A COUNTRY WITHOUT...
Making idle chit chat while waiting for the teller, I said to our commercialista, accountant, "so, what about those elections, huh??" His response? "We're a country without a President and without a Pope.* All is chaos!" And he continued to figuratively pull out his hair.
1 out of 3 Italians voted for Berlusconi...yep, that's correct. Mr. Bunga Bunga Party Man received 33% of the vote. And yet, when you ask people if they voted for Mr. BBPM, to a person they say, "Nooooooo." Go figure. It was the other people who voted for him.
It's fascinating watching the political process here--from the outside looking in. And the people are confused and mad and scared, except my cousin who says, "it'll pass." Yeah, but what about.... "It'll pass." No really, there's no leadership or .... "It'll pass." What about unemployment or the EU or Italy's standing in the world.... "It'll pass." Okey dokey.
"NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE EXCESS" thank you, Julian Fellowes of Downton Abby fame
Everything is big and colorful and over-the-top in California. Malls, cars, freeways, parking lots, grocery stores--we all know we need the choice of 20 cereals or 30 different soups; it's in our genes.
One aisle at Stater Brothers--ONE AISLE--hear the musak??
Italy is a small country, so things tend to be proportional to their environment. Butcher shops, bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants....it's charming and cozy to go to a neighborhood restaurant that has 7 tables. And one of those is "our table." However, we've found the perfect California gym in Le Marche, Q-bo.
Sooo, the gym has a pool and group
classes and a bar and a restaurant and a hairdresser and massage therapists and manicures and pedicures and a nutritionist, and, my favorite, Cosmetic Surgeons. Yes indeedy, when that chin juts out too far or the buttocks need lifting or the breasts need implanting, the gym offers you a special place to go!
Q-bo is a little bit of home--a little excess never hurt anyone.
If they had beds, we'd move in!
HUMILITY and HUBRIS
I don't fear many things---except maybe spiders, scorpions, driving in the snow and ice, living in a cold house, losing Gary---but mostly, I don't fear many things.
So I happily walk into the grocery store and have a conversation with the butcher about how to cook bull testicles, excitedly talk with the owner of the tappezzeria about recovering my couch, superficially discuss the fine art of opening my chakras with my yoga instructor, and communicate my desire to install a new shower with the plumber.
BUT we need to speak better Italian. We need to get out of our comfort zone, go beyond restaurant, functional Italian. So, we take intensive Italian lessons. We're committed. We study. We discuss and argue the fine points of grammar, (sounds like a fun time at my house, huh?), practice verb drills, live with the dictionary, study the culture. And we are brilliant in the car and in the shower.
But here's the kicker, when I need to incorporate the lessons into daily communication, I think, I search, I stammer, and then...no one gives a crap. It is a lesson in Humility.
I have spent my professional and personal life communicating--with students, colleagues, actors, designers, friends, family. Word choice which clearly and succinctly delineates an idea is one way I define myself. OUCH....to have to fight for that with a 9th grade vocabulary is...painful, humiliating, and a CHALLENGE. I will not be beat by the subjunctive. It will kick my ass, but I will master it.
No, I don't fear many things, except maybe spiders and scorpions and the subjunctive.
Making idle chit chat while waiting for the teller, I said to our commercialista, accountant, "so, what about those elections, huh??" His response? "We're a country without a President and without a Pope.* All is chaos!" And he continued to figuratively pull out his hair.
1 out of 3 Italians voted for Berlusconi...yep, that's correct. Mr. Bunga Bunga Party Man received 33% of the vote. And yet, when you ask people if they voted for Mr. BBPM, to a person they say, "Nooooooo." Go figure. It was the other people who voted for him.
It's fascinating watching the political process here--from the outside looking in. And the people are confused and mad and scared, except my cousin who says, "it'll pass." Yeah, but what about.... "It'll pass." No really, there's no leadership or .... "It'll pass." What about unemployment or the EU or Italy's standing in the world.... "It'll pass." Okey dokey.
"NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE EXCESS" thank you, Julian Fellowes of Downton Abby fame
Everything is big and colorful and over-the-top in California. Malls, cars, freeways, parking lots, grocery stores--we all know we need the choice of 20 cereals or 30 different soups; it's in our genes.
One aisle at Stater Brothers--ONE AISLE--hear the musak??
Italy is a small country, so things tend to be proportional to their environment. Butcher shops, bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants....it's charming and cozy to go to a neighborhood restaurant that has 7 tables. And one of those is "our table." However, we've found the perfect California gym in Le Marche, Q-bo.
 |
| Spinning Classes are offered in the pool |
 |
| A Biiiiig Window looks into the pool and there are always people with their noses pressed against it to get the full benefit of --"the pool" |
Q-bo is a little bit of home--a little excess never hurt anyone.
If they had beds, we'd move in!
HUMILITY and HUBRIS
I don't fear many things---except maybe spiders, scorpions, driving in the snow and ice, living in a cold house, losing Gary---but mostly, I don't fear many things.
So I happily walk into the grocery store and have a conversation with the butcher about how to cook bull testicles, excitedly talk with the owner of the tappezzeria about recovering my couch, superficially discuss the fine art of opening my chakras with my yoga instructor, and communicate my desire to install a new shower with the plumber.
BUT we need to speak better Italian. We need to get out of our comfort zone, go beyond restaurant, functional Italian. So, we take intensive Italian lessons. We're committed. We study. We discuss and argue the fine points of grammar, (sounds like a fun time at my house, huh?), practice verb drills, live with the dictionary, study the culture. And we are brilliant in the car and in the shower.
But here's the kicker, when I need to incorporate the lessons into daily communication, I think, I search, I stammer, and then...no one gives a crap. It is a lesson in Humility.
I have spent my professional and personal life communicating--with students, colleagues, actors, designers, friends, family. Word choice which clearly and succinctly delineates an idea is one way I define myself. OUCH....to have to fight for that with a 9th grade vocabulary is...painful, humiliating, and a CHALLENGE. I will not be beat by the subjunctive. It will kick my ass, but I will master it.
No, I don't fear many things, except maybe spiders and scorpions and the subjunctive.
