October, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  2008 is the lowest-key Halloween I’ve ever celebrated.  I made jack-o-lanterns, and ate pumpkin seeds, but that’s about it.  We’re going to Torino tonight to experience Movement an international DJ experience…not very Halloweeny.  But seeing as how I haven’t been to a dance club in over a year, it’ll probably be fun!  Have a great night!

A Coincidence?

So the last two nights in a row when I’ve come out of work, the bar that’s under our office has been blaring Shakira.  But get this.  Yesterday it was “Whenever, Wherever” in Italian and today it was the same song in English!  A coincidence my dear Watson?  Perhaps.

All I know is that when I hear that song it makes me want to do a stacchetto.  So I really had to hold myself back from breaking out in dance there in the parking lot.  There’s a story behind the word stacchetto.  We have this program called “Striscia la Notizia” (a humorous news broadcast), and every summer they have a competition to choose the two new “veline” (sexy dancers) that dance the opening number of the show.  (See this year’s winners and their dances here).  So, on every episode of the summer competition, they interview six girls and do a variety of pranks to test these girls’ TV personality.  The girls are also judged on their clothes and makeup, which they choose and put on all by themselves.  At the end of each interview the competitors have to do a 1 minute sexy dance (stacchetto).  Luca and I had so much fun imitating the dances and ever since I’ve been getting these strange desires to break out in stacchetto…

Funny Italian Anecdotes

There’s another planned shut down of all drinking water in Verduno tomorrow from 8AM to 4PM.  Apparently they’re doing maintenance on the local acquaducts.  (Yes the Romans built them and we still use them!)

Chickens are constantly escaping from their pens.  Almost everyday I see at least three or four random chickens wandering around aimlessly.  It cracks me up!  In today’s sighting there was an old man chasing after the aforementioned chickens and clapping his hands to try and make them go back where they belonged.