Connie's Guide to Going Italian

We love Italy enough that we chose to live here for three years (2002-2005) and we've done camps in Italy now for ten years. One thing is certain, we will never BE Italian. Living here allowed us to shed our preconceived notions of the land and her people. We have tried and succeeded at times to get under the surface and into the fabric of the culture; it is in these rare moments that we have found the essence of things Italian. How sweet, how real, how fortunate we have been!

The land of carabinieri...

We lived in the northeast, between Verona and Venice with our two children who reached fluency with the language within a year. Davis and I, on the other hand, have reached an understanding of the language and the understanding that we will never be fluent in the true sense. Be that as it may, we feel fluent in the culture & truly enjoy our time in Italy - both then and now.

What we miss about living in Italy is more about the friends and the recreational opportunites (fabulous riding, Nordic and alpine skiing) than about Italy or Italians. And of course we miss the food, especially the very fresh vegetables and fruits and the seasonal quality of food that is lacking here. Asparagus means springtime, melons ripen in the summer, radicchio colors the fall. The cheese & veggie/fruit vendors became my conversation partners and introduced me to concepts and foods that I'd otherwise not have tasted.

We don't miss the conformity in dress (we live in a very casual culture here in Boulder - Italians do not leave the house in sweat pants) nor do we miss the rigid store hours, particularly the long closing mid-day and nothing open on Sunday. We don't miss the mold from all the rain, the small frig, the power outages. We don't miss feeling like - and being foreigners. "Stranieri" in Italian, which even worse - means strangers. Though we were embraced by many, we never quite felt at home.

We're now the lucky ones. With our toe in bella Italia we have the possibility to enjoy the very sweetest life, dancing (if you will) within the culture, with the language, with our friends, and exposing our bike camp clients to all the very best aspects of Italy ...without the constraints that come with living in Italy. Che bella!

Some of the things we've learned and observed:

• Italians are not easy-going, instead you'll find they are bound by deeply rooted conventions.
• Italians rarely yield, this is evident in their driving style.
• Italians rarely fasten their seatbelts even while driving at almost 100 mph.
• Italians consider a draft (a breeze) to be a serious threat to their health. Air conditioning is frowned upon.
• Italians favor order, over freedom. There are many layers of police, all of whom can detain you at any time for any reason.
• Italians don't speak Italian, they favor strong local dialects, some of which are unintelligible even to someone who understands Italian.
• Italians are particular about everything.
• Italians don't eat a lot, but they eat well. What you eat on vacation is not the typical Italian diet.
• The long lunch time break is an excuse to be together with family. It is a key to Italian life.
• Italians are hard-working. It's not uncommon to meet a 70 year old who has been working full-time since he left grade school (thus ending his academic life at age 12).
• Only recently has secondary education become a requirement.
• The lack of higher education & exposure to the world at large has allowed Italy to remain caught in - well - a bit of a time warp. Though they create the world's most modern fashion and furniture design - they are in large part extremely provincial.
• Italians are extremely verbal. Have you noticed?
• What passes for yelling in our culture might be animated conversation among Italians.

Some other notes from our first year of ex-patriot life:

• Cycling is a way of life. In the winter, the ladies ride to the market on their one speed bikes, dressed in their furs, umbrella extended as needed.

Going with the flow

• The best time to ride is from 1-3 when everyone is home with their family. The 12:30 rush hour is the most fierce, no one wants to be late for lunch.
• Lunch, il pranzo, is important. Families gather daily for lunch, but especially on Sundays.
• Cycling is popular as a sport because of the tradition, but also because sports are practiced on a club level, never (rarely) scholastically. Cycling clubs are very popular, well-organized and well-supported.
• Italians are very regional, and view outsiders as foreigners (even Italians from another region).
• Italians live modestly & while the dress seems outrageous, they are very conservative.
• Italians are obsessively clean inside their homes.
• Laundry is a full-time job without a dryer.
• Italians generally don't eat between meals and, as a nation, are quite thin.
• Gardens are popular if there is space. Weekly markets and fresh vegetable & fruit stores feature incredibly fresh regional produce.
• If an Italian invites you to dinner, always say 'yes.'
• It is however unlikely to be invited to dinner. Dinner guests and houseguests are a rarity in Italian life.

Three verbs to Know:

• Parlare (talk) - Italy is a verbal culture. Dimmi ("dee-me" talk to me) is a popular expression.
• Mangiare (to eat) is the national verb ...Mangia bene! (eat well)
• Andiamo! (let's go!)

Immerse yourself!

• Movies Favorites include: Casanova (fun romp through Venice); Bread and Tulips, Cinema Paradiso, La Vita é bella, Il Postino and the classic, Breaking Away (okay, so it's an American film, but it's so italian - check it out!). American/English movies set in Italy: Tea with Mussolini, The Italian Job, the English Patient, Under the Tuscan Sun (for the scenery), and of course, Roman Holiday.
  
  
• Music: From Cinema Paradiso, and any of Andrea Boccelli's - "Sogno" is wonderful. Italian pop music like Tiziano Ferro
  
  
• Books: Read novels set in Italy:
• Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
• The Company of the Courtesan also Sarah Dunant
• Hemingway's Farewell to Arms
• A Soldier of the Great War by Helprin
• 16 Pleasures by Hellenga is great!
• Baudolino by Umberto Eco
• In on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Calvino
• Evening Class by Benchy is an easy read.


• Books: Read non-fiction set in Italy:

  New experiences in Art...

  • The Lost Painting: the quest for a Caravaggio masterpiece by Jonathan Harr
  • An Italian Education, (Parks) and Italian Neighbors (Parks) the British author married to an Italian and living in Verona. Very Entertaining.
  • Under the Tuscan Sun & In Tuscany (Mayes)
  • Mattanza (Maggio) - one woman's Sicilian seaside tuna tale
  • Brave on the Rocks (Sabrina Ward Harrison) is an modern art journal of one woman's journey to Italy.
  • Galileo's Daughter (Sobel) is on the NYTimes bestseller list - science & history.
  • Christ stopped at Eboli (Levi) is a classic socio-cultural exploration of pre-WWII southern Italy.
  • That Fine Italian Hand (Hofmann) - a wonderful treatise on all things Italian.
  • The Italian Way (Costantino/Gambella) teaches you about customs & Italian culture.
  • Culture Shock Italy (Flower & Falassi) is another look at cultural etiquette & Italy.

Study la lingua Italiano:

• Take an evening class or buy Italian for Dummies.
• Listen to Michel Thomas tapes or CDs (fun & easy to listen to).
• Lonely Planet phrase books can be useful.
• Rick Steves can be very helpful - www.ricksteves.com
• Connie's favorite guide books are the Cadagogne series (British). Resist the temptation to only live through the advice of the guidebooks, if we did that - we wouldn't enjoy the richness that Italy has to offer.