Mangiano

Along with the renaissance, baroque art, world class soccer (calcio around these parts), and high fashion, Italy may be most known for its incredible cuisine. Italian food has to rank highest in appeal factor of any ethnic food in the world. Are there actually people out there that don’t like pizza? Pasta? Gelato? I’ve yet to meet a single one, and am not sure I’d want to.

With such great food literally at every turn, we have struggled with trying to keep a lid on the gluttony to both keep our wallets fat and our our bellies flat (or as flat is they were before we got to Rome). For this reason, we have been trying to be good and cook as much as possible. Natalia and I are not quite Martha Stewart and Mario Batali either, but the efforts have been quite fun. Most of the satisfaction is due to the plethora of fresh foods available here. We’ve been spoiled by the access to delicious tomatoes, onions, peaches, nectarines, and melons among others, which have helped spice up the meals. Rome also has a ton of mom and pop markets that we’ve enjoyed hitting up, but last weekend we hit the motherlode of all produce markets. Near Piazza Vittorio Emmanuel, there is a huge indoor market filled with booths selling fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, and herbs (no, not that kind). Quite the find.

(Market Esquilino at Vittorio Emmanuel)

Even more exciting was the fraction of the cost that shopping in this market was versus the supermarket costs. I remember expecting to pay about 3 euro for a few carrots, 3 peaches, and a zucchini and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bill was 1.5 euro. Nice. So this has helped us quite a bit in keeping the food costs down as well as trying to immerse ourselves further into daily local culture. Dabbling in the culinary arts has definitely been one of the early highlights of living here in Rome.

(home cooking)

While on the topic of food, we estimate that of the total restaurants in town, 90% are probably Italian restaurants. We’re not sure if this is in line with how things are in other places like France, Spain, or even Russia, but coming from the US, particularly SF and NY, such limited variety has been a bit startling. The only non-Italian restaurants we’ve tried have been an Indian restaurant and two different Chinese restaurants. Both Chinese restaurants were decent but, as a self-proclaimed connosieur of good Chinese food, I would give the restaurants a 3 out of 10 when compared to SF Chinese food and a 5 out of 10 when compared to NY Chinese restaurants. I have noticed that most Chinese restaurants here are usually pretty busy. I guess everyone likes Chinese food, though describing chow mein as spaghetti in the menus probably eases the transition for the locals.

So we are continuing to steadily increase our home-cooked menus and have had a lot of fun doing it. That said, I of course can't help but to treat myself to the finer offerings that Rome has to offer.

Summertime in Roma

As Mister Senor Love Daddy (played by a young Samuel L. Jackson) says at the beginning of Do the Right Thing, “the forecast for the day is hot!” This pretty much sums up the weather for each of the ten days since I’ve been in Rome. Mind you , I’m not complaining. Each day has had perfectly blue skies, with temperatures reaching approximately 90 degrees, and I’ve been fortunate enough not to have any run-ins with any pizzeria owners after asking them why there aren’t any pictures of any Americans on the wall. So the similarities to Do the Right Thing stop here I guess.

(As I write this at about 4pm on Thursday from my apartment, there is the constant howling of a dog in the alley outside of my kitchen window. I wonder what its deal is. The guy is screaming bloody murder. I’ve looked out the window several times, but haven’t seen any kane (dog) sightings. Weird. PS- above is a view from the kitchen window.)

While I have been mostly working during the day, I have taken the time to take walks in the middle of the day to remind myself that I’m in Rome and not necessarily tied to a computer and desk as I’ve been most of my professional life. Although I often return to the apartment feeling like Patrick Ewing looks at tip-off of an NBA game, there are a number of things that make this among the most pleasant heats I’ve ever dealt with. First, out of nowhere, a cool gentle breeze will fill the air periodically providing an excellent natural coolant system when I’m about to overheat. Its almost a tropical or off-shore breeze, yet the shore is miles away. Odd, but I love it.

Second, is Rome’s world-famous gelato. There are dozens and dozens of flavors to choose from but my simple dessert taste buds have me leaning towards “mezzo fragola e vanile” ( ½ strawberry and ½ vanilla) flavor, and its so refreshing and delicious. I just need to be careful. I don’t want to return home looking like a post-retirement Patrick Ewing. (Why Ewing is getting in the cross-fire here is beyond me too, so don’t ask. For those not in the know, Ewing is fat now.)

(This dog will not stop. Maybe its missing its mid-afternoon vino.)

Lastly, and my favorite reason, are the water fountains located throughout the city. Unlike any water fountains in other major metropolises, the water here is clean, cold, and somehow tastes better than any water I’ve ever drank (or drunk…or drunken…whatever). And this is from someone that drinks tons of water. The guide books tout the water as such, yet I remained dubious for a while. In fact, I mentioned to Natalia how long it would be before I would drink this water— imagining it to be a long while. Well, since I asked that question, I think I filled an empty water bottle and sipped away the following day. I’m glad I did. To say I’m hooked would be an understatement. After playing hoops the other day, I took the long way home just so I could take a couple swigs of Rome’s finest tap water. Did I mention it comes out cold too? So good.

And that’s the double truth, Ruth.

Rosso della Casa

Well lookee here. The blog is back— live and direct from Rome, Italy. As most of you know, I’ll be here for the next seven months as Natalia secured a consultancy with a UN agency here. As for me, I am now a consultant for my former organization and looking forward to what life has to offer next. So there’s no better reason than to get back to the blogging. Its been a while. I look forward to bringing you all on the ride with me...
We got into Rome yesterday and are settling into our digs for the next month. Here is a photo of our front door and the view down the street. (That building you see at the end of the road may look familiar…lions once attacked Russell Crowe there.)

Most notable so far is how things have changed since I last traveled through the Eternal City in 1996. Upon graduating from UCLA, Eric, Rich, Jim, Clark, Luke and I traveled through Europe for a few weeks. (I believe Francis crashed on our hostel floor one of the nights too.)Back then, the Euro was non-existent, which has seemingly made things quite expensive compared to the US these days. Also, the Internet was nowhere near what it is today. I remember having to call home to ask my Dad to help sort me out a ticket from LAX-SFO upon my return. Today, I could do everything via the web. (Perhaps most interesting to some is that I am currently watching the Dodgers-Mets game live online as I type this. Gotta love the web!)

Despite the web making the transition much smoother than ever before, there continue to be some difficulties in the transition. Most notably, the language barrier. Natalia’s Italian is definitely passable and has gotten us through some situations already, but my language is sparse to say the least. Hopefully, Rosetta Stone and further interactions will get me up to speed. I am already familiar with ‘rosso della casa” (house red wine), which I believe will be useful in the coming months. Arrivederci.

Moments and Momentum

Happy New Year, true believers! This week marks the start of the lunar new year, which also happens to be the Year of the Ox...my birth year. Each year, I get a personalized card from a colleague in China to commemorate the beginning of a new year on the Chinese calendar. In this year's letter, she mentioned that this year, the Ox year, my year, is destined to be special for me. While this message is likely just a Chinese tradition and does not carry any real meaning, calendar year 2009 has already included moments and occasions that have been so life-altering and cause for deep reflection, that I now believe Pei Bin was right.

On 1/7/09 at 10:15pm, my cousin gave birth to her first child, a healthy baby boy. This birth was probably the closest thing to me having my own child born. In essence, my cousin might as well be my sister. We grew up together, spent summers at our family's country home in Placerville with each other's families, celebrated every major holiday together with our enormous family, and have enough shared memories and stories to last a lifetime. Now in adulthood, we remain close and continue to create memories, whether it was my participation in her wedding, their visit to New York while I was living there, or a Dave Chappelle comedy show. For these reasons, 1/7/09 will always hold a special place in my heart.

The following day my email inbox was buzzing with baby pictures and updates from the new grandparents and responses from friends and family welcoming the new addition to the world. Among the emails, my cousin's husband, Toby, sent a cute picture along with the revelation of the little boy's name. I vividly remember scrolling down the email message to see a cute picture of the newborn with the caption, Quincy Kye Ludwick.

Recalling this moment continues to fill me with warmth and awe and other emotions that I believe cannot be qualified with words. I don't remember a time that I have felt more honored and appreciative of my life, my family, and the future. Quincy's birth was more than enough of a reason to smile, but for us to be uniquely linked with the same middle name for the rest of our lives could not be more exciting. For the rest of the week, I was wrapped up in my emotions over this gesture and used this time to try to better understand myself and my feelings. Kudos to Natalia for listening to endless ramblings over this issue and my reflections over it, which likely did not make much sense at the time.

The one thing I take away from Quincy's birth and the tremendous honor of the shared name is that throughout one's life, you just hope that the decisions you make will lead to something bigger and better and always move you on an upward trajectory towards a fulfilling life. Like most people, I find myself questioning whether I am making the right decisions, or doing enough, or maximizing my potential. While I think that this is probably normal, what is frustrating is that there are rarely opportunities to have something tangible to gauge one's progress. The one prevailing thought that I take away from the honor of sharing middle names with Quincy is that on some level, I now know I must have done something right to earn this flattering gesture. I look forward to spending the rest of my years watching and participating actively in Quincy Kye's life. I hope that I can play a part in ensuring that his childhood is as satisfying and fulfilling as his mom's and mine was.

As I consider the events of 1/7/09 as a micro-level life altering moment for me, merely two weeks later, I participated in an event that affected the world on a macro-level and holds significant feelings in me as well. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was in Beijing during the US presidential election on November 4. Though it was interesting to have the Chinese perspective and an immediate global reaction to a Barack Obama presidency, I felt like I missed out on one of the most historic days in American history, and did not have a true sense for what this day meant at home. For this reason, Natalia and I decided that heading to DC for the inauguration would give us the chance to celebrate the dawning of a new era together along with the throngs of excited Americans expected to attend.

In short, I am glad that we went. Although I've been fortunate enough to witness history on several occasions, nothing matched the palpable energy and momentous air that filled the nation's capital. (sidenote: the other historic moments that I have attended live that immediately come to mind are all sports-related: two no-hitters live- (Jerry Reuss v. SF 6/27/80 and Kent Mercker v. LA 4/8/94); 2 World Cups (02 Korea/Japan, 06 GErmany); 2008 Beijing Olympics; UCLA's 1995 basketball title; and 2000 Game 7 Lakers v. Portland Western Conference Finals).

Living in San Francisco, the "hype" over Obama's election has been significant. Window signs all over town, stylized t-shirts, and continuous media coverage over every moment of Barack's day. While this coverage is unlike anything I've ever seen for a presidential candidate, believe me when I tell you that this was nothing compared to what was going on in Washington D.C. We arrived into DC on Monday evening and were immediately struck by how Obamamania had impacted the city. Virtually every store window, whether a liquor store, bar, restaurant, clothing boutique, or bookstore had some sort of tribute to the 44th President of the United States. Since this was only my second time there (and my first welcoming a president whose approval rating was greater than 30%), maybe this wasn't all that outrageous, but it was clear that something special and unique was happening when we woke up on inauguration day.

Waking up at the absurd hour of 6:30am on the recommendation of every local Washingtonian in order to secure a spot near the Washington monument nearly a mile away from the Capitol steps was the first indication this was not a typical inauguration. Then turning on the tv to get an early gauge of the weather (20 degrees) and seeing mobs of people already on the mall and long lines at local transit station was surreal, as if we were extras in a movie.

What ultimately transpired is unlike anything I have ever participated in or will ever happen again I believe. Two million people gathered together as witnesses and celebrants of history. All freezing, but all smiling, laughing, dancing, cheering and perhaps most notably, completely on the same page--not a bad apple in the bunch. As we waited, they replayed the concert on the Mall from the Sunday before, which helped pass the time. I vividly remember us all jumping around and dancing in tune to Garth Brooks' version of Otis Redding's Shout. One of the purest, most fun, euphoric moments I can remember.

As the oath was taken, tears were streaming down faces of fellow supporters, strangers were hugging one another, and shouts of support resonated all along the Mall. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

The atmosphere was absolutely electric and before this becomes a laundry list of cliches, I will close by saying, historic moments often occur in our memories and reflections after the fact. Both of these events mentioned above hit me on a very personal level and have changed me to some degree. Though one never knows what the future will bring, I am excited to see what the remainder of this Ox year has in store, because this first Act could not be more intriguing.

Facebook Killed the Blogspot Star

On November 4, 2008, the world changed. For someone like me that embraces historic moments like this, I expected to have plenty to write on this here space. Emotions were running high, the feeling of patriotism and hope was palpable, and a world that I would want to bring children into returned. I definitely had plenty to say. Coupled with the fact that I was in Beijing on election night (actually early morning), my election experience was unique and the post-election dialogue here has been stimulating, exciting and worthy of posterity on this blog. I likely will still put my thoughts down here over the next few days. But I had one question of myself...
why has it taken so long?

I have tons of thoughts floating around in my head, yet no blog posts to show for it. While jetlag and long work days here are part of the problem, there is a single leading factor in my recent departure from writing. Thy name is facebook.

This blog had always been a convenient way for me to quickly write down my thoughts in any medium I want— photos, blurbs, formal essays, links, etc. Then along comes facebook, which has made this lazy guy even lazier. A quick status update and all my contacts know how I’m feeling. A quickly tagged photo and everyone knows what I did last weekend. A post on my wall, a perusal of friends’ profiles, and I feel connected with the world and without much feeling for writing too much more. Admittedly, I do utilize the status update feature to try to concisely convey my mood, activity, or sentiment at that moment with the use of a bit of creative writing whenever possible. For example, you’ll never see my status update say, “Kye is.” or “Kye .” Unfortunately, once my profile is updated, that’s likely the only personal writing for public audiences that I’m going to do that day. Probably a maximum of 30 words. Sad really.

I’m hoping that now that I have made this revelation, I will be re-inspired to get back into the blog a bit more wholeheartedly. While I have tons to say about my opinions about the future of the US, Manny Ramirez, the quest for a fourth Final Four, and international work/travel, I have been remiss in letting facebook tell my story.

No more. Change has come to America and will come back to this blog. Yes I Can!

Sports and Politics like Oil and Vinegar

Last night I stayed up late to watch the US versus Spain in the gold medal basketball game. Fun game to watch, impressive effort by Spain, alpha roles showing themselves among the US players, and when healthy, Dwyane Wade showed that his game is the most complete and clutch of all, even more so than Kobe and Lebron in my opinion.

At halftime of the game, NBC showed an interview with IOC President Jacques Rogge and Bob Costas, where they discussed the Games in general and whether China lived up to its end of the deal regarding human rights reforms and other political stances as a result of being granted the Games. I did not envy Mr. Rogge. Understanding China and its growth as an international economy, while still functioning under a very authoritarian government has so many layers, particularly when posited from a Western, first world perspective. Even after my several visits there, and upon numerous conversations with Chinese nationals, American political scientists, and other folks simply living in Beijing, an oft-repeated answer I get is "It's China." Getting absolute answers to complex questions is very difficult when discussing China. Often one must resign themselves to the fact that the answers they want to hear will not be given and understanding the depth of their development is impossible, particularly in sound-byte halftime interview form.

Despite this, I was very impressed with many of the answers that Mr. Rogge gave to Costas' tough questions. When asked about whether China has lived up to its promises regarding human rights and such since being granted the Games, Rogge mentioned that there was never a contract in place that required China to alter its practices in order to host the Olympics, but only that they would urge or hope that China would look at practices that are more in line with global community. Fair enough. I particularly like his answer to a follow-up question. He said, heads of state, multi-lateral organizations (United Nations), and international NGOs (Amnesty International) have been dealing with the issues for years and have made strides but continue to seek reforms. How can the Olympic Committee be asked to transform a country's political practices when other more significant global leaders have been trying to do this for years.

This seems like an obvious point, but one that I believe needed to be expressed. While the whole world is watching the Olympics, it would seem that the IOC can have the influence to alter nation's behaviors, but really how can they? They have done all that they can regarding open media for internationals allowing for more Western perspectives about China to be transmitted around the world, and have been effective in making the Olympics a safe and fair (for the most part) international event, but I think being asked to do much more is unfair.

It seems so simple coming from our Western perch to criticize other countries' practices, and seek easy answers to what are the most complex questions. Evidence of this attitude is supported by the fact that discussion of today's most complicated issues were shown during halftime of a basketball game. This is not to say that such questions should be ignored. China's stance on Darfur is shocking, their treatment of Tibet is brutal, and their labor records are spotty to say the least. Reforms in these areas and many others should continue, but to place a brunt of the responsibility on the IOC is completely unfair and I think Jacques Rogge expressed as much in the interview. I also appreciate that he highlighted the great success of Beijing as a host city, and acknowledged the generosity and dedication of the Chinese people to pull off such a great event.

Obviously, I'm biased here and have developed a soft spot for China after my several visits there over the past three years. China has so much history and with that comes thousands of years of successful cultural development and unfortunately a record of atrocities as well. In today's sound byte driven world with information traveling faster than ever imagined, I would hope that people are able to grasp the concept that answers to many questions are not easy. This is why I was worried that the interview at halftime would not serve any real purpose other than allowing Bob Costas to show the world how well-rounded an interviewer he thinks of himself. I hope that others recognize that the IOC has done as much as it possibly could (note: the IOC has proven itself to be a corrupt organization in the past, so please don't think I am sympathetic to them generally) and cannot possibly have all the answers all the time.

What the IOC can do though is to remove the 20K walk from the Games altogether...such a dumb sport.

My Very Own Closing Ceremonies

Well, that's it. After seven weeks I'm leaving Beijing and heading back to the homeland. Its been an ultra-rewarding experience and had tons of great memories. Natalia and I went to the Great Wall; I had a great professional experience that went off without a hitch; and of course the Olympics. I'll write more about the other games I went to soon and post more pics etc, but wanted to send a quick parting shout to Zhong gou (Chinese for China).

First off, I realized that this is the longest time I've been oveseas for a single stint in my life. Crazy. But its good to know that I can pull this off, so hopefully there will be a time for me to break my own record soon.

Secondly, there's been a lot of buzz about the Chinese government launching missiles to clear the air and controlling the weather during the Olympics. After the first week, clearly the weather control was overstated. It was overcast, smoggy, rainy, hot, humid, and downright nasty on a couple days. Then yesterday, Friday August 15, the first day of events and activities at the Bird's Nest stadium, the weather was nothing short of perfect. I mentioned to a number of people that yesterday was a perfect Southern California day. Blue skies, probably 83 degrees, and periodic breezes. Rarely in all of my visits here have I experienced a day like this. I couldn't help but think that the govt somehow made this happen. The only evidence would be if the weather could sustain. It is now 8am in Beijing on Saturday morning and looking out the window the blue skies are still here. Very interesting.