from the bella donne of Italy

Buon Giorno
K folks here it tis from the bella donne of italy.

taha wahine titiro. the men and the women are stunners - and I mean stunning looking - mama mia - a sight for these wide open māori eyes - . the fashion, the bods, the architecture, the sculptures, the art - magnifico, stupendo... in fact on more then one or two ocassions have I smacked my lips, kissed my fingers and sent muchos gracia to my new italian friends... beth they are everything you think they are - they speak with gusto, speed and much arm waving. 

tip one: learn some italian before you come, if you fail to do that, come with someone who has. if you don't have one of those (eljon to the rescue) - learn to speak with big brown eyes and lots of gracia heart! they are very grateful that you make the effort. I notice alot of our fairer skinned comrades - tourists (poms and americans) don't seem to manage that very well... even buon giorno gets you a long way... oh and ... ma scusi (excuse me please) is great too.. as is quanto costa (how much?) - so all you hard out shoppers that is a biggie - quanto costa! ma scusi quanto costa!

tip two: come with shoes that are made for walking... i am so greatful for my shoes, and ladies you can get shoes that do the whole bit - they not only look good but they work well too (important to have broken them in well before the start of the trip though - cause for the first few days I had elephantitis (commonly known as swollen ankles) from 27 hours of flying at just under a 1000 km/hour. -also pleased  that all that walking I do back home has paid off. come here charged and ready for new experiences, which includes walking - and you are a long way toward enjoying your trip.

I do love the challenge of being somewhere totally out of my zone - and not being in charge, relying on my hands and heart to do the communica. great not thinking about work too! From what we have picked up teachers are not well paid and from Ros's talking with an ex teacher, education is seemingly undervalued, if the salary of teachers is anything to go by - so teachers back home you are on a millionaires salary... perhaps you are having to work much harder for your bucks though - which would seem reasonable given the salary difference.

I love the way the italians (parents and grandparents) talk to their bambino - no wonder they are so physically verbose - that is how they talk with and to their children from the womb. nice..

ok! I have lots zooming around in my head and eljon is wondering when I will get to give you my take on italy. so here it tis... eljon and ros have gone off to recoup our double paid trip here and I have decided to stay here to blog or blah..blah.. but I will leave you for a while and go do the streets of acireale - where we are now.  a little bit of boutique looking to start the day, and then a swim in the mediterraneo! ah mama mia!

chiao for now
p.s life is good


soooo much to do... under the heat of the italian sun.