On my first trip to Rome, I was terrified of the city because I was almost hit by a motorino on the sidewalk. Sidewalks, riding the wrong way down one way streets, holding umbrellas while driving in the rain, cell phones jammed into helmets for a cheap handsfree solution? I’ve seen it all. But, when […]
This past week marked a strange milestone for me. I moved to Rome to go to graduate school, and on Friday I took my last exam. It’s very weird to know that it’s over. Oh. Except for that little dissertation thing I have to write in the next few months. Even though we were in […]
Oh, how I miss all things bargain-priced. The Euro-Dollar exchange rate can be a killer, so I have a biannual event that I always look forward to: SALDI! Saldi (sales) happen twice a year in Italy and they are a HUGE deal. There are very strict laws governing the timing and labeling requirements for sales […]
You know it’s hot when the nuns start breaking out their baseball caps.
I was walking to the market one day and I stopped dead in my tracks, staring open-mouthed at a billboard that read: I went back to take a picture the next day, but it had been plastered over by an advertisement for a new low-cost washing machine. Oh well, I figured, it must have been […]
One of the best things about living in Italy is getting lost. Rome is not a city built on a grid. Streets you think are parallel end up leading you astray, and the network of small alleys and hard-to-find street signs is a recipe for “where the hell are we!? I thought Piazza Trilussa was […]
File this under things I will never get used to: shelf milk. Walk into any Italian supermarket and you will be greeted by a refrigerator section filled with more types of cured ham than you can shake a stick at. Browse the rows of cheeses, take in all the yogurts, but if you’re looking for […]
Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your ears! If you are in Rome, I want to invite you to come celebrate with us in the center while raising funds for a great charity. A very dear friend of mine is preparing to leave Rome and return to her work in South Africa and we want to […]
