Trisha Thomas has been living in Rome since 1993, and is a journalist / tv producer for the Associated Press.

This blog began back in 2011, when I was raising my three children in Rome, as a way to humorously recount my struggles as an American mother married to an Italian and trying to maintain my own values, ideals, and traditions while also adapting to a society that was not my own.  It described challenges I faced from the butcher’s counter to the pharmacy and the coffee bar. Over time, the blog morphed into a diary of sorts, mostly recounting personal adventures and behind-the-scenes stories related to my work as a journalist / television producer for the Associated Press.  Over ten years I did 475 posts with tales of mothering dramas and journalist adventures.  Posts included covering two Popes and traveling with them from Bethlehem, Bogota, Havana, Antananarivo, and Juarez – to name a few.  In Italy, the posts came from every corner I covered – migrants in the southern Italian island of Lampedusa to the Carnival in Venice. 

It all came to an abrupt halt with a last post on March 7, 2020 with a somewhat naïve post titled “Rome at the time of Coronavirus.”  I wrote it from Padova where I was visiting my younger daughter.  Hours after that post was published, my daughter and I were on the last train out of Padua at midnight escaping with hundreds of others back to Rome to avoid getting stuck in a government-imposed Covid-19 red zone. 

After a year and a half hiatus, I am starting again, moving into phase 2.  A lot has happened.  I agree with those who talk about Before Covid and After Covid.  The world feels like a different place.  A planet wounded by the dramatic effects of climate change, battered by fires, hurricanes, and floods.  A world population lacking the vision to face a future of disease and destruction.

But enough gloom and doom.  I have the good fortune to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, have an exciting job, three quirky, charming, lovable 20-something children who are part of the generation that needs to figure out how to save this world.  In a certain sense, a blog feels outdated, pushed aside by twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok – a format that goes way beyond the attention span of the average human in 2021.  Nevertheless, it works for me, so my stimulating job, my kids, my Italian-American life will continue to be the source for this personal and professional journal. As always, I am grateful to my followers and welcome your comments. 

Trisha Thomas has been living in Rome since 1993, and is a journalist / tv producer for the Associated Press.

This blog began back in 2011, when I was raising my three children in Rome, as a way to humorously recount my struggles as an American mother married to an Italian and trying to maintain my own values, ideals, and traditions while also adapting to a society that was not my own.  It described challenges I faced from the butcher’s counter to the pharmacy and the coffee bar. Over time, the blog morphed into a diary of sorts, mostly recounting personal adventures and behind-the-scenes stories related to my work as a journalist / television producer for the Associated Press.  Over ten years I did 475 posts with tales of mothering dramas and journalist adventures.  Posts included covering two Popes and traveling with them from Bethlehem, Bogota, Havana, Antananarivo, and Juarez – to name a few.  In Italy, the posts came from every corner I covered – migrants in the southern Italian island of Lampedusa to the Carnival in Venice. 

It all came to an abrupt halt with a last post on March 7, 2020 with a somewhat naïve post titled “Rome at the time of Coronavirus.”  I wrote it from Padova where I was visiting my younger daughter.  Hours after that post was published, my daughter and I were on the last train out of Padua at midnight escaping with hundreds of others back to Rome to avoid getting stuck in a government-imposed Covid-19 red zone. 

After a year and a half hiatus, I am starting again, moving into phase 2.  A lot has happened.  I agree with those who talk about Before Covid and After Covid.  The world feels like a different place.  A planet wounded by the dramatic effects of climate change, battered by fires, hurricanes, and floods.  A world population lacking the vision to face a future of disease and destruction.

But enough gloom and doom.  I have the good fortune to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, have an exciting job, three quirky, charming, lovable 20-something children who are part of the generation that needs to figure out how to save this world.  In a certain sense, a blog feels outdated, pushed aside by twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok – a format that goes way beyond the attention span of the average human in 2021.  Nevertheless, it works for me, so my stimulating job, my kids, my Italian-American life will continue to be the source for this personal and professional journal. As always, I am grateful to my followers and welcome your comments.