Rite of Passage?

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> My US/EU adaptor blew a fuse, dispatching my beautiful iPhone 4 (and sole blogging device) to power purgatory. Instead of buying another adaptor, I found an Apple dealer in Asti who sold me the European USB power cord (30€/44$). Here, you can see the difference in shape and size.
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Slouching Towards Piedmont

The Alps hover over Italy's northwestern region ("Piemonte" means "foot of the mountain"), with Switzerland to the North and France to the West. Known as "the Burgundy of Italy", it is a land of castles, white truffles and "finer" wines, including one of my favorites, Barolo.

I'm moving from the Lombardy region and staying in Asti, Piedmont, a couple of days before moving into ICIF student housing in Costigliole d'Asti. I've never lived in a dorm before... we sleep three to a room.

ICIF is housed in one of Piedmont's castles. Here's a youtube of ICIF, which, my time having come, drew me to slouch towards Piedmont for a redemption of sorts. (With apologies to William Butler Yeats.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARaUYXV8byc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Italian Dual Citizenship

I owe to Vincenzo Sicola both my surname and my connection to Italy. Abject poverty drove him, his wife Saveria Marino Sicola, and their children from Bisacquino, Sicily, a tiny town where still today a street bears the Sicola name, and in which town archives trace the Sicolas to The Renaissance period.

Having arrived in the USA through the port of New Orleans, with an occupation listed on the ship's manifest as "peasant," Vincenzo died many years later in Houston, Texas without having obtained U.S. citizenship.

Because my paternal lineage was born to an Italian, not American, citizen, I qualify for Italian dual citizenship. Go figure. Italy considers it a citizenship by birthright.

My dual citizenship journey has been in the works for many months. I'm optimistic that I will finalize dual citizenship when I return to Texas in 2012.

For information on Italian dual citizenship, check out this website and direct questions to Nicola (tell him Mary Sicola says hello). Www.italiandualcitizenship.com

Classes postponed for a week...

The gods must be smiling upon me; the chef school classes were postponed for a week. I didn't plan on passing time on Lake Como, but what's a girl to do? Tomorrow I tour the lake by boat, via Bellagio Water Taxis. http://www.bellagiowatertaxis.com
I've promised my Texas RioGrande Legal Aid colleague and friend in Austin, Texas that I would send my regards to George Clooney. Conveniently, the boat tour should pass his Lake Como estate. How do you say "restraining order" in Italian?

Trattoria Nostradamos

A trattoria is a small eatery, serving simple dishes reminiscent of grandmother's kitchen, if one was fortunate enough to have had an Italian nonna. While they do not have the extensive food or wine selection of a more formal ristorante, a trattoria provides authentic regional cuisine for a moderate price.

I love the informal, home-style cooking of a humble trattoria, and I find the food and service often exceed that of the ristoranti. The late, great Las Manitas of Austin, Texas reminds me of a Mexican food version of a trattoria.

Tonight I ate at Trattoria Nostradamos, a Como, Italy eatery with a one-page handwritten menu. I settled on the stuffed and baked tomatoes for my first dish, and ricotta and beet ravioli in a butter sage sauce as my second dish. Water, vino rosso and an after-dinner limoncello-- a very satisfying meal.

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

And I'm tasting the pizza and vino rosso at Milan's Primafila Ristorante. Surprisingly good pizza for a tourist location.

Not Lost in Translation

Studying Italian is not the same thing as learning Italian,  at least not for me.  A pretty good student back in the day (well, there was that gaping math/science deficit), last October I rendered an Italian language instructor speechless with my confusing spoken word, which is something like EngliSpanItalian.  Sometimes, I speak two or three words in perfect Italian and then... mid-sentence silence.

Part of my challenge is approaching the Italian language like I'm cooking from scratch, constructing sentences from carefully chosen basic elements.  Since the linguistic cupboard is bare, I resorted to the communication equivalent to fast food--  memorizing a list of expressions.

Not Lost in Translation is an English to Italian MP3 download featuring a list of situation-specific expressions.  In "shopping", we hear a woman with a Scottish accent ask, "Do you have a smaller size?" and a woman repeats the phrase in Italian.  Each expression and corresponding translation is repeated three times to groovy 60's lounge music that makes me want to drink a Martini, which also may impede the learning process.  

While these canned expressions may lack nuance, they allow me to ask directions, order a meal, and buy a pair of shoes.  And knowing how to say "He's a wanker" is pretty useful in any language. Overall, canned expressions are very helpful.  If you recite the correct phrase from your memory, that is.

I noticed this shortcoming when a waiter gave me directions to the pharmacy instead of the house red I thought I had ordered.  No big problem, I thanked him and his expression relaxed when I ordered the vino rosso, no doubt relieved I wasn't about to throw up in his station.

Which brings me to the swear words and pick-up lines segments of Not Lost in Translation.  Phrases like "Do you have a light?" and "Can I offer you a drink?" merit memorizing and are expressions which can do little damage in any given setting.  But what does it say about a language culture that includes the pick-up line, "I'm horny.  Can you help me?", and is it really a good idea to memorize it?   Gotta love the Italians.

I remove the earbuds when the "I'm horny.  Can you help me?" translation is in que for fear that if committed to memory I will mistakenly recite it when what I mean to ask is for the cab driver to take me to the airport.    

You can sample it on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-coolest-language-phrases/id343159055