Italian Speed

I think most Americans would blow a gasket if they lived here. The painter showed up yesterday… 7 months late. I ran out to pickup lunch on Sunday, kebaps a fast food after all, I waited in line behind two people…for 45 mins then 15 more for our food. A couple of times a day a train runs across the track that intersects the road I drive to work. It is not uncommon to wait 5, 10 or even 15 mins with the crossing arms down before a two car train goes by…during the morning and evening commute. Needless to say the Italians take life at a different pace.

So the fact that I waited for 40 mins behind one other customer for a haircut, plus the 30 it took to get my hair cut, didn’t seem all that unusual. Besides while I was there I noted that things in Italian barbershops are about the same as in the states; a bunch old men telling jokes and talking politics. Since it is election time here in Ferrara, today did not disappoint.

Despite my lack of Italian skills, I was able to get one joke about a singer, a communist and a socialist who die and go to heaven. They were meeting with all the angles, Michael and St. Peter and Gabriel and telling about what they did in life…unfortunately the guy fired up the hairdryer, to blow off the cut hair, during the punch line. Additionally there was a very animated discussion revolving around a handkerchief with pictures of airplanes, “Il Duce” Benito Mussolini and Sophia Loren. The discussion progressed rapidly, and loudly as usual, in the manner of a “so there I was” story. The conversation went so fast, and with the continued use of hairdryers around the shop, that I wasn’t able to get it all but whatever the point the three things in question centered on a political scandal.

All that said, I have been pleased at our progress in adjusting here to Italian life. Lauren and the boys especially have picked up Italian very quickly since they deal with it on a daily and regular occasion. I am still hampered by the fact that at work everyone speaks English mostly, but it does allow me to practice sometimes. I think we do best all together, as we can group translate and then let Braxton do the talking since he has the best accent. I’m not sure that barbershops are appropriate for mixed company here either though.

Random Thoughts…and Observations

I’m mostly out of them lately, oddly enough. I suppose that most things I used to notice I have become accustom to here in Italy. I did notice that an unusual number of my past blogs have dealt with the weather, which ironically is the thing most similar to our past homestead. At any rate, I hope that my adjustment to the Italian life is does not leave me without much to say; which is doubtful because I am hardly ever without much to say.

On a similar note, however, I have noticed that I have also become very accustom to the slow paced Italian lifestyle. This is something I recommend highly, although I am not very good at eating the excellent food slowly…an old habit discussed at some length during Ryan and Caroline’s vist. In fact a whole “slow food” movement was begun here in Italy, something I think the US needs to seriously consider. According to Lauren the genesis of the slow food movement was at the installation of the 1st McDonalds in Rome. Something I think I would protest also. Check out these websites for some interesting discussion on food and Europe. The second one is a funny article on school lunch, and very similar to Braxton’s school.

http://www.slowfood.com/

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1967060,00.html

Six More Weeks of Winter

I’m not sure what ol’ Punxsutanwney Phil’s record for prediction is, but he was dead on this year. After a break in the clouds for about a week, winter came back with a vengeance, bringing about 9 inches of snow to Ferrara. As you might expect from winter; it has been cold, cloudy and generally blah. It has even confounded the locals and long time residents of Ferrara and even the region. Not so bad for us, other than just the disappointment of losing Spring, we even had a grand snowball fight and built a snow fort in the back yard.

Our friends Ryan and Caroline on the other hand, who were trying to enjoy their first anniversary in grand Tuscan fashion, were besieged by veritable blizzard conditions. The snow effectively closed down the town and hotel they were going to stay in, and forced a on the spot change in plans. Kudos to them for surviving the driving in snow on tiny Italian mountain roads and managing to book a different hotel, without any Italian language skills. Fortunately, they have been able to press on with their itinerary, despite a minor loss in tasting of the fine wines of the region.

So for all of you planning a visit this time next year, be sure to check out Phil’s predictions first. http://www.punxsutawneyphil.com/

World Travelers

I have never really thought of myself as a world traveler, although have seen a good portion of the world out of an airplane window. My recent work trip to Greece followed by our quick vacation to Spain is truly amazing. Also being in Greece, Spain and Italy in a 24 hour span makes me seem and even think of myself as a world traveler. Also it reminds me of the amazing things that we have at our finger tips these days, we are practically The Jetsons. We can communicate over voice and video from different countries, send messages, book hotel rooms and even look at maps and get directions from our phones…which are portable and on our person at every minute. We can also travel across the ocean and multiple countries in less than a day. Hey I can even write my random and often trivial thoughts down for people all around the world to read…and they don’t even need a book.

Check out a funny video about this stuffhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

Let the Sun Shine In!

After many weeks, or maybe even months, of colds dreary foggy cloudy rainy snowy and generally weather that gets you down…we had a truly sunny day. It was, I would dare say, even slightly warm. The first of the month market was in town so we had a great time, along with the rest of the city I think, getting out of the house and soaking up some Vitamin D.

You Don’t See That Every Day.

I have noticed something odd, well I have noticed a lot of odd things but this is just another specific, farmers in Italy don’t seem to drive trucks. I always assumed that a truck was the modern day version of a horse or an ox, but not so here. Mostly farmers in Italy drive their tractors, although not often on the road as you might see in rural America. Sometimes they also drive small, beat up Fiat Pandas…usually in an ugly green or weird blue color. Yesterday, I saw a truck for the first time outside of the American military bases being driven by Italians instead of crazy Americans. Today I saw a second truck, same model (Dodge ¾ ton 4 door 4 wheel drive diesel). Both where shiny and didn’t have a scratch or a bit of dirt…so much like most trucks in America.

Style Tips

Now some may say that just because Trav lives in Porter he is not cultured, but I am here to tell you that is false. We all saw that with the right hat and scarf (and amount of wine) he can become a true man of the world. But I have noticed something since his travels here that has changed; he has actually changed Italian fashion. What most people may or may not know is that Trav has, in his past, experimented with various hairstyles including a very large fro. As I drove to work the other day I spotted an Italian guy, about 20ish, sporting a fro as well. Not thinking too much about it, I continued on my day…until I saw a different guy a few days later with the same look…following in Trav’s trendsetting-world traveling-man with no limits footsteps. Trav, you my friend, have started something great…the I-FRO. So, all you who want to be on the trend bandwagon, join Trav and two other guys and grow an I-FRO.