I was late because...

Saturday, February 23, 2008

I was late because...

I had a dentist appointment yesterday and I was a few minutes late because I got stuck behind a herd of sheep walking down the middle of the road and I couldn't get around them. I know, I know it sounds as unbelievable an excuse as the dog ate my homework, but it is true! I even have pictures to prove it- take a look!Isn't this the craziest thing you have ever seen? I love it though- it made me smile all day!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Scary... but True!

This is a picture of the control panel on our Italian car. I am ashamed to admit that after FIVE MONTHS of driving in Italy, I recently discovered that the semicircle on the right is NOT the speedometer! It is actually the RPM gage. In every other car I have ever driven, the speedometer has been on the right and the RPM gage has been on the left! Admittedly several times (before I made this startling discovery) I looked down at the RPM gage (thinking it was the speedometer) and thought, "Wow, I thought I was going a lot faster than that!" SCARY...but true! I can't explain how this is possible other than to say, switching the placement of the gage, converting miles per hour into kilometers per hour, trying survive driving in Italy (and yes... blond hair) are not a good mix!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Local Transportation

When we found out we were moving to Italy, we sold our van in the U.S. and decided to buy a "Naples Beater" as our primary mode of transportation here. Once we arrived however, we found that good "Naples Beaters" are hard to come by. After a few weeks of diligently looking we finally decided on this beauty.

It is an older Italian car (a 1993 Lanica, Thema) and though it is not terribly comfortable, it does run reasonably well. It has four doors and a trunk which we didn't realize were "accessories" until we got here and discovered that many cars don't have either one. The best part about the car though is that behind its wheel it takes the other Italian drivers a minute or two to realize that I am not Italian! This is a HUGE benefit when you are fighting for a place in line or squeezing between two cars on a two lane road. It also comes in handy when you accidentally bump into someone or side swipe their mirror!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Italy and the Internet

We moved to Italy just after the first of August 2007. We moved into our house right away and immediately signed up to have internet service in our home. I wrongly assuming that since it is the twenty first century and Italy is not a third world country, our service would be hooked up in a jiffy. Well, it wasn't. More than four months later, five attempts by the local internet company, and many tears of frustration on my part, our internet was FINALLY hooked up.

We were of course, delighted to have internet service once everything was said and done but I have wondered to myself these last few months, "how can a place like Italy that calls itself a modern and civilized country not have ready access to basic services like telephone and internet?"
Well, I think I may have, at long last, figured it out (at least in part) and I thought I would share what I have discovered.

Italy is, as you know, a very old country and as such is filled with VERY old buildings which were not originally wired for telephone or internet. So you may ask, we have the ability to wire old buildings, why not do it here and give the people the services they want? Well, the buildings here are made entirely of stone, tile, brick and concrete. Making even minor home projects (like holes for telephone and internet wiring) a major undertaking. In addition it is quite expensive and general speaking the people here are very poor. And even if you did made the effort to properly wire your home, many towns and villages are not yet set up to deliver telephone and internet services anyway. Because it is physically very difficult to get these services to the people, they have learned to live without them. And since they have learned to live without them they are not terribly motivated to provide them to people like me who are convinced that they are essential everyday living.

Anyway, I am sure there are many MANY more reasons for the local internet company's lack of interest in serving frantic American women who are desperate for internet service, but even this tid-bit of information helps me to understand the great people here and the unique challenges they face as a country.

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