Update: We Have Arrived (by Steve)

SIENA, February 8th, 2004

We are here!  The house is wonderful.  The Giallombardo-Ducci family is also great.  As usual, they have been very helpful.  Without their help, we could not be doing this.

Antonio says that without their help, it would be a 'bel casino'.

We'll be filing more stories soon.

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COMMENTS from the original post

2004-02-08 17:27:19 edp Re: Update:  We Have Arrived
woohoo!  congratulations!

2004-02-08 17:32:3814 edp Re: Update:  We Have Arrived
BTW, i tried for several minutes to figure out what the appropriate idiomatic meaning of ""bel casino"" might be, but i failed.  anyone care to enlighten me?"

2004-02-17 12:49:59 gretapasha Re: Update:  We Have Arrived
Hey there Quatrano Family:  We're so excited to see your website coming together - and know you must be so thrilled to finally be starting your adventure.  We'll be checking back often to travel with you.  Have an amazing time.

Pasha and Greta

The COOP (by Sarah)

SIENA (#20)

So, today was the big day for none other than grocery shopping! We walked all the way to the Giallombardo’s house (30 minutes with a 10 minute stop for hot chocolate and coffee). We got to their house and then piled into their car so they could take us to our car, which was parked in a free lot. Giulia came in our car with us, and my mom went with Laura. For our shopping, we went to the Coop (pronounced ‘cop’).

I’ve decided that Italians have the coolest inventions. At the Coop, the carts are all attached to each other by chains. To get one, you have to put a euro into a slot, and the chain releases. When you put the cart back, and attach it to another cart in the line, you get the euro back! Also at the Coop, they had a sort of ramp with little grooves that moved like an escalator. The carts have these thin lines on the wheels that fit perfectly into the grooves. So, when going up or down the escalator, the wheels won’t move, no matter how heavy the cart is, so it can’t roll down! Another wicked cool thing at the Coop is the hand held scanner. Instead of the cashier scanning everything you buy, you do it yourself as you pick things up, so when you go to the cashier, it doesn’t take as long!

When we mentioned the high technology of Italy, Angelo responded with something like, “Well, we are descendents of Leonardo DaVinci…”

Meanwhile, Alex spent most of his time devising ways that these inventions could backfire. He wanted to attach our cart to another cart while that person wasn’t watching, and then get the euro back, and leave the cart attached to the other one. He also wanted to use the scanner and just not scan everything, so some stuff you get for free. There were many other neat inventions at the store, and Alex found ways to cheat at most of them.

We went to the Coop on a Saturday, which is probably the worst day to go. It was insanely crowded. But it was an experience. On our way out, we also got a cell phone. We are finally connected to the rest of the world again! What a concept!

After the Coop, we went back to the Giallombardos house. We had lunch there and watched the movie “Spirit” with Giulia. It was evening already when we realized we had to unload our groceries. We went to the Police Station to get permission again to go next to the Duomo so we could carry our groceries up. The police weren’t open, so we went to the Duccis to use Antonio’s car (handicapped). While we were there, I spent my time with Giulia and Carla. Giulia shared a chocolate egg with me, and then we watched as Carla made another torta, this time with ham, spinach, and pasta.

We finally got the car and drove down to our apartment. There was a couple that were being flirtatious and sitting on the steps of the Duomo. No one knew who they were, but nonetheless, Giulia wasted no time in getting in their faces, breaking them up, and “busting their balls” (“rompere le scatole”). The rest of us brought the groceries in while she sat next to the couple.

Alex and Angelo were already in the apartment when we got there (they had taken the Vespa motorcycle). Giulia used the computer with Alex and I, and dad and Angelo went out to get some pizza. We ate dinner and then they left and we went to bed.

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COMMENTS

2004-02-25 22:20:40 stefano
Re: The COOP
I can't resist the urge to comment on the creative mind of Alex, not at all unlike his namesake, Grandpa (Nonno) Allie.  Anyone for a game of cards?"

2004-02-26 17:41:29 alex
Re: The COOP
You forgot about the scale thing, that prints out a sticker with a bar code and all. You could put something light there and put the sticker on a heavy item! Bwahahahhhhahahahah.

Love Ya,

Alex"

2004-02-26 17:42:21 alex
Re: The COOP
Wow, this kid is so amazingly smart!"

2004-02-27 05:57:58 stefano
Full Disclosure
For those newbies (new users) of news forums like this one, it is important to understand that the reader comments are not the work of the author...  and that the identity of the author should be carefully considered when interpreting stories, journal entries, or comments on stories.

Alex, have you considered the possibilities of a fake identity so that you can comment anonymously on your own work?  Benjamin Franklin (aka "Poor Richard") used this device successfully long before the Internet when "spoofing" had a slightly different connotation.

2004-02-29 15:07:35 Roz
Re: The COOP
Hi Guys!   I'm happy to report that (apparently) the descendants of DaVinci have created the same weight and sticker gizmo for the U.S.  Right now I have only experienced it at Wegman's a family chain of wonderful supermarkets, mostly in upper New York State, BUT trickling down to Virginia this month!    As I recall, tho, the produce here just doesn't have the color, beauty or taste of  its counterparts in Italia.

So, Alex:  are you going to work for the FBI, CIA or the Mafia?  That's a sinister mind at work, I'd say!

2004-04-04 21:04:0220 BubbieBarbi
Re: The COOP
It must be a genetic thing. Carrie always spotted all the ways the patrons in her restaurants could steal & cheat, too.  It doesn't come from me!  I still leave my purse on top of the lettuce while making a selection......   Bubbie BB

Our first Day in the Apartment (by Sarah)

SIENA (#17)

WELL NOW! My first real story is finally here! Who wants to know what I’ve been up to?!?!

Italy is amazing – we got here, we are living in our apartment, hanging out with friends, and loving every minute of it! Read more…

We are living in an apartment next door to the Duomo (Cathedral) of Siena!

The interior of the apartment is incredible. My room in the apartment is in the main living room, which is also one of the coldest rooms, and probably least private...oh well. It has three couches and one of them folds out – my bed. Marco Bruschelli, the owner of the apartment, must have been a traveler. We can tell because of all the souvenirs that we see around the house.

 

In my room, there is like an 8 foot Buddha statue. Luckily, he isn’t scary looking, so instead of a demon waiting to get me at night, I have a Buddha to watch over me! I’ve adopted “the green monster” (which Alex calls “the slug”) to be mine, so that makes up for everything. It’s a huge green comforter I found on my parents’ bed. I fell asleep under it as soon as we got here. The rest of the house is really cool too. To the left of my room/living room, is my parent’s room. It has the closets that everyone except for Alex are using; he has his own in his room. Going to the right of the living room, is Alex’s room. He has a double bed and a wicked cool blue light. It’s probably the warmest room in the house at night. Practically across from it is the bathroom.

The bathroom is personally my favorite room in the apartment. The first room has a bathtub that looks more like a hot tub; I can almost lie down in it. The catch is that it would probably cost about 100 dollars to fill it with water. Also in that room are two sinks and a dresser thing with towels and a mirror. There’s a room off of that one with the toilet and shower. The shower is so much fun, I can’t even express it! (Sarcasm….) It’s about 3 feet wide and gets everything wet. There’s also a window, so mom and I can’t shower until it is all steamed up! Also, it’s freezing when you get out.

 

Moving on down the hall, there’s another little living room with two couches and a TV. Alex found a Simpson’s rerun in Italian - even Dad couldn’t understand a word they said. I might actually move into this room because it is warmer than mine, although my bed would be a couch.

The next room is the kitchen. It gives off such a nice aura. There’s a table when you walk in, with three chairs and a bench on one side. We already have places where we all sit. The washing machine is in there, and as for the dryer, we use a clothesline outside, which hangs over a 90-foot drop. The sink is made out of brick, as well as most of the kitchen. There is no dishwasher, so we wash all the dirty dishes by hand. It reminds me a lot of camping – where everyone pitches in to help.

Now, for the whole run down on exactly what we’ve been up to here! We got on our plane at like 5:45 or so after our suitcase incident (refer to Alex’s article). On our plane to London, Alex and I watched “The School of Rock” and started to watch “Tomb Raider”, but never finished it. We stayed in London for a few hours. We did a little shopping but I didn’t get anything. We then boarded our plane for Milan. When we got to Milan, a woman was waiting for us with our car information. We got a Peugeot, and our license plate is red because it is a French car. We managed to just fit all of our luggage into the trunk and we were off! For the four hours it took to get to Siena, we listened to music in the car, pointed out beautiful sites, and slept (well not dad).

We arrived in Siena at about 5 in Italian time (maybe like 11 am in America) I was too tired to get out of the car to see Angelo, Laura, and Giulia, and so was Alex, so we stayed in the car and slept. We were woken when our parents got back into the car, with Laura too. We made our way to the Police Station to get permission to drive our car next to the Duomo , so we could unload our baggage. They gave us 30 minutes, so we rushed to our new apartment. After carrying our heavy bags up the 5 flights of stairs, I crashed. I was too tired to eat dinner when Carla, Antonio, Angelo, Laura, and Giulia came, so I just slept more.

Lucky for me, there were leftovers in the morning! For breakfast I had proscioutto, pasta, and a torta that Carla made, with ham and carrots. I also had delicious orange juice and when Dad got back, we made hot chocolate. After breakfast, we all took showers and took out our clothes from our suitcases. Yup, we’re here to stay for a while. After that, it was about 11 here, mom and I crashed again and fell asleep under the green monster on a couch.

While we were sleeping, Alex and Dad went out and got more food. They woke Mom and I up for lunch. We had pasta with zucchini and artichokes (carciofi). After lunch, we had our first Italian lesson. We started at chapter one in the Italian book I had been using in class, so naturally I knew most of the material already. We all went out for a walk after that. In the city, we bought more food and went to a department store for some pots and pans. Since we don’t have a phone yet, we had to use a public phone in the piazza. We then went home and ate sandwiches and leftovers for dinner. Yumm. Then sleepy time. I’m sleeping in the TV room because it is supposedly warmer. Whatever, as long as I have the green monster, I’m okay!

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COMMENTS

2004-02-25 22:20:40 bellonick1214 Re: Our first day living in the apartment!
HOLY MOLY MACARRONI!

i bet your view of the city is amazing. geeze when i look out my window i see hmmm 2 cars. my moms and my dads. you guys see everything! 

The Forgotten Bag (by Alex)

BOSTON, February 4th

In the airport today, a very funny thing happened, funny in my eyes, but not in anyone else’s. You can be the judge when you finish reading.

Sarah was bringing bags downstairs that were going to be put in the cab. She couldn't carry one of the bags downstairs, because it was too heavy. She kind of mumbled to my dad that there was one bag left upstairs. My dad was so concentrated on whatever he was doing that he kind of dismissed the comment.

The cab arrived, so Sarah and I began to bring the bags out to it. As we got in the car, my dad looked around, and it all looked good. He had not taken any bags out to the car, so he did not know which bags had been brought out, and which had not.

We got to the airport, and even got in a line before we realized that the bag was missing. The bag contained Sarah and mom's clothes.

Also, off the topic, my clothes could not have been in there because I got the remaining (tiny) bag for MY clothes.

My dad quickly called the Taxi Company. He arranged this whole tag-team type solution. Our neighbor (Mrs. Duys) would let the taxi driver into the house with her copy of the keys. Next, he would find the 80lb suitcase using a set of directions dictated by my father. He would then bring the suitcase to the airport within 30 minutes (our time limit given to us by the airport service representatives who were concerned about boarding the international flight).

My parents had cancelled their cell phones the day before, so it complicated things quite a bit. We couldn't board the airplane without the last bag, but we couldn't split up, because we had no cell phones. It was a lose-lose situation, so the family decided that we would rather stay together as a family and would all take a later flight if the bag did no arrive.

What ended up happening was the bag came right on the deadline, and there were still people behind us in the security line to get into the plane. All's well that ends well. But that doesn't mean nails weren't bit in the mean time.

Not quite ready... (by Alex)

LEXINGTON, Jan 29th, 2004

I have a lot to do, ""a lot"" might be an understatement...My parents are telling me to do all of this stuff, and i'm just too busy to do it all.  I'm sure that in the end everybody will be finished with everything, and I'm going to be left running around finishing my packing.

What Does it Take to Build a Website? (by Steve)

How hard can it be?  Well, it turns out, for your basic web site with static information, it's not very hard.  Even I was able to do it with a little help from Hutch in a few hours.

There are basically three steps:  register a domain name, find a computer to host your site and then associate the name to the computer.  Although I have been using Internet technologies as tools and building Internet products since 1996, strangely enough, I have never done these simple things.  As it turns out, they are neither hard, nor mysterious and at this point, are unbelievably cheap.First, I got a domain name.  A domain name is an address.  It is part of the address of a web page.  This content, for example, has the following address:

http://italy04.quatrano.org/cms/node/11  [Now moved to http://sqnet.blogspot.com/2004/01/what-does-it-take-to-build-website-by.html] 

Within this page address, also known as a Uniform Resource Locator or URL, the domain is quatrano.com.   (The term domain comes from the Latin word domus meaning house, the same root of ""domicile"" and ""domestic"").  Think of it as where this content is ""housed"" or who is responsible for its publication.

We might have used our ISP to host our content.  In our case, the domain would have been rcn.com and the entire address might have looked like this:

http://www.rcn.com/~stefanoq/cms/node/11

There are three problems with this approach, however.  First, the address of my content would be owned by my service provider, not me.  But it is better to associate the address with the content than with the service provider.  Can you imagine if you had to get a new phone number every time you wanted to change long distance carriers?  Pretty inconvenient, no?  Another reason to avoid hosting content with your primary ISP is cost and flexibility.  RCN is more expensive than many hosting services and would not provide some of the more advanced features I was interested in exploring.  And third, it's not as gratifying to the ego as having your name out in front.  :)

So Hutch helped and we acquired quatrano.com.  We went to a site like http://www.mydomain.com, paid them around $15, and they registered our domain.  I call this class of companies domain registrars.  Then what?

Then we needed to find a computer to host our content.  We needed a computer that was always on, that we were prepared to leave out in the open, exposed to anyone on the Internet, and that would be monitored for problems and malicious attacks.  For as little as $4/month, you can rent shared resource on someone else's computer instead of your own.

Sounded like a fine idea to me.

Hutch is reselling these services so he agreed to help us get started on one of his servers and it took all of about 5 minutes.

The last step is to associate your name with your computer.  Every networked computer in the world has at least one IP address.  And IP address looks like this:

207.44.231.67

This particular address is the address of the computer that served you this web page.  When you typed the address of this page including the domain name quatrano.com in your browser, it formatted and sent an HTTP message into the Internet.  Nodes in the network look up this address in a table as they pass the message along from node to node until it reaches the computer hosting this content.

Cool.  But how did every node in the Internet find out about my address?  Because the Internet was designed to survive a nuclear war (or even a ""nucular"" war these days), this lookup is based on a highly distributed table that begins with a simple transaction that I did myself (with Hutch's help, of course).  I told a my domain registrar (remember them?) that messages for quatrano.com should be routed to my hosting company which in turn will send it to my computer.  Within 24 hours, this little piece of information, the association between my hosting service and my domain name, is propagated throughout the world, completely automatically.

Unbelievably cool.

The last thing I did is put a web page on that server.  It said: ""Hello, world"" of course.

Now There are Images Too (by Steve)

LEXINGTON (#10)

I have integrated an application called Gallery with the Nuke content and community management software with mixed results.

The good part is that we can now upload images in a controlled way to the website from any computer. You can all enjoy the first album I created with of the Ducci/Giallombardo family in Touisset several years ago. [This was linked to /italy2004archive/homeimages/Italians-in-America/|images]

In general, I have been very pleased with the Gallery software.  It was quite amazing how it integrated with the extensible security and user management capabilities of Nuke.

On the other hand, the basic news facility managing the content you are reading now, based on Drupal, cannot handle images.  I am looking for a more integrated authoring environment.  One possibility is to use the Content module which basically exposes a web page to the author.  Another possibility is to investigate other modular extensions like Gallery, even writing our own.

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COMMENTS from the original blog

2006-10-21 14:47:37 stefano
Updated from Nuke to Drupal
I have completed the upgrade from PHP-Nuke to Drupal.  The images are still in Gallery but a newer version.

A Test Post (by Doreen)

LEXINGTON, Jan 27th, 2004

I've been patiently waiting for this site to open up.  Steve has been amazingly focused.  Maybe now, he'll be able to think about packing.  Well, just testing the system so far.  I have accumulated some entries and will submit them after I return from my second to last day at work..maybe last, depending on the snow fall (6-12 expected).  TTFN

Welcome to Quatrano News! (by Steve)

LEXINGTON, Jan 26, 2004

This is the web site with the stories and journals documenting the adventures of our family in Siena, Italy.

This is an experiment.  We have put this together very rapidly and it is constantly changing.  We ask for your patience and hope that you find it worthwhile.

We are using some open source content management and ""on line community"" software which assumes you are familiar with some pretty advanced dynamic web news services such as slash dot.  For many of you, however, we know that this assumption is false.

For those of you in this group, and you know who you are, be advised:  some additional patience and background is essential.  Start by reading this.

Sites like these typically provide a means for a group of authors to publish stories easily, using the web itself as an authoring and content management tool.  They typically enable readers to comment on stories, search through and organize the content, and otherwise personalize their reading experience. Finally, it provides a way for registered users to interact with one another around the specialized content that brought them to the site in the first place.

Sound like fun?  A virtual open house for friends and family?

Once you register and login to the website, the writing is organized by author, length and topic.  (NB. REGISTERING is creating a new account and LOGGING IN is required each time you access it). There are journal entries, articles, and longer stories.  We are still working on ways to integrate art and photography.  You can contribute too!  Please feel free to comment on what you find and reach out to our community of friends who are interested in sharing our experiences.

However, we ask that you identify yourself by registering using the login panel on the right of the home page. And -- although what you write is beyond the reach of search engines like Google and restricted to our extended community of family and friends-- please keep in mind that what you publish is public.

If you forget your password but have a valid account, you can request that the system assign you a random password.  But you cannot ask for a new password if you have not yet registered initially.

Here is a quick test:  Can you explain the difference between creating a new user account and logging in?  What about the difference between entering a password on the initial registration, changing the password on an existing account, or asking for the system to generate a new password on an existing account?  If you can't, try and read this article again from the top.

[Instructions for creating an account and logging in have been omitted].

1/25/2004, Lexington -- My First Entry (by Sarah)

LEXINGTON (#7)

Heyyyyyyyy all! Today is sunday, the 25th (exactly six months til my birthday!!!) So many things are coming up that are symbolizing our trip and that we are actually going!  We sent boxes of books and what not to the Duccis. Hutch is all set up in Rhode Island. Orna came for dinner to see the house here in Lexington, Friday night.

I just got home from our LUSY event, woo hooo! And I got like one hour of sleep (possibly) - props to ja and ari, thanks guys haha! Italy is so near - only a week left of school.

Also on Friday night, was when Kari, Izzie and Jesse threw a huge surprise party for me! I had absolutely NO idea (holaaa chicaaaaaa)! I was so glad to see so many of my friends (there was like 35 of you?!?!) from various places - all getting along great! It was amazing, and meant so much to me! (Thanks again guys!!!!!!!)

As well as a really fun night, it was also an enormous reality shock.  Its really happening! We are actually leaving for 5 months to have an incredible adventure! But I'm beginning to see how much I will miss my friends here, you know who you are guys.

Nothing much else to say, we're just keeping busy prepping and such. yeah.

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COMMENTS from the original blog:

1/26/2004 10:48 PM Steve Quatrano:  Some Background

Some background may be useful here, Sarah.  Hutch, who Sarah mentions in her article, is my friend John Hutchinson.  He is doing a huge favor for us staying in our place in RI and caring for Annie.

Orna Granot is an Israeli, a friend and cousin of Cathy Gildesgame, who is living in our house in Lexington.  She is using it as a base to begin her graduate program at Simmons College and a search for more permanent quarters.  She will be joinded by her husband, Ofer Nivy, a software engineer."

1/28/2004 10:22 PM Steve Quatrano:  What does 'props' mean?

So I had to look up the definition of 'props'.  Turns out, it is a word and Sarah used it correctly in a sentence.  No surprise.  See definition at urbandictionary.com

Alex is the Coolest (by Alex)

LEXINGTON (#6)

Io parlo itliano. Homestar runner, SWEEEET.

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COMMENTS from the original blog

2004-01-28 22:17:53 stefano Re: Alex is the coolest

Io ho qualche domanda a proposito di questa storia.  Prima, l'autore dice che e' "cool."  Va bene.  Ma non c'e' nessun argomento per soporre questa posizione.  Ma piu' importante che il contenuto e' la forma.  E' scritto in inglese, non italiano!