oh am so very sorry. I hear you--well, it is hard. There is no solution except time will help with those changes and incongruency of how they do things in Italy. What I'd suggest also is perhaps trying to parkate of the good things Italy has...can't think of anything more then the food! Unless you are allergic to wheat ( which I deeply hope you are not..I sort of am or at least intollerant so their way of eating for me now is tempting yet makes me then get sick). Anyhow, why not going out to a nice restaurant on a week day and try to enjoy that with your hubby :)
Complitely agree on the frustration of having stores closed on Monday morning ( what for?? sleeping in??) etc.
Not to mention now is August and everybody !! is gone. Every business closed. So silly. Why not rotating regions like Germany does instead of closing up the entire nation of Italy---bah, I guess Italian as usual don't care about loosing money or not having business for a month--what they care for is their beaches and their sun. Oh well....that's WHAT they want..

Back to coping with this...well, again, I'd suggest find something you love, maybe even trying to out and run errands when everyone is at home eating. When I went back to Italy a few years ago to live there ( for a short time) I quickly figured out that going for example to the post office at lunch time gave me some good chances the line would be shorter as most people are home eating their lunch...

However, it seemed that even some Italian were catching up on that and starting to give up their sacred lunch time at home to run errands...

Well, enjoy the food, that's all I can say....try all the restaurants you can and try gelato :)

Take care

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oh am so very sorry. I hear you--well, it is hard. There is no solution except time will help with those changes and incongruency of how they do things in Italy. What I'd suggest also is perhaps trying to parkate of the good things Italy has...can't think of anything more then the food! Unless you are allergic to wheat ( which I deeply hope you are not..I sort of am or at least intollerant so their way of eating for me now is tempting yet makes me then get sick). Anyhow, why not going out to a nice restaurant on a week day and try to enjoy that with your hubby :)
Complitely agree on the frustration of having stores closed on Monday morning ( what for?? sleeping in??) etc.
Not to mention now is August and everybody !! is gone. Every business closed. So silly. Why not rotating regions like Germany does instead of closing up the entire nation of Italy---bah, I guess Italian as usual don't care about loosing money or not having business for a month--what they care for is their beaches and their sun. Oh well....that's WHAT they want..

Back to coping with this...well, again, I'd suggest find something you love, maybe even trying to out and run errands when everyone is at home eating. When I went back to Italy a few years ago to live there ( for a short time) I quickly figured out that going for example to the post office at lunch time gave me some good chances the line would be shorter as most people are home eating their lunch...

However, it seemed that even some Italian were catching up on that and starting to give up their sacred lunch time at home to run errands...

Well, enjoy the food, that's all I can say....try all the restaurants you can and try gelato :)

Take care

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00abuse

Hey, it's hard, i know! the mold is a total pain. they do not know how to insulate buildings here. they believe in keeping the windows open all the time, even when it's 1 degree outside in order to "cambiare l'aria" and prevent mold growth. But then what about the "colpo d'aria???"

anyway, about the packages, here is your only way out: tell everyone who wants to mail you something that they must lie on the customs form. In the USA, the postal workers are really clueless regarding what happens here in Italy. Do not ask their advice! If someone is sending you a box of little stuff, tell them to write "pencils and candles", value $10. If your package gets lost, you will not get anything for it anyway, so nobody should ever insure packages. It is a waste of money and you will be forced to pay customs. If it is a really important and valuable package, have them send it with Fed Ex. If it is not worth paying Fed Ex prices, skip it. There is a loooooong list of stuff that legally cannot be shipped to Italy. Make-up for example, is not allowed!!! I cannot have my Mary Kay goods sent here! So if you REALLY need a bottle of cream, do NOT write "cosmetics" or anything similar on the customs note. They will send it back. Clothing, haberdashery, and photographs are also not allowed supposedly. Neither are shoes. However, many times, with a low value declared, they have let these things through for me. Seems that high declared values are what attracts their attention.

Shopping: you will never get used to this. You just have to accept it and realize that you will never get everything you wanted to do done. Certain types of shops have different closing days. Try to learn what they are as best you can. Enjoy summer hours, if you have longer summer hours in some shops there. Every town is different. Here in my town, hairdressers are closed Mondays, some supermarkets are doing inventory monday morning, others no. Some are closed Thursday afternoons. Each bar has their own closing day or half-day. It's annoying, but there is nothing to be done. They don't know how to schedule shifts apparently in this country!!!

Tiny living spaces: design your life so that you spend half your day outside. Buy space-saving furniture from Ikea. If you're like me and you like to paint or sew, space is a problem... try finding someone who will share their space with you... I have a friend who is single and she allows me to go to her house and we paint together once in a while.

You have to try to create your own world around you, as small as it may be. You make sure you have your afternoon tea, if that is something you like. You make sure you go to as many art exhibitions as you like, so you feel more at home. Make sure you hang crystals in your windows so you can see rainbows on sunny days. Any little thing helps when you are in a country that is not your own.

oh, and about the mold: i read all about it online and i cannot seem to find Borate anywhere in my small town. You may be able to find it where you are. In the "ferramenta" they will sell you a spray that smells VERY bleachy and you will have to air the room out for at least 24 hours, so plan ahead, but this will help you for at least a couple of months at a time.

wish you luck :)

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Hi, I'm sorry as well. It is hard adjusting, especially when you are used to the way things are done in the States. My husband and I stayed in Italy with our kids for 6 months and it was very fun, interesting but also DIFFERENT. There were many times that after lunch I did want to go out and do things, not sleep, like go to the store, the mall (Megalo), get a cafe, but of course everything is closed, until at least 4 or 5:00, which sucks if you are bored. So, I ended up staying home and doing laundry! Don't get me started about laundry-you're lucky because right now it's summertime and you can dry outside. Wait until winter and it takes 3 days to dry your clothes! Or, you have to put them on heaters inside to hurry it up. (I don't care what my husband says, I AM getting an American style dryer in Italy)
Also, you have to make sure when you buy something it is actually what you want, right size etc-it seems that they don't believe in returns for any reason. (I hated that! How do they expect you to buy in confidence?).

I'm in the process of trying to downsize, because we don't know how much space we will have when we go back, which is extremely hard when you have 5 kids, 2 of whom are babies, because you know they have THINGS, a lot of them! I told my husband when we go we had better get a big house. We had lucked out when we had lived there previously and had found a 3 story 2 bedroom, with enough room to stretch out in for all of us.
I remember going to my friends' house for the first time, this tiny little house, and they showed me what I thought was a walk in closet, only it wasn't-they called it a little bedroom! I turned to my husband and asked if they were joking and he said no, someone can sleep in there. The room could not have been any bigger than 5 feet by 4, and I'm not exaggerating! Talk about small living.
I don't know how much it will help, but in the States for mold, a solution of mostly bleach with some water in a spray bottle is recommended to eliminate it.
I think Rachel is right-just don't let anyone know the value and what it is. It's a shame to have to do that, but at the same token, it's a sin that they give people a hard time for no reason.
I hated taking the baby to the doctor! No appointments, and you have to just sit and wait, and my God, how spoiled some of the kids were! And why doesn't the hospital in Chieti have air in the summer????
Then again, it's great to have social health care for everyone.
I told my husband that I would definitely change certain things, especially about the whole store situation, even though I love Italy, but he said that's just the way things are and have been done forever!
You will get used to how things are done, and will figure out how to cope and adapt them to the way you are used to, and things will get more manageable for you. Italy is beautiful, the food is great and the people are generally very nice and accommodating. You will be fine! Good luck to you
Sharan

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go to the library in rome there was an english section and re read all of the classics its nice to read melville sandberg etc over aglass of chilled wine
also take a day go to the beach la spiagi and swim read relax and have alovely lunch by the sea
get english movies like the tuscan sun and others shipped to you
look you got aj ob ok
count your blessings you have hit the wall
maybe visit some of the american ex pats on the sitel like rachel in abruzzo
hang in there
memeories that your family will never forget
carmine

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Choosing an expat health insurance provider is an important decision. Get a quote from our trusted expat health insurance partner, CIGNA. With Cigna Global Health Options, you can create an international health insurance plan that's perfectly tailored for the needs of you and your family.

H,i I am guessing from your post you are in Turin, I totally empathise, I feel the same as you except I am in Rome, which is also very dirty, and the driving is like everyone paid for their driving licence as is common here. I am english and just as frustrated, if you want to have good moan to me you can bend my ear anytime. Are you in touch with any other expats in your area? The only one around here is aimed at mums with toddlers, so I feel like I have not much in common with, no one to go for a girly shop or lunch. So I am setting up my own with the help of the childrens school, for other expat mums who have some free time, hoping this may make up for everything else being so difficult. Eeven the treats for women here are stressful, the hairdressers is very nerve wracking, they dont seem to be able to cope with a natural blonde who needs to hide the odd grey hair, and cutting don't get me started, even leg waxing and a massages have turned out to be a nightmare, came out more tense than when I went in! I do an Italian lesson once a week and a cookery lesson every fortnight, other than that I am dropping the children at school and in the gym. Life is difficult here, I am no where nearly as productive with my time as I was in the UK as everything is so dis-organised, at least I do have a nice doctor, we can get appointments but having said that they are never punctual, cant get a paedatrician for the kids as they are all full, if we have to go we go private which can be a pain as they are all so far away. At least the food and wine are good and the ice cream is delicious. Remember my ear is here if you need it.

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yea little miss there is a british school for esl near paizza barbieni
the the 3 lions up from the movie theatre
they might need some english speaking people to volunteer there good place really nice an old palace
volunteer makes you feel god and giving at the same time
italians drivers are ok by me miss the coffee though and apertif cheers

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I provide counseling for adjustment issues. My information is provided below:
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Office: Corso Buenos Aires, 60, 20124 Milano, Italy, 2nd floor; Tel: +39 393 83 99 777
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Office hours: 9:00am-8:00pm. Visit by appointment

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