North versus South issues in Italy
You hear about the North versus South issues in Italy all the time, but honestly, I often have a hard time believing the hype. I’ve spent time in Milan and Venice, as well as Naples and Sicily. Sure, I...
View ArticleFCI 008 – Retaking Rome with Virginia Vitalone
American expats in Rome hear the same question all the time from fellow Americans visiting the Eternal City: “Rome is SOOO beautiful! But why is there so much trash and graffiti around? Don’t the...
View ArticleFCI 009 – Sex, Lies, and Raising Children Italian Style with Andrea Timonere
Even if you don’t have kids—or if your bambini are already grown up—I think you’ll find today’s discussion with Andrea Timonere from “Sex, Lies, & Nutella” extremely interesting. We sort of used...
View ArticleFCI 010 – An Italian in America with Emanuele Pettener
I met Emanuele Pettener back in 2009, and it’s safe to say that the meeting changed my life in many ways. I was enrolled in the Italian Studies program at F.A.U. in Boca Raton, Florida where he...
View ArticleWhat does it mean to be furbo?
Inspired by some recent encounters with dishonest business practices in Italy, my COSÌ collaborators and I have decided to address the awkward topic of being scammed or cheated in Italy. Of course,...
View ArticleFCI 018 – Reasons to Dress Well in Italy with Angie Nardiello
Second only to food-related offences (“I’ll have the Chicken Parm with a side order of spaghetti and a cappuccino, por favor.”), fashion blunders are all-too common among visitors to Italy. I’ve...
View ArticleFCI 020 – Funny Things about Living in Italy with Marsha De Salvatore
What are the essential tools for surviving the expat experience in Italy? Well, learning to speak Italian is a good place to start. Some defensive driving skills wouldn’t hurt either. How about a...
View ArticleFCI 023 – The Rome Expat Interviews, Session 1
Following up on my previous episode where I interviewed Patrizia, the “ring leader” of the Expats Living in Rome group, I now present a smorgasbord of chats with a few of the members who make this...
View ArticleFCI 024 – The Expats in Rome Interviews, Session 2
Today I’m back with Session 2 of my interview series with the Expats Living in Rome group. These short conversations were recorded on October 6, 2015 at an aperitivo in the historical center of Rome....
View ArticleChristmas Gifts for Italy Lovers
Every year I say to myself, “Is it Christmas time already?” I mean, the date is pretty much fixed on the calendar, so I don’t how it always seems to sneak up on me. I’m mostly referring to getting my...
View ArticleDoing Business in Italy
If you want to start a lively conversation with an Italian citizen, ask them about the challenges of doing business in Italy. There are many stereotypes in Italy that need to be dismissed once and for...
View ArticleFCI 032 – Under the Puglia Sun with Paul and Steven
I wrote a blog post a few years ago about buying property in Italy. I’ve never actually made the dive, but I’ve looked into it… so of course I felt qualified to speak as an expert. Anyway, the Tweet...
View ArticleHow to Date an Italian Girl
For some reason, the most common searches that drive Googlers to my site involve “how to date an Italian.” Actually, many of the keywords that people enter into the search box are not appropriate for...
View ArticleUna Lettera dalla Florida
A few years ago I took a course in creative writing in Italian at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. It was given by my friend, Professor Emanule Pettener, an accomplished fiction writer, who...
View ArticleWhat to Drink in Italy Beyond the Wines
Everybody knows that Italians drink more wine per capita than any other population in the world. While this is true, there are also a variety of interesting Italian potables to be discovered beyond the...
View ArticleChristmas in Italy
Well, it’s that time of year again, and so our COSI group of expat bloggers figured some seasonally relevant information would be appropriate, reexamining a few Italian and Italian-American holiday...
View ArticleDating Rules in Italy
Recently I was honored when my former Italian professor from F.A.U. asked me to write an article for an Italian website about my experience in Italy. I asked him what subject I should discuss and he...
View ArticleWhat to Drink in Italy Beyond the Wines
Everybody knows that Italians drink more wine per capita than any other population in the world. While this is true, there are also a variety of interesting Italian potables to be discovered beyond the...
View ArticleWhat does it mean to be furbo?
Inspired by some recent encounters with dishonest business practices in Italy, my COSÌ collaborators and I have decided to address the awkward topic of being scammed or cheated in Italy. Of course,...
View ArticleFCI 020 – Funny Things about Living in Italy with Marsha De Salvatore
What are the essential tools for surviving the expat experience in Italy? Well, learning to speak Italian is a good place to start. Some defensive driving skills wouldn’t hurt either. How about a...
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