Ta da! The star of the show. Thanksgiving 2015 Olive crew-Gina & Grace (missing Mariella) Olive all’ Ascolana Piazza del Popolo Tree, Piazza Arringo Christmas Market, Arringo Fountain, Arringo Side street decorations Expat luncheon Holiday...

2015 Holiday Season in Ascoli

By Larry & Arlene on Dec 23, 2015 in Blog | 2 comments

Our third American Thanksgiving in Italy was really great. There were eight of us, the new Americans in town (Marie & Chris) and their visiting niece (Anne), our friend Jo, our real-estate person, Cinzia V., and her daughter (Arianna). It was the first American Thanksgiving experience for Cinzia and Arianna. It is always so fun to see an Italian’s reaction to a whole roasted turkey and to the fact we put everything on the table at once instead of in Italian courses.  I initially placed my order for a 15 lb. turkey from a different place this year.  I arrived Monday morning for pick up and they bring out Godzilla turkey that looked like 22 lb. or more.  My regular butcher saved me with a next-day delivery of exactly what I wanted, while totally unaware that I had attempted to cheat on him.  This is the first year I found sweet potatoes and we used IKEA’s lingonberry compote as a proxy for cranberry sauce. So, finally, all my traditional dishes were represented on my Italian Thanksgiving table.  What would we do without IKEA?? Cinzia V. was so overwhelmed with it all that she invited us and Marie and Chris (also her clients) to her house for Christmas Day, and the invitation still stands. So this will be our third Christmas Day in Ascoli and each at a different Italian home. I have to keep saying third because it is hard to believe we have been here that long. We spend every Christmas Eve at Grace’s home for a fabulous seafood feast with friends. The invitations are out for our annual New Years Eve potluck party with music by our talented friend, Serafino, and the inevitable dancing. There will be some traditional foods like lentils with sausage (for luck and money), grapes (for prudence in what you do with that luck and money) and honey (for a sweet new year). However, in case you were wondering, we will not be wearing red underwear (fertility) or throwing furniture or clothes out the window (out with the old). We have enjoyed over 25 straight days of sun here in Ascoli. The temperatures at night now are near freezing, days in high 40s or...

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH THE BUREAUACRACY  We are now almost two and a half years into the process of acclimating ourselves into this fascinating place. We are still in a phase of transition that is beginning to feel comfortable with the familiar but also realizing we have along way to go before we are true Ascolani. There is still the language issue and more on that in a moment. But I’m encouraged, I feel I’m better anticipating habitual reactions of Italians and a little less likely to be going against the grain. Our Ascolani friends proudly observe the L’ Marche’ Region is situated in the middle of Italy. We now understand a declaration the Ascolani make. They have some of the favorable traits of their more business-like, northern countrymen while also maintaining the deeper family centered values of the south. Although the modern world is certainly in evidence here, it is moderated by a value system that emphasizes family and deeper interpersonal relationships are a priority around which the pace of life is coordinated. Here in Italy, one comes to respect that the long progress of time moves slowly. It requires a higher degree of patience by those of us who came from a more frantic pace of life. But we are immigrants so we have the impertinence to dare to ask if processes in Italy could benefit by operating with a little bit more efficiency. As desirable as that goal may appear to be for us, change does not come quickly in Italy. Italians have culturally had a lot of experience with solutions that turned out to be worse than the original problem. They are by nature skeptical of authority on any level and display an intense avoidance of regimentation in any form. I have also come to understand the expression of frustration with Italians who appear to have become indifferent to inefficient processes and mind numbing bureaucratic impediments. Italy is mired in duplicated, overlapping and competing bureaucracies that appear true to stereotype in being more concerned about preservation of prerogatives than necessarily consolidating to find more productive approaches. Certainly, Italy is not unique in this problem. It seems the nature of many governments and most bureaucracies validates...