I have to say I have been avoiding blogging. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I think I just wanted to live in the moment and not constantly be thinking “oohhh I need to blog about this.” Ditto for taking pictures. I haven’t taken many pics in the last few months because I also felt like that was taking me out of the moment and I was seeing life pass by through a lens. I don’t know where this blog will go, but I have definitely felt better not blogging lately. But the mood struck me today so here goes:

D finally comes home tomorrow. I have only seen him for about 3 weeks since the end of July. Which was the week when we moved (he still had to work in Rome all of August) and the two weeks in September before he was deployed for over two months to Corsica. It was kind of a shock that he had to leave so early, I mean we knew he would be deployed eventually and is basically “on call” but we didn’t think it would happen at the very beginning. He found out he was leaving the day before. It was weird but I guess we have to get used to it. SO I have been starting this new life in Verona solo. I was freaked out at first because I really relied on D for almost everything. But being thrust into handling everything by myself has been a great thing. My Italian has improved, I feel more outgoing and in control and most of all, I feel like I actually have a life here and I can make it. As I have said before, I hated how our life was in Rome, I felt so isolated and dependent on D and his family. It was miserable. But I have done it all on my own here in Verona and it’s a great feeling to know I can handle it when left to my own devices. BUT I am so excited that D is coming home! I really miss him and I can’t wait for him to see “the new me” an Italian speaking, meal making, bill paying wife. I think his travel will be a positive in our relationship instead of a negative. It is nice to miss someone and I feel that we have gotten closer since he has been gone. Our bond is better than ever.

On the theme of being more independent, I traveled to London for a week alone. It was great! I was originally going to go home to Spokane for a month, but couldn’t find a cheap flight. I am glad I didn’t end up going though, because of all the positive changes I have made. So London was my consolation prize. It was great! I did all the little things i didn’t do on my previous 4 trips, like museums and the changing of the guard, ect. And I took NO PICS and really experienced every second of it. I caught up with old couchsurfing friends I had met a few years ago and stayed a few nights with them, but they have crazy work schedule so I didn’t see enough of them but it was great anyway. The crazy part of the trip is when I ran into an acquaintance in the Verona train station on my way to the airport. I met P at a couchsurfing meet up during a street game festival in August, and there he was in line for the same shuttle as me going to London! We sat next to each other on the flight and on the bus into London with plans to meet up the next day. It was nice getting to know him better and weird seeing a Verona guy in London! Talk about coincidences.

I also went down to Rome to visit the in laws. What would have been extremely uncomfortable 6 months ago (due to language barrier and my own mental issues-lol) was great! I was able to speak comfortably in Italian for 3 days and I feel that visiting them without D brought us closer together. God all this talk about the good things of D being gone sounds bad, but it’s not like that I swear! I think that being left to my own devices has increased my comfort level speaking Italian (though not all the way) and it was really the first time I could communicate efficiently with my in laws. It was awesome and I love them so much! They have really supported my all the way, even when the only word I knew was ciao. So it is great to be able to finally forge a more meaningful relationship with them. I was sad to leave them.

On the friend front, things are great! Through couchsurfing I have met a great group of locals and have been having a great time with them. It is amazing how much your perspective changes when you have a group of people to hang out with. I was so negative about Italy and Italians for so long, and now all of that is different.  I am very thankful I have a great group of people around me now.

School is still school. It is getting increasingly harder but I should have my bachelors in 8-9 months. I keep taking little breaks so the date keeps getting pushed back. I am so happy I can take online classes and finish this degree, but i want to get it over with so I can start attending classes at the University of Verona. Yes, I am going to attempt a degree here. Why not? I can’t think of any reason not to and it would be a huge push to develop my language skills and get me more involved in the community. As far as Italian, I haven’t been in a school but have actually been studying a bit on my own which is crazy because there is nothing I hate doing more. Which is weird because I love learning in general, but hate learning Italian. I really need to get over that. I want to join a school but I am waiting for registration for the free classes to open up again n January because I missed the September enrollment. It is great Verona actually offers free classes, unlike another city I know…. If I can’t get in for some reason I will got to LinguaIT. It seems like a great school.

I am looking forward to D coming home! I think it will be amazing to finally start living in this city together. My birthday is coming up and we are going to Innsbruck to celebrate! I am SO EXCITED!

Well that’s all for now,

xoxo

Jessica

It happened and we did it! I knew we could but the icing on the cake was that it was a landslide victory!

For Obama tomorrow!

I couldn’t resist this:

This is fooking hilarious!

Especially love the bit on the Italian Army (from what D says there really is beer in the vending machines where he works too). And those gourmet lunches are free-everyday! Still laughing at the hosts quest to repopulate a small Italian village himself. I feel bad for the unassuming lady in the parking lot!

Oh and MAFF-EEE-Yuh.

Fast forward a few minutes at beginning where they are covering S. France and go straight to the Italy part. It’s truly priceless.

Sorry for all the old posts…there was a piccolo complication

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know I have a new home:

Too Tall for Italy!

So update your feeders and blogrolls and I’ll see you in Verona!

Ciao Ciao,

Jessica

Tags: Jessica

Welcome to the new blog and to my adventures in Verona. If you have been following since my Roman days then thanks for making the trip over to my new home. If you are new, feel free to check out the about me page or browse through the archives . I have transferred all my old posts (but not the comments-blast!) so you will have plenty to catch up on!

So you may be wondering about the title: Too Tall For Italy? Well, since I have been here (almost 2 years!) I have noticed that I am slowly becoming more Italian-like day by day:

• Not going out in public with sweatpants: Check!
• Being concerned about digestion: Check!
• Becoming obsessed with great food and wine: Check!
• Speaking Italian: Getting there!
• Taking even the slightest interest in football: Check!

Even with these accomplishments, I am still distinctly foreign and very American.  But how do they know?! From what I have gathered from the Italians around me is that nothing screams “I am foreign!!!” more than my height!  Apparently it’s a dead giveaway.  No need for me to open my big mouth, just being a whole head taller than most men does the trick. And shopping? Yeah right! All the pants are capris and all the shoes could possibly have fit me when I was in elementary school. My husband?  He had to get “special shoes” with lifts on our wedding day so he could two inches shorter than me- a vast improvement (I was wearing flats). But it was nice to almost look directly into his eyes on that special day. He has declined to incorporate those shoes into his daily wardrobe, however. So, I have been officially declared too tall for Italy, but at least the view is nice from up here!

Hello down there!

Well, we officially made it to Verona in one piece. On the 24th we left Rome at midnight. We borrowed a furgone (Big van) from a friend and D, D’s Dad, Me and Oli all wedged into the front, while our life was packed up in boxes in the back. We made it Verona at about 6am, where we had a looooong breakfast and waited for the police station to open so we could get a ZTL pass (a pass that lets us drive in the restricted areas in the town center) for the day. After we got that, we had to drive out to Lake Garda to get the keys from our landlord (a very nice elderly couple). In their lovely apartment looking over the lake, the landlord’s wife forced me to eat homemade brioche and supplied me with endless coffee while the boys handled all the boring details: where the storage is, the number for our condo association, ect. I was not complaining, even though I was tired, being stuffed with food and caffeine while looking over Lake Garda was heavenly. The Landlady is very sweet too.  After she found out I was American, she began talking slower and clearer so I could understand. She told me she had initially thought I was Sicilian, which is strange because I am so white I am almost clear. Boh.

After that, we climbed back into the van and headed *home*. With the house keys and the ZTL pass in hand, we drove to the entrance to our street. There we had a problem. Since our street is in the centro storico (historical center) it is very VERY narrow. It looked like the van would just barley fit. D decided to go for it, with his dad and me outside giving wild directions. He stepped on the gas and all the sudden a huge umbrella, from the bar at the entrance of the street, went flying! D accidentally swiped the umbrella with the van. Property damage was not exactly the first impression we where hoping for with our new neighbors, but the bar man was cool about it and it wasn’t ruined (neither was the van-thankfully). We still haven’t gone to that bar yet though.

I was nervous to see the new bathroom since I didn’t know what color it would be and since the last time I saw it the whole thing was a concrete hole with tubes sticking out everywhere and because the bathtub was next to the couch in the living room. But it turned out great and it was light blue and white (as opposed to scary yellow or black and pink like our old bathroom). They didn’t put the tub back in, but there was a huge shower that *thankfully* had enough room so I could bend over and shave my legs. It seems like every other shower stall I had been in here barely has enough space to allow you to bend your elbows while washing your hair. The only crappy part is we wouldn’t have hot water until the gas got turned on… in 3 days.

We got all the boxes unloaded and up into the apartment in record time. Then we went out to dinner and came home and crashed. When I woke up the next day D’s dad was already back in Rome with van! He had slept that night, woke up and had driven the 7 hours back to Rome all while I was asleep.

D and I began unpacking, realizing we need a lot more furniture than what came with the apartment- mostly in the bathroom. I hate it when there is absolutely NO counter space. Just one huge sink and a teeny tiny medicine cabinet. So we will be ordering from IKEA soon. I am pretty sure they deliver. Speaking of which, we found out Esselunga delivers groceries and it is not that expensive and since we are car less it helps us out quite a bit. We placed the order and the next day this big burly guy heaved all our groceries up the 2 flights of stairs to our door! The shipping is only 7 euros, but comparing the food prices to that of the neighborhood PAM we are actually saving money ordering from Esselunga. I love it when the easier way is also the cheaper way.

Now that we are mostly unpacked we have been making our nightly walk with all the other Veronese (that are still here) and drinking a spritz. This is definitely my favorite part of living here so far. I also love that there is so much to see right outside my front door. Everyone in Rome told me that the Veronese are really cold and unfriendly, but that has not been my experience at all. I think they are nicer than the people I interacted with in Rome. Especially in terms of customer service we have had only good experiences so far.

Of course, our phone and internet were supposed to be working by now but they aren’t. And, of course, there is no one available to come out and fix it until the end of the month. But that is all to be expected. It wouldn’t be Italy without those things happening. I am just happy the gas guy came out on time!

I also noticed how different the public offices are here compared to Rome. We went to get our residence changed and expected it to be a big, chaotic mess like it usually is when dealing with the government. Instead, we walked into this completely remodeled, air condition, immaculate building. Huh? Are we in the right place? There were clean white chairs everywhere, and the sportellos were nice glass desks facing the waiting area…and the people behind them were smiling?!?! We pulled our number and 5 seconds later our number was called. We didn-t even have time to sit in the chairs. The woman helping us was cheerful and very nice, asking us how we liked Verona. In about 10 minutes it was all over, we had our residency receipts in hand and were standing bewildered outside the office.

“What just happened?” I asked, “Was that really where we were supposed to go?”

We had asked how long it usually takes for the vigili to come to our house to make sure we are actually living there, since in Rome it took about 5 months after I applied for residency there. She said it could be up to 6 months, but it is rarely that long. So 3 days later on a Sunday morning when the doorbell rang, the last person I thought it would be was the police officer verifying our residence. Sure enough there he was. He was also extremely nice, asking us how we were getting on in Verona and welcomed us to the city.

I seriously thought it was all a dream. I just hope it continues to go this way.

PS: I am still working on the new site. But since we don’t have internet (just our cell phone modem) I won’t be able to get it up for awhile. Watch this space though! I am hoping by the end of the month it will be ready.

Tags: Jessica

Our lovely landlord called us the other day to let us know the apartment would be ready the 25th. So we are moving in the 26th! Only 10 more days of my Roman adventures (said with extreme happiness).

Since I have been gushing about moving to anyone that will listen, I keep getting asked why I am so excited to leave Rome. Well…

It never really grew on me. It’s too big for my taste. Which is weird because when I came here on vacations I thought it was so dreamy and wonderful. But shortly after moving here, I knew it just wasn’t my style. I don’t think it is Rome specifically, but just big cities in general. But what is weird is I loved Seattle, which I guess is close to the population of Rome-so who’s knows? Seattle seems smaller than Rome and it had many of the all the things I love: shows, lots of green space, water and ethic food. Which I never really found here.

Rome has a few ghosts for me too. When I was vacationing here it was a wild time in my life. I had just broken up with my ex, it was the first time I had been single, free and of drinking age. Whenever I am near Termini I avoid the street the “Hostel of Shame” is located. And just wandering around I can spot the places where I made a fool of myself. Granted during that time I had no idea I would ever live here, so it was just a place to be young, dumb and foreign. But now, in just a few years my whole life is changed. I don’t feel like I need to run away from anything, but I want a place to start new memories that better reflect my life as it is now. Verona is a new start for me in many ways.

I pledge to be more open, explore and take advantage of the fact I live in such a beautiful country. Verona will be different.

I want to make it clear I am not complaining, it was a great experience living in Rome. But I am ready to close this chapter of my life.

Tags: Jessica

After a long sweaty trip to Verona our life in the north is coming together. We went up to go apartment hunting and stayed with one of D’s friends who is also in the air force. I had met him a few times in Rome while he was here but I was excited to finally meet his wife, but I found out she was down in Puglia with her family. D thinks we will really get along and she is in the same boat as me: living in a new area, military husband, no job and lonely. She sounds hilarious and that we have a lot in common-another added bonus of moving!
We visited apartments ranging from a hole in a wall near the train station (EW) to a HUGE apartment with 2 balconies overlooking Via Mazzini (For you Romans think Via Condotti/Via del Corso). I was in love with it but it was just barely above our price range. I was surprised how cheap rent is there compared with Rome-def works to our advantage. We also looked at a really pretty attic apartment a tad out of the center, but it had a view of the entire city! On foot it was about 10-20 to Piazza Erbe (we are trying to live car less the first year). Add another 10 minutes to get to D’s office and it seemed too far away. It was also on a hill and there wasn’t so much as a grocery store or a bar near, being that the apartment was flanked by a convent and a monastery. We were going to go for it anyway when we found the PERFECT place! It was just around the corner from the Via Mazzini apartment, so the street intersects with Via Mazzini but it is a on a side vicolo (which equals less foot traffic/tourists/noise). Plus, Bershka is on the corner-heaven! So the apartment is completely remodeled, and actually when we looked at it, the bathroom was gutted and being completely redone. In all ways it was perfect: size, location, newness, and rent. We would def be able to manage the city with bikes and walking. The apartment has a huge bedroom, a living room a separate kitchen and dining room and the bathroom. All for under 600 euro per month (our budget from the military)!

The owners were not in town (they live in Mantova) when we called initially but told us to stop by and look at it as the workers were there. We immediately called them back after looking at it and told them we wanted to take it. The bathroom won’t be done until the end of the month which is perfect for us since we want to move in the beginning of August. We offered to drive to Mantova but they told us they were actually vacationing in Garda and to come down (accomplishing my secret mission to go to the lake during that week even though D had initially poo-pooed the idea since we were not on vacation).

The next day we went to meet them. They were an old retired couple and were extremely nice. We chatted for a few hours and signed the lease.

I can’t wait to move!!! It’s even more exciting now that I can picture where we are going to live.

Tags: apartment in verona, Bershka, Italy, Jessica Romes: Road Trip!, moving, Moving within Italy, My Neighborhood, renting in Italy, Shopping, Verona, Via Mazzini