325: Week #8

In my first blog, I thought that I was going to be more aware of different cultures after the eight weeks here. I came to find, that yes I am more aware of different cultures, but I think I have always been. One thing I learned how to do was to pick an American out of a whole crowd of different tourists, because I am usually looking for an American who speaks English so I understand what is going on. It was actually easier than I thought it was going to be.

Also in my first blog, I mentioned Danilo and his American way of saying thank you, "uh huh," to show how lazy Americans really are. Maybe we are lazy, but the Italians are just as lazy. When getting on the metro, I'm not sure if it is just that they don't feel like they need to be some where or what, but they always take the escalators. They will wait in line for them. And when exiting the metro area, there are a lot of exits, but everyone seems to always go to he closest one, even when all the others are open.

In Conversations, Fellini says that "one of the things [he] found most striking was the monumental rudeness that [he] encountered everywhere." (pg. 209) This confused me because before coming to Italy, we were taught how to say please and thank you, how to greet people, and how to say excuse me when in a crowd. We were told that when we enter a store we should greet the owner, which does actually happen, but please and thank you don't hear as often.

I feel like Italy has changed me. I feel deeper into my faith, and I have more appreciation for the world around me. At home I almost always understand what is going on around me, but in Italy, it is not like that because of the language difference and the fact that I'm not always sure where I am. All in all Italy was a great experience and I would love to come back here, especially with this group of people.