La Cultura Italiana

Whether you are about to go abroad to Italy or whether you have already studied or traveled there here are some fun cultural observations I've made, none of which are meant to be critical or harsh, but rather light hearted and might even make you laugh since all cultures and countries have their own quirks.

Here is a start and if you think of other ones to add it'd be fun to see what they are!

Myths:

If you're not feeling good it's extremely probable that you have a fever... febbre.

When you're sick the best thing you can do is wear a scarf.... even wear it to bed, and if you start to feel a sore throat to come on- throw on a scarf!

Remove the root of garlic cloves in order to prevent indigestion and bad breath

Putting a Spoon upside down in an opened bottle of wine/champagne will keep it good and fresh for later on

Food/Grocery Store:

You MUST weigh your fruits and vegetable at the little scale near the produce section before putting it in your basket and waiting in the check out line, you'll just be sent right back.

You must wear the thin plastic gloves stationed right next to the scale in order to pick out your fruits and vegetables

Eggs are not refrigerated

Almost all milk is UHT and therefore not refrigerated until opened

You pay a few cents at the grocery store for your bags

Pasta is weighed out 100 grams per person, or measured in the plate for each person before hand

You can't find brown sugar , use cane sugar instead 

Household:

There are no dryers, all clothes are hung dry either outside or in the winter on a rack

No screens on the windows

No carpet- so bring slippers!

Windows are opened daily, even in the winter, to allow for air flow and circulation

Heat is very expensive in Italy, so it's kept on at a minimum, so bring lots of layers!

Restaurant/Shops/Cafes/Post Office:

Cash is always preferred over credit

Exact change is always highly appreciated, otherwise you might be hassled for it

Don't drink out of the bottle/can, always pour your drink into a glass

The waiter doesn't come to you with the check, you must go up and pay when you're done

Old people tend to have the mentality that they don't need to wait in line and can budge

Bills are paid at the post office

Must take a number, according to your service needed at the Post Office

Most places close on Sundays and sometimes Thursday afternoons

Other:

Italians dress for the month, not the weather, so if it's 70 degrees in February, you still wear your down winter jacket

When it snows take an umbrella

Don't wear flip-flops

Make sure to stamp your train ticket before getting on the train!

Don't put your feet up on the seats in trains... you'll easy get scolded 
There is no such thing as moderate politics, you're either a communist or a fascist 

Par Tòt!

Yesterday, Bologna transformed into one large city festival that resembled Carnival. 

My roommates and I headed down to Piazza Maggiore and it was absolutely crazy. 

People we're dressed up in serious costumes, dancing, drinking, having fun. 

This event is called "Par Tòt" which means "Parade for Everyone" in Bolognese dialect. 

"

"Par tòt Parata rappresenta un volano per l’auto-coinvolgimento diretto di cittadini, artisti, associazioni e scuole e rivitalizza i luoghi della città, ridefinendoli e trasformandoli. Par Tòt Parata coinvolge la città di Bologna in una esplosione di musica, ballo, teatro di strada, canto, costumi, maschere, pupazzi, carrelli e tanto altro ancora"

The Par Tòt parade represents a flight for the self-involved directed by citizens, artistis, associations and schools, and revived redefining and transforming certain locations in the city. Par Tòt involves the city of Bologna in an explosion of music, dance, street theater, singing, costumes, masks, puppets, floats, and so much more. 

The parade is based off the biannual Zinneke Parade in Brussels. The meaning of the parade is more than just a simple manifestation, it goes beyond that creating a space where the ambiance becomes the artist and the artist becomes the ambiance.

Buon Giorno!

In Italy they don't do breakfast like they do breakfast in the US, however there is still a cute caffè in Bologna on Via Santo Stefano that I enjoy going to in order to get my cappuccino, brioche alla crema, and spremunta d'arancia. 

Welcome to Colazione da Bianca: 

Taste of Bologna

Last week one of the students in the program, Matt Leick, had the brillant idea of making a short video. He grabbed his friend John Nissen Hooper and they completed all the photography and editing of the video in just two days. Impressive. 

Huge props!

Enjoy :)

Caffè Vittorio Emanuele

Over the past few months, my favorite spot to go and hang out, get a coffee, sometimes study, or just socialize has been the bar Vittorio Emmanuele right there in Piazza Maggiore across from Neptune. 

It's great for people watching, you get a beautiful view of the main piazza, and my friends and I have been spoiled by getting many many many free drinks and nice discounts from the boys who work at the bar. 

Waiter who likes to give us free drinks: Davide 

One of my favorite drinks on a hot day: Caffè Shakerato

Nice view from the tables of the piazza 


(photos thanks to Alex and Tabitha Blanski)

Exams and End of Semester

I apologize for the lack of posting recently. Unfortunately I had complications with my tonsillitis which I wrote about in a previous post, so I've been terribly sick and then today I took my last exam at the Università di Bologna and of my university career as an undergraduate. 

On the upside of being sick, I had a better experience with Italian healthcare. In short,  I went to the emergency room again and there was no one there and so I only waited about 10 minutes and was brought back and after evaluating my situation they immediately put an IV in and I was taken care of.  I spent 3 days in the hospital and I walked out not paying a penny and only 6 euros for a prescription at the pharmacy. 

Otherwise, over the past two weeks I've been studying for my French Literature exam which was a dark looming cloud over my head, having to read 5 novels in French, essentially learn everything there is to learn about 19th Century French Literature without any direction, and brush up on my language skills since I was supposed to do part of the exam in French.  

But I passed, and it's over and I must admit that I somewhat enjoyed engaging in these novels:

Italian Health Care

Last week I woke up with an extremely sore throat and wasn't able to talk without having tears come to my eyes.   After calling my friend and having her consult her mom who is a doctor we decided that I should probably go see a doctor. However, the American doctor here in Bologna that BCSP uses didn't have office hours that day, so the only other option was to go to the emergency room, or as it's called in italian Pronto Soccorso. 

10:30 call a taxi to drop us off at Via Massarenti 9, we arrive at Ospedale Sant Orsola and the taxi is not able to drop us off at the correct building, so he leaves us in a parking lot and we walk into the emergency room. However this was the pediatric emergency room. So unable to talk, my friend asks where the emergency room for adults is. 

11:00 We arrive at the correct Pronto Soccorso, which isn't in the same building, but down the street, and around the corner. We get in line for triage. There are two people in front of me. While waiting an old lady walks in with her nose bleeding severely from a fall and a young man walks in also bleeding and thankfully they were quickly rushed into triage. 

11:40 Brought back into the room where my friend explains what's wrong, as it's too painful to talk. The woman takes my temperature and blood pressure and gives me the diagnosis of something along the lines of pharyngitis. 

11:45 My passport details are taken, I'm given a medical bracelet, and we're told to go sit in the waiting room. Unfortunately we were given the color of doom: white, signifying the lack of emergency and the board says that the estimated wait time is 220 minutes.... almost 4 hours. 

....

14:00 My name is finally called.  They wouldn't let my friend come with me so all I could get out to the doctor was " fa male" and "è difficile di parlare." The doctor looks in my mouth and tells me, "Well it doesn't seem so bad" and then goes " ooooh, there are your tonsils." So the nurse takes some blood. 

14:05 Back in the waiting room, waiting for my blood results. 

....

17:00 My name is called again, the nurse hands me the results and tells me to go talk to the man at the information desk who will tell me where to go next. The man at the information desk had no idea what to do and couldn't tell me where to go. After a small goose chase we figure out that I need to see the otolaryngology specialist. 

18:00 Finally with another doctor she looks into my mouth again and tells me that I have tonsillitis. She prescribes me some antibiotics. 

18:15 At the 24 hour pharmacy in Piazza Maggiore 

18:30 Back home and in bed.

After 7 hours of waiting I had that little slip of paper allowing me to go the pharmacy and get antibiotics. After 7 hours of waiting and only a total of maybe 20 minutes with a doctor I was able to leave the hospital. I owe major props to my friend who waited with me that whole time and sat by my side, talked for me, and kept me company even when I probably wasn't the most enjoyable company to be around. 

I definitely missed having my family doctor back in Minnesota who I could call up and within an hour have been in and out and had a prescription in hand. 

Turkish Delight

Two weeks ago, right after I finished taking my exams for Art History and Food and Culture and had attempted to take my Cultural Anthropology exam, I headed off to Istanbul, Turkey for four days.  Turkey was absolutely wonderful, and was much more Western and American than I had expected. 

 

One of the first things we did was get a Turkish coffee, which is like drinking mud, and remember NOT to stir your coffee otherwise you'll be drinking coffee grounds, and a kebab. And of course after the infamous scene from the Chronicles of Narnia, in which Edmund devours Turkish Delight, it was necessary to indulge as well. 

There is a lot of street food being sold which is all delicious, bagel-like rolls, honey drenched churros, roasted corn, taffy, nuts, tabacco, freshly squeezed pomegranate and orange juice... 

Istanbul is also crawling with cats. There are cats everywhere. Some of them are adorable, others are missing eyes and clumps of fur from cat fights. 

We stopped in various mosques and also went into the Hagia Sofia, which was first an Orthodox Patriarchal Basilica (350-1453) and then a mosque (1453-1931) and now it serves as a museum. It's gorgeous and incredibly interesting as you clearly see signs of both religions- the Madonna right next to Qu'ran scripture. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) is across from Hagia Sofia and is said to have been built to be bigger, and more beautiful than Hagia Sofia which had been the largest Mosque in the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque was criticized for having 6 minarets, which was the same number of minarets in Mecca, so the sultan resolved the problem by ordering a 7th minaret at Mecca. 

New Mosque        Blue Mosque  

And of course we stopped at the spice market and got all sorts of dried fruit, teas, spices, coffee, and candies. 

Pasqua

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! 

It is definitely not the same celebrating Easter without my family, today I miss them dearly and wish I could be with them.

However, today, which started out overcast, has turned out to be beautiful and my two roommates and I made a nice big lunch which we were able to enjoy out on our terrace. And Sara surprised us with giant chocolate eggs with a surprise inside :)

        1º piatto zucchini                        2º piatto- polpette!                  Dolce- Tiramisù 
         and philidelphia

I went to mass at San Pietro's on Via Indipendenza with some students from BCSP, it was a beautiful service, on my way I surprised at how many bars, caff'és, mcdonalds, and other shops were open today seeing as Italy is a Catholic country. 
In general there isn't at much of a presence of the holiday as there would be in the US. I also feel as if I missed out on a lot of parades and celebrations during holy week.  Maybe this is a difference between Northern and Southern Italy? 

Parmigiano Reggiano

Friday I woke up early and headed on up to Reggio Emiglia to Santa Lucia to see how they make the real, true Parmesan cheese.

Making parmigiano is a long process that starts with two parts: first, starting with milking the cows in the evening and letting it sit over night so that it naturally skims, and secondly mixing the skimmed milk with fresh milk from that morning's milking.

This milk is then poured into large copper vats, starter whey is added and also calf rennet- which is the special enzymes mammals have for digesting their mothers milk and this enzyme allows the milk in the cheese making process to separate the liquid from the solid. The milk's temperature is watched carefully around 91-95º F for about an hour.

The compacted final curd of the milk, muslin, is then split into two and placed into molds. It is then placed into a stainless steel mold which has the imprint of "parmigiano reggiano", the month, and the cheese plant where the cheese sits for 3 days in order to keep its form and marking. 

The cheese then must sit for another 20-25 days in a brine bath in order to absorb salt. After being salted it is brought to the aging room where it will sit for at least 12 months until--- a very long time. 

At the plant in Santa Lucia, I saw around 7,000 parmigiano wheels and a few of them were 10 years old! 

I sampled a 3 year old cheese and it was incredible, nothing like krafts parmesan cheese that's for sure!

Not to mention that all the cows are traditionally grass fed and cheese farmers argue that their cheese is best based on what their cows eat.

A Weekend in March Part III

POMPEI/SORRENTO

The last day of our weekend trip down south was to see the ruins at Pompei. Visiting Pompei was a completely different experience than I had expected. There really isn't that much to see. You get off the little train and walk about 30 meters to the site entrance and that's it. So we walked around for a few hours and it was only 2 in the afternoon so we decided to randomly hop the little train  until the end of line- Sorrento. 

Sorrento is a quaint little town right on the sea. It reminds me of the Cinque Terre with lemon and orange trees everywhere, a beautiful view of the sea with cute little shops with hand painted ceramics and embroidered dish towels .... for all the tourists. 

We didn't have a lot of time, but we made sure to stop at a caffé where we got strawberry torts and chocolate covered profiteroles, and coffee while we looked over the water. 

A Weekend in March Part II

ROMA

The main reason we took this weekend trip was to visit the Necroplis, the tombs underneath Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. They only allow 50 people to go under a day, in groups of 12-15 people and you need to make an appointment a least a month in advance, so naturally we were really excited. 

It was very impressive and apparently I saw the bones of Saint Peter.

This was my fourth visit to Rome, but the first time that I actually stepped foot into Saint Peter's Basilica and saw Michealangelo's Pietà and Bernini's Baldacchino. 

After our afternoon at the Vatican, we headed on over to the Trevi Fountain and dipped inside a Chinese restaurant to get out of the pouring rain. We had a very friendly, unexpected, incredible surprise. The only other customers in the restaurant, another American family, bought our dinner for us without saying a word. Pay it forward.

We ended our stay in Rome by getting mojitos and hanging out in Campo di Fiori which is apparently the student hot spot on a Saturday night.

A Weekend in March Part I

NAPOLI

Bright and early Thursday Meghan, Kylie and I headed on down to Napoli. We started the day trip out right by getting the infamous vera pizza napoletana (it's better than Punch's).

 

Afterward we wondered around the historical center. It's hard to describe the atmosphere of Napoli, but I would say it is a rustic Barcelona. It seems very artsy and heavily influenced by underground culture but also stark honest with a somewhat "dirty" look. March 17th being the 150th year celebration of Italy's unification there was a lot of Italian pride- flags, music, posters, confetti...

We also made sure to stop at Scaturchio in Piazza San Domenico and get delicious Neapolitan pastries- a Zeppole and a 
Sfogliatelle. 

 Unfortunately we only had one day and saw only a small fraction of the city. It is Napoli so there is garbage on the streets, but I was surprised at the cleanliness- I thought it would be worse. I am definitely hoping to return very soon and stay a lot longer.