Molto piacere

05/18/2009 - 11:19

Hello everyone! I'm Elisabeth posting from Orvieto most of the year, and from the Amalfi Coast during the summers. I used to visit the forums regularly, but never posted. When I found this new format, I thought I'd give it a try! Now I just hope I can figure out how it all works.I'm American, married to an Italian and we have two small bilingual and bicultural children. I've lived in Italy full-time for about ten years now, first in Capri where my husband is from and more recently in Orvieto. I spent a lot of time here as a child as well, so I grew up speaking some Italian and became really fluent when I moved here.I'm a licensed Italian estate agent (don't hold that against me!) working with an English company. I mostly handle luxury properties on Capri and the Amalfi Coast, but I also handle a select few things in Umbria. Mostly I do property management while I'm up here. It keeps me busy enough, especially with all of the other things I seem to have going on.I'm very involved in our little American Episcopal (Anglican) church here in town. Aside from the obvious - it's a wonderful place to meet other expats and build a community of English speakers - especially for my kids.Besides property, I know a lot about touring in the south of Italy, Italian eating and cooking, contemporary Italian culture and am a good hand at translations. My husband and I used to run a gourmet vacation company and cooking school, which gradually turned into a career as an estate agent for me - go figure! So, I hope to participate on these and other topics as they come up.Nice to meet you!

Comment

Gala usually gets in first to say that, so I thought I'd pip her to the post :bigsmile: Sounds like you deal with the really posh stuff, which means it'll be way out of the league of us lot! But we'll be more than happy to come down and help in the summer in return for - y'know - a dip in some sleb's pool ......

In reply to by Annec

My husband is a religious player of Super Enalotto. It is his goal to one day be able to afford the kind of house I sell to other people! For now, I'll post any and all house serf job announcements here ;-)

Hi elicat - thanks for joining and the great intro. Looks like you have a lot to offer - we have a small girl which is growing up bilingual (and tri-cultural almost!) but one of the challenges we are finding is to create more opportunities for her to speak English with others (as there are few English expats in South Sicily and even fewer with kids!)if you have any questions about the site and how to use it please askronald

In reply to by Ronald

Especially down south it seems like the local culture/dialect is a more important identity than the Italian one. My in-laws speak only dialect and it's so funny to hear my 4yo slip into it with them. His whole demeanor changes, apart from the language. All I can say is I find it totally worth it to go (far) out of my way to create opportunities for the kids to know other English speakers. All my efforts pay off in the great satisfaction of knowing that they can hold their own in several languages and cultures. Good luck to you!

In reply to by Ronald

Ronald.... two words.... UK satellite tv. Oh that's three :-)I was worried my son wouldn't have enough English input as we mainly speak Italian at home. Solution: no Italian tv, just English language - problem solved! ;-)

Hello Elisabeth. Anne and Ronald have managed to beat me in welcoming newcomers. This afternoon I have been quite busy, which explains my delay. Anyway, it is great to hear from you. I also managed to teach my two girls three languages and different cultures. They are adults now and have lived in different places around the world. This has been beneficial to them as it has broadened their culture and they are happy to be citizens of the world.Welcome again and we look forward to hearing more from you