As-I-considered whether or not to venture out today, I remembered my Uncle Edward. Now, Uncle Edward is not truly my uncle. As is often the case on my mom’s side of the family, relatives are just referred to as ‘aunt’ or ‘uncle’ regardless of their true relationship to you.

My ‘Crazy Auntie Joyce’ and ‘Aunt Zona,’ for instance, are not actually my aunts, nor is ‘Uncle Herman Dick’ truly my uncle. (Those truly are their names, however.) Keeps things simple, I guess. Read more »

The Italian word for ‘pigeon’ is ‘colombo,’ which makes me think that if they could speak they would sound just like Peter Falk. Like any city, Napoli has it’s share of these oft-vilified birds. “Rats with wings, ” people scoff, “spreading disease!” To which I counter that, while I’ve never caught a cold from a pigeon, I’ve certainly caught plenty from my own species. If you think about it, people and pigeons have much in common: we’re opportunistic, we like french fries, and we enjoy hanging out in parks with our pals.

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There’s a little shop across the street (and by ‘across the street’ I mean it’s maybe 6 feet away from the apartment) This shop sells “Freelers” brand chips and “Taste Me Up!” is their slogan, although it sounds more like a snazzy pop tune by some boy-band to me.

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Several people have emailed and asked, “Are you fluent in Italian yet?” To which I think, “Mamma mia! Aspetta un’attimo!” Actually, I think, “Thanks for your confidence in me, but I wish!” (As an aside, they really do say “mamma mia” over here - a lot!)

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The first few days here passed in a blur of jet lag. I kept falling asleep while writing in my journal, which made for some surreal entries: “I thought we were zucchini, but have slept in milk.” What’s that all about? Plus, the flight made me retain water, so that every time I looked down it was startling, as though I’d put on someone else’s feet that morning.

Angelo and I napped in turns on the couch, listening to American shows dubbed in Italian. Oddly enough, dubbing actually enhances the quality of some shows. We both thought, for instance, that “Charmed” was vastly improved by the Italian voice actors. Other shows, shows that I actually watch in America, seemed strange with the dubbing. The voices for “Gilmore Girls” (which goes by “Un’Amica per Madre” or rather, “A Mother for a Friend”) were just plain wrong.

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