A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

“Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I’d rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn’t enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: “How amazing am I ?! “

The story was accompanied by a photo of French model Tara Lynn (who is also in the second photo below).

I agree that the gym sign (if it ever actually existed) is in poor taste, but I think we’re going overboard here.

On one side we have the painfully, often anorexically, thin models and on the other we have the “plus-size” models who, I guess, are supposed to make us feel good about ourselves even if we’re smack-dab in the middle of the obese category.

Whatever happened to the average women? Why do I have to choose between this:

And this?

Why do we have to go from a size 0 to a size 20? (I don’t know that this model wears a size 20, I’m just throwing a number out there).

While anorexia is a problem, obesity is the far greater problem and both are indicative of a serious problem with food.

In my opinion, neither one is attractive or sexy. Say what you will, but rolls and rolls of fat are not attractive and neither are skeletons.

So, all hail the average woman. She may have a paunchy stomach or big hips, or maybe she’s got a little extra flesh on her thighs, but she’s not a caricature of a woman, she’s the real thing.

And while I know it will never happen, just once I’d like to see a fashion show with a woman who wears a size 8 or 10.

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Michelle at Bleeding Espresso has been hosting a virtual tour of Italy over on her blog and I was honored that she asked me to take part.  Today it’s my turn to introduce you to Abruzzo. So, hop on over and check it out. And if you haven’t done so already, read about some of the other areas of Italy.

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Did you know that Italians have the cleanest homes in Europe?

That’s rather daunting for a slacker like me. Yes, I admit it, I don’t have the cleanest house around and I definitely don’t measure up to the rest of the Italians. So, it’s no surprise when I say that I feel rather self-conscious when we have company. If it’s a planned visit, I try to go around beforehand and clean as much as possible to give the impression that the place is spotless, but a 2 year old toddler usually ruins all of my preparations anyway.

Before you get the wrong idea though, my house is not a virtual pigsty either. I just don’t spend my entire life cleaning which is what a lot of Italian women seem to do. I don’t have the time to get up on a ladder or a chair and polish the light fixtures every few days. No, I’m not exaggerating.

It may sound incredible, but there are quite a few Italian women who start cleaning their houses from top to bottom on Monday – and when I say top to bottom I mean top to bottom, what we would call spring cleaning – then when they finish, they start all over again. That’s all they do. So, what else do they do besides work and clean? Beats me.

I can’t do it. I would go crazy. Besides the fact that I need to work and the fact that I have a toddler who I would rather spend time with than clean, I also need to have some intellectual pursuits or I will dissolve.

So, my stainless steel sink doesn’t shine like a mirror, instead it has lots of water spots on it. My oven door and kitchen cabinets have toddler fingerprints, there are toys scattered here and there and my “office” is the catch-all for everything that doesn’t have it’s own place, the ironing that I don’t have time to do and all of the things I have to keep out of sight of Luigi. Enter at your own risk.

I may not have the cleanest house in the world, but I made my son giggle today, read him a story, read some information that I found interesting on the internet, wrote a blog post and did some other work. Now, I just have to remember to tell myself that, the next time I have a surprise visit and notice that there are some crumbs on the floor. Horrors!

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They, or in some cases their parents, left in search of work or a “better life”. Some left years ago when poverty was the norm here and some left just recently because they were looking for something, maybe a better career or the possibility of earning more.

Yet, they have not lost that link to their home town and seem to feel a strong pull to return every summer during August, the Italian vacation month.

I often wonder if, when they return, they are disappointed in what they find. Do they find it boring here after life in the city? Granted, there are festivals and sagras throughout the month that they can enjoy and the beach is nearby for those who want to lay in the sun, but there are no traffic jams or large shopping centers and we don’t have all the activities available that you would find in a large metropolitan area.

What we do have is clean air, peace and quiet, fresh produce and friendly people. The ones who come home may be referred to as “turisti”, but they’re welcomed with open arms by the people of the town.

There is the fear that these small towns are slowly dying off. Year after year people move away. Some don’t go very far, moving closer to work which may only be a half hour away by car, but that still is a decrease. In the meantime, the population of the towns becomes older and fewer children are born. The average in my town is about 4 children per year.

I often wonder what would happen if all that talent didn’t move away. If instead they used their intelligence and enterprising abilities here and helped the towns grow in other ways. But then, what would happen to the towns? Would that sort of growth ruin their character?

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There are women (and even some men) here who spend every possible moment sunbathing at the beach – so much so that they’re skin takes on what I can only call an “overly cooked” look. We’re not talking a healthy glow, we’re talking full blown roast beef. Move over George Hamilton (does anyone remember who he is?).

But then, maybe I’m the only one who finds that unattractive.

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Maybe I’m way off base here, but I imagine it being a couple with children where one or both of the partners has been out of work for a while. I imagine them having gone through all of their savings and now, having reached the end of their rope, they’re forced to steal diapers and food in order to survive – or at least keep their children healthy.

We get lip service saying that things are getting better, that we’re getting over the economic crisis, but instead of hearing about more jobs being created I keep hearing about more people getting laid off. And, instead of hearing heartwarming stories, I hear heartbreaking stories like this one.

This isn’t limited to Italy though. Just today I heard from a friend whose daughter is in trouble because her husband has lost his job and now, not only do they have no health insurance, but they’re worried about paying the bills and the monthly rent.

But, the rich keep getting richer…..

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Laugh & Learn Smart Bounce & Spin Pony Fisher-Price
An active learning toy that interacts with the television using a wireless device that connects with the TV and delivering animated content. Mom chooses level of play and audio options. For 12 – 36 mos.

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The thing I’ve noticed is how in the states we expected everything to be already processed for us. We wanted our meat to be boneless with no fat on it and our shrimp to be already cleaned. I’m not quite sure why things got to that point.

Actually, by using food this way, we were missing out on a lot of flavor.

The other day I bought some pork “steaks” at the butcher that were cut from the neck of the pig. They were very marbled with fat, but the meat was extremely tender and they were delicious roasted over hot coals. In the states no one would have touched them, considering them an inferior cut of meat, without knowing what they missed.

Another example is shrimp. Judging from what I’ve seen in the past, the majority of people buy it already cleaned and most often frozen. But, if you cook the shrimp whole, with the head and shell still attached, it is a lot more flavorful. Try making a shrimp bisque with cleaned shrimp – it would have no flavor at all.

Stews, soups and gravies turn out much better if you wait to remove the bones until after it’s cooked.

So, what do they do in the states with all of the meat that is considered too bony or fatty? Maybe I don’t want to know.

This leads to other observations about processed foods too. Read the labels on that processed food. I think we miss out on a lot of nutrients that way. And also, why do meat products need added sugar or corn starch?

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Getting back to reading, which I’ve always enjoyed, made me think about the fact that I don’t see many people reading here. Back in the States, people carry books around with them whenever they think they may have to wait for something for longer than a couple of minutes. Many people take them with them to work and would read during their breaks.

Here I have never seen anyone take a book with them to the doctor’s office or on public transportation. And speaking of the doctor’s office, people rarely pick up the magazines that are there. They’d rather just sit and look at one another. When people are waiting among strangers they often just sit there – which makes me wonder what in the world they could possibly be thinking about. I would go absolutely crazy if I had to just sit there and stare into space.

When I went to the hospital I took a book with me, but I was probably the only one there who had one. O even brought me a magazine while I was there, but none of the other mothers seemed to even be interested. Now granted, there wasn’t all that much time to read, but still, I did manage to read that magazine.

There aren’t many book stores around either and the stores that do have books don’t carry a huge selection. That’s not to say that books aren’t sold. I’ve found a couple of very good websites here in Italy that actually even get the books to you within 24 hours (a record here) and one even offers books in English. So obviously someone reads.

Next time I have to wait somewhere I’m definitely taking a book with me. I wonder if people will look at me strangely….

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I’ll be honest, I don’t think the plan to “guarantee” that all Americans have health insurance (in other words, force everyone to buy insurance) is the right way to go. In my opinion, the right way to go is Universal health care.

Yes, I know, I could be labeled a (gasp, horror!) Socialist for these views. I like to think of it as putting what’s right for everyone ahead of what’s right for just the few.

People say that we don’t want the government running health care, because the free market system is more “efficient” and controls costs better. After all, the free market system is based on profit.

So, we want our health care to be profitable. What’s wrong with this picture?

Health care costs are paid by health insurance. Well, some of them are. If you’re lucky and can afford insurance that is – oh, and depending on your deductible and the percentage the insurance company is going to pay, etc.

Let’s think for a minute here. We all know that insurance companies are in it for the money, right? After all, every time you make a claim against your car insurance, the rate goes up. The same thing happens with your homeowner’s insurance. How many people have decided not to make a claim because they didn’t want their premium to increase? Instead they just pay the costs out of their pocket.

But, the health insurance companies can’t raise your premiums because they’re set for everyone for a year. This is probably a good thing or they’d be even higher than they already are. I can just imagine every time you go to the doctor they would be taking more money out of your paycheck. If you had a lot of health problems, by the end of the year you might actually have to pay your employer to let you work.

So, since they don’t raise your premiums with every claim, how do health insurance companies make profit then? There’s only one way and that is to deny health care – refuse to pay for that medical test or that operation. Obviously, you can basically forget about any form of preventative medicine. If the health insurance company sees that there’s no reason to have the test, they just refuse to pay for it.

When the question comes up – Is the operation critical to the patient’s health? We leave that decision to the health insurance company whose main goal is to increase profits. How do you increase profits? By decreasing spending. How do you decrease spending? Don’t pay for health care. It’s that simple.

Profit needs to be removed from health care so that doctors can do what’s right for their patients. Let them focus on what it is they have been trained to do rather than worry about understanding what each insurance company requires.

Then there are those who say, “I don’t want to spend my hard-earned money paying taxes for health care for lazy people who won’t work.”

It horrifies and angers me to hear so-called Christians give this argument.

First of all, the people who really suffer in this are the lower middle class who are working hard, making just enough money to get by and struggling for all their worth to be able to pay their bills. Then they get hit by a health problem and sometimes lose everything.

And what about all of those people who have lost their jobs because of the problems with the current economy? I guess they don’t deserve help either.

In other words, I guess only people who make above a certain amount of money “deserve” health care since they’re the only ones who can afford it.

There are a lot of “statistics” and “quotes” around that criticize the health care given in countries that do have a universal health care system. All of them focus on the negative side.

My challenge would be to talk to those of us who are expats in other countries that do have universal health care. I think you’ll find that very few of us would trade a universal health care system for a free market one.

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