Buone Feste!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. There was no snow in Toronto and the weather was quite warm. Today is boxing so there was a lot of crazy people out trying to grab a deal. I refused to be one of those people. I hate crowds, traffic and clutter and that is what boxing day is all about.

Chicco has arrived in NYC and he is having a wonderful time. He has been doing much of the tourist stuff with his family & is enjoying every moment of it. When I arrive him and I will spend a lot of time together.

Enjoy the rest of the holidays, see you in the '07'

Holiday in NYC

Well, I only have 9 more sleeps until I land in NYC. I have been there MANY times so I am not excited in that sense. My excitement is because with just 9 more sleeps I will see Chicco. I got him the best xmas gift. It took some work but I was able to put it all together. If I could tell you I would but he on occasion reads my blog. I kinda hoping for some snow there as there is none as yet in Toronto. Yes, believe it or not Toronto has not had any snow as yet. So I am hoping it snows there as it will be nice for Chicco to see snow in the North. I also wonder what the Christmas is like without snow or cold weather? How different will it be when I am living abroad during the holidays? do we say HOME SICK...lol

Cheers,

My Girlie' Blog

So I decided to redesign my blog. I made it a little girlie' with some pinks, purples & reds. It's kinda bright but lovin' it for now. Enjoy!

Italian 101 FINISHED

Well, I survived my first Italian class. Can't say I am not fluent but I can get by if need be. I will continue my Italian in the coming year as the more practice I have the better ( I hope). The holidays are just around the corner. Will be in NYC for the holidays with Enrico and his family. He is going to NYC to visit some relatives so we decided to spend the time together as well.
I figured the more I communicate w/ his non-English speaking relatives the better it will be for me. His mother is always asking "how is her Italian going". The pressure is on as I am expected to speak Italian during the holidays.

Cheers

Musicals

Well lastnight I went to see Chicago the musical. Which by the way was an amazing show. Kevin Richardson from of the Backstreet boys plays Billy Flynn, he did a good job along with the rest of the cast.
I love musicals and have seen many over the last few years. I wonder if there will be opportunities for me to see musicals in Italy. I guess I can always go to London to catch a musical if I really need to. I guess the closest to a musical in Italy would be the Opera, which I am dying to attend one day. Old experiences bring new ones.

Just can't keep up!

Nothing new happening with me. I am still on my quest doing all I can do to prepare for the big move. I will see Chicco over the holidays so I am looking forward to being with him and his family. My birthday passed and we were not together but he made me a cake and sang me happy birthday via webcam. It was the sweetest thing ever......
Learning Italian is killing me particularly the past tense. I ask myself every day WHY ME? but like everything else in my life, I never give up.
I have been getting a lot of comments asking me to speak about how we met. That blog will come soon, so please stay tuned.

Italian 101

These days I am moving right along with my Italian lessons. I have decided to use a few different teaching methods to help me. First I have enrolled in an Italian class once a week for 3 hours; the course last four months. I use an Italian speaking friend to have conversations with weekly for one hour. Have an Italian podcast on my ipod also an Italian speaking audio book. I have labelled everything in my home in Italian. And lastly, encourage Chicco to have our on-line voice conversations in Italian. But I am the one that usally says "enough already" as too much Italian gives me a headache...lol. The easiest way to continue my learning will happen once I arrive in Italy.

Any other learning suggestions?

Meet the parent..sister..aunt..friends..neighbours...etc

I know, it took too long to blog my trip to Padova. Where do I start? ummmmmmmmmmmm.
I met his mother, sister, brother in-law, aunt, family friend (Claudia) and his million and 1 friends. You know the Francesco's and Marco's....lol.
I VERY nervous when I met his mother. My nerves got the best of me because his mother does not speak English, thank god for my hands. We used a lot of hand gestures to communicate and of course Enrico was the interperter...thank you baby:) Unfortunately I was not able to meet his dad as he passed away the week prior to my arrival. I was very sad when Enrico told me the news because I was looking forward to meething his father..."never met you but i miss you"

Overall I had a wonderful time with Enrico he took good care of me and was always making sure I was ok. Are Italian men usually that caring? I think so, unless I found A GOOD ONE! My trip to Padova has sealed it; my move is official. I see my life there with Enrico and the only way I will know how things will pan out is if I make the move....so I AM GOING TO DO IT!.....YIPPPEEEE


"Desperation keeps us strong"
Ti Amo

Back in Town:(

<---me in Porto, Portugal....yummmy seafood:)

Sorry everyone for the big gap in my postings but I was having a hellava good time in Europe. I cannot tell how much I enjoyed Spain/Portugal. I absolutely loved the food in Portugal (I love seafood) so it was the perfect place for me. Favourite place in Spain by far was Granada the Alhambra....oh I will be getting married there, PROMISE (well i can't promise but I would love too). Overall my time in Spain & Portugal was FANTASTIC, no major complaints..............I know you are all waiting to hear about my visit to Padova....move to my next blog......

9 days & counting.....

So in 9 days I will be leaving on my trip to Spain/Portugal/Italy:) Excited is the appropriate word to describe how I am feeling. Sept 17, I will see the love of my life and I am very much looking forward to seeing him. Experiencing how he lives his life in Padova will be interesting and it will give me an idea of how my life will possible be when I arrive. I am a little anxious because there are MANY people I will meet while in Padova. His parents being the ones causing me much anxiety as they speak no English and I speak NO Italian...how will we communicate? oh my:). And the many friends this man has is crazy, I swear there are 10 Francesco's and 10 Marco's....lol..you get the drift.
Chicco continues to be supportive and strong with our long distance relationship thing...Damn it's HARD.....He is couting down the days until I arrive and boy does time seem to be going slow..............ughhhhhhhhh. I will be MIA for sometime as I will have very limited internet access on my journey (thank god) but I will have a lot to talk about when I get back.

Ciao (soon I will know more words...hehehe)
R.

Just realized something

How to read the comments posted on my blog....duhhhhhh. thanks everyone for leaving comments. Now I must figure out how to reply to the commments, is that even possible?

MIA

Well, I guess you can say I have been MIA (missing in action). I have been busy with a lot lately and that is why I have not posted in a couple of weeks. I am currently getting ready for my big trip overseas (Spain, Portugal and of course Padova, Italy). I will be touring Spain/Portugal for 17 days and then I will stay 8 days in Padova with Chicco. I am excited about my trip to Spain/Portugal but I am more exicted to see Chicco. I have not seen him since July 7, so I am very much looking forward to seeing him. He has been doing searches for me in Italy for teaching jobs and hair salons. We have decided to attempt to apply for a long term visa prior to me moving to Italy. We will start the process 3 months prior to my departure. I have been reading a lot of expat websites and from that, have been getting a lot of information. I have also decided to take Italian lessons in the fall. We made that decision as it would help me when I move to Italy next year. I will not learn the language a lot but I will learn enough to help me conversate with the Italian people. Time flys when you are having fun:)

very hot day in Padova

Chicco told me today in Padova, it was the hottest day ever. What am I going to do? a/c is not readly used in Italy. I am so used to the N.American way of cooling system, so I know it will be hard to adjust. Anyone else find adjusting difficult? how do you deal with it? Is a/c expensive to have in Italy? I guess time will tell.

July 24, I did not forget....

I did not forget that the day was a special day. I did not forget the 24th of July; I will never forget the 24th of the month. We know how special that day is and we will never forget what that day means to us. We will be together soon to celebrate our day together. September 24th 2006, will be a special day not a sad day....

ti voglio tanto bene, Chicco

Italian Consulate Part II

Well, today I decided to make another trip to the Italian consulate in Toronto. I did not wait long to speak to someone and the guy was very friendly. He gave me a list of things I would have to do prior to moving to Italy. From what I have read on line, it seems like I can start the process before I leave, or I can begin the process when I arrive in Italy. If I start the process in Toronto, they require a lot of information that I might not have at the present time. The Canadian Government seems to want a lot of information as well, I guess for tax purposes. I dunno why? I have a few months to decide which process I want to take. I will discuss w/ Chicco to decide which option is the best for the both of us.


Ciao

hair salon

well, of all the things I am worried about for my move to Italy, finding a hair salon is VERY worrying for me. I know hair salons are easy to find in Italy and it's regions but finding a hair salon that is able to do black hair, will be TRICKY. I have searched the internet for hair salons who specialize in black hair but nothing has surfaced.....:( Enry, is trying to find some information for me but it looks like I might have to go to Firenze each time I need to do my hair (btw; i currently do my hair 1x every 2 weeks). I am sure Enry will not like driving me to Firenze (2 hour drive each way) and wait for me to do my hair. So I have to find something in the local area of Padova. Believe this, I am more worried about finding a good hair salon than I am about receiving my work papers.....oh lord!

new blogger!

Hi blogworld, I am new to this blog thing; any suggestions?

Italian Consulate in Toronto

So today i spent most of my time at work trying to get through to the Italian Consulate in Toronto. I should have known that these government runned offices would not take my call, but I remained persistent. After a few hours of voice mail, I finally gave up. So now I will have to visit the Italian Consulate in person and hopefully i can get some answers. If I know that I permantely want to live in Italy, where does the process start, in Toronto or in Italy? anyone know?

:)

Enrico, the love of my life:)

So, I have decided, prior to day, that I will be joining the love of my life in Padova, Italy. This is a hugh step for me because I have never pictured myself moving across the world to be with a man. I have however pictured myself living abroad, but swore up and down that it would not be for no man. I feel like there is much preparing to do as I will be relocating and changing my entire life. I have done a lot of research and know that here is much that I need to do to prepare for this move. The first thing I will do is SAVE my damn money and second, get my certificate in TEFL. I figure teaching English is the only way I will survive in Italy until I become fluent in Italian.