Thursday, September 2, 2010

Intro into the FS and my background 2 - Italy

So, when I left, I was telling the story of my entry into the Service. I was just getting to the point of seeing a biased presentation of a foreign policy issue and which "side" I fell on, even if both were more or less equal. I instead decided to say that I agreed with neither. I do not think that random acts of terrorism against civilians are vindicated by the fact that you view you land is taken, nor do I agree with expanded settlements in Israel, although of course that side wasn't presented.

In truth, I felt that the Israeli-Palestinian issue has grabbed far more attention than it deserves. Both participants now have so many people who have been born and live their lives in these locations that the history no longer matters. Technically Israel shouldnt exist as its former pretense for being there is more than 1000 years old and Palestine shouldnt exist as it never was a country and hasnt had a unique culture or custom or language until the formation of Israel where it gained a resistance as it's culture. The reasons for the two existing are purely dependant upon one another. Israel needs overtly hostile neighbors to encourage US investment into its military and commercial structure. Palestine needs Israel to resist against or it will surely be consumed by its larger fellow arab neighbors (most likely Syria) as shown when Syria did grab a chunk of Israel. For the most part, that was my response to my professors challenge be it correct today or not that was my best go.

I was promptly failed by the professor as he refuted all of my arguments with red penned-in statements like you arent following instructions or you need to work on seeing the other side of an arguement. This is another instance of when I learned people do not like to hear what is not their truth.

Later in college that professor and I became good friends as I realised he liked that not everyone in his class was a pushover and he enjoyed the challenge. He appreciated the fact that I would stick to my guns in terms of the truth versus what his perception was. This professor later decided to take a number of students on a study abroad to Italy and I was asked if I wanted to go. I readily accepted, even though my school loans were already astronomically high from previous schools, because opportunities like this are only available when one does not have a career, or so I thought.

I studied Italian for the 6 month preceding my visit, then took a jump into oblivion. When one lives overseas, I realised that you are a complete and utter baby when you get there. You cannot buy food, ask directions or know what the hell is going on on a daily basis, you are helpless. There really is nothing quite like it and you cannot prep for it no matter how much language and culture you try to absorb before you go.

I was living with one other American roomate from my school and the owner of the apartment at the same time. I quickly learned a few things about Italian men.

1: Apparently, no one here uses or sells deoderant. That is an American thing. Showering is also a once a week deal and it is recommended to just wet a washcloth and rub down your upper torso only...........
    ----I decided to skip his advice and deal with the constant complaints of high water bills by actually using the shower. I know it was rude, but it was the one piece of American-ness I needed to keep.

2: Italian males traditionally live with their mother until they are around 40 if unmarried (as many are) and then they will generally get a place in the city but still have mom do cooking, cleaning etc.

3: They love to dress in veeery tight pants and hang out at McDonalds. It seriously looked like the 80s happened all over again when I saw this routine. I am a medium build athletic guy and absolutely nothing fit me. I felt horribly fat at 160, but eastern European knockoff clothes fit great!

Beyond getting over the new culture routines, I enjoyed every bit as it was facinating to see the incredible similarities to American living but HUGE differences as well. As I got to scooting around more of the periphery of Italy to other countries I got to really understand how much I loved discovering every new culture by country or even region.

 Example: Train is 2 hours late in Sicily
Italian man : God damn those Romans and their trains, nothing has run on time since Mussalini!
Italian woman : This one is pretty close, only 2 hours from when it was supposed to be in

Example: Train is 2 minutes late in Switzerland
Swiss Announcer : We do humbly apologise for the wait, complementary coffee service will be conducted and we hope that will make youre trip more relaxing
Swiss Woman : I want a refund, they were probably drinking too much last night.

Incredible world, more to come......

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