but we keep telling ourselves it is only temporary. I will do whatever it takes to get him here, whether that includes begging, crying, or sitting at the Prefecture every day until someone helps me. Because that is what best friends and life partners do. We will resolve all of this, I know, and we will soon be together enjoying life in Calabria (as slow and full of bureaucracy as it might be).

So that is the update. Bear with me as I build this blog, since it is my first one. And once Tyler is here, he can throw in his two cents too. I don't have any photos yet, but I will post them when I do. If the weather is nice this weekend I will take some apartment photos!

Love and miss you all. Thank you for your endless support in the last several months as we have embarked on this crazy adventure. We hope to see some of you over here soon :-)

Love,

Lynne