Felice compleanno a me!

The teenage years have come and gone.  

I'm currenly spending my 20th birthday in Italy, which happens to also be Italy's Independence Day of sorts.  Sitting outside the cafe underneath a cloudy sky, I've decided that my 20s are going to be a great time of growth.  My final 2 years of my undergrad await me and I intend to make them productive and to appreciate life (an idea that I've seen to have adopted from Italy).  In only my few days here, I've noticed so many differences between typical Italian and American life. 

1) Old people on bikes-

There are old Italians riding their bikes all over this town.  Can you imagine asking an old American to ride his/her bike to town?  There's no way.  Personally, I think it's hilarious because it continues to catch me off guard when I see them fly by me.

2) An greater appreciation of self-

Here in Urbania, all of the stores close and everyone takes about 2-3 hours for lunch.  They all go home, eat, and possibly take a nap.  It's hard to imagine this working in the America, where most of us only get 30 mins or an hour at most for lunch.  In addition, many stores have days where they open up late (mostly on Mondays) or simply don't open at all.  Italians seem to understand the idea of working hard, but hold their well being in high regards.  (Their affection for cigarettes is the exception that proves the rule.)

3) The way food is prepared-

I suppose this ties in with the above note, but I have yet to see a microwave while here in Italy.  This is such an odd concept to me, because so much of what we eat in America is heated up in a microwave.  

4) Social Aggressiveness-

Italians are much more aggressive in social situations than Americans.  They have no problem pushing themselves forward in a group, if they're trying to order something.  We Americans are so obsessed with our lines/queues.  Also, when I was watching the Italian news this morning, the people were literally yelling at each other and waving their arms around.  There are few times I ever see this on American news shows.  I was cracking up watching it. 

5) The way gays are treated-

I haven't experienced any discrimination (at least that I was aware of) while I've been here, even though Urbania is a veryyy small town.  One of my Italian friends here said most people, save for Preime Minister Berlusconi, have no problem with gays and the amount of discrimination is low.  Gays are allowed to serve openly in the military here and most Italians are supportive of civil unions, at least from the research I've done.  Still, I'll keep my ears open for "finocchio"(fag in Italian). 

6) They have Bimbos on board and they're not afraid to admit it-

Haha this cracked me up when I first saw it.  In Italian, bimbo is an appreviation for "Bambino/a" which means "baby" or "little boy or girl."  Nevertheless, I couldn't help but read it as "Bimbo on board!"

I love it here in Italy and am so thrilled to have over 5 weeks left here.  Since today is a national holiday, a lot of things are closed and I don't have any language classes today.  Hooray!  Only 2 coachings today and I'll be finished.  A birthday nap is going to be in order.  I hope these clouds clear up because I would love to go lay out on my friend's balcony, too.  

Ciao, tutti.

I'll leave you with this pic of the view from my friend's balcony. Stunning.

Could this be any more picturesque?