Daily struggle

Most of this blog shares our outings in and around Rome. I guess I have found a need to show the good things, our enjoyable moments. Truth be told, it's usually quite a chore to live here. As a foreigner and limited Italian speaker, I just don't know or have access to many of the charms of life here. I can't figure out how they make the artichokes taste so good; I can't negotiate a better price for fresh kiwis (or for repair of my gate); I don't know good places to buy shoes or how to play Italian cards; I don't know the difference between tripe cooked in Florence to that of Rome (I also don't like tripe)... I could go on.

I guess the fact of the matter is that much of Italy (Rome, in particular) is closed to me. I don't know many Italians, although my children go to a school that is more than 50% Italian and their classes have even a higher percentage. The few that I have me are busy with and keep to their families. They don't simply invite folks like us home for lunch. It must take years to really penetrate their rich, family-filled worlds. This is different for me, who has lived in other places 'round the world and shared many a meal with "locals."

So, I live like a pseudo-tourist. It's pseudo because as I site-see, I still must come home to negotiate with the man who fills our gas tank; I must listen to the indignant non-apologies of service people who fail to show up on time (or at all); I must interact with the caribinieri who stop me randomly as I drive down my street; I must try to convince the horseriding teacher that shouting, "You know how to ride a horse," doesn't encourage; I must cutoff other cars and gesture if I want to get anywhere... Strange existence.

I also don't have a strong expatriate community to help. We are scattered. Many of the women I do know have lived here for many years and repeat, like a mantra, "It's so much better than it used to be. You're lucky." They've been through the fire (inferno, maybe) and can't imagine why I feel lonely or legless in 2007. Well, I don't know what they've experienced, but a little help and extension of friendship never hurts, no matter how trivial it feels to the giver.

sigh.