Archive for the ‘pasqualina’ Category
An American Expat in Italy Goes “Home”
As many of you know, I was back in the US from mid-November to late December. This was my first trip “home” since February 2004.
Yes I write it in quotes; as much fun as I had there, you see, I was also extremely excited and happy to get back to P, the pooches,
and the three kids (who, incidentally, we believe may all be pregnant!).
Stateside, I spent lots of time with family and friends, visited Philadelphia, New York City (where I met two online friends for the first time and met up with an old college friend–none of whom are shown in the photo below!)
and Washington DC,
helped my mom make cookies (which she sells for Christmas),
and shopped. A lot. The Christmastime prices in American malls? Worth the price of the airline ticket, quite frankly.
For instance, P was amazed that I could get him a pair of Levi’s for $30 (€21) when they cost, oh five times that here. My other spectacular purchases for myself include a new iPod Touch (to make it easier to read English language books, mainly) and a new external hard drive.
NB: Anything technological/electronic costs *way* less in America than it does in Italy.
My biggest culture shock actually came very early on in the trip when I couldn’t. stop. speaking. Italian. It was the weirdest thing! On the plane over, no matter what language the person addressing me was speaking, I would answer in Italian…and only sometimes catch that I had done it–once purely by the blank look on a fellow passenger’s face.
The two hardest things to stop saying were “Ciao!,” “Grazie!,” and “Sì!” So I imagine I just looked like a really pretentious American for at least the first few days of the trip. Oh well.
The other thing that was hard to get used to? Things being open in the afternoon. So strange to be able to go shopping or *gasp* get something to eat between one and four! Lovely.
I still have lots of photos to go through and post on Flickr (and possibly here), and probably a lot of mental processing of the whole experience. Soon I’ll be publishing my Top 10 Realizations After Being “Home” for the First Time in Nearly Six Years so please check back!
And the Kids Come of Age
You know as a goat maaaaa the day will come when your lil’ kids, particularly the one you bottle fed,
would go and get all grows up.
Yes, it’s breeding time around here (for the GOATS people!), and last week, the girls were anxiously, let’s say, waiting for Godot.
Meet Godot:
If all goes well, kids in March.
Gaaaaah! Are we ready for this?!
Five months, and we’ll have our answer.
Buon weekend!
Goat Tears Cure Muscle Aches and Pains!
Did you know goat tears are an instant remedy for your aches and pains?
That’s what Thera-Gesic says:
I don’t care how magical goat tears are. I’ll never make my babies cry on purpose.
You wanna know why?
Happy Love Thursday!
Hug a kid!
And get in those O Foods Contest recipes!
Introducing Carmelina: Another Kid Joins the Herd
Today should rightfully be a Going Green post according to my schedule, but I’m under several deadlines and simply couldn’t do the planned topic of water conservation justice this week, so please try to suffer through these adorable photos of Carmelina, our newest kid, instead.
Yes, we have a new girl around here, this one via a friend of P’s who couldn’t keep her. Lucky us!
And in an interesting turn of events, the guy who originally had Carmelina (before P’s friend) seems to think she may already be carrying a new little kid or two. We have to get a blood test from the veterinarian to find out, but fingers crossed that there will be kids in a few months! Yay!
All the girls are getting along swimmingly and can often be found playing around and being silly with one another. I tried to get some video of their hijinks but my camera is acting up, jumping around, losing color, generally being disagreeable. I’ll keep trying though because it really is adorable to watch.
See more photos of the girls (and some other fun shots of our tomatoes, figs, grapes, a lone pomegranate that couldn’t, and more!) on my Flickr page–and feel free to friend me if you’ve got a Flickr account! That way you can always keep up with my latest photos, and I can keep an eye on yours as well.
Ah, and if you’re still in a goatish mood, check out this goat and dog pair that were wandering around Norristown, PA together (thanks Megan!). Too cute!
Buon weekend!
Love Thursday: Just Me and the Kids
Yes, I know the blog has been heavy on books and reviews lately, but that’s certainly not all we do around here. We also, for example, admire our baby goats.
Yes, the girls have been showing more sisterly love:
But there’s just nothing like a Mamma’s love is there?
Happy Love Thursday from our pen to yours!
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
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