by Maureen | Nov 29, 2009 | Discoveries, Introspection, Journal, People, Quips
One of my cousins just wrote to me and asked, “What are the highlights of your time in Milan… so far?”
I’ve been mulling it over all day. Hard one to answer. I think the highlights have been mostly little things, little bright moments or little challenges surmounted. Many a gorgeous sight and delicious meal, yes. But also the small communications, triumphant in my limited, but growing, Italian.
A week or so after arriving in June, I was given only an address and told to go apply for a “codice fiscale“, an official financial code. I googled the location, took the metro, arose out of the subway and walked 20 blocks or so to a huge, government building. I entered and somehow figured out where to go, which long line to stand in, what to ask for, what to do with the papers the guy gave me, where to wait, how to know when it was my turn and what desk to approach when my number came up. I answered her questions, in Italian, thanked the woman and walked out with my stamped paper. I could now get a bank account.
After having been here for one hot month, I wandered off to find the Antiques Market in the art district, Brera. I browsed for a bit and in a while it was time for lunch. The restaurants in the very narrow lane had their chalkboard menus posted. The octopus kept enticing me, so I stopped at the restaurant offering it and was seated outside. The neighboring table was one inch away. How can one not talk to people that are sitting just one inch away? Ewa and Piotr are Polish and Polish/German and have been in Milan for 30 years. We talked for 2 hours in a blend of English and Italian; I lost track of what language was being spoken at any given moment in our conversation. Four months later, we are still getting together at their home once a week for practice of both English and Italian. Ewa feeds me well each time and our friendship is deepening. Last week we spoke of women, relationships, work and independence… all in Italian.
Two months ago, while out riding my bike along the canal, I stopped to shoot a picture. At my feet in the grass was an empty coin purse (save for a personal note from 2004) and a ring of keys: apartment, office, mailbox, coffee machine, bike lock and others. Fortunately, one of the “keys” was a digital fob for a bank account; press the button and it generates a new, random number for bank account access. I took the keys home and they sat while I wondered what to do with them. The likelihood of finding the owner?! Slim, but I couldn’t bear to just throw the keys away. Friends couldn’t suggest much. One night, I approached a young, local policeman at the street corner, but I didn’t have the keys with me. He said to bring them to the station or give them to any officer I saw in town. Days later, I had the keys and was glad to see another policeman; when I told him the story, in Italian, he said there was nothing that could be done. I was disappointed, but had one last idea. I took the keys to my own bank, because I, too, have a digital key fob. If they could tell me which bank used the particular fob that was on the lost key ring, perhaps that bank could look up the ID number on the back of the fob. “Of Course!”, my bank teller said, “It’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena“. He looked up the address of the nearest bank office, and I set off walking. I waited for the bank assistant to finish his phone conversation. I explained about the keys, he punched numbers into the computer and called the manager over. They talked, checked various screens on the computer, and picked up the phone. Both the manager and assistant shook my hand as the call connected. After who knows how many months, the guy was getting his keys back, and I was elated.
Like I said, the real highlights have been the little things that amounted to big triumphs. The difference between being a tourist and being a resident is interaction and relationships, and the key to that is language. It pleases me to have built my Italian up enough so that I could HAVE these interactions. I can actually get to know people. THAT is my greatest highlight!
by Maureen | Nov 28, 2009 | Introspection, Journal
The other night, lying wide awake at 4:00 a.m., I realized I heard nothing except my own breathing. The relentlessness and menu of sounds around here, makes silence rare and startling. It’s been almost 25 years since I’ve lived in an apartment, and I’ve never lived in such a city environment. This has been an adjustment.
When I first arrived in June, jetlagged and wanting to nap, it was impossible to sleep because of the almost-rhythmic machine moan that I couldn’t identify. It made me climb the walls, exasperated. What in the world?! I thought maybe someone above me had a commercial sewing machine. That sound was a constant intrusion and seemed to run all day, all night. I finally asked the building porter, and he told me it’s the water pump. …Sometime in the course of these last 5 months, I noticed that it’s about 7:00 in the morning when the water pump comes on, (and, yes, it does run ALL day but not at night).
My first floor apartment is directly above the same concrete, dungeon room that houses the water pump. This is where all the building residents sort and dump their garbage and recycling. The glass and metal door has its own, particular sound. Bottles falling on bottles, however, make a sound that is nothing unique but it sure carries into my apartment.
And the couple above me! I hear their lunch preparations and their daytime, Italian soaps on TV. I hear the rush of water through the pipes when they shower, turn on the faucet or do laundry. I hear their heated voices and the creak of what must be a spiral staircase that matches my own. The worst is the sound of her shoes. If she doesn’t have railroad spikes for heels I’d be surprised. Her footfall has an insistent, forceful impact, and when she leaves her apartment and comes pounding down the stairs, she echoes throughout the building. (They do not, however, seem to have any sort of a love life.)
There’s the chatter of people standing just outside my bedroom window having a ceaseless smoke. There are motor scooters and the electric courtyard gates opening to allow cars entrance. There’s the buzz of someone unlocking the main door. Just four buildings away is a berm-elevated train track; surprisingly, the train’s infrequent passage is a mere whir. Now and then, European sirens approach and then fade.
This is the audio backdrop within my Milanese apartment. I’m accustomed to my long-time home in Seattle in very quiet surroundings, where silence is the standard. I’m used to being awakened by birds, not water pumps and spike heels. What’s surprising to me is how I’ve adapted …and that I have! I stopped “hearing” the moaning pump and I can even nap right through it now.
by Maureen | Nov 25, 2009 | Christmas & New Year's Eve, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, Photos
…a lot like Christmas. Thanksgiving tomorrow and no sign of a turkey on my horizon, except for the snippet I had on Sunday. After searching the entire Saturday street market, I DID finally find one stall that had sweet potatoes (the pale yellow, not the deep orange yams). I bought two and will cook them up.
But I see lights and decorations going up around town: green swags, candles, ornaments, sparkling lights. This Steak House is just around the corner from me, and made me smile.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
by Maureen | Nov 23, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Journal, Meals, People
What a really nice group of people! I enjoyed a Thanksgiving Luncheon today with the “Americans in Milan” (AIM) group from the larger Benvenuto Club. About 70 people gathered at the Hotel Gallia for conversation, company, charitable fund-raising and a turkey dinner. We finished the evening, 5 hours after we had begun, by dancing to American 70s and 80s pop/rock. We were too warm to put our coats on; we had had fun.
When moving to Milano, I had vowed NOT to come here and spend time with a bunch of American expats. That wasn’t what I was looking for. But in checking out the Benvenuto Club, (“Benvenuto” means “welcome”) I found women representing 40 different countries and a broad age range. They have a social focus and offer a wide array of activities. I decided it was one way to step into community.
Though “Americans in Milan” sponsored the luncheon, it was open to non-members as well. The crowd was quite international. At my table were (let’s see if I get this all right…), the Consul General for Greece and his wife; a Japanese/Bolivian woman and her Italian husband and daughter; a Spanish woman; an Italian woman and her daughter (who went to school in Colorado Springs for a year); and another Italian woman. I guess I was the only American at the table.
We started with Milanese aperitivo of finger foods and prosecco. After milling about, meeting new people and enjoying conversation, we all went into the dining room to our first course of saffron/mushroom risotto and squid pasta. (VERY traditional American Thanksgiving table offerings!) THEN came roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans and carrots. (Pout. No sweet potatoes.) It was all very nicely prepared and tasty.
For dessert, we had just-right slivers of apple pie with hazlenut gelato and pumpkin pie with whipped cream! It was pretty darned good for being half a world away.
As soon as our dessert forks hit the plates, the dance music started up and the floor was filled with people from all over the world dancing as one big group and being quite silly. (Dancing to “YMCA” from 1978! I’ll be humming it all night.) I had never met these people, and yet we were all at ease and having fun.
After dancing up a sweat, I stepped out on the balcony for some fresh air and watched clouds of starlings circle over “Milano Centrale“, Milan’s Grand Central Station, at the left in this photo.
These are pretty impressive figures glowing and towering above Centrale’s main entrance!
Out for a breath of cool air. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
by Maureen | Nov 20, 2009 | Cheese, Featured Articles, Food!, Journal, Meals, People
After 5 months here in Milano, I’ve finally had people over for a meal! I invited Evelina, Glenda and Lydia, from the office at NABA, to come join me for lunch. We all see each other whenever I’m on campus and we get along well.
Just before they arrived, I baked a fresh loaf of Irish Soda Bread (which was devoured with a creamy cheese on top), marinated and then grilled some chicken breasts (red orange juice, olive oil, mustard, red onion, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper), grilled some peeled beets and served a rucola/songino salad. We sipped some prosecco and laughed through lunch. It was all topped off with coffee, both Italian-style and American-style, and a few pastries from the infamous and fabulous Spezia Pasticceria.
I love to cook for people. It was great fun to have them over!
by Maureen | Nov 18, 2009 | Discoveries, Journal, Quips
Today, I walked into a very dark room, let my eyes adjust, and then marveled at 22 pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Codex Atlanticus”. His original drawings. I saw his mind working. Observed his mulling things over. enjoyed the surety of his hand and his line. To be in the presence of the evidence of the man: artist, engineer, philosopher. A building is an even more tangible relic of a person’s life, but handwriting and a pondering line are more intimate.
by Maureen | Nov 17, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Ireland, Journal
One thing that I brought back with me from my time in Ireland this year was enjoyment of traditional Irish Soda Bread! Here in Italy I’ve been on a constant lookout for dense, moist, flavorful bread with some nutritional value. So much of what I’ve found is white, light, fluffy and dries out in a day. Believe me… I check every bakery I walk past, and there are many!
I did finally find a “delicatessen” offering foods of the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy. (This area is along the northern border of Italy, adjacent to and influenced by neighboring Austria.) When I first walked up to the streetside-window of this deli, I thought they should be ashamed of themselves for displaying pastries such as they have. How dare they! But I went in, glanced around and hit the jackpot. They offer dense, multi-grain seeded breads of lush, flavorful varieties. I bought several hunks and walked a mile home. (You can buy a quarter loaf of bread, or less!)
So I’ve been on a mission, and my family back home has helped out. I just received packages full of baking soda and baking powder, brown sugar, measuring cups and spoons, (a few sewing supplies, which have nothing to do with this story)… and today an oven thermometer arrived from my big bro.
Today was my maiden bake-off. In 5 months I’ve never used my oven! I found a recipe online (waiting for my girlfriend to send me her real, traditional Irish recipe). I bought white flour and some sort of flour I can only guess about. I faked the buttermilk with some vinegar and made a mess in my kitchen. (Ahh, I’ve been missing that!) Soda bread is not yeasted, so it goes together quickly and easily; just don’t overwork it!
It cooked in about half an hour and looked beautiful through the oven window. Hot out of the oven, I had a slice with the first butter I’ve eaten in 5 months. (Truth be told, I picked the butter brand because I like the tin it comes in.) The next slice I ate with soft Italian goat cheese. Mmm. I could top it with some sliced tomato, too!
OK. I’ve established for myself how readily I can have the hearty bread I’m looking for, but I’ll have to start finding friends that like it, too. Either give half a loaf away each time, or conjure a half-recipe and make just enough to last three days.
Next, I’ll start experimenting with grain content and other variations. Mmm. A grilled soda bread sandwich with bresaola and gorgonzola? Perhaps.
by Maureen | Nov 9, 2009 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
Always pack along tools when moving to another country!
Point One: This is the land of calcium deposits from the water. After boiling water just once in my stainless steel pan, the bottom and sides are covered with a white calcium film. The sinks and shower build up deposits from any standing water. The cleanser aisle at the grocery store is full of acids for “anticalcare”. Once a week I have to clean out the shower head and remove the rock-salt sized grains of coarse grit.
Point Two: I had just a slow trickle of water in the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and an even slower trickle, of cold water only, at the bidet.
Point Three: My hot water heater is an “on-demand” water heater, (only heating the water when I need it).
It occurred to me that all three points are related! Calcium and grit had likely built up in the faucet aerators and caused the slow trickle of water. The slow trickle wasn’t enough to cue the water heater to kick on, so I only had a dribble of cold water. If I could just get the aerators off and replace them, I’d have water flow AND hot water! But they were so crusted on, that I needed tools.
I shot photos of my crusted faucet aerators and went on Google Images and found photos of pipe wrenches and crescent wrenches. I printed them out and wandered off for the nearest Ferramenta Hardware Store. I bought a cheap pipe wrench for 4 euro and a nicer metric crescent wrench for 10 euro, plus 3 aerators for 1,60 euro each. I couldn’t wait to get home and test my theory!
The first aerator came off and with it a teaspoon of very coarse grit. Wow! No wonder there was only a trickle! I took the others off and flushed all the faucets. Incredible! With freshly flushed lines and new aerators, I had free flowing water for the first time in 5 months, AND hot water at the bidet! (It was such a simple fix!)
In the 5 months that I’ve been here, I have fixed or done maintenance on the following:
- replaced all the faucet aerators
- enlarged the holes on the shower head (they blocked up so regularly that the o-ring blew out once a week)
- tightened all the hinges on the kitchen cabinets (they lift UP and would fall on my head if I left them open)
- remounted a stray kitchen cabinet door whose hinge screws had “disappeared”
- taken the shower enclosure apart and scraped the whole thing down with a single edge razor blade
- oiled a drawer slide on an otherwise unusable bathroom drawer
- defrosted the unusable freezer
These are all little things, but they make a difference in the quality of daily life.
My minor little tool collection now includes:
- magnetic screwdriver with interchangeable bits of different sizes and types (from Seattle)
- single edge razor blades (unheard of here) and a scraper (from Seattle)
- leatherman multi-purpose tool with pliers and you-name-it (from Seattle)
- fine, jeweler’s needle nose pliers (from Seattle)
- steel wool (from Seattle)
- a shiny new crescent wrench
- an inexpensive pipe wrench
- a 3 euro hammer
I can fix and/or adjust a lot of things with this assortment! (Thankfully, I was well-trained at an early age.) By the time I leave this place, it’ll be in tip-top shape.
by Maureen | Nov 5, 2009 | Featured Articles, Journal, People, Photo of the Day, Photos, Quips
Again! I got on the subway. Seated myself. The doors closed, and “Twang!” As soon as the train pulled away from the station, the guy started playing a random riff on his guitar and projected it throughout the train car with an amplifier in his backpack!
I had seen him over the summer, too. Same guy. He plays just long enough between subway stops. Then pulls a flattened paper cup out of his pocket. Makes the rounds for loose change and gets off at the next stop. How can they kick him off? He doesn’t start until they’re underway, then switches cars at the next fermata.
The other riders seemed non-plussed.
by Maureen | Nov 2, 2009 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
I’m smiling, amused. I just walked home in the pouring rain. Gym bag and groceries hanging heavy from my shoulder. My black-and-white polka dot umbrella amidst the sea of umbrellas. This was no tourist moment. I was just heading home like everyone else, and put my new leather boots on the radiator to dry out. Now I’m eating some of Mom’s-recipe-chicken-with-rice-and-gravy that I had put in the freezer a couple of weeks ago. It’s November and I’m cozy in Milano.
