A Straniera's View on Life in Italy
I would like to start by saying that this is all my OPINION. This is, in no way, the thoughts or ideas of every American living in Italy. Personally, my feelings are mixed. Vacationing in Italy and living in Italy are two VERY different experiences. This big boot’s been through a lot of mud throughout its history and sometimes I feel it’s dragging me with it. I would like to start with all the good impressions Italy has made on me. Generally I start with the bad news but I feel that would be a negative way to begin our reader/writer relationship. Here I would like to give you a brief overview of my feelings and observations of Italy. I’ve divided them into sections and each topic is labeled. Thanks for stopping in and I hope you’ll enjoy my site and you may, perhaps, learn a little about Italy. Let’s start with
FOOD
First of all, Italy is a food lover's paradise. Being that I am one, I enjoy the freshest ingredients and the flair that only Italians can bring to their meals. It’s really not all about pasta although this is a major staple in the Italian diet. There is, traditionally, a meat plate that is served as a secondo piatto after the first dish is taken away.
Before arriving in Italy I thought that Italian food pretty much consisted of carb laden plates of noodles, tomato and alfredo sauces (i.e. lasagna, spaghetti, chicken alfredo). There is where my enjoyment of Italian food ended, being that it was all I knew (and yes I enjoyed even this tiny taste of Italy tremendously). I now know that there is a wide world of flavors previously undiscovered by my ignorant little taste buds. I have noticed that Italians don’t drown their pasta in sauce as we Americans tend to do and tomato sauce is only the beginning of the endless variety of sauces used in the Italian kitchen. They throw all kinds of fresh veggies into the mix and most of the time without any sort of sauce at all. For example, tuna fish, onion, garlic, zucchini, garbanzo beans, olive oil, red pepper flakes, basil and oregano makes a very tasting topping for pasta. I had never had it before, it’s extremely simple to put together and it’s delicious.
After cooking for my Italian husband for over a year now, I have found that my staple ingredients are olive oil, garlic and onion. They go in everything I make. My favorite ingredient for that “extra something” is white wine. The flavor it gives the food is so unique and I have a rule with wine, one glass for the pan, one glass for the cook!
Let me say right here that before meeting my husband I never cooked, I mean never. I was satisfied with a chicken salad, tuna salad, any SALAD. Oh and soup. I made lots of vegetable soup. That was the extent of my cooking abilities. So everything written above may have some of you saying, “well of course, dummy!” Just take into consideration that I am a newbie…well I WAS. I take a bit of pride in saying that my husband has come to LOVE my cooking and I’m learning quite a bit.
The ingredients available to me were the first things I learned about. There are a number of differences in what you can buy in the grocery stores in Italy compared to America. From my perspective, I generally see what’s missing from Italian grocers rather than what’s new to me. In America I’m used to being able to buy all sort of fruits or vegetables at any time of year thanks to hot houses, loads of hormones, and the ability to ship them in from surrounding areas. This is not so in Italy. If it’s out of season it’s simply not there. Of course they ship in from other regions of Italy but there’s still a lack of certain produce in different seasons, especially winter. What this does, though, is make for a wonderful variety of FRESH veggies available to all Italians. Everything is tasty and ripe and my feeling is that it’s much healthier this way. The produce is the way nature intended. They are of a normal size as they are naturally grown and of great quality because they didn’t have to travel far to be within my reach. One thing to remember is that they are FILTHY! Everything is full of dirt as if I just picked it from my garden and plopped it in a plastic sack for you. So make sure you clean everything very well, especially the lettuce.
Then there are just some things you’ll never be able to find in Italy: sweet potatoes, chili seasoning, green chilies, jalapeños, cilantro, refried beans, pumpkin pie filling, premade pie crusts, tortillas, cheddar cheese (but any other cheese on the planet is in abundance, go figure), enchilada sauce, taco seasoning, chives, sour cream, or decent salsa (but you can make your own, you’ve got all those great veggies on hand!). Those are the things I’ve noticed so far. I was born in San Diego and as you can see from my list, I miss my Mexican food. In America you can usually find all the traditional Italian products although they can be pricey (mascarpone for $10.00 in America and 1 euro in Italy!) and you may need to go to an Italian specialty store to get them.
To sum it up, Italy has high quality ingredients and a gift for combining them in the most mouthwatering ways. Despite the fact that I can’t get a big burrito, I do love the food here.
LANDSCAPE
The scenery in Italy, needless to say, is breathtaking. We’ve all seen Under the Tuscan Sun, have viewed the Coliseum of Rome in photos and have had various other encounters with this very unique and beautiful country. I, myself, have not been to many Italian cities and you don’t really need to, to know that when in Italy you are in a place of inspiration. Where I live, Pescara, is a city where rolling hills gradually give way to the sea. So no matter where you stand the view is spectacular. If you’re walking along it’s endless beaches, splashing in the warm water of the Adriatic and look west you see a picturesque setting of patchwork hills with vineyards colored the most vibrant hues of green, dotted with rustic homes and lined with curving narrow roads. It’s at sunset when the view takes a divine quality. Imagine the afore mentioned setting now with a glowing sun nestled between two hills giving a soft light to the tip tops of everything before it. Gorgeous. Being that I’m from the west coast, I’m used to having the sun set in the Pacific and have always found it quite romantic. Be that as it may, I can’t deny this spectacularly colored dusk.
The view from the hills is just as superb. Standing and looking out at a most magnificent sea with the warm winds blowing and fresh scents of nature enveloping you is exhilarating. You can often see sailboats riding off into their “happily ever after”. At least that’s what I’m thinking as I smile to myself and take in the sight. There’s not much else in the world that calms me like the vision of water. Any body of water is, for me, the most tranquil thing although it’s the sea and ocean that really get my imagination going. They seem eternal and always have me thinking about how minor my problems are.
Art
When I think of Italian art, I think of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donatello, Sandro Botticelli and Raphael. Maybe it’s because they happened to be backed by the illustrious Medici family along with the papacy. It could also be because the focus of their art remained mostly religious. I grew up in a religious home, my mother having married a pastor. Since this is my history, I’m drawn to this type of art. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Leonardo‘s The Last Supper, Raphael’s several Madonnas, and both Michelangelo and Donatello sculpted visions of David. They are from the Renaissance period which began in Tuscany, centered in the cities of Florence and Siena. I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing any of their work in person as I am in Pescara with little funds (I’ll get more into my circumstances in my blog portion of this site), but we have all heard of these artists and of their remarkable works of art.
Where I HAVE been is Rome, where there is a staggering amount of art in all that you see. The architecture, the museums, the ruins, they’re endless. Coming from America, I’ve been deprived of seeing ancient relics on a daily basis, or even a yearly basis for that matter. The first time I witnessed the Coliseum I was walking through a park where high school students sat on benches studying and chatting with friends. I couldn’t believe it. How could they converse so casually when in the midst of such a great historical structure? That’s what’s really mind boggling about being in a country so old… the regularity of it all. Seeing this affects my feelings towards America. On one hand, to be surrounded by such history makes me feel as if I’m going back in time. It’s as if I am apart of history because I’m standing in its footsteps. This brings to my soul a certain magic that can only be understood if you’ve been in such a spot. I feel that if I could’ve grown up with this, I may have a different appreciation towards life and mankind. On the other had, when I think of how new America is, I feel a sense of adventure and that there is so much more to discover and that opportunity is mine for the taking. Being that she’s such a baby indicates that there is much more life to be lived. At least this is my perspective. A land and its history are very potent influences on a person’s life. Be sure to explore as much as you can about the history, the troubles and triumphs of where ever it is you visit. It’s what creates artists, what drives them, what inspires them to compose great symphonies, sculpt stunning statues, write fascinating literature, and paint great works of art.
Culture
Let me reiterate here that my view is just that, my view. This is my perspective and perspectives are like bums, everybody has one. That being said, the Italian culture has definitely taken some time for me to get used to. The first thing I noticed is that Italians are quite superstitious. Some will even pull the car over to avoid a black cat crossing their path and if it still manages to do so, they’ll cross their body and say a Hail Mary. They also believe that getting into water before 2 hours after you’ve eaten can be DEADLY. I have heard this from older generations in America, “Don’t go swimming until 2 hours after you’ve eaten your lunch.”, although here they’ll take this to extremes. For months my husband was beside himself each time I took a hot bath after dinner. “But Honey you’ve just eaten, you could block your digestion...or WORSE!” meaning, of course, that I could die. This is backed up by stories of childhood friends who’ve died after eating un panino at the beach and then swimming in the sea. How this translates into “shower/bath death” I have no idea, but it does. Another odd way of thinking is that in the dead of a 100 degree summer they refuse to sleep with the fan blowing on them directly. This means that they’ll pull up the knob on the fan so that it stays put blowing it’s sweet refreshing air at the corner of the room instead of letting it sway back and forth the cool the room, yourself, the bed, etc. It will make you EXTREMELY ILL if you have it blow directly on you. Perhaps you’ll wake with a temperature of 104 degrees having caught your death of flu! A few more examples...They don’t take any aspirin if they drink even one small glass of wine until, at least, 24 hours after drinking it, they don’t place their sandwiches upside down as it is the body of Christ and this is sacrilegious and they believe almost EVERYTHING is good luck. I personally love this last one. I need all the good luck I can get.
The people here, in general, are friendlier towards me than they are towards my husband in America. Whenever I make my feeble attempts at the Italian language it’s always greeted with appreciation, whereas my husband was given a hard time even telling his shoe size at an American bowling alley, “Size 11!” In America, it seems, they are just tired of accents. They want everyone to be American hence our “Ugly American” title around the world. I lived in Salt Lake City, UT which is, perhaps, more close minded than more metropolitan areas. Let’s say I lived in New York City. My guess is that they are fairly used to accents and that the inability to accept them is minimal. I’ve noticed that here in Italy, everywhere I go, there are English songs being played and English words incorporated into business titles, commercials, logos, etc. It’s common. I understand it’s not right to just EXPECT everyone to speak English, but it really is the most commonly used language worldwide. This has not helped the affect on my self esteem when I botch an Italian phrase. It’s a difficult language for me to learn, but when in Rome…
The jobs here are lacking. I’m not even sure it this fits into the “culture” section, but here it is anyway. If you were to go to wikipedia.org (which I generally do for any question I have) you’ll see that Italy has a fantastic economy. You’ll also see that the Mafia has a great deal to do with this. The fact that they can even print that shows what a stronghold the Mafia has on the country. It’s incredible. Please excuse me if you’re catholic, but even “the church” has been involved with this criminal organization for decades. In fact, “the church” has been involved in a number of scandalous operations since it’s birth, but that’s another topic all together. Mafia, church and politics all intertwined in a way that makes an honest man broke. It seems you must be "in the know" or actually know someone who IS to make a good life for yourself. My husband majored in Political Science and holds the title of Dottore here in Italy. This does nothing for him since he is openly against the church, Mafia and current politics. It’s insane.
There are no jobs here for anyone, it seems. We’ve applied to everything from hotel receptionist to international advisers and nothing….just nothing. Interviews? Sure! When you get there is when they decide to say (and without any “interview” at all) “well you don’t have experience, seems you’ve spent all your time in school. Looks like you won’t fit our needs. Thanks!” They could see very well from the resume every qualification, even the lack of employment. Why ask me to come here when you know what you’ll tell me before I walk in the door? Very frustrating.
It’s the job scene that leaves a bad taste in my mouth regarding Italy. Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you an apartment, food, toilet paper, good water, all the things you need to survive. So yes, I know that money isn’t everything, but when you have none and no way to get any you start to see just how important it is. It’s the lack of security that has me really missing my great land of opportunity. No jobs has me wondering, “why did we come back here"? No money makes me question, “God, aren’t you there?” I know it sounds dramatic, but after so long it feels like a veritable drama. It’s this lack of opportunity that casts a very dark cloud over Italy for me. As I stated in the beginning paragraph, there is a great difference in living in Italy and visiting Italy. Personally, I feel this country is much more appreciated by it’s less permanent inhabitants.
Blog
Please join me on my blog page for up to date observations on “Italian Life”. If you’ve any questions for me, please feel free to ask. I am here to share my opinion and I hope that it’s of some use to you. Thank you so much for stopping in. I’ll see you at my nextBlog.
