Getting Settled In

The transition to the Italian way of life has been a challenging one…that we are still working on! It is definitely a much SLOWER pace day to day. Like clockwork, every day at 1pm stores close for an afternoon lunch/wine break until about 4pm. Then re-open until about 7. I think this improves everyone’s mental health here, and I feel like Italians generally have it right when it comes to minimizing stress in their lives.

Drinking espresso (café!) a few times a day is an Italian way of life that we have become addicted to. If you order American style coffee in bars here, you can count on some doubtful looks shooting your way. Obviously, wine is also a very popular and inexpensive drink here that we love. Its about $4 for a great bottle.And to all the beer drinkers coming to visit, we have found a place to get good Italian micro-brews(who would have thought).

We have been trying to use as much Italian as we know when we are out, and the locals have been very willing to help! We have already picked up a decent amount of vocabulary but still have a long way to go. We witnessed an argument in a bar between a bartender and a woman who were speaking so intently and fierce that we wanted to know what they were saying more than anything. This was the lame motivation I needed to learn more Italian.

Ciao!