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Published: September 6th 2007
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Well after all that anticipating(3-4years, no biggy), I have finally arrived in Italia!!
Now I tried my hardest not to have any expectations of Italy and I thourght I had done a good job.
That is until I arrived in Italy. Its extremely different to what I could have ever imagined and the famous exchange student quote is really coming in handy...
'Its not better, its not worse, its just different'.
And thats how I want to describe Italy.
Ill start with Rome. One word.. Belissimo!
Of course im sure most people know of the beauty of the colosseum and the ancient architecture but Wow you have to see it to believe it. When I arrived I was greated with a lovely temperature of 38 degrees, (which was exactly to my liking after the cold NZ wheather) and by an hour delay of my luggage, welcome to Italy!
As we were driving back from the Airport into the city we got rather lost, cause you see nothing in Italy is simple. Especially not the roads, as they all kind of come out of nowhere and they are many many one way streets. Apparently even the Romans who have been living in Rome all their lives still get lost.
So its a perfectly normal thing. After struggling in my first Italian shower at the hotel I was staying at, I braced Rome with my presence. Along with my host mum, brother and brother's best mate. We went to a Pizzeria, and of course had pizza's. A big occasion for me, my first real Italian pizza!
In Rome its all about the nightlife, so its very normal that the shops stay open all night and streets are jam packed full of people. There are also lots of vendors and people trying to make a buck, and as ive learned quickly this is one country that you really have to be street smart in.
So after the Rome, we returned home. And my new casa is a 5th story apartment in a very large apartment block. Again very different but I love it. Everyone just sit out on their balcony's and watch the world go by.
Well actually its not quite that simple because Italian days are
very long, I dont know what it is but you can just fit so much in, and theres even time for a few naps here and there. Something that ive never ever done
in my whole life but I somehow need them here in Italy.
The beaches are also molto differente. The water is bluey-green and clear and the beaches are full of umbrellas and seats. Which if you want to use one you have to pay, im not sure how much. But anything and anyway that Italy can take some dosh from you, they will.
Something else ive discovered is that Italians and their systems are VERY intellegent. Italians might be very relaxed, funny-loving people, but they are also very cunning and very onto things. So I really dont think my euro's are going to last me a long time in this here country.
Another thing that I love about Italians is that their
extremely social, and most of their sparetime is spent with their friends and they have alot of their meals at other peoples houses.
Speaking of food, the supermarkets are like nothing you could ever imagine, I wanted to take photos because I couldnt believe my eyes, but being one of the only non-italians in my city I thourght it would be just a tad bit weird. But WOW the appearance of the fresh produce, loaves of
bread the size of chairs, fresh whole fish that they gut infront of you. Going to the supermarket alone was an incredible experience for a kiwi girl like me. Speaking of food, something ive fallen in love with, GELATO. yum, yum, yum. Gelato in Italia is truly unbeatable. The flavours are remarkable and undescribable. At the moment im having one or two gelato's a day, but hey its a normal thing here.
An interesting thing is that Italians eat
heaps but somehow their all tiny. Here it is very very rare to see and fat person. And its a mystery I cant really grasp, because they say its because they eat so healthy, but im eating abundant amounts of chocolate, nutella, icecream, deep fried pizza and cake for breakfast and I cant really see how they fall into the 'healthy' catogery of things. Oh well, im not complaining, Bring on the Gelato!!
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