The Italian Man

I have developed a prejudice. An Italian man, while working, can be considered cute, charming and, on a few occasions, attractive. But once that same Italian man steps onto the street he is a sketch ball. All of you who expressed dreams of me meeting and falling in love while in Italy I shall prove wrong! It is natural for me to smile when I make eye contact with someone I don't know. I'm not talking about a "so glad to see you," teeth showing smile. I just mean a small grin that says "I see you" and "life is good." In the states, most people return with the same smile or a small wave. But in Italy, a man takes this to mean "come and get me!" An officer came and talked to our group the first day about safety guidelines and how to deal with the "aggressive" Italian. He told us the best way to ward off the guys is to completely ignore them. Don't make eye contact, don't smile, and don't say anything. Well, I am here to say that that is very hard! Simple curiosity makes you look at who is talking to you. But I am getting better. So much better, in fact, that I now ignore any guy. Last night a guy asked my friends and I "have you been watching the superbowl?" as we were walking home from watching the super bowl... It took a few seconds for it to register that he had said that with an American accent and after a quick glance that he was, indeed, an American. (I don't know why that makes him safe but my prejudice isn't a science) Well, it turned out that he goes to school at University of Idaho where my little brother goes and knows one of my childhood friends. Small world, hu? 

All this to say, I'm in Florence and I love it so far!!!