After being immersed in the local culture for quite some time now, I begin to notice things that a tourist would fail to recognize. During the time I have been here, I have noticed how fashion and the desire to buy things is what the culture revolves around. This is also the case in the United States, but stores are much more accessible and at one’s fingertips in Italy. Much like everything else in the US, Americans go big or go home, and this includes shopping, When the average American goes shopping it becomes an all day event spending a large amount of money in the mall or shopping center, but trips like this do not happen on a daily basis, usually they occur every couple of months (for the average American woman.) Because the shops are much more accessible in the small streets of Sansepolcro, a common hobby in the streets is to window shop and look and browse in the shops on a daily bases. The Italians are very conscious about their sense of style; even the guys are well dressed. On a typical Friday night, the streets are lined with a sea of people dressed in black and grey; no, this is not a funeral, black is the chic color to wear in Italy. All the shop windows in Sansepolcro are full of dark colored clothes, and a bright colorful color scheme is rarely seen on anyone is Sansepolcro except Dr. Banker. The way to stand out in a crowd in the crazy hullabaloo on a Saturday night is wear a bright red coat and to sport a mane of bright blonde hair. Needless to say, I did not get the “wear all black memo” prior to coming to Italy.
Italian men are a different breed from the good ol’American boys we have at home. The guys here in Italy appreciate the female form and they have an appreciation for women no matter what their size, shape, or age! Italian men are certainly not shy when it comes to expressing their approval of the other sex. The world of dating in Italy is much different from that in the US. From what I have observed, Italian men are much more emotional and brooding in general than men in the United States. I have experienced this species called the Italian male in Lo Scorpione, the local discoteca. The men there will come up to a girl not matter who she is with and ask her to dance. Watching these guys “score” to get girls on the dance floor is quite humorous. The issue of personal space is not an issue to the Italian suitor. The style of dancing is much more touchy-feely and a little more in my personal space than I prefer. The cultural difference in dancing is interesting, but not disgusting and disrespectful like the dancing performed in the clubs in America. Many of the guys would put their face right to mine and they would try to pull me close to them; one guy even also most bit my face in an attempt to perform an extravagant dance move. I fixed that by showing them how to have more fun dancing at a greater distance. At one point in the evening I had seven guys around me, showing them how to shag dance! It was so much fun and crazy at the same time with the language barrier.
The discoteca was certainly fun on Halloween, but my favorite part of the evening was the Halloween festival that we gave for the kids in Sansepolcro. We spent all day Saturday decorating the palazzo and Patsy spent the day baking delicious cookies! Halloween is not a big holiday as it is in America, so we wanted to show the kids how American children celebrate Halloween. The decorating committee was very crafty working with a low budget and limited supplies. The result of all of our hard work was a wonderful experience for the children of Sansepolcro and their parents alike. There were various activities for the kids to do at stations set up; there was leaf etching, trick or treat, coloring, noodle necklace making, etc. The most popular event of the night was the “Go Fish” game. This was my favorite game played as a child at various Halloween festivals and parties. Many more kids showed up than I expected. The palazzo was jam packed for the party, but we would not have wanted to have it any other way. The funniest moment of the night was the “after-party” while cleaning up in the kitchen. I had my IPod on the speakers playing its mass variety of music. The song “Boogie Shoes” came on and the kitchen turned into a disco! We all started dancing and cutting up. The star of the show was Sara’s husband Patrizio! He would have given Michael Jackson a run for his money. He jumped in the middle of our circle and started breaking it down! We told Sara that she needed to take him to the disco, she replied and said “yes only with me!” It was hilarious!
Patrizio is not only a talented dancer, but also an amazing cook! Last week he gave us all a cooking lesson on how to make different kinds of pasta from scratch. He brought his many cooking tools and each one of us a chef hat. We took part in the cooking and preparing process, kneading the dough and cutting the dough into pasta. We made gnocchi and long thick fresh pasta. Going back home to food in America is going to be a hard adjustment, mainly because the food here in Italy is so amazing. I am coming back to Italy to marry an Italian man that can cook me the food of this amazing country! Another thing I will miss when I go home is the beautiful eccentric architecture of Italy. When I look out of my bedroom window here in Italy, I look down and see a small backstreet, where each building in the alley is a different color and each building has its own character. When I have a house of my own I want a balcony with iron rails much like the ones on the houses here and I want to have the charming open air windows and large shutters. The ancient Italian architecture comes from the Greeks. Greek influenced Roman architecture is still visible today in many buildings all over the world. The peristyle columns come from the Greek temples and are visible in courthouses, capital buildings, and many other import buildings. The architecture of Italian villas and buildings are built for a Mediterranean climate, one that get a lot of rain and the houses are built to withstand a lot of heat. The commercial buildings in Italy are often transformed old palazzi that have been remolded, unlike the many new modern buildings that are seen in the United States. I love the old and new together, but I especially like the fact that they have preserved the buildings and that pieces of history stand. An example is the Palazzo Alberti, a 16th century palazzo that has been used for many things, but that still remains instead of being torn down to make a new building.
As mentioned in all of my travel journals, I am learning a little but more about myself everyday and about the world in which I live. So far I have done things that I thought I would never be able to do on my own. Last night I booked my own flight to London and I have been making my own plans to travel around Europe. When I come back I will be a different person, but in a good way. Instead of just looking at things from an American point of view I will remember how people did things in Italy. Learning about the world is addicting and I now have been bitten by the travel bug, my only cure will be to see the entire world before my time on this earth comes to a close.
