By Murielle Wyman,
Everyday here in Firenze is bound to be a learning experience. Things learned thus far?
1. Go to the supermarket every few days--this eliminates the embarrassment of showing up to the only serviceable cash register with a heavy grocery basket heaped to overflowing with goodies and then proceeding to back up the line while all the other (smart) Italians wait patiently to check-out with their two and three item filled baskets;
2. Italians also make light and frequent grocery shopping trips to avoid a miserable walk back to their apartment and up 4 flights of stairs with three shopping bags--I speak from experience;
3. Also, you might want to avoid taking the easy way out and saying 'bene' (good) and 'grazie' (thank you) to everything. If you don't do this, be warned some lady in the salumeria (delicatessen) will inevitably call you out on it and force you to listen to everything that she says, in Italian, and won't respond unless you speak to her in Italian as well;
4. Last but not least, if visiting Florence for an extended period of time, pack pens and pencils unless you want to spend 45 minutes in a copy shop hand selecting a few from a variety of about 40 different types.
Murielle, Chiara, Claire, Aria, Pip, Alex and Devon on the stairs of the Ospedale degli Innocenti during the Fierucola del Pane, a local bread festival
Truthfully? Spending 45 minutes trying to pick out a pen and pencil for school is kind of fun. I never realized just how disposable we Americans think a lot of things are until coming here. Rather than buying a pack of 12 pens or pencils from the nearest superstore, I had to try out about 20 different types of pens before choosing the most comfortable one I could. I've never put much thought into buying writing utensils before because it was never necessary but after this experience I am quite aware that I prefer black ink and a thicker tip to any of the other types. Additionally, after paying about the same for 2 pens as I would have for a whole pack of them in the States, I will probably be much more careful with them--they suddenly have more value. Not only monetarily but also from a time stand point; I hand selected my new pens, it was a time-consuming and laborious process! The lady at the shop was also incredibly nice. I might pop in again sometime simply just to say hi.
The same kind of thing occurred to me at the grocery store. Out of about 30 different kinds of prosciutto and salami at the supermarket, none of them came in a pack of more than 8 slices. It just isn't necessary. Italians don't go shopping to 'stock up'. Rather, they go frequently and shop carefully, planning out what they will need and getting only the absolute essentials. I felt like such the ideal of what Americans are perceived to be in other countries--my huge basket filled with several packages of cheese and meats-- because I was trying to make the experience more convenient for my by buying for the whole week rather than just getting the basics and being content, and more conscientious, with less.
As if these realizations weren’t demoralizing enough, the incident at the meat shop really made it all sink in. Earlier today my roommates discovered several cute little mercati (markets) down the street from our apartment so we all went to explore them after class. Aside from finding juice boxes filled with wine (so exciting!) we also met Svetlana, the lady who ran the salumeria. She laughingly refused to speak in English (even though she spoke it quite well) and told us that now that we were in Italy, we must speak Italian. I know very little Italian but I still understood her quite well owing to the intonation of her voice and the gesture of her finger resolutely pointing in the air. I kind of admired her frankness. Rather than be babied in the language--as we had been in other areas of Florence, the more touristy ones--here was a woman who not only told us that the only way to learn Italian was to speak it, but also had the patience to repeat what she had said slowly over and over again so I could understand. She also listened as I fumbled over my response and corrected me. I liked her a lot. We introduced ourselves and told her that we would be back to her shop for a lesson soon—in Italian or life, we didn’t specify, the woman was obviously capable of both.
My roommates and I walked away with an important understanding. We are not just Americans abroad, we are visitors in someone else's homeland--where they work and live--and they don't have to do us any favors. I think we all left that shop with a little more respect for that fact.It has only been about one week since we've been here, but already we have learned so much about cultural differences and simply, the different ways that people exist. I think that being an American in a country where people like me make up the majority, it’s been pretty easy for me to get caught up in my own personal existence and forget the rest of it. This semester is going to be the anti-dote to that, I can already tell.
Murielle Wyman
CET Florence Fall 2009 Student Correspondent
Murielle and Drew at dinner at La Divina Commedia in Florence.
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