YES WE DID!

"And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."- Barack Obama

America has turned a new page in its history and opened up a completely new chapter by electing Barack Obama.

I am prouder than I was yesterday to be an American. Now more than ever I truly believe that anything is possible if you work hard, strive for the ideal and be true to yourself and others.

The world is smiling with the US once again, and a new era in democracy has begun. But let us remember our future president's words:

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do."

Hope for November 4th

Let's hope change happens...and fear is defeated.

Facebook and Italians...

An interesting thing has happened over the past couple of weeks in cyber space: Italians seemed to have discovered the new(?) online social network Facebook and let me tell you it has been interesting to see how an Italian uses it compared with my US friends and contacts.
First of all, Italians view it as a way to "collect" as many friends as possible- similar to the way people collect baseball cards or soccer cards - le figurine Panini. I guess this urge to expand one's collection of online friends is not uniquely Italian but it does seem like the more one accumulates the more one wants. Is there such thing as Facebook greed?
Secondly, Facebook for Italians is more of a public digital piazza where one can display who and what they are interested in. I think most Americans (am speaking for myself of course) see it more of a way to keep in touch and make contacts, not necessarily flaunt how many friends we have in our contact list. While both US and Italian Facebook afficinadoes do use Facebook as a platform for voicing opinions socially by adhering to groups and causes, I have to admit some Italian groups are quite superficial and even elitist. For example, many Italian groups tend to hint a social status in an attempt to to become friends with VIPs.
Without a doubt, Facebook has made the world a smaller place where we are all linked somehow in this amazing web of interconnectedness. But it will always be used differently and for diverse ends depending on the person using it and where. For most Italians, I think it is like an accessory (look what I have) whereas for most Americans it's like a business card (look what I can do).

Hard Work?

In a recent article by an Italian journalist Vittorio Zucconi stationed in Washington DC for La Repubblica, the American notion of hard work and the prevailing habit of not taking vacation days has me in a quandry. Are Americans really work-a-holics and do Italians over do it by practically closing down for almost the entire month of August??
This has been something that has had me torn between two worlds since I have been living in Rome while working for Americans (requiring me to work the entire month of August while my husband is off for 2-3 weeks). At first, I did not think much of it. I figured that working while my marito was lying on the beach would not bother me too much. I would meet up with him on the weekends and sometimes take off either Friday or Monday. I'm from Chicago, the "city that works" so I did what I knew best: I worked. But only after seven years, I finally realized what many Italian friends and family members have always said: tutti hanno bisogno delle ferie, specialmente insieme; everyone needs time off together. Zucconi mentions how not taking time off from work can lead to all sorts of physical and psychological problems. Ironically, I was starting to manifest these in Rome! I was a living contradiction: working in August while everyone else was on vacation. Of course, over these ten years I have seen some micro-improvements in attempts at keeping the city open for business: even my local DixDi supermarket is open during August (except for Ferragosto). And there are many shops, cafes and restaurants in the centro storico that don't close.
But let me tell you, the American hard work ethic lives on in me, even though I may be living 6,000 miles away across the ocean. I guess you can take the girl out of Chicago, but you can't take the Chicago out of the girl!

L'Isolotto

This is my little corner of paradise. L'isolotto off the coast of Monte Argentario...This is where I'll be for the next week or so...There is no where else like it. Buon Ferragosto!

Byron's Grotto - Portovenere

PROMETHEUS

by: George Gordon (Lord) Byron (1788-1824)

ITAN! to whose immortal eyes

The sufferings of mortality,

Seen in their sad reality,

Were not as things that gods despise;

What was thy pity's recompense?

A silent suffering, and intense;

The rock, the vulture, and the chain,

All that the proud can feel of pain,

The agony they do not show,

The suffocating sense of woe,

Which speaks but in its loneliness,

And then is jealous lest the sky

Should have a listener, nor will sigh

Until its voice is echoless.

Titan! to thee the strife was given

Between the suffering and the will,

Which torture where they cannot kill;

And the inexorable Heaven,

And the deaf tyranny of Fate,

The ruling principle of Hate,

Which for its pleasure doth create

The things it may annihilate,

Refus'd thee even the boon to die:

The wretched gift Eternity

Was thine--and thou hast borne it well.

All that the Thunderer wrung from thee

Was but the menace which flung back

On him the torments of thy rack;

The fate thou didst so well foresee,

But would not to appease him tell;

And in thy Silence was his Sentence,

And in his Soul a vain repentance,

And evil dread so ill dissembled,

That in his hand the lightnings trembled.

Thy Godlike crime was to be kind,

To render with thy precepts less

The sum of human wretchedness,

And strengthen Man with his own mind;

But baffled as thou wert from high,

Still in thy patient energy,

In the endurance, and repulse

Of thine impenetrable Spirit,

Which Earth and Heaven could not convulse,

A mighty lesson we inherit:

Thou art a symbol and a sign

To Mortals of their fate and force;

Like thee, Man is in part divine,

A troubled stream from a pure source;

And Man in portions can foresee

His own funereal destiny;

His wretchedness, and his resistance,

And his sad unallied existence:

To which his Spirit may oppose

Itself--and equal to all woes,

And a firm will, and a deep sense,

Which even in torture can descry

Its own concenter'd recompense,

Triumphant where it dares defy,

And making Death a Victory.

Expat talk...my meme list

Name 5 things you love in your new country
(besides my husband...)
:: gelato
:: fashion
:: design
:: fresh food & produce
:: art & architecture

Name 4 things that you miss from your native country
:: family
:: friends
:: 24 hour grocery stores
:: good deodorant

Name 3 things that annoy you a bit (or alot) in your new country
:: Italians not understanding how to form a line..although they are making progress with automatic ticket machines becoming more common in public offices and banks
:: dog owners not cleaning up after their cani leave "gifts" on the sidewalks...pooper-scoopers are hardly used on the streets of Rome!
:: terrible parking habits of Roman drivers

Name 2 things that surprise you (or have surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:
:: lack of customer service
:: existence of over 16 political parties

Name 1 thing you would terribly miss in your new country, if you had to leave it:
:: il mare.. the seaside

Grazie mille to bleeding espresso for the idea to generate this meme list...

Top 10 Gelaterie of Rome Part 1

Ok, Rome may be in the grips of a wet winter spell, but for a true gelato maniac it's never too cold for a good, genuine gelato.
Here are 10* of my favorite places for the creamy Italian delight:
Centro Storico:
1) Pica
Via della Seggiola, 12 (off of Via Arenula)
The owner is the president of the artisan ice-cream makers association of Rome. Try the riso alla canella (rice with cinnamon)

2) San Crispino
Via di Panetteria, 42
A gourmet gelato parlor with home-made flavors. Try the ‘sorbetto di arance e mandarino’- A pleasant, refreshing surprise for your taste buds. The crema di cannella e zenzero- cinnamon and ginger cream- is out of this world.
3) Giolitti
Via degli Uffici del Vicario, 40
52 flavors.
One of the most famous gelaterie of Rome, unfortunately plagued by tourists, but the Bacio is out of this world. Has an 18th century ice-cream parlor feeling.
4) Cremeria Monteforte
Via della Rotunda, 22
Famous for its ‘cremolato’- a rich sorbet. Try the chocolate or berry flavors topped with fresh ‘panna’ – whipped cream- yum!
5) Fiocco di Neve
Via del Pantheon, 51
Isn't "snowflake" a great name for the place? It sure does cool you off in the hot, sticky days of estate Romane. Known for their zabbaione, also try crema di mela verde.
6) Della Palma
Via della Maddalena, 20/23
This is the most colorful gelateria in my book. If Willy Wonka had a gelateria, this is what it would look like. Mars bars and KitKat ground up with gelato leaves one at a loss for words...
Near Vatican/Prati neighborhood:
7) Antica Gelateria dei Gracchi
Via dei Gracchi, 272
One of the best places to taste true pistacchio in the Eternal City. The chopped pistachios create such a wonderful texture contasting with the smooth creamy gelato. Also try the mela and cannella (apple and cinnamon) sorbet-like frozen treat.
8) Al Settimo Gelo
Via Vodice, 21/a
Hidden away off of Via Oslavia deep in the heart of Prati, definitely worth the trip for crema al bergamotto, passito di pantelleria, or pistacchio. Winner of the Gambero Rosso 2008.
9) Old Bridge
Via Bastioni di Michelangelo, 5
Located at the doorsteps of the Vatican City walls (around the corner from Porta Sant'Anna), this small gelateria serves up some hefty servings...their fruit flavors are amazing
10) Gelarmony
Via Marcantonio Colonna, 34
www.gelarmony.it
The fine art of Sicilian gelato-making in the Eternal City. The site has a concise history of gelato as well.

*Check back for additions... the list is a work in progress