Our first Italian Easter

Easter is a very big holiday here in Italy - perhaps even a little bit bigger than it is in the U.S.  People started going on holiday beginning on Wednesday or Thursday last week and as such the university was very quiet!  The students only started reappearing today.  As such, we were able to enjoy fast internet at home and the absence of our singing neighbor for a few days.  At the same time, it was quite different for us to not be with our families for Easter.  Fortunately, we had some good friends to share the weekend with.

On Saturday, our friend Laura came over and we painted Easter eggs.  And when I say "paint" I do in fact mean paint, not dye.  Our artistic talents might suggest why the three of us became academics and not artists.  But we still had a good time and got ourselves into the Easter spirit.

On Easter Sunday (Pasqua), Tyler and I prepared a big lunch at home and Laura came over to share it with us.  We had an assortment of appetizers to start.  Then Tyler prepared ribs on the BBQ (after cooking them all morning in the oven).  Along with the ribs we had sauteed spinach, grilled zucchini, twice-baked potatoes, and corn bread.  And of course, a little bit of wine.  We made so much food that we will still be eating leftovers today!  The meal was excellent though.  The Easter bunny also visited us here in Italy. Laura and I had to search the house for the eggs we had painted the day before, and at the end we were each lead to our respective Easter "baskets".  Laura received a nice flower pot full of candies and some treats for her dogs, as well as a flower to put inside the pot at home.  Tyler and I received two new pint glasses full of candy, as well as a giant chocolate egg (which are traditional gifts in Italy for Easter).  Somehow the Easter bunny seemed to know just what Tyler and I might be wanting ;-)  In the evening we took a nice walk before sunset to enjoy the weather (and walk off a little bit of our meal).

On Easter Monday (Pasquetta) it is traditional to go to the mountains or the sea to have a big meal with family and friends.  Our friend, Mariantonia, invited us to her family's house in Belvedere Marittimo (a coastal town about 30 min north of here by train).  Unfortunately Monday was overcast and rainy, but we went to the coast anyway.  We took a windy walk along the beach, and then enjoyed a traditional enormous 3 hour Italian meal.  Antipasti, risotto, shrimp, zucchini, salad, frittata, fruit, and traditional Easter pastries.  Everything was delicious, although even still today neither one of us is craving a very large meal!!  Mariantonia's family was very welcoming of us, and that was really nice.  After lunch we drove up into the old city center to take a short walk, despite the wind and light rain.  Overall, we had a really nice day and enjoyed our first Italian Easter.

Here are a few photos from our weekend.

We hope you all had a Happy Easter!!

Easter 2011

Happy Birthday, Lynnie G!

Today is Lynne's birthday! She started it by smacking her face into a door. Tonight, we'll eat delicious pizza, Italian style! Happy Birthday to you, Superfox!

Bureaucracy never sleeps

Here are some of my latest stories regarding Italian bureaucracy.  I originally wrote these as emails to my sisters, but then decided they might be blog worthy.  Enjoy!

April 20, 2011 -
My latest trip to a local government office (this morning) resulted in me learning that the town had changed our address.  And apparently it happened before I applied for residency, so I should have known but my landlord didn't tell me (because he didn't know).  Technically because the town is changing all the addresses in our area (because our town won't stop building new apartments), my documentation should get changed automatically, but because of the timing of things I suspect it won't.  So now I'm technically a resident of an apartment up the street and all my documents indicate that.  I might have to apply for a new residency certificate at some point (which has taken me the last 2 months to get) with the new house number.  Seriously??  But, the funny thing is that everyone here thinks it pretty much doesn't matter.  All my documents are consistent, and the postman now knows where we live so technically he will deliver all our mail to us, regardless of whether it says number 10 or number 148.  But as I said to Tyler this morning, "What the sh*t?".  Ahh Italy, you never cease to amaze me.

April 21, 2011 -
Had another awesome experience today.  I had an appointment at the Questura Office of Immigration to obtain my permesso di soggiorno.  This is kind of like a residency permit, and the consulate tells you it's the first thing you should apply for when you arrive in Italy (note that I have been here for 2 months now).  I did actually apply for this back February, but my application resulted only in an automatically generated appointment at the Questura.  I couldn't go to my original automatically generated appointment because I was going to be in Brussels for work (earlier this month).  So I was able to change my appointment to today.  Appointment was supposed to be at 8:50am.  I arrived at 8:40am to find a line of at least 10 people outside a locked door to the Questura.  When the opened the door they just gave everybody a number in the order in which they entered (aka appointment time was essentially meaningless).  I got called back around 10:30.  They took my documents and photos, finger printed me, then sent me to a different room where I was finger printed again, and then told me I was done.  When I asked where my permesso di soggiorno was, they said I had to come back to get it when it was ready... which they suggested would be some time after the 10th of June.  Seriously????  This was supposed to be my last document, and I couldn't even get it today, I have to back to the stinkin' Questura in over a month.  And, to make this even more fun, my Visa is only good for a year.  Which means next year I will need a new Visa... and yes, after that a new permesso di soggiorno. Oh, and the address on my permesso is of course Via Giulio Cesare 10 :-) 

Our first visitors!

Last week we had our first visitors here in Italy - a handful of Corneliuses! Terry, Jamie, and Taylor arrived last Saturday night in Rome and stayed for a week. Tyler and I actually arrived on the Friday night before, so we had Saturday on our own to wander around Rome. We really love Rome, especially in April when the weather is pleasant! We're starting to get pretty familiar with the city, which is a nice feeling. We walked all over the city center and saw the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Trastevere, and other lovely Roman sites. Then we checked into an apartment near the Pyramid (on the south side of town) where we would stay for the next three nights with Tyler's fam. It was in a great location - close to the Metro, walkable to some places, but also pretty quiet.

Terry, Jamie, and Taylor arrived late Saturday night from Germany. Tyler and I were pretty happy to see some family for the first time in a while! We spent Sunday touring the ancient Roman sites (Forum, Colosseum, etc.), and in the evening went into Trastevere (a really nice neighborhood with lots of young people and good restaurants) for dinner. Monday we went to the Vatican and toured the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Cathedral. Our touring was of course interspersed with lots of great food (pasta, pizza, etc.) and wine.

Tuesday morning, Tyler and Taylor picked up a rental car and we took off for Tuscany. We stopped in Montepulciano for a walk around the town and a nice lunch. Then we checked into our Agriturismo outside of Pienza. It was so beautiful there! We stayed there for two nights, and both nights we cooked great meals at "home" which was a nice change from all the restaurants in Rome. On Wednesday we went to Siena where Tyler studied many years ago. It was especially fun for Terry and me to see this place that was so important to Tyler but we had never been to (Jamie visited there a long time ago). We wandered all over town and saw the fortress, the cathedral, the central piazza where all the young kids hang out, and even walked by Tyler's old apartment. We also stopped into a bar to use the bathroom and ran into one of Tyler's former teachers! It was such a crazy coincidence. She remembered him well and it was fun for them to catch up.

On Thursday we hit the road again and headed toward the coast. We stayed one night in Porto Santo Stefano and one night in Santa Severa. It was cool and cloudy on the coast, but we enjoyed some good food, good wine, and a couple walks along the beach. Terry, Jamie, and Taylor flew back to Germany early Saturday morning from Rome, and Tyler and I caught the train back down to Cosenza. We had a great week together and really enjoyed our little tour of central Italy. Tyler and I are improving our tour guide skills for our next visitors! Who's up for a trip to Italy?

Tyler's Birthday

Friday was Tyler's birthday! It was beautiful and sunny here, so we started the day with an early morning walk. There is a ~ 3 mile loop from our house through the neighboring contrada (Dattoli). We're trying to do it a couple times a week for exercise, and the mornings and weekends are particularly nice b/c there are fewer cars. We snapped a few photos on the way because the light was really nice.

Then after I finished work, we met up with the local British guys who get beers together at a local bar every Friday. We hadn't been to see them since November so it was fun to catch up. We stayed for quite a long time, and by the end I think Tyler felt more optimistic about his options for teaching here, and we think we got a lead on a car! Afterward, we went to a small restaurant for a typical Italian meal. After being greeted by silence and stares when we walked in the door (our usual reception as two Americans walking into a very Italian establishment) we enjoyed a nice evening. The food was fantastic! I think all in all, Tyler had a good birthday. I am happy we could spend it together.

New and improved apartment

Hi all,

We finished painting our apartment this past weekend. Tyler worked really hard during the week even when I wasn't home to help him. The place is looking really nice. A big improvement over the photos I posted a month ago! This week Tyler plans to shift his attention outside to the garden!

Enjoy!

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