The Italian Way

Italian culture differs in many ways from American culture. For example, everyone is always dressed up here, always walking, and if they are driving, it is definitely not within the lanes. I feel like in America, there's a big emphasis on customer service whereas in Italy that's not really the case. Now, that does not mean servers in Italy aren't nice; the people here are amazing, but they are not as peppy as American servers. The servers don't depend on tips or anything of the sort compared to America. One big shock to me was how light their breakfast is. I had a croissant and coffee for the past couple of days and I didn't know if this was normal in Italian culture, but I became hungry after five minutes.

Even though they warned me about the amount of walking that would be done, I wasn't expecting to be so tired at the end of the day. But, it's so hard not wanting to go and explore each and everyday because each street, each corner, has so much to offer. I have learned through this experience that I love exploring. Even if I am tired, I would rather explore and go out instead of staying in the room to rest. I just didn't want to miss out on anything Italy had to offer.

One piece of advice that stood out to me was that if someone does not understand something you are saying, do not slow down and elongate the words to make it "easier to understand". But, most of the time that doesn't work. Instead, if someone does not understand, I'll show them a picture or use Google Translate because that is much more respectful than repeating in a slower tone. I have used this method in cases when I have to ask about ingredients or allergy information. Since I am allergic to some nuts, I use Google Translate to let them know and double check. I also used it when I was looking for a specific location, as Google could only help so much; I showed a picture of how the place looked, and they helped me out. 

Something that surprised me the most was how clean Rome is for such a popular city. I feel like for the amount of people that roam the streets, it is kept super clean. They also keep separate bins for their trash; it's not just recycle and garbage which was interesting. It also surprised me how accessible water is here, as you can go to any fountain and refill your water bottle with some clean and refreshing cool water. Today, I had an amazing time exploring the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. It was filled with history, and I recommend everyone to visit there at least once and spend time learning about the history here. I cannot wait to continue to explore this amazing country and learn much more.