Me, a student from Indiana State University travels 4,711 miles to study abroad in Italy, and I get lost on my way to class. I am so used to the organized layout of Indiana, which is designed like a grid, to make travel easy, even for those directionally challenged. Italy is in fact not organized in such a luxurious way. It seems as though there is really no organized manner to the streets in Italy at all. They seem to be just put where ever they want whenever they were made. It is more about remembering and memorizing where everything is rather than being able to calculate where you are and the comforting fact that if you get lost, you can always drive around in a circle and find a familiar road again. So much simpler. So yes, I got lost today on the way to class. The day before I did also, as well as the day before that. So all together 3 days in a row have I had to ask for directions by some non English speaking Italians which I managed by using gestures and pointing to my map and my destination. I look forward to the day when I can walk around Italy like a boss and find comfort in the fact that no longer need a map to get to my classes or certain mile markers.
Through my week long travel in Rome as well as the three days I have been in Florence, I have picked up on some Italian behavior. I have been mainly in the crowded cities of Italy and therefore have been able to observe the general public's display of behavior compared to the behavior of those back home in Indiana. There is a constant flow of people going to one place or another, and in Italy this is widely understood. People are only trying to get to their destinations, so if they bump into you on their trek, with out saying "scusa" it is not taken as an offense. As an American, if someone bumped into me back home without saying, "excuse me" I would most likely look back at the person expecting some sort of apology, and upon not getting one would rule them as a rude individual. My mindset has changed since being in Italy, the more you are surrounded by the flow of the culture, the more you get used to their daily behavior. Although I still try to stay out of ev...
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