Beyonce is everywhere the radio is. This is nice--there's a comfort to hearing something so familiar and distinctly American--and not nice, because I want to hear Italian music, Greek music, etc.
I'm in Greece, and yet, I am not done talking about Italy. I'll miss even the things I hate. The brash baristas and the men posturing, everyone smoking in the places they shouldn't--bathrooms, bus stations, beaches--everyone yelling in the street and the inability of Italians to move out of the way and all of the Italian brats and all the terrible music. Italians are wasteful--driving a few blocks to the bar instead of walking, using plastic plates and cups when there is company, and even when there's not, putting on the TV as soon as they get home, and then not paying any attention to it. The men walk like they are saying "I'm a man, I'm a man, I'm a man," (to themselves more than anyone else). In fact, I once heard a man muttering this to himself. Because of the behavior of Italian men, Italian women can be aloof and silent, even to other women. And it takes a whole room of Italians to decide the best way to cut a cake or wash a dish. Everybody has three or four cents to put in. In the street, everyone is so completely absorbed in his or her own world. No one sees you, or will admit to having seen you, so no one moves aside. Americans are always hyper aware and even self conscious of the world around us: we are always wondering what other people are thinking and doing and if we are passing ourselves off okay. So at first, the Italian ego is a hard thing to process. But I think it's beautiful. It's not arrogance, it's confidence. Italians appear to be a disorganized, bumbling mass, and perhaps this is true. But it is only because they are all following their own paths (and therefore colliding). Finally, Italians are ridiculous and I love them for it.
The French understand, maybe best out of all people, the game and absurdity of the wonderful joke that is life. You can listen to it in the way they speak, and feel it in their cinema--perhaps it is why they smoke so much--but I think it is the place that their special brand of humor and enjoyment of life comes from. And sometimes, it also makes them very serious. The Italians, on the other hand, are full of nonsense. Simple-minded, like children, all they want is for everyone to take pleasure, and the three main derivatives of pleasure, according to Italians, are food, sex, and the sun, in that order. This is why the 3 most commonly said things in Italy are "Mangia," "l'amo," and "Impossibile" (when it is raining). Basta. I need to talk about the country that I'm in.
Greek people have the sense of humor, good looks, and relaxed energy of the Italians, but with the sophistication of the French. I know: the best of both worlds. You thought it wasn't possible. Also (this is really hard for me to say), Greek food is better than Italian. It's more varied. Athens as compared to Rome. What is the value system of a culture? Walking around the Acropolis and the very lovely new Acroplis museum, I felt a strong sense of respect and education--not at all like what I described in my visit to Rome and the Colleseum (see post: "Roma o Napoli..."). Perhaps it's because the Acropolis is a site of old temples, whereas the Colleseum was a slaughtering house, but I think it has more to do with the place the site holds in contemporary culture. The Acropolis is a point of gravity and pride for Athenians. The restoration has been undertaken to preserve a structure, but also a symbol and reminder of Greece's roots: intelligence, discipline, and ritual. It is a kind of cultural weight, and the restoration reflects this.
Rubbish in Italy.
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