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Q & A
Q - If you hate getting lost, why do you travel?A - Good question.
Q - Why did it bug you that NBC called the Olympics the "Road to Torino"?
A - I thought you'd never ask. IF it is Torino to Americans, then it is also Roma, Venezia and Firenze. Simplice. Basta.
Q - Was there anything good about the transit strike?
A - 2 hours of required exercise, just to get to and from work.
Q - What did you on your summer vacation?
A - Annual Trek to the Great Minnesota Get-Together. Tofu Scrambler at the Cup and Saucer in Portland. A week at the Oregon coast.
Q - What did you eat at the Fair?
A - Honey ice cream with sunflower seeds, Kettle corn, sasparilla, ginger beer, birch beer, water, grilled chocolate sandwich, mini-cinnamon buns with soft ice cream, french fries, wild rice sausage on a bun, corn on the cob, walleye cake, Pronto pup, soynuts, handmade potato chips, vanilla milkshake.
And ending, as we began, with honey ice cream with sunflower seeds.
Q - Why did it take you more than a year to file a new dispatch?
A - No excuse. New job. Just too damn busy.
Q - What did you leave for your next trip to Italy?
A - Another look at my favorite Caravaggios. Another plate of fettucine cacio e pepe.
Q - How's the Italian going?
A - I am learning as much from the children, as I am in my classes.
Q - What is the first thing you noticed that has changed in Rome?
A - Not as many smokers. Even restaurants with Vietato Fumare signs.
Q - Are there any Danishes in Denmark?
A - Beyond my wildest dreams -- though they don't call them that. They're called wienerbrød.
Q - Where were you when the Blackout hit?
A - As the luck of timing would have it, in the WNBC newsroom.
Q - Excuse me, Mr. President. Where are those weapons again?
A - Umm. Well, it's a big country.
Q - Mr. President?
A - Okay. I lied.
Q - How do you keep memories of Rome fresh in your mind?
A - By drinking my caffè every morning from a lovely Sant' Eustachio espresso cup on a saucer.
Q - What is the city like during wartime?
A - Military flyovers, armed cops at tunnel vents and feds with UZIs at 30 Rock.
Q - Do you have a favorite Italian phrase?
A - This trip it was tutto è posto -- everything in its place. Meaning -- everything's okay.
Q - What has, so far, defined this trip to Rome?
A - The naive belief on the part of Italians that non è inevitabile la guerra.
Q - Does Rome seem different this time?
A - Yes. Well, no.
Q - What is unique about New York City snow?
A - The silence.
Q - Are you afraid living at the Orange Terror level?
A - Nah. And, what's the deal with these color-coded fear factors?
Q - How does it feel to be back in New York?
A - Just a little more than strange.
Q - “Was going to Rome the best experience in your life?” asks an anchor friend in New York City.
A - Yes
Q - Are you looking forward to returning home?
A - Yes
Q - Are you looking forward to returning home?
A - No
Q - Has the countdown to New York begun?
A - Alas. Yes.
Q - Are you ready to come home?
A - I can feel myself straddling both worlds. I think I'm preparing for my return.
Q - How's your language study going?
A - Pretty well. People are asking me directions. I understand strangers. And, I can even make jokes in Italian.
Q - Are you gaining any weight?
A - Allora! My pants are getting tighter, and I am pretty sure it isn't shrinkage. See Week Six.
Q - Are you running out of money?
A - Hard to tell. Have you seen the lira? It's like spending play money. When I run out, I just go to the bank and ask for more. Like Monopoly.
Q - Is your trip to Rome what you expected it to be?
A - I expected to learn about the Romans. I never thought I would learn so much about the world.
Q - Has anyone pinched your butt yet?
A - Does the guy on the l'autobus in Rome, who was rubbing himself against me, count?
Q - Who are some of the rudest people you have met so far in Rome??
A - No surprise: taxi drivers. Of course, there is a universality to their rudeness. But, in particular, they are adamant about your getting out of the cab at the end of the ride. “Just get out!” some snarl.
Q - Why are there so many references in school text of BEFORE and AFTER the war?
A - Because in Italy, its impact was so profound, it is a line of demarcation.
Q - Where were you when the first tower collapsed?
A - I was on the telephone with my best friend who could see the towers from her home in New Jersey. Together, we sobbed, for ourselves, and for all those lost souls.
Q - “Why Rome?” asks one of my favorite bosses from his Blackberry© in NYC.
A - Because it is a city that speaks to my heart. Oh, I forgot to mention the piazzas and the fountains.
Q - What is one thing you are looking forward to in Rome?
A - The bridge with the Bernini angels leading to the Castel Sant'Angelo.
Q - Why are you spending three months in Italy?
A - Because I can.