Coffee With the Italians

One of the things that I find so interesting about Italy is the people, I have to say. I had a long break between classes this morning, so I decided to make the ten-minute walk to the Piazza Dalmazia near the school. I had a few things I needed to do, like withdraw money and mail some postcards, and I also wanted a coffee, so Piazza Dalmazia, a pretty big shopping area, was the perfect place to kill two birds with one stone (or as the Italians say, "Prendere due piccioni con una fava," which literally means "to keep two pigeons with one bean," a little bit kinder version of our saying!) I made it to the bar, after being stopped in front of the Careggi university by a young man giving out pamphlets about a series of meetings on the Catholic church. He and I spoke for a few minutes, and it wasn't until after I had walked on that I realized "hey, that whole conversation was in Italian!" It's always exciting to have those moments when you really feel like you have a grasp of the language and are more a part of the culture, instead of being the "stupid American" on the outside looking in.

But anyway, I made it to the bar, ordered my caffe latte (only acceptable to drink before noon), and then started observing the other people. There was one older man who looked exactly like Mark Twain, complete with white hair and big bushy white eyebrows. He ordered a drink that turned out to be white wine mixed with Campari, a type of liquor that is a bright red color. At ten in the morning! And no one even glanced his way. He took the drink, had a long gulp, and then walked over to the mirror that took up a good part of one wall of the bar. He looked in the mirror, smoothed his burly white moustache a little, and then drank the rest of his drink. I laughed a little bit inside.

My other favorite characters of Italy are the older women. They all seem to be the same: short, still fashionable with their nice black or brown leather heels and pretty jackets. They travel in groups, carrying large leather bags and talking rapidly to each other, using lots of hand motions, their fingers always bedecked with gold rings. They are adorable and I love to watch them.

I think there is a lot to be learned about a country or city just by observing the people. It is something I have learned to do more while I've been here: just quietly observe people-and life.