Random Observations
My brain is reflexively spitting-out random thoughts as I'm flooded with observations about life in the United States after almost 2 years of absence.
It is remarkable how small the contrasts can be between life here and in Italy, and how magnified they seem to me in these first few days of re- immersion. Most of them are mundane, though some certainly rise to the core of what makes Italians Italian, and Americans American.
On the list of mundane, for example, is the garbage disposal. I could just sit at my mother's kitchen sink stuffing food down the black hole for fun! I haven't seen one in years! Morning cereal is infinitely easier when the dregs can be washed down the sink with the flick of the switch.
On the list of significant differences that impact the core (i.e. the belly) - literally - of cultures is fast food. Americans love their fast food. This sounds cliche, but when you have been gone for so long, this fact is even more striking. I forgot how fast-food restaurants abound here. From one drive-through to another, Americans can consume quickly produced food just about anywhere, anytime. I am pleased to see an increase in healthier options available on the menu. Let's just hope more Americans pick them.
In Italy, as you probably know, the "fast-food" lifestyle does not exist. Opportunities to eat have very defined times (lunch from 12:30-3, dinner from 7:30-11; forget late-night drive-through), defined places (sit-down restaurants primarily, almost all family-run, no drive-through) and a defined menu (cooked on-site, very little frying, reliance on seasonal foods, little to no "processed food," moderate alcohol consumption, and usually a healthy red wine, and limited red meat, maybe 1x a week).
Maybe Americans are getting so fat because they can eat at a moment's notice, and don't even have to get out of their cars to get food. YIKES.
When I arrived here, I immediately felt foreign, in some indefinable way. Io sono stranieri. (I am foreign.) It's as if I have "ITALY" written all over me, like people don't recognize me as an American, but yet I know I don't look any differently. Funny thing, I am the farthest thing from Italian. How strange, though, to feel foreign in your own homeland.
My sister-in-law made a simple and accurate statement: you have been on quite a journey since you last left. This is true, and I can speak for both E and I that after several years abroad, our minds have expanded, our world-view broadened, our appreciation for America strengthened, our love of humankind deepened, and our belief that there are a million ways to live life solidified. (Let us not judge, therefore.)
We are two people who relish new challenges and new discoveries. Living abroad is infinitely interesting, at times frustrating, and always a learning experience.
Simply put: I'm thankful for this journey, and couldn't imagine it any other way. And I'm so fortunate to be able to dip my toes in both worlds, by Living In The Boot and also taking a stroll back to America, the roots of my existence. And it sure is nice to have family waiting here with open arms. Good Bless America, and Salute! Italy.



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Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 03:00PM





