FEATURES
POSTCARD from ITALY TO BE FOREIGN
“A Characteristic of a County or Language other than one’s own” by Julie Ramsay
Having left the RAF many years ago, with the sum total of a fortnight’s detachment to Machrihanish behind me as my only exotic deployment (yep, that dates me), the move of 1,000 miles to Italy in support of my husband, who is still in, came with a set of interesting challenges.
H
aving travelled here many times on holiday and extensively road tested all types of pizza and ice
cream, I never imagined the mental discomfort that could be caused by being truly foreign. Italy is hardly the other side of the world, and yet for every mile, there has been a cultural difference. Some of these are minor and take moments to adjust to, but others are just, well – foreign to us British blighters. There is a different way to do everything, to look at everything, and to value everything. Let me explain…
We’ll start with coffee, the national drink and the best coffee in the world – so important, the Government sets the base price of 1 Euro for a coffee drunk standing at the bar! (there is a different price for sitting, or taking it outside). While we like to stop, sit and chat for an hour, the Italians drink it down in a matter of seconds, and head out to the car nuked by a double dose of rocket fuel. Perhaps that explains the driving…
It seems all Italian cars are fitted without indicators, and that driving while
gesticulating, arguing and using the mobile simultaneously are standard here. Every day on the road here is an experience. And yet the niceties of old Italy still exist. Ladies don’t need to get out of the car at the filling station. A nice chap fills your car, wipes your windscreen and takes your cash, and charges an extra 10 cents a litre for the privilege.
Cycling is very much the national sport now, and teams of lycra-clad chaps are out in force from sun up. But the towns too are full of bikes, the old bone-shakers of 50 years ago, and even the very elderly still make their way round town on a bike. Cycling with an open umbrella and/or a mobile phone is a common sight.
THE most popular topic of conversation is food; what people are cooking at home, or what’s in season. I tuned in once to the conversation of a bunch of bikers who had sat next to me in a bar. Feeling intimidated for a moment, I finally realised they were discussing the price of fresh spinach at the market that morning. Having always relished the delights of the Mediterranean diet, I miss hugely though our
concept of a varied meal, where we dollop everything on the same plate. Here, what is eaten and when is more formally prescribed, so a mixed salad just means three different types of lettuce, and that is always eaten
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Envoy Autumn 2013
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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