When talking about Italy, it’s probably difficult to have a conversation about Italy without hearing about Rome, Milano, Venice, and/or Florence. Interestingly, these main cities are all in different regions (what U.S. Americans could relate to as “States”). Despite the fact that all of Italy is about the size of California, the regions have […]
Tag: being present
Trying Too Hard and the Realisation that Ignorance is Bliss
I have always tried to understand people. I have also always wanted to be multilingual, have been consistently patient with non-native English speakers, and I had tried to communicate in other languages all while living in the U.S. Then I got my Master’s in Intercultural Relations and became aware of cultural differences. Then I […]
Venturing into the Unknown, Part II
September 14th was my two-year anniversary living in Italy. I feel rather accomplished despite my competence in the Italian language being crap (i.e. less advanced than research would suggest it should be considering that I live in Italy). Nevertheless, the universe has provided and I greedily have accepted. So, now on to the next chapter […]
The Moment I Knew I Was No Longer Poor
I recently saw an article on LinkedIn with the title, “The moment I knew I was no longer poor,” and I was curious about what the article had to say. It turned out to be a video selling some technique to do something. But the title gave me pause and I started questioning – […]
What Do You Miss Most
As a Tour leader here in Italy, I get to meet heaps of interesting people from the States and from the UK. The British group find me rather peculiar; I am a “yank” whose mother is Central American and I’m living in Italy. I get a slew of the same questions every time: Why Italy? […]
Overcompensating for one’s own culture and missing the other’s
I have always been hyper sensitive about not speaking another language very well and about behaving like a “typical US American.” I try not to perpetuate stereotypes about US Americans. I also try very hard to understand local culture and behaviour so that I can be respectful and not do something stupid; just because something […]
Knowing What You Don’t Know
When I was in Grad school, we learned that there were four, let’s call them, awarenesses of being: 1) I don’t know what I don’t know; 2) I know what I don’t know; 3) I know more than I am aware that I know; 4) I am aware that I know. There is research to […]
