Italian Word of the Day – “Ricominciare” (+ Visa Update)

La Maestra Maldestra

It’s been a long time since I last published a Word of the Day post, but I figured this was fitting. Today we’re going to learn about the word ricominciare.

ri (again) + cominciare (start) = to start again

And that’s exactly what I have to do with this whole Italian Visa process, folks.

Grazie to all of you who took the time to leave a comment, send a message, say a prayer or light a candle for me when I went to apply for my Italian work Visa a couple weeks ago. Things didn’t quite go as planned (obviously) and now my team of trusty friends and I have to ricominciare da zero (start back at square one) with the whole process.

Back to the drawing board…

Having to re-do things because they weren’t quite right the first time isn’t as disheartening, however, as hearing that something’s impossible. And I’m (thankfully) sitting in the first camp. So now I know how things go. Now I know what to do, who to see, what to send and what to sign. This Visa is still within reach, and so is my dream of living and working in Italy (again).

So, to ricominciare is not all bad. No, not at all. Besides, I’m not the only one who has to fare salti mortali (jump through hoops) to get something done on the Visa or Permesso di Soggiorno (permit to stay) front.

Take a look at these posts from other great Italy bloggers to read their trials and tribulations:

Girl in Florence – How to Survive Your Next Permesso di Soggiorno Renewal

Italy Project 365 – How to Obtain a Permesso di Soggiorno per Lavoro

The Florentine – Let’s Talk About Visas II

And just because we are still talking about our Word of the Day, take a listen to Adriano Pappalardo’s 1979 hit, “Ricominciamo” (Let’s Start Over).

(If the original music video is available in your area, take a look. The guy looks like a pro wrestler-turned-singer!)

An Interview With… Yours Truly

I don’t like to put all my eggs in one basket. My cappuccino in one cup. My pici in one pot. You see what I’m saying, right?

Anyways, I enjoy this whole blogging and writing thing. Really, I do. So periodically I do a bit of writing elsewhere – other blogs, other websites, etc. I even have a couple of articles that should be coming out in print (in print!) in a magazine in two days’ time. Exciting!

But what I’m excited about today, readers, is the publication of my interview with a great website for expats: Expats Blog – An Experience Shared. 

This website contains all sorts of entertaining blogs, articles and interviews from people who have lived or who are currently living the expat experience somewhere in the world. So if you’re interested in reading more about my expat experience in Italy, click on the following link and read what I had to say to Expats Blog. Be sure to leave a comment – I love when readers do that!

Canadian Expat Living In Italy – Interview With Sarah

Italy Envy: What I Miss About Living In Italia

Today marks un anno (one year) since I moved home to Canada from Italy. It’s been a day of reflection for me as the many things I miss about living in Italy have crossed my mind at one point or another.

They are (in no specific order):

1. Speaking Italian all day, every day. (Brings a smile to my face every time.)

1a. Speaking Italian with a Siennese accent all day, every day. (Sounding like a local=even bigger smile.)

2. Flavourful, wholesome Italian food at each meal. (It cut down on my junk food cravings big time.)

Tuscan Pici

3. Living in the most beautiful city – Siena. (I’ll never get tired of looking at the Palazzo Pubblico. Ever.)

Siena

4. Spending time in the piazza. (Need I say more?)

5. Aperitivo at my favourite hangout. (And Sunday lunch there, and dinner there, and midnight snacks there…)

6. Walking (almost) everywhere I go. (Helped me stay in shape after all that pasta and wine.)

7. Learning something new – a word, a custom, an historical tidbit – each day.

Art Gallery

8. The sense of independence, pride and accomplishment I felt at being so at home in my second language and country.

9. My colleagues at my crazy job. (Mi avete salvato la vita!)

10. That “closer to life” feeling I’ve written about before.

Now that the sappy part is over, here are a few things I do not miss about living in Italy:

1. The lack of a clothes dryer. (Sheets and clothing dried in the Tuscan sun? Inviting. Towels dried in the Tuscan sun? Stiff as a board. Also, drying time in colder temperatures? DAYS. Also, risking your life by hanging out your window to get to the clothesline? Not ideal.)

Hanging clothes out to dry.

2. The 110 stairs I had to climb to get to my apartment. (Made me think twice about running back up to get something I’d forgotten. Unfortunately also made people think twice about coming to visit me.)

110 Steps To The Top

3. The general lack of availability of foods that are not Italian. (By the end of my stay in Siena however, an Indian place had opened up right across the street from my apartment. There were only 110 stairs and a cobblestone street separating me from curry!)

4.  The fact that my family and most of my friends-the two most important groups of people in my life-were half a world away. (But it was great when some of them came to visit!)

But in spite of all that… Italia, mi manchi!