Tuesday, February 10, 2009

First night in Rome

One thing I didn't expect to be doing on my first night in Rome is hanging out with a bunch of Brazilians, but... well that's what happened. I guess Brazilians are everywhere and I just haven't run into them yet. Really, I don't think I've met any Brazilians outside of Miami in my life, but today in the hostel the first language was Portuguese. The Aussie I talked to said that was normal. Is that normal? Am I crazy?

The Brazilian Flag

Anyway, they are very friendly. We all went out to a pub and watched the Brazil-Italy game. I learned all about the players and then promptly forgot everything. Brazil won. Strangely, I found myself rooting for them.

So I'm in Rome. I really haven't seen much of the city yet, but it seems neat. It's interesting hearing the Italian language spoken by everyone. It kind of surprises me every time. I bought a... I'm not sure what it was but it was delicious... from a random stand at the train station. They guy behind the counter seemed like you're run-of-the-mill average guy, but when he spoke he had the Italian rhythm and it really made me do a double-take. I suddenly felt like a grunting buffoon.

I think part of it is how everyone looks. I thought the same thing in Japan awhile back. Let me explain. When I was in Korea I got used to the way people looked. Everything about Korean people was very foreign in the beginning, but eventually I got used to it and associated the culture and people there with "Korea." I went to Japan for a weekend and it all felt... a bit more like the states. It wasn't, but I think I felt that way because I had more Japanese friends in the states than Koreans, or maybe it was from seeing so many of them in Hawaii. I don't know. It may have just been a feeling. But it's sort of the same situation with Italy. Italian people look American to me, perhaps because we have so many Italians in America. Sure, we've got Greek people too, but not as many. How many people do you know who've got a little bit of Italian blood in them? Quite a few. I don't really know where I'm going with this. Any thoughts?

I feel like I should put up the Italian flag so I don't confuse people...

There we go.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Yes. Brazilians are everywhere.

Book Look Column Author said...

We just back from a cruise that had at least a third of the boat from Brazil according to the cruise director (from Australia).