Moving on up!

What a great couple of days! The entry way is something out of a movie and the keys to my new place even look like keys to a castle!

As you know I moved into my new place on Tuesday and I can’t tell you how much I love it! I got home from work on Tuesday and immediately took a shower. As I was in the shower I was thinking wow what a great shower this is…but is it the best shower ever? After almost four weeks of taking a bath it definitely ranks up there but I was hard pressed to say the best. I think it is definitely top five though. I’m not sure if it is a good thing that I actually know the other ones on the list or that I have actually taken the time to come up with a list although I am sure this does not surprise any one. Although not really Italy related but I’m sure you are dying to know now…here is the list.

I would say that top shower was the shower after the Korty cross country ski race Renee and I did…for two reasons. First, it was a shower after cross country skiing for thirteen miles (which it took me twice as long to cross country ski the same distance as running the half marathon…why I am still pondering) in the cold up north (Wisconsin). Second, and maybe the real reason this shower is up in first place, the shower itself was amazing. Not the actual act of showering but the physical shower. Our friends Adam and Tab had just built their house and they installed a great shower complete with steam. Now the next are in no particular order. The shower after camp up in the UP the summer before eighth grade makes the list. We slept in tents for a week and didn’t have any showers at all. The closest you got was swimming in the lake. Another shower to make the list is the shower after our visit to the rainforest in Peru. Now the showers in the rainforest were not particularly awful (I think they could have been much worse) but the window was about two inches too short for the frame on all sides so there was a big open space which allowed a pretty cold draft in not to mention the possibility that a giant spider could crawl in. Needless to say the super hot shower in the hotel after our stay was great. Rounding out the top five is the shower after white shirt kickball year (year four…so 2003). It was probably 90 degrees the entire weekend, we slept outside in tents and I wore the same shirt for about 48 hours straight…well I think you get it. OK…back to Italy.

I did laundry on Tuesday night when I got home. Now, the instruction book is all in Italian so it was sort of a best guess. On top of that there is a LOT of buttons.

From left to right I will begin to explain what I have come to understand all these buttons mean. The button on the left is for the spin cycle…I think. The highest number is 800 and there also seems to be a no spin and then another picture I have no idea about. The next set of buttons is confusing. The first one I finally figured out you need to press to make the thing go on. The next three I have no idea. I just left the one pressed that she had pressed for me. The next button I think you can see is the temperature. The final button was the wild card. Using my dictionary I figured out that letters A through F were for cotton and G through P are for wool, delicates, etc. Why A got to be the only vowel is not really relevant but it is puzzling. I did the first few loads on the delicate and the temperature all the way cold. Now the third load was all cotton so I switched it and the directions seemed to indicate that I should make it a little warmer…which I did by moving it up to forty degrees. Now when I took the stuff out of the machine I realized that a red sock had an intimate relationship with one of my white tank tops. Good thing that it was a monogamous relationship and the two other white tops were not corrupted by the shenanigans of the red sock. It is actually a pretty color…almost like a delicate pink rose. All in all I would say it was a successful journey!

Wednesday I set out to find a church to get my ashes for Ash Wednesday. There is a church just down the street from our office so I went at six. As soon as I walked in I got in line to get ashes and passed a lot of children packed into pews goofing off as the nuns tried to stop them (I will say that I can’t imagine acting like that in church at St. Francis and we didn’t have nuns although Mrs. McElroy could strike as much fear in you as a nun). After ashes I went into a pew and kneeled to say a few prayers…for the record there was no padding on this kneeler…pure wood baby! The line came to an end and I listened as the priest said a few words (some of them I think were reprimanding the children) and then the congregation (sans me) joined in on some prayers and some signing and then it seemed to be over. A lot of people began to file out so I headed out with them.

Wednesday evening after my Italian lesson (in which I learned furniture) and the weekly studio meeting two of the girls I share an office with, Elena and Veronica (Cristina the third had a last minute dentist appointment and was not able to attend) went to dinner with Natalia. We went to a great little restaurant (although I am starting to think that most restaurants here are little) that had amazing food. I had a sort of cauliflower quiche for my antipasta and large ravioli filled with cooked egg and topped with light oil for my main dish. Of course what meal here in Italy is complete without a glass of red wine!

On Thursday morning when I go to work there was a cloth bag on my desk with a handbag inside! Cristina had bought Elena, Veronica, and I each one. Here is a picture of my hand bag and the piazza on my walk to work.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

All By Myself

I'm a big kid now...well sort of! (I don't remember what commercial that is from but something tells me it is a pull-ups commercial). Today I successfully picked up the keys to my new flat, checked out of my old one, ordered my lunch and my coffee...ALONE! Of course there was English spoken by the first two places but I spoke Italian at the other ones!

I picked up the keys to the new flat and I can't tell you how excited I am. The shower is awesome and I had to use all my will power not to take a one when I moved my stuff in! I checked out of the old place and I can't tell you how excited I am to be in the new place! I had my two huge suitcases, my duffel bag with my ski boots and other miscellaneous stuff, a bag full of foodstuff and a bag with all my shoes. Now my first thought was since I was only moving about half a mile I could just carry it all (for those of you aware of the proximity of my last place in Chicago and my current one it is just a little bit further than those two are away from each other). I decided that since the taxi was five euro for anywhere in the city I would just bite the bullet and pay for it. I check out...oh and on a side note I am so happy I will no longer have to pay twenty euro per person per night for visitors...and realize that the laundry truck has given me about six inches to open the door and get my things out. I understand why he is so close (the street is so narrow it makes Hudson back home look as wide as LSD) to the door but now I am forced to wiggle my suitcases out. The cab arrives and he packs me up and about a minute later we arrive at the new flat. He unloads me and then informs me that it is a three extra euro for my suitcases. Seriously? You just drove me half a mile for five euros! So I pay the money and he unloads my stuff to the curb.

Now of course between my getting all my things into the doorway a bus stops and pretty much unloads people right on top of my stuff. I get everything into the entrance way and into the elevator. I think I have all the numbering system of floors down pat now (zero is the bottom) so I press one. Nothing happens. I figure maybe because I have jammed myself and all my luggage into the lift I am over the weight limit so I put one suitcase outside and press one again...nothing. So I press two and up we go. Of course the door opens on the other side and I have to climb over everything (minus the suitcase I left at the bottom) to get out. Sure enough this is the floor. I unload and go back down to get the other suitcase but this time when I press two I go to the second floor. So then I get back in and press one and arrive where I need to be. Good thing I don't have to take that confusing thing on a regular basis! The new place is beautiful and I'm looking forward to getting everything unpacked for the first time...no I didn't unpack my suitcases for the first three plus weeks!

This is the living room and the bedroom of the new place although it is really one big room as the wall to the bedroom goes up about three quarters and there is not a door between the two.

Everyone had already left for lunch so I went to Noon and ordered my own sandwich and then to get some coffee. It was nice to be able to do things on my own today. Don't worry my bubble was quickly burst when I thought I was doing well enough to go to the post office and get stamps. I pulled a ticket (only two to choose from this time and since one had a letter and one had a euro symbol I was pretty sure my only choices were the post office and the bank so it was pretty easy) and waited in line practicing "how much does it cost for a letter to the US". When my number was called I went up and practiced my speech and of course he was confused. He told me (in Italian) that I should bring the letter to the post office to be weighed and then they would send it. The thought of having to wait in line every time I had to mail a letter didn't sound right...or fun for that matter. I tried to say that I wanted to send a normal or regular letter and he said something about the infamous Tabacchi shops. A kind man understood we were clearly having a communication problem and was able to help me understand that for a regular letter you could buy the stamps at the Tabacchi shop for 85 cents. I decided I was not up for another round of disappointment on my All By Myself Day so I headed back to the office.

UPDATE

I shared my saga at the post office with my coworkers and Elena was kind enough to tell me the post offices are an awful place (which I am well aware of but it was nice to have confirmed). She was also kind enough to look up the stamp prices and both her and Cristina agreed that they were pretty sure the 85 cent stamp did not exist. Armed with the printout from the potse italiane (which showed the 85 cent fee for a letter under 20 grams to zone 2) in hand I set off down the street to the Tabacchi shop all the way practicing in my head "do you sell 85 cent stamps". I arrive, ask for the stamps and lo and behold he says yes, how many (in Italian). Of course I hadn't thought about how many I wanted so I just said ten (in Italian) as it was the first number that came to mind! Jen Lau, I hope this was the happy ending you were looking for!

Weekend Three

Another week has passed! It is crazy to think that I get up everyday and go to work...in Italy!


Saturday morning I walked into the office as I forgot my cell phone charger at work (who is surprised) and then walked around to a few shops on my way home. I took some photos of the wonderful piazzas so I don't forget what they look like. This photo is of Piazza Citta. I usually walk by this one on my way home from Via Roma or sometimes on my walk home from work.

These two pictures of Piazza Castello. The picture on the left is the old Royal Palace of the Savoy family. The picture on the right is Pallazo Madame which is ancient castle.

This is the restaurant where I ate last weekend. Great Piemontese food!

I had a great Saturday with two of my coworkers, Elena and Eliana. Elena called to say we would meet at 3:30 at Cafe Torino in Piazza San Carlo (so much more fun than saying I'll meet you at Millinium Park).

The picture on the left is Piazza San Carlo and the one on the right is Cafe Torino which is a very old and beautiful cafe! The afternoon was filled with shopping (and returning my wonderful bag that the zipper broke on...thank goodness I had my two Italian speaking friends with me) and great conversation.

My friends took me to many different shops that I would never have found on my own. We walked through this sort of arcade which was enclosed and filled with antique shops. In it I saw these mugs which reminded me of some my grandfather use to have and also a little bit of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World.

We had coffee at Gatsby's pictured left. I laugh every time I go by it as we had to read this book in high school and I read the cliff notes and still couldn't tell you what it is about or even who wrote it. We parted ways and I walked back to my flat of course stopping to find those perfect black boots...and yes I finally found them!

On the walk home I saw this pillow and thought of Cork. I do think that yellow labs are the most popular dogs here too as I see them everywhere. Don't worry Cork none are as cute as you (why I think my dog is actually reading this blog is beyond me)!

I met Elena and a few of her friends for dinner at a Mexican restaurant by my house. The food was good as was the sangria. I had some tostadas with mushrooms and cheese that were fantastic. Chiara, Elena's friend, asked for a fork and was told they didn't give them out! We made due and no food went to waste. After dinner we walked over to a Moroccan tea house and I had a very good tea that tasted similar to my favorite tea at Argo back home!

Aperitvo!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts this week although there really has not been anything too exciting to post. I had my first Italian lesson on Wednesday evening and it was both information and frustrating to have a real person talk to me! I must say I feel inclined to write Rosetta Stone and ask them what I am doing wrong as I am two-thirds of the way done with their program and do not feel that I am at all equipped to speak or understand everyday Italian...and I get 90% on almost all the lessons! Michele's niece. Elena, is a student at the university here in Torino and is studying to be a teacher. We had an hour long lesson where we spoke about ourselves and many times when she spoke she asked me to repeat what she had said in Italian in both English and Italian to gauge both comprehension and pronunciation. I look forward to next weeks lesson and plan to spend some time this weekend working on my Italian! I will admit that it is very difficult to sit down and work on Italian when I have been concentrating all day on listening...plus I usually don't get home until after eight!

Also this week I took a taxi for the first time! I thought since I had mastered the public transporation...well maybe mastered is too strong of a word...I might as well try a taxi! I walked out of the store to the piazza and this is what I saw! As I approached the taxis all I could think of was how do I know which one is "first". In Chicago there is a line and it is usually in your best interest to respect that line (I have seen what happens when cab drivers cut each other off and it is not pretty...a story for another time but lets just say it involved threatening and a crow bar). I decided the best idea was just to walk up and ask. A few drivers were standing outside of their cabs talking and when I asked for a cab (in Italian of course) they seemed to know whose turn it was and pointed to one guy so it wasn't a problem at all! I also learned that the fare pretty much anywhere in the "city" is five euro. You really can learn a lot when you try your best to listen!

Friday we had an apertivo after work. It is similar to a happy hour...but is different in the way that it usually begins around 6:00 and lasts until 7:30 or 8:00. It was nice to have a chance to talk to all the people here in the office as almost everyone was able to join us so there were about fifteen people. They served a lot of appetizers, which is common, and I was overjoyed to see some french fries! The appetizers were amazing! There was some small pizzas with either cheese or sausage. There is a great little appetizer called ceci here in Italy. It is made from chickpeas and is sort of like a very thin bread seasoned with pepper but more along the lines of polenta.

This picture has what looks like onion rings but are really potato rings, french fries and then I am not sure what this other dish was called as I was told to just try it. It was basically peppers and potatoes and some seasoning sort of baked together...very good.

This picture shows a dish of olives along with round fried goodness! They were green olives stuffed with some meat and then fried...probably my favorite.

The first picture is Eliana and Michele talking as they arrive. The second picture is me, Raffaella, Anna, and Natalia...in that order.

The first picture here is from back to front Elena, Monica, Cristina and the side of Eliana. The second picture is of the boys...from left to right Enrico, Luigi, Sabino, Massimo, and Sandro.

I hope the pictures help to give you an idea of all the people I frequently mention in my blog!

Many of you have asked for my address for shipping packages and things I miss from America (besides you all of course). Thank you for the kind thoughts but it is very expensive to ship packages here to Torino and even then they may be in customs in Milano for a long time. On Friday the package I sent here as thank you gifts finally arrived...it took over two months! I have received cards here at the office which is wonderful so thank you Mom and the Robbins clan!

Here is the address at the office which is probably the easiest place to send mail:

Tara Hibbard

c/o Studio Manzoni, Pagliero, Vanz e Associati

Via Avogadro 12/A

10121 Torino Italia

Hope everyone is well back in the States!

Public Transportation

So I braved it! Today I decided to finally take public transportation. Now the main reason I have not taken it is because I only live about a mile away from the office and I really enjoy the walk in the morning. This morning I decided that I would try not looking like a dork wearing my non dress shoes to work as I am wearing a skirt and the shoes really stick out (I have a pair of shoes that I got here last time that are black tennis type shoes...more like old school Sperry topsiders then Nikes...so I don't look like a complete idiot wearing my white Nike running shoes to work but still I scream I'm not from here). I go onto Torino's version of the transitchicago and since my internet is awful it takes about five minutes to find that there is a bus stop right by my place. It says to take that 52 or the 60. I walk to the bus stop and although the route planner clearly stated to get on at the Blingy and San Dominico stop I got so excited that the bus was coming that I hopped on. We get to the first stop light and I think, hmmm this street is north of me and I need to go south. The bus makes a turn west and I think maybe it is going to turn south at the next light. I totally dismiss that the route planner showed the bus going directly south and not north and then west and then south. It doesn't and I start to have flash backs of my run...seriously. I begin to recognize a lot of the things I was running past (when I was lost) and think wow at least I know where I am now. I go for a long stretch and soon realize that I am too far west. I decide to exit the bus and look at the map. Sure enough I am going the opposite direction. No big deal I cross the street and wait for the bus going the direction I need. Good thing the bus tickets have two rides within seventy minutes!

Weekend Number Two

It was another beautiful weekend here in Torino. The weather is still in the forties. It has been clear the past week and the views of the Alps still amaze me. There really is nothing like seeing the white mountain tops whenever you look west (it is important to know that the Alps are to your west as the first week I didn't know that and it made things VERY confusing!). Saturday Rafaella, a coworker, picked me up to go shopping on the southern end of Torino where Eataly (which I walked to last Sunday) is located. It was nice to go shopping with someone who could tell me about the products in the store. Although I have to say the names of meats and cheeses do not translate very well so it is bit difficult. Raffaella does an amazing job of describing the flavor so that was helpful. There are five or so restaurnts in the store and we sat down to lunch at the counter of the pizza and pasta restaurant. In the middle of our meal a mother and her two young children (I would guess five and two) sat down next to us. As the pizza came the mother was cutting the young boys pizza and the older daughter was waiting patiently. I could tell that they were speaking Spanish and I asked the daughter if she would like help. She of course said yes and the mother told her (in English) to thank me. She must have known I was not Italian nor Spanish! I asked the little girl where she was from and she said the United States. I asked where and she said Michigan. I told her I was from Chicago and her eyes lit up...I think she too was happy to have someone else from America around! I finished helping her with her pizza and Raffaella and I finished our meal so that the mother could sit down with her children. She was very thankful for the help and thank me profusely...in Spanish! It is amazing how much Spanish has come back to me from being here!

http://www.eataly.it/

We went across the street to a shopping mall which was built from an old FIAT plant. In the middle is beautiful atrium and there are offices and a hotel on the floors above the mall (the mall occupies the first two floors). There is a very cool ramp that connects the first two floors that used to be part of a track for FIAT cars. There is also a grocery store that is similar to a Dominicks where I was able to purchase some laundry detergent...actually doing laundry will be a different story! Oh and of course the cap wasn't on the detergent tightly and it leaked all over my coat as I was carrying it! Oh well at least it smells good!

I will point out that bottled water here in Italy is very cheap...it costs around 40 euro cents for 1.5 liters (about three times the size of a normal bottle of water in the US) in a grocery store.

I walked around the city on Saturday afternoon to observe the "free day" they were having. There were lots of performances (musical, art, dancing, etc.) in many of the piazzas which were fun to watch. I met Silvia, another coworker, for a traditional Piemontese dinner. The food from the region of Piemonte is different then what we think in Chicago as Italian food. They do not use much red sauce here, they eat many filled pastas like "agnolotti" which is a pasta made with eggs stuffed with beef, pork or rabbit and flavored with sausage, parmesan cheese, eggs and herbs. We actually went to a restaurant on Saturday called Agnolotti and Friends and of course I had agnolotti. Silvia spent twelve years in Brussels so she speaks English very well and also Italian, French and Dutch.

Sunday was a day filled with relaxing, reading and working on my Italian!

One Crazy Week

As you know from my earlier post I had a pretty crazy time with the visa earlier in the week. I must admit I thought it could not get any more crazy...but of course I was wrong!

Wednesday after work I went to try and get the cell phone I had purchased for making calls here in Italy set up. I had worked with Raffaella to pick out the best plan and we went to the store. Of course when it came time to set everything up I realized I had left my passport back at the office (I know none of you are surprised). I ran back to the office and Raffaella went home as the shopowner spoke enough English to get me through the rest. We get through all the information and I go to pay. My card won't work. We try another one. It won't work again. He then realizes I do not have an Italian credit card and I need one to purchase the plan. I leave...again deflated.

Thursday morning I go to purchase Season Two of How I Met Your Mother from iTunes. There are no English stations in this flat and due to copyright laws I can not watch any TV shows online. My credit card got declined which I thought was weird. So of course I just enter in my other one. Later on that afternoon I go to check my bank account and notice that my credit card (the one that got declined on iTunes is through my bank) has a fraud alert on it. I click to "see more". I am asked a series of questions to verify my identity and I am then asked if I currently have the credit card in question in my poessession. Yes. Have you let anyone else borrow it. No. Has the card been out of your poessesion. No. Then a list of charges for the last week comes up. Now this card charges me 3% on foreign purchases so the last time I used it was the day I left the US. There are about 25 charges on the card totalling over $3,000. I am asked if I made these charges. Now most of the charges of been declined (it looks like only about $300 went through). There are a few charges to Best Buy for a total of about $1,000. There are a few charges to Fry Electronics for about $1,000. A bunch of hundred dollar or so charges to Fossill, The Body Shop and other random places. The best though are the dozen or so $59 charges to eHarmony. I mean is this person opening more than one account? If so that is kind of weird. So I check all the charges I didn't make and proceed through the rest of the questions. I am a little concerend as I can not see any charges before the seventh and I have not uesd it since the 31st. I call the number on the back of the card and after I speak with a few people I get transferred to the fraud department. I explain to the woman that I am out of the country and want to see the other charges before the seventh. She explains that there are no charges between the 31st and the 7th. Phew I think. Then I ask how the purchases were made, online or in store. She looks and says all but the Fry Electronics were made online. I tell her I still have the only card in my possesion and ask how they can make an instore purchase without the card. She explains that they just need a card with a magnetic stripe and most likely just put my information onto it. I don't understand that but whatever. I explain that my main concern is understanding how they got the information and she indicated at some point they probably made a copy of my card. I have NO idea how this could happen but oh well. I check my other two credit cards and my debit card and nothing is out of the ordinary. I take a deep breath and just laugh. I mean how does this stuff just keep happening! Oh, and if I were the fraud department at MBNA I would go check the shipping address of the orders they tried to place and go knock on their door!

Oh and on another note there is something else that is slippery besides wet marble...new dress shoes! I about bit it when I got up from my desk after putting them on after I got to work. Graceful...just like my dad always said!

Friday I woke up and had a clear view of the Alps! I knew it was going to be a wonderful day! Here are some pictures of my walk to work:

The first is where the street our office is on (via Avogadro) meets with via Cernaia. The second is a picture of a random lamp post. I thought it was ornate so I snapped a picture. The third is a picture of a guy handing out what I imagine to be Torino's version of the RedEye but since I can't read it I have no idea the actual contents. The fourth is a view walking west on via Garibaldi.

Another bright spot in the day was walking back from activating my phone (instead of getting a monthly plan I am prepaying as I can do that with cash) and seeing Mini Cork again. I seriously am considering getting a shampoo there so I can hang out with the dog. As I approached I though wow that looks like she is chewing on a bathrug...and she was! Some of you may not know but Cork went through a couple beds when she was in her kennel so I switched to towels, bathrugs and blankets. She shredded every last one.

The best part of the day was when the flowers from my dad arrived! Every Valentine's Day since we have been freshmen in college my dad has sent my sister and I flowers...no matter where we are. They are always amazing! Thanks Dad!

After I got back from activating my phone I sent an email to people I work with letting them know "I have an Italian phone number". Well, in Italian there are two verbs that are used a lot avere (to have) and essere (to be). They are similar to the Spanish ser and estar. I confused the two and actually wrote "I am an Italian phone number." My days are just full of laughter!

Protocols and Such

Besides not understanding the language I also am clueless as to many "protocols" here in Torino. Here are a few things that probably scream "I'm not from here":

• Are you allowed to cross against the light? I don't know the answer to this. I mean some cities are pretty strict. People seem to cross against the light but not always. I don't know what the right answer is but usually I just do what my dad always tells me to do and I "keep up with the flow of traffic".
• Are you allowed to cross outside of the crosswalk? Refer to the previous example.
• I was in a shoe store last weekend and the shoe boxes were all out for what I assumed was for you to take. When I took the size of the shoe I wanted the woman came up to me and started taking the shoe out of the box for me. Now she was saying something to me but of course I had no idea so I was not sure if I was doing something wrong or if she was just being helpful.
• Last weekend I received a phone call from the reception and she was saying something about pulling the door closed (she was speaking English) when I leave...or so I thought. So I began making sure the door was closed. Monday morning I am walking out the door (which I have to put my key in to get out) and Paolo begins speaking very rapidly to me in Italian. He explains to me (I got most of the meaning through his actions) by taking the key out of my hand and shaking his head no. He pushes a button on the wall and magically the door opens! Then of course he goes outside and shows me that I have been wrongly putting my key in the door to open it and instead I should be putting it in the key slot on the wall. How was I supposed to know?

For now those are all the things I can think of but I'm sure I'll come up with more!

Constant State of Confusion

As you may remember from a post awhile back I have been in a state of confusion over how to obtain a visa. It was brought to my attention that I do not need a visa to stay less than 90 days (which works out perfectly these first three months as I have to return to attend Stacey and Ian's wedding). I was told that in order to go back I will need to obtain a visa. To obtain the visa I was told I needed to obtain "paperwork" from Italy authorizing me to stay here. When I arrived I worked with Raffaella and we thought the "paperwork" I would need to obtain would be the permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay), which you must apply for within eight days of arriving in Italy. I spoke with Raffaella and she indicated I should go to the post office on Monday to obtain the paperwork.

I went to the closest post office after lunch and waited in line and they told me I had to go to a different post office. I went to the post office the woman told me to go to and when you arrive there is a machine where you press a button to obtain a ticket. Now there are at least five buttons which you can press as the post office also functions as a bank and I am not even sure what else. I see the AMICO symbol (which literally translated means friend) and I push that button. I wait in line for about an hour before I have to return to the office for a conference call but my number is not called. I arrive at the post office before it opens on Tuesday morning and wait on the steps. As Erich Parker says "people don't respect the que" so I get ready for some shoving when the doors open. The doors open and it is like the start of Country Thunder (except without the lawn chairs and cowboy hats). People are shoving their way to the machine. I hold my ground and get a ticket and only have to wait about thirty minutes before my number is called. I pick up the packet I need to fill out and return to the office. I completed the packet and reviewed it with Raffaella. There were some questions that we had but she was unable to find any answers online or by phone. We decided that since time was running out (Tuesday was my seventh day) I should try to turn in the kit and see what happens.

First, I have to go to the Tabacchi shop to obtain a stamp that is needed for the kit (by the way the Tabacchi shops sell just about everything...stamps, subway tickets, actual tobacco). I muster up enough Italian to get the stamp. I arrive at the post office and pull the ticket for the AMICO but I also need one for another "bill" I have to pay to file the kit. Monica and Raffaella told me to chose the button with the Euro sign...problem is there are three buttons with the Euro sign. I pull them all and hope for the best. Now the post office is sort of like the DMV. A bunch of stations where numbers light up and you find the station where your number is. You have to be on alert as you have about ten seconds (depending on the attendant) to arrive at the station before they call the next number...which of course happened to me. After about thirty minutes they call one of the numbers I am holding for the Euro station. I grab my stuff and dash over but of course they have switched numbers. I was lucky in that the person who had the next number had not arrived so I was able to have my spot. I have no idea if I was at the right station for what I needed but he allowed me to purchase the ticket. I then went back to wait for the AMICO and to turn in my kit. Finally after a LONG time (and another mad dash in which the next number was already called...seriously it was like five seconds) I try to hand in my packet. Of course they tell me that I need to go somewhere else and obtain something else in order to hand it in. As she is talking to me I pick up a few words and ask her to write down what I need. I return to the office and work with Raffaella to try and understand what they are asking. The woman has written down and address where I need to go so we decide that I will go Wednesday morning as it is only open from 0900 to 1130.

I arrive at 0830 on Wednesday morning and wait. There are a bunch of different lines and corrals and then there are people just walking in. Of course I have no idea what is happening. At about 0910 a man comes out and opens the doors and starts calling names. I am so confused. I think he sees the look of pure confusion on my face and comes over to help me. He tells me I have to go to another place and obtain a form, fill it out and return. He tells me they will help me fill out the form. I go to the next location I am directed to and take a number (it is about 0930). The woman at the desk tells me that I can not apply for the permesso di soggiorno without a visa. I am so confused as I thought that I needed the permesso di soggiorno to obtain the visa. She realizes that we are not understanding each other so I indicate I will return with someone who speaks Italian.

I return to the office after feeling very defeated (kind of like losing a game on the last shot or when the other team comes from behind and wins in the bottom of the last inning). I ask Enrico if he would be able to help me and he is not busy so I'm very happy. We look at the information and he is confused as to fill out the form that I have been told I need so we decide to go back to the last place and ask for help. I tell him I will go there and I will call him when it is almost my turn. I return at 1030 and they are still six numbers away from the one I pulled at 0930. I try to call Enrico and since I have no idea how to make an international call I get a woman who tells me (in Italian) what I can only assume is "We are sorry but your call can not be completed as dial. Please hang up and try your call again". I compose an email to Enrico and of course I have no service so I have to go outside and restart my phone. Enrico arrives about an hour later (I told him it would be awhile) and we wait. The place closes at 1200 (and does not open in the afternoon) and at 1159 I begin to get worried as I am still two numbers away. Enrico reads the sign and it says "taking a number does not guarantee that you will be seen if times expires". Wonderful. At 1210 a woman calls the number before mine and recognizes me from the failed exchange this morning. She and Enrico speak and he is told the same thing...I need a visa to apply for the permesso di soggiorno. She is very kind and helps us by telling us that we need to apply for a different permit and prints out some information (sorry to the boys from Peru whose number was before mine) for us. We return to the office at 1230.

Four hours and limited progress! This process is exhausting! It sounds like I am allowed to be here until I leave for Stacey's wedding. We are going to work on obtaining the right documentation that I will then bring back to the Italian Consulate in Chicago to obtain my visa for the second part of my stay!

Eataly!

Sunday I decided it was a good idea to get out of the house since it was a beautiful day (in the mid forties) full of sunshine and an amazing view of the Alps! I had heard (thanks to my sister) about this store (Eataly) that is supposed to be like a Whole Foods over here. I looked on google maps and got directions. It was about a four mile walk but I figured I could use the exercise! As I am walking through random neighborhoods I am thinking to myself, should I be walking here? I mean if you would ask google for directios from my house to the Dominick's they would take you through the ghetto. It isn't like there is a button that you can press that says "safe neighborhoods only" like there is for "scenic route". I decided to stay on the busy streets (which was actually pretty easy). On my way I bought two GTT (Torino's CTA) from the corner newsstand (as that is the only thing open on Sunday) thinking that on my way home I would take public transportation.
I made it there without a hitch (good thing my sense of direction is back). Wait there was one. I thought I could stop and get something to eat on they way there. For breakfast I had the remaining five mozzerala balls and by the time I started walking it was around two o'clock so I was pretty hungry. I kept passing store after store that advertised Kebob's with what looked like a picture of a gyro with a cherry on top (which kind of creeped me out until I later realized...after about the fifteenth sign...that it was a tomato). At about mile three I was starving...I mean light headed starving. Then like a mirage in the desert I see a vending machine. I purchased some crackers and my health was restored!
There was a farmer's market in the big open area out front and the store was pretty cool. It is very similar to whole foods with a lot of fresh meats, seafood and cheeses. Since I don't have anything but a hot plate I was limited in my purchases. Oh and since I don't understand a ton of Italian that also limited my purchases!
On my walk to the store I realized that I could have taken a different, faster route (later I did realize I had chosen the driving option not walking on google...which makes a huge difference with the amount of one way streets in this town). I took the faster route home and since I didn't take that route there I wasn't familiar with what bus to take (I watched on the way there to see which ones were the best options). Also, this route was not as busy so there were not as many busses/trams...espeically on Sunday. Finally, I got to the place where I can take the bus/tram and waited a little while. Now I am only about three quarters of a mile from home but after a total of over six miles walking and the last few carrying a sack full of groceries I needed to take that rest. I boarded the number four tram that was packed and didn't know what to do. The sign said to put your ticket in before the first stop so I push through the crowd (with a giant back of groceries) and get to the ticket machine. I try to put my ticket in and of course it doesn't work and a man mentioned something in Italian. Luckily last week I learned the word for broken so I knew what he meant. No one else getting on at the next stop seemed to even try the machine (and since I don't know the portocol I wasn't sure what to make of this). I got off at the third stop trying not to look all guilty for having gotten a free ride and was able to escape without being sent to an Italian prison!

First visitors!

Friday night my college roommate and her husband came down from Germany to visit. Schankey is on a project in Bonn, Germany and her husband Chad was visiting her and they decided to come down for the weekend. The drive is about eight hours but of course Schankey and Chad took the scenic route (on accident) and it took them a little over ten...oh and along the way they cheated death on a one lane road through the Swiss Alps. Apparently there are also some fees for crossing the boarder (both Switzerland and Italy) and just FYI Switzerland is not on the Euro and they will accept Euros at the boarder but they will give you Swiss Francs back! I hope Schankey and Chad found some way to use them on the way home!

They met me at the office (as that is easier to get to) and it was so odd to see them standing across the street (one because they were in a Benz and two because they were in Italy)! I was very excited to have them here! After a crazy driving experience to the parking garage, I still am unclear on why cars use the same lane that the trams drive on, we settled in and got ready to go to dinner. We went out to a place on the corner by my apartment that a coworker recommended. The food was very good and of course so was the wine. We decided to walk around a bit and take in the area and the first place we stumbled upon was like the Wando's of Italy! We walked in and people were using straws to drink out of giant fishbowls! We decided not to stay too long and began walking again!

We found a cute little place and went in. Using our best Italian we asked the waiter what wine he recommended and he asked if we would like to hear the recommendations in English. Of course we said yes! He recommended a couple of locally made wines and we chose one and he offered to show us the cellar where all the wines are held. It was pretty cool to see all the wines in the cellar! As you can see from the picture dinner was not enough for Chad and he asked the waiter if they had any cheese. I am not kidding those are the actual words that he used! Of course our waiter said yes and we chose the small meat and cheese platter. All the cheeses and meats were very good (unless you are like Schankey who doesn't like any cheese that is "brie like").

The next day we walked around the city a bit. It was cold and a little rainy but I got to show them the shopping district of Via Roma (Torino's Michigan Avenue), Piazza San Carlo, and many other beautiful piazza's (there are a lot here!). We also went shopping along Via Garibaldi and sadly Schankey didn't find any Italian shoes to her liking. We went back to the apartment to regroup before dinner. Schankey and Chad wanted to try some pizza and I tried to remember where Natalia had taking me for pizza when I was here in November but I just couldn't. No one here carries a blackberry (when they leave work they leave work...although they don't leave the office until after seven!) we decided to wing it. We ended up at a very good pizza place but of course it is always a gamble when you order. We were able to make out most of the toppings on each pizza but there were always one or two things we were unsure about. Thankfully I have learned something from my Rosetta Stone and steered Schankey away from the pizza with egg...although I did want her to order the Mario Brothers pizza even though I had no idea what was on it. After dinner we stopped and got some gelato! All in all it was a great trip!

Side Note...why did Mario get the games named after him? Why is it Mario Brothers and not Mario and Luigi or the Giovanni Brothers? I mean what is their last name? Is it Mario? Is it Mario Mario and Luigi Mario? If not it doesn't make any sense as to why the game is called Mario Brothers.

Internal GPS for Torino Needed

So this morning it was in the low forties so I decided to go running. I looked at the map and wrote down on an index card where I wanted to go (I wanted to run by three apartments that I wanted to possibly rent (as you can tell from my blog I am not happy with my current space). I got to the area I was going to head south and decided I didn’t want to run the route I had planned as it was longer than expected and I have not been running for a really long time. I thought I could figure it out but then I got lost. I mean LOST. For those of you know that know me well you know that this was a crisis for me...The Human Map.

I crossed the Po River (or what I thought was the Po) and was so confused as I didn’t think I should be crossing it. And for the record I only crossed it once (I think) so I have NO idea how that happened or how I got home. I asked directions to a woman…didn’t understand a word. I kept walking. Then I asked another person and he told me to go right and then right but it was a dead end so I just kept walking. Then I though..wait I have a garmin watch…I put it on the compass then realized I didn’t even know what direction I needed to be going even if I knew what direction I was currently headed in. I asked directions from third person and understood what she meant except she told me to go left and pointed right (all in Italian of course but I made sure I learned my directions before I got here!). I followed the directions to the piazza and finally recognized where I was. Like always I just happened to be on the right road! All told 3.88 miles!

The studio is starting English lessons (taught by a British woman who has lived in Italy for 29 years) for all of its employees. There are five groups of one to four people in each group. I went to the lesson with my officemates Veronica and Elena and another colleague Massimo. We went over basic verb tenses. Did anyone know there are twelve forms of active verbs? I sure didn't. The teacher did mention that the Americans do not use the verb tenses properly and I tend to agree. I mean I rarely use the phrase "I will have been writing" when I speak. My three classmates were very concerned (two of which speak english pretty good) about all these tenses. I told them I only used four! That made them feel much better!

In other news the apartment search is going well...I think. I found a couple places online a couple days ago and emailed for information. Last night I received an email back and wanted to view two of the ones that were available. Elena called the agency for me and they said they were not available to view in person that all the pictures were online. This concerned Elena and Sandro (the computer expert who is helping set up the computer for the girl who will be starting on Monday and sharing our office). Sandro made a few calls and was able to set up an appointment for me tomorrow afternoon to view it. Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh and before anyone asks I did not find my salad today. I was all set to get it at the usual place (the Torino Goodwin's) but they had penne arrabbiata for the special and it is my favorite so of course I got that! For dinner I made tortellini with artichokes in arrabbiata sauce. I use the term "made" loosley as it was pasta from the package and sauce from a jar. Still it tastes better than it does at home!

Noelle I think I found the pharmacy school here and there was a news segment this morning on Chinese pharmacy students. I have no idea what they story was b/c I couldn't understand Italian so all I got was Chinese students coming to study in Torino!

How Much is that Doggie in the Window...

Think back to the very first training session you were ever in. All you Andersen people think of that very first Sub C meeting. Everyone else imagine that first meeting where you had no idea what was going on, the subject matter was way over your head, you tried to stay awake because you could not follow along, you thought there was no way you would ever know as much as the person presenting and you thought for sure you had picked the wrong career. Are you back there? Now pretend the meeting starts at six o'clock at night and it is in a foreign language! That is how I wrapped up my day today. Every week the studio has a meeting to discuss recent topics, issues, and clients. It seems (as this is only the first week) that these meetings begin at six and typically last two and a half to three hours. Can you imagine the head of an American company calling a meeting every week at six?

Other than that the day was relatively uneventful....oh wait I have a good dinner story that may make you chuckle. I have been craving a salad for the past two nights. Last night I got home around eight and walked and walked but was not able to find a shop that looked like it had salads that I was willing to venture into. I ended up at No Solo Pizza. I acutally walked by my place twice and the second time Paolo unlocked the door for me...he probably thought I was ready to come in since I had been out for a half an hour and already walked by the place once. On a side note, I still have not figured out what Paolo's hours work. He was here on Sunday when I got here, he is here at seven in the morning and also at nine at night. Maybe he lives here! Last night I ended up ordering what I would describe as a soft and small calzone. I noticed they had salate (I think that is how it is spelled) on the menu so I decided to go there tonight (oh and also b/c they had crepes with Nutella). I asked for a salate (which said it had prosciutto and mozzarella) and a crepe. For the record salate is like a crepe...not a salad. Either way it was amazing (Dad you would have LOVED it...ham and cheese wrapped in a crepe) as was the Nutella crepe. Tomorrow...I will find that salad. Which if you are wondering is insalata...which I knew but just thought maybe it was spelled differently at this place!

Oh I forgot the best part of the day...seeing a little Cork in a window as I was walking (don't worry not for sale she was in a bed in a beauty shop window). Don't worry Cork she was not as cute as you!

Fon (Hairdryer)

Today was a beautiful day! I woke up this morning and looked out the windows and there were the Alps. I could not believe how beautiful they were! I got ready for work using the short bathtub again (don't worry I am working on changing that) and began my walk. It is a pretty easy walk, maybe a mile or so down tiny little streets...exactly how most people imagine Italian streets. I stopped outside a Tabacci (small shop...sort of like a 7-11 but they are not open from 7-11) on the way to get a birthday card for one of the girls (Elena) I am sharing an office with. I wasn't sure what all the different cards meant (which were Hallmark by the way) so I went with the one that said 24 since that is how old she is. As I was walking down the street I noticed a little shop that looked like a cupcake place but alas it was not.


I have been informed by my colleagues that there are not really any cupcakes in Italy. That is fine as I am going to get fat enough eating all the pizza and pasta. As I was walking to work I noticed how everyone seemed to be out enjoying the day. No one really walks that fast (even though I am sure some are going to work) and just seems to be chatting with whoever they were walking with. It was great.


My goal for today was to get a hairdryer. I had mapped out the supermarket that Raffaella told me I should go to as they would have it. I decided to go at lunch but as I was about to leave Luigi and Silvia came in and asked Veronica (my non-birthday officemate) if we wanted to go to lunch. We went back to the place that we went yesterday. You can't beat it...today my pizza and my bottled water (it also includes coffee but I have been informed it is not good) were 6.70 euro...and we had a waiter...no tip no tax. The price that you see on the menu is the price you pay! I think this is going to be my Goodwin's di Italia!

I mentioned at lunch that I was going to try my hand at public transportation to go get a hair dryer (yesterday I looked like a wet rat so today I pulled it into a ponytail). Of course I know the name for hair dryer is Fon and that is because yesterday I demonstrated the action to Elena. My lunch partners thought there might be a shop close by that would sell them so after lunch we went by. When we got there I felt awful as that was the same shop I tried last night. On the way back we stopped for coffee. I am still not sure how you decide which coffee shop you go to. We have gone to two different ones but I wonder if that is because we did not go straight back to the office like yesterday. I mean there are more cafes in Torino then Starbucks in Chicago! After lunch we discussed with Elena that we still were having a hard time finding the hair dryer and Veronica said she might know of another place and that shew would take me when she was finished with something which would be around 4:15. I understood most of the conversation. Veronica understands a lot of English but does not speak it often. Elena understands and speaks English. So you can imagine that on the walk to get the hair dryer it was a very interesting conversation. I learned the words for crosswalk, store, motorcycle and ATM. It was fun trying to have a conversation with the limited words I knew (now imagine me describing a hair straightener...I know hair and I know the directional word for straight so we got there).

Other items of note today (and things I forgot to tell from yesterday):

• I learned the names for all the fingers and toes (ring finger, pinkie, big toe, etc.)
• I learned that as hard as left and right is in English it is even harder in Italian because they are not able to do the cool trick where you but your index and thumb out to form the letter L so that you know that is left. Left in Italian is sinistra.
• Copy machines in Italia are harder to work than the ones in America (I didn't think that was possible). Also, they use a different size paper over here. A4 which I am pretty sure is a type of paper at PaperSource.
• I have my own entry page in the cafe log downstairs. As the company I work with shares an office with another professional services firm you keep a log and then pay what I imagine to be the vending company at the end of the month. Every time you have a cafe you check a box.

Workwise I was actually able to help Elena out with some research she was doing related to tax sharing agreements. Tomorrow we have a meeting on the Italian economic stimulus package. I downloaded a program (thanks Sabina) that translates text for you so I have a roughly translated version of it to read tomorrow morning!

Segundo Giorno

The bathroom...

Oh what a day! I woke up early to see if I could change flats when reception opened at 0700. After a very one sided conversation with Paolo I gathered that someone who could help me would arrive at 0900. I emailed Raffaella at the office to let her know I would be arriving around 0930. I did my best to try and communicate in all Italian (good thing I had my dictionary next to me) and thought I did pretty well. I turned the water on in the shower and waited and waited for it to get warm but alas it did not. I decided it was best to wait and ask reception as taking a cold shower was not really an option. I checked my blackberry and received a reply from Raffaella…I must have gotten my point about being late across as she replied in all Italian. Again, thankfully I had my dictionary with me as there were a couple words I didn’t know but I am pretty sure I got the jist. I watched a couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Hope and Faith as I waited for 0900 to come around. It is very odd to be in a situation where you do not understand anything that is going on. Every television station is in Italian at my flat except for the occasional MTV video. I actually sat and watched the video for that stupid new Katy Parry song just because I needed to hear some English! Oh and if any one every watched Hope and Faith can someone let me know if Robert Wagner (who I think is Hope and Faith’s father) is the father of Jenny McCarthy’s baby on the show. I am not really sure what happened but now I feel the need to know!

At 0900 I went down and asked the girl if I could change flats and she said she would check and let me know. I also told her I had no hot water and she said she would send someone up soon. I went back upstairs to find an instant message from my friend Carter who many of you know is living in Hong Kong. I mentioned not having hot water and she asked if I turned on the hot water heater as that is what she had to do when she lived in Spain. Of course I was unaware that I had to turn on the hot water heater but noticed that there was a switch next to the bathroom lights that I was not sure what it did…Eureka it turned on the hot water heater. Grazie Carter! The picture is of the water heater I had to turn on with the lightswtich that is outside of the bathroom while the hot water heater is in the kitchen. Now I just had to wait for it to warm up. I decided to go in search of a farmicia in order to buy shampoo and conditioner (as mine is currently sitting on the kitchen counter in Chicago). Good thing one is located right around the corner and I fumbled my way through buying some but think I have conditioner for color treated blond hair. Oh well it is better then the alternative which was to use shower gel! Taking a shower while kneeling is pretty uncomfortable and very cold as you have no way to get your whole body under the shower head as there is no shower head just the hand held one and your arm gets pretty tired holding it above your head. After the quick shower I got dressed and got ready to head into the office. As I do not have a hair dryer yet and already felt like I was running super late I dried my hair as best as I could with a towel…which was not that well.
I got to the office in about twenty minutes. It is snowing a little here but melting as it hits the ground. You know what is super slick when it gets wet…marble! I few of the sidewalks here are marble and my balance was tested trying to walk on it. I can report there were no wipeouts on the walk here! I found the office and was quickly welcomed by everyone. Raffaella took me around and reintroduced me to everyone and it seems that people are excited to have me here…of course I am not completely sure as most of them were speaking in Italian…man do I need to get on that Rosetta Stone.

I share an office with two other girls Veronica and Elena. They are both very nice and it is very good to listen to them speak Italian all day. We went to lunch and surprise surprise I had pasta! It was perfect. Everybody pretty much speaks Italian which will help me learn it more quickly but is also exhausting as I spend so much time concentrating.
On the way home from work I stopped at the grocery store and got a few things and failed in my search for a hair dryer. I was going to go to the large grocery store but it was getting late nad I wanted to put some quality Rosetta Stone tieme in tonight. I did learn how to use the Torino version of Trip Planner on transitchicago...and I am making myself use the Italian version!

Apparently there are no bowls in the apartment so I ate my cereal from a pot…whatever works right! I thought you guys would get a kick out of the improvisation.

Dinner...

Nevica!

That is what the woman in front of me said as we got off the plane in Torino. Good thing I have gotten to the lesson in Rosetta Stone that deals with weather and I know that means...It's snowing!


Let the adventure begin! The first leg of the adventure began as I rode to the airport in the back of a van with no seats! Good thing I had a bag of Cork’s dog food back there to serve as my seat. Those of you familiar with the workings of a small vending company will understand why the van has no seats...and some people (Seitz and Jen Lau) have even been lucky enough to ride in one! I got on my flight without a hitch (unless you count having to pay for overweight bags). Eight or so hours later I landed in Frankfurt. The size of that airport boggles my mind. Again I had to switch terminals and board a bus that took me to the plane. The crazy part is that it is not as if I rode a prop plane or anything…it was a six across plane but there must not be enough space to have them at gate. There must have been twenty planes lined up to board. After an hour or so flight I landed in Torino to snow!

As my body was under the assumption it was about three AM I took a nap for a few hours after getting in. After my nap I decided that I would walk to the office to make sure I knew how to get there in the morning. After a round about way of getting there and back I felt comfortable I would be able to get there the next morning and stopped to get something to eat. There are really no stores open on Sundays here in Italy and only a few restaurants. Luckily La Tortuga at the end of my street was open and I stopped in and purchased some sausage (I would say Italian sausage but I’m pretty sure you all could figure out what kind it is) with polenta and a piece of pizza. The woman asked if I wanted it heated up and I said no I would heat it up at my flat. Of course I forgot that I didn’t have a microwave so I had to use the hot plates. I put the sausage and the polenta in a pan and then used a frying pan to warm the pizza. I could only get the bottom of the pizza hot so I just flipped it over and put the cheese side down for a few seconds…flash frying it if you will. I sat down and ate it while of course I was burning the sausage. I am not sure what the burner strength as it does not seem to say Lo, Med, Hi. The food was still good but now I had to decide how to clean the pan as the water did not seem to get hot and I have no dish soap yet so I improvised and used the shower gel that I have with a pan full of luke warm water.

After the semi-failed cooking experiment I sat down to study my Italian. I worked for the next three hours making flash cards and completing another unit of Rosetta Stone. Tomorrow I hope to change apartments as I can not stand up in the bath tub to take a shower.