{"id":4890,"date":"2015-09-21T12:26:03","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T10:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=4890"},"modified":"2022-01-23T15:05:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T14:05:10","slug":"fci-020-funny-things-about-living-in-italy-with-marsha-desalvatore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/fci-020-funny-things-about-living-in-italy-with-marsha-desalvatore\/","title":{"rendered":"FCI 020 – Funny Things about Living in Italy with Marsha De Salvatore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"marsha<\/a>What are the essential tools for surviving the expat experience in Italy? Well, learning to speak Italian<\/a> is a good place to start. Some defensive driving skills wouldn\u2019t hurt either. How about a lesson in everyday fashion?<\/p>\n

All great ideas, but it wouldn\u2019t be an exaggeration to say that a healthy sense of humor is your best defense against the forces allied against you as you attempt to adapt and assimilate to life in Rome. As if.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the deal: as delightful as it is to live in Rome, there are implausible cultural quirks that exist nowhere else in the world. Sure, every place has its unique features, but the ones in Italy seem to spit in the very face of all logic and reason, causing newly arrived expats to question their own sanity. I think the Italians actually enjoy this on some level, as if each citizen is harboring national security secrets that can only be obtained by birthright. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s great fun to watch us stranieri<\/em> struggle through our lives in this land of wonder and chaos.<\/p>\n

Funny Things about Living in Italy<\/h2>\n

Even someone like Marsha De Salvatore who has lived in Rome for over 12 years is occasionally still befuddled by the oddities that surround her on a daily basis. Fortunately for her, being a comedienne, this environment provides endless fodder for hilarious\u00a0YouTube skits and stand-up routines. Listen to today’s podcast episode to understand what I mean.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always been my intention on this blog to inject a fair amount of humor where appropriate\u2014and quite often where it\u2019s not<\/em> appropriate, as well. However, my sense of humor always gravitates towards dry sarcasm, which, as many writers have noted, is usually lost in print.<\/p>\n

Marsha, though, achieves a higher form of comedy; the side-splitting belly laugh, rolling on the floor type of humor. My favorite routines are the ones that compare Italian culture to US culture\u2014and mock them both in equal measure. Such as this one, entitled: “Girls’ Night Out”
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