Italian @ MindSay

Next summer I am going to Italy.

My best friend Elena and I both turn 30 next year. We wanted to do something big, I tossed around the idea of a trip, which she was on board with. Orignally it was Ireland, but then she came up with a plan. She is going to rent a villa somewhere fabulous in Italy (where in Italy isn't it fabulous?) and invite all of her friends over.

I love this plan. Love. It.

So now she and I are scouting out villas in Italy and talking logistics. Since we plan on being in a somewhat remote area (i.e. not near a large city) I figured it was a good idea if someone in our group spoke some Italian. Because I am a dork, I decided it would be me.

So I checked out this audiobook on CD, Pimsleur's Quick and Simple Italian. I just listen in the car and repeat. It is so much fun. I have no idea if it will work, if it will last and I will be able to properly reproduce this once I am in Italy, talking to a native, but for a free course?

I have never tried learning a language using audiotapes/cd's, but we had this available at my library and I figured "what the heck". I will do this one and then try a couple other versions over the next several months, to hopefully cement it in my mind.

Right now I can say:

Hello, how are you? Do you understand English? I understand/do not understand Italian. I understand a little. I am American. I am well. I am not well. Very well, thanks. Sir, Ma'am, Miss. Goodbye.

That is what I have learned in about 45 minutes of lessons. Obviously, I have learned those phrases in Italian, but there is no reading/writing involved, so I haven't a clue how to spell them.

I'll let you know how it works out.

Well my cousins are coming over in about an hour, becuase all our parents are going to the Italian Festival. I can't wait to go. it has all sorts of well duh! Italian foods! it also has ew gross carnis. becuase there are carnical rides there. But its still fun. Anybody From Des moines should hit it up!!

Question!!!!

Which place would you rather visit?

New York or California?

When I get a chance, or have the supplies, I will make my own coffee at home and take it on the road with me on the way to work.  It's cheaper, quicker, and there is less of a chance that it won’t be made to my liking.  However, I ran out of coffee a few days ago and haven’t gone to the store to get more, so its Tim Horton’s on the way to work.  I pull up to go through the drive-through, in Johnston near the highway onramp, but there is a guy blocking the line, talking on his phone.  He clearly just picked this spot to BS to whomever, with no desire to get in line. 

So I give the guy a little toot.  Using the horn in the car is all about the pressure and frequency, otherwise you can really piss someone off.  I give him the light toot, and he proceeds to move out of the way in quick fashion.  Total time elapsed, 15 seconds.  Not bad, so I give him the thank you wave as I drive by.  This is when I notice him yelling “Fuckin…” at me.  Another stupid Johnston Italian Mafioso wannabe.  I hate these idiots.  They puff out their chests and talk like retard meatheads.  You know that guy. 

Anyways, as he see’s my hand raised, he backs off 100% immediately and starts on the “oh, yeah, no problem.”  Too late, you’ve exposed yourself as a prick, moron, and degenerate in the span of 45 seconds, not to mention ignorant for blocking the lane in the first place.  First impressions count my friend; you get no second chances, way to be an asshole. 

I apologize for beginning with the most sterotypical greeting associated with Italian, but it IS actually used and so we DO actually have to learn it properly in class.  Properly mostly involves, "don't greet strangers in suits this way."  What fascinates me though is the word's history.  In a roundabout way, it actually comes from the word for slave!  Allow me to summarize: once upon a time, local dialects reigned supreme in Italy rather than what enthusiastic educators like to consider the standard language.  (Ok I know this is still the case, but play along...)  At that time, Venice, an entrancing city where all visiters instantly develop an unexpected love of velvet and small boats, was renowned for it's diplomats.  (I always thought it only had pirates, but maybe it depends who is telling the tale.  Anyway.)  In the Venetian dialect, the word schiao used as a greeting of sorts developed from Latin esclavum which meant slave.  Schiao didn't mean slave exactly, but was more of a "your servant" kind of greeting.  Picture people in coats bowing with dignity and perhaps placing one hand on the heart with another on the bill.  Now he says "schiao."  Somehow this turned into the ciao that people the world over know and love today.  Maybe they noticed how successful those Venetians were at selling velvet, or maybe they just wanted to seem well traveled and didn't count on everyone else using it, including folks who only travel through the special addition digital sattelite channels.  Who knows.  In any case, that is the slightly abbreviated, slighly embellished version of my textbook's culture point.  I know a few of our most loyal bloggers have a much closer connection to Italy's language and history than two days of language lessons, so please join in!

If the pictures don't expand properly here go to Hands and Feet on Typepad.

Padova's beautiful scenery includes Italian shoes!

Padova is a very old city in the north of Italy with stone bridges over canals and vine encrusted medieval city walls behind beautiful brick buildings. There are even some Roman ruins south of the train station. The city is situated along the Bachiglione River, between Verona and Venice. If you find yourself wandering about that train station (which can be a dangerous place) walk s outh immediately to the oldest part of the city.

 Padova is an amazing place if you like 13^th century architecture and art history. Its one of the Petrie dishes in which the Italian Renaissance was spawned.  I recommend visiting the Palazzo della Ragione, built in 1285 by the architect Leonardo Bocaleca. Admission is four euros and there's many stairs to climb, but the upstairs bathrooms are probably the best in the city. Inside the great hall there's over two hundred early medieval paintings on all four walls. I'm not kidding - it's overwhelming. The exterior architecture is amazing too, yet the western side is pretty much eclipsed by the Volto della Corda which was a pillory where prisoners were sentenced to be punished by ropes.

On Saturday the biggest attraction for savvy tourists should be the market fair that occurs in the town centre. The core of the city is an otherwise tranquil place filled with empty grass lawns, statues and fountains, but every Saturday morning its miraculously transformed into a cornucopia of commercial activity.

Veteran travelers know the best bargains are found in those places where the locals shop, and such places tend to be crowded. This is definitely true of the Padova Sat Market near the old town centre.

Tents filled with high quality Italian shoes dominate the west side of this trade fair. The shoes are made in Italy, and they smell like new leather. The best shoes are found in the seventy to eighty euro range. I bought a pair of brown Lanciotti shoes for seventy five euros.

My girlfriend Ruth had a great time exploring the woman’s shoes tents, which were endless, in the south western corner of the park. She said that almost all the shoes  there were made in Italy, and the cheapest shoes were often the cutest. She bought two pair for less than eighty euro, and is now proud of her new pink Italian pumps.

As you know I'm fascinated with foam footwear and I try to find shoes similar to Holey Soles whenever I travel abroad. In Padova I found some Italian foam footwear. The light green colored clogs in the picture are sanitary workers shoes perfect for restaurant kitchens and hospitals etc while the others are made for the beach.

A five piece brass band with a very versatile drummer serenades the park. As we approached they became musically aware of Ruth and I and changed their song to seduce us with the opening chords of an 18th century ballad featuring a series of horn solos. It was effective. Ruth was overwhelmed with the romance of this musical spectacle - she felt like the leading lady in an Italian movie.  I was therefore compelled to deposit five euro into an open horn case, one for each of the artists. Roberrific