Health care 24, July 2009

I have some conservative friends (gasp!) (just kidding…!)

And, for some reason, we have been getting into the health care debate.  Not with 1 or 2 of them, more like 4 or 5.  And I’m not really one to debate others.

But this is an important matter.

The discussion often seems to start with me  saying  something like “Universal health care is a good idea because people who work part-time, and those who have lost their jobs, as well as their families, can still go and see a doctor”.

They often reply with “I understand why some people need health care.  But not ALL people.  What about all of those lazy bones who don’t work?  Who aren’t even looking for a job? Why should I have to pay for them to go to the doctor?  I work hard.  So should everyone else”.

Then, I usually say something like “Yah.  I see your point. I guess we’ll just agree to disagree”.

But after thinking about it (which is why I’m no good at debating…it takes me a while to come up with what I want to say…),  I have  a more logical reply.

“When we drive down the road, does someone stop and ask you where you work before you’re allowed to use the road?  When you are in danger and need the police, before coming to your house, do they make sure you have a job?  When you send your kids to school, is there someone at the door making sure you are on your way to work after dropping your kids off?”

No!  There are many things in the U.S., that we pay taxes for, and then we get to use.  Without question.  Why should health care be any different?

If we take streets and police and schools as something that comes with living in the U.S., why can’t we put health care in the same category?

Rome-Paris…I may have found my airplane cure 11, July 2009

I have been scared of flying for a while. Not a little scared…a lot scared. If I travel with Fabio, I grab his arm whenever there is a little wind. If I am alone, I grab the arm of the stranger sitting next to me.
Fabio has suggested 2 different rounds of psychiatric drugs for me to take on the airplane…neither of which has had much effect.
Today, on the flight from Rome to Paris, I had a glass of wine.
I felt fantastic! I could almost have a normal conversation with Fabio, and I noly touched him lightly when there was wind. He did not leave the plane with a blue arm.
I am not sure what to do for tomorrow’s flight from Paris to Chicago. I can’t be drunk for 9 hours. Also…the plane takes off in the morning. Can I do wine for breakfast?
I’m going to try the drugs once more.
I will be happiest tomrrow afternoon, when I have 2 feet on solid ground in Chicago.
Maybe I’ll have a drink upon landing.

We’re late, we’re late, for a very important date! 9, July 2009

We are always late when we are going places here in Italy.

We are late for reservations we make.  Sometimes by 15 minutes, sometimes by an hour.

We were an hour late for my appointment to choose a dress.  The store called to say that if we weren’t there in 20 minutes, we would have to come a different day.  They had another client.  Fabio got upset by this!  He thought they shouldn’t have taken another client, because that wouldn’t give us enough time.  However, I pointed out, if we had arrived on time, we woud have had more than an hour to try dresses.

Last night, we had a restaurant reservation for 8:00.  We left the house at 8:10, and arrived at the restaurant aroud 8:30.  The couple who owned the pizzeria was happy to see us, and they seemed they could have cared less that we were running late.

I am under the impression that the MOA in Italy is to be late.  Maybe the hour we were late for the dress store was too much. But it is telling that they only called when we were actually an hour late, not 15 minutes late or a half hour late.

Last time I was here, we were late for our plane. The plane from Rome to Chicago.  Take off was at 9:00 a.m.  We left the house at 6:30 a.m. Without traffic, Fabio’s house is 45 minutes from Rome’s airport.  But if you thought traffic in Chicago was bad, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.  On this particular day, it only took us one and a half hours to get to the airport. That means that we arrived at the airport at 8:00.  For a 9:00 international flight.  The counter was empty. They told us we had to run for the plane.  We ran to security…where we had to wait in line for 20 minutes.  Then, I had to do a passport control, which took another 20 minutes.  When we left this 2nd line, after getting from place to place to pace, it was 9:00.  And we weren’t at the gate, not to mention on the plane with our seat belts fastened.  We ran by some pilots who said to each other °wow.  they must be late°. Right.  We arrived at the gate, and they shuffled us to  bus, which would drive us out to our plane.  We got onto the plane, a full half hour late.  I walked to my seat covering my face (I HATE being late), and sat down  The plane proceeded to take off, and we made it to Chicago on-time.  We were lucky they waited for us.

Right now, we are waiting for Fabio’s mom’s friend to come over and cut our hair. She was supposed to be here 20 minutes ago.

She’s here!  No discussion about being late.  I guess that 20 minutes late by our standards is considered on-time by Italian stadards.

Wedding, wedding and more wedding 8, July 2009

We went shopping for wedding dresses last night.

And I found one!  After one whole hour.  This might surprise some of you, because I know that it can take months to pick out a dress.

Wedding dress shopping was quite the ordeal at this Italian ship, because I doàt speak Italian, and Fabio wasnàt in the room with us because he couldn°t see the dress.  So, when the lady at the store would tell me to °turn around°, I would hold my arms up.  When she said °lift your arms up° I would lift  a leg up.  Somehow, we understood each other, and I ended up with the dress that I wanted.

After that, we visited the restaurant where we will have the reception.  It is going to be quite the ordeal, let me tell you (at least for those of you coming from the United States).  Be sure that you come hungry.

Wedding shopping and buffalo mozzerela 7, July 2009

Yesterday we hit the road running…on wedding things.
We went to look for a dress, but were told we needed an appointment. That appointment is set for today, on my 31st birthday. After that, we went to the gift store. In Italy, you buy gifts for the people who come to your wedding. So we bought the gifts, and I am glad to have that checked off of my list. Tonight we are going to the restaurant where we will have the celebration.
The only thing I am concerned about regards the practicality of the night. How are people going to get from their hotels to the church to the restaurant and back home? **Let me know if you have any ideas!**

Other than that, Fabio’s parents asked him what I like to eat.  He told them I liked the buffalo mozzerela I tasted last summer.  Guess whaat my lunch was yesterday??!  A BIG BALL of buffalo  mozzerella!  Of course, there were tons of other things to be eaten with it…proscuitto, bread, other cheeses, another kind of ham, olives…however, as they had served me the entire ball, I figured I should eat it.  And there wasn’t much room for other things.  (I did have some fruit for dessert.  The Italians seem to serve up fruit after meals like it was water.  Maybe we should try this at home…).

Italy 6, July 2009

I’m back!
We spent the weekend in Tuscany…in a little city called Lucca. It’s a walled-in city…meaning to enter it, we had to walk through the entrance of an ancient barrier wall.
The funniest thing about being in Lucca? There are plenty of shops because there are plenty of tourists! You’d think that because it was an ancient city, there would only be landmarks…churches, ruins, amphitheaters to see. We did see a church that was at least 800 years old (I still can’t wrap my head around how old this place is), but we couldn’t go in because there were 800 weddings taking place on Saturday.
That night, we ate at a traditional restaurant. Fabio’s friend and his girlfriend ate tomato and bread stuffing, which is apparently a traditional meal in Tuscany. I had meat, which I hadn’t had in a few weeks. I don’t know how they do it here, but it was delicious! Thin fillets, cooked with oil, wine and maybe something else. Our appetizer this night was the same thing Fabio’s friends had…the tomato bread stuffing…but it was with seafood instead of tomato. Seafood bread stuffing? That doesn’t translate well. But it was also very good. And I’ve been drinking enough wine..red and white…to sink a ship.
Last night, on the way home, we stopped at another one of Fabio’s friends’ houses, in Florence (still in Tuscany), for dinner. Fabio had told them that we had eaten a late lunch, and therefore asked if we could eat a light dinner.

I’d hate to see what a normal dinner looks like :=).
We had appetizers of cheese, sausage that her mom had made at home, pickled vegetables that her mom and her husband’s mom had made, and bruschetta (which I learned how to make, by the way). Then, for our first course (light dinner, remember!), we had lasagna tha ther mom had made. Our second course was meat…made in a way similar to the meat I described from the restaurant in Lucca. Thin cut fillets cooked with wine, oil and some other things I can’t name. This time, she topped the filets with mushrooms. I sadly gave half of my portion to Fabio, because, in case you don’t remember, we were supposed to be eating a LIGHT dinner!
Dessert was some delicious cake made with ice cream.
We ate well in Tuscany.
I’m sure we will also eat well in Lazio, where his parents are and where we will pass the coming week.

Did I mention that Fabio and I ate pizza by the meter on Friday night???!

Rome and Frosinone 3, July 2009

A quick update…we arrived in Italy yesterday. Of course we have eaten lovely food so far…and to my delight…we have been limiting our consumption.
When I walked into Fabio’s parents house, there was a list of 30 things to do for the coming wedding. Oh la la. Maybe its better to elope???
Gotta run.
More later!

TVA and Robin Hood 2, July 2009

Since a friend commented on it, I thought I’d write about my experiences with the lowering of the tax (TVA) on food in restaurants. Yesterday, July 1st, it went from 19.6% to 5.5%, in order to encourage more French to go out to eat.
Maybe it’s the socialist in me, but I was OK with the tax being at 19.6% for those who could afford to eat out. It’s a little bit of Robin Hood…taking from those who have it and giving it to those who need it. France is well known for its national health care, its unemployment payments, etc, which come from taxes.
Enough of the commentary on social policy.
Back to the food tax.
So yesterday, the first day the tax was supposed to be lowered, we had a coffee in a cafe near the Musee d’Orsay. Was the tax lowered? NO!!!
On the receipts in France, you get a grand total of what you have to pay. The tax is already included in this price…it is not added afterwards, like it is chez nous. So, our total was 5 euros for 2 coffees, and below the total it shows us that 19.6% of this total covres the tax.
I think that, near tourist destinations like the Musee d’Orsay, they expect that tourists don’t know what’s going on in French politics. But I had listened to the news the night before! I knew it was coming! However, I didn’t say anything.  But I knew that this place would be pocketing the 14% difference in price.

Then last night, we went out for dinner with a French friend of mine, Sonia. We went to a restaurant and sat down, and the server brought us our menus. Sonia asked the server why the prices  on the menu hadn’t been lowered, as the tax had been lowered. Our server replied (in French) “Uhh…I don’t know…I’m not sure…was the tax supposed to be lowered today? I don’t know when or why that’s supposed to happen”. Sonia looked at him, and told us she was going to go home and read the new law. THEN, this waiter went to his boss, and started whispering that he had pretended not to know anything about the lowering of the tax. Sonia heard him. At this point, we stood up and left this restaurant.
We found a different restaurant, where the new, lower prices were advertised outside.
We happily sat down here and ate our dinner. Sonia again asked the servers some questions about the tax, and we found out that not all products were required to lower their taxes (for example, the wine we drank was still taxed at 19.6%), but that most products had had their tax lowered.
We ate our lower-priced dinner (by the way…during the summertime in Paris, it stays light out until about 10:30 pm!) and took the metro home.
And I had a mini lesson in French politics and attitudes.