So much happens in so little time. I’m finding it difficult to keep up to date with this blog. Every experience deserves a more detailed description than I am able to write! Here goes...
In Italy, as some of you know, it is common to eat a late dinner that lasts hours. The whole point of the dinner experience is to enjoy the food (which isn’t hard to do), wine, and company. It’s a social thing. So dinners usually start around 8:30p.m. and end anywhere from 10p.m. to 11p.m. Because the Italians eat so late, they preface the meal with an aperitivo. Aperitivo translates into a pre-meal drink that’s purpose is to stimulate appetite. Wine is the usual drink that is ordered and each aperitivo comes with finger foods to snack on while drinking. The snacks are usually assorted nuts, crackers, potato chips, bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and olives. The snacks and wine usually are enough to make anyone full and sort of diminish the appetite for dinner. Ha- that must be why the Italians are so thin! Regardless, the aperitivo is something I can’t really associate with any American tradition, except maybe after-work cocktails. Only, it’s ten times more relaxed, social and romantic. No business is conducted. It’s simply time to enjoy catching up with friends. These Italians are social butterflies, and I like it!
Our delicious Bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes... YUM.
So why am I defining aperitivo to you? You guessed it. We decided to partake in the experience ourselves! Kristen, Kat, April and I walked to the Piazza Erbe the other night and found a fairly inexpensive bistro/bar to enjoy our drinks and unwind from a long day of class and studying. It was phenomenal. I ordered a cappuccino (which yes, is kind of cheating, but I participated in the social aspect, so it counts!). The most delicious snack was the bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes—to die for! We sipped, chatted and munched for an hour or two and walked back to the residence. Buona sera.
Kristen, Kat, April & I enjoying our aperitivo
We’ve dived deeper into the Italian culture since my last blog. We’ve now experienced the nightlife of an Italian! We went to Campus Bar, which is a bar that most university students in Verona go to. When we got there it reminded me of any sort of bar you’d see in Athens, GA. Unfortunately, there were no classy 17 year old gals dancing on table tops (Bourbon Street…), or bouncers checking I.D.’s, or polizia waiting to arrest the nearest drunk or jay-walker. However, there were tons of people. The age range was wide and it was mostly men. I suppose I didn’t believe people when they mentioned how “friendly” Italians were. I was walking in and getting kissed on the cheeks by so many different people that I was beet red and uncomfortably awkward I’m sure! Some folks in the group were loving it, but it took me a few hours to finally realize that kissing on the cheek was a non-aggressive greeting. Now we’re finding ourselves doing it naturally! It’s going to be a little awkward when I come home to Georgia and greet friends with pecks on the cheek! Haha By that time, I probably won’t even realize I’m doing it!
By the way, we found a UGA flag hanging in the Campus Bar. Jackson and Jared were really excited about it obviously. Goooo Dawgs!!!
Anyway, the Italian men love Americans. While it’s flattering and a huge ego booster, I’m a little creeped out by it honestly. Literally, when a girl walks in, men flock. It makes me feel a little bad for the boys. They’re surely not getting as much attention and the girl-to-guy ratio could not be more opposite than it is in Athens. We’ve had to learn ways to detect which men are creepy and which ones are just nice. I’ve discovered that if you stay near a guy from our group, they won’t approach you as often. So that’s my game plan. I also met a lot of cool girls at Campus Bar. Lisa and I spent most of the night being taught a famous Spanish dance by some Spaniards I met. It was the equivalent of the “Cupid Shuffle” I think. It was a good time and we were pros by the end of the night.
The highlights of the night were when American music was played. The absolute best was when Adele broke out over the speaker and our study abroad group and a few of our international friends formed a circle and swayed singing “Someone Like You” at the top of our lungs. It may have been bad, but it was passionate! Even the boys admitted they enjoyed the song circle.
Although that particular night scene was not really my jam, it was a fun night. When in Rome… eh, I mean, Verona!
...Ciao!
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