Observations in Italy

. What happens when you no longer have access to a hair dryer or straightener.

As my time it Italy begins to wind down, I thought I'd share some random things that I've noticed or wondered about.  I've been super lucky to be able to have an experience here that the average tourist almost certainly will never have, and I feel like I've really lived in Italy (however briefly) and not just swung in and out briefly.

TV shows here are hilarious, because they are almost all American shows that have been dubbed over.  They never have subtitles here, even in the films that are in the theatre.  Everything is dubbed.  So far, I've watched the dubbed versions of "Private Practice", "Criminal Minds", "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition", "The Simpsons", and "Grey's Anatomy".  I only understood the last one, and that's because I'd already seen the episode (Lexie, NOOOOOOO!).  It's pretty funny though, to hear the voices for the characters that they pick.  My host family always offers to turn the English on so I can watch shows, but I can't justify that when there is just one English speaker and five Italians sitting around watching it, you know?

Mamas here are amazing.  They totally do it all.  Yesterday my host mom did the following:  Went into town and worked at her art gallery in the morning. Went to the Roletto commune (the city offices) and did some of her Mayor duties, came home and did all of the laundry for the whole family and then ironed it all, picked me up from work and shuttled me around or a bit, cooked this fabulous multi-course meal (while i lounged around in the gorgeous swimming pool because she wouldn't let me help), and then sat back and ate very little of it while her family (plus another teacher and I) devoured it.  She does so much!

Things that Italians do that I think are funny:  Regularly say "Mama Mia!" to express surprise.  Buy milk in room temperature cardboard cartons and then not refrigerate them until they're opened (is it real milk then?  I don't know!!!!!).   Speak to each other super loudly all the time, so much so that I thought they were all mad at each other all the time until my coworker told me otherwise.  Charge three prices for things ($$$ if you're an obvious American, $$ if you're an obvious foreigner but not from the States, $ for the locals....I usually get the $ or $$ prices, depending on where I am and what I'm buying).  

Italian pharmacies are awesome!  Farmacia.  Here they have more leeway in what they can and can't do.  You can usually go into one and explain your case and they'll give you a prescription, no doctor needed.  One of my coworkers stubbed her toe in a super bad way in San Remo, and the dude at the Farmacia cleaned it up, bandaged and padded it up, and told her what to do to care for it, and all for free.  Even with my insurance, a trip to the urgent care clinic in the states to have that done would cost me $40.  I've done something to my ankle, sprained it or whatever.  I went to the Farmacia, explained the situation and they took me into the back room and checked me out.  I got an ace bandage kind of thing and instructions on how to wrap it and care for it, and the cost was just €3 (for the bandage).  They then wished me a nice visit to the region and sent me on my way.  I dont understand how anyone can NOT support some sort of universal public health care system after seeing one in action.  They rightfully realize here that healthcare shouldn't be limited to those who can afford it.  EDIT:  OBAMACARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    :)

The education system is interesting here.  My students aren't that much different than my American ones in terms of behavior, except they need much more handholding.  When you don't speak the language, that can get annoying.  What happens is that my kids here start finishing their work and don't know how to quietly entertain themselves until everyone is done, so they all get out of their seats and end up waving their work in my face going "Spreeeeeeeng-ah, done!".   And then I have to tell them like 20 times to sit down and mime it a couple of times and they're like, oh ok.  Every.  Single.  Day.  Every instruction to them has to be done in a mixture of English, broken Italian, and lots of pantomime.  Even making a big circle to play a game can take 5 minutes sometimes because they just don't do that here and they don't get it.  Thats not to say that they're stupid, though.  Italy ranks pretty high above the USA is all subject areas.  It's just that there instruction style here is all about sitting in your desk and memorizing stuff and working independently and being super studious.  They don't seem to cater to different learning styles as much.  All of the kids have to take these major exams at the end of each year, and those exams determine if they advance or not.  School ends, they get a week to study on their own time, and the they all go back and take the exams.  It's pretty intense.  One of my host brothers has to repeat next year because he apparently spent too much time studying "MTV, Nintendo, iPhone, and futball" (according to his older brother).  A college kid I was talking to at a party the other night said he spent a semester at a fancy east coast American school last year, and he was laughing about how easy it was.  He said it was what they did in high school.  But again with the independence.....  My American students seem to be much more confident and self assured than their Italian counterparts.  So I guess Italy got the smarts and we got the attitude and problem solving ability.  :)

Saturday I head to Florence, for a couple of days, then Rome for a couple more, and then I leave Italy for Paris.  I've REALLY enjoyed my time here.  It's such a lovely country.  The food is amazing, the people are wonderful, and it's breathtakingly beautiful.  I'll definitely miss it, and want to come back soon to visit people and see all of the places that I'm not making it to this time around.  I'll try to update again from Firenze (Florence) or Roma, so ciao!