Please follow us on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

In this episode, Kimberly and Tommaso talk about their first two weeks in their new home in Italy. They share the joys and challenges of moving to a new country with a new language and new rules.

Key Points:

Setting Up a New Life in Italy:

• Kimberly and Tommaso record their first podcast from their new, unfurnished apartment in Italy.
• They describe the initial setup, including one bed, one table, two chairs, a kitchen, and many empty boxes.
• They express admiration for those who immigrate to new countries, especially with language barriers.

Navigating Italian Bureaucracy:

• The process began with picking up an immigration application from the post office within eight business days of arrival.
• They found the process was what they had expected with Kimberly’s Italian language skills coming to the rescue.
• They recount a humorous experience at the post office involving a friendly, funny clerk.
• A local festival closing the post office caused a moment of panic about missing their eight-day deadline.
• A visit to La Questura (police station) revealed the need for a “declaration of entry” due to their indirect arrival through France.
• They discovered that all printers in Italy come with built-in scanners, highlighting the local need for frequent document scanning.

Deliveries and Shopping Experiences:

• Delivery tracking in Italy is often inaccurate. Packages arrive unexpectedly, sometimes before they are even marked as shipped online.
• Kimberly and Tommaso joke that the only way to reliably receive a package is to stay home all day. Or all week!
• Shopping in Italian malls is a different experience than in the United States. Malls are vibrant, aesthetically pleasing, and full of people.
• They describe a first mall experience with an exquisite wine bar and restaurant, feeling like they were in Venice or Rome.
• The stores themselves offer a personalized, art-gallery-like experience with attentive staff.
• Despite visiting on weekdays, the malls were busy, indicating a thriving shopping culture, unlike the decline of malls in America.

Recycling Rules:

• Italy has a thorough and strict recycling system, with daily pickups for specific items.
• Food scraps go into communal compost, used for local agriculture.
• The community effort for recycling is apparent everywhere.
• They appreciate that the Italian system explains where recycled materials go, fostering a sense of purpose.

Ciao!