Delay - Un Terremoto

By now I had planned to have posted the second installment of the story recounting my holiday trip but yesterday we had a small “geologic event” (aka “an earthquake”), actually two, in Ancona that didn’t do any damage, but did shake everyone around pretty good. It also caused a brief power outage which turned off the wireless modem in the apartment which cancelled our Internet connection. The modem is kept in Michelle’s office which is locked when he isn’t there and we don’t have a key to that room. Hopefully he’ll come by this week to reset the modem and we’ll be back to normal which will mean I can post the next installment and the girls will be happy because they really didn’t know what to do last night without their YouTubes and Facebooks and instant chatting.

La seconda scossa sismica (second tremor) was at 9.29 and registered a 4.0. We felt that one pretty good. There was one tremor before it, around a 2.9, but we didn’t feel that one. Many people actually left their offices and went out into the streets for a while fearing much worse. Earlier this year, in April, there was a devastating earthquake in L’Aquila a couple hundred kilometers from Ancona (which I happened to feel while I was in Rome) and the memories and emotions are still raw for many. This is the fourth earthquake I’ve felt since I’ve been in Italy which doubles my total from 20 plus years living in and around Portland. Earth shaking experience indeed. Multiple people have assured me that our office building and more important to me, my apartment building were built “the right way” and there is little to fear. Considering the seismic activity in the region throughout the 1900s and that both buildings are standing strong, I completely agree.

At any rate, the story put our little town on the national news last night. Two girls kissed on this week’s episode of Grande Fratello (Italy’s Big Brother), Inter is leading Serie A and the sidewalks are covered in dog poo. Life goes on as normal.

Being an American, I’m frequently drawn into conversations comparing life in America vs. Italy. I’ve been accused of harboring some stereotypes about my Italian hosts and to some extent I am guilty as charged. However, Valentina, my strongest critic, forwarded me this cartoon comparing Italians to the rest of Europe done by a well-known Italian cartoonist named Bruno Bozzetto. I’ve made, and been told, many of the same observations found in the video, especially the one about dealing with bureaucracy. I’ll let Bruno defend me in my ongoing debates about the relative merits of our respective countries.

Goodbye zoe. You were well loved and you will be truly missed.