Valentine's Day Snow Day

It doesn't snow often here in Cosenza, and for the past month or so it seemed like although we were getting plenty of rain, the temperatures were hovering just above freezing and almost teasing us with what winter should look/feel like.  Instead it was just cold and wet.  Last week we finally got a taste of what I consider winter.  On Valentine's Day around late morning, the flakes started to fall and it was not long before everything was covered in white.  As Tyler and I were about to leave the institute to go home for lunch, we were told that there was a possibility that the institute would close for the rest of the day due to the weather. In fact, one woman said she was waiting anxiously for the confirmation from our director in Rome, otherwise they would all be "risking their lives" on the drive home from work.  Silly Italians.  Granted, if your city doesn't have snow plows or have any idea what to do with snow, maybe you have reason to be afraid of a few inches of snow.  Maybe.

For about the next 30 minutes as we drove home and started to make lunch, I kind of felt like I was back in grade school just waiting for the phone call saying that my wish for a snow day had come true.  When we got the call saying that I didn't need to go back to work that afternoon, I think I literally jumped for joy.  My first snow day since high school! Tyler and I enjoyed a great lunch of homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese (perfect on a winter day, especially when you haven't eaten that kind of meal in ages. Italians think tomato soup is weird).  Then we put on some warm clothes and set out into a winter wonderland.  Everything was white and the snow continued to fall hard.  But because this is southern Italy after all, it wasn't really that cold and we were able to enjoy a really nice walk through the snow.  When we got home we had the rest of the evening to relax and Tyler cooked another nice meal for dinner.  It might be my favorite Valentine's Day ever (especially given that Tyler usually refers to February 14 as "Anti-Valentine's Day"... haha).  Here are some photos of our neighborhood covered in snow. All the snow was gone by the next day, but it was pretty while it lasted. And now we're ready for spring :)

Valentine's Snow in Rende

Perils of Google Translate

For anybody who has done any translating (or any travel, for that matter) you are well aware that moving between two different languages all throughout the day can 'fry your brain'.

Doing so with the help of an online translator has improved things, especially at work.

But, BEWARE, moving between two languages is all about the context of the situation, and google translate can fail you, sometimes spectacularly: Pictured above is a "Bando" - an Italian announcement for a project about sheep's cheese in Tuscany. The English title was supposed to read: From Sheep to Pecorino: Traceability of the Milk Chain in Tuscany, Italy.

Anyhow, if you happen to type the word "pecorino" into google translate, you get ALL of the possible definitions of the word, not just those that are more genteel.

You can see by the options that Google Translate presented, that one or more of the possible translations could lead to some trouble. And, of course, that is what happened. Unfortunately, this poor sap didn't check this with a native speaker before publishing, and apparently the announcement went viral.

If you look at the more detailed screen shot of what he or she wrote on the version of the bando posted above, you can see that they missed their intended meaning of "pecorino." Oops!

Of course, they fixed it pretty quickly, but not before a bunch of people noticed and made copies. Ha!

Sheep's cheese, "pecorino," is delicious by the way.