MUMsnet little Italy

[mediterraneo]

buonasera!

sei sul piede di partenza?

Cali, read Leopardi's poems (though best appreciated when suffering teenager's mood swings)

HI

sorry for the intrusion, I am an Italian who has lived many years in the UK and has just gone back to Italy (but feeling terribly homesick..!!) and I noticed Brangelina mentioning Citta' di Castello.

How did you end up there? (that's my hometown!) Its pretty much off the beaten track, and its the first time I hear any English person mention it!!

saluti a tutte

Ciao webmum, welcome to MN little italy . where are you living now?
Califrau, I remember reading the malavoglia in 2 days for school, two months before la maturita'. I liked parts of it, but my Verga's favourite was storia di una capinera. I read I promessi sposi at least 3 times, in scuola media, al ginnasio and al liceo... yawn. It surely has its merits, but quite boring, apart the scenes of the plague.
English/French literature of the XiX century is more excitin, I think

Ciao Webmum welcome home are you homesick for Citta del Castello or the UK ?
I love that area . I lived in Gubbio for a bit but since Carabinieri has been filmed there its become quite popular now !! Can't say I watch it I managed the 1st series and then got bored
I am coming to the Uk next week and really looking forward to it . Hope the weather improves a bit ! QUi fa un caldo sta sera !

Hi Rosa and Franca

i'm in Modena now, never lived here before.

I'm homesick for the UK, London, my home, all the life I left there....

could go on for ages but I'lls top, I should really shut down this thing now....

Buonanotte!

No worries Webmum, we are all homesick one way or the other here. I miss Milano like crazy, which is kind of weird .
Modena is supposed to be nice though (although it'sd be too small for me ), those famous scuole materne...

Lovely area , hope you settle in soon and don't feel sad. Brangelina is the one to chat to without a doubt.
Ci sentiamo presto e notte da me going to turn the fan on.

Ciao Califrau

I am staying away from MN for the most part, but am popping on here every now and again, to say ciao to my lovely Italian/Italophile friends!

I had a good birthday, though I feel hideously old (I am 40... shit...!). But I have been deaf (with added tinnitus for good measure, just to drive me totally nuts) for over a week now and I feel like tearing my hair out.

I have to agree that C19th French literature beats the Italian every time. A former colleague of mine used to famously describe Leopardi (in class) as 'a wanker with a hunchback'!!!?? [cringe] Still, as you all know, the C19th is a bit modern for me. All this new-fangled novel business...! No, nothing matches the Trecento... a nice epic poem, in terza rima, some nice hendecasyllables... ahh...[Ellbell comes over all dreamy... ].

Anyway, back to work. Lots of love to you all.... and a presto...

Ellbell
is your ear still giving you problems ? my tooth (socket) still is. I'm on my last day of antibiotics, had another dressing done on Friday but it still hurts.
I think the movie was "Il portaborse" where Silvio Orlando, playing a professore di lettere in a liceo says: it took Manzoni 30 years to write 1 novel, while Balzac wrote 80..." or something along these lines.
But Leopardi rules!

Actually, I quite like 'I promessi sposi', though I haven't studied it... I just read it 'for fun'! I really love Flaubert, though.

Yes, franca, sono sempre sorda. Domani torno dal medico perche' da mercoledi' sono via per 4 giorni (faccio la external examiner) e voglio sapere se e' normale rimanere sordi cosi' tanto tempo (ormai e' una settimana). Non ho mai avuto problemi con le orecchie prima. Beh! Sorry to hear about your (ex-)tooth. I hope that clears up soon, too. I was reading a Stuparich short story, 'Il ritorno del padre', in which the son has toothache and the father first makes him chew on a leaf of malva (mallow?) and then, when that fails, makes him smoke a cigarette (at which point, of course, he feels better!)! Times have changed, eh?

OK... off to bed now. A presto. Ciao a tutte.

Ellbell, good luck with that ear of yours!
Yes, times have changed... ah, humphrey bogart smoking a cigarette... (dreamy emoticon)

SOrry but I am lacking in the Italian cultural department when it comes to literature but I do know who Dante is !!
7 days and counting it is soooo humid and hot here dd has heat rash under her chin and a bit round her nappy line but it doesnt seem to bother her. Thankfully all the mmr after effects have gone now. Hope your tooth is better now Franca ...what an ordeal.
Oh well back to trying to clean before the temps get too hot.
Elbell keep popping in to say ciao when you can .

same here Rosa, couldn't sleep at all last night...where are you?

Glad to hear your dd is feeling better rosa. The tooth feels a bit better today, but I took an AULIN yesterday night. I have an appointment on tuesday anyway.
Today I'm meeting ds teacher to discuss his "profile". Help! I think he is the most "ignorant" of the classroom .

What do you do in Modena, webmum?

Rubbish Franca I am sure your ds is fine..Discussing profile sounds very posh !
Keep taking the painkillers !

For you cultural italians ( and adpoted) the tema of the maturita today was Dante ...

Lol at posh. ds goes to very local (3 mins walk) state school. I'll let you know what teacher says

Il solito san francesco !
Ah, I wish I was doing the maturita', I loved going to school (saddo emoticon)

Il solito san francesco !
Ah, I wish I was doing the maturita', I loved going to school (saddo emoticon)

Hi Webmum, I know Città di Castello from years ago when I had a summer job at Fontecchio. There I met loads of people and they introduced me to all their friends and relatives. I ended up knowing most of the town after only a couple weeks and went back quite often after that. Unfortunately I lost touch with a lot of them over the years as my life and work got busier but I have a lot of great memories. I must try and get in touch with people again.

BTW, are you Monica Bellucci? Oh no, she still lives in London (I think?). How did you end up in Modena?

Franca and everyone, I am so ashamed that my knowledge of Italian literature stretches to knowing the names of writers (so I know who Dante is Rosa!) but never having read anything by them . In compenso, I know a lot of French and Russian lit, but that's no use to anyone if you're living in Italy. I do read Camilleri, though, and have read almost every Montalbano story.

I'm not on here as often as I'd like as I'm supposed to be working (), I've had DD at home for 10 days due to varicella and limited access to my computer as it was a constant "Mamma! Vieni!", so I've been catching up with what I'm supposed to be doing before I get sacked for being a lazy toad.

I think Monica Bellucci lives in Paris... I'm quite "forte" with pettegolezzi. I must confess I check all the gossips magazines when I go to fare la spesa...
I had an excellent professoressa of Italian literature at liceo, she adviced us to read lots of French and Russian literature in our last year (probably because she realized that Italian XIX century novels could be a bit dull... and also because many italian writers were inspired by different movements). Also in the Nineties one of the most popular writer in Italy was a French, Daniel Pennac. Do you know him?

ooh errr far too much for my head to cope with . I don't even manage to buy Chi or Novella 2000. I manage Grazie ogni tanto ( borrowed from SIL) To think that I studied once and I was thinking about going back !
Soooo hot today they say temp wise we are 35 degrees but they forget to mention the humidity that is the real stinger.