turista.

This week I surpassed my 2 week anniversary of living in Rome! Woohoo! This may not sound like very long, but when you think about the fact that most people vacation in places like Rome for 3-7 days at a maximum, my trip feels like it has been extraordinarily long. In these two short weeks I have been to all the tourist spots: the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel. I have walked down streets that were built before the birth of Christ, and I have seen the building where democracy was invented. Yeah that's right, democracy. As in the foundation of all modern government. Pretty cool, if you ask me. I have traveled previously to other parts of the world, seen historical sites, gone to art museums, but nothing compares to Rome. Literally every corner of the city is overflowing with incredible art and architecture and the amount of history at every turn is too overwhelming to process. Words are not doing it justice, so I will stop this little diatribe now. In summary: come to Rome, its unlike any other city in the world, and its wonders are ceaseless.

Having been here for two weeks, besides visiting many tourist attractions, I have also learned a lot about what it is like to live in Italy, and more importantly what Italian people are like. Our culture is filed with stereotypes and generalizations about Italy and its people, so I thought that I would take this time to shed some light on some of these things with a little game of "Fact or Crap: Italy Edition." **DISCLAIMER: All stereotypes came from a quick internet search, and are not my personal opinions. However, everything else that follows are entirely my personal commentary**

1. Italians talk with their hands. FACT. Not only do they talk with their hands, but with their entire bodies. This is something I love about the way Italians speak. I may not understand the words coming out of their mouths (update: my Italian vocabulary has now increased to about 13 words), but they are incredibly expressive with their faces and their bodies and body language is universal. (*cue Jesse McCartney song*)

2. Italians are incredibly well-dressed. FACT.  I am not an effortlessly chic person. Anyone who knows me knows that this is true. Unfortunately, everyone that lives in Europe happens to be. That is why it is all the more distressing that literally everyone looks great all the time. Even when its cold or raining, Italians rock the sidewalks like its a NYC runway. I just rush home and put on sweatpants as soon as possible. #reasonswhyeveryoneknowsimanamerican

3. All Italians are in the Mafia. CRAP. Movies and television programs like The Godfather and The Sopranos have created a mindset that all Italians have some sort of mobster connections. This is far from the truth, and in fact insulting to all of the incredibly kind, fun-loving, and hospitable people in this country. Sicily is more well-known for seedy behavior than Rome, but as far as illegal activity goes, jaywalking is the biggest crime I've witnessed so far.

4. Italians eat spaghetti every day. FACT (ish.) It may not be spaghetti, but a day has not passed that I have not consumed pasta. Maybe Italians somehow mix up their diet more than I have witnessed, but it is served every single day in the school cafeteria, it is on every single restaurant menu (even Chinese take-out)!, and there are literally multiple aisles of the grocery store dedicated strictly to pasta. This is saying a lot when there are only 8 aisles at the grocery store. Fortunately, there are many different varieties of pasta and every single one of them are delicious, so who cares if I eat it every day?

5. Italians are very romantic. FACT/CRAP I'm not sure if romantic is the right word for it. More like affectionate. Extremely affectionate. If complete strangers kiss you on both cheeks when they meet you, you can imagine what couples in the street (and at school, and restaurants, and on every park bench, etc. etc. etc.) are like. Hopefully no further explanation is needed. My roommates and I have been advised multiple times that the only true way to learn Italian is to get ourselves Italian boyfriends, so I will let you know if we learn anything more about the romance department. Due to the language barrier, I'm guessing that will be a 'no', but ho knows, love is the universal language right?

6. Italians are poor drivers. FACT/CRAP Poor is probably not a very accurate description. In fact most drivers in Italy are probably much more skilled than anyone that I know. They just happen to drive extremely aggressively through the most confusing maze of streets that I have ever seen. Also, everyone, LITERALLY EVERYONE, drives a SmartCar or a Vespa. I have never seen so many tiny vehicles in my life. I have no idea how real humans fit inside them. But these incredibly tiny vehicles lead to people parking in the most incredibly tiny spots ever. I will have to post some pictures because it really is an unbelievable sight. There also seems to be no stoplights. Or street signs. Or turning signals. I'm still currently trying to figure out how everyone knows who gets to go and who doesn't. I may never figure it out. All I know is that I am getting really good at human Frogger. And that I am never getting on the back of a Vespa (all Lizzie McGuire fantasies put aside.)

7. The Pope is everything. FACT/CRAP Vatican City does happen to be located inside Rome. So that makes it a bit hard to ignore. And millions of Catholic believes make their way to Rome as a religious pilgrimage every year. Flags with Pope Francis' face on it and rosary beads are sold on almost every corner. All these things should not be a surprise to anyone. But even though almost every single Italian identifies as being Roman Catholic, very few of them are actually practicing believers who attend church every week. Because I live in a modern society, this should not surprise me, but Catholic culture is extremely ingrained in everyday life (i.e.: pretty much nothing is open on Sundays) that I guess I would expect it to be more important to the average Italian than it seems to be.  On another note, even for a completely non-religious person, the Vatican Museums may be the coolest collection of art ever. Add it to your agenda for your next Rome.

8. Italians are not very reliable. FACT/CRAP Again, reliable may not be the best word for it. Reliable has a negative connotation, and implies that this characteristic bears negatively on peoples lives. I think laid-back might be a better way to describe it. Timeliness just isn't very important here. Buses, classes, meetings, nothing starts on time, and no one seems bothered by it. Except me, because efficiency and timeliness is valued extremely highly in the US, so it is against my nature to be unaffected by tardiness. I am trying to embrace the Italian lifestyle a little more, but it still irks me a little bit every time my professor shows up twenty minutes late for class when I got there ten minutes early. I just hope my professors at USC don't get upset when after this semester I roll into class fifteen minutes after it starts because I needed to grab a cappuccino first.

So most of them, I didn't even choose a clear answer. Sue me. Life doesn't have clear answers. All I know is that the longer I live in Europe the more questions I have! This week I have a London trip coming up and will also be celebrating my birthday abroad so there will be a lot to look forward to in the next post! Ciao for now!