Europe

The land of art, history, culinary delights, and beautiful landscapes. To know Italy is to love Italy but truly getting to know Italy is a bit more challenging than it may appear on the surface. 

Italy is all about appearances. In fact, they have a saying “Bella Figura”- (literally translated it means the beautiful figure) . It is the backbone of Italian culture. Putting on a show for the sake of a show is standard practice for Italians.  A five course meal? Ironing sheets and underwear? Making all food from scratch? This type of behavior is not only accepted, it is expected. This explains why Italians always seem to roll out the red carpet and paper to be so hospitable- much of this behavior is out of duty.

This is not to say that you cannot develop meaningful relationships with Italians- you absolutely can. Think of it like a beautiful 5 course meal, you don’t rush to the last course- you take your time and savor every morsel. Creating connections with Italians is the same- you must take your time and wait to be invited to the inner circle- don’t push it and don’t expect it.