Thursday, May 15, 2008

One down...



The first week here is officially in the books. And since so much happened, I thought I would just do a quick top 10 list of my observations from this past week:

10. It is perfectly acceptable for a woman (such as myself) to share a bathroom with a 500 lb. waiter in their restaurant. No need to be shy here, or question if you are going into the right bathroom.

9. It is also perfectly acceptable to get your pants tailored in the local Mc Donald’s, and for those in need, fear not... they do have a bidet.
*Note- eating at Mc Donald’s did NOT happen… just merely wandered in to use the restroom.

8. Minus the one man on the train that thought I was Venetian (till he figured out my Italian was not up to par), I do indeed stick out like a sore American thumb. This will soon change.


7. The Italian metro system was on strike last Friday for the sole purpose of having a 3-day weekend. I can’t blame them as I would do that too.

6. You will get laughed at if you order a café latte at night. I guarantee it.

5. You will also get strange and pondering looks from Italians when you tell them you only get two weeks of vacation time a year, only get paid for 12 months a year, and just 15 minutes to run to your local whole foods to grab lunch only to eat it at your desk. We’ve learned (more in depth) that Italians get around 2 hours for lunch, 14 monthly paychecks a year (one extra in July to pay for your travel in August, and one extra in December to pay for your travel at Christmas time.), which is on top of the minimum 30 days of vacation that you receive a year. Yes, I kid you not.


4. Two planes, three trains and four different cab rides will fit 10 pieces of luggage, and you will eventually arrive in the city Fano.

3. The Italians LOVE to talk, and I mean LOVE to talk to anyone and everyone. Be prepared.

2. Wine is cheaper to buy here than bottled water. Take that, Trader Joe’s.

1. All zia’s and nonna’s have the best homemade cooking. Eating one meal in a day for six hours is perfectly acceptable. If you question a meat on your plate, try it otherwise zia will make you eat it, and then make you eat it again. I recommend a little of everything to avoid the “mangia, mangia, mangia” zia and nonna will bestow upon you.

More adventures to come, so stay tuned. This concludes our tour of life in Italy. Remember to keep your arms and hands inside the windows, and no flash photography, please.

7 comments:

Valerie said...

Benvenuti in Italia! Life will present daily lessons like these, and many, many more that will be much, much more embarrassing! But it's exciting. Welcome to your new life in the Old Country.

Karen, aka Yaya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen, aka Yaya said...

Glad you made it to Italy safe and sound! Love the pics! Isn't the gelatto the absolute yummiest!?!?!?! When we went on the Mediterranean cruise I tries to have it in every port city, being the ice creamaholic that I am!! Congrats to GC on his citizenship! That's exciting!pkekk

me said...

I love your story! Good luck with your first few weeks of settling in. Auguri!

P.S. - are you guys living in Milan?

Em and GC said...

hi courtney! we're not in Milan just yet.. hopefully by June. We're in a little down 4 hours southeast of Milan called Fano.. what city are you in?

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

ciao! I just moved to Rome from L.A. Your list cracked me up.

Rustego said...

Hello!
About point nr. 6, I can say that not all Italians have 2 hours of lunch. In Milan, we have only 1 hour and sometimes we don't eat at all...
About nr. 2, I don't think water is more expensive than wine...
Anyway, Ciao!

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