Adventures in the City

I am doing a whole lot better, and Sunday was the first day I got out of the apartment. It ended up being an adventurous day. Here is what happened…

I decided to go to church and to get there decided to get a ticket by taking the metro. Tabacchi {tobacco} stores are closed Sundays and they along with the metro are the only ones who sell bus tickets. So after taking the metro I walked to the bus and finally got church a few minutes late. This week I didn’t have anyone translating for me, but I got most of it. At least I hope!

I got to see so many of my new friends again and they all have such different backgrounds and stories. One is an American, but she is fluent in Italian. It is amazing to watch her in action. Then there is mother and daughter originally from Romania. The daughter is in high school and is leanring English so she practices on me. Then there is the young man who gave the message. He is originally from Albania and is also trying to learn English. He asked if he could converse with me and he did so well. He knows more English than I know Italian, but I was happy I got to say “in Italiano.” {That means I was going to translate it into English to help him!} My American friend, Albanian friend, Peruvian friend, and I decided to go for a walk downtown after hanging out at church and fellowshipping with everyone. After walking to the center of downtown, we were at Piazza Castello. I brought my parents here when they visited and I’ve been in all the buildings around it for my Interior design class. They have a huge advent calendar set up and a display of a nativity scene. It is interesting to say the least.

Notice the missing baby Jesus...

While I was soaking up the Italian chatter of my friends, one remarked that it looked like they were filming something. This is a very famous square and there seems to be something going on there all the time. I looked closer just to try and guess and saw this pretty picture…

Yep that’s right, The Amazing Race is coming to Torino!
I don’t know what season they are filming or anything. I don’t know what this means or what else they will have to do. All I know is that the Piazza is the “pit stop for this leg of the race.” Yes I heard the words come out of mouth of Phil Keoghran. And that guy is good, but he still did at least 2 takes while we were standing there. He was also helping the crew with lighting and such. Multi talented! I was surprised by how little equipment they had all together.

The funny part was trying to explain this television show to my friends. In Italian. Oh boy! It’s a race…yes it’s a course…no, not an actual course… * I think they got the gist of it, but I’m sure they think I’m crazy. I tried to tell them that it’s one of the few programs* that I watch. If you know me you know I don’t watch much TV.
They were obviously not as enthusiastic as I was...so we walked to the Christmas market.
The Christmas market is put on for most of the month of December and it is quite the little festive area. They had fresh funnel cake/donuts. If my stomach hadn’t been so tied up still I would have gotten one. I did however have bites of my first farina tanti cotta a legna. It’s made of chickpea flour and olive oil {and they added some spice that I can’t think of right now}. They bake it in wood oven fires. It felt like winter and Christmas just being there.

After all the excitement I had to come back and do homework. But I think the outing was worth it! What did you do that was adventurous this weekend?

They have been decorating while I've been sleeping!

*course= race
programma= plan/schedule/TV show

Out of Commission

I was working on a post for today, yesterday afternoon. It was going to be a little deeper. A little more insightful. It will just have to wait.
Last night I hit a brick wall of sickness. It came on suddenly and fast. I don’t normally get sick and I don’t remember the last time that I have been this sick. The good news is I think I’m on the mend. I’m going to be resting up this weekend, so I may or may not post the next couple days.
Prayers would be appreciated, as I am the third in my house to have the flu/whatever bug it is. Not fun!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Mammoni

via

There is this phenomenon in Italy. And every {young} person not from Italy seems to think it will be a problem. Before I came to Italy I got the usual jokes of how I would come back with an Italian boyfriend, “oh the guys are just so cute,” and “you aren’t ever going to want to leave. A boy would be a good reason to stay”. Well I must correct ‘you’ on that; a man would be a good reason to stay. A man that does not still live with his mother for that matter.
There is a word here “Mammoni” and it means ‘mama’s boy’. In America we have a negative connotation, and there is one here too but the men and their mama’s don’t seem to be embarrassed by it. These mama’s boys still live at home, and we are talking they are in their 30’s, 40’s and yes sometimes even 50’s. Sometimes the only reason that they move out is that death did them part.
To watch it, it is almost like a pact that the mom won’t ask her son to leave she likes having him there. And the son isn’t going to break off because life is just too sweet with mama. He lives like he is at a hotel; clothes are left wherever, bed is left unmade, laundry appears magically done and folded, every meal is homemade and can be ordered to room service style. The best part? No rent. Yep that’s right they don’t pay rent to their parents and they don’t pay for the meals. Sometimes they chip in I’m sure but there is not an expectation.
The kicker is that these are men that are financial stable. They have jobs, they even have other houses. They have girlfriends and yet they still choose to live at home. The Italian mamas seem to almost imagine that it would be bad for their healthy for their baby {or grown son} to move out.
When I arrived in Italy I learned that most children live at home until they get married and this was the explanation we got when we asked why there was so much PDA. Who wants to bring their boyfriend or girlfriend home if mom and dad are just going to be waiting? {And this fits with why Italians don’t have a word for privacy…}There is an Italian way of life that leads them to stay in one place. People hesitate to move and will often pass up a job opportunity in a different city, so children if they go to University go to the school in the city they live in. The Italian income is low so it doesn’t make sense and is often not a financial option to go away to school or live somewhere else just because. Italians look at you like you’re crazy when you tell them you live with your friends and that you go to school far from your parent’s house.
So in the aspect of financial options living with your parents makes sense, but these men well that isn’t their problem. They openly say that they probably won’t live at the home that they own, sometimes even in the instance of marriage. And some even still come to their mom for certain things after they are married. I guess I believe in the verse from the Bible saying “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” {Genesis 2.24}

What do you think? Is this natural or unhealthy from your viewpoint? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Don’t worry there isn’t a man {or a boy} to stay for. I’ll let you know if things change but…let’s just say I’m a little weary and have my guard up.