Mr and Mrs J-Lo have finally admitted to having a bun in the oven. I knew it! She's been wearing floaty clothing for way too long to be anything but preggers. Auguri.

Hey

We’ve been a few days without internet since a storm struck the centrale (something to do with Telecom - isn't it always) last week. I’ve heard of many others having problems with the internet here but it’s been years and I’ve never been cut off. My luck ran out it seems.

Having a break from the internet isn’t all bad though. You get more things done, I’ve even done a bit of a cambio stagione in my absence. Not really a cambio stagione up to Italian standards, but ok nonetheless. I mean, many tops can be worn practically all year round, especially with a cardi on top so there's no point storing them away for months is there? The downside to no internet obviously is that you don’t have all information to hand such as weather reports, phone numbers, etc. I needed the phone number of a restaurant and had to dust down the enormous phone book and start flicking the pages to find it. Back to basics indeed. I’m so behind on other blogs, forums etc too. We’re back online as of today though so I’m catching up. Oh dear I can feel myself slipping back to being internet dependent again already ;)

I wanted to write about my last days in my twenties before the technical hitch. Too late for that now. Yes, I’m now in my thirties. EEK! Another year older... I had a really lovely birthday, my parents came over and as a caramba che sorpresa my sister and her bf came over too! All lovely and special. The piano bar man in their hotel sang happee bird-a-daya to me too.



What are the good things about being 30 I wonder? Help me out, I’m new to this.

Things happening in Naples

1) The Pope came to Naples for the first time yesterday. It was raining but I saw on TV that he went around the crowds in a buggy so that he didn't get wet. Or would he have gone round in that anyway.

2) They did another ban on cars yesterday - from 9am till 6pm to try and clear the air. Lots of cars were still out defying the ban though. Neapolitans like to break rules, especially if it means keeping their hair dry. I'm not sure if this ban was linked to the Pope's visit or not.

3) There's snow on Vesuvius!

4) There was some kind of air strike today - traffic controllers or ground staff, I'm not sure, but it meant that I couldn't leave for London as planned. Managg'.

Congrats!

My dear friend got married yesterday. I wasn't able to make it unfortunately (it was in Ireland). Wish I could have gone :(

My invite was sent in July. Still no signs of it. I really think they should look into scrapping Posta Italiana all together. If it arrives I'll let you know.

Brrrr

It's come COLD in ol' Napoli and temperatures are set to plummet further on Thursday. When I say cold, I'm talking lows of 10°C, highs of 22, which is probably nothing to many, but it's chilly for here. I've got a cold too so that's not helping me to feel warm.

We put the duvet on the bed on Sunday. I LOVE a duvet. Snuggly snuggly. I'm on the porridge on a morning too, with brown sugar. Yum. I've introduced OH to porridge this year and he loves it! I wonder if any other Neapolitans have porridge on a morning. Doubt it.

Thinking back to last year, I went to the beach at the end of October. I can't see the temperatures getting back up so high now, but you never know. Vediamo.

I was in England last week

I went to England last week and again I noticed how my grasp of the lingua inglese is becoming stranger and stranger. I don't think it's right to say it's getting worse, because I still read lots in English and speak - mainly on the phone - in English. But I find that as I speak more Italian, I end up forming phrases in an Italian kind of way when speaking English. This is due to hearing Italians speak English too. For example I'll say "I was in England" that's not right is it? An English person would say "I went to England" not "I was in England". Other phrases I find myself saying in English are "In this period" instead of "lately" or "recently", this is because Italians say "in questo periodo."

I find myself having to concentrate more when I'm speaking English (with mother tongues) so that I don't sound too much like I'm from another planet. I wonder if this happens to truly bilingual people. You know, the ones who are bilingual practically from birth.

Apart from this little brain teaser I do consider it a great ability to be able to speak two languages fluently.

Another thing I noticed on this England trip is how I slip into both Italian and UK lifestyles effortlessly these days. I don't usually look forward to uprooting myself, mainly due to laziness, but once I get there it's like I never left. I go from having an espresso here to a tea (con latte) there, or from shopping all day there to having a siesta in the afternoon here no probs.

"Uè uè"

Word of the week/month/year/decade (depending when I decide to update this again):

“Uè“
Pronounced: “way”
Translation: “what’s up?/yes?/hey”

Example of use:

“Delina?!”

“Uè” / "uè ue"

I’m not sure if this is an Italian or Neapolitan “word”. It seems I can no longer distinguish the difference. It’s commonly used to respond when called, usually between friends. Even more friendly is the use of the double form “uè ue”

"Uè" can also be used to call someone, but it's more often used to answer.