08.03.07
Wild Goose Chases
One thing that I have written about before in this blog was this crazy cultural thing in Italy – running errands. For some reason, virtually everything takes longer here than in the US. I was reminded of this change yesterday. The errand: replacing a light switch.
When we got back to Ancona, we noticed our bedroom light had a bit of a short in it. Our light has two switches. One on the wall by the door, and another on a long cord so that no matter where your bed is, you can always turn the light out without getting up (a fairly common feature in Italian apartments). However, one evening the short got worse and the switch on the long cord sparked and caught fire. The errand got much more important after that.
So I borrowed my teammate’s scooter and headed out to the Obi. I scan their electrical section for something that looks like what I need – an interruttore. I find a package of 2 for €1.38. I buy it, take it home, and start to try and put it on. I notice that my long cord has three wires, and my interruttore only has two places to put wires. I try installing it anyway, but nothing happens.
At this point I am at the end of my electrical knowledge. So I call my father-in-law who tells me I need a special kind of switch that is designed for times when two switches control one light.
Back to the Obi. I search and search, and finally ask an employee. I explain to her what I need, and she says that I need a deviatore. But they don’t have those. I asked her where I could get one, and she was absolutely baffled at where a deviatore could be found. Remember, these switches are very common in apartments in Italy.
I had some other shopping to do in the area, and on a whim my teammate says we should go to Brico. I head to the electrical department, where Jason shows me what I need – a deviatore. I actually cheered in the store. I went home, installed it, and everything is working great.
Part of the difficulty we have in running errands is that transprotation takes us a bit longer. We have to ride a bus, or borrow a car or scooter. And often we don’t know the exact way an Italian would describe what we need.
And I personally think that, at some point in their education, all children are taught that when the switch at the end of a long cord breaks, you need a deviatore (which, by the way, the dictionary defines as “switch”), not an interruttore (also defined as “switch”).
ruben said,
08.08.07 at 5:33 am
aha it’s fun to see that not only italians in foreign countries have to hustle to do things!
ahaha when i was in ireland i was looking for a “deviatore” and the man insisted on saying “switch” (i didn’t know that the same word included the 2 things) i spent the whole afternoon around the city…but be sure that for the next 60 years i’ll remember that “switch” can mean two different things