Christmas Bird

This is our favorite winter wonderland picture--little bird of Rainshadow Farm on the hay rake

There is a little bird trying to get in through the window this Christmas Eve morning.  He’s tapping on it as if trying to tell us something.  I’ll choose to hear “Merry Christmas”.


I can’t remember the name of the Christmas dolce that contains chestnuts and is covered in honey, but we got a good supply from the neighbors as we did last year. We will enjoy Christmas dinner at the home of some American friends…we are very thankful they have invited us. We are also thankful we don’t have any travel plans this crazy weather year. Some English friends who had planned a Christmas party here never were able to get a flight out of Heathrow or anywhere else.

We went out this Thursday evening to take some photos of local Christmas decorations. The amazing thing was that at 6:00 PM it had warmed to 22C (72F). Hey, since we moved here partly to get away from snow, we’ll surely take this weather! Di and I never really lived in a small village before (at least not right in town) so I don’t know whether it’s the size or the fact that it is in Italy but only here have we gotten our mail anywhere we happen to bump into the mail carrier, and have had our contractor flag us down during a walk to tell us that they are finally coming to install the persianne (shutters) tomorrow.  As it turned out, we are still waiting for them to finish but here is how the ones they got done turned out—blue was not allowed by the comune so we decided on these. PS, I won with aluminum!

Here are a few photos of our Calabrian village Santa Domenica Talao at Christmas:

We don't know the exact meaning of these stars with tails but they're everywhere

This Madonna is always here but adds a festive touch for Christmas

Romeo is the owner of one of three bars around our piazza. His decorations this year are very creative including the bicycle with lights and silver tree branch.  He has nice lighting inside too. Note the two climbing Santas (Babbo Natale) on the balcony above. These are maybe the most common Christmas features around the area. There are some commercially made light displays in town, but this one would win a prize for Christmas displays in the US because of its uniqueness:

Di and I extend our thanks and good thoughts to everyone and we wish you the very best of holidays and a happy, successful New Year.


Ciao a tutti – Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo,
Guido

Blizzard on the Hill

That's me walking home from the parking area

Santa Domenica Talao doesn't have a whole lot of money for Christmas decorations so the universe stepped in with a well-timed climate-change driven blizzard that was pretty impressive in a place where it "never" snows. We ended up with 4 inches (10 cm) of snow and lots of wind to blow it around.  We drove through the storm to get to our Italian class down the hill in Scalea and, of course, they only had the wind and rain. 

This morning the sun came out and is doing a half-hearted job of melting everything. Doug started a nice wood fire and shoveled the walk between our place, the neighbor's and the wood storage shelter which is located in a vacant house across from us.  The temperature rose from 32 F to 40 as we left the house.

I am writing this down the hill in Scalea since all of the interesting weather lately has played havoc with the cell towers that make the internet possible in our little town.  It's sunny here too right now. In the Holiday spirit I'll let you enjoy our brief winter wonderland:

Made it to the front door

Parking lot this morning

To Market--Diamante

It’s Guido’s turn to blather about life in Calabria. We’re about the only part of Europe that is not having snow, so I won’t whine about rain--since that’s over with for now, and we are enjoying just great weather again. Wednesday was amazing with a high temp of 25 (77 F-the Italians were saying "fa caldo" it's hot) and another festa, so school and some businesses were closed. 

We visited Diamante about 25 minutes away where the biggest market of the year for this area was held. It was laid-out in a linear fashion thru the town along the waterfront and probably covered 2.5 kilometers. A lot of walking! Most of the vendors were “typical”, but some were unique and we looked and bought. 

Di didn’t find the right size rug. Guido bought one of those 5€ shirts for work and painting as well as jumper cables for the car. I recently watched a woman try to start her car during a torrential rain – crossing herself and praying each time she turned the key. Next time, I’ll be ready for chivalry with my cables.

What is this used for anyway?

I counted 3 big food stands and all were doing a good trade and there were pet vendors selling things including those tiny turtles complete with plastic water trays and the little palm trees. I have not seen those for 50 years! These boa snakes knew the big turtles were not something they could deal with, but the snake on the left sure was interested in those bunnies next door :

Whilst Di was looking at some ear rings or something, I stopped next to a mirror vendor and played with the camera--aint he cute...

 The market was very popular and I’d guess several thousand people made there way thru with many buying things. It reminded me of a Christmas bazaar and there were many colorful, seasonal things for gifts. We spotted our first real xmas trees. I’ve got to tell the story of an expensive artificial tree (the norm here) in a local store – it has a combination of fir and pine needles.  They couldn’t fool this old forester:

These are real

Back on the home front, Di discovered that the new boiler (water heater) in the guest space gave only a 6  minute shower. To convince the plumber, we had him watch the water run in the shower and go cold rapidly.  He’s replacing it. He says an 80 liter tank should give 4 showers. That equates to 2-3 American style showers--or 1 for my daughter.

With Christmas around the corner, Di says maybe she’ll get me the clothes drier I want. It’s hard for

a spoiled American like me to wait two weeks for dry weather to hang clothes on the line. Maybe I’ll surprise Di with a nice compost bin with a big ribbon around it in return. 

Cordiali saluti, Guido

Cirella Dreams on Permesso Renewal Day

Our November day trip to the Cirella Ruins--the part we didn't see the last time

Oh, what a beautiful Indian Summer November day it was!  I can still feel the sun on my face.  Yesterday, however, I spent the entire day organizing our documents for the Renewal of our Permesso di Soggiorno (Green Card).  It just lasts a year the first time, so we have to renew it 60 days before it expires in February. Of course, it wasn't issued in February, but that's a story from 

the past (which see). 

I promised to record these details because I remember how difficult it was for me to understand what to expect my first time at bat with the Italian bureaucracy (it's the Yankees of bureaucracy, believe, me--or since I was a public servant, I should say the Mets or the Cubs--suffice to say it's not good public service).  I tried Googling everything I could think of to get some information and the best info came from blogs, not governments.  I vowed when I started this blog that I would record what I can with the caveat that it only applies to Americans and other non-European Union immigrants who are retiring in Italy and not expecting to work. To refresh your memory, our permesso is called Elective Residence.  There is a slight difference in the application procedure for a renewal--but first you need the application.  The Scalea Post Office was out of the application packets and said they'd get some by Wednesday--this was in early November.  We now understand the Italian need not to disappoint (right away anyhow) so we knew better than to come back on Wednesday.  Sure enough, they still don't have any application packets in Scalea.  We traveled up North near Maratea (Lauria) to locate them.  It was fortunate that Doug came with me since they at first refused to give me two packets until I pointed to the "marito" sitting waiting for me.

It's time to distract you with more photos from our trip to the ruins in Cirella--since I didn't think you'd appreciate the inside of the Post Office in Scalea..

 

I filled out the applications yesterday.  The only differences when you are renewing your Permesso are that you mark "Rinnovo" for Renewal and you don't have to fill out the Visa section.  No more Visa.  You still need a valid Passport but your Visa gets you into the country and once you are in, you're in--as long as you keep getting permission to stay (Yes, you can leave the country as long as you have a valid Permesso, it's your ticket back in). There are also differences in what documents to include with a renewal.  Once you get your first Permesso, you apply for residency with the Comune or town hall.  You get a carta d'identica or identity card from the Comune and you request the certificates of residency and the "state" of the family (how many people are living with you) when you are ready to renew the Permesso. Your residency is only as good as your Permesso.  If your Permesso expires, you are dead (as far as residency is concerned, that is).

Here are the documents I included in the application:

1. COPY of the PERMESSO about to EXPIRE
2. COPY CODICE FISCALE
3. COPY CARTA D'IDENTICA
4. COPY CERTIFICATO DI STATO DI FAMIGLIA 
5. COPY CERTIFICATO DI RESIDENZA
6. COPY ENTIRE PASSPORT
7. COPY DEED OR RENTAL AGREEMENT
8. TRANSLATIONS Explaining

• Finances (letter from your financial planner or institution)
• Health Care situation (letter stating your coverage)
• Marriage Certificate 

We did not include our FBI report again as Italy in now in charge of our conduct.
I have never been certain that we need the health coverage info but it can't hurt  since it further shows financial independence which is the basis for this type of permesso. We just got our Italian health card here but that's a whole other procedure...Okay back to Cirella:

We brought the applications to the Post Office where the clerk who helped us last year was amazed at how short a time his work lasted.  I explained that this renewal should last two years.  We paid about 120 Euro total for the experience.
Our appointment in Cosenza is January 3 when they will fingerprint us again and hopefully not lose my file once more. Meanwhile, we will remember what it's all for and head for the beach, mountains or museums nearby.