Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We feel very fortunate to have been accepted and befriended by the residents of San
Cosimo and included in the life of the village. We've met other Americans in Italy who
live largely within a world of ex-pats; they speak English all the time, hang out with other
Americans and remain somewhat estranged from the local culture even after years of living
here. We're immensely grateful that our own experience has not been constrained in this
way.
It helped that we had already developed a warm friendship with Angela, the barista in town
whose Russian T-shirt I had successfully translated. Having vacationed in the village over
a few summers also meant that we weren't starting from scratch. But the fact that we had
two cute little girls (one of whom was named “Siena”) was the icing on the cake. Our girls
began playing with the other children in the village, and, as everyone knows, kids are even
better than dogs for getting to know the neighbors. It also helped that we had learned to
speak Italian fairly decently, so we could engage and develop nascent relationships with
the people we met.
We were delighted to find various people who were interesting and fun to talk with among
such a small populace. Our needs for conversation and friendship have been richly met
within the boundaries of our tiny universe. Our community includes a broad cross-section
of humanity from agricultural workers to bank managers. There's a grocery store, a bar/
café, a restaurant, a post office, a tailor shop, a cantina, and a church. There are also two
“recreationalcircles”,ACLIandARCI,whereyoucanalsograbacoffeeoraglassofwine,
andwheretheolderfolkscanplaycardsandthekidscanwatchTVorplayfusball.Itseems
that many towns have these same two institutions, the first of which (ACLI) is supported
by the Church while the latter was once the lay alternative supported by the Communists.
Today, not a smidgen of religious or ideological fervor remains; they're just places where
everyone goes to hang out. But the fact that they exist, along with the other commercial es-
tablishments, means that people run into one another continually as they pursue their daily
rounds.
You go down for coffee and pastry in the morning. Your friend who plays the stock market
and trades currencies stops by, and you schmooze about the rebound of the dollar against
the Euro, and whether it will last. You stop in the grocery store and the mother of one of
your daughter's classmates is buying a couple of items. You exchange gossip about the
teacher whohasbeengivingthekidssomuchhomeworklately.Andhowheavytheir back-
packs have become with all the notebooks they now have to bring to school. On your way
back to your house you pass a friend whose mother was hospitalized a few days earlier and
inquire about her health.
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