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Jennifer Doering

Matt Davis

Country as Text: Italy

20 June 2014

The Adventure to Italy

Ive always wanted to see Italy. I dreamed of the day I would be able to visit the beautiful

and culture-rich country, and spent my childhood reading fiction novels set in Italy. When I

learned of the trip to Italy last semester, I was overjoyed, and couldnt wait to sign up. My

expectations for the trip were very simple: I wanted to experience Italy in all her glory, eat

delicious food, and get lost to see what surprises I could find. I felt somewhat prepared, armed

with the slight knowledge I had learned in reading my fiction novels all those years and that I

had gained from my short course at Dominican, Country as Text: Italy. I knew a little about the

history and customs of the country and couldnt wait to learn more. As soon as the school year

was over, my adventure could begin!

When I looked out the window of the airplane, and saw my first sight of the boats of

Venice, I was in love. I forgot my cold, I forgot how horrible I felt, I even forgot the many hours

I had spent trapped on multiple planes. All I could see and think about was the beautiful city in

front of me, Venezia. From that moment on, my expectations for the trip were not only met, they

were exceeded dramatically. I had known that I would have a great time in Italy, but I hadnt

expected to fall so deeply in love with her. Three of my favorite experiences were exploring the

islands of Murano and Burano while in Venice, spending an hour in the beautiful town of

Sorrento, and visiting Vatican City. Both Murano and Burano were beautiful and picturesque,

and I didnt quite get lost there, but I took a ton of pictures and got lost in the beauty of the
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landscape. It also didnt hurt that my group and I explored an Italian supermarket in our quest to

find lunch. It was an adventure to figure out how the packaging machines worked, but an

incredibly fun one. The sandwiches we made were delicious. Although I was only able to spend

an hour in Sorrento, my parents and I made the most of that hour. We walked to a pizza parlor

and ate lunch with the locals, then raced to get gelato and limoncello before we had to board the

bus again. I think that the pizza and gelato I had in Sorrento was the best food I ate during the

entire trip! Vatican City was filled with historical and religious artifacts and I loved being able to

see all of them. They connected to both my love of ancient Greek and Roman mythology and my

Roman Catholic faith. Returning to Vatican City to see Pope Francis just added to the

experience.

Another aspect of the trip that surprised me was how much I learned about the places we

visited. I had expected to learn about Venice, Florence, and Rome, but I hadnt expected to learn

so many interesting pieces of information. Some of my favorites concerned Venice, Rome, and

Vatican City. One of the books I read in my childhood, City of Masks, was about Venice. I had

always assumed that the masks worn during everyday life in the novel were fictitious, since I

thought Venetians only wore masks during Carnevale. But there was more to the story: Our guide

in Venice explained that masks were worn during everyday life by ancient Venetians if they

desired privacy on the small and cramped island. I was delighted to learn this information and

that there was some historical support for one of my favorite childhood stories. However, I was

heartbroken by another piece of information about Venice. Cruise ships that visit Venice hurt her

in two ways: they cause stress to the canals, hurting the city physically, and arent required to pay

a tax to stay in the city, hurting the city financially. I resolved to never go on a cruise to Venice

and always stay in a hotel in the city. Everything that I learned about the ancient Romans was
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fascinating, from their understanding that they only worshiped one god, money, to their use of

marketing to keep their citizens happy, through the construction and use of the Colosseum. I was

also surprised and found it humorous to know that the Spanish Steps were actually built by the

French to be used to reach their French church. However, they were renamed the Spanish Steps

because the Spanish people sat on the steps all the time. The multiple uses of obelisks was also

interesting: they were considered old to the ancient Romans, so they served as a piece of history,

but also pointed the way to churches for those who couldnt read street signs, and could be

considered Catholic, as long as there was an added cross on top. Vatican City was filled with

interesting objects and information, but my favorite was learning that when Michelangelo

painted the Sistine Chapel, he placed God inside half of a human brain. It was fascinating to

know that he connected the new scientific knowledge of the day to religion through his art. I

loved every new piece of information I learned about Italy during my stay.

I also learned quite a few cultural differences between America and Italy: There are no

pews in the churches in Italy, so that more people could attend mass. Standing people take up

much less room than sitting people. There is no such thing as a line in Italy. Everyone just pushes

and shoves to get to the front. Family is a big deal to Italians, Americans as well, but much more

pronounced in Italy. Food is eaten in a different order in Italy, and served in a different way in

restaurants, often with the result of customers being required to pay for water. Italy is also barely

a unified country, with each city just a little different from each of the others.

I had learned of most of the cultural differences mentioned in the last paragraph in class

before I arrived in Italy, but experiencing them made them much more real to me. I didnt hear

about the lack of pews in churches in class, but even if I had, hearing that there are no pews and

sitting on the orange plastic chairs lined up in a beautiful church are two very different things. I
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feel that I understand the cultural differences a bit more, since I actually experienced them. I

pushed and shoved my way through several non-lines during my stay and experienced a true

Italian woman who argued angrily with us for bumping into her, accidentally. I was shocked at

the chaos of it all and still dont quite understand why the Italians refuse to form organized lines.

But it is their culture and it must be Italian since I experienced it in every city, especially Rome. I

witnessed the power of family in Italian culture in the numerous restaurants that we attended that

were run by close-knit families. My favorite was Trattoria Monti, where baby Sophia was

proudly shown off by her grandmother, the wonderful chef. I also ate my food in a completely

different order than I was used to during my stay. The entirety of restaurant eating is different in

Italian culture, from the cost of water, to the order of courses. I dont understand the thinking

behind it, but do understand that it is simply their culture and all cultures are different.

The biggest cultural difference that was made much more real to me while I was in Italy

was the differences between all the cities in Italy. I had heard in class and read in one of my class

texts, The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples, that the regions

of Italy were very different, but it didnt ring true to me until I experienced it for myself. We

heard about the differences of each city and dialect of Italian from each tour guide during our

stay in each different city. But I think the best way of explaining the differences between the

cities and how they fit together as a country is with something my mother said to me during the

trip: Last year, my parents and I traveled to Paris. One of my favorite souvenirs was a collection

of medallions I had bought at each landmark we visited. I found one such medallion at the

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and was eager to find more during our stay. But,

though I searched long and hard in every bookstore, I didnt find any others. My mother told me

that I wouldnt find any others because Italy wasnt used to working together. I shouldnt expect
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Italy to have a similar souvenir in each place because, in reality, they were much more used to

working as separate places with separate souvenirs. It is a little strange for me to have learned

something so important about Italian culture through my search for souvenirs, but I am proud to

have learned a little more about Italy in any way I could.

This adventure to Italy took me to many different places and gave me numerous

opportunities to learn more about the country that I have loved for a long time. The trip gave me

a way to fall deeper in love with Venice, eat delicious food and gelato, and learn a lot of

interesting things about Italy and its culture and history. I learned fascinating things about the

ancient Romans and Venetians and about the cultural differences between modern Italy and

America. I dont understand why many of these cultural differences exist in Italy, since they

make no sense to me, particularly the lack of orderly lines, but I do understand the differences

themselves. Traveling to Italy and experiencing her in all her glory gave me a much better

learning experience then sitting in a classroom. I walked the marble floors, ate the delicious food,

listened to the different dialects. I now believe that I know much more about Italy and cant wait

to return. As I wrote in my travel journal, Arrivederci, Italy. Ill come back one day, dont worry.