I’m going to Lecce (in Puglia) a week from Monday.  Just to hang out, relax, maybe get some work done, dance some tango, and not be in Umbria or Tuscany (meaning, I need a change of scenery!).  Maybe I’ll travel.  Maybe I won’t.

These past few weeks have been full of serious reflection.  Not just connected to the fact that I’m settling in here in Italy, but also out of a desire to take care of my heart and make sure I’m happy from the inside.

I may not be responsible for how other people act or think or feel, but I AM responsible for my own actions/thoughts/feelings, and for the situations I choose to be in.  In fact, on the train from Florence the other week, it hit me that if I’m the one who is responsible for my happiness (and nobody else is), I can just decide to be happy!  Not that I wasn’t before, because I am a generally happy person.  But it’s a powerful realization.  And so I decided, on that train, to just be happy – consciously.  This has led to further reflection and further examination of my patterns in life.  Approaching these things from a positive viewpoint (as opposed to the common idea that we have to do all these things BEFORE being happy) has been very interesting and productive!  I feel refreshed and excited to move forward in life.  It’s kind of cool how the mind works.

So, I’m topping all of this off with a visit to a city that fascinates me.  I wish I had a better camera, but I’ll do my best with what I’ve got!

The other day I paid a visit to a lovely city called Florence, a city I have always loved.  I needed a little trip outside of Perugia, and I needed some time with American girlfriends.

I bought purple gloves, stood in front of the Duomo eating ice cream, had a great aperitivo with Georgette and friends, and stayed with the lovely Katie.  Saturday I had the first half of the day to myself to walk around the city and I later met up with Katie and Laura, who I’ve been wanting to meet for years, for lunch.  Spending all that time with other girls who are making their dreams come true was really a spirit lifter for me.  It reminded me of what I have accomplished, and it reminded me how nice friendship is.

Florence is beautiful and it was a lovely reunion (I giggled and said to her “You’re so beautiful” more than once during this visit), but I fear that she has some competition from Rome in my heart for #1 major Italian city.  I enjoy knowing that I live a train ride from either city.  And that reminds me: as the train from Florence got into Umbria and closer to Perugia, I felt so at home.  As I embraced my dear tango friends, it became even more apparent to me.  I’m glad and grateful.

Well, that was an interesting saga.

First, Infostrada made me wait a month, and every time we would try to call them, we either couldn’t get through, or my customer number didn’t exist.  And when we did get through and my customer number existed, they would hang up on us.  Finally, we found out that for whatever reason they had canceled my order on me.  Great.

So then I discovered Aria, which is kind of like Clearwire in the US.  I have to say, their customer service is amazing.  After my experience with Infostrada, it was so nice to have someone answer the phone, AND call me back at an agreed up on time to help me get an account with them.  Well, my Aria package arrived, and it turns out I have no signal where I live.  Luckily I have 10 days to cancel.

While I was waiting for all of this, I had the chance to try a loaner USB “internet key” from Tre, a cell phone company.  They gave me a 3-Euro SIM for it so I could try it out.  This gave me about three hours.  As soon as I tried it, I was convinced that this was a good service for me.  But since I had already ordered from Aria, I didn’t want to make any decisions just yet.

The other day I signed up with Tre, but there was a problem on a national level where they weren’t able to activate new contracts.  Luckily, they gave me a prepaid SIM to use in the meantime.  But then the new modem wasn’t compatible with my computer, which has quite the temper lately!

Of course, I realized the other day that Mercury was in retrograde, which may have something to do with it…

In the end, I happily write this from home.  I look up at the castle across the way and sigh with contentment.

I’m also very fortunate and really have nothing to complain about when I look at the big picture.

Click the image below to support Doctors Without Borders as they work to provide emergency relief in Haiti.

I’ve been living in my new apartment for about a month now and am very comfortable.  I was surprised when I didn’t have to wait for the gas, water and electricity to be turned on.   All it took was a phone call!  After all the stories I’ve heard about Italian utilities, this was something to be grateful for.

But I guess something had to give.

I ordered a phone and ADSL package right away, as I knew this could be a little more complicated and could take a while.  And boy is it taking a while!  I ordered it on the 6th of December, and still have nothing.  To the phone/internet company’s credit, they called me right away on my cell phone after I ordered, and sent a local technician to me in just a couple of days to get my phone line up and running.  Alas, there was little he could do.  See, my street name is confusing and easily leads people to think that I live in a particular fraction of Perugia, rather than Perugia itself.  So, the technician was from that fraction, and apparently can’t work in Perugia.  The technician was really nice and said they would take care of it for me, in terms of calling someone who actually operated in Perugia, and sending them my way.  I was content with this.  The good news is, he had a look around, and my apartment has a couple of phone outlets and there is already a physical phone line.  So at least there won’t be anything complicated to do in that regard.

But, nothing.  With Christmas around the corner I had a feeling it would be this way, so I just decided to live with it until the New Year.  Why swim upstream?  This week things should go back to normal in terms of business and we plan on making a few phone calls and getting all of this taken care of.  In the meantime, I’m using R’s office every day.  I thank him for his kindness and I hope he doesn’t get sick of me before long.

Not having internet at home has changed my work pace a bit, naturally.  My time is limited so I have to work a lot harder and faster (I need the internet to do research and check up on terms, etc., as well as to keep in touch with clients).  So I get the translations done and then while I’m at home with no internet, I proofread.  On one hand, it’s nice to get my work done and go home, but on the other hand, I want to work smarter, not harder.  But, that’s just the way it is right now.

Nights are lonely without the internet.  It’s amazing how much I rely on it.  I keep myself occupied, though: I read, write, sing, dance, bake cookies, and mop the floor.   Now that I have time (i.e. time not being used to surf the net) I clean the whole house almost every day.  But I’d rather be Skype-ing with relatives and friends in the US and Argentina, who are several hours behind me.  So hopefully this will get resolved soon.

While I don’t advise stressing out too much over getting ready for an overseas move (because no matter how much you prepare, you won’t be prepared), it is definitely wise to have a few things handy in advance, if only to take the edge off the shock of arrival in your new country.  Here are 3 things that I think are essential for your move to Italy:

1. The Internet. Cherrye recently published a great list of sites to look at before you make your move to Italy, and I second what she says.  While your experience will never be the same as anyone else’s, reading blogs and introducing yourself on forums such as Expats in Italy will be invaluable in your personal preparation.  Not only will you be able to get an idea of mundane life in Italy (yes, I put mundane and Italy in the same sentence), but there is nothing like being just a URL away from others who have already taken the leap.

2. Non-Italian Recipes.  Yes, you’re moving to Italy and you’re excited about the food.  I can’t blame you – we eat well here.  There are more pasta shapes than you can imagine, and the fresh produce is out of this world.  As you travel from region to region (if you can), you will discover all kinds of new dishes.  That said, there will come time when you crave foods from outside of Italy.  If you don’t live in a bigger city, you won’t have access to a lot of international cuisine.  Why not get creative and try to duplicate what it is you’re craving?  I made chocolate chip cookies a couple of weeks ago (for chocolate chips, I could have used “gocce di cioccolato” from Perugina, but since I had a 70% dark chocolate bar, I had fun and chopped that up).  Right now I’m in sort of a Tex-Mex mood and am thinking of making fajitas for my boyfriend on New Years Eve.  (Here’s a great flour tortilla recipe.  For sour cream while in Italy, you can mix mascarpone with lemon juice, or use Total brand Greek yogurt.)

3. A Blog.  Before I discovered what a blog was, when I lived or traveled abroad I would send mass e-mails every week, detailing my adventures and attaching photos.  How wonderful it was to discover blogging!  While e-mails are great for relatives and friends who don’t want to bother looking at a blog, it gets a bit tiresome managing a mailing list.  Not only do I have my writings archived in a single place, blogging has enabled me to reach out to other expats with whom I can share ideas and experiences.

What are your essentials for moving overseas?

*This post was written for AffordableCallingCards.net, the expat community site where you can also buy calling cards to Italy (got that, relatives? I’m waiting to hear from you!) You can click here to read more posts about expat life written by myself and other bloggers.

If Italy is known for anything, it’s known for its timeless culinary traditions. Every country has its own food culture and delicacies, and Italy’s is among the most famous. Really, it may not be correct to use the term “Italian cuisine”, when you consider that each region has its own history, recipes and ingredients. However, there is a food “culture” that does prevail throughout Italy.

I’ve had the pleasure of eating regular lunches with R’s family. It started with a weekly Sunday lunch, and now that I am using his office space for its Wi-Fi as I wait for internet in my new home, I’m eating with them almost every day.

Lunch, at least with this group, consists of a few courses and is the biggest meal of the day. At about 1pm or so, we head from his office to his family’s house, where there’s a warm fire going and the table is set.

We almost always start with pasta. I say almost, because the other day we actually had bean soup (served over pieces of toasted bread with extra virgin olive oil poured all over.) Each day, there is a different shape of pasta – one day we might have penne with pesto, the next day we might have spaghetti with a tomato-based sauce.

The first time I ate with them, I said “yes” to a second serving of pasta because I didn’t realize there would be another course. But, here in Italy, the pasta dish is usually a “primo”, first course. I still say “yes” to more pasta every now and then.

The “secondo”, second course, is usually some sort of meat dish and a side of vegetables. Yesterday we had his mother’s gorgeous meatballs with a fine tomato sauce. (I have yet to see Italians eat meatballs along with their pasta like in the United States. Meatballs here are nice and big and delicate, and are a course of their own.)

Just when I think I’m finished, the table is cleared and it’s time for a “dolce”, a sweet. This can be anything, cookies, a small slice of cake (though not too sweet or rich like American cake), or perhaps just a bite of chocolate. We always follow the “dolce” with fresh fruit, whatever’s in season. Right now that would be apples, pears and Clementine oranges. The fresh fruit is followed by coffee, which here is a shot of espresso. Apparently you always follow this order: first the sweet, then the fruit, then the coffee. I never knew that.

We relax for a little while after eating, and I take my seat next to the fireplace and enjoy the warmth.

This may sound like quite a lot of lunch, but the food is so fresh and clean here and the portions are small compared to American portions.  However, with the various courses, it’s still a lot more than what I’m used to eating for lunch, so I’ve omitted dinner in an effort to maintain my weight loss, and in the evening I just have a couple of slices of cheese, some salad, and a glass of wine.

*This post was written for AffordableCallingCards.net, the expat community site where you can also buy calling cards to Italy (got that, relatives?  I’m waiting to hear from you!)  You can click here to read more posts about expat life written by myself and other bloggers.

One reason you’ve seen me a bit quiet over here is because I’m writing everywhere else!

A couple weeks ago I wrote about my idea of comfort food while living abroad.

Then I raided the blog of my friends Barb and Art, who live in Umbria.  They have a house for sale in Umbria, by the way.   I’ve seen it up close, and it is beautiful.  While I’d like to know they’ll always be just across the hills, it would also be great to see them succeed in selling it so they can continue with their life adventures.   I wrote on their blog about new olive oil.

I also wrote recently on Jessica’s blog, Too Tall for Italy, about what living abroad has taught me about myself.  Jessica will be moving to France soon, and I wish her the best of luck!

You can also find me on Annika’s blog, where I talk about the pros and cons of nomadic life.  I hope to finally meet Annika in 2010!

By the way, if you want to fantasize about living in a villa in Tuscany, or if you are planning on traveling with a group to Tuscany (or Umbria) and would like to rent a vacation home for a week or so, visit Italian Town and Country.  They represent some beautiful properties.  If you do the math, there are actually some great deals for large groups of people traveling together (in the end, each person spends less than they would on a hotel).

Have a good Thanksgiving weekend everyone.

You may have the universe if I may have Italy.

~Giuseppe Verdi

To be honest, at first I was really unsure of how I felt about coming back here, to Italy.  On the flight over, I had the sensation of going back to an ex-boyfriend.  Would he take me back?  Would he still love me?  Would the relationship pick up where it left off?  Would we have to hash through some issues before moving on?

My year has been crazy.  My last few months in Buenos Aires were hysterical and intense, for reasons I may never express here on this blog.  Pulling myself out of there was both liberating and traumatic.  I arrived in Seattle naked, unsure of who I was anymore.  When I obtained my Italian passport soon after (finally!), I knew I was supposed to be excited, and I was, just not as excited as I would have been a few years prior.  I spent the next six months clawing my way out of a well of sadness and confusion, and with the help of my dear friends and family in Seattle, especially the tango community, I got out and became Tina again.  What I must have looked like to everybody when I returned to Seattle, I can only imagine.

Just as I got comfortable in my Seattle surroundings, October 5 arrived.  The day I was to leave for Italy.  I took a deep breath and got on the plane.  I spent the flight reading a friend’s manuscript (an honor if I say so myself).  I sat in Frankfurt airport, waiting for my flight to Rome, feeling nervous for my reunion with this ancient land.  I hoped so much that it would embrace me again.  I didn’t know what to expect.

I landed.  Rome took me to her bosom and squeezed me really hard.  It was like we had never said goodbye in the first place.  Rome is like a best friend – we can go years without seeing each other but once we’re together, you’d think we’d never spent a day apart.  I got to Perugia a day later, and Perugia caressed my cheeks softly and welcomed me home.  It took a couple of weeks to get relaxed and decide whether I was glad to be back or not.  I am glad.  With every drop of green, peppery olive oil that hits my tongue and tickles my throat, I am gladder and gladder.

I still feel so much nostalgia for Buenos Aires, but I know if I were to go back right now, it would be a bad idea.  I’d never leave.  It’s like an abusive relationship.  Buenos Aires is capable of striking me to the ground, only to pick me up and hold me and kiss away my tears and whisper sweet nothings to me, and I believe every word, every time.  Buenos Aires is truly the most magnificent city in the world, but I can’t go back unless I go with someone else.  I have realized this much lately.

Meanwhile, with Perugia I have found a very healthy companionship.  A sweetness that stays sweet.  The air is fresh and light, and I myself am becoming more fresh and light with every breath.  The food is clean.  The rest of my Buenos Aires weight simply fell off when I arrived.  I’m healthy.  My skin is aglow.  I think it was a good idea to come here.