The past few days have been both overwhelming and exciting as I continue to proceed through the stages of cultural shock. So much has happened, yet I don't even know where to begin! There is no way that I can possibly talk about everything but I will do my best to highlight the most interesting points so far. Eventually, my blogging will catch up with my daily interactions and the entries will be more personalized. With that in mind, why not start with the differences?



1. Cars and Driving- They move around like maniacs, and I like it. There's a disorderly order in the way they drive. They move fast for driving through a city, stay on pace with each other to not create congestion (sort of like a river current), and do not pay much attention to the lines on the road except for the double yellow line in the middle. They manuever around each other using the best and most effective route possible. If other cars, motorcycles, or mopeds are in their way, they honk and the vehicle moves; or, they just whiz around them without making a scene. They are very courteous and effecient that way, I think that it must be a general acknowledgement amongst Italians--get where you need to go, using the best way possible, and do not be offended if someone is doing the same. In essence, it is best said by a movie quote from Under the Tuscan Sun, "The traffic laws in Italy are only a suggestion."

The cars they use to accomplish this are very compact, where Smart cars, Toyota Golfs, and motorcycles are popular choices.


Ah, and I must not forget about their parking skills! These small cars also come in very handy for parking. They are typically aligned alongside a road with three to four inches at most between bumpers. Aside from the blue lined squares marked off for vehicles, cross walks and sometimes sidewalks are also acceptable places to leave your vehicle. Towards the outside of Florence, these cars may also park in intersections of small roads, leaving just enough room for a small car to manuever through if they need to use that route. Basically, within subtle limits, they do what they want.

2. Clothes- Italians are very classy! Their style of dress is similar to what you would find in Banana Republic and their color palette often consists of blacks, browns, and moss greens. For this reason, Americans are very easy to point out in a crowd. We are the ones wondering about in bright colors and pastels--tones and hues of pink, blue, green, and violet.

3. General shopping- They have a separate store for everything. There are a few supermarkets or chain stores but they are typically very small and more difficult to find. Instead, you find many individual shops for different things; such as, for example, you would go to separate stores to purchase meat, milk, and even vegetables. Therefore, you're usually running around to trying to find out where you can purchase each individual item. I would assume this may help with excess spending on food or novelty items? Who really wants to be running from place to place all day?

4. Food- The food is fresh in most places--it's wonderful. If you order a sandwich (panini, or another name), the bread would have been baked within the past few days, the mozzarella fresh from a cheese farm (or small privately owned factories), and the proscuetto (like ham, only drier and has the appearance of raw bacon) from the butcher

5. A glass of wine at a restaurant is cheaper than ordering water or pop, AND, you can purchase a bottle of quality wine (Chianti) for under 3 Euros.

As I said before, I will post pictures soon! I also hope to tell you more about my neighborhood and the "naive American" experiences that I have had. You will laugh I am sure:)