In terms of Federal holidays, in America, there are 11. Of course, there are other holidays, not all federal. Can you name them? Try!!! Here in Italy, in just the past 2 weeks, there was Easter (Pasqua), then there was Pasquetta, the Monday afterwards, then there was just the other day, Liberation Day when the allies and as my wife would say, the partisans, liberated Italy from the Nazis. Of course, credit given where credit is due, and now Labor Day, tomorrow. All days where the world shuts down and there are others and having been here almost 10 months now and these 4 in just a short time, you would think that there were dozens more. My life is not really dictated by the holidays, really as I own a business and my clients are mostly in the new world and as far as the teaching is concerned, I am an independent contractor. I am more impacted in terms of the cancellations of the students, as I am paid by the class, so when they cancel, that changes my schedule, of which I have no control. ​

In actuality, there are only 12 where services are generally limited, including, Capodanno (New Year’s Day), Epifania / La Befana (Epiphany), which is like the end of Christmas, so Christmas is not a single day, the aforementioned Pasqua and Pasquetta, Festa della Liberazione (Liberation Day), and tomorrow, Festa dei Lavoratori (Labor Day). Then there is Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day), Ferragosto (Assumption of Mary), Ognissanti (All Saints’ Day), Immacolata Concezione (Immaculate Conception), Natale (Christmas Day), and finally Santo Stefano (St. Stephen’s Day). There are other holidays, more regional or local, and then there are Sundays in general. ​

Welcome to another musing by the Wandering Puffin and the events of the past week. Well, first and foremost, I hope everyone had a safe and happy Easter, both Orthodox and Catholic and any other sort that exist and not to forget that Passover essentially coincided with Easter this year and the calendars merged so all the celebrations happened at the same time. It was the same with Christmas and Hanukkah in 2024, when they both landed on the same day, when the Lunar calendar was in line with the Gregorian calendar. This set of events does not happen very often. In fact, maybe 5 times in a century for Christmas and Hanukah, but it happened during this 2024 – 2025 cycle. And it turned out this year, the Orthodox and Catholic Easters coincided, but again, using different calendars and different way to calculate the dates, this event happens every 3 to 4 years. Otherwise, there be differences of 2 to 3 weeks between the respective Easters. ​

All this detail and calculations mentioned and the coincidences, it was for Rosa and me, a quiet Easter. While she did go to pick up momma at her sister’s house for an Easter meal, Rosa and I did not partake this year, one because there was not a big family gathering as the past two years, one sister was working, and Rosa was guiding, but that is nothing new, and it just was not to be, and I was a bit out of sorts, so laying low was the best thing to do. The event, however, here in Rome and for Catholics around the world, and it is coincidence, perhaps, but a sad event, nevertheless, of Pope Francis passing away on Easter Day. I suppose this is rather fitting for this to happen. No event like this is a happy occasion, but given it was Easter and what is represents, I feel that this is a celebration of life, most appropriate for the head of the Catholic Church. ​

This also is the week, supposedly that my worldly possessions hit the shores of Italy, this weekend in fact and then sometime, supposedly, they will be delivered to my home here in Rome. I suspect later next week, so we are preparing the house for the delivery. The exception is the vehicle and if I had known then, what I know now, that would never have been shipped, but sold for whatever I could get for it back in the states and started fresh here. As it is about the hit the Italian shores, it is too late, and a lesson learned and there is so much more to bringing in a vehicle that simply paying the taxes and moving forward. That would be too easy and nothing to date, has been. Again, another bumps or in the case, many cobblestones in the road. ​

I don’t have regrets about this decision and as Rosa said the other day, it is just money. It was a mutual decision and there was some sticker shock. In the end, I still believe that having the vehicle, if it even starts after not having been driven in, well, by then, over a year, by the time I get it and get behind the wheel, will most likely be the last one I will have bought. And Rosa can learn to drive an automatic. Yes, I can drive her manual transmission, but with the limited driving I do anyway, the vehicle will last at least a decade, given it only has 40K (Miles) or 60K KM. In any case, the sticker shock, just to get the license plates, 1600 Euro, and I will have to replace all the glass as the standards in Europe are different (I did not say better or worse), just different than in America. ​

I contacted my old insurance company in America, Allstate for the record, and this was almost 2 months ago, now, I still have not gotten what I requested from them. I guess it is a good thing I may not be able to drive my vehicle until September. So much for the summer driving trips in the countryside 😊. We always have Rosa’s little Ford Ka, which is the size of a sardine can. Actually, it is fine, but as an American and even now, very used to public transportation, and using the rail, having that “freedom” to pick up and go does not have the same meaning here. I don’t want to drive in Rome if I don’t have to. That is fine, but to get out once in a while, that was and still is the goal. A long weekend here, a long weekend there. And it will happen, but not a soon, so should have I have expected to happen sooner rather than later, so I simply move forward in the ways I have learned, living here. ​

There is also the issue of the driver’s license and another obligation to fulfill this year. In order to get the driver's license here, as there is no reciprocity between Italy and the US in terms of simply exchanging one license for another, I have to actually take driving lessons and in the controlled cars here in Rome, unless I can find something outside the city. Apparently, 8 to 10 lessons are mandatory and then there is the test. I suppose, yes, the driving test, but there is the written test. It is 30 questions and must be done in 20 minutes and you must score 90% or higher. And, it is only given in Italian, so it is now time to buckle down and learn the language more fluently along with teaching English, having the travel business, and having a wife. ​

More costs and I know in the end, more happy returns, but the task in front of me, while daunting, is not something I will dismiss and give up, but I have heard even the Italians have difficulty on the written test, and it is in their native tongue, but watching their driving skills, especially those on motorcycles and vespas and scooters, there are no rules, at least none they follow. Not signaling, not stopping at stop signs, on their mobile phones while driving, having a cigarette or whatever else they are doing with distracted driving. Of course, I have played Russian roulette with the Romans here as a pedestrian and most don’t follow the rules, especially with the handheld devices. This is even the case with people walking with their devices and not paying attention, but I seem to recall this issue in America too. 
The good news on the horizon if there is in all of the bureaucratic rubbish, is that I found out, that as I am married to an Italian, I only have to wait two years to apply for citizenship, so, technically, if I want after our second anniversary in February, I can start that process, if I want. The restriction is that I have to be at a B1 level in Italian, so come this summer, I will start my Italian lessons in earnest, not just for this, but to obtain my Italian drivers license, so a lot of motivation in the end. That also leads to Italian taxes, but if I do opt this route, I will end up being a dual national, so for now, as always one step at a time. Whereas a few months ago, I really did not know what lay ahead, and now having a better grasp of the situation, Rosa and I will take things one day a time. Looking back now, and what she and I have been through, where others have failed, we will succeed, slowly but surely. 
As always, thank you for your support of our ever changing and ever crazy little world here in Rome. It is truly appreciated in every way. We want to be happy in our life and all of the outside forces seem to want to challenge us at every turn. I know that if someone or some entity says I can’t do it, I will find a way to prove them wrong and Rosa is following my lead now. She and I have learned so much over the past year or so, and we will make it. For all those celebrating Passover and Easter, Happy Holidays to you and your families. Stay healthy, safe and most importantly, happy, throughout all the world is throwing at us right now.

Of course, if there was a mentionable, I would mention it. Off even maybe, if it was an unmentionable, I may mention it. When I am home, I hear the birds, the traffic and the horns blaring constantly, as if honking one’s horn will move things along. I sometimes, from my kitchen window, as I am enjoying my first tea of the day, watch out the traffic “patterns”. The conclusion, this is none. It is constant chaos, and the stop signs mean nothing and neither do yield signs. Remember, right now, I still don’t drive here, not that Rosa did not say, I couldn’t drive her car, but there is no need. I take the sardine cans to the schools, the corporate office and to my private lessons. When my car finally does arrive, in a few weeks’ time, there will be more bureaucratic red tape. ​

Where did the first quarter of the year go? It is already April, and it seems that time is flying by faster. Is it just me or are feeling it also. It was last week this time, when I returned from London for a series of meetings and a conference on an area of Europe is for the most part, less frequented that the usual places including where I live. How many of you have been the Balkans or SE Europe. If you raised your hand or said, yes, good for you as there are so special places in these regions. Perhaps, you have done a river cruise on the Danube which will allow you to touch a number of these countries, or you spent time in Croatia which is probably the best known of the Balkan countries, but SE Europe and the Balkans have so much to offer, and generally, these places are more unknown, and less costly than their western brothers and sisters. I have been to many including Albania, but no all, so I still have some travelin’ to do. ​

Other than getting home late on the last Wednesday of March and, this has been a busy, albeit normal week, if there is anything that one can call normal. It is spring and spring has sprung, or at least Europe went on European Summer Time this past weekend, so the time differences are now the same as they were a few weeks back when places in North America went to Daylight Savings time. All I know is that, yes, I was tired, but not having to been somewhere last weekend and simply getting up to work on travel projects, go to the local market for my fresh fruits and vegetables, it was a normal weekend. Rosa guided, and does so most days, as the wealth of travelers increases here in Rome in this Jubilee Year. And, truthfully, I have seen improvements in the infrastructure, but then the Eternal City wanted to put on a good show. We will in June, July, and August when the throngs of people arrive to get their fill of pizza, pasta and the Colosseo. ​