SURVIVING IN ITALY

FRIDAY AUGUST 13, 2004

Back in July we started to see posters advertising a concert by Gloria Gaynor. The only thing I remember her for is "I Will Survive"...a great song at the time. I guess it's still a good song today...a bit dated, and maybe used more for specific situations. Anyway, we never were sure where the concert would be held, but on the day of the concert we happened to be in Marsciano. There, in the parking lot of the Mercato Centrale, the small mall that houses the Coop and several other stores, was a stage and rows and rows of folding chairs! Along the small road leading to the parking lot were booths selling all kinds of stuff. One of the booths had some really beautiful art glass, and I wondered who would buy a large piece of art glass before the concert. Where would you put it? Even if you bought a small piece that fit under your seat, wouldn't the chances of it getting broken be pretty good? I guess I'm the only one who thinks about these things. We didn't go back for the concert, so I don't have any idea what Gloria sounds like these days.

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We forgot to go outside last night to watch for shooting stars, but will be sure to look tonight. The only time I ever saw a shooting star was several years ago when there was a meteorite shower. We stayed up late and drove out towards Shelbyville then turned down a country road and pulled over to the side with lots of other people. We carried our blankets to an open field and laid down to watch the show.

Art couldn't believe that I had never seen a shooting star, but I guess when you grow up in the city you just don't get many opportunities. Now that we're here, the opportunities are endless, and I intend to take advantage of them!

This weekend is the 30 hour marathon gathering at the park outside of Ospedaletto for star gazing. The moon is dark on Monday, so it will be very nearly dark this weekend.

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We had our English friends, Hazel and Adrian over for lunch yesterday. They bought a house in Ospedaletto and we met them last spring in Ternana's. For now they'll be in Italy from April until September. In September they'll return to their home in Oxford and will take groups of schoolboys to Normandy. Adrian is fluent in French, and worked for this school after he retired from the RAF.

His life has been very interesting...his father was an ambassador. He lived in Venice as a child (right ON the Grand Canal!) and has also lived in the Belgian Congo, Thailand, San Francisco, Switzerland, France, and who knows where else. I'm sure his years in the RAF took him to a few additional places. Hazel just retired from the BBC, and I'm anxious to talk with her about that.

We had a nice long with some typical Italian foods...prosciutto with melon, Panzanella (tomato bread salad) and white beans baked with olive oil and a little pancetta. After lunch we talked about our lives in Italy, and some of the common problems we've had. Their kitchen has just been installed, and they're still waiting for the gas and water to be connected. So far they've been cooking on two burners, no oven. We hope to see more of Hazel and Adrian as time goes on.

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Those of you who have seen Italian television know how awful it can be. They have lots of game shows that don't make any sense to us, and every show features scores of scantily clad young girls, just for show. Sex, or sex appeal, is used as an advertising tool to the nth degree.

While paging through a real estate magazine the other day, I came across this ad for a bank or mortgage company. The gist of the ad is that this woman is so happy because she just got a really good interest rate, but the way it's presented is rather interesting....I think you'll be able to translate the Italian......