EVERYDAY

I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about a few of the differences between American and Italian everyday life that I have encountered during my time here.

Store Hours:
The first hurdle I came to was trying to figure out and understand the hours of operation for most stores. While we were in Rome most stores opened around ten o’clock, closed for lunch from one to three, and then were closed at six o’clock in the evening. Now that we are in Como I have found a few stores that open earlier and stay open longer, but they are always closed for lunch. All stores are closed on Sunday- even grocery stores, so my schedule has adjusted accordingly, but sometimes I still forget. Some stores are closed on both Saturday and Sunday and a few are closed from Saturday to Monday—but I have yet to figure out which ones and why…

Promenading:
Even though most of the stores are closed on the weekend in Como, it is still customary to “Promenade” around the city. Many people will take the train into Como to spend the day window shopping and walking around the city. There are only a few stores open on Saturday and very few restaurants, but they seem to show up in hoards every weekend without exception.

Lunch:
I learned from my professor that most Italian families will have lunch at their dining room table everyday—which explains why most stores are closed. Italian schools do not serve lunch and the students are expected to return home in the afternoon. Lunch is normally served around two o’clock and some restaurants will not open until after noon.

Dinner:
Most restaurants have their dinner rush around 9 or 10 o’clock- which is not much different from my normal dinner schedule at home so it didn’t take too long to get used to. Sometimes we will still find ourselves getting to a restaurant around 7 or 8 o’clock wondering why we are the only ones there and by the time we are finished the place will be packed. It is expected that you order a minimum of two courses- usually a salad and pasta or pasta and a main dish, like fish or chicken. Two food items are never served on the same plate—don’t even think about it! If you want water you have to buy a bottle, so sometimes it is cheaper to order the house red wine than it is to order water. Each restaurant charges a “Coperto” or cover charge for each person. This serves as the mandatory tip and no other gratuity is required.

Grocery Stores:
The biggest grocery store within the historic center of Como is about the size of a 7-11 convenience store. There are very few options when it comes to brands, types, sizes, etc. There is however, always a huge selection of fresh cheeses- and I always pick up a different kind every time I go shopping. One aspect that I had a really difficult time getting past, but now I have almost forgotten completely was how they store the eggs. The eggs you buy in the grocery store are not refrigerated and they come in small six pack containers. When I told my Dad about this he was a little concerned, but I have never got an upset stomach from warm eggs. You have to pay for plastic bags and you have to bag your own groceries, so most people will bring their own bags. This isn’t too unusual because there were some stores in Los Angeles that operated this way as well. The difficult part is that there is very little space past the cashier scanner and if you are not fast enough bagging your groceries, the next persons items begin pilling up on yours and it starts a never ending cycle… Most stores also expect that you pay with exact change and get very irritated when you pay with anything over your exact total. “Its not my fault lady- you don’t accept credit cards and the Bancomat only gives me 20’s- so get off my back!!!” If anyone knows how to say that in Italian I would greatly appreciate it if you could send it my way. Thanks.
Also, the sandwich bread is tiny- I mean really tiny! You cannot find Zip-lock bags or Plastic wrap anywhere in Italy—their leftover wrapper of choice is tin foil.
I know that when I return to the United States the differences will really hit me, because certain things have already become second nature to me.

Bathrooms/Toilets:
Every bathroom I go into I am always surprised and sometimes scared. The plumbing isn’t very reliable, and sometimes a bathroom visit can require at least 5 flushes—and for Olen at least 8 flushes (I hope he doesn’t read this part of my blog…). At certain restaurants and bars the toilets are just holes in the floor and if your visit requires squatting there are two foot pads to stand on. I will take a picture of one at the next bar I go to for those of you who are curious.

Laundry:
Doing laundry sucks no matter where you go in the world, but here in Italy it is just more expensive. To do a normal sized wash it costs 6 Euros ($10) and 3.50 Euros ($5) to dry. Whether my friends like it our not, I have to wear some of my clothes multiple times before they get washed just so I feel like I got my moneys worth out the wash. Either they put up with the smell or they fork over some money—just joking—but not really.

Gas:
Gas is expensive here too, and I am really glad that I do not have a car. Each liter of gas costs 1.50 Euros and I believe that 1 gallon = 3 liters, making an Italian gallon of gas cost a grand total of US $7.50!!! Mamma Mia!

Feel free to leave me comments on this page if you have any questions….