it's been five long years since i lived in the projects in ostia. my husband and i moved back "home" from the u.s.a. to find jobs in rome. we had no money and had to rely on his parents' pensions. it was an incredible experience for me. i rode in a car maybe 5 times in 5 months. we walked to market everyday -always- to buy fresh for the days' meals.
my mohter-in-law is very LOUD, and Papa complained to himself a lot, but they were very sweet to me (a nashville tn girl).
i can remember trying to clean their chandelier but Papa wouldn't let me because if he wasn't able to pay their other son's car payment, he didn't want the police to come and notice how beautiful it was and take it for payment.
i washed clothes by hand sometimes in the bathtub, and of course always hung everything up to dry on the deck outside. It was nice that we lived on the ground floor.
Everybody is very loud in Italy, something that took time to get used to. click clacking of high heels upstairs, yelling. stomping during the calcio games.... radios, dogs barking, caged birds on patios --it's all so very lively. walks to the library near the mediterranean was my destination of choice.
we used to buy wine and sit on the beach. there was one homeless guy that lived around the beach and i remember feeling so sorry for him.
i never got to cook because my mother in law always did. ONCE i made pancakes for them. and ONCE myhusband and i made scrambled eggs for breakfast (his parents laughed about that) but at nighttime i got to make popcorn!! (or as his mother would say pop-a corn-a?)
Every night my husband played sporka - the ancient card game-- with his mother; and sometimes giancarlo and angela from upstairs would come down and they'd play. and i couldn't understand a word anyone was saying.
but right before i left, "language osmosis" took place and i was understanding the sounds and the words. which was awesome.
more later perhaps. but this was my experience. ciao! g carminati:o

Nice storia by micio. It should be micia, by the way, if you have an husband - well - maybe except in California. Also sporka I never heard ...Could it be scopa perhaps ? Ciao
Paolo

Ciao!

I love to play cards with my grandpa too in Calabria! We play at scopa, scopa d'assi, briscola, briscolone and he always wins cause he remembers all my cards and his; he is terrible ;-) inspite his age!
I know what you mean when you talk about suffering but i think it's the only way to understand and appreciate what you have reached.
I'm very glad your italian experience was good and i'm sure it's fixed in your hearth for ever.

Sapore di sale ;-)

That was a very nice story you shared Micio. Now, that I think of the loudness, I think of my washer that does the jitterbug evertime its turned on. :mad:

ahh yeah it should be micio but that's our cat's name, and well yes he is a boy cat. oh well. okay you can call me micia. but i'm already registered as micio.
p.s. it IS scopa (the card game) i never got to learn because i couldn't keep up with the language at the time. ciaooooooooooooooooooooooo

:) Ciao Micio/a,

A great story, a great experience in Italy for you.

Yes, I agree about the loudness, it is something you need to get used to. In Rome the traffic is never-ending, heels walking, running, racing on the sidewalks, people talking to each other or their dogs, tourists everywhere... there's a kind of low-level constant buzz there.

I stayed in an apartment where during the calcio games the entire building echoed with yells... I was there for the world cup this year and during one game I didn't even watch because I could tell when Italy made a goal just by the roar of the city.

Sounds like you had a great time with your parents-in-law... sorry you didn't get more of a chance to cook!

Teresa

All I remember when I lived in Ostia Lido (Via Oletta, next to the last railway station) was all the sand we had in the house, the drug dealers right in the street, and the "portier's" daughter giving me the "eye wink"... very ebarassing for an officer (always an officer and a gentleman!)
I liked Ostia when I worked in FCO airport many years later. We used to go, with my colleagues, out for lunch (fish of course) on the "lungo mare".
Good old days!! Its always a life experience!!
Ciao
Michael

yes ostia can be pretty grim as i recall. i used to walk up to the lungo mare (we lived a block over on via delle canarie) just about EVERY DAY. i tried my hand at fishing out there on the rocks - never caught anything!
i do have many many memories. i may be going back over...

I used to go to Ostia with my boyfriend of that time as their family had a holiday house their. We always went to this one seafood restaurant on the lungo mare where the fish was just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!