How I See USA after 3 Months Living in Italy
Life in Sicily changes you
This is what instantly leaps to mind:
I can affordably buy farm fresh eggs in Europe.
How did the criminal in chief explode our democracy so fast?
The speedy pace of life in USA looks more exhausting from slower Sicily.
I’m going to miss passagiato, the Italian word for strolling outside after dinner, bumping into friends, and drinking in cafes oblivious to winter weather.
I like seeing elegantly dressed people in Italy strolling along, talking, laughing maybe drinking a beer or wine in the open but not being drunk.
Why can’t we drink wine outside without getting arrested in the USA?
95% less stressful in Italy and France because I don’t drive or hunt for parking.
I’m walking 99% of the time. 3-min walk to the Mediterranean sea, 15-min to the grocery store, or I can wait for the produce man to drive around the neighborhoods in his truck and you can flag him down.
Driving my car in California is fun when I go to the beach.
But the price of doing so?
Because of gas ($4.90 per gallon) and traffic on 5-lane roads you pause to consider, should I go?
And pedestrians walking across the street expecting you, the driver, to notice they’re melting into their phone screens. Anxiety alert!
But maybe the bureaucracy would get to me if I lived in Italy.
If you want anything legal, it will take a while.
Shops are closed midday. 12 noon to 4PM.
Sunday and Monday, shops are shut all day so you have to wait for things.
There is no such thing as a 24-hour store. No drive-up window to get your coffee.
But!
The food in Italy will console you.