Buona Sera

Buona sera! 

It's been almost a week since I left the United States to live in my new home in Italy. And so far, Italy has been amazing. No matter where you look, you are surrounded by beauty, culture, art, and history. The weather is amazing and every sunset looking over the Tuscan hills is a view most can only dream about. 

The past few days I have been able to go in town more often and have a better experience of what it means to be Italian. I am happy to say my Italian is not that bad, for I am able to at least order food items and greet Italians without any hesitation. However, it is so difficult having the name Savannah here. Since Savannah is a name that's mostly common in the southern parts of the United States, most Italians have never heard of it and often give me strange looks whenever I tell them my name. Even my Italian teacher still questions my name. 

The Italian culture is so different than that of Americans. While most Americans are in a hurry and have organized structures, whether it's sticking to time schedules, waiting in lines, or rushing in the streets, Italians are the opposite. Italians tend to live in the moment, without all the structure of America. If a store feels like closing, it'll close. There are no such things as lines in Italy, especially when it comes to ordering food. People walk slowly in the streets, staring at the people around them. Yeah, you think the "stalking" problem is bad in America, try Italy. Their favorite hobby is people watching, especially watching the Americans that walk in the street in brightly colored clothing when everyone else is in their neutral colors. I have to say though, being able to say "Ciao" on a regular basis and not sound like an idiot is a lot of fun.

This weekend is the weekend of the Giostra del Sacarino in Arezzo. The Giostra del Sacarino occurs the first weekend of September every year, and dates back to the 13th century. The town of Arezzo is split into four sections and basically those sections compete with each other in a joust. Yes a joust, like the popular events at Renaissance fairs. So this entire week, the streets have been packed with people in celebration of this joust. People wear scarves with the flag of their section, much like Americans wear t-shirts of their favorite football team. And at night, the biggest parties are happening in the streets. Last night, we could hear the music from all the partying that was taking place in the town (and it's about a half hour into town if that tells you anything). It's crazy. Today is the actual day of the joust, so all of us are preparing to go into town to witness the priest of the Duomo "bless" all of the competitors, watch the parade, and then to watch the joust. We are sporting our red and green scarves, the colors of our section, and are ready to go!

But it is now time to head into town, so ciao for now!