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

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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.

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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.

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I realized my last four posts have been really depressing, and basically so has my life lately. Sorry this post is more of the same. It all has to do with STILL being sick and the movie I have been waiting to see for, like , ever (or since 2003). I had x-rays last week and it shows that the pleurisy is still there and there is some water on my lungs, which is never good. So I basically have to rest and not partake in any physically activity…of.any.kind. Sadness. I also have to get tested for tuberculosis (um, what the F?) since in very rare cases it can begin with pleurisy. GAWD. The doctor did reassure me that I would not need to quarantined, the test is only a precaution.

To try to cheer me up, D agreed to see SATC with me. It is playing in Rome IN ENGLISH (with Italian subs) at the Warner Village in Piazza della Repubblica. Seems like every english speaking study abroad chick dressed up in thier finest from miles around came to see the flick at the same time as me. We were in line for tickets when the group of ten 18 year olds screamed as they bought the last tickets to the 9.30 showing. Great. The next show was at 12.30am. Since we had already circled Rome for an hour trying to find a parking spot, we decided to buy tickets for the late screening. So we had like 3 hours to kill. A few strawberry daiquiris and a spritzer later, we went back to the theatre to wait.

I really like SATC on the little screen, but on the big screen it just seemed different. I didn’t hate it, but felt kind of disappointed after. Maybe it was all the hype, combined with all the waiting for it to be released (I remember thinking only 105 days left!) it got my hopes up then 2 and a half hours later it was like: that’s it? It’s definitely better than the other crap I have seen in the theater as of late (Ironman comes to mind) so it wasn’t a total loss. Still good, but just not the same.

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I had to go back to the emergency room last night. But the good news is we went to a different one and it was a lot better. I have been diagnosed with pleurisy which is not fun and I am in lots of pain Write more soon.

Thanks for all the nice comments, it’s helping!

Tags: Jessica

Where’d the time go? Has it really been a year since I started this blog, and even crazier, a year since I got married (for real, not the fake wedding in October)?!?! To celebrate D and I are going on a little road trip. I will post pictures of all our weekend antics on Monday (or sometime next week depending on my level of laziness).

Tags: Jessica, Jessica Romes: Road Trip!

There is still a few things I HAVE to do in Rome before I leave. I had the list in my head but now that I am here with time to write it all down, I am totally blanking. Here is what I remember:

1. I need to go to the Sistine Chapel. Yes, I have lived here for a year and a half, not counting my two vacations prior, and have yet to do the line.

2. Eat my favorite pizza at La Scala in Trastevere

3. Eat the yummy Thai food at Thai Inn

Via Ozanam, 94

Rome 00152 Italy

+39 0658203145

4. Visit San Clemente (the church)

5. Visit the baths of Caracalla

6. Stock up on Sephora and H&M stuff

What am I missing?

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In my head, my bags have been packed for months. Basically since D first applied to the job in Verona. My mental luggage is Coach by the way, LV is way too pretentious. People that have heard about the move have asked me why I am so eager to go, because Rome is beautiful and lalala. Basically, I like parts of Rome: the historical center, Trastevere, ect. What I HATE is where our apartment is. In NOWHERE land. To get to the places I actually like in Rome requires me asking for a ride to the train station (because it is out of walking distance, not because I am lazy), taking a half hour train to Tiburtina, then taking a Metro. So it’s like an hour of gross public transportation, and due to school I am required to do it twice a week. So on all the other days of the week I choose not to go through all these motions. The fact is that I live depressingly far from anything cool. Also worth noting is that my little villaggio consists of a tiny pastry shop, the forno, 3 bars and a pizza place. Oh and no sidewalks. Oh and people drive down the roads at 110kph. So walking to any these places is a death wish.

All this complaining leads me to why I have been mentally packing for months. It all has to do with simple math. Living in Verona + living in the center = Jessica is happy forever! (Someone remind me of this equation in case I ever complain about life in Verona).

Why am I so optimistic?

Firstly, D will be making more money, so we can can actually afford to do cooler stuff than we can here. Secondly, I have 80% of the say in where we will live. When I came to Rome, I had no choice. For the first few months I lived in D’s bachelor pad until I couldn’t handle the naked chick posters anymore. Then we remodeled and I was a little happier. If only we could transport our apartement somewhere else, everything would be perfect.  So basically I am the bridezilla of apartment hunting and have been scoping out gorgeous apartments in the center of Verona. They are not that expensive either. We are finding beautiful two bedrooms (notice not just 2 rooms in the whole apartment)  and even one with 2 bathrooms (I SO want this apartment!) and around 80-90 square meters for around 700 euro. Which is crazy to me because apartments in Rome are so expensive.  A few of my friends lived in absolute holes in the wall *shared* apartments for 500+ euro a month! Which is mental in my opinion, especially since they were far from the center (but not as far as me, but we don’t pay rent-the only positive). Back to Verona- A lot of the apartments have wood floors, which I love because it reminds me of my old bedroom in my parent’s house. The views are spectacular as well. All of these things combined make me very very happy.

Now all that’s left in my larger, more complicated “happy in Italy” equation is to make friends. (Ideally their names will be more varied than Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, which are the only friends I currently have).

Tags: Jessica, Moving within Italy, Verona

Welcome to my Ultimate Blog Party 2008 graciously hosed by 5 Minutes for Mom! This is my first time partying and I am happy to get my groove on.

A bit about me: My name is Jessica and I am an expatriate living in Rome, Italy. I have been living here since December 2006, when I moved to be with my husband Daniele. I grew up in Spokane, Washington and moved to Seattle where I lived for 5 years. I am married to a wonderful, funny and sweet Italian man and am a “mom” to a chinchilla named Olivia. I love painting, reading gossip websites, watching movies, blogging and traveling.

How it started: My love for Rome started when I happened to win plane tickets at my company’s Christmas party and that’s where it all began. I fell in love with the city on my vacation and promptly quit my job when I returned home. A few months later I was back in Rome without a plan. I just wanted to live life and not waste it inside a gray cubicle. That’s when out of nowhere I ended up meeting the love of my life in Saint Peter’s Square! You can read more about how I got to Rome and met my husband here on my bio page!

I started this blog as a way to keep track of all the important moments, strange new experiences and the endless frustrations of living in Italy. Being an expat has definitely tested me in every way imaginable! From struggling to learn the language, being scared of the mailman and learning to just slow down and absorb all that life here has to offer.
I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to immerse in another culture. When we decide to have kids, I am happy that they will be raised in Italy. I hope that by reading my blog you can get better acquainted with Rome and with me! I would love to get to know YOU so please join the party and leave a comment!

Happy reading and see you at your party!

Jessica

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Oli, an expat from South America, is learning the Italian art of relaxation:

Catching up on favorite blogs via Google Reader:

Her cage really is bigger than our car. We lovingly call it the Guest House.

Tags: Jessica