Life in Trieste

Andy Rooney was a soldier in Trieste?

2011-11-05T16:05:00.000+01:00

That's what they're telling me... We're putting together the America in Trieste walking tour and lots of interesting facts like this have been coming up. There was some other famous American too but now I can't remember who. My memory fails me.

Will let you know when I remember again. Here is some info on TRUST.

PS Sure, Henry James can count. He was born in the US.

Yeah, I'm Mediocre!

2011-10-14T13:43:00.000+02:00

What other sport can give you THIS much satisfaction?? Here is a phone conversation I overheard this week:

"Yeah, uh huh, I was in the Barcolana last weekend."

PAUSE

"Mmmm Hmmm, yup. Finished it. and GUESS WHAT!!! We arrived, my CREW and I, in 644th place! Yes, an EXCELLENT result. Exactly in the middle of the rankings."

Sailing is one of the few sports (running is also like this) where you can compete with THE BEST of THE BEST and be PSYCHED to finish in the middle.

Barcolana Weekend

2011-10-11T09:43:00.002+02:00

Finally some air around here! I can sweat for a reason rather than just because I exist!

We have gotten through another Barcolana weekend. This was my 9th. I didn't participate or anything. I normally don't, but it is a milestone every year, and one of two occasions for Trieste to wake up for a weekend before laying down its sleepy head for another season. (The Bavisela marathon is the spring counterpart to the Barcolana regatta in October). The Barcolana gets all the Triestini to dig in their winter clothes boxes (we do a change of season here where your summer clothes get put away for winter and vice versa) for their SLAM sailing jackets so they can put them on with their jeans and put the collar up (so cold! Must protect neck from unwanted drafts!!) so the reflective brand name shows.

The real sailors, of course, have their fancy team jackets on and matching pants. They have the added advantage of looking great for free! How the rest of us long to be one of them (without having to do any work-- unless you call hanging off the side of the boat to create weight work)!

Anyhoo, I went down to check out the action (sweet wind-stopper jacket, not slam, but just as conspicuous, a present from my mom, bless her!) and the dog was sniffing everything in sight and she was pulling pulling pulling and I was tugging back and people were tripping on her, and I was tripping on them, and the baby was sleeping in the marsupial on her papa's chest, oblivious to most of the goings on.

A radio station was broadcasting live with a few beautiful women dancing with short sleeves and tummies showing and mini skirts but no one was too worried about their catching a draft (foreign girls, myself included, don't catch drafts, but these girls were freezing with smiles on their faces). That scene made the place seem a little depressing. You just can't enjoy girls dancing when they're outside like you are and you're freezing and you're all covered up and they're definitely not dancing hard enough to get warm, and it's all just to make the radio station look sexy? Didn't get that.

Going downtown during Barcolana weekend makes you feel like you're living the city, though, and that's definitely worth doing.

Dear Summer,

2011-10-04T20:19:00.002+02:00

You can go now. Um, there's the door!

Did you hear me?

Come on, put a fire under it (well, on second thought...)

See you next year!

Love, Karoline

Feeling Homesick?

2011-09-17T09:37:00.002+02:00

A friend passed me THIS LINK. You can practice your Italian and get Oreos at the same time. But, can I just say something? If you're missing any of these items AT ALL, I think you and me need to have a talk.

Happy Eating!

All Clear- Stalkers on Holiday

2011-09-02T11:41:00.000+02:00

Just an update. One of our stalkers was caught and the other seems to be on holiday. :)

The Association has two stalkers at the moment

2011-07-14T00:01:00.000+02:00

People think that since we are a library with lots of English books in it, there used to be an American consulate down the hallway (did you know that Trieste had one of the first Consulates in the world?? The first one was in something like 17something something... ), most of us speak English and happen to be from America, that we ARE America and therefore should be stalked.

But we are NOT America! So please, don't send us anymore weird letters with crazy pictures on them! For one, I know you hate America, but I also know you love it, otherwise you would not want to be in the Army so bad. Also, it's not our fault your ex dumped you. Also, no, I cannot put you in touch with Obama or fly you to his office with a plane from the Aviano base.

No, we are not America, we are a cultural association trying to get by. Send checks, money orders, loose change, but quit sending us wacko letters!!

Finally Went to the Beach

2011-07-11T13:56:00.000+02:00

And it wasn't so bad. We took the baby to the spiaggetta, where the little ones go. It's one of the few places where you can enter the water gradually, so it's awesome if you have a baby in your arms. Since it was her first time, I wanted to ease her into it, and that's tough if you jump in to where you can't touch.

It was a success by the way. The water was pretty chilly, but it is SO HOT AROUND HERE these days that WHO CARES.

I feel like a better mom now, at least according to Triestino standards. Phyoo!

Not been to the Beach yet?

2011-07-08T11:59:00.000+02:00

I have been bad. It is July and I have not been to the beach once. I was reminded of this yesterday when I was teaching some English to business people and we were talking about our vacations. Of course that's what's on the Triestinis' minds lately. The days have been beautiful, so who can blame them. What came out of these conversations yesterday was how much vacation these people have!! Mamma mia-- some were going on 3-week vacations in August, others had a week in May, two in July, and the office is closing in August for a week! One person was actually complaining about how LITTLE vacation time she has left (she has been on 3 major trips this year!)

What a loser I felt like. Here I practically make my own schedule and I haven't even taken the baby to the beach. But that's probably it. In theory I have all this "time" but I don't really feel like I have that much at all. In fact, the days fly past and I have stuff to do on all of them, including weekends. Most of it is work.

What am I doing wrong?

Not that I want to be an employee again. I have definitely outgrown that gig. But... I don't know. I need to think about this more.

A note about the beach, though.

There's no sand. It's rock and cement. Many Triestinis say the sand is "unhygienic" (for real!).

The best part of the beach is playing in the sand, right? So maybe baby isn't missing so much. We're going to have to make a plan for the weekend. I want to make sand castles. I guess that means going to Grado or Lignano. But then there's the problem of traffic.
Hmmph.

Postal Service is Half Price in Slovenia

2011-06-08T14:33:00.000+02:00

Did you know that a regular postage stamp that costs 60 cents in Italy costs 38 cents in Slovenia? Scandalous, no? I just sent a packet of info to Lubljana where I am applying for the baby's passport (can't get an appointment in Milan until the end of July and it's 4 hours away, Lubljana is only an hour and a half away and they had openings immediately). I sent a non-standard A4 envelope FULL of documents and it cost me (dig this!) 58 cents to send. Plus the post office is open Monday to Friday all day until 7pm and Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure my package got to the Embassy about 8 seconds after I sent it. I'm only telling you this because ~~Italian postal service sucks big time~~ I am, frankly, incredibly pleased with myself for finding this out.

And what I learn, I immediately pass on to you, dear reader.

Buying Naked Property

2011-06-08T14:25:00.000+02:00

Need an investment opportunity? In Italy you have the choice of buying an apartment or house outright or buying it "naked", which means you get the house for a discount. Here is the catch. The owner is still in it, and not only that, but they have the right to stay in it (and you can't) for the rest of their life. Prices are adjusted depending on the occupant's age.

As far as the seller is concerned, this is a great deal for people who need cash outright and have no heirs to pass their property to. So it's a win-win. Unless the occupant outlives you. Then it's a bummer.

We're thinking about doing this. Interest rates suck. Why not?

Simple living is what it's all about

2011-05-16T12:31:00.000+02:00

When people come visit me, one of the things they comment on is how much they like the lifestyle and habits they pick up while they're here. Sometimes it takes a trip away from home to give you the courage to do something drastic with your life, like lose weight, or clean up your financial messes so that you can travel abroad more often. For me, moving to Trieste meant new beginnings as far as family (I met Sweetie, moved to Trieste and married him all in 8 months, 8 years ago) and finances. I was happy to downsize my everything, get out of debt (got rid of my car, paid off car loan and credit card with money I got for it, and paid off school loans as fast as I could once I moved here-- it took me about four years), and buy an apartment that we could afford (we have 8 years to go on a 15-year mortgage, and that's debt too, but different).

At some point Sweetie and I (also a Simple kind of guy) made frugal living a kind of game. It started out as Hey, let's see how low we can keep the thermostat in winter (I'm from Wisconsin, so Triestine winters seem like Florida to me). Answer: 15 degrees C, after which we let the furnace kick on. Then we said Hey, let's ONLY keep the lights on that we're using. All others OFF! Then, Hey, let's see how long we can go without eating out, and then Hey, let's see how many Family Fun for Free things we can do from now on, and finally, Hey, let's see if we can live on just one salary (even when we had two decent ones).

And that was good timing, because about a year after we started, I lost my job, and, shortly after, so did my husband.

Well, that frugality gave immediate, and long-lasting results which made it possible for me to start my own little free-lance business (translating, teaching, language consulting) and allowed Sweetie to play full-time Dad for the first six months of Eva's life. Don't get me wrong, though. Living simply isn't for everyone, and we received enough criticism from friends who thought we were ridiculous for trying it that we eventually kept the project to ourselves. Our circle of friends changed somewhat, too, in that we started to hang around more with outdoorsy types and like-minded people as a result of our lifestyle change.

Now that we're both working again (as of exactly one week), we are keeping up the same lifestyle. We meet friends for hikes rather than dinner, and we still play our save money games. Now we have added washable diapers to the mix. As far as temperatures go, with the baby we put our limit at 18C. What awful parents we are, I thought, when I went to a friend's house with baby the same age and saw the thermostat was at 25C, but felt better when I had to take off Eva's sweater because she was dripping baby sweat.

Baby Parking a success, but we hate calling it that

2011-05-11T14:37:00.000+02:00

I decided that I will just call the Baby Parking I chose by its correct name "Pika Poka" or Miss Samantha's. Pika Poka means Ladybug in Slovene, which is one of the reasons I chose it, because Miss Samantha, the owner, is from the Slovene minority and will speak it to your little ladybug if you ask her. And of course I did because I'm one of those kinds of moms, happy to force extra languages on the little one until she is old enough to completely rebell and speak only in pig-latin.

We put her there two days and it was great. There were only like 3 other kids and they were old enough to learn from, but not so old that it was weird. I'm so happy for the baby. All those cool toys (way cooler than at home) and other kids to play with. Good stuff.

More soon.

Baby Parking

2011-05-01T18:27:00.000+02:00

This week I have to find a place to put the baby while Daddy goes back to work after a crisis-induced hiatus. If you want to put your kids in daycare, there a few choices. The cheapest and best-regarded is the public route. These are the daycare centers that are run by the city. To get into one you need to apply for a place in January. You rank them one to five and there is a week where you can go and visit them, check out the distance, cleanliness (something I don't worry much about, but others around here seem to find importantissimo), activities, etc. and make your choice. Hubby visited them (all about the same) and we ranked according to distance. One of them is less than a five-minute walk from my house, for example. Ever since I ranked that one as number one, I have passed several times with the dog and happened to see lunch ladies in hair nets, teachers (or "educators" as they call them here) and various staff members outside sneaking smokes (better than in the bathroom I suppose, unlike the HOSPITAL, which is REEK-A-LICIOUS in the WC!). They don't appear to be doing it at the same time, which I guess is the important thing. Those little taters need supervision, after all.

The public daycare centers provide free lunch, free diapers (most are not particularly interested in dealing with washables, which would mean putting the dirty one in a plastic bag that you provide and then snapping on another one that you provide, but whatever) and the price is based on how much you make.

You get word in May if you get in to a public daycare center for the next fall (September or October). If you don't, then you can either leave them with the baby's grandparents (lots of people do this here and grandparents often feel it is their "right" to have your kids full-time while you're at work) or leave them at any number of private daycare centers (cost about twice as much as public ones, don't provide lunch or diapers).

If you only need a few hours here or there for coverage, there are also "Baby Parking" centers. Yep, they say it in English, as in "Porto il mio figlio oggi in Baby Parking." These are what we are checking on for this week. They cost something like 7 euros an hour and you can drop off and pick up when you want.

I will let you know how my research goes.

Should I breathe new life into this blog?

2011-04-10T20:31:00.000+02:00

I think this blog seems to have a life of its own. No thanks to me, of course...

But I feel like I can say some new things (when I can't, that's when I put my blogs on hybernate). I have a little Triestina baby now which gives me lots of fodder for writing about life in Trieste, but also a lot less time to do it.
Hmmmph.

If you have a baby in Trieste, though, you should know that you can get up to 110 euros back for money you spend at the pharmacy on your baby. There are two official pharmacies (piazza oberdan and another one in Viale xx September). All you have to do is keep your receipts and then fill out a form and turn those babies in and you will get that money back. Hey, it's not gonna feed your B.O.J. (Bundle of Joy) forever, but 100 euros is 100 euros. :) We bought formula and I think it got us through two months. Not bad!

Also there's something called Bonus bébé where you can get money just for having a baby (it's about time someone considered having a baby WORK!), and another thing where you can get discounts on your basic bills at home because you have a baby. I guess these are what they call social AMORTIZZATORI (Shocks, like on a bicycle. Soften up the road under you, or something like that).

I am not going to complain. Free money is free money and there is no stigma involved. If you DON'T take advantage of these things, people sort of feel sorry for you.

More more more soon!

Seven reasons Trieste is awesome if you want to live on the cheap

2010-08-25T13:03:00.001+02:00

I've noticed that in Trieste right now everyone seems to be having a difficult time economically. There is just not that much money floating around. What continues to surprise me, however, is how good people are here about it. Let me explain. When I lived in the States, there was NO WAY I could survive if my pay were two months late (and I made a hell of a lot more money than I make now). Here, it happens to me (I'm freelance so that's to be expected) and my husband (who is a regular employee of a company) all the time, and we're not the only ones. It's almost normal. You work your normal hours and payday comes and goes, but the money never makes it to your account. Often there is no explanation or any kind of conversation about it. You just don't get paid. When the money comes in, whenever that is, you probably will. No use in complaining about it (this is not to say that a fair amount of complaining doesn't get done, because it does), you just have to suck it up and wait, just like your company is doing. End of story.

Since Italy has lots of small companies (a company the size of say, Illycaffè, by the way, even though it's an international brand and a pretty big outfit, is considered a medium-sized company and most people here work for companies which are teeny by comparison, and family owned) there just isn't that safety net of money for employers to rely on when things get tough. Getting rid of people is much more difficult than not paying them and waiting for the sun to come out, so that's what happens. Employees who don't get paid hang on with the same optimism of brighter days ahead-- that, and they're terrified of not finding another job, or worse, of getting another job but having no benefits and/or a lousy contract.

I was already on my way to a simple life before I came here, but living in Italy makes it much easier. Since I spend a fair amount of time complaining in my blogs, I figure it's high time I praise Italy and my triestino friends for what somehow allows me to live with a sense of security even though I don't have that much money. Here we go.

1. Healthcare. The inner peace you get from knowing you have it and that it can't get taken away from you goes without saying. It's also very easy to get here. If you're married to an Italian you qualify for it automatically. If you're a foreigner living here with a proper visa, you can also pay into the healthcare fund every year and get coverage (and if I remember correctly it costs less than what it would cost to pay for insurance from abroad, but this must be verified). In the States, the only time I didn't live in constant paranoia about healthcare was when I was covered under my parents' policy and that's because I was too young to know what could have happened if one of them lost their jobs and would have had to pay for, say, a broken arm, out of pocket. Throughout my adult life I was constantly worried about getting laid off or fired from a job and losing that coverage. I no longer carry that burden (Fire me all you want, suckers!!). That being said, I shutter to think about how much it would cost to have a baby without insurance in the States (a thought that never occurred to me before, but now that I'm seven months along, it somehow comes to mind).

2. Fresh food is cheap. Very delicious, locally grown food (I don't know about packaged food here, because I stay away from it unless you count the roll of pizza dough I use to make homemade pizza a couple times a month) doesn't cost much. It almost always tastes good. After about 150,000 peaches consumed this summer, today I had my first kind of funky one, but that might just mean the season's coming to an end. No fear, I have a two-euro giant watermelon waiting for me on the bottom shelf of the fridge to compensate. If you don't mind cooking stuff up yourself (and if you do, just eat stuff raw for heavens' sakes!), you can really live on a small grocery bill.

3 and 4. One car is totally doable and banks are meaner. I live in what is condescendingly referred to as "la periferia" as in not downtown or in the fashionable Carso. It's a working-class area with big and horrible-looking apartment buildings (I happen to live in one of them), the Stadium, lots of grocery stores, and a ton of busses which take you downtown and to the train station at the end of the line in 20 minutes or less. You find a lot of nice people here, young families and other folks living the simple life. I happen to love it. What attracted us to this area was the abundance of affordable housing which allowed us to buy a small apartment (with a parking spot in a big garage) on one salary (which is what we were living on at the time). Thanks to the fact that the bank required us to pay 20% down (no money, no mortgage, which is what I meant when I said they were meaner, but it's really just tough love and it was for our own good) and we were able to cover that by cleaning out our piggy banks and putting the money together, our monthly mortgage payment now is about the same as what I paid for rent my first year of university 18 years ago in Milwaukee (not, say Manhattan, and I lived in an apartment roughly the same size). As far as cars, we could probably get by without one, but when I worked in Basovizza in the Carso, it was handy to have one, as it meant 10 minutes instead of an hour-long bus ride (the periferia is not well connected to the Carso) and I often work out of town.

5. Bartering. I thank my lucky stars for portable skills. Having decent English language skills for translations and English lessons has helped me save money on lots of things, both for me and for the non-profit I run: legal services, accounting services, help with phone bills, all kinds of things. This is a culture where professionals help each other out through trading services. It rocks. I also learned Italian and worked on my Portuguese by trading half hour language lessons with friends I met here. Bartering gives you immediate value for your work and there are no taxes to pay (bartering, sadly, does not make taxes go away but it doesn't give you any additional ones, either, so it is still a win-win). My advice to young people starting out in the world: hone your portable skills.

6. There is free stuff to do everywhere: nature (Adriatic sea, Carso, Val Rosandra, public gardens, etc), look at historic stuff (downtown architecture and piazzas, Miramar gardens, free museums, etc), concerts and events (thank you, Comune and cultural associations), and two very kick-ass bike paths means there's plenty to do without breaking out the pocket book.

7. Ice Cream is cheap if you know where to go. I go to Marco downtown (not far from Piazza Unita, accross the street from the Roman theater, you know, by the Questura). He's still at 1.00 a scoop and his stuff is about the tastiest in Trieste.

Um. That's about all I can think of for now. But I think that's a pretty good start.

I know I know

2010-08-01T21:53:00.000+02:00

I promise I will get back to blogging again after the holidays. But can I just say one thing before I go on them tomorrow morning? Today I went to TWO (not one but TWO) malls looking for an open gd grocery store. Apparently even the stores at the MALLS have decided that it's not worth opening in August. But strangely you can enter the parking garage, and you can even enter the automatic doors of the mall and you can even walk around and look at the closed stores, you just can't enter any of them. WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?? You CAN, however, let your kids ride on the coin operated ponies and stuff (great reason to get in your car and go to the mall, no??) but forget about the groceries, baby (an open grocery store on a Sunday in Trieste is about the ONLY justification I can find for entering one of those awful places as far as I'm concerned, and now I don't even have that!).

Ugh. Luckily sweetie did some investigative scooting and found an open grocery store not far from our house (Zazzerone I think it's called-- boycott all others!) and so we got the goods for our trip tomorrow and the rolls of Ringo cookies for my nieces and nephew that my mom is bringing home on the plane with her tomorrow morning (What's there not to love about being the Aunt with the COOKIES?!).

Anyway, I hope you're going on vacation too. Trieste is a lonely place during the first two weeks of August. After ferragosto (August 15), things will liven up again.

So will I.
Have fun!

FUNDRAISER ON FRIDAY! FOOD WINE AND MUSIC!!!

2010-05-24T12:29:00.000+02:00

Friday evening is our first ever fundraiser for the Italian American Association in Trieste. Here's the info:

Jazz Concert featuring the Topilow Brothers

(one brother is a Founding Director of the Cleveland Pops, even has a RED CLARINET! The other is a doctor by day, jazz pianist by night). They are playing a free concert here before their REAL concert at the Conservatory later that evening.

Friday, May 28: 6-7:30p.m.
Associazione Italo Americana
Via Roma, 15 Trieste
Donation: 10 euro minimum (feel free to give more!)

Sponsors:
All wine provided by our FAVORITE wine producer in the area:
ZIDARICH and PRINCIPE is donating a big ole Triestino ham (YUM!)!

Please come. Please tell your friends! The Association really needs you.

HELP SAVE OUR HISTORIC LIBRARY!

LET'S MAKE A COOKBOOK!

2010-05-10T12:52:00.000+02:00

As I was playing bumper brella on the way to the office this morning (the only way, I have found, to keep the short old ladies' umbrellas out of my eyes while we're crowded on the sidewalk, is to have my own umbrella and to walk defensively), I thought of a cool way to raise money for the Italian American Association in Trieste (not a member? Become one and help save our historic library, and our dignity!!), have an excuse to try out new recipes for the greater good, and do something awesome for the Association's 50th anniversary next year. How does this sound??

THE ITALIAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE COOKBOOK?

It can be full of recipes for the foods we expats miss most: BRUNCH FOOD, as well as indications for Italians to make our yummy cookies and desserts (in cups and grams) and can have anecdotes from the 50 years of the Association (if we make it til then. Again, if you're not a member, pony up!!). As an added extra bonus, we can put in our favorite Triestino recipes too!

Anybody in? Wanna help? SEND ME YOUR FAVORITE AMERICAN/TRIESTINE RECIPES! Tell me what you wish you knew how to make!

Live in Trieste? Wanna be INVOLVED??!!

Shout out number one! I need that Recipe for Eggs Benedict! Laura, you know who you are! And if you live in Trieste and have a good substitution for English Muffins (or a place to find them), let me know that too!

CHOP CHOP! We've got work to do!!!

If I know my readers, I bet that this little book would be appreciated on both sides of the Pond. Am I right?

Total Number of Broken Umbrellas...

2010-02-10T16:20:00.000+01:00

sticking out of garbage cans and lying abandoned in the street from Piazza Goldoni to Via Roma just now...10.

This is because Triestinis insist on using umbrellas in any kind of rain or (in this case) sleet, even in the presence of the Bora. Coincidentally this is also the reason I have never met a Triestino willing to pay more than five euros for an umbrella.

Why not just put up your hood?

Triestine Cole Slaw

2010-02-10T12:48:00.001+01:00

My life has been crazy-o lately, but that's no excuse for not keeping in touch with the blog. I know. Sorry about that. Plus, my last two entries have been complaints. And I should never go to bed with this blog angry (although it's not the blog's fault).

To make up for it, I will tell you the highlight of my day today: Lunch. Now, anyone who knows me can tell you that I love to eat (and drink), so having a meal be the highlight of my day isn't such a rare thing for me. Today's lunch will taste even better because I didn't make it. Sweetie is in charge today. But since it's one of our favorite no-brainer meals, I want to give you the recipe.

It's that Capuzi and Fasoi dish... It's like Triestino cole slaw. And everyone knows that every culture (that I care about) has it's own cole slaw. It's so that we Americans always feel at home, no matter where we are.

Here are the directions.

You need a cabbage, some garlic (we tend to go heavy on the garlic. But that's because we are selfish and don't care what our breath smells like. We also want to live to be 100 and are convinced that this is a good way to achieve that goal), salt, pepper, borlotti beans (if you're in America you can use pinto beans or just about any other kind of bean, navy bean, whatever. We have tried it with white Spanish beans and it has gone well for us. Be creative), olive oil, red wine vinegar (if you have Uncle Boris's homemade vinegar, even better).

Grate that cabbage as thin as you can into a big bowl. Add the raw garlic that you have chopped into itty bitty pieces (Sweetie just put in three cloves. Yikies!), salt and pepper it, set aside.

In a small-ish sauce pan, dump a can or two (again, we love beans and throw in TWO cans) of drained beans into it, put a decent pour of olive oil in there (to make it juicy), then add a splash of vinegar (I tend to go 1 part vinegar to 4 parts olive oil), you can also add a spoonful of dijon-like mustard (please don't use the day-glow yellow stuff!), heat it up and stir constantly until it bubbles.

Pour the concoction over the raw cabbage and stir it up. Leave it for a couple of hours if you can (you can also eat it right away but it tastes better a while later). Adjust your salt and pepper and VOILA.

It's good fiber! And protein! Mmm. Fills you up, keeps you regular, everything you could ever want in a meal. Today we're going all out though and having this as a side dish (which I guess is how it's meant to be served). We're having hot dogs first, but to be elegant about it, we will skip the buns and call them WURSTEL!

Buon Appetito!

Since When does a LOCAL PHONE CALL cost 50 Cents??

2010-01-29T20:47:00.000+01:00

I can't complain about prices in Trieste without at least doing the same in America. That's where I was the last couple of weeks. It is the reason for my silence, my absence on Daily Mile (not so many miles on the feet, you see), and for my expanding waist band. Good thing I found the fat pants right underneath the ones I can no longer zip. Phyoo!

Here is my Stateside complaint (don't want Racine, Wisconsin to feel left out).

I have switched to the simplest Nokia Phone on earth, which means that I can talk on the phone in Trieste without my brain overheating after one minute. This is good news. The down side is that it is not Tri Band so I can't use it in America. Pazienza. Sweety became my secretary (I could get used to that!) in the meantime and I decided to use the public phone to tell my mom to come and get me at the gas station that the Wisconsin Coach Lines luxury cruising bus left me at not long after my smooth arrival at Chicago's lovely O'Hare airport.

It was a local phone call. I know times have changed, but didn't those things used to cost a Quarter? Now it costs two. And the phone doesn't even have the decency to display the price like it used to on the front.

What's that all about? I mean, who is using public phones anymore and now that I know how much it costs, WHY WOULD THEY? I paid (like an idiot) once and left a message that my mom got the next day. The second time, I called her cell phone. Before doing that, though, I looked around like a damsel in distress until a very kind, but strange man let me use his cell phone because he had unlimited minutes.

So, here is my USA update. People: still nice. Public phones: Still exist, hose you.

Since When is Coffee a Whole Euro??

2010-01-14T09:30:00.000+01:00

This week I've gotten charged an entire euro for coffee TWICE (one lousy, one good). When did the price go up? Is this some kind of New Year's thing?? I don't want to sound like my mother: "When cigarettes go up to 70 cents, I'm quitting!!" but a euro for a tiny espresso seems a bit much. Maybe in Trieste we've been spoiled for too long. But I don't think so!

If you're not from here, though, you should know that if you choose to have a coffee standing up in a caffè rather than sitting down at a table, you always pay a fixed price for it, which, up until something like YESTERDAY, was 90 cents! If you sit down, you pay for service (someone bringing it to the table) and the price can go up to 2-4 euros (see, I can't even be sure because I NEVER sit down). So, the Italians, they're not crazy people who prefer standing up to enjoy their coffee, they're just cheap (and I mean that in a good way).

But a 10% increase, SNAP, just like that?? Must be nice to be a cup of coffee!
Bah! I'm making my coffee at home (bah humbug!)...

Happy Befana!

2010-01-06T20:47:00.000+01:00

Did the little old witch come and fill your stocking with coal (if you were bad) or candy (if you were good)? She skipped my house, unfortunately-- my stocking is still hanging there in my living room, empty. Hmmpf! But in Trieste, whether the Befana comes to your house or not, January 6 means it's time to put away all that Christmas stuff (the miniature fake tree with lights that stay on it, the Christmas mugs we seem to receive every year from various family members, the ornaments, etc) and move on with Life. I like this tradition. It gives you a few days after New Years to catch your breath before having to take it all down, pack it up and put it away. That being said, the stuff goes up here much later. I think we waited until about a week before Christmas before we did anything festive to the house. In America I remember everything happening the day after Thanksgiving.

Oh yeah, I have to remember to change my computer's screen saver, too, no more Grinch. Time to go.

I will not let the crappy weather win!

2010-01-02T13:21:00.000+01:00

It has been raining here for what seems like months! And just when I think it's over, it's still there, fine enough to go undetected from the window before venturing out post-New Year's hibernation to soak me, my umbrella, and any unfortunate clothing I happen to be wearing.

My mother-in-law just called to tell me that there's Bora now, too, which she sees as positive: should keep the rain away. But we all know what Bora really means: COLD!

Damn.

But I'm not going to let the weather win. No ma'am. I am going to get my running clothes on WITHOUT looking out the window. I am going to pile on the layers, put on my rain pants, and get out there. And when I finish, I plan on being quite pleased with myself. The big question is whether to go long or short. If I do 4 miles today, then I have to do 13 miles tomorrow. Which will it be?

Ok. If it's rain, I'll do short. If it's Bora I'll do long. And that will just have to be a surprise for when I get outside. I already feel cold and wet. Wish me luck.

Oh How I have neglected you, blog!

2009-12-30T12:02:00.001+01:00

Happy Almost 2010! I have been slacking off since Thanksgiving, at least as far as blogging goes, but I promise to be better in the New Year. Lots going on, but the most important is that training for the Bavisela on May 2nd is a go! If you haven't run this race yet and you live in Trieste, get cracking, people! If you want to run the full marathon, this is your week to get started, as it's 18 weeks from the BIG DAY. If you're interested in doing the Half Marathon (great distance, lots of fun!), try to give yourself at least 12 weeks of training time. There is usually a running class sponsored by the Bavisela running club that starts sometime in January and meets once a week until race day (the other days you're on your own or you get together with other people in the class to do the other two runs their plan requires). Check the Piccolo and I will let you know if I hear anything. I've taken the class and met some great friends there. It's nice to develop friendships with people where it's not all "magnar, bever" (even if eating and drinking are fun, too). There is also a great small race too, which is an 8k and goes from Miramare castle to Piazza Unità. The full marathon goes from Gradisca to Trieste, picking up the half marathoners in Duino along the way.

You wouldn't know it but Trieste is a great running town. There are a lot of teams out there you can join. Some are more serious than others, but they really make training fun, especially if you prefer running with company. This is my team, although I'm not terribly active (drives them nuts), but I do like being a member of a team anyway. I rarely race.

Running is the best way to get rid of that layer of panetone on the gut. Let's go! Get out there!

Happy Running. Don't let the rain get to you. At least the Bora is quiet this week.

Thanksgiving Pictures are here!

2009-12-02T15:15:00.000+01:00

If you haven't seen them yet, check out Thanksgiving pictures here. Thanks to Denise for putting them up.

THANKSGIVING IS BOOKED!

2009-11-24T15:31:00.000+01:00

The Thanksgiving dinner we have planned for this Thursday at Baracca & Burittini is COMPLETELY BOOKED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! That's very exciting for us, as we weren't thrilled about having it at a restaurant in the first place, but now that the place will be filled with our friends, we think it will be lots of fun. We got all kinds of neat things donated for door prizes and quiz prizes including a free cruise, books on Trieste, jewelry, cloth shopping bags, coffee... Now we just have to make sure the games are good.

I'm going to go to the Association now to plan those, in fact. I am all about Trivia. Mauro says he has something up his sleeve too, and Nino, he'll be there, helping out. So my first priority (according to Mauro's wife) is to keep those two on track (ciacole non fa fritole, as they say!-- Chat does not make pancakes!!). I'll let you know how it goes.

Our friend Anna is going to keep the kids busy. I will be insisting on the hand turkey making station (as long as I can make one, too).

The menu for that night is going to be the kind of Thanksgiving my mom dreamed of but we kids never let her have. The Bon Appétit Thanksgiving complete with fancy recipes from the magazine. We just wanted the staples: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie. She would be delighted to know that our dinner will include Pumpkin Gnocchi (I can pretty much vouch for every American living in Trieste. We're okay with this one as we tend to love all things pumpkin). There will be turkey, of course, but I doubt we'll have to witness any arguments about who exactly will have to carve the dang thing. Of course this means that there will be no turkey sandwiches the next day, but no clean-up either.

For dessert there will be some kind of delicious specialty of the house. But, a few of us Americans are bringing American pumpkin-based desserts as well. John is making a pumpkin pie, Elizabeth is making some kind of pumpkin bar, and I am making pumpkin bread.

If you DO decide to get yourself a turkey to cook up over the weekend, however (just for the leftovers) may I suggest calling my friend, REMO? You should tell him for how many people and that you want to throw the entire thing in the oven. He'll understand. Tell him Karoline, the American, sent you. By the way, my turkey from Remo last year was the best turkey I have EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I'm not kidding.

See you Thursday. I am already making my list of things to be thankful for.

Gobble gobble!

The American Film Series Starts tomorrow

2009-11-18T22:12:00.000+01:00

It's at the Ariston theater (that's by Fincantieri, Allianz, and that wack-o looking building that houses the new pool). The times are 4pm, 6:30, and 9. The movie is The Informant with Matt Damon. Come to the only movie playing tomorrow NOT dubbed into Italian!!! I'll be there with bells on-- if not with bells on, at least with a hole puncher!

Monday Night American TV and Film Series

2009-11-16T16:33:00.000+01:00

If you're looking for something to do tonight, come to the Cappella Underground at 8:30 and watch FORBIDDEN PLANET with us! This is the second of a 12-part series on American television and cinema presented by Prof. Leonardo Buonomo, who is on the board of the Italian American Association. He is a professor of American Literature at the University of Trieste. Last week we watched an old episode of Star Trek (who knew that Captain Kirk was so cute when he was young??) and it was really interesting.

If you still haven't renewed or gotten your Association cards for this year, you can buy them at the Capella Underground, which is on via Economo 12/9 or at the Association (via Roma, 15) or at Uvec Travel Agency (Via Giusto Muratti, 4 just off Viale xx settembre). Membership is 20 euros for students, 30 euros for adults and includes the Monday night series as well as the American film series (9 films starting this Thursday with The Informant) at the Ariston theater in Trieste.

Coloring Pumpkins at the Mall was Fun!

2009-11-02T19:19:00.004+01:00

It was our first time celebrating Halloween the old fashioned way: at the shopping mall in Udine. Our good friend Stefano set us up with a special area just for us, right in front of the Carrefour grocery store for maximum traffic. (The thing that kills me in Italy is that their shopping malls are "anchored" by grocery stores rather than department stores as they would be in the States. Those, and places where they sell plasma tvs). This was day two of our Halloween pumpkin decorating for kids extravaganza. My friend Denise, her awesome daughter, Anastasia, and I, along with 18 (!!) student volunteers from Istituto Nordio (high school) spent Friday afternoon on the floor drawing on pumpkins at the mall in Trieste. That went well, especially since the students were so great with the kids. They worked in one-hour shifts drawing, complimenting, giving candy, picking up wrappers, and capping pens.

On Saturday, we had less help, and decided to split up. Denise and Elizabeth went to the mall in Trieste again, while our super responsible good friend and ex-volonteer at the Association, Anna, came with me and Sweetie to Udine. For those of you who don't know, Udine is a little over an hour from Trieste. We decided to do Halloween there because we are a regional association, and it's important to have a presence all over the place if we can.

That being said, in Trieste people have at least a vague idea that the Italian-American Association exists, so having us at the mall luring children into our space with candy and asking them to color scarey Halloween pictures and draw on pumpkins is sort of normal at the end of October. The kids there often come in costume, even though it's not really an Italian holiday (every year it gets more and more popular, though, especially with little kids and the going out crowd). Parents take advantage of the free distraction to get their grocery shopping done in peace.

In Udine, however, people looked at us funny and/or tried to avoid our gaze for about the first 15 minutes of our 3-hour stint. But then the kids started noticing the candy, and then they came, and we offered it to the parents, too, and they seemed to like that. Kids attract kids, so more of them came and colored. Besides candy, we gave the parents hand-outs explaining how to carve a pumpkin and how to bake the seeds.

I carved a pumpkin so they could see what a real Jack-o-Lantern looked like. The big surprise was that Sweetie, who has been with me for years, had never seen one up close. He was so excited about the process that we had to repeat it at home yesterday, and he got to do the drawing and carving. He then declared that he would be doing it much earlier next year, to take advantage of the Halloween season.

Here are some other things I noticed while hanging out at the mall on Halloween.

1. Italians love getting recipes for things.

2. Kids with glasses draw pumpkins with glasses.

3. The goop inside the pumpkin still feels like brains, even as an adult.

4. Kids love hanging up their artwork when they're done

5. Almost all of the girls dressed up as witches for Halloween (Anastasia was a native American).

My favorite quote from Saturday was from a man who was passing with his family. He seemed pretty intrigued by the whole pumpkin thing and said to me:

"We do not believe in these things, they are not our religion. We are from Marocco."

Well, we don't really believe in it either... but it's fun to color on pumpkins! And his kids did, so that worked out.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came to visit us and to those who helped out! MWAH!

Ok. Halloween's over. Phyoo! Another holiday down!

I don't mean to BRAG or anything but...

2009-10-29T17:23:00.002+01:00

I just made the best chili in the world. Yeah, and I made some pumpkin bread too. Dayum! Good stuff, people!!

HALLOWEEN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

2009-10-29T13:00:00.000+01:00

If you have kids, bring them to the Torri d'Europa on Friday or Saturday to decorate pumpkins with us! If you live closer to Udine, come to Centro Commerciale FRIULI on Saturday. 4pm-7pm.

Kids should come dressed up, of course!

In Case You are Missing Sour Cream

2009-10-25T14:15:00.001+01:00

For those of you living in Trieste, or anywhere else you can't find the world's most perfect ingredient, I have found two great solutions for you.

One: Make it yourself.

Take one pint-sized container of FULL FAT yogurt (be careful to get PLAIN and not Vanilla) and blend it with a standard-sized package of Mascarpone cheese (Italians living in America for years lived with the problem of not finding their precious Mascarpone for making Tiramisu, but I think you can find it there now. If you can't, maybe someone can suggest a good substitution?). The ratio of yogurt to mascarpone is about 2:1. Blend it really well. It tastes just like the real thing.

Two: Go to Slovenia.

In Trieste we're just 10 minutes from the border with Slovenia where you can find the real thing. You just have to know what to look for. Go to the refrigerated part where you find yogurt. It is called KISLA SMETANA.

Phyoo. Now you can make your tacos. Except you'll have to pay a mint to get the UNCLE BENS tortillas at the Super Coop at the Mall (until you live in Trieste, you think that he only makes rice. WRONG! In Italy he makes salsas and flour tortillas and they're in the "foreign" section of one or two big grocery stores like PAM and SUPER COOP...) or you can make them yourself (easier than you think and cheap. But that's for another post...) and you're in luck: the Super Coop is open on Sundays!

Happy cooking, unless you decide to go out and enjoy the day.

Ciao!

Making Friends With the Pressure Cooker

2009-10-25T13:24:00.003+01:00

It took me a long time to miss the good old American Crockpot. I think it's mostly because the first few years I lived here I was more into learning how to cook Italian than making chili. I was experimenting with homemade pasta (amazing salmon and ricotta ravioli one time, but what a pain!), gnocchi (sometimes great, sometimes gummy), and bread (too much salt, not enough salt, sometimes decent). I was stewing ragus and toasting bruschetta, layering lasagnas and tossing up and spinning pizza dough (actually, I flattened it with a floured rolling pin, but that's not poetic) and decorating it with gorgonzola, asiago, and gouda.

But then the cravings hit: tuna sandwiches, my grandpa's chicken soup, Ranch dressing, brats, cranberry juice, potato salad, buttermilk biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, cheese and sausage on crackers, tacos, cole slaw, turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, and the American classic: chili.*

WELL EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT CHILI IS BEST WHEN IT SITS IN A CROCKPOT ALL DAY AND STEWS. But I couldn't find a crockpot anywhere, so I made it in a big pot and cooked it for three hours (Great Grandma Toodles' recipe says three hours MINIMUM) and that worked okay UNTIL I DISCOVERED THE PRESSURE COOKER!

COOKING REVOLUTION

Basically, like a crockpot, you can throw just about ANYTHING you want in there, and as long as you keep the water below the line marked on the inside, you can close it and let it whistle however long you need and it will turn out perfect** really fast, which makes it like a crockpot, BUT BETTER! Plus, it's economical-- just ask anyone you know who is older than about 75. I'm sure they will have one collecting dust in their pantry and will be happy to unload it. That's how I got mine (Thank you, Long Gone Nonna Ofelia!)

THE PRESSURE COOKING COMMUNITY

Once you get into pressure cooking, you start running into other people who like them, and then you get all kinds of new recipes to try. My friend Graziano (who is an Engineer) appreciates the efficiency of the pressure cooker, the fact that it uses little water, and you don't dirty so many dishes (no dishwasher). He is the Master. Thanks to his tireless experimenting, I know that you can throw dry pasta, whatever sauce you want, and half the water you would normally use to cook the pasta and let it whistle for half the time that the pasta package says, and it will turn out delicious.

THE MIRACLE OF SOUPS

Like at least one family that I know (Elizabeth and Mauro), I have started making a pot of soup a week (sounds repetitive, but it becomes addictive, and, as Elizabeth points out, most schools that offer lunch serve either vegetable or meat broth as a starter to students daily and they never get tired of it) and the pressure cooker has made it even easier.

Here's what I made today: PUMPKIN SOUP!

Here's how:

I cut up and sautéed a leek, three carrots, three stalks of celery (the numbers are arbitrary, I use what I've got) and a small piece of Hen (vecchia gallina fa buon brodo, but chicken will do) threw it all in the pressure cooker with some rock salt, a bouillon cube, two hunks of garlic and pieces of half a small cooking pumpkin and three peeled potatoes. I filled it with water up to the line. Then I shut it and turned on the gas and let it cook. When it started to whistle, I timed it for 30 minutes.

When I opened it I seasoned it with: All spice (thanks, mom), cloves, a little cumin, and some cinnamon. I took out that piece of Hen (the meat is too tough to really eat) and blended it with a hand blender, and VOILA!! Excellent soup. Try it.

BUON APPETITO!

*I learned how to cope with variations in ingredients as best I could (brown sugar equals a cup of white sugar with a spoonful of honey, baking powder equals 1/4 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar. Don't have cilantro? Try some diced celery, it's not the same but does freshen things up in a similar way. 3 tsp lemon juice are the equivalent of 1tsp of cream of tartar, etc). Note that in 6 years I have never found a suitable replacement for American Vanilla extract, although I did find a recipe for making it yourself, which I will probably try this winter with the grappa that we make, or with last year's leftovers.

**(boiled potatoes: 10 minutes, stewed meat and onions: 30 minutes, add potatoes and cook another 11 minutes and WOW!)

I need a recipe for baked pumpkin seeds

2009-10-19T17:12:00.001+02:00

So for Halloween in Trieste, we're organizing a kiddy party at the Mall (Torri d'Europa) in Trieste on October 30th (4-7pm) and in Udine (Centro Commerciale Friuli) on October 31. Kids can dress up and and decorate pumpkins with us. Doesn't that sound like FUN?

We are going to hand out directions for parents to help their wee ones carve JACK-O-LANTERNS when they get home. I'm thinking that while the parents are carving, the kids can separate the gooey pumpkin innards from the seeds and they can bake them.

I need a recipe... I can Google it, of course, but if anyone has any ideas, BRING THEM ON!!

I did a major No-No today!

2009-10-15T10:01:00.001+02:00

Sweetie pointed out that I have become one of those people who complains in the summer when it's too hot and then in the winter because it's too cold.

It's true. I did that, and I feel awful about it. I did some soul searching, though, and realized that as much as I would like to do more, I can only take back one of them. This summer it was really hot and humid for WAAAAAY TOOOOO LOOOONG. That month or two of incessant complaining (for sweating for no good reason), I'm sorry to stay, stands.

I apologize, however, for this morning. I know that I may have snarled when I took out the dog at 6.30 (why was I up so early?) wearing a hat, fleece jacket and coat and was STILL COLD, but, to my defense, I think it was the new haircut. It just doesn't have the neck coverage I'm used to. So let's just say my harsh vocal reaction to the elements this morning can be chalked up to plain old unpreparedness (is that a word? Can it be now?). Tomorrow I will just have to wear a scarf, too.

That being said, I did run downtown (it's all part of my making-running-my- lifestyle kick) in running tights, long-sleeved shirt, and another thicker shirt over that, but I put a pair of shorts in my back-pack. You never know, it might warm up later...

Who won the Barcolana anyway?

2009-10-13T08:41:00.002+02:00

Was it any of you, dear readers?

Congratulations, President Obama

2009-10-11T12:23:00.000+02:00

for that Nobel Peace Price. I don't care what anybody says. You deserve it!

Did you see Cesare Cremonini last night?

2009-10-11T10:35:00.003+02:00

How awesome was he?!! And how nice was it of him to end his three-month tour in Piazza Unità with little old us?! He was awesome. We were so close to the stage I could see every hair in his beard and I swear a couple of times he sang JUST TO ME (Sweetie was totally cool with it). If you didn't see the show (which was even more enjoyable because it was FREE), I'm sorry you missed it.

Toward the end it started to pour, and what was funny was the fact that the entire audience all seemed to have umbrellas except for Sweetie and me, and that they put them up without any regard whatsoever to who was behind them, next to them, at what distance, to anything. Once they were all up, though, it looked pretty neat. Cesare, thankfully, was covered, but sweaty enough to make it look like he had been down there with us.

***

Today, then, is the Barcolana. Are you going up to the Napoleonica to watch the regatta? Are you in the regatta? Are you downtown partying in the piazza and watching it on the jumbotron? I'm not. I did go down to walk around and see the stands twice (Friday and yesterday) but I'm staying home on this sunny Sunday morning. I should be getting some work done, but I think I will go for a run. Sweetie took the dog down to Sistiana for her Salvataggio in Acqua training (she's had her license for three years but she likes the other dogs, going into the water, saving people, etc.) so I'm alone until lunchtime. Maybe I'll watch the Barcolana on Tele4.

Have a great day, whatever you do!

Can you guess where this is?

2009-10-07T15:41:00.003+02:00

Trieste Trivia question of the week. Come on, where is it? For those of you new to Trieste, that is the city's symbol, the ALABARDA, although we call it a Halberd in English. Sounds much more attractive in Italian, doesn't it?

Who knows, you may end up liking Trieste so much you get one of these tattooed somewhere on your body. My friend Stefano from Tribe & Crew Tattoo shop once told me that an American girl was in Trieste for the summer and went home with one. Think about it!

Who said Trieste isn't a Happenin' place?

2009-10-07T14:42:00.003+02:00

So the other day BY CHANCE, I happened to be looking at the home page of the University of Trieste when this event caught my eye. It was a conference to be held at the Scuola per Interpreti in Via Filzi on cooperation between Europe and the United States of Africa. Well, looking at the list of presenters, I saw a name I recognized. Boubacar Boris Diop, who is a writer and journalist from Senegal whose writing I had studied in grad school in the States and whose intense, high-energy and genuine enthusiasm fascinated me in 1999 when I spent a summer studying Francophone African literature in Senegal on an NEH grant and he was our teacher for a day. During the same trip, all of the American French teachers (I was a high school French teacher in one of my past lives...) got to have dinner with an African family, mostly teachers and writers we had come into contact with over our stay. My family, as it turns out was Boubacar Boris Diop. Just me, and him. There was another guy there, too, apparently an assistant of his who worked at his newspaper. But he was only there to bring over the food. We had Senegal's national dish, which was quite tastey. We spent most of the meal talking about poetry (I later wrote a poem about the meal, which I'm tearing my house apart to find) and literature. I told him my two favorite African writers were Aminata Sow Fall (whom I had just met) and Ken Bogul. That dinner stuck with me, and, a few days later, when our delegation of teachers was ready to leave, we had a party to say goodbye to our new friends. Boubacar brought Ken Bogul. There is a picture of the three of us. They are on either side of me, and I have the smile of someone who has just met her two favorite rock stars. Where is that picture?

I got to the conference yesterday early. When the speakers arrived, I scanned them but couldn't figure out which one was Boubacar, so I asked until I found him. He looked completely different. He's bald now, different glasses, seemed a little taller. For a second I thought I had the wrong guy. He didn't recognize me, either. I was 25 back then and ten years is a long time... I hauled out that rusty French and it came back comme ci comme ça, enough for him to remember who I was. We decided to meet up afterwards.

When it was his turn to speak, EVERYBODY listened. For one, he actually spoke INTO the microphone. That, and he had this CHARISMA that made me remember exactly why I felt so lucky to have been the CHOSEN ONE who got to eat at his house on eat-with-an-African-family night. WOW!

It turns out Boubacar Boris Diop moved to Tunisia. Said he wanted to learn Arabic anyway, and that way he is close to Senegal and close to Europe. Whoever thought that both of us would leave our homelands and meet up again ten years after we met the first time, in, of all places, Trieste?

Life is funny like that sometimes.

The Seven Dwarves are Alive and Well and Living in Trieste

2009-09-29T16:38:00.003+02:00

I have seen them on a number of occasions working in different gardens around town. How did they get residence papers? Are they here on a working visa? I hear those are really hard to get. Then again, they are originally French, I think ("La Belle au bois dormant", n'est-ce pas?!), and France IS part of the European Union, so that probably made it easier. Anyway, in case you're looking for them, they are here. Snow white is harder to find, however. She may be supervising several gardens at once and going back and forth between them. I will let you know about that.

Joyce smelled it, too

2009-09-24T08:08:00.007+02:00

I was on my way to the Italian-American Association this morning, which I tend to think of in its Italian form: "Associazione Italo-Americana" or ASSITAM for short, when I came across the life-size bronze statue of James Joyce on the canal bridge in Via Roma. He's got his head tilted just so, he's wearing those funny round glasses and hat, his hands are in his pockets like he's in no hurry to get to work, which was at the Berlitz school (now defunct) to teach English. He lived in Trieste for ten years, I've heard, and spoke the Triestino dialect fluently. He said it was "easy on the tongue," while he preferred to write in English. His daughter's first language was Triestino, by the way, and the family went on to speak it together even after they left Trieste.

Right now I happen to be reading the book Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris (I have it checked out from the library. You can read it when I'm done), and she has this great quote from Joyce talking about going to see the Opera in the cheap seats at the Teatro Verdi (a place to see, by the way, same architect as the Scala in Milan, so just like it, only smaller).

"The business families of Trieste were fervent opera-goers. When Joyce went to a performance, to sit among the 'sour reek of armpits' and 'phosphorescent farts' of the upper balcony, he often saw in the stalls and boxes below bourgeois pupils of his, following the music with extreme attention..."

And that's all I have to say about that.

Except for this. That statue of Joyce is about 5 years old now. A lot of people must pat him on the back as they pass him on that bridge because his left shoulder has become the color that parts of statues get when you rub them for good luck.

The Number 21 Bus today smelled like a farm

2009-09-23T17:04:00.005+02:00

I really meant to run downtown this afternoon but I just couldn't make it work. So I took the number 21 bus in via Flavia all the way to Piazza Oberdan. Takes about 20 minutes.

The bus was really full, and it was hot. At some point, though, I realized that it also smelled like a farm. And because I had 20 minutes to think about it, I started asking myself, "Well, what kind of farm does it smell like? What kind of animals are on this farm? Do I smell, say, a chicken coop? A barn with cows? Isolate that smell, give that smell a name!" But I couldn't say for sure exactly what kind of farm it would be.

And then I tried to figure out what the source of the smell could be. A person? Well, it was about 150 degrees celsius (that's a gazillion degrees Fahrenheit), and sweat was rolling down the small of my back for no reason (although this time, I assure you, it was not me). So the possibility was there.

Gorgonzola. That's what it smelled like. Gorgonzola.

Which reminded me of a time my American friend came to visit me from France. He had this odd smell about him. A lot like the smell on the bus today. Sour. Ripe. From the second I saw him. I didn't say anything.

When we got home, I took my coat off to hang it up on the coat tree. Just as I was thinking about how he didn't look as dirty as he smelled, he pulled a container out of his coat pocket. It was a plastic tub like you buy ice cream in here. He opened it with a face that said TA-DAH! and thereby UNLEASHED THE SMELL. It was a glorious hunk of cheese, and that was enough to put a new perspective on that nasty smell. It was the kind of cheese that makes your eyes water but TASTES SOOOO GOOOD!

So that made me think differently about the smell on the bus. Some nice person must be bringing some other very nice person a piece of delicious cheese. Yes, that is what that smell is!

Mystery at Sant'Anna

2009-09-23T08:40:00.004+02:00

Well my run downtown was a success. It was so good, in fact, that I forgot to take pictures. Well, I did take one. As I was passing the cemetary parking lot (I usually tell people I live near the stadium, but the truth is, I live closer to the cemetary) I noticed areas where perfectly square pieces of concrete had been removed and surrounded with red tape that warned "Don't fall in here." What are those holes for? Is the cemetary running out of room? From across the street they did look oddly rectangualar, those holes. I wondered this out loud to Sweety this morning who quickly pointed out that you could also plant a tree in each one and eventually provide a little shade in that wide open unprotected lot.

Fair enough. I'll keep you updated on this one.

*UPDATE* Sweetie was right! They planted a whole bunch of trees in those holes, and cut down the big tree that was hanging over the street. How about that? Parking Lot Landscaping! I'm all for it.

How long does it take to lose the parking guilt?

2009-09-22T12:39:00.004+02:00

I said I would tell you the story of what it's like to live in Trieste if you're not from here. So that is what I'm going to do today. My mission is to run from my house by the stadium to Via Roma 15 where an intensive English class is starting tonight at six. I want to be there to make sure everything goes smoothly. I was hoping to be there by four, but I think it's best to give myself a little extra time-- usually it takes me about half an hour to run there, but I want to take a couple of pictures, and make sure I have time to towel off before people start coming in... Yeah, I'm one of those crazy people who prefers running to work, rather than taking the bus, or, the worst, driving there.

Because a lot of the Trieste I see is on running feet, I feel more comfortable not driving here unless I have to. Yesterday, I made an exception.

Since I had to be at the Association early to learn how to help people sign up for classes, check out books, etc. and because I was planning a nice meet and greet for new students, I let my husband talk me into driving downtown. Big mistake. I drove around in circles for what semeed like hours! There was NO PARKING ANYWHERE IN THE ENTIRE CITY that you didn't have to pay for, and I really hate paying to park.

So what did I do? I found a street lined with illegally parked cars up by St. Giusto--that's the area by the Cathedral and castle up on the hill where Triestini like my husband park because until recently it was ALL FREE. Of course, you have to make the killer walk back up again to find your car when it's time to go home, but, hey, 80 euro cents an hour saved is 80 euro cents earned, right? I saw an opening there, slowed down, and (gulp) drove up onto the curb first with my left front tire, then eased up the left rear tire and parked with two wheels on the sidewalk. Just like the Italians do.

I got out, locked the car, and started making my way down the street, passing the NO PARKING, TOW AWAY ZONE 24-HOURS sign on the way down and tried to ignore it. No big deal.

I got to the office.
Then the panic set in.
My car is going to get towed. I am going to get a ticket. I will definitely get caught.
Evil thoughts of how this parking job was going to ruin my life circled through my head.
So I skyped Cristian and told him about my situation.
"Do you have time to go move it?"
"No. There's no parking. I'm afraid. Come take it away... PUH-LEEEEEEASE!!"

So that's what he did. After he finished work, he ran and found the car with our dog, Luna. It was the ONLY car there parked illegally on the sidewalk by that time. Apparently there is some kind of time limit for these types of things. He took the car home and played tennis for an hour.

When I was finished, he came and picked me up in the car, Luna in the back. Thankfully, besides not being towed or ticketed, I didn't have to climb back up that hill to St. Giusto either. It turned out okay after all.

But I am not taking any more chances. Today I am going to sweat it out on foot and get a 3-mile round trip (correction, it's 3 miles one way so it's a 6 mile round trip) out of it. Maybe even take a few pictures.

My Favorite Room in Trieste

2009-08-17T11:35:00.006+02:00

If you haven't visited the library at the Italian-American Association in Via Roma, 15 lately, you should. Since it has become an American Embassy-supported American corner, there are lots of new books and dvds to choose from as there is now an annual budget to keep the library updated.

Earlier this summer I read Obama's book, Lessons From My Father (LOVED it) and am now finishing up a biography of Julia Child called Appetite For Life (A much more fascinating character than I had imagined, that Julia...). Who knew that Child worked for the OSS, a precursor of the United States Information Services (USIS), the branch of the State Department that created the Allied Reading Room, which is now the Paolo Bearz Library (Not only was it the first reading room of its kind on the peninsula, it was also the first library in Italy to use the Dewey Decimal System which classified books by author, title, and theme as well). Interesting to read about the role that the USIS, where Child's husband Paul would continue to work for several years in different countries, played in American cultural relations abroad during those post-war years.

The library at the Italian-American Association has long been my favorite room in Trieste. It is a place where you can hang out and read, and it is physically beautiful. Books have a way of warming up a room, and with its high ceilings and parquet floor, they don't make libraries like this anymore. Of particular note are the doors leading from one section of the library to another.

The strongest section of the library (IMHO) is fiction; it has all of the American classics from when the reading room was first established and has grown to include books left behind by various Americans living or visiting Trieste. As it should be.

The change of status for the library to American Corner also means there are subscriptions to many more American magazines which are difficult to find in Italy. This is great for ex-pats to keep up with trashy gossip from home as well as more serious "aggiornamenti" in the areas of economics, business, and current events.

Although closed for the summer, when it re-opens in the Fall, it will be open Monday-Friday from 4pm-8pm.