Transition mode

Salve, tutti. I have now been in Rome for two weeks, and the gears of acclimatization continue to shift. I'm gradually transitioning out of the "Holy wow" amazed phase and the "Holy crap" overwhelmed phase into a state of being comfortable with my surroundings and eager to explore further. However, this also includes some awkward growing pains that crop up from day to day. Here is a list - in no particular order - of ten things I'm missing most about the United States right now:

1. Free water

Yes, you have to pay for water at restaurants. It's nice water - out of a pretty glass bottle and everything - but it can be anywhere from 1-3 euro extra, which is quite frankly annoying when you're trying to save money and calories (for gelato later, of course). Even if you ask for acqua naturale - tap water - they won't always give it to you.

2. Peanut butter

Almost nowhere to be found, except in tiny containers for almost six euro apiece (that's more than eight dollars). Nutella galore, but no peanut butter. Apparently it's a very distinctly American appetite.

3. Granola bars

Although we did manage to find peanut butter lurking in the back corner of a supermarket, none of us have been able to find a single granola bar anywhere. There are "yogurt" bars and "cereal" bars, which are tasty and filling, but these do not remotely resemble to the typical granola you can find at home.

4. Not sticking out like a sore thumb

Not all the SMC girls have this problem, but for me it's a bit wearing after a while. I'm taller than basically everyone I've met so far - as well as a lot paler - so I might as well have an American flag tattooed across my face. Plus, I seem to totally lack the European knack for accessorizing, which is key to a classy Euro-style outfit. Put all these together - along with the vacant expression of a foreigner trying to figure out where the nearest gelateria is - and you have a target for every street vendor in the Mediterranean (AKA me). 

5. Being able to buy shoes

One way you can spot native Europeans (other than their handbags and their jackets) is their shoes: always chic, always elegant, and often understatedly well-made. But when you have size-11 feet, the options are quite limited, especially when most of the women here appear to wear at least five sizes smaller. Rainboots in particular would be an excellent addition to my wardrobe...if only they came in my size.

6. Cheap postage

It costs 2 euro to mail a postcard. Never complaining about 49-cent stamps again.

7. Being able to read signs

Physical signs - street signs, shop signs, restaurant menus - as well as social signs. It's easy to give a very wrong impression to the people around you simply by smiling at them.

8. Being able to say what I want

It's like being three again, with adults using big words around you while you try to keep up. Wanting to express even a simple idea or pose a basic question is suddenly something you need to plan out carefully. It's a great humility-booster, that's for sure, especially when the person to whom you're speaking just gives up and starts speaking in English.

9. U.S. Internet

Being in Italian cyberspace means slower WiFi, fewer websites, and a lot of confusing language-changing. And recently, some sort of subterranean fire damaged the internet connection on several streets, including the street on which our classroom building and library are located (it's been repaired after several days of construction work and confusion). 

10. Knowing what's expected of me

This, I think, is the biggest difficulty for me right now. It's a struggle finding the balance between tourist and traveler, trying to shed the "temporary" mindset into a more longterm process of adaptation. Reading social cues is suddenly very difficult: knowing how to dress, how to address strangers, what to order, who to trust, where it's safe to be, what is acceptable to say...none of these are automatic anymore. It can be very disorienting and a bit of a blow to the self-esteem. This is when I'm most thankful to have chosen Italy as a place to study, where the people are friendly and very willing to help. But it's also difficult to blend in and feel like a local when you not only feel different but look different, act different, and speak in a different way.

But that's why I came here, in the end: to be challenged, to expand my worldview, to learn to adapt, to be culturally literate and globally familiar. So don't think of this as a list of things that are making me miserable, because I don't; I think of this as a set of things that attach me to my American home and that I'll learn to adjust to while living here. I have more than six months to go...I think I can do it. :)

A presto!