Vuoi cambiare la vita?

A cappuccino/biscotto break

I was on my way to work and there was a man selling lotto tickets on the street. He held in front of me a possible winning ticket and he asked me, “vuoi cambiare la vita?” (do you want to change your life?) I continued walking at my brisk New Yorker pace, but I still responded to his question in my head…“no.” I don’t want to change my life…la vita è bella.      

Cultural Note: I’ve noticed that when you are walking toward someone, he/she moves to his/her left instead of to his/her right. In America we move to our right.

Highlights of My Day: 1. Shopping!!! I started Christmas shopping and I have so much more fun shopping in Italy than I do in America even though the city isn’t very festive. There are a few decorations here and there, but it’s nothing like how it is at home. 

                                      2. I bought myself a red mug that says Buon Natale in white script. I also bought the movie Elf with Will Ferrell (which I watch every year with my mom). My host mother has never seen it before so we are going to watch it together sometime before Christmas. Twenty-two more days until Giannis and my sister are here!!!

Impara con me! 1. pennica- Roman for pisolino (nap)

                            2. succursale- branch (as in a branch of a bank or a business)

                            3. è il tuo genere- it’s your style              

An American Thanksgiving in Italy

Natalie and Francesca (both Fulbrighters in Rome)

Turkey...Italian Style: Turkey leg stuffed with guanciale, pecorino cheese, and sage

Natalie trying to do the metric math

Last Friday my friend Natalie (another Fulbrighter here in Rome) came over and we did the prep work for an extravagant, very American Thanksgiving that we celebrated the following day. We had spent a good two hours in a small supermarket that you would think was the size of a warehouse due to our persistence on finding things that don’t exist here (i.e. canned creamed corn and brown sugar). On our way home we stopped for a panino and as we ate outside on a bench we laughed hysterically over our latest experiences as expats in Rome. Once home and in the kitchen we uncorked a bottle of wine, put on the Christmas music, and got to cookin’! We faced quite the challenge trying to convert our American recipes into the metric system…how many grams in a pound?...how many ounces in a cup?...what about tablespoons and teaspoons? Ahhhh! After some time we abandoned the math and the scale and added ingredients as they seemed fit. All of the food was even better than home. It turns out that you don’t need your mom to make the best traditional Thanksgiving dishes…all you need are Italian products and everything will be guaranteed delicious (no offense mom). We shared the feast with my host family and the occasion was definitely fulfilling the Fulbright mission of "linking minds across cultures."

Cultural Notes: 1. I feel like I’m beating a dead horse in expressing for the millionth time how flavorful the food is, but I think everyone can appreciate this note. Back home clementines are a total hit-or-miss type of fruit. Sometimes they’re juicy and sweet, but other times they are hard, or sour, or too seedy, or bitter, or just downright gross. It doesn’t even depend on the batch. You can have a single carton with this whole range of clementine consistencies and flavors. In America I hastily reach for a clementine. In Rome I dig my hand into that bag knowing that every one is sweet, juicy, and the type I hope for.

                         2. The traffic and the drivers: Rome is known to have horrible traffic. Being from Long Island and spending a lot of time in Manhattan, it is definitely not worse. As for driving/the drivers: if you can drive in Rome, you can drive anywhere. There are no lines in the streets. They follow the free-for-all, create-your-own-lane approach. Motorini and Vespas whiz around as their names imply (Vespa means whasp), and I still sometimes guess if the bus driver is going to crash into the driver in front of him. In terms of pedestrian friendliness, the driver does stop…just a little closer than what the typical American is used to.  

Highlight of My Evening: My cooperating teacher was taking one of our year 5 classes to see a movie because it was parallel to what they were learning in class. The students had asked her if she could invite me to join them in seeing the movie, and of course, I accepted. It was so nice. I didn’t understand most of it, but it was nice to have that experience. I enjoyed watching them all drive away on their motorini at the end of the night. 

Ultimate Sound: When I was walking in Trastevere the other day I was looking down at the cobblestone streets taking calculated steps in an effort to not twist my ankle. From above I heard a familiar Italian aria streaming out from one of the windows. At first I just stopped to listen and then I looked up to try and identify the window it was coming from. I followed my senses, which lead me to a rusty orange palazzo with brown shutters. The sun was shining right into the window and in that moment, I literally felt as if I were living out a scene in a movie.   

Impara con me! Jetlag- fuso orario          

TESOL-Italy Convention

This past Friday and Saturday there was a convention here in Rome for all of the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) teachers throughout Italy. Between the two days, I attended a bunch of conferences dealing with different teaching related topics. It turned out that I was the only ETA Fulbrighter that attended even though we were all invited (and all of the expenses were paid for by the US Embassy). The Cultural Affairs Assistant from the US Embassy asked me if I wouldn’t mind doing an interview for the Embassy’s website to also be posted on YouTube. I eagerly agreed and she took me into a back room where there was a legitimate cameraman and interviewer, complete with a microphone that showed off its ‘Embassy of the United States of America’ seal. I see them speaking to each other in Italian and then I question which language the interview is going to be in. When they told me it will be in Italian I felt a rush of heat run through my body. I asked to take a peak at the question she would be asking me, and what had started out as just a rush of heat turned into an elevated heart rate and a little bit of perspiration; I literally had no idea how to respond to the question...there was absolutely nothing that came into my mind. I have no idea if what I said even made sense and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even post it on their website. If they end up posting it, I will add the link in this post. To those of you who understand Italian, we will be able to laugh at my attempt to produce a remotely educated response to a question that wasn’t the easiest to respond to. 


Here it is: The TESOL Interview          

Cultural Notes: 1. Before I left for Italy I received multiple warnings from people telling me to “watch out for those Italian men” and to “keep your belongings close because gypsies are everywhere.” After being here for a complete two months I have not had any issues with either and have realized that Americans view Italian men as these woman harassing machines…something that just isn’t true. And gypsies do not lurk at every corner waiting to steal from a distracted tourist. You have to be just as careful here as in any city, but from a personal viewpoint I feel safer here than I do in Manhattan.  

                          2. Immigration in Rome: 9.5% of the population is non-Italian, mainly composed of Romanians, Albanians, Ukrainians, and Polish. There are also groups of Filipinos, Chinese, Africans, and Bangladeshis. Some make their living selling clothing and shoes at street-side stands while others walk around trying to sell roses, umbrellas, or little plastic toys. Of course they work in other sectors as well but those are the most visible on a daily basis.  

Highlight of My Day: I have never haggled before and it has always been something I wanted to do. I felt guilty that I would be taking money from someone who is trying to make a living. Putting my feelings of guilt aside I decided to make my first attempt at a haggle…it was a success! I was at the TESOL-Italy convention and there was a room for all of the publishing companies to advertise their books. There was a specific series that I really liked and I bought (at full price) two books. I then saw a third book that I wanted and I thought this would be a good opportunity to try and get it for free since I had already bought two. The vendor agreed and I got the book for free. When I returned home and told the story to my host mother she asked me to tell her exactly what I said in Italian to the vendor. She laughed and told me that the vendor probably gave me the book because how I expressed myself was in a very sweet and proper manner. I’m definitely not a natural at the skill of haggling.    

Impara con me! He’s hitting on you- Ci sta provando con te

A Street in Trastevere

My Long-Lost Family in Italy

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to the news that I actually have family that I never knew about in Italy. It was the type of thing where you can’t help but put your hand over your heart, shake your head, and well up with tears…well, that’s what happened to me after my host mother helped me locate the exact town my great grandparents were from only to discover that there are many people with the same last name still living there, meaning they are most likely my relatives. My emotions were flowing and I swallowed back the lump in my throat and managed to get out some words to explain to her what this means to me: for as long as I could remember I wanted to be closer to my Italian roots. I envied those Italian-Americans who still had family in Italy and were able to experience their heritage in a way I only dreamed of. By finding existing family I have the opportunity to repair a link that has been broken for so many years. 

It turns out I’m not even from the city I thought I was from. All of these years I was told that my great grandparents came from Naples, so that made me napoletana…wrong!!! After some research, it turns out that my great grandparents were from Maranola, a very small town in the region of Lazio (the same region as Rome). Maranola is all the way in the south of Lazio and it ends up being closer to Naples than to Rome. Although Naples is in a completely different region, the legal documentation simply indicated the closest major city (Naples). My host mom was telling me that Maranola is only an hour and a half away from Rome by car, so we are going to go together and start knocking on some doors to hunt down my family. I’m going to look like some lunatic when they open their door and I blurt out “we’re cousins!!!”    

Cultural Notes: 1. Have to be 16 years old to buy alcohol and cigarettes.

                           2. Wine/alcohol is sold in supermarkets and it’s so cheap! I paid €3 for a really good bottle of wine at the supermarket.

                           3. Have to be 14 years old to drive a motorino (motorbike) or macchinetta (small car). Have to be 18 to drive a regular car.

Highlights of My Day: 1. I started private English conversation lessons with an 11-year-old boy. He is one of the most adorable kids ever with the cutest little personality. I would ask him one question and he would go on and on for 10 minutes, Italian gestures and everything.

                                     2. Teaching!!! My students are respectful, responsive, interested, motivated, fun. It’s almost too good to be true. I wake up excited on Monday mornings…I’ve replaced TGIF with TGIM. 

                                    3. I made myself cacio e pepe (a typical Roman pasta dish) for lunch today after work. It came out so good and as I was eating alone in the kitchen I smiled to myself after realizing that I have been eating pasta almost everyday. When in Rome…you finish the rest.    

Highlight of My Evening: My host mother and I were eating dinner together the other night. I was describing to her a really good chicken dish that my dad makes and I wanted to say “chicken leg” so I said “la gamba del pollo,” a literal translation. Her eyes bulged out of her head as she looked at me with both a perplexed and stupefied expression before bursting out into laughter. She explained to me that based on what I had said, she envisioned a chicken with two dangling human legs. The correct thing to say was “la coscia del pollo.” I will now never forget how to say chicken leg.    

Impara con me! 24 hours straight- 24 (ventiquattro) ore di fila

My Schedule Is Picking Up

I’m starting to get into the full teaching schedule and I’m loving it. On Mondays I teach three classes. Two English classes (both of which are year 5 students- 18 years old) and one Geography class (year 2 students- 15 years old). I am loving the year 5 students because since they are older it takes out the babysitting element of teaching and I’m left to actually just teach. I am so impressed with how they don’t give up when speaking in English. Even when they are having difficulty expressing themselves they manage to get around it and still make themselves understood. Tuesdays I teach two English classes (one year 4- 17 years old- and the other year 2- 15 years old) and Fridays I teach three English classes (one year 4 and two year 5). Wednesdays and Thursdays I will be teaching in Aquila, Abruzzo.

Cultural Notes: 1. It’s nice how the mood isn’t as frenetic between classes. The teachers are a lot more laid back. In America the teachers are in such a rush to get their materials together and get everything prepared and in place for the next period. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it was nice to experience a calmer transition between classes. 

                         2. Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is forced to resign due to his incapacity to help the Italian market during this economic crisis. He was short by 8 votes to win the majority.

 

Highlights of My Day: 1. I enjoy being a part of Rome in the early morning. It’s a time before the tourists have arose; the piazzas are quite, the Romans are on their way to work, and shops are just opening as shopkeepers sweep in front of their stores and get everything in order. I have found the caffè that I go to two hours before work to enjoy my four sips of a macchiato, read The NY Times, and reflect upon this experience. This is how I start my day and I am conscious as to thoroughly enjoy every minute because I am so content in these moments.

                                      2. Entering the classroom and all of the students standing up. In Italy the students stand when a teacher enters as a sign of respect. It was so cool!

                                      3. Receiving my very own cassetto (drawer) and key in the teachers’ lounge (sala professore). Teachers get their own drawer and key to keep their belongings and materials in because the teachers travel from room to room and the students stay in one classroom. 

                                      4. Getting a tessera (club card) today for the organic store that I shop at.

Impara con me! Roman Phrase: to slack off- battere la fiacca

                           to resign- dimettersi (Berlusconi si è dimesso- Berlusconi resigned)

                            

My First Time at the Trevi Fountain