home
photo album
un po P.O.V.
bites&pieces
past dispatches
3 months in Rome
Q&A archives
write
Q & A
Q - What did you have for your first meal in Istanbul?A - Regional Turkish cheese with butter and walnuts, traditional yoghurt with thyme, salad with fresh oregano, bean salad. baby artichoke salad, celery root cooked in olive oil, hummus, sundried tomatoes with walnuts and garlic, thin chopped tomatoes with spices, Crete-style broad beans, small turkish pizza with minced meat, boiled bulghur stuffed with minced meat, Antiochia cheese in wood oven, dried aubergine stuffed with rice, spicy minced lamb kebab, lamb steak, lamb chop, baklava with pistachio, crystallized pumpkin slices with tahini dipping sauce
Q - Did you feel the earthquake that hit Abruzzo while you were in Italy?
A - No. I was in Bologna at the time, on my way to Venice. In fact, I didn't even hear about it until nearly 24 hours later, because I was in my vacation news blackout.
Q - What made this visit to Venice better this time?
A - Good advice from a friend who has spent a great deal of time in Venice. Last time, I muddled my way through.
Q - It took you two years to post a new dispatch. Has so much happened?
A - Oh yes. Broken Foot. Certification as an Angel Therapist®, Medium and Integrated Energy Therapist. The Angel Salon®. I haven't even mentioned my "day" job. You'll have to call for that.
Q - If you hate getting lost, why do you travel?
A - Good question.
Q - Why did it bug you that NBC called the Olympics the "Road to Torino"?
A - I thought you'd never ask. IF it is Torino to Americans, then it is also Roma, Venezia and Firenze. Simplice. Basta.
Q - Was there anything good about the transit strike?
A - 2 hours of required exercise, just to get to and from work.
Q - What did you on your summer vacation?
A - Annual Trek to the Great Minnesota Get-Together. Tofu Scrambler at the Cup and Saucer in Portland. A week at the Oregon coast.
Q - What did you eat at the Fair?
A - Honey ice cream with sunflower seeds, Kettle corn, sasparilla, ginger beer, birch beer, water, grilled chocolate sandwich, mini-cinnamon buns with soft ice cream, french fries, wild rice sausage on a bun, corn on the cob, walleye cake, Pronto pup, soynuts, handmade potato chips, vanilla milkshake.
And ending, as we began, with honey ice cream with sunflower seeds.
Q - Why did it take you more than a year to file a new dispatch?
A - No excuse. New job. Just too damn busy.
Q - What did you leave for your next trip to Italy?
A - Another look at my favorite Caravaggios. Another plate of fettucine cacio e pepe.
Q - How's the Italian going?
A - I am learning as much from the children, as I am in my classes.
Q - What is the first thing you noticed that has changed in Rome?
A - Not as many smokers. Even restaurants with Vietato Fumare signs.
Q - Are there any Danishes in Denmark?
A - Beyond my wildest dreams -- though they don't call them that. They're called wienerbrød.
Q - Where were you when the Blackout hit?
A - As the luck of timing would have it, in the WNBC newsroom.
Q - Excuse me, Mr. President. Where are those weapons again?
A - Umm. Well, it's a big country.
Q - Mr. President?
A - Okay. I lied.
Q - How do you keep memories of Rome fresh in your mind?
A - By drinking my caffè every morning from a lovely Sant' Eustachio espresso cup on a saucer.
Q - What is the city like during wartime?
A - Military flyovers, armed cops at tunnel vents and feds with UZIs at 30 Rock.
Q - Do you have a favorite Italian phrase?
A - This trip it was tutto è posto -- everything in its place. Meaning -- everything's okay.
Q - What has, so far, defined this trip to Rome?
A - The naive belief on the part of Italians that non è inevitabile la guerra.
Q - Does Rome seem different this time?
A - Yes. Well, no.
Q - What is unique about New York City snow?
A - The silence.
Q - Are you afraid living at the Orange Terror level?
A - Nah. And, what's the deal with these color-coded fear factors?
Q - How does it feel to be back in New York?
A - Just a little more than strange.
Q - “Was going to Rome the best experience in your life?” asks an anchor friend in New York City.
A - Yes
Q - Are you looking forward to returning home?
A - Yes
Q - Are you looking forward to returning home?
A - No
Q - Has the countdown to New York begun?
A - Alas. Yes.
Q - Are you ready to come home?
A - I can feel myself straddling both worlds. I think I'm preparing for my return.
Q - How's your language study going?
A - Pretty well. People are asking me directions. I understand strangers. And, I can even make jokes in Italian.
Q - Are you gaining any weight?
A - Allora! My pants are getting tighter, and I am pretty sure it isn't shrinkage. See Week Six.
Q - Are you running out of money?
A - Hard to tell. Have you seen the lira? It's like spending play money. When I run out, I just go to the bank and ask for more. Like Monopoly.
Q - Is your trip to Rome what you expected it to be?
A - I expected to learn about the Romans. I never thought I would learn so much about the world.
Q - Has anyone pinched your butt yet?
A - Does the guy on the l'autobus in Rome, who was rubbing himself against me, count?
Q - Who are some of the rudest people you have met so far in Rome??
A - No surprise: taxi drivers. Of course, there is a universality to their rudeness. But, in particular, they are adamant about your getting out of the cab at the end of the ride. “Just get out!” some snarl.
Q - Why are there so many references in school text of BEFORE and AFTER the war?
A - Because in Italy, its impact was so profound, it is a line of demarcation.
Q - Where were you when the first tower collapsed?
A - I was on the telephone with my best friend who could see the towers from her home in New Jersey. Together, we sobbed, for ourselves, and for all those lost souls.
Q - “Why Rome?” asks one of my favorite bosses from his Blackberry© in NYC.
A - Because it is a city that speaks to my heart. Oh, I forgot to mention the piazzas and the fountains.
Q - What is one thing you are looking forward to in Rome?
A - The bridge with the Bernini angels leading to the Castel Sant'Angelo.
Q - Why are you spending three months in Italy?
A - Because I can.