Rosa and I also took time this past week to go out, call it date nights, and did several things. On Friday, she said, we must go check out this sandwich (panino) place near home, a place she said she had tried before with a colleague by the name of Walter (pronounced with a V), and to tell you the truth, it was not a good experience and having met Walter, his palate is not up to snuff. In any case, it is called Metro and claimed to be gourmet, and it was a glorified fast-food joint and not that good at that. How you burn a fried chicken sandwich is beyond me, but Rosa finished her burger and my sandwich. Lesson learned. The next night, we had planned to have a real date night as it has been a while and this was Sunday, to see the Bob Dylan movie, and when we go there, it was sold out, so we decided to make the best of it. We hopped on the metro and went to an area called San Giovanni and were going to check out a place an acquaintance suggested, a pizza place, that was to do really good Roman pizza called pinsere and, well it looked way to fancy. We had eaten a number of times at a Chinese restaurant near there, so opted for that instead. After eating, I had the crazy idea to find a pub in Rome and watch the action, sorry the NFC Championship game and so we hopped a bus and made our way to a place called the Highlander., went in, packed to the rafters, but in a corner that had one table, already seated, had two stacked chairs and so we sat down and watched the first half. Knowing that the public transportation ended around midnight, we left at around 11:00 pm and did get home about midnight. The result of that game, we know, and it turns out that Rosa was happy, since she likes the city of Brotherly Love and the Eagles colors, even if she does not know the game at all. One aside, the people sitting at that aforementioned table, watched the game intently and knew, very well, the rules. I was fascinated by how much they followed the game. Not totally unusual, but not what I expected. In the pub, the crowd was, with a few exceptions, Philly fans. For me, it did not matter. The Vikings, forever bowed out early in the playoffs, so in the end, it was just a fun night to go out, and doing something crazy like this. It also reminded me of my first “date” with Rosa, back on the 21st of February 2020 when we met for the first time after our initial meeting at the Borghese and her panicked feeling knowing that all the buses and trains had stopped for the night for me to get to my hotel at FCO airport. Well, we all know how that ended up😊
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![]() What do tennis, basket, volley, and kick have in common? Why do you ask? Well, since I am a teacher of English with mostly Italian students, and that schedule continues to get busier and busier along with the travel side of my work life, I have learned different patterns of Italian speech when they translate from Italian to English. Of course, having my beautiful bride, who is Italian, as you know, also using these types of things and the sporting season on all fronts, in full swing, I had been thinking about these language nuances. Maybe I spoke about this before, but it was in the back of my mind. I ask again, what do those words at the beginning of this paragraph have in common. Well, it is what the Italians, in translation call those sports. Tennis is tennis, so no change, but in the case of basket and volley, they do not call the sports by their “full” name. They play basket and they play volley, not basketball and volleyball. They also do not play football (or as we in America call it), soccer, but calcio, which literally means kick, so never mentioning the object used in these sports. ![]() Why this as part of the blog for this week is because I was doing a lot of comparison and contrast to the two different languages and in my English classes looking at the differences and similarities. Of course, language is the basis of any culture and very important in the development of a culture over the millennia. Being in one of the ancient capitals of the world, sometimes feeling, due to its stone age mentality, that it is a far cry from a modern society, I have asked many Italians during the lessons or simply socially, why, and using shorter terms for the noted sports above. Yes, we say tennis, we don’t say tennis ball is the sport, but we do say baseball, basketball, volleyball and technically, football, if you want to use the international name for the beautiful sport. The answer I received more times that not, is that Italians, are generally lazy. This is not my thought process, as I know many hardworking Italians and, in fact, many hard-working people from all over the world, especially in my industry and in the educational field. ![]() I woke up this morning and the sun was gone (thank you BOSTON), no it was definitely there, but what was unusual for me was seeing temperatures below freezing. Yes, the thermometer said 30 F (-1 C) and in my time here, it has not been below freezing. In fact, the temperature today here in Rome is will be perhaps 49 F (9 C). Yesterday, for the first time, I felt cold when I went outside, but who am I to complain when I hear about temperatures in my former places of residence where the lows are very much minus temps, hovering around 0 F (-17 C) and colder in the Twin Cities, perhaps a little warmer on the eastern seaboard. Anyway, this is probably due to my acclimating to my new environment. I have gotten away without wearing a very heavy and warm coat when I go out, but that is because I don’t have one. At least not here. It is still in storage awaiting the shipping across the pond, so I layer up when I go out, and that works. Of course, it is mid-January and is expected to be colder, even here, but I know that the temperatures will begin to warm as we approach our first anniversary in February and my memory of meeting Rosa almost 5 years ago on that warm February day, where the temperatures were in the 60’s. I don’t go out often, but more so now, especially in the later afternoon and evening, as the English classes are starting up after the long Christmas holiday season that went all the way through Epiphany, so coming into the school yesterday was rather strange, but it did not take long to get into the groove again. What is nice is that I have a new private student, so two regulars and many others who are doing their encounters every so many weeks. In the end, it is time to balance the trip planning and the teaching of English, and the lull of the holidays is over, so I am extremely busy and hey, there are only 2 months left of winter and here it will be easier to handle versus my time in the Midwest and New England. As an aside, as I subscribed to Paramount and Peacock, watched some of the American Football playoffs, this past weekend and also heard the result of the Vikings – Rams game and was, not necessarily disappointed, as perhaps the outcome was inevitable. Given how the Vikings played against Detroit the week before and what the Rams had to do for this week’s game, the outcome could be expected. Not that the Vikings did not have a good season, overall, but with the wildfires in the Los Angeles area and the country focused on that ongoing tragedy, the player’s minds were on that for sure, and had an added incentive to play for their fans, many, I am sure that were impacted by the fires, especially since they could not play a true home game. In any case, there is 60 years of futility with the Vikings. Yes, they went to the Super Bowl 4 times back in the 70’s, but along with their 4 appearances, came away with 0 wins. To surpass that, only the Buffalo Bills made it to 4 consecutive Super Bowls and came away with a goose egg. Could this be their year? Lots of interesting storylines going into this week’s divisional playoff round. ![]() Who knows, but Rosa and I will be watching the Super Bowl somewhere, maybe even the Hard Rock in Rome if they have a Super Bowl party of sorts. Last year, we watched at the Hard Rock in Pittsburgh. It will be a very busy February I am sure, but right now, the focus is getting through January with all the projects going on and even the additions to the condo, which we expected to be completed this month. Not yet, but I am learning how quickly things move in this country. Slow, slower, slowest, but this is home, and I am here to stay. On any other fronts for now, life is moving along. It is normal everyday life and we have gotten into our routines, which are not exciting, by any stretch, but maybe that is part of the lull of life and this time of year, after the hectic nature of the extended holidays they take here. In any case, looking out my window every morning from my desk and seeing the lack of leaves on the trees, the parrots flying around, and other birds, or the cormorants at the man-made lake which I pass twice a week to go to my private lesson and just enjoying the simple things, a cappuccino here, a cornetto there and a homemade meal each and every night. We even made menudo (or I did) as we both like tripe (trippa) in Italian. I love menudo and every time I went to San Rafael to visit Kenn, we would go on a Saturday or Sunday, to have it and it is a very labor-intensive dish to make and also, because tripe takes hours to become tender, it was only on the menu on the weekends. I have to say that Italy does have their version and it includes tomato sauce, imagine that. Rosa, of course, being Italian, loves her version better, but I had to try, and it was alright for a first attempt. I am not sure if I will try again and if I can find a true Mexican restaurant here in Rome, maybe it will be on the menu. Especially since I could not find all the ingredients but found hot dried peppers and they cleaned out the sinuses very well, they were so intense. I had also binge watched some shows like Yellowstone and Cross, late night, when I could not get to sleep, and liked it so much, I bought the books written by James Patterson. Most of my books, before I left America were sold or given away, and some destroyed in the flood, including a signed copy of Lou Gramm’s book, “Jukebox Hero” when I met him many years ago at the Minnesota State Fair, so I am building a small library, so I will have things to read when I hit the road on the trains across this country and continent moving forward, once I have my residency here and can travel again outside the borders. Reminder to all citizens of non-visa requiring countries like the US and Canada, etc., that visa waivers will be required, so be prepared and you can check this out on my website on the Resources page. Lastly, I do want to send my thoughts and prayers to the people of Los Angeles and wish only the best. Even though I live in Rome, I still am an American and as such, feel for those who have suffered this unfortunate situation. It would be nice to think that we can get through life unscathed, be it a natural disaster, a family situation, war, or anything else that is not a positive, and we have all been through some sort of tragedy in our lives, so this is a common shared emotion of the human condition. They say that what does not kill us, makes us stronger in the long run, but at the moment of the tragedy, all we can think about is why me, or what do I do next. I don’t have the answers, but for those affected by this latest disaster, take one day at a time because trying to take it all in will only make things worse as no human is strong enough to handle everything all at once. And remember, each of you is not an island and there is support there in your local areas and beyond, so one step at a time as you try to return back to some sense of normalcy.
On that note, stay warm, safe, happy, and healthy as we all go through the winter months, short days and spring is just around the corner. At least think that. At least there is no snow on the ground here, but I heard there had been some in Napoli last week. I don’t miss a meter (3 feet) of snow on the ground and winter boots, here, really do not exist and it will warm up to modest temperatures again soon. Thank you as always for your support of our crazy little world in which Rosa and I live. We truly appreciate it. Maybe something exciting will happen this coming week to share, but if not, until next musings. First and foremost, a happy and healthy new year to all who read my crazy, personal, and sometimes professional blogs. They, of course, have evolved, depending on the situation and I expect, as long as I continue to write these blogs, they will continue to do so. It is crazy to think that this is the 200th entry which started back in 2020 to help me and turns out, others, to get through the pandemic and yes, it helped and last week, was a very of the year in review. I still find that it helps me to get through some weeks and, I suspect, it will in the future. An event happened before the new year started and one that also had me reflecting to a time, a very long time ago. I had thought about it at the time, almost a year ago, when Rosa and I were in Las Vegas to get married, and we did other things. I remember, after we filed our paperwork, we were strolling back towards our hotel, and having once upon a time, been a fan of Pawn Stars, and while it was ‘reality tv, and no, I did not expect to meet any of the crew, we went in there anyway, as it was along the way. I did have a question to ask the employees inside, not just about the stars, but about a signed book I had in my possession. I only mention this as our 39th president died just before the old year ended. Why, you ask, was I interested in this signed copy of a book by Jimmy Carter? Well, I met him many, many years ago at a book signing at a bookstore in Saint Paul, MN called the Hungry Mind Bookstore on Grand Avenue, near Macalester College. Not sure if it exists anymore, but maybe my friends from the Twin Cities can let me know. The date was January. 12, 1994. Former President Jimmy Carter made an appearance at the Hungry Mind Bookstore in St. Paul to sign his latest book,” Turning Point: A Candidate, a State and a Nation Come of Age.” While the moments were fleeting from this anniversary of sorts, 31 years ago, this coming next Sunday, I thought it was important, given his passing a week ago. I don’t if any of those who read this were at that same book signing, but if you were, let me know.
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First and foremost, Happy New Year to everyone, friends, family, clients, and colleagues in this new year of 2025 and I hope that it brings everyone happiness and health. For me, it is very much a new year, in many ways, but just a quick review of this past week. Of course, spent Christmas with my Italian family. Where else would I be, right. Can’t leave the country right now and it adds to new traditions. The other thing that I did, beyond last night’s festivities, okay, a nice dinner out at one of Rosa’s friend’s houses, and nothing crazy, of course, was do a little exploring of the city. I had some business to attend to this past week and found my way exploring areas, not normally visited. And, interestingly enough, the city of Rome is fairly tame this time of year, if you can enjoy highs in the 50’s Fahrenheit and lows near freezing, then maybe this time of year is for you.
Rosa, momma, and I also went to see a museum this past Sunday, the Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini (Barbarini Palace), which is quite the place, and a place here in Rome I had not been ever. They had a newly displayed, never seen Caravaggio piece for the world to see and other art, of course. He is Rosa’s favorite painter, so we went. As I become more and more a part of this city, and country, albeit it slowly, as this is how this place works, I am sure I will go out and once again, explore other parts of the city and beyond, to share some of the lesser-known places of Rome. We also went inside a church, the name slips my mind, but it was baroque and very much rococo, so not really my architectural style.
Really though, this past year has been quite a year I must say. I am lucky enough to have done many things in my 62 years of life on this planet, and I certainly hope there is more to come, but this past year, as I reflect on it, and beyond the bureaucracy I had and will continue to endure into this new year, had been one I would never have expected. Of course, what happened this past year, revolves around the fact that a very special person came into my life, pre-pandemic, so without that event happening, where I am now and what I did last year, never comes to fruition, so where do I start in this review of 2024 and that is with Rosa, my wife. Yes, 2024 was the year that I got married for the first time, and I expect, the only time. She was a godsend in my life and while she did not say yes, the first time I proposed in 2022, in 2023, she said yes. Turns out she said yes twice, since I had to, this past Christmas, replace her lost (or stolen) engagement ring, so that, no matter what else, is the most important event of 2024. No, I did not have to, I wanted to replace it.
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Wandering PuffinWeathering the Storm with the Wandering Puffin Archives
February 2025
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