I'm traveling a lot, but I'm getting into a routine when I am home and settling into daily life. It sounds boring to say it like that, but I really did want to experience Italian culture from an Italian perspective so I don't mind at all. Here are some observations and pictures from my daily life so far.
- The driving terrifies me. Everyone has these tiny cars that can whip around anything and they use their horns frequently. Pedestrians and drivers alike both seem completely unaware of and unconcerned about anyone else around them. But somehow it all works? I haven't quite figured out how but I think I'll stick to trains and walking.
- Everything is a production. The women are dressed in fabulous 5 inch heels at 8 am to drop their kids off at school and tables are set with tablecloths, placemats and full silverware for every meal. Including breakfast. I'm not sure if this is just the company I am keeping, but they all seem to expect nothing less. For breakfast, all I typically want is two cups of coffee while I do my makeup. If I don't have to wash the mug before I use it then that's a great start to the day. Also, they were surprised that I wanted to put my clean sheets directly on my bed without ironing them. I appreciate effort in presentation, but I refuse to iron my sheets and towels. I have much better things to do with my time. At best, I'll fluff them in the dryer. Work smarter, not harder Italy.
- Speaking of the dryer...they don't really use them. My family has one but the clean clothes are usually hung on racks outside to dry. And then everything is ironed...including t-shirts. I ordered a steamer online since I left mine at home...I'm going to teach them how to use it when it gets here.
- My U.S. Amazon Prime membership doesn't ship to Italy. This is another big adjustment for me...at home, any time I noticed I was getting low on something...I would order more on Amazon and it would be delivered right at about the time I needed it. Everything from k-cups to batteries, my mundane little living supplies always came in the mail. It would save me a trip to Target, and anyone who has ever walked into Target for toothpaste and left 2 hours later with $300 worth of distractions can appreciate that. But not anymore...At least I haven't found a Target here yet.
- The EuroCup for soccer is going on right now, but no one watches it in public. The first night Italy played, Melissa and I went out in search of a sports bar but had trouble even finding a place that was open for dinner. Apparently everyone watches the games in their homes. Maybe we needed to go to a bigger city because we were just in Torre a Mare. We "settled" for pizza and wine instead, but I want to try again for another game.
- There is a "country club" (Circolo Unione Bari) a couple blocks away from the house that I sometimes lay out at in the afternoons. It doesn't have a golf course but it's set right on the sea, which seems to be to focal point instead. I think I'm one of the few runners here...everyone else swims in the sea for exercise. The young and old all seem to be strong swimmers and they make it look so easy. One day I figured I would swim out to one of the buoys instead of going for a run...I probably won't do that again. I'm a pretty decent swimmer, but I had no business trying to test my endurance by swimming that far out and back (no idea how far it really was but it felt like miles). I was on a swim team in elementary school, but the only ribbons I got were the "Personal Best Time" or like 7th-9th place ones. I was the kid that everyone (including the opposing teams' parents) would clap for when I finally finished. I had no idea how terrible I was until years later when I found my stack of completion ribbons...but anyways, clearly I haven't improved much with my distance swimming. I think I'll stick to relaxing on water and exercising on land.
- I'm still running a lot but I keep getting distracted and stopping to take pictures. With all this pasta and gelato, I really need to start focusing or running somewhere uglier.
- I have already talked about how much I love the food. But seriously, even the simple stuff is amazing. One of my favorite meals is to get a little "block" of fresh mozzarella and some of that local wine from my new favorite store. This isn't new though. When I first started working right out of college, often I would be too tired (and lazy) to cook myself dinner after a long day at work. I would usually stop on my way home and pick up a bottle of red wine and some crusty artisan bread and spend the rest of my night on the couch watching Netflix and finishing both. This has apparently become a lasting habit but I don't plan on trying to break it anytime soon.
- I can't get enough olive oil. Seriously, I'm already trying to figure out how to have it shipped to the U.S. for my eventual return.
- This part is not meant at all to be disrespectful....I mean it as a compliment. I have been spending a lot of time by water surrounded by bathing suits and I have yet to see a body that is "perfect" by any American standards. I haven't seen many people that I would consider obese, but no one is a body builder, everyone has cellulite and little imperfections that we as Americans seem to obsess over are normal. Because it is actually normal to not look like the photoshopped models on billboards. Italians seem to have a much better grasp on that concept than we do. I packed bathing suits that I considered more "conservative" because I would rather be overdressed than underdressed (literally in this case) in a culture that I was unfamiliar with...but my first time by the sea, I realized that even the women more than twice my age were fearlessly strutting bikinis half the size of mine. I love that everyone is so confident in their skin. It's a very healthy and accepting environment. Brazilian cut string bikinis and speedos are for everyone here...so I wasted no time buying a Brazilian cut suit. I haven't actually worn it in public yet, but at least it's there for when I'm ready.
- For such a healthy and accepting environment, cigarette smoking really is very prevalent. They don't seem to have had the same anti-smoking movement that we have had in the past couple years.
- I have spent more time in downtown and old town Bari. I still love wandering both. I had previously posted pictures of an impressive building, but I had no idea what the history surrounding it was. This is the Basilica di San Nicola...the burial ground of St. Nick. I got to pay my respects to Santa!! To me, the building looks more like a castle than a church. There was an interesting story (see below photo) about how the artist that created the statue portrayed St Nick with dark skin.
I'm sure I will have more posts with random little thoughts soon. That's life for now though!