The Scoop on Italian and American Culture
We haven't done anything fabulous for a few days now. It seems we all just hit a tourism wall. We've been running around non-stop since day one...and now, nobody wants to do anything. So I'll take this opportunity to reflect on Italians in general. I haven't been here long enough say anything of real intelligence on the subject, but I only got classes three days a week, which means I got nothing but time, so I'll say something anyway.
LITTLE CAR, BIG CAR
I have already mentioned how Italians are crazy drivers, and I even mentioned how small their cars are. But it is really worth mentioning again, cause it is one of the biggest cultural differences between Americans and Italians that I have come across.
There really is no way to explain how small the cars are. They are pick-up-able small. Two strong men could do it, no exaggeration. We have golf carts in the U.S. of A. larger than a good number of Italian cars, and I've got some little cousins driving Power Wheels who would fair better in a high-speed chase. We have done a lot of wandering around amidst the Roman streets and have only seen one SUV and no pickup trucks in a city of millions of cars.
If I were to venture a guess as to why Italian cars are so small, it would have to do with the very nature of the city. These Roman streets were not built to be car-friendly. They were built thousands of years ago when the biggest thing on the road was the emperor's ego as he was pulled in his golden chariot. Judging by this town, the streets haven't changed a whole lot, which means they are built around important buildings without concern for things like sensible intersections, room for parking lots, sidwalks or two-way traffic.
By contrast, in the United States, much of our country was built after mass transportation was invented, be it car, train or even a better breed of horsie. This gave our city planners the heads up on how to build cities. We build our buildings around our streets, whereas Romans built their streets around their buildings.
LITTLE EGG, BIG TUMMY ACHE
Another big difference, and one that makes me a lot more uneasy, is the lack of refrigeration in this town. Italians don't refrigerate several things that Americans do refrigerate. The most shocking to me is eggs. You buy them in the supermarket...uh...market minus the super...on a shelf next to the canned goods. They look exactly the same as our eggs. They are packaged the same way and everything...they are just enjoying a balmy 72° F atmosphere, or as the Italians would say, 22° C.
Now, Mrs. Peareson in 7th grade biology told me not to even put my eggs in the door of the refrigerator, lest they get a little warm. So not to refrigerate them at all is a real shocker. When I asked about the situation, I got some rigamerole (riggamarole, rigamerolle... whatever) about how Americans use hormones and preservatives and since they aren't natural they go bad faster blah blah blah. Last time I checked, preservatives "preserved" things, thus making them last longer, so I'm not buying the Italian song and dance on this one.
Some of the braver among us, jumping into a shameless, glutinous display of inculturation, have tried the eggs the non-refrigeration Italian way. There have been no deaths, but I've made a makeshift grave stone prototype should things take a turn for the worst.
LITTLE CAR, BIG CAR
I have already mentioned how Italians are crazy drivers, and I even mentioned how small their cars are. But it is really worth mentioning again, cause it is one of the biggest cultural differences between Americans and Italians that I have come across.
There really is no way to explain how small the cars are. They are pick-up-able small. Two strong men could do it, no exaggeration. We have golf carts in the U.S. of A. larger than a good number of Italian cars, and I've got some little cousins driving Power Wheels who would fair better in a high-speed chase. We have done a lot of wandering around amidst the Roman streets and have only seen one SUV and no pickup trucks in a city of millions of cars.
If I were to venture a guess as to why Italian cars are so small, it would have to do with the very nature of the city. These Roman streets were not built to be car-friendly. They were built thousands of years ago when the biggest thing on the road was the emperor's ego as he was pulled in his golden chariot. Judging by this town, the streets haven't changed a whole lot, which means they are built around important buildings without concern for things like sensible intersections, room for parking lots, sidwalks or two-way traffic.
By contrast, in the United States, much of our country was built after mass transportation was invented, be it car, train or even a better breed of horsie. This gave our city planners the heads up on how to build cities. We build our buildings around our streets, whereas Romans built their streets around their buildings.
LITTLE EGG, BIG TUMMY ACHE
Another big difference, and one that makes me a lot more uneasy, is the lack of refrigeration in this town. Italians don't refrigerate several things that Americans do refrigerate. The most shocking to me is eggs. You buy them in the supermarket...uh...market minus the super...on a shelf next to the canned goods. They look exactly the same as our eggs. They are packaged the same way and everything...they are just enjoying a balmy 72° F atmosphere, or as the Italians would say, 22° C.
Now, Mrs. Peareson in 7th grade biology told me not to even put my eggs in the door of the refrigerator, lest they get a little warm. So not to refrigerate them at all is a real shocker. When I asked about the situation, I got some rigamerole (riggamarole, rigamerolle... whatever) about how Americans use hormones and preservatives and since they aren't natural they go bad faster blah blah blah. Last time I checked, preservatives "preserved" things, thus making them last longer, so I'm not buying the Italian song and dance on this one.
Some of the braver among us, jumping into a shameless, glutinous display of inculturation, have tried the eggs the non-refrigeration Italian way. There have been no deaths, but I've made a makeshift grave stone prototype should things take a turn for the worst.
posted by Amy at 12:43 PM
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