Mi dispiace

The best thing about visiting another country is being able to observe the culture. Observation is always subjective, however, because in addition to 8 pairs of socks, 11 pairs of underwear, walking shoes and a novel, one brings opinions, schema, and one's own culture to the new country.

Siena and what I've seen of Italy so far is very modern. It's definitely a first world country. Everything here is smaller-the doors, the people, the cars, the trash cans, the stores, the food portions, the streets- except for the bottled drinks, the churches and the pizza. There are 1.5 liter water bottles and soda for personal use that are shaped like barbells. And of course the churches are magnificent. Pizza is thin-crusted enough that one eats a whole pizza by themselves (it's about 14 inches in diameter).

Trouble I've had in Italy:
To enter a store in America, one pulls open the door. In Italy it's usually a push. This has led to numerous awkward situations for me. At first I thought the issue was that I couldn't read whether or not it says Push or Pull, but now that I know the difference (Spingere: Push; Tirare: Pull), I still find myself doing the wrong thing, or stepping back for someone to pull open the door and then they just push and go right in. I never noticed that we do it a certain way in America.

Italians have no concept of a line, or common courtesy in this sense. I had an 8 year old cut me in line in the supermarket two days ago. My mouth must have been noticeably open because she realized, excused herself, and let me go ahead. But usually, at a counter, everyone stands in a row, and has a shouting and shoving match. It's quite a spectacle, and somehow everyone gets what they want.

There is no paper recycling that I've seen. There is no recycling for the house, only public receptacles. I don't know if their household trash is sorted and separated, but for now I carry empty bottles down the street.

I always manage to want to go shopping, or to go out to eat, during the siesta. It lasts from about 1pm-4pm, and most shops and restaurants close. My daily activities don't seem to jive with this schedule; I'm usually disappointed one day or the next about something being closed.


Two interesting things:
There are no actual doorknobs in Siena. I can't speak for the rest of Italy. But in Siena, every single house or apartment building I have seen is the same. There is either solely a lock, or there is a lock and a huge door knocker or knob. But this knob is always in the center of the door, about face-height, and does not turn or move or anything useful. That means that these doors are always locked. The knob exists just to help you pull the door closed.

While packing my suitcase, I was hoping to buy cheap clothing here. I packed less because I'd figured that I would buy a t-shirt or two here. Wow is that hard. Not only are t-shirts scarce, there are no labels or logos or designs on any clothing. For a country that has very famous brands, none of them make a mark on their clothing. I was hoping to find a cool t shirt with something in Italian on it...but it's been a challenge to find a t-shirt in general! Pattern is the only decoration that adorns the clothing, and even that is extremely hard to find. Italians love their black.

And finally, Italians are not bad drivers. They just drive as fast as possible, all the time, and they do it through tiny streets. They are also very adept at not hitting people. Every morning, in all parts of the city, I see cars pulled up on the sidewalk, still running, while the driver is buying an espresso and a newspaper. The other morning I saw a car parked on the median of a busy street and this morning I saw a Porsche straddling the sidewalk!