The heat in Italy is making all of us crazy! I no longer need to blow dry my hair because two seconds outside and I'm good to go for the night...and sweating off 20 lbs from all the pasta we consume here.
Obviously I have loved everything about being in Italy for the past few weeks but there have been a couple of stand-out things that have really kept me interested.
1) the people in my program (as if I haven't said that enough by now...)
2) the locals and their kindness towards us, most of the time
3) the new music and how they sing along in english even though they don't really know what it means
4) the food
5) and finally finding out about our culture versus theirs
First to start the MUSIC HERE IS AMAZING! They all love house music which up until this past year wasn't my favorite but what can I say, I'm a sucker for a good beat. Even if they don't speak english you mention the name of a dj and they are smiling ear to ear. They eat it up. Its a refreshing way to feel some sort of connection to the locals who can sometimes feel like aliens.
Even if you don't love house music. Even if you would rather hear something with a softer beat and an acousitc guitar, you have to appreciate finding some sort of universal language. It really doesn't matter what language a song is in, everyone can sing along and that is really amazing.
Second, the food. What can i say? Everyone should expect that when traveling to a place like Italy the food is going to be absolutely amazing. It has been above and beyond any of my expectations. I have yet to have a disappointing meal. Even though I am getting sick of the same crossiants and paininos for lunch and breakfast everyday, their ingredients are beyond anything you will ever find at your local Panera Bread.
Check out that lasagna...first night's dinner and its only been up from there. To some that may look like a blob of mush but it was absolutely delicious. I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat pasta the same way again (LIE).Third and finally, the Italian culture in comparison to ours.
I have already mentioned how I feel about the way they treat women...that hasn't changed. However, I have gotten time to find out more about how they view us and our culture. They all watch us like we are unicorns even after we've been here for 3+ weeks. I don't know if that will ever change. Its not something you can get used to either.
I ask all of them to be "honest" with me about how they feel about Americans. Of course, I haven't heard anything negative yet...which is boring but I guess its better that way. What I have heard is we talk wayyy too fast for them even if they understand english. Our language is a lot harder to learn then most languages because we shorten almost all of our words and have words like pneumonia and bologna that don't sound anything like what they should...
I can feel their frustration from miles away. Apparently we Americans like to make everything as difficult as possible for the rest of the world. SHOCKING!
Tonight we are off to an olive oil factory to see how everything works and have what I am assuming will be another amazing dinner.
Till next time here xo
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