Category Archives: Practical Information

Buying Produce in Italy

After several exploratory visits to the supermarket and many observational expeditions, I finally bought broccoli. My first day in Rome, I ventured out to the ipermercato and was completely baffled by the experience. “Busta?” the checkers asked.  Envelope? Why is she asking me for an envelope?  I tried to disguise my panic and sort of […]

Expedition to Ikea Roma

Since I am clearly easily identified as American, I decided to embrace it and just go to Ikea. My neighborhood, and Rome in general, has great markets and stands that sell most household products… but when you first move somewhere new, you need A LOT of stuff. To me, that means you go to a […]

Show Me the Money: Financial Proof for Italian Visa

I leave in exactly one month and I am starting to have a small freakout. Don’t worry, like I said, it is a very small breakdown It goes a little bit like this: Profanity! Profanity! Phone call. Profanity! Try not to cry. Phone call. ProfanityProfanityProfanity. Action. You see, getting a Visa to go to Italy […]

Professional Hoop Jumping 101

Since I already went over how to get a Dichiarazione di Valore, let me explain that I learned all this the hard way.  In fact, for the most part I felt like this during the entire process: Unfortunately, fist shaking will get you nowhere… not that I was actually getting anywhere most of the time.  Obtaining […]

How to Get a Dichiarazione di Valore

I couldn’t decide if I should title this post: “How to get a Dichiarazione di Valore” or “How to apply to graduate school in Italy” or “Please learn from my mistakes completing the most difficult task in the history of mankind so that you don’t go totally crazy.”   Do you want to move to […]