Ciao, i miei amici!

I’ve been having a productive week so far!  I am pushing off mastering the art of doing nothing in lieu of doing a lot of exploring the city & language learning. 

Things are progressing for me to start work.  Last week, as mentioned, I met up with the lady who is going to be basically my landlord.  She is opening a diagnostic center in a more upscale neighborhood of Rome, it will be specializing in cardiovascular disease and neurology.  This is where my NUCCA office will be!  She is a pediatrician who has gone into business ventures at this point & is developing similar diagnostic centers in Myanmar & Kuwait.  Very international.  I was nervous to meet her but, she was very nice & enthusiastic.  She was most interested in hearing about my vegetarian diet & how I moved over here without a man.  She would like to introduce me to some strong men, athletes.  :)  

So, she’s opening this big clinic & the space is awesome!  Finishing on the build-out is underway & will hopefully be done sometime this month so that I can start mid October at earliest.  We are acquiring an xray machine from another clinic in Rome & ordering other supplies from N. America.  I’ll have at least 2 treatment rooms & will share a common receptionist for scheduling & billing.  There has been talk of me wearing some type of lab coat or uniform, to look more professional.  I don’t mind, then I would have to worry less about being fashionable. 


This opening date is much later than initially planned....  we will be doing PR in the meantime.  This definitely requires me to master basic Italian.  Since being here I've realized that standing there & saying nothing doesn't come across as well.  These Italians do like that I have good posture & seem calm.

In my spare time I do walking tours of downtown & continue to see the sights.  Art & churches are my favorites & I have a great guidebook that describes things well & in an interesting manner.

On Monday I started language school & it has been awesome!  I'm learning so much!  It was pretty humbling though, I had to take a placement test when first began to decide what level class to attend.  Before arriving in Italy,  I thought I had a pretty good start on things by taking some lessons in Seattle & spending a lot of time listening to language learning cds.  I was wrong.  I also thought my Spanish skills would help me out…  not so much.  People here speak really fast & I didn’t understand anything, not even when I asked people to speak slowly.  The pretest I took was really hard, all about grammar & I bombed it.  So, I entered into the elementary level.

Turns out, this is the proper level for me to be in & I have made great progress already.  I have correctly learned how to name all the objects in a classroom, I  can tell you what I have to eat & drink for breakfast, as well as being able to name any number of clothing articles, fruits or vegetables!  I am learning like a child!  I have made one friend in my class, an elderly Mexican diplomat.  Other classmates are from Austria, Spain, Colombia, Ireland, Egypt, Russia & Brazil.

I plan to work hard at learning Italian & do extra studying about things that will pertain to my work.  I have also started to read the little prince, Il Piccolo Principe.  Have you read this book???   I hadn’t before now, it is really cute & clever. 

I don’t have a phone yet & my internet connect has been spotty at best.  It really makes me realize how much I relied on these things & being disconnected has been nice & relaxing.  I did a lot of computer communication in the U.S. & may have been slightly obsessed with email checking...?  As for the phone, I only have about two people here I’d call on the phone anyhow.  Making some friends is one of my next projects.

I'm getting up early tomorrow to go see St. Peter's basilica.  By going in the am I hope to avoid the one hour long line that builds up later on.  The tourist scene in Rome is like nothing I've ever seen before.  In some areas everyone is standing on the street corner looking at a city map.  

here are some photos!

here is my little garden apartment

I have a nice view!  It is just a small place with no kitchen but, it is comfortable & tasteful.

the streets in city center are all cobbled like this, how do those ladies wear those very high heels??

here is a typical weekend scene on the Via del Corso.   Everyone comes out in droves to walk the street & shop & eat gelato.

high fashion is everywhere.  did you know Toby Macguire is modeling for Prada?

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here is my buddy that hangs out @ the pool with me.  i call him grigio (grey).

Michaelangelo's Moses.  Enlarge this one, it is an amazing work!  Apparently one of the best beards ever carved!  There is a gash on his right knee.  The story goes that Michaelangelo spent so much time on this Moses one day he threw his chisel at the sculpture saying, Speak!  Why won't you speak???  Thus, scarring the knee.

Rome panorama from atop Castel Sant Angelo

these SMART cars are the rage, so small you can park them perpendicularly.  my host has one, I drove it around for about ten minutes & thought I was going to have a heart attack.  People overtake you from the right side all the time & it is confusing!

here is a typical lunch I have in town.  salad, bread & vino.  yummy!  for salad dressing all you get is olive oil & balsamic.  fortunately, i love that!


Thanks for reading & buona notte!! xo