{"id":2529,"date":"2014-01-26T16:02:11","date_gmt":"2014-01-26T15:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2529"},"modified":"2021-09-12T17:51:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T15:51:42","slug":"semi-sweet-life-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/semi-sweet-life-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Semi-Sweet Life in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"life<\/a>
Matera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Any expat in Rome will tell you that they’ve heard the question a hundred times: \u201cWhat is life in Italy really<\/i> like?\u201d \u00a0The common assumption is that we\u2019re all buzzing around on Vespas, attending operas, and eating pasta at every meal.\u00a0 My blog has always been an honest attempt to address those perceptions and offer a more realistic picture, for better and<\/i> worse.\u00a0 But before I get into the \u201cmeat\u201d of this post, I\u2019d like to share some really cool news.
\nI was recently nominated by Italy Magazine<\/i> as one of the top (English-speaking) bloggers in Italy!\u00a0 It\u2019s an incredible honor\u2026I\u2019m pretty sure that Italy Magazine<\/i> is the largest publication on all things Italian. \u00a0They are to Italy what Sports Illustrated<\/i> is to sports.\u00a0 No joke.<\/p>\n

In fact, I was\u00a0short-listed in two categories, \u201cBest Living in Italy Blog,\u201d and \u201cBest Overall Blog for Lovers of Italy.\u201d\u00a0 There are some other real heavyweights among the nominees, including people who write for the New York Times<\/i>, the Associated Press<\/i>, and National Geographic Traveler<\/i>.\u00a0 My humble little blog is the proverbial \u201cDavid\u201d in the fight, but honestly, I\u2019m thrilled just to be nominated.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d care to help me in this contest, you can do TWO<\/b> things:<\/p>\n

\"rick<\/a>
Vote for me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Go to the links and\u00a0VOTE<\/b>.\u00a0 One click will get you to the page, one click to vote.\u00a0\u00a0Super easy–NO form to fill out. \u00a0You can vote for me in both categories, which would be great, but I think that I have a better chance in the \u201cOverall Lover of Italy\u201d category\u2026fewer nominees, less competition\u2014at least that\u2019s my theory. \u00a0Here are the links:<\/p>\n

Best Overall Blog for Lovers of Italy<\/a><\/p>\n

Best Living in Italy Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SHARE<\/b> this with others!\u00a0 Post it on your Facebook status, email it, Tweet it, Pin it, etc.<\/p>\n

Thanks so much for supporting me in this effort.\u00a0 If I can pull this off, it will really<\/i> increase my exposure in the blogosphere and hopefully lead to bigger and better things.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t vote for me, watch out\u2026I\u2019ll be sending the malocchio<\/i> your way!<\/p>\n

OK, now for the regularly scheduled blogging\u2026<\/p>\n

What is it about the sweet life in Italy?<\/h2>\n

A couple month ago, I was interviewed by Anthony Capozzoli on his excellent radio show, How to Tour Italy<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/i>One of the questions that he asked was, \u201cWhat\u2019s the objective of your blog?\u201d\u00a0 It was a great question, and it made me think, because I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever stopped to define it.\u00a0 I enjoy touching on a variety of topics that, when combined, give an overall impression of life in Italy. \u00a0And I try to create a balanced forum on which to discuss Italy and Italian culture.<\/p>\n

The folks who read my blog have diverse backgrounds, with very different experiences encountering Italy.\u00a0 In fact, about 15-20% of my readers are Italians who obviously know their country very well\u2014better than I ever will.\u00a0 Then some of my readers are Americans or Brits who are enchanted by Italy, but have never actually stepped foot inside the country.\u00a0 So it\u2019s always a challenge to find something that engages everybody.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s really what I want to do, engage readers by focusing on little details that somehow illuminate the bigger picture.\u00a0 There are plenty of Italy guides out there and lots of other blogs that will give you the museum hours or tell you where to find the top gelaterie<\/i>.\u00a0 I love those blogs (you can find some them on my \u201cblogroll\u201d) and I refer to them often myself, but that\u2019s not really my style of writing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had a couple of posts that have irritated a few people.\u00a0 I always try to avoid stereotypes, but some generalizations are occasionally needed to create a talking point.\u00a0 Yet people still take exception, which is fine, as long as they present their counterpoints in a way that will add to the discussion.\u00a0 And several times, commentators on my blog have changed my<\/i> mind about certain issues, so I\u2019m always willing and eager to expand my own understanding.<\/p>\n

\"laThat discussion sort of segued into Anthony\u2019s next question which was about separating the reality from the myth of living in Italy.\u00a0 The timing was interesting, because I had just re-watched \u201cLa Dolce Vita<\/i>\u201d after having seen it about 15 years ago\u2014in other words, before <\/i>I had ever been to Italy.\u00a0 What I saw the second time was a completely different movie than I remembered.\u00a0 (I wrote in more detail on this topic in my recent post on Italian Cinema<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

But for example, the iconic scene of Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroiani splashing around Trevi\u2019s Fountain was actually a brief, fairly insignificant scene.\u00a0 And yet that\u2019s what we all remember about the movie.\u00a0 Indeed, Fellini was being ironic, or even sarcastic, when he chose a title for his film.\u00a0 He was commenting on a \u201csweet life,\u201d that everyone thought they wanted, but was always just out of reach, largely inhibited by their inability to communicate with one another.\u00a0 (And this was before <\/i>social media!)<\/p>\n

For visitors to Italy, none of this matters\u2014everybody ought to enjoy whatever \u201cla dolce vita\u201d<\/i> means to them while on their two week vacation.\u00a0 But for newly expatriated Americans, it can be an uncomfortable wake-up call about a month into the adventure.\u00a0 After a few nasty encounters with public employees and one transportation strike too many, you might start to question why you left the \u201csweet life\u201d in the US.<\/p>\n

However, if you stick around a little longer and push through all the aggravations and inconveniences (large and small) of fighting the bureaucracy and an unfamiliar cultural mentality, then you might start to enjoy the \u201csemi-dolce vita<\/i>\u201d even more than you\u2019re original idealized version of Italy.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it was for me.\u00a0 Small victories at the post-office feel like the achievement of a lifetime.\u00a0 You learn the art of \u201carrangiarsi<\/i>,\u201d how to get by (with a little help of an Italian mentor\u2014Jessica, in my case).\u00a0 Now you\u2019re starting to really understand what life in Italy is all about, for better and<\/i> worse.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll appreciate it all the more for your efforts.<\/p>\n

Listen, I won\u2019t lie, the politics are a mess and the economy is in a free fall.\u00a0 There have been a couple of articles in the New York Times<\/i> lately about this heartbreaking tragedy.\u00a0 But Italy has survived worse. \u00a0Rome was sacked by the barbarians and has been corrupted by popes and politicians throughout its history.\u00a0 It has endured Mussolini and two World Wars.\u00a0 And yet it still stands.<\/p>\n

But we should also mention that expats, no matter how long they\u2019ve been in Italy, will never feel as frustrated or angry as the Italians do about their broken system.\u00a0 We always have the option to go home, and the emotional impact of watching your country fall apart is something that we don\u2019t have to face.\u00a0 In this way, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s wrong to say that foreigners are often able to \u201cappreciate\u201d Italy more than the Italians can.\u00a0\"visit<\/p>\n

So if all of this is true, why has Italy remained so appealing to so many people from every corner of the globe?\u00a0 It continues to be a top tourist destination (if not the<\/span><\/i> top) even as more and more of the world is opening up to mass tourism\u2014and despite the political and economic mess.\u00a0 No matter what, people just can\u2019t get enough of Italy, it seems. (For the record, neither can I).<\/b><\/p>\n

I believe it\u2019s because Italy offers, and has always offered, an abundance of the things that touch our humanity at the deepest levels: art, food, music, beauty, family, and a tangible connection with human history.\u00a0 And even some of the negative things\u2014corruption, greed, jealousy\u2014because that\u2019s part of being human, too.<\/p>\n

Orson Wells said it even better:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed\u2026BUT they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance.\u00a0 In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace\u2026and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.\u201d<\/i><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think that sums it up pretty good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Any expat in Rome will tell you that they’ve heard the question a hundred times: \u201cWhat is life in Italy really like?\u201d \u00a0The common assumption is that we\u2019re all buzzing around on Vespas, attending operas, and eating pasta at every meal.\u00a0 My blog has always been an honest attempt to address those perceptions and offer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,169,4],"tags":[16,380,26,52,148,14,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}