Manners

I thought some of you might want to know what is expected of you when you go to Italy. I've also added different brands of common products and music often played on MTV Italia.

Manners:
* bare feet whether in the home (or on the street) is completely unacceptable

* body language even when just relaxing at home is very formal: avoid slouching when sitting

*11pm is the cut off. If you're noisy after this time, Italians have the right to call the authorities if they think you are being to loud

* Did you know that most Europeans don't switch hands when using a fork or knife to cut food? After cutting their food they just turn the fork around and eat.

* At the dinner table, keep both hands above the table. Keeping one hand on your lap is considered to be in very poor taste.

Food:
Colazione (breakfast)- a simple, less important meal, consisting of a breakfast pastry, cookies or toast with coffee and milk at home, and a cappuccino at a bar. An American cafe is equal to a Bar in Italia.
~At dinner time (usually starting around 7:30-8:00pm)~

Antipasto (before the meal)
Primo Piatto (first course)- usually pasta, rice, or soup
Secondo piatto (main course)-meat, chicken, or fish. Served alone or with fries.
Dolce (dessert)-Tiramisu is the only one I recognize. Makes me think of that American Express card commercial.
Coffee (the cappuccino is only for breakfast and won't be served in the evening)

Things to know:
In orientation, we were told not to look at or smile at people in passing-especially men. We were told any look or smile is considered to mean "come hither"-not that you're just being polite. So mom, when you come, don't smile/talk at random guys. This is not to say that you can't greet shop owners in the morning or thank your cab driver.

* People give handouts on the street to their nearby restaurants. Take these b/c there is usually a very helpful map on the back, not only to their establishment, but is also helps you familiarize with the streets, via this and via that.
-----walk around in the late evening to pick up flyers for that night's performances.

* Don't by cherries here- they aren't too sweet. Do buy strawberries! They're very large and very sweet. In fact, just the other day I saw an Italian news report on strawberries here, how they pick them and their greenhouses. The watermelon fruit salads are divine.

* you'll notice that every time the *police* roll around, street vendors selling paintings, sunglasses, or Prada and Gucci bags pack up quickly and leave. That's because they aren't really allowed to sell on the street.

Grocery Products: look for pictures on photobucket
* The main milk distributer is Mukki. It comes in the refrigerated and non refrigerated (not evaporated) version. I buy the refrigerated one in the green bottle (it also comes in blue, though i haven't tasted a difference btw the two). It's not quite 1% but has a creamier/softer taste than the one we buy at home.

* You know that pasta in the blue and yellow packaging in the Sates? They have that here too.

* There's a lemon Ice tea I really like. Its called Belte al Limone. There is also a peach version that tastes pretty good.

* Sugar or "Zucchero" comes in little bags much like the flour bags back home.

* At the grocery store down the street from us, you can only find Skippy brand peanut-butter. For those of us who grew up on Adams peanut-butter, Skippy tastes sweet when compared to others.

* When I get bottled water, I usually pick the natural water one with the pink cap. The one with the black label is also good.

Music/TV
(MTV Italia): L'Aura, Finley, 30 seconds to Mars, Maroon 5
Commercials for Day Gum-just a minty chewing gum
Canale 5-usually has a good Italian movie or an American dubbed version