Traveling, what joy?

So let’s recap my latest visit to the states from a traveling view point. Going to the US was relatively easy this time. There was a strange procedure in Rome for getting on the plane. They made everyone get out of seated area by the gate and then slowly let everyone back in by checking their ticket and passport. Then of course they checked your ticket and passport again as you went through to get on the plane. I won’t blame the Italians because I’m pretty sure we Americans have required this system to travel to the USA. I didn’t see this for the flights going anywhere else in the world from Italy.

On the plane things were great. The seat next to me was empty! I can’t remember the last time the plane wasn’t packed going across the pond. I wonder, is this Alitalia’s fault or is it the economic crisis? Usually I take Continental to Newark and its packed solid. Anyway I didn’t care. I dumped my backpack in the seat next to me and connected my Ipad to the headphones and my entertainment for the 10.5 hour flight was set. My expensive Bose headphones have paid for themselves if you ask me. You can truly forget you’re on a plane under their noise-cancelling cushions. It’s a good thing I had this stuff too because this old plane has the monitors in the aisle so everyone watches the same crappy movie. The plane left a little over an hour late so I missed my connection in Chicago. This news hits me like water on a duck’s back. I’ve missed so many flights I no longer get upset.

So the flight to the USA was pretty good with only one missed flight and no lost luggage.

Now flying back to Italy sucked and I took a trip into “Bizarro World” for those of you who know Star Trek (for those of you who don’t it’s when things are opposite of what they should be). First inCincinnati I went through the full body scanner with the new rules. After my radiating experience he asked if I had anything in my back pocket. I did. I had one frickin piece of paper, my travel itinerary. That was enough to make me a pat down victim. So a word to the wise, you can’t even have a piece of paper in your pocket with these full body scanners. No wonder people with prosthesis or other medical conditions are getting harassed. I’m all for safety but this was ridiculous.

Then in Chicago I had to go from one terminal to another. To do that you go outside of security zone so I had to go through security again. It was then that I remembered that I didn’t go through a full body scanner at O’Hare coming into the country (going to the internal USA terminal of AA) so O’Hare must not have them I thought. But I was wrong, going into the International Terminal I had my second full body scan for the trip. I learn quickly and had NOTHING in my pockets so I didn’t get a second pat down. I was amazed how quickly the line moved. I mean consider how hard it is for people to remove obvious pieces of metal, like a watch, when going through a metal detector. I guess the threat of pat down gets people to remember the rules much quicker. I think you American men are going to need “manbags” for traveling. That way you won’t have anything in you pockets going through security.

The plane from Chicago to Rome was about 1/3 full. As soon as we were at altitude people spread out like an oil spill. Again I was about as comfortable as you can get on plane and not be in 1^stclass. Again the plane was very late leaving ….

I arrived in Rome and I didn’t even check how much time I had until the flight for Brindisi. I knew I was close but no need to rush because you can’t! As I’m going into the line for security for transferring flights there was an Alitalia person there saying “Qualcuno per Brindisi?” This is strange so I told her I was. She moved a pedestal that let me into a shorter line for security. That has never happened before. In fact the opposite seems to happen. This was now “Bizarro World”. Usually you’re running late and you want to skip ahead so you ask someone and they say sorry because everyone i s running late, which I have to admit is true. Then I knew I was in Bizarro World because after security there was the same lady from Alitalia waiting of me. I felt like a VIP. She told that the plane hasn’t started boarding yet but it will soon so we walked quickly towards the gate. Normal world made a brief appearance as I waited for passport control. A kid cut in front of me and of course it turned into a big problem. He and another student and 2 teachers were coming to Italy from Turkey as part of some exchange program. I learned all this as the 3 other people behind me went up there to talk to the customs agent after the kid couldn’t answer a single question. Bizarro World conquered as another agent came over and escorted them off to an office to talk about their issues. Then I went up customs agent who seemed apologetic. He commented, “I’ve never seen an American with a permesso di soggiorno before.” “I follow ALL the rules”, I commented back in my best Italian. I wanted to add “even in Brindisi” but the less you say the better. My Alitalia friend was waiting for me again after passport control and she explained that they had started boarding but I should be fine now if I knew where the gate was. I confirmed I knew exactly where it was and I promised to go straight there so she went back to whatever she needed to do. I’d never had treatment like this from Alitalia.

I made it to the gate in plenty of time because the plane from Rome to Brindisi was packed. What the hell is going on? Usually the flight to Brindisi is almost empty and I can stretch out and get quick nap on the 45 minute flight. Of course the one time I arrive last was very important because there wasn’t a square inch available in the overhead bins. I had to put my backpack under the seat in front of me leaving just enough room for my feet and that’s it. At least this was a short flight to be packed in like a sardine. My one joy was another person tried to fit one more bag in the overhead and several other people said, “Hey careful, that’s my bag!” as he adjusted things to no avail. I laughed because I know the people complaining would have doing the same exact thing.

In Brindisi all was well. My bag made it fine and it also seemed to have no new damage (still in Bizarro World). I bought the ticket for the bus to the center of town and of course I could see it leaving before I could get out of airport terminal. That was ok because I know how the guy drives and he was back in about 20 minutes. It gave me time to notice that price of the bus ticket has gone up to 90 cents (from 80 cents) at the tabaccaio in the airport, while the price of buying it on the bus is still 1.50. Next time I’ll go straight to the bus!

So what did we all learn here? A lot I think…..

I'll have a scontrino with that....

There was an interesting article in the paper this weekend. It said that 70% of stores in Italy don’t issue a proper receipt all the time (highest was 84% in Campania and lowest was 45% in Umbria). What does this mean? Well in Italy there is a 20% VAT or IVA or sales tax, whatever it's called. One of the down sides of many small stores is that it’s hard for the government to know what they are selling. So if a store doesn’t issue a receipt then the government doesn’t know about the transaction and doesn’t get the VAT. Instead the storeowner gets it. This upsets me because it’s plain and simple tax evasion, cheating, stealing, or whatever else you want to call it. I hate giving the government my money too but if all these stores are cheating the government then “they” still get their money from somewhere and that’s me because I honestly report all my income, so the government takes more from me. I'm getting hit twice because I paid the VAT that the government didn’t receive and my income taxes. It brings about a vicious circle. People cheat the system so the government raises the taxes to get the money they want. So more people cheat because there’s more to gain by cheating. In the big business capitalist society of the USA people still cheat but it isn’t as obvious and widespread, but of course I could be wrong. Well at least I'm not getting hit twice, I think.
This brings me to a second point that these people then have no right to criticize the state of Italian hospitals and schools. If you’re a café owner and you don’t give everyone a receipt and short change the government then how to you expect them to keep your schools and hospitals clean and new? I love shopping at these little stores, as it just feels right. It’s what you imagine when you think of Italy, but like all good things it has a down side too. I think just about EVERY store I’ve shopped at has at some point not given me a receipt. It happens more when they know you because they know you’re not from the Guardia di Finanza. The GdiF is government’s answer to finding all these lying and cheating stores (another expense I pay for!) All of this is really funny when you realize that I could get in trouble for leaving a store without a receipt. So I'll ask for a scontrino and they will give me a double take and wonder what I'm up to. Just a little Monday morning rant. Maybe I’m too idealistic because I think everyone will do the right thing and we’ll get along, blah, blah, blah…
Well at least I put up a photo of the pretty spring like flowers we have already. Along with this I had two mosquitos in my apartment last night! I swear they hang out by my door waiting for me. Maybe that's why I'm in a whiny mood...

How not to spend New Years

Let me explain and this could get long…. It started several days before December 31 so maybe it’s 2007s fault. I checked my flights back to Italy and I found out I was flying back to Bari and not Brindisi. Why, because Alitalia cancelled the Brindisi flight. Keep in mind that when I left for the USA they didn’t mention this. It wasn’t technical problems or a strike, no I found out they changed the time of the flight. So now I have new reason to hate Alitalia. They change flight times without warning. How could they not know when I was leaving for USA that the flight back was changed? Did I mention I’ll dance in the streets when Alitalia is no more?!!
However, Alitalia did arrange for a bus to take us (about 30 people) from Bari to Brindisi. I didn’t know this until I arrived in Rome and as an added surprise the bus turned into a funny story. In Rome they asked who needed the bus and about 30 people put their names on the list, so at least I knew I wasn’t the only one Alitalia was screwing. In Bari I rushed out of the airport because my stuff had to be checked out by dogana and I was afraid the bus would leave without me (even though they had my name). And I was the last one to get on the bus. The funny thing is that there are only 6 other people on the bus. The bus driver gets on cursing and muttering under his breath how they told him “they needed a bus for 30.” I don’t know where the others went but we left with only 7 people. Then the story gets funnier. The first turn out of the airport is a left turn that he can’t make because we’re in this HUGE bus made for 60. He has to go right because that’s the only turn he can make. Down the road a way we come to a police officer directing traffic. He says there’s an accident on the road ahead and we have to turn at this intersection. The driver asks him how to get to the Autostrada and the police officer gives him some directions that I can’t hear. We wander around for a while bus stops again and the driver asks someone on the street for directions. I only here the bus drivers muttering but it’s not good. Finally we do the most incredible U-turn in this busy Y-shaped intersection. I loved watching the honking and hand waving from my plush seat in the sky. Man, you’re high up in those buses. We end up going all the way back to the airport only this time we’re pointing in the right direction for the Autostrada. I wanted to sleep but this driving was so entertaining I couldn’t. Although, once we were on the highway I feel asleep for the first time in 24 hours but only for about 30 minutes.
I come home to two cats that are afraid of me and for good reason. My neighbor left me a plant (I had commented about it when I saw it on her balcony) and the cats proceeded to destroy it making a huge mess of dirt on the kitchen table. She probably left it there knowing I would be home soon but what she didn’t realize is how quickly they can get into things, especially a plant. I think it may live. I hope.
All this was before the celebration last night. I would write about that but I completely missed it. I went out at 11:00 PM to see what was going on. The town was a ghost town. Except for people throwing fireworks off their balconies everywhere (and not looking to see if some idiot foreigner was walking around) you would have been convinced there was no one alive in the town. Everything was closed. I suddenly realized that party was going to be much later than I’m used to. I passed a café and it had a sign “Apertura 00:15”. Yes that means they were going to open at 12:15 AM. I texted Marco and said they were meeting at 1:00 AM. I was already running on fumes at 11:30 PM. I just wanted to stay up until midnight thinking that’s when everyone would be out. I was so completely wrong. Everyone was still at home at midnight. So I spent New Years at home, alone. I tried to stay up a little later and go out but failed. I laughed when I looked out the window and saw people leaving their homes at 1:00 AM to go out. I gave in and feel asleep for next 12 hours. I have to say it was the worst New Years for me. Why do I learn these things the hard way? I should have gone to sleep when I arrived home and then I would have naturally woke up at midnight. Either way I didn’t really experience my first New Years in Italy. I slept through it. I hope you all had more fun!

Of course if you're Keith and Pam then 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep would be a great New Years when you're taking care of this little monster!!!

Boun Anno, Tutti!!!

Stereotypes and Lecce

I need to do an update while I can. Whoever says that southern Italians are lazy is just making a stupid stereotype. I thought this week would be really slow at work but that hasn’t been case. We’re still plugging away and getting as much done as possible. I think in the US I saw more of a ramp down of work when a long holiday approaches. Along with this point I would like to point out my friend Marco Russo. He’s commented on the blog several times. He has a full time job here with the Italian company and he has another job in a store. When he’s working 2nd shift here (2:00 PM to 10:00 PM) then he works in the store in the morning. On those days he’ll put in over 10 hours easy. Then just last night my neighbor had a problem with the Christmas lights I put up. They weren’t working so I went over to find the problem light, which I did because I'm handy like that. While I was there she was working on the computer and talking to her boss on the phone. It just seems like I know a lot of people that are hard working. Most of the people that have their own small business are working 6 days a week. When I first arrived I tried to go out with a waitress in one of the bars. It just didn’t work because she worked 6 nights a week from 7:30 in the evening until they closed, which on some nights it wasn’t until 3:00 AM. Anyway I guess I’m just trying to make a case against stereotypes. Enough preaching.
Tonight I’m going to Lecce for second time this week. I went Tuesday after work to get the special Olive oil from Olio Claudio. My family and friends have grown attached to their oil, but if I’m such a good customer then why I didn’t know they were closed on Tuesdays? UGHH. I never even imagined that Tuesday would be closing day. I drove down thinking the day they are closed must be Monday or Thursday. That’s much more normal but nooooo I was wrong. Then I called a friend who lives in Lecce to see what he was up to and he was still at work here in Brindisi, which again reflects the point I made above. At this point I’m really regretting this trip to Lecce. I thought maybe I’ll get some photos of big nativity scene in Lecce. Every year they make a big life-sized scene in the remains of a Roman theater in Piazza Sant’Oronzo. And also every year it’s a little different. When I arrived at the theater I found that I forgot to put my memory card back in the camera. AAHHH. I was going to get something out of this trip so I walked all the way back to the car (luckily I had a spare card in my computer bag for work) and then back to get these photos below.

The Whole Scene for 2007! There's orange and olive trees down there. Keep in mind usually it's as bare as parking lot down there. Everything you see has been added just for Christmas.

Close up of the Manger part. Notice that the baby Jesus isn't there yet.

This is what they had two years ago.

My Country

I’ve decided that I want my own country. Why not? Everybody else does too! This train of thought started yesterday when I happened to catch a little BBC. They were talking about Belgium. Did you know that Belgium hasn’t had a government for 6 months? Why? Because the French speaking Flemish want their own country. Now I’ve heard of everything. Belgium wants to split up. Thank god I’m not a kid studying Geography these days. I thought European Geography was bad when Russia split up into a dozen countries (quick what's the capital of Latvia?). Is there anywhere in the world were people don’t want their own country? In Europe these days it REALLY doesn’t make any sense. So they would make their own flag and national anthem and then they would turn around and join the EU. Well, it would give the Italians more teams to crush in the European Championships (provided Northern Italy isn’t one of the new countries, Padania).
Asia and the Middle East are obviously full of countries that have small areas that want to split off, sometimes not so small areas like Tibet! North and South America seem pretty stable, if you don’t count Texas. Then again Canada has some Frenchies that would probably start their own country if given half a chance. Australia has been quiet for a while but I bet Tasmania is planning something we just don’t know about it yet. Actually Tasmania is probably where I’ll establish my new country. You have a little protection already because you’re surrounded with shark-infested waters and chock-a-block full of dangerous animals. See I already speak their language. I’d have to call my country something like Frigidland to keep nosey people out (look how well that has worked for Iceland). I would train the Tasmanian Devils to attack strangers and I’m done with security (although their name would be Frigidland Devils, that’s still pretty scary). I would be a good King. That’s right. Screw this democracy stuff!
This photo is Nello climbing up to the top shelf. This is his sanctuary away from Mara. Sometimes little sister can be annoying. Maybe up on the top shelf is Nelloland?

Isn't ironic, don't ya think?

This photo is the checkpoint that was outside my apartment yesterday after work. I love how the police use scooters and not just any scooter but one of the smallest ones that exists. My dad’s lawn mower has more horsepower! Don’t worry the Carabinieri have big cool motorcycles. Anyway, on to the main topic of the day….
I’m not sure if it’s ironic or not, but a strange thing happened last night. I went out for a gelato after dinner (that’s not a strange thing! Just wait). I walk down to the Vertigo around 10:00 PM. I’m enjoying my first gelato (Snickers and chocolate chip) since I returned when I step out the door and I almost literally ran into Teddy and Alessandra going to a concert in Le Corniche, which is next door. I joined them as I was curious and I didn’t know about this concert (hey, I’ve been out of town for a while). I felt slightly guilty carrying my gelato from the Vertigo (best gelato in Brindisi) into the Le Corniche (3rd best gelato in Brindisi), but only slightly because Le Corniche is the one that opened up next door to an established gelateria. Anyway, we’re watching the concert in the outdoor courtyard of the restaurant when all of sudden they stop playing around 11:30. It seems the Carabinieri had come to pull the plug on the noise (hey it’s rock-n-roll to me). I stuck around for a while because they said the concert would start again after THEY left. That didn’t seem right, the band was going to play again, AFTER the Carabinieri told them to stop? Maybe, I think the bars are allowed to break the 11:00 PM rule a few times over a certain amount time, then after the Xth time they get a ticket, so they record every time they play music too late. As long as you don’t do it too often you’re ok.
The ironic part is coming up. I decided to go home because I have to work the next day and I was not convinced they would play again. When I get back to my apartment they are painting the lines on my street, AGAIN. I live at an intersection so there are plenty of lines to paint, crosswalks, little triangles, parking spaces and etc. So it’s a little after midnight and now I can’t sleep because of the noise being made by the painters down below my window. There’s a lot of commotion going on down there, the air compressor for the paint sprayer, the throwing around of metal patterns, the yelling between the three guys trying to be heard over the air compressor. I think it’s ironic because I wouldn’t have been home trying to sleep if the Carabinieri hadn’t stopped the concert that was making too much noise. You see it’s ironic because if they didn’t stop the noise that didn’t bother me then I wouldn’t have know about the noise that does bother me. Should I add that I live next door to the Carabinieri station? Ahh, life in the big city.

The Best Laid Plans...fall apart sometimes

Ughhh, my plans for this weekend are falling apart. My plans were:
1. Thursday (today), take a train to Rome tonight and stay there near the train station.
2. Friday, take a bus to Perugia in the morning and stay in Perugia (EUROCHOCOLATE 2006 is in Perugia right NOW!!!)
4. Saturday, go to Norcia in the morning and stay there Saturday night. This is the town of my grandfather's side of the family. I’ve been wanting to see since I arrived in Italy.
6. Sunday, make my way back to Brindisi Sunday.
It was a beautiful plan. It started to fall apart yesterday when the hotel in Norcia said they couldn't honor my reservation. I called around and the town is full (it's not that big so it doesn't take much). So I can't stay in Norcia, which was the most important part to me. Now I'm still at work (waiting for a call from the States) which means I missed the train I was planning to take to Rome tonight. There is another overnight train that leaves later, but it means I would spend two nights on trains out of four and I don't know where I'll be Saturday night at this point. And if I don't get this call today then naturally it will come tomorrow when I'm trying to enjoy myself. I think I'm going to bail on the whole thing. I think going to Perugia would be great but after that I would have to go back to Rome to find a place to stay Saturday night and then take another bus to Norcia just for a few hours on Sunday and then back to Rome to catch another train back to Brindisi. I would be spending the whole 3-day weekend on a train or bus.
I even looked at the other side and thought about driving up there myself. Then I could get away from bus and train schedules and find a place between Perugia and Norcia for Saturday night. Interesting to see that mapquest has Brindisi to Perugia as 9 hours 17 minutes while an Italian program that a friend has says you can go Brindisi to Perugia in 7 hours 1 minute!!! No wonder they drive fast. The program says I can make there in 7 hours!!!!