I'm late again. But at least it's a blog and not something that will threaten life as we know it.
And today I'm irked.
There's a woman at work who is eight months pregnant. Actually, she's more of a girl, 19. The job she does for us is critical, but relatively easy, and it's a good job for someone with a high school education.
As far as I know, they still teach health in high school.
I'm not irked by her getting pregnant at such a young age. It happens, she's married, she could have had an abortion but she chose not to. It's her choice.
Why is she choosing to smoke through her entire pregnancy?!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
"You're such a good little foreigner"
That's what a souvenir seller outside of the Paris Opera House told Sam. She speaks excellent French (and according to her, she's better when she's drunk) and she had been in France for four months at that point.
I'm sure he meant it in the nicest way possible, but I still took affront to it. I couldn't (and still can't) speak French. I know just few enough phrases to get me from the airport via bus to the train station and then check into a hotel. I can order food, ask for simple directions, and find my way back to my hotel without Sam to guide me.
But I am such an English speaker that when someone asks me "Do you speak English?", I answer with "No, I'm sorry I don't" when I don't want to talk to them.
That was at the end of March, 1999. I flew to Paris for the weekend to visit Sam.
(I LOVE saying that. "I flew to Paris for the weekend.")
I had a great time on that trip, and it really impressed on me how important language is. When I went over to Paris, I had been studying Italian for three months, on and off (I tried to study French, but do you know how hard it is to try to learn two languages at once? I threw my hands up) When I got back, I redoubled my efforts. I didn't want to stick out. I wanted to be able to blend in a bit.
The first week in Tuscany, when we spoke Italian, we were answered in Italian. People were patient if we couldn't remember the word we were looking for. The less exposure I had to English speakers, the better. In Firenze, I walked out of a pasticceria after having had a short conversation about the North End in Boston with the owner.
The second week, the patience was gone. We were speaking Italian well enough, but not as quickly as native speakers and our sentence structure was on the simple side. But we were answered in English. Perfect English.
As it turned out, the first week that we were in Tuscany, we were in the off season. The second and third week? Tourist season.
I don't want to go through that again. I want to be able to walk into the mask shop in Firenze (or any other mask shop hidden around the next corner) and converse with the owner about the theater, compliment him on his work, and barter for a commedia del'arte disguise and then go back to blending in and finding the real local culture. Okay, so I probably won't be able to blend as well as I'd like, but at least I won't be shunned.
The last time I studied, I used a set of CDs. This time, I'm thinking software. It's time to embrace technology.
It sounds good to me.
- A.M.
I'm sure he meant it in the nicest way possible, but I still took affront to it. I couldn't (and still can't) speak French. I know just few enough phrases to get me from the airport via bus to the train station and then check into a hotel. I can order food, ask for simple directions, and find my way back to my hotel without Sam to guide me.
But I am such an English speaker that when someone asks me "Do you speak English?", I answer with "No, I'm sorry I don't" when I don't want to talk to them.
That was at the end of March, 1999. I flew to Paris for the weekend to visit Sam.
(I LOVE saying that. "I flew to Paris for the weekend.")
I had a great time on that trip, and it really impressed on me how important language is. When I went over to Paris, I had been studying Italian for three months, on and off (I tried to study French, but do you know how hard it is to try to learn two languages at once? I threw my hands up) When I got back, I redoubled my efforts. I didn't want to stick out. I wanted to be able to blend in a bit.
The first week in Tuscany, when we spoke Italian, we were answered in Italian. People were patient if we couldn't remember the word we were looking for. The less exposure I had to English speakers, the better. In Firenze, I walked out of a pasticceria after having had a short conversation about the North End in Boston with the owner.
The second week, the patience was gone. We were speaking Italian well enough, but not as quickly as native speakers and our sentence structure was on the simple side. But we were answered in English. Perfect English.
As it turned out, the first week that we were in Tuscany, we were in the off season. The second and third week? Tourist season.
I don't want to go through that again. I want to be able to walk into the mask shop in Firenze (or any other mask shop hidden around the next corner) and converse with the owner about the theater, compliment him on his work, and barter for a commedia del'arte disguise and then go back to blending in and finding the real local culture. Okay, so I probably won't be able to blend as well as I'd like, but at least I won't be shunned.
The last time I studied, I used a set of CDs. This time, I'm thinking software. It's time to embrace technology.
It sounds good to me.
- A.M.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
A little wining
Ooof. I fail.
I had every good intention of posting Wednesday, also known as yesterday. After all, this is supposed to be a Monday and Wednesday update. I blame it on... no one but me.
After all, I could have gone to the gym after work, but I didn't know how difficult travel was going to be in the snow. And when I was called into work, I could have politely said "no, I bought cheap tires for my car and they're allergic to snow." While I was at work, where there was nothing for me to do, I could have posted instead of accepting the pizza offered as a consolation prize for driving in the snow. And when we left early (only two hours after I arrived at the office), I could have gone straight home.
But Sam (that's my soon-to-be wife) came and picked me up and we headed over to Brian and Jess's house for wine, food, and games. This update was buried along with the car in the snow.
The wine was excellent, starting with a nice port that they had picked up in California and moving to a Shiraz that they picked up somewhere. When wine is offered, I generally don't turn it down. I'm not a connoisseur by any means, but I know what I like. But I generally don't buy too many wines. Sam is very picky about what she likes, we have opposing work schedules, and I don't like to drink alone.
Which is why going to Tuscany was such a hoot. I have never been anywhere where so many good wines could be had and I always had someone around to share. Two places to go on any trip to Italy: (1) the local grocery store and (2) almost any wine shop that's hidden away from everything. The table wines are fabulous and inexpensive, the superb wines are reasonably priced. And the variety is incredible.
Given a choice, go see the little guy. If he likes you, he'll do shots with you. And try to grope the women you're traveling with.
I'm off. I need to think about the guest list for this little adventure. I also need to start relearning the Italian I forgot.
Why? Because it sounds good to me.
- A.M.
I had every good intention of posting Wednesday, also known as yesterday. After all, this is supposed to be a Monday and Wednesday update. I blame it on... no one but me.
After all, I could have gone to the gym after work, but I didn't know how difficult travel was going to be in the snow. And when I was called into work, I could have politely said "no, I bought cheap tires for my car and they're allergic to snow." While I was at work, where there was nothing for me to do, I could have posted instead of accepting the pizza offered as a consolation prize for driving in the snow. And when we left early (only two hours after I arrived at the office), I could have gone straight home.
But Sam (that's my soon-to-be wife) came and picked me up and we headed over to Brian and Jess's house for wine, food, and games. This update was buried along with the car in the snow.
The wine was excellent, starting with a nice port that they had picked up in California and moving to a Shiraz that they picked up somewhere. When wine is offered, I generally don't turn it down. I'm not a connoisseur by any means, but I know what I like. But I generally don't buy too many wines. Sam is very picky about what she likes, we have opposing work schedules, and I don't like to drink alone.
Which is why going to Tuscany was such a hoot. I have never been anywhere where so many good wines could be had and I always had someone around to share. Two places to go on any trip to Italy: (1) the local grocery store and (2) almost any wine shop that's hidden away from everything. The table wines are fabulous and inexpensive, the superb wines are reasonably priced. And the variety is incredible.
Given a choice, go see the little guy. If he likes you, he'll do shots with you. And try to grope the women you're traveling with.
I'm off. I need to think about the guest list for this little adventure. I also need to start relearning the Italian I forgot.
Why? Because it sounds good to me.
- A.M.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Dreaming of Italian sunshine
Here I am again.
It seems I was here back in 1999, but on the other side of the lira. A friend of mine started planning a large group trip to Italy, and I started getting excited about it. It was everything that I wanted it to be. That was in 2002.
Now, it's 2007 and I'm dreaming of going back. I want to visit the family that I didn't get to meet last time, see the southern side of the country, bask in the warm sunshine with the old friends who are still around and new friends who didn't get to go last time. The model for the last trip worked extremely well, I've been on a few trips with other friends since then, and I've learned a lot.
I'm going to start planning this now. The goal will be a trip sometime in three or four years time. It should give me (and everyone else) enough time to figure out what it entails and how to do it.
This time, though, I want to speak Italian better than I did last time. And I don't want to repeat my mistakes from the last trip or any other trip in between.
Why?
It sounds good to me.
- A.M.
It seems I was here back in 1999, but on the other side of the lira. A friend of mine started planning a large group trip to Italy, and I started getting excited about it. It was everything that I wanted it to be. That was in 2002.
Now, it's 2007 and I'm dreaming of going back. I want to visit the family that I didn't get to meet last time, see the southern side of the country, bask in the warm sunshine with the old friends who are still around and new friends who didn't get to go last time. The model for the last trip worked extremely well, I've been on a few trips with other friends since then, and I've learned a lot.
I'm going to start planning this now. The goal will be a trip sometime in three or four years time. It should give me (and everyone else) enough time to figure out what it entails and how to do it.
This time, though, I want to speak Italian better than I did last time. And I don't want to repeat my mistakes from the last trip or any other trip in between.
Why?
It sounds good to me.
- A.M.
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