mental mosaicmental mosaicAn American woman living in Naples, Italy shares photos and writes about her impressions of the culture and her experiences learning the language while discovering the rich history of Italy, with a keen eye for detail and sense of humor. Articles
Offline in the USA
2008-05-29 23:12:00 As you can see, I am still in the USA … … but Italy is not far from my mind! A lot’s going on in my family, so it’s been wonderful to be here, but I am homesick for Italy, the blogosphere, and most of all, Angelo. I look forward to catching up with everyone in June. ... More About: Offline , Pacific Northwest
When I land in Seattle tonight, there may be some of this on the ground:
2008-04-19 03:00:00 snow! I’d hoped to post more before I took off for the states, but it’s been a hectic week. I am, however, participating in a study to test the efficacy of a specific type of acupressure in alleviating jet lag. I’ll let you know if it works for me or not! In the meantime, have a ... More About: Seattle , Ground , Tonight , Land
Wouldn?t it be great if, when making campaign promises, politicians had to
2008-04-13 00:34:00 these? More About: Great , Politicians , Campaign , Promises
Another Slice of Piazza, Beast Meets West and Flashback Friday
2008-04-11 13:20:00 In keeping with the unintentional Piazza Plebiscito theme of the last couple posts, I thought I’d share a few more photos of it. Up until 1992, this grand cobblestone expanse was nothing more than a parking lot. Now it’s Naples ’ largest public square. A couple of days ago, Walter Veltroni, of Italy’s democratic party gave ... More About: West , Friday , Flashback , Beast
Silvio, Cylons, and a Techy Gadget that?s Making Me Swoon
2008-04-04 17:30:00 Here’s another photo of Naples’ largest square, the Piazza Plebiscito where Silvio Berlusconi will be speaking tonight. As you can see from this picture and the one I posted yesterday, the city of Naples is piled high with flaming garbage and even the pigeons are wearing gas masks. (They look kinda cute though, don’t they, ... More About: Battlestar Galactica , Gadget
Why I want an Elephant at my Wedding
2008-04-03 18:58:00 As you can see from today’s photo, the trash is piled ten feet high here in the city of Naples, Italy. What, you can’t see it? But what about that report you saw on TV where garbage bags lined the streets, people were wearing masks and burning huge mounds of uncollected trash? Yeah, I’ve seen all that, too - on TV and the Internet, like you. But when I am out on my daily walk this is what I see, not piles of trash everywhere! It’s a serious problem, yes. Those things are actually happening: BUT NOT IN THE CITY CENTER OF NAPLES despite what you have read. As I mentioned in a previous post, the city of Naples is no messier now than it was when I got here nearly a year ago. Yes, there is a garbage crisis, but there is also a lot sloppy journalism going on, which I will rant about comment on in an upcoming post. Stay tuned… Last Monday I was surprised to see Angelo’s folks lounging around in their pajamas when I got up. I’d forgotten that East... More About: Wedding , Elephant
Wacky Easter Traditions: Murder, Spanking, and Witches
2008-03-23 12:24:00 The Easter Bunny is unheard of here, but Italians don’t skimp on the chocolate, as you can see in this photo. That’s not a bunny on the left, but a white chocolate replica of an Italian stovetop espresso machine. The lid even opens, although the shopkeeper warned me, ‘Only put cold coffee inside.’ D’oh! Now for some ... More About: Murder , Traditions , Witches
The only doctor-prescribed treatment that has improved Angelo?s quality of
2008-03-22 13:54:00 Physiotherapy. I just discovered this fun blog meme called ‘Singular Saturday’ created by Jenn over at her blog about life as an expat in Holland. She explains the idea behind Singular Saturday here. Basically, you set things up with your title and then post one word to tie it all together (like I did at the top ... More About: Treatment , Doctor , Angelo , Quality
Good Flashback Friday
2008-03-21 17:28:00 Another rag-tag marching band has been making its way through the narrow streets of Naples lately. They’re not playing Burt Bacharach this time, but according to Angelo, ‘It’s the same melody every Easter.’ Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that Easter is a bigger deal in the southern United States than up north? ... More About: Friday , Flashback , Good
Dawn of the Dad
2008-03-19 23:18:00 It’s the ‘Festa di San Giuseppe’ today, and I don’t know much about it, except that it’s basically the Italian version of Father’s Day. This holiday snuck up on me like a zombie, I tell ya, so if you want to know more, check out Michelle’s blog, Bleeding Espresso, where she breaks it ... More About: Dawn
Foxy Guys Cooking & Nerdy Inside Jokes with the Universe
2008-03-17 12:49:00 I’ve noticed a certain type of TV commercial shown in Italy that I’ve never seen in the US: ads which depict handsome men cooking for their ladies. Check out this Voiello ad, for instance. Yummy, eh? Guys don’t just cook over here, they also help clean up, as you can see in this ad for ... More About: Jokes , Cooking , Universe , Inside
Palm Sunday & Italian Scrabble
2008-03-16 21:01:00 It’s Palm Sunday , so here’s a photo of a palm for you. Oddly enough, everyone I saw was carrying olive branches, not palm fronds, today. I started to ask Angelo why, but he shot me his infamous, ‘I’m not that Catholic,’ look, so I just stuck my tongue out at him instead. In other news, I ... More About: Italian
SpongeBarak SquarePants?
2008-03-14 10:39:00 The other day I picked up the Italian equivalent of TV Guide and was surprised to find that I can read it quite easily. (Hey now, don’t snicker! So it ain’t quite Dante, and there are lots of pictures to help me out, but you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?) Anyway, as I flipped through the pages, ...
Even God Improvises
2008-03-13 19:20:00 Michelle, over at Bleeding Espresso recently posted about an evocative dream she had, one of those dreams that sets the tone of your waking day. You can read her dream here. Must be something in the air, because a couple days ago I woke from a dream that left me feeling upbeat and optimistic. ...
Italy?s Festa della Donna has American Roots
2008-03-08 15:56:00 I keep hearing about workplace related deaths in the Italian news, such as a factory fire in Turin in which several men died. Later, it was revealed that the only extinguishers on-site were empty! Every week there seems to be a new workplace tragedy in which lax safety regulations are to blame. Today I heard ... More About: Italy , American , Roots , Donna , Festa
Ever wondered why they call it ?Tiramisu??
2008-03-07 16:34:00 We watched a really stupid movie last night with Angelo’s parents. The film is called ‘The Contract’ and I don’t recommend it, unless you are heavily sedated and recovering from surgery, or you are with a group of people who are good at heckling. We fell into the second category, and had fun picking apart ... More About: Call
Time zones, Monkeys and Location, Location, Location
2008-03-06 12:26:00 Every morning, I wake up, check my email and see what my transcription assignment is. Today I was startled to discover that my assignment (should I choose to accept it) is twice the normal size and due in half the time. Yikes! Maybe it’s a typo? It’s odd, because the folders aren’t marked ‘Rush’ on ... More About: Time , Location , Monkeys , Zones
My Very Exciting Magic Carpet . . .
2008-03-04 14:46:00 My very exciting magic carpet just sailed under nine palace elephants! No, I’m not hallucinating; the previous sentence is a clever new mnemonic device for remembering the names of the planets and their order from the sun. Speaking of outer space, the new Battlestar Galactica airs on 4/4/2008. Finally! The new Galactica is so much more ... More About: Magic , Carpet
New Look for mentalmosaic.com
2008-03-02 20:44:00 Ciao, gentle reader. My site may look a bit schizophrenic for the next few days as I try out different layouts, plugins, tweak the code, and then debug; so bear with me! I’m still around, and will be posting, but thought I’d warn y’all.
Waste Mis-Management: Naples? Ongoing Garbage Crisis
2008-02-21 11:13:00 2008 is the Year of the Rat according to the Chinese Zodiac, and in Pianura, a city north of Naples , Italy, they are discovering this in a literal way. Sanitation workers quit picking up Pianura?s garbage shortly before Christmas in December 2007, claiming the landfills were full. As a result, trash is piled six feet ... More About: Management , Garbage , Waste , Crisis
The History of Valentine?s Day: From Bloody Goat Hide to Roses and Chocolat
2008-02-13 18:11:00 Valentine’s Day conjures up images of mischievous cherubs, decadent chocolates, red roses, candlelit dinners for two, love poems, secret admirers and above all - romance. But how did this holiday get started? Was there really a St. Valentine? And why is it celebrated in February? Like Easter and Christmas, Valentine’s Day is an amalgam of Pagan ... More About: History , Roses , Valentine , Chocolat , Hide
Slowly Unpacking My Personality
2008-01-27 16:37:00 I-cancelled my walk this morning because experts are dealing with an unexploded English bomb from WWII recently discovered near our neighborhood here in Naples . Many streets are blocked off, and Angelo warned that I’d be arrested if I wandered into a restricted area, so it seems best to stay inside. We’re lucky, though; if we lived ... More About: Italian , Personality
Naples, Italy: It?s da bomb, literally!
2008-01-23 13:22:00 I-went to the island of Capri yesterday with Angelo?s dad. He’s a florist and has clients who are getting married there in May. He invited me along to take photos that he can refer to while planning their wedding. On our walk to the ferry, we passed an archeological dig. Naples is such a collage of ... More About: Italy , Bomb , Literally
Shock and Awe Naples Style
2008-01-21 16:04:00 Electricity has been a recurring theme for me these first few weeks of 2008. For one thing, the power on our little street has been going out nearly every day - not the whole Spanish Quarter, not the surrounding area, just our alley. Sometimes it’s just our apartment that blows a fuse, but when it’s ... More About: Shock , Style , Naples , Shock and Awe
New Year?s Eve in Naples, Italy
2008-01-02 17:06:00 The washing machine broke this morning. So at lunch I said, ?Too bad it didn?t break a couple of days ago; we could have thrown it out the window,? which got a big laugh from Angelo and his family. Why? Because, as his mom replied, ?I see that Tui?s learned yet another fine Neapolitan tradition.? It?s ... More About: New Year , Italy , Naples , Year
Elf Esteem
2007-12-23 21:02:00 Angelo and I have been working on our elf esteem lately. You can see the animated results here. ;P Ciao for now and ho, ho, ho (or ha, ha, ha if you’re an Australian Santa, or are easily offended). More About: Esteem
Cuddly Cooties
2007-12-17 10:54:00 Despite the fact that his desk is roughly eight feet away from me, Angelo often sends sweet little emails while I work. We both use gmail, so there are ads along the sides of the messages that are supposed to relate to the content. For example, if I mention shoes in my email, there might ...
Why did the salmon cross the road?
2007-12-13 17:52:00 If you look closely at the left-hand side of the above photo (which was recently submitted to the Seattle Times by Christopher Bacon) you can see a salmon swimming across the street in Silverdale, Washington. Perhaps the salmon was on his way to hook up with Port Townsend’s infamous stunt trout; who knows? As you might ... More About: Cross , Road , Pacific Northwest , The Road
A Lesson from the Hanukah Ham
2007-12-09 13:00:00 It-often-seems that those who most zealously believe in God think, that despite his omnipotence, the big guy in the sky created everything except humor, and frowns upon us mortals for delighting in it. (Of course, anyone who persists in this belief has obviously not looked at a duckbill platypus lately.) On the one hand, we ... More About: Lesson
Washington Snowmen: East vs. West
More articles from this author:2007-12-02 15:59:00 According to my family’s emails, it’s snowing in the Pacific Northwest , which is why I’m posting a photo I took last year. Thought I’d better not crop out the flag, lest someone think it was snowing here in southern Italy at first glance. You can tell this is a western Washington snowman, because he’s already wilting. ... More About: East , West , Auburn 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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