The Bittersweet Life

The best thing about marrying an Italian? You're automatically part of a big Italian family. The worst thing about marrying an Italian? You're automatically part of a big Italian family.

If you're a regular listener to the show, you've heard Tiffany talk about (and sometimes complain about) her Italian in-laws for years—especially during those long months when she and her husband lived with them when in between apartments.

This week, Tiffany's mother-in-law, Luisa and father-in-law, Rocco, join us to speak for themselves. Katy and Tiffany discuss many topics with this couple who have been married for 40 years, including the closeness of the Italian family unit, how they first met, which of their three children is the favorite, and what they thought when their only son brought home an American girl.

A hilarious episode ensues, in which we finally learn if they dislike each other as much as they pretend to.

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

Issues of race and diversity are on everyone's lips and minds in the United States right now. But people in Italy are just starting to have these conversations. In a country where, until quite recently, everyone had a similar racial make-up, perhaps it simply wasn't necessary until now.

In an interview with our former intern, first generation Salvadoran American Estrella Gomez, we probe the issues facing an expat of color in a place that is just now getting used to its status as a country that people immigrate to, rather than from. Does Estrella get treated any differently than an expat who can pass for an Italian, like Katy, or one who fits the American racial stereotype, like Tiffany? How has her experience as an expat in Rome differed from ours?

We also ask the question: if your parents were immigrants, do you have the right to move abroad? Does it somehow make their sacrifice less meaningful?

We broach these and other thought-provoking topics on this week's episode {ETHNICITY}.

Learn more about Estrella Gomez at her blog, La Casa Bloga. You can also find her on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

What happens when you say "no" to your destiny…only to discover that it brings you more joy than you could have imagined?

This week, Katy interviews Antonio Sersale, son of one of the four founding siblings of the legendary Le Sirenuse Hotel in Postiano on the Amalfi Coast. From a young age, Antonio was groomed to take over the family business of running the hotel, but he resisted for many years, convinced that the life of a hotelier wasn't for him.

Then, one day he changed his mind. During a recent stay at this exquisite boutique hotel overlooking its namesake Sirenuse Islands, Katy interviewed Antonio about what changed his mind and—more importantly—what it is about his job that he loves more than he could ever have dreamed of as a young man.

Listen in to their fascinating conversation, and consider what could be waiting for you in your own life, if you would simply say "yes."

Wonder what the hotel is like? Check out this video.

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

After a transformative trip to India during college, Michael Maren realized that in order to feel fully alive, he had to go back overseas. He joined the Peace Corps after graduating and a series of chance events led him to Kenya, where he stayed for the next five years, teaching English, Physics, and Swahili at a local secondary school, and he later worked as an aid worker in both Kenya and Somalia. After returning to the States for graduate school, Maren eventually became a war correspondent. From Uganda during the overthrow of Idi Amin in 1979 to Somalia during the height of the Somali Civil War in the early '90s, Maren has lived and worked in some of the dangerous places and situations on the planet.

In our latest episode, Katy travels to Positano on the Amalfi Coast, where she met up with Michael and interviewed him about his experiences covering conflict across the African continent. They discuss the trap of expat privilege, the negative effects of foreign aid on developing countries, and the delusions many war correspondents have that they are special enough to survive.

Maren is now an author and screenwriter. His book The Road to Hell explains how misguided foreign aid, charity, development assistance, and food relief in developing countries have propagated a culture of destructive dependency that damages the local economy and promotes corruption. He also wrote and produced the film A Short History of Decay starring Bryan Greenberg and Linda Lavin, is currently working on a new film, Shriver.

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

This week, we hit the streets of Rome with our recording equipment to search for ancient artifacts or "spoglie" hidden in plain sight. Rome has been inhabited without interruption for over three thousand of years. A past like that cannot but leave its mark on a city. And if you keep your eyes open, the vestiges of Rome's ancient past can be found around almost every corner.

From the fluted Corinthian columns walled into the sides of nondescript buildings to the piazza that follows the shape of the ancient stadium it was built upon, from the crumbling Roman buildings that found new life as Renaissance palaces to the fragments of ancient decoration plastered into the walls of medieval buildings…the history of Rome is palpable in its very urban fabric.

You don't have to visit an archeological site or even a museum to discover the city's many layers of history. Just take a long rambling walk through Rome's historic center and you'll find the tangible ghosts of the ancient city coming to life all around you.

Want to follow along with us? Here's a list of the stops we make on our passeggiata:

• Ponte Fabricio
• Torre dei Caetani (*Note: Tiffany mistakenly refers to it as the Torre dei Crescenzi in the episode. Oops!)
• Portico Of Octavia
• Theater of Marcellus (and Palazzo Orsini)
• Largo di Torre Argentina (and the Cat Sanctuary)
• Piazza Navona (and Sant'Agnese in Agone Church)
• Piazza di Pietra and the Temple of Hadrian

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

Rome is crumbling...just as it has been for centuries. But what does it say about us adopted Romans that we choose to live in a city's whose glory days are all in the past?

Why do so many of us, who can't even use the excuse that this is our native land, choose to live here, often at considerable financial and professional inconvenience, despite how little it has to offer us? Why do we leave in frustration only to return again and again, as if it were "more familiar, more intimately our home, than even the spot where we were born"?

The inspiration for today's episode comes from one line (albeit a very long line) from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Marble Faun. (The quote in its entirety can be found here.)

It leads us to made a rather stark comparison: is living in Rome a bit like being in an abusive relationship?

Bonus: turns out ancient Romans complained about the city's traffic problems too! And apparently, Juvenal coined the term "traffic jam" back in the 1st century AD. We discuss one of his quotes, which can be found here.

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

Katy interviews Samuel Webster, versatile artist, Australian expat in a small town in Italy, and host of Fool's Paradise podcast. They discuss what it means to be an "artist." Does adopting that title make you pretentious, or is it just an honest representation of your craft? What about if you practice numerous arts? Webster identifies as a writer, a photographer, a poet, a podcaster, and much more. But does practicing one art form take away from the others? If you qualify yourself as a photographer, what does that say about your writing degree? Beyond that, how do you go about making a living from art in a foreign country? Katy and Samuel discuss these and other fascinating topics.

Check out Samuel Webster's podcast, Fool's Paradise.

Or visit his website to learn more about his projects.

Bonus! Samuel interviewed Katy on the same day, and his episode is set to air simultaneously. So if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out his as well. Just click the link above.

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

What does Rome sound like in the rain? Tiffany and Katy take a walk through the soggy streets of Rome, from Trastevere to Campo de' Fiori, capturing the sounds that you might not notice: raindrops falling in a puddle, water rushing through an underground drain, birds chirping as they seek shelter from the storm. As a seasoned radio producer, Katy hears sounds other people don't notice. Tiffany is just learning to. Join them on an aural discovery of Rome in the rain.

Plus: they attempt to answer the age-old question: what do the umbrella-sellers do with the umbrellas when it's not raining!

Bonus interview! Tiffany is convinced that Italians hate the rain. She interviews some Italians in Campo de' Fiori about why they hate the rain so much...their answers may surprise you!

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SPONSOR THE SHOW: Reach expats, future expats, and travelers all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE: Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email at [email protected].

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1: OUTSET

SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

WRITE A REVIEW: Leave us a rating and a written review on iTunes so more listeners can find us.

BOOK: Want to read Tiffany's book, Midnight in the Piazza? Learn more here or order on Amazon.

TOUR ROME: If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

Thanks to Stackry.com for supporting this program. Shop any US retailer and ship anywhere for less money. Bittersweet Life listeners get 10% off when you try it! Just use the coupon code: MANGIA

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Sometimes a person comes into your life—just a chance encounter—and yet you never forget them. Maybe their impact is strong, maybe it's insignificant, yet for some reason, the memory of that person stays with you for the rest of your life. Katy and Tiffany discuss their own unforgettable encounters with people who have probably long since forgotten them.

SPONSOR! Reach expats and future expats living all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE! Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

SAY HI! If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email. Write to: [email protected]

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1:OUTSET

BOOK! Need a copy of Tiffany's book Midnight in the Piazza? Order here!

TOUR ROME! If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany Parks as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.

Thanks to Stackry.com for supporting this program. Shop any US retailer and ship anywhere for less money. Bittersweet Life listeners get 10% off when you try it! Just use the coupon code: MANGIA

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Planning a trip to Rome? Use your Chinese horoscope sign as a guide to plan your itinerary. What animal are you? A snake, a dragon, a rat, a dog? Listen to episode 204 of The Bittersweet Life podcast to discover a Roman location that suits your personality perfectly. You might learn something about yourself in the process!

Read Tiffany's blog post on the same topic!

What's your Chinese zodiac sign? Find out here.

SPONSOR! Reach expats and future expats living all over the world. Send us an email to get the conversation started.

DONATE! Open your laptop and visit The Bittersweet Life and click the donate button on the right side of the page. The show needs your support to continue.

SAY HI! If you have a question or a topic you want us to address, send us an email. Write to: [email protected]

You can also connect to us through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - Better yet, tag #thebittersweetlife with your story for a chance to be featured!

NEW TO THE SHOW? Don't be afraid to start with Episode 1:OUTSET

BOOK! Need a copy of Tiffany's book Midnight in the Piazza? Order here!

TOUR ROME! If you're traveling to Rome, don't miss the chance to tour the city with Tiffany Parks as your guide!

©Web and show content can only be used with written permission.