I left for Italy four weeks ago today. In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago and in other ways that time has gone by so quickly. I've noticed a few things are different for me. Some are small and some are huge. Let me share with you some of these differences.
DRIVING. Any one who knows me well knows how much I love to drive. I started driving a tractor alone at age ten! At twenty I drove to Georgia alone for the summer. A couple of years ago I had some training to go to in Colorado. I drove alone for the two days to get there without problem. The return trip took five days for me to be able to stop and visit a few people I hadn't seen in a very long time. When each of my kids were learning to drive, they were required to practice. I would allow them some time behind the wheel, but not all of the time. I really enjoy driving. So, this first thing is a major thing. I've not driven in four weeks! However, watching Italians drive, this is a good thing! Maybe by the time it's time to move on I'll be ready to drive in this country, then again, maybe not.
CARS. First, the cars here are small, it appears that two cars here would fit the space of my Chevy Malibu in the US. Who knows, maybe three, if they were all Smart cars! Second, all the cars are manual transmission. Even though my Malibu was an automatic, I've known how to drive a stick since the farm truck my Daddy taught me to drive was 'four on the floor', so I know how to do that. This does help with gas milage. Third, they drive and stop fast. Stop signs seem to be considered yield signs, if there is no one coming, slow down, but keep the traffic moving. Pedestrians have the right away in a crosswalk. Many stop signs have been turned off because they were causing traffic jams. Fourth, everyone noses their car into traffic. An example is one particular road that almost always is full of traffic both ways. There is a road that intersects it. Since there is no light there, people would have to wait all day for the road to be clear. So, they nose out and once they get part way out traffic stops to let them in. Fifth, the roads are narrow. Most of the buildings were built before cars were invented, so they need to keep their cars small. Parking is simply amazing. People know how to squeeze their cars into a very tight space. The apartment building's parking lot does not have enough spaces for all the people that live in the buildings. At times you must park on the street. Sixth, the price of fuel is much higher here. 1.55/liter might sound good, but remember it takes 3.79 liters to make a gallon. So that's about $7.57gallon! (Currently, I get to go shopping with a friend with a car. When I move out on my own I will be doing shopping more often since I will have to carry things home. I notice a lot of people using carry on bags as people go from place to place in their daily lives. Most kids school backpacks are on wheels!)
So, if I'm not driving, how do I get places? Public transportation here is simply amazing! I did not say great, I said amazing. They have trains, the Metro, buses, trams. I also have my feet. In just four weeks I've done it all! Once you understand their signs you can get from place to place very efficiently!
TRAINS. The tracks to the train are just across the street from my apartment, so I hear them go by all day and night. Most of the time I don't even hear them. However, I live about a ten minute walk to the train station. I now know how to read the message boards to know which platform I really need to be on so when the train arrives I can get on. (I learned this the hard way on Tuesday when took a train that normally stops in my town, but I had not noticed that it would not that day. I ended up 25 kilometres away from where I was to be! That's about 15.5 miles. An hour wait to get on the right train to actually stop in my town, I finally made it home three hours after school!) In the mornings, during rush hour, I normally ride the train the 17-18 minutes into Rome standing up. I've not had a seat yet in the morning. In fact, sometimes there are so many people standing up that there's not room to turn around. When I was in high school I rode Amtrac back and forth to visit my sister in college. Everyone is assigned a seat. If all the seats are filled, the train is full. They don't sell any more tickets. You could get up from your seat and walk around, but you knew you could go back to your seat. Here in Italy, I've learned there is no 'personal space' bubble as in America.
METRO or the subway system of Rome. (FYI - the 'subway' is the walkway underground to get to the Metro or from on train platform to another.) When I explained how the train ride is you might have thought that was bad. But, during the morning rush the Metro is tighter yet! Normally I take off my backpack, bring it around front and squeeze onboard with hundreds of others. (Absolutely no personal space here. Also, need to be aware of pickpockets!) Fortunately it is just a five minute ride with two stops in between.
BUSES and TRAMS. So far I've only been on the tram once. It is like a bus on tracks or a two or three car train in the city. Buses during rush hour and near the center of Rome are crowded. I've ridden many times standing. Yesterday a group from my school got on a bus. The first five on the bus of the fourteen of us had seats, about half way to where we were going everyone in our group finally had seats. (I really had not thought about riding so much standing up!)
WALKING. I am now walking about three miles a day. On Monday's I spend the afternoon sight seeing so it is more. Last Monday was nearly nine miles of walking! I'm SO glad I bought SAS tennis shoes before coming. My feet haven't hurt at all!
HAIR. I could not bring with me or ship the only hairspray that has ever held my hair in place well. (It is an aerosol can and that is now banned even in the cargo hold.) I was so disappointed. However, my hair seems thicker, softer, and seems to grow faster that in the States. I bought a cheap, German blow dryer and curling iron. My hair dries faster than ever and it holds a curl like never before! I don't even have to wash my hair daily!
FINGERNAILS. Have you ever let a guy in the mall polish one of your fingernails? The end result is one smooth and shiny nails without polish! Just like in the mall, however, all my fingernails are smooth, shiny and stronger than I ever remember in my life! I've found out the the water in the Rome area is full of calcium. Maybe that's it?
TIME. For those who know me well, I am an 'on time' person. Which means I like to arrive 'on time'. I'm not usually early and I really don't want to be late. (If I have arrived at a place I need to be on time, but not in the room I'm supposed to be, my brain still consider that 'on time'!) So, for me to be from thirty minutes to ten minutes early for school, this is a big change! The first day of school I arrived ten minutes before it was to start, which gave me ten extra minutes to do my test! In the last four days, I'm been the first to arrive to my class two of those days! Since school has started I've also gone to bed earlier. I was asleep one night by 9 PM! (Time here is on the 24 hour system, so I was asleep by 21!) Another time issue is the 'system'. Applying for the permission to live here permit took about three weeks to accomplish all that was required of me. However it will be another month or two before it is actually ready to be picked up! Most times are listed with a point not a colon. So it is 4.30 not 4:30. Dates are day, month, and year. I have been surprised at how quickly I've adapted to this.
CURRENCY. Yes, I knew there were Euros instead of Dollars. I knew it was based on 100's so how to count the cents is the same. However, the denominations of coins are different. They have 1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 euro, and 2 euro coins. The paper money is different sizes, too, I've seen the 5's, 10's, 20's, and 50's. The smaller the amount the smaller the paper. Another interesting difference is the ',' and '.' In numbers everywhere the USA uses a point, Italians use a comma. Everywhere a comma is used the Italians use a point. So the sign says something costs '1,59 €' or the population of Italy is 60.157.214 people.
WINDOWS. They open to the outside world! There is not a screen on them to keep the bugs out. The windows open in so the whole opening allows the breeze to come in. There are shutters on the windows! These shutters are used! In my old neighborhood there were shutters bolted to the side of the windows for decoration only. I took mine down because they just were impractical. Why have 'shutters' that can't be used? The shutters keep the direct sunlight out, darken the room, and keep the heat in or the cold out! How practical!
FOODS. Some 'normal' things in my USA cabinets can't be found in the typical Italian supermercato. Liquid vanilla (theirs is a powder), powdered sugar or brown sugar (I can find a box of approximately 1/2 cup powdered or a bag of 500 g of brown, but not in the US normal 2 pound size bag), and shortening (just not here). However, there are many other things that are NOT in the USA or just different. Most milk is on the shelf for long storage. Most eggs are brown (people think you are crazy to eat eggs for breakfast!) I've seen ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, and even ground horse (I won't be buying this one). I've eaten anchovies on pizza (fyi - don't knock it until you try it!) and it was not bad. They enjoy eating their meals in separate courses. The pasta dish, then the meat and salad, fruit and/or dessert, and finally caffè.
TRASH. Everything is sorted and collected on different days. There are days to put out food trash, then a day for paper recycling, another day for plastics, a day for non recyclables, glass bottles are deposited in a huge green bin on the street.
FLOORING. The floors here are not carpet, laminate, hardwood, or linoleum. They are marble! (I had a gift from my sister a year ago of slippers that are now being used.)
LAUNDRY. The typical washer is a 5 kg front load washer with about 30 different settings. I chose the 30 minute express wash. Then I hang the clothes out on the balcony on a drying rack for the sun to dry. I've heard some washers are also dryers.
TV. In this apartment it is all Italian TV. However, there are a lot of shows that are German or American with Italian voice overs. There is one show that is like a combination of 'Judge Judy' and 'Jerry Springer' with a judge, mediator, forum, and the people who have the issue. It goes on for about 1 1/2 hours!
I know there are more, but this is just a few of the differences I've noticed this month.
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