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MrsMonkey
Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 19
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 Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 10:53 am Post subject: |
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| Hi, that's ace, thank you. Am also doing Wantedinrome and Craigslist. |
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Teacher in Rome
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 1286
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| Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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| MrsMonkey wrote: |
| Hi, that's ace, thank you. Am also doing Wantedinrome and Craigslist. |
Wantedinrome can be on the expensive side. If you speak Italian, you could try portaportese.it
Failing that, you can try the notice boards in Feltrinelli Internazionale (nr Repubblica) and in the English bookshop in Trastevere. They may well have ads up, tho sometimes they're out of date.
I didn't even know that Craigslist covered Rome, but when I first arrived, I arranged a month's studio let through a company that were called flats in rome. I ended up in Testaccio - not a bad location at all. Fully furnished for a month - great way to find my feet first without having to also find a flat straightaway. |
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MrsMonkey
Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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TeacherinRome:
Craigslist certainly does do Rome http://rome.it.craigslist.it/, although I'm finding it hard to work out what's a real ad and what's a big scam. |
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Teacher in Rome
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 1286
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| Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the link. I had a quick look, and although it might be difficult to differentiate between the scams and genuine ads (I looked at "stanze" - ie rooms in a shared flat - discounting the ones which had stupidly low rents) it does give you an idea of how much to expect to pay. �400 per month and up...
Let me know if you need any help at all. |
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MrsMonkey
Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:46 am Post subject: |
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I know this is from 2003 but it's made me considerably less enthusiastic.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3601421/When-in-Rome-plan-to-go-home.html
I know I'll have to live in a flat share, which is fine, I do it here in the UK too. But am I ever going to be able to go out for a beer and a pizza? Get the bus to the seaside at the weekend? Buy a new pair of shoes? I'll be going home with 1,200 a month but it doesn't look like that will be enough to make the whole thing worthwhile. |
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Teacher in Rome
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 1286
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:45 am Post subject: |
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Oh, him again!
Actually, it's largely true. But what he doesn't mention is that, by and large, Italians recognise these problems. It's not as if they want to live like this. But firstly, they don't believe the state has any power to change anything, and secondly, when the state does get any sort of power, it tends to end up in Fascism. Governance seems to me (an outsider) a question of all or nothing.
So you'll hear ordinary Italians complaining about bureaucracy, lack of justice etc as well, but without any real hope that anything will change. Which is why they then ignore government as much as they possibly can, finding their own arrangements (anarchy?) to get by.
And many of them do, with the help of family and friends - the only real safety net in Italian lfe.
Where does this leave you, or me, or any of the other millions of foreigners without family in Italy? You can get by, you can make a good life for yourself. But it's not easy, or there'd be tons of people trying to do it.
- get the best possible qualifications you can
- be flexible and adaptable. Teach kids if you have to, businesses when you can get an "in". The Telegraph article sneers at the flexibility and lack of planning you have to put up with, but believe me, if you show flexibility and "disponibilit�" - i.e. availability - to one client, they'll come back to you time and time again. Solve their problems, and you'll always be the person they call.
- be polite, friendly, and easy to get on with. Nobody likes a moaner - especially when the person you're moaning to has exactly the same (if not worse) problems as you, and can do nothing to help you.
- make real relationships with people. You can't rely on governments, or legislation to solve your problems. But make a personal relationship, and you'll have a friend for life. It's all about contacts and being a human. Everyone helps one another, because they can't rely on official bodies.
- learn to live frugally. I'm not saying you don't already, but Italians take frugality to a new level. You might end up with a great contract and get rich, but it's unlikely, statistically speaking. Shop in the farmers' markets, buy seasonally, take the train to the beach, don't pay for an "ombrellone" - pizza and beer won't cost you the earth. OK, it doesn't sound glamorous, but most people in Europe are tightening their belts anyway, so you're in good company.
I think the article is spot on in many respects, but what's just as important to realise is that Italy is not some sort of paradise. It has its problems as much as anywhere else. What's different here (to the UK, for example) that because people expect so little, there's less hand-wringing about it, and perhaps more ways round the problems. |
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