While we were on vacation, my avvocato (lawyer) called me to tell me that even if I get a new visto, I will still have to wait for the decreto flussi (quota agreement) and hope that I can fit into the small number allocated to Americans. Last year's decreto flussi was already full, so I'll have to wait for this year's decreto flussi. No one really knows when they will come out although I did hear that possibly they will be announced this month.

Our first taste of Naples was sweet. Alessandro's friends showed us the view from above and carted us around to the cleaner areas. I was dying to see what the other side of Naples looked like. The Naples that I feared and resisted. The first thing we did was walk next door to the Museo Cappella Sansevero (Sansevero Chapel Museum) where we saw "The Veiled Christ."

We didn't initially plan on visiting Naples. I had always wanted to go to Naples, but never wanted to go alone. I had heard so much about Naples, and not much very positive, that I tended to think it wasn't a place that I would like to visit. And, after our quick taxi ride from the train station to the porto (harbor/port) earlier in the week, I didn't think I'd like it at all: it seemed dirty and chaotic.

We were up early this morning so that we could take an aliscafo (hydrofoil) to Capri. We were planning on going to Procida, but we heard so much about Capri that we figured we should go there. By 8:30AM, there was a large group of people standing on the porto (harbor/port) to board the aliscafo. As soon as they were ready for us to board, everyone pushed forward and tried to get on as quickly as possible. I got pushed ahead of Alessandro and sat down as soon as I could to wait for him.

Alessandro and I took the bus to Ischia Porto from Casamicciola today. We wanted to tour as much of Ischia as we could and decided on starting with Ischia Porto. I bought a guidebook before we arrived in Ischia, but I don't like to read up too much beforehand. I like to know a minimum of what there is to see. For me, it is more about visiting what there is to see, learning more about the place when I am there, and appreciating it. If I study too much, I tend to have a different idea of a place and might end up getting disappointed.

When Alessandro told me that Ischia was famous for its terme (thermal spas), I couldn't wait. It's not like we don't have any terme in Tuscany, but I've been wanting to go for a long time. A girlfriend of mine goes quite often and keeps telling me how wonderful they are. This morning, after I did some work, we hopped on a bus to go to Terme Negombo, which is located to the west of Casamicciola.

Alessandro and I have been planning to go away somewhere for a few months now. We first thought of going to Portugal, and then we thought of Sardinia. In the end, we decided on Casamicciola, which is a town that is located on the north part of Ischia off the coast of Naples. I had never been south of Naples except to a conference in Sorrento, and I couldn't wait. Especially since most of my friends took off in August.

For the last two and a half months, I've had to carry around two cellphones. And, not out of choice. Alessandro and I signed new contracts with the mobile telephone company named 3. He was able to keep his old cellphone number that he had with WIND and transfer it to the new telephone. I put in my request at the same time and TIM has not granted me the right to keep my telephone number with my new cellphone provider.

A little more than two months later and my interview in A Place in the Sun has appeared in the October 2007 issue. I haven't read the interview yet, but my friend Narinder was kind enough to go to his local newsstand in England and purchase a few copies for me.

The street below my apartment that goes along the Arno river was packed this morning with cars, motorini (scooters), vans, trucks, buses, and bicycles. The tourists and other pedestrians walk single-file along the narrow sidewalk toward as well as away from the Ponte Vecchio.

I used to think that having a routine would be boring. I thought I needed to have so much freedom that I could be free to decide what I'd be doing at every moment of my day. But, I have come to realize that I crave routines. I like writing my morning pages every day, going to the gym a few times a week, running outside in the morning, and my Sunday lunches with Alessandro's parents.

Today was another morning that I went outside to run some errands. I used to never do much in the morning, but it's been so hot lately that it's the only way to survive. I left the house a little after 9AM to get my impronte digitali (fingerprints) for my cittadinanza italiana (Italian citizenship). Because the local questura (police station) is only open to the public in the mornings three days a week, I decided to go to the main questura in via Zara.

When I left the house this morning, I noticed something very different: the city was bursting at the seams. I couldn't help but notice that a lot of people had returned from their holidays this weekend. From last week to this week, it seems as if the city suddenly woke up. Shops in via dei Neri that were closed were now open, there were more people in the streets speaking Italian, and cars and motorini (scooters) were all around me while I was riding my bike through the city.

I think that one of the reasons that I love living in Italy is that I am constantly learning new things. When I was in England and I had to choice of returning to France where I felt at home for six years or to go somewhere else, I opted for a new country. I had wanted to learn Italian for years and just felt that I had finally arrived at the right moment in my life to do so. I was single and working freelance already so nothing was in my way.

One thing that I have learned is that I should never let anything stop me because there is more than one way to achieve a goal. I was pretty upset when I was told by the Italian consulate in the US last February that I did not qualify for Italian citizenship because my nonno (grandfather) was an American citizen when my father was born. The other day while looking for information about the requirements for renewing my permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) I found that I might still qualify for Italian citizenship.