As we sit in our comfortable apartment in Ascoli Piceno, it is within a few days of the transition into a new year. Although snow has been visible in the higher elevations immediately west of Ascoli for several weeks, this morning we have had our first more serious snowfall of the season here in town. It has become a habit to try and reflect on our overall experience with the ending of one year and the beginning of a new one. When this practice started, we were trying to get our heads around what was happening to us in the process of electively uprooting ourselves and attempted to become inserted into a culture about which we had only a superficial understanding. All be it, we were doing this at a time in our lives when, so-called conventional wisdom suggests that in your more ‘mature years’, tranquil stability and predictability ought to be part of your life. I guess we must have missed that particular talk show segment. It is fascinating that while people have many fundamental similarities, we also seem to come in a variety of packages made up of different strains of restlessness, curiosity and a low threshold for boredom. Added to that variety in human makeup is the interesting probability of finding yourself in a committed, long-term relationship with another person with whom you share enough similarities in this mix of characteristics that you don’t drive each other into frustrated distraction. It seems to be a reoccurring thread in this Blog that we comment on our feelings of gratitude for being in a marital relationship that remains vital and gratifying even after more than thirty years of acquaintanceship. We apparently share enough core, temperamental characteristics to make the relationship work. The wonder to me is how we were smart enough to understand that as we began to get to know each other. I freely confess, given her obvious attributes, I became very attracted to her and in time that developed into a committed relationship. Retrospectively, I realize I absolutely made the right decision, however, there may have been some possible initial elements of being motivated by the wrong reasons. As time has gone on, I have found myself ready to accept...
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The Christmas celebration officially began here in Italy on the 8thof December with the observance of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary by the Roman Catholic Church. But the actual Italian start date for Christmas preparation seems a bit more flexible. Probably being influenced by the retail commercialization of Christmas in our homeland, store displays and merchandising here in Ascoli Piceno seem to have started appearing earlier in each year we have been here. But that is still nothing like the constantly advancing buying frenzy, calendar creep, in America. Fortunately, the Christmas Season in Italy still feels more traditional and family oriented and a bit less overwhelmed by consumerism than in the U.S. We recently went to Rome for ten days to participate in an intensive Italian language course in preparation to take an examination of our ability to understand, speak and write in Italian. As we mentioned in a previous post, by passing this exam, we will be able to apply for a longer-term Italian immigration permission. That test is now behind us. We are optimistic about the test results but won’t have the official outcome for a couple of months. So more on that later. But the observation I wanted to make is that Rome is such a busy place and so filled with tourists that we didn’t have a sense of as much of the charm that we feel during the Christmas Season in Ascoli Piceno. In Rome many of the holiday light displays were already installed over some streets and the Christmas Market had been set-up in the Piazza Navona just before we left to come back to Ascoli post-test. Over recent years, the Christmas market in the Piazza Navona seems to have taken on more of a County Fair atmosphere. Many of the temporary, wooden market stalls featured stuffed ‘plush’-toys typical of any time of year. And then there were offerings of very realistic-looking, toy military weapons to excite sweet children during this season of love. Surrounding Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, there were also midway-style, arcade games to play. And there was even cotton candy. Another impression of Christmas celebration preparation in Rome was a conspicuous presence of law enforcement and uniformed Italian Army...
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AUTUMN TRANSITIONS Autumn has come to Ascoli Piceno. Recently, it has been pleasantly mild after a more abrupt, cooler temperature change in mid-September. It seems there is no justification in this hemisphere for using the term, ‘Indian Summer’ because there is no evidence of any indigenous people from North America having lived here. Never-the-less, being creatures of habit, that is how these transplanted Americans are referring to the current, pleasant weather. In this latter third of October, tree leaves have started to change and more of them are starting to find their way to the ground. Recently, during some sunny, mid-day hours, we have enjoyed going for walks and running errands in shirt sleeves. But the sun is moving lower on the horizon and by late afternoon, at least a light jacket is in order. Something even more substantial, is called for in the evening. Just now, off in the distant heights of the Sibillini Mountains, we can see some fresh snow. A reminder, winter is coming. The seasonal weather isn’t the only aspect of our lives in transition. We have started a more involved process of changing our immigration status in the Republic of Italy. Up till now, we have been legally approved to remain in Italy through the granting of a so-called Permesso di Soggiorno, literally a permission to live here subject to reauthorization every two years. Italian immigration regulations also provide for an immigrant, who has been in residence in Italy for at least five years, to be eligible to apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno per Lungo Sogggiornanti, essentially a long-term, alien residence permission. What is different in the granting of this status is that it authorizes residence in Italy for an open-ended/indefinite period rather than being subject to re-authorization every two years. A distinction is that the long-term permission must be administratively renewed every five years. Being approved for an indefinite period but having to renew every five years may seem a contradiction. But this is Italy, so we just accept it. Making this change would simplify some administrative processes and more accurately reflect our present intention, for the foreseeable future, to remain in Italy rather than returning to the U.S. We plan...
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The Quintana is a spectacular event in any number of considerations. It has been produced by the community of Ascoli Piceno and the surrounding towns, for over sixty years. It is said to be based on the contests held in Imperial Roman Army encampments to encourage prowess and solidarity. The costumes are based on Renaissance depictions in the paintings of the fifteenth century artist, Carlo Crivelli, who painted in Ascoli. The principal events climax during the last weeks of July and then into the first week of August. The community of Ascoli Piceno itself is composed of six distinct districts, the Sestieri, each fiercely holding on to its own identity. There are contests in choreographed flag tossing (Sbandieterri), Archery and the main event the Giostra, or Joust, where a mounted horsemen engages a stationary target with a lance and competes in both time completing the circuit and the score of the hits on the target. There are two engagements of the Giostra. One is in late July and the second in the first week of August. Prior to these climactic events, there is a grand procession through Ascoli Piceno of the Sestieri that includes contingents from the surrounding communities that were in reality the castles of lesser nobles who owed fealty to the Lord of the Castle of Ascoli Piceno. In recent years, we have enjoyed going into the Piazza where the procession gathers to form up prior to marching off in solemn procession through the city center. We find the atmosphere full of enthusiastic anticipation and it permits me the luxury of freely wandering through the crowd and photographing these costumed and exceptional people at closer range. What follows are some images of the procession and for the most part, the participants in that more relaxed time in the Piazza before the procession begins. The images presented are actually drawn from several of the proceeding Quintana reenactments. The demonstration of community cohesiveness by the participation of over 1,500 volunteers is one more example of an Italian sense of pride of place....
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FIVE YEARS Recently, we observed the fifth anniversary of our arrival In Ascoli Piceno, Italy to take up residence. Prior to leaving our home of many years in the San Diego, California area, we started this Blog. Part of the motivation was to have a means of keeping something of a journal to reflect back on our experience. The other motivation was self-serving to the extent that it gave us a means to inform immediate family and close friends about what was going on without multiple reiterations. There have been some unanticipated benefits in the writing of this Blog. For me, it has developed as a more personal reflection on adapting to the life of an American couple becoming expatriates in Italy. What was also a pleasant surprise was the reaction of people we did not previously know, who contacted us with questions about our experience. The reality that the Internet provides a broad exposure to what one posts should have been obvious. The unintended fallout is we are delighted this Blog has turned out to be of interest to some others. I had set a goal of posting to the Blog at least monthly. One of the motivations emerged out of the process of attempting to gain a proficiency in a language outside of previous experience. In reality, at my stage of life, as much as I would wish otherwise, it will be some time – if ever, that I will be able to express myself in Italian with the nuance that I hope I can muster in the English language. Retrospectively, I have a sense that writing in the Blog has given me a vehicle to keep language and thought formation in my native tongue active through exercise. With the passing of time, there has been an increasing difficulty in setting aside time to write something for the Blog. The result has been greater gaps between postings. My sense is it is not a matter of having lost interest in the Blog but rather the gradual change that has taken place over the past five years as we are more fully taking on the role of being expatriates in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. After five years, if anything,...
Read MoreVerona Christmas Star From the Colloseum Arch of the Star Colosseum Arena Colosseum Arena Entrance Massive Colosseum Interior Verona Fortress Interior Wall Fortress Well Fortress Art Collection Madonna and Child in Wood Wood Carving Fortress Battlements Renaissance Bridge over the River Adige Church of San Zeno Maggiore San Zeno Maggiore Belltower San Zeno Apse and Crypt San Zeno High Altar San Zeno Raised Presbyery San Zeno Presbytery toward the Nave San Zeno Baptismal Font San Zeno Renaissance Crusifix San Zen Side Altar San Zeno Crypt San Zeno Contemporary Crusifixion San Zeno Bronze Relief Doors San Zeno Bronze Relief Doors San Zeno Fresco With Pilgrim Graffiti as early as 1390 San Zeno Doors to the Cloister San Zeno Cloister San Zeno Cloister San Zeno Nativity Verona Street Verona Roman Gate Attractive Tourist Being Followed Verona Street Christmas Tree Verona – Piazza Erbe Verona Piazza Erbe Tree Verona Christmas Market Verona Christmas Market Christmas on Via Mazzini – Verona In a separate post, we discussed our trip to Verona just before Christmas. We had previously enjoyed Padua and planed to see Verona, and we were delighted with the experience. The choice of timing was to get a sense of how different towns in Italy celebrate the Christmas Festival. Italy is a curious mixture of reverence for their culture which bears a distinctively Christian imprint while carrying out their lives in a generally ‘secular’ manner. Perhaps there is an inherently deep respect in Italy for their cultural history with so much of it bearing the Christian imprint. Whatever the root, one of he joys of life in Italy is the ready access to and respect for its artistic cultural history. And then, coming from a homeland which traces its political origins only back some four hundred years, we also recall that our American roots for many of us, were in Europe. So we are immigrants in Europe from the so-called ‘new world’ but in many respects we are here to discover roots from this part of the world that are very likely to be in our DNA as well. Perhaps, that is another reason we feel comfortable...
Read MoreCarnevale Piazza Popolo Carnevale Time Carnevale in Full Swing Carnevale Crowd Revelers Revelers Wolf and Piglets Talking Madona Trump – “Mine’s Bigger” Kim – “No, Mine’s Bigger” The Demure Comforted Clown Communication Fair Damsel Artist Clean-Up Squad ? Principessa Joyful Bear Face Painting in Process Italians look forward to Carnevale. Not people to be staid and undemonstrative under normal circumstances, Italians let it all hang out at Carnevale. In Ascoli, this is an entire community coming out with a ‘no-holds-barred’ opportunity to lampoon anything and anybody – especially politicians and the church. It is a time of exuberant merry making, however, it is not fueled by excess alcohol. It seems here, being intoxicated is frowned upon to the point of derision. The Italians don’t seem to need to get ‘loosened up’ on booze to have a fun time, they seem to come by it naturally. And then, as in most social settings, this is an all age group, community-wide fun...
Read MoreNEW YEARS PERSPECTIVE – 2018 About this time each year of our Expats-in-Italy adventure, we try and look back to interpret the sum of our impressions of the calendar year recently past. There is that worn cliché – ‘if time is flying, you must be having fun’. As this is now our fifth post-New Year experience as immigrant residents in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, it does seem time has flown. In affirming the aforementioned cliché, on balance we have to agree, our Expat experience continues to go well, very well actually. But then, with everyone’s life experiences, the more significant events seem to revolve around interactions with others. Inevitably, that involves both experiences of joys as well as those of sorrows. Arlene lost a younger sister this past year and we both have continuing concerns on the health of some close family members. We also grieve over the loss of a wonderful Italian friend who left us much too soon. As unfortunate as having to confront such deeply distressing events seems to be, there is reassurance that we also can relate to each other on a very profound level to be able to share and support each other, not only in joys but also in life’s bitter distresses. Additionally, a facet in becoming an expatriate requires leaving a physical place where you had lived and established relationships with both family and friends. I sense the expatriate experience inevitably involves finding ways to come to terms with being physically separated from some relationships and places that have been very much part of framing ‘who you feel you are’. There may be a perspective on contemporary life that offers some broader insight into a sense of separation from elements of the past. It seems contemporary American lifestyles frequently involve inherent disruptions of relationships with family and friends. Commonly, this includes scattering over distances as a consequence of the mobility required in many occupations and in pursuing educational opportunities. We experienced some of this kind of interpersonal fragmentation while still living within the U.S. Changes in proximity to those you care about was particularly evident as the children grew, established new social patterns of their own and then grandchildren went away to university....
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Christmas in Italy – 2017 We are currently enjoying our fifth Christmas seasonal festivities in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. The very long and complex history of Christianity in European culture gives the holiday season, particularly here in Italy, a nuanced experience of great depth. Although Christianity may not have the contemporary, fervent commitment it may have once enjoyed, Italians are never-the-less steeped in the traditions of community participation in rituals celebrating the seasonal cycles. Participation in community observances is a means to express and reinforce a sense of identity and solidarity. Even the most cynical and committed secularist will be seen mingling in the holiday decorated piazzas. With each year we have been here, the inevitable, gradual increase in holiday commercialism becomes more apparent. Retail displays seem to start appearing earlier each year but nowhere near to the extent that they do in the U.S. But the economic situation here in Italy, as in much of the world, tends to dampen excessive consumption exuberance. Even more significant, when comparing our former lives in the U.S., holidays here are still strongly associated with family bonding augmented by enthusiastic socializing with friends. Italian gregariousness is never too far under the surface any time of the year but special holiday observances seem to add steroids to the mix. The more outwardly expressive nature of the Italian personality seems to add more depth to interpersonal connectivity. The traditional physical embrace with the kiss on each cheek (right-to-left here in Italy by the way) makes it difficult to not sense the presence of someone else. As we have commented on many times, an aspect of our transition into retirement has been a gradual adjustment away from material accumulation to more one of savoring experience. We are at a point where our pre-Christmas experience is no longer dominated in a frenetic, buying preoccupation. We may be establishing a pre-Christmas tradition for ourselves by going somewhere just after the official start of the Christmas observance with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th of December. We want to experience the festive decorations elsewhere and then return to Ascoli in time to participate in the community events here and to join in the round of dinners...
Read MoreAUTUMN IN ASCOLI After so many years in the very moderate climate of southern California, we have returned to the experiences of our earlier lives when the year was punctuated by pronounced seasonal changes. In our last Blog posting, we remarked on the very hot summer we had experienced this year. We are now in Autumn. Just now, the days are generally sunny and in the lower 60’s (F) and in the 40’s (F) at night. And then, there is the occasional rain. The change in the weather is also visually reinforced by the change of fashion seen on the street. With the equinox, there is a spontaneous, expected change in how one presents oneself. And just the other day when out doing morning errands, I saw in the higher elevations of the Apennine Mountains to the west of Ascoli, a reflection of a covering of light snow. This Fall also involved a family loss. After a very prolonged history of serious health issues, Arlene’s sister was admitted into an Intensive Care Unit at a San Diego, California Hospital. She had been hospitalized before on multiple occasions but this time, the prognosis was less favorable. Given the short notice and other complexities, we determined to get Arlene to San Diego as fast as we could while I remained here in Ascoli. The decision for Arlene to immediately go to San Diego was the correct one to have made. After a little over a week following Arlene’s arrival, her sister peacefully left this life with Arlene and her sister’s husband holding her hands. The passing of a close member of a family is never easy to process. Under the circumstances of a protracted and complex health history, the probability had been anticipated there was always a likelihood of her passing away sooner than might otherwise have been hoped for. In some respects, recognizing that probability was a means to try to be prepared for what seemed likely but still did not dull the sense of loss when it took place. The extended family is now dealing with the complex emotions of grief over the passing of someone loved while also having a sense that a prolonged experience with suffering and...
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