A couple of weeks ago I started really thinking about the things I love in Calabria. I wrote about my favorite meal-time experience … the long, leisurely lunch and today, I’d like to talk about what we do after that. And no, I don’t mean sleeping (although that is a pretty handy southern Italian tradition,...Read More
I get a lot of hits and a good deal of personal emails from people who are either involved in a long-distance relationship with an Italian or are planning to tie the knot with a foreigner and want to talk to someone “who’s been there.” Interestingly enough, I’m actually the “foreigner,” in this relationship, but...Read More
Many expats-especially those of us who fancy ourselves writers, dream of publishing a book about our experiences. One ex-expat in Umbria, Justine van der Leun, has done just that.Read More
You’d think having an Italian husband who speaks four languages and a father-in-law who is a retired Italian professor would help my quest to perfect the language. You’d think. The problem is, they think it is cute when I butcher their beautiful words and they take their sweet time correcting me on them.Read More
For many Christians around the world, the Lenten season has passed, Easter has come and gone and chocolate bunnies and brightly dyed eggs have been hunted and destroyed. However, here in Italy … the fun continues.Read More
Surviving a long distance relationship is not impossible. No, it’s not easy-but it is doable. I dated my husband five years long distance-he was in southern Italy, I was in southeast Texas-and they were the longest five years of my life. They were also instrumental in helping us nurture our relationship and establish the foundation...Read More
Many people travel to a new country to immerse themselves into the culture and imagine-if only for a few weeks-what it would be like to live there. If they rent an apartment or a B&B, they can get into the routine of going to the local market, choosing what to prepare for meals and seeing...Read More
Me with Dawn and Michelle the weekend we all met in 2007! Ahhh, the joys of being an expat. Living it up on foreign land, haggling with the locals over the price of a knock-off handbag, expanding the search for the most authentic homemade gelato in the country. Oh no, life in Italy is not...Read More
Remember that Italian class I signed up for a few weeks ago? Well, I am happy to report that not only am I conjugating previously-unknown verb tenses and writing summaries of Italian love stories, but I’m also getting a notebook-full of funny memories. And that my friends, converts to blog posts for you. Last week...Read More
As you may have heard, there aren’t many English-speaking expats prodding along here in Bella Calabria, but the ones we have are simply brill. Case in point, my Irish pal, Jen. In honour of Jenny’s 28th birthday today (ahem!) I’m going to share some of my favourite British expressions … and-oh!-how I love to use...Read More
