List #1

My friend Susan, who is an American that just finished living in Venice for a year, made some top ten lists on her blog before she left and I thought it was a good idea. So, for the next few days I will give you my lists. Today, I am thinking about the things I will NOT miss once I leave.

1. Never being able to get "a breath of fresh air" as every single Italian in this country smokes. I guess on the plus side of that maybe it is something I am getting a little more used to. Although I am not sure it is high up on my list of things I wanted to.

2. My shower- the shower in my apartment (and most hotel rooms I have been in) is incredibly tiny, enough so that it almost resembles a coffin. It is as if it was made just to fit a person, forgetting the fact that in order to shower one actually has to move every now and then!

3. Businesses, including the supermarkets and restaurants, opening and closing whenever the hell they feel like it. Planning is literally impossible here. Wanna spend a day shopping? Better hope its not Monday morning or the other random day of the week that shops decide close. Wanna go to a specific restaurant? Better have a backup plan!

4. HUMIDO! This is a gross concept that might exist in America, but I have never heard of it. This is basically wet trash, meaning anything having to do with food: apple cores, fruit peels, leftovers that you dont want to eat, ANYTHING! It is so disgusting that I think I might throw up right now just thinking about it!

5. Movie rentals- Now I am a big movie person and I am very lucky that I have a movie rental store nearby that has DVD's which have an english option. However, when you rent a movie, you get charged by the hour. So if you go to rent a movie for the night, you have to get up after watching to go back out and return it, or pay more money. The 12 hour rate usually evens out to the Blockbuster rate, but Blockbuster has no late fees and you keep it for at least 2 days!

6. Handwashing dishes- This is not something specifically about Italy and I don't expect to have a dishwasher in my apartment for one person and its really not that difficult, but try getting olive oil out of a pan or plate without a dishwasher. It is impossible!

7. The language barrier- Now I absolutely love the Italian language and it is one of the major reasons for me coming here and I plan to continue with classes once I get home, but I never really realized how difficult it is to live in a country where you cant speak to people. At this point I definitely know enough to get by and get what I need, but it has hit my personality more than anything. I am a very talkative and friendly person, used to starting up conversations with strangers just about anywhere. And it is hard to not be able to do that here.

8. Creepy men- I have actually gotten used to this one, but it is odd how Italians (both men and women) do not care if you see them staring at you. They will even say Hello to you, just in case you didnt notice them.

9. Water- more specifically, paying for it at every meal!! Two or three euros( 3- 4 dollars) for something that would be automatically placed on your table for free in America.

10. EXPENSES!!- Not only is the euro more than the dollar, but everything seems to cost the same amount in euros as it would be in dollars in america (3 dollars in america and it is 3 euros here which is really like 5 dollars). I don't understand!