50 Things I Have Learned

I have been in Italy one month, and these are 50 things I have learned:

    1. It's more tasty than you could ever imagine.
    2. Pizza still comes in a box here (I don't know why that surprises me, but it did)
    3. Hot dogs still exist here (gross), and people put them on their pizza to eat (gag). They also put french fries on pizza (That is delicious).
    4. They eat cheese by itself here. It tastes okay, but I have never been a big eater of cheese, so it is hard to get used to.
    5. They eat ice cream with bread and fruit here. Like they actually put ice cream inside a brioche. It's like "ice cream sandwich" was taken WAY too literally.
       It's weird but it tastes pretty good.
    6. The Pistachio flavor is my new obsession.
    7. The water is delicious here.
    8. Not so shocking, but I haven't seen a single pick-up truck since I left the States.
    9. Seat belts are optional, unless you are in the front seat of a car that makes an awful beeping sound if you aren't wearing it.
    10. Whatever rules motorcycle riders have are not followed. If there is a four inch gap between two cars, you can bet a motorbike will try to squeeze inbetween
       them to get by. If there is a small tot on the motorcycle, just have them stand up inbetween your legs while you drive (There is nothing dangerous about that.
       (NOT).
    11. At a stop sign, rolling stops are perfectly acceptable. I'm pretty sure the cops are happy if you even tap your breaks at one.
    12. If you are stopped at an intersection, and the cars just keep on coming and you are too impatient to wait, just keep edging forward until one side of traffic
       has to stop for you.
    13. It's totally cool to cut someone off, just as long as you honk your horn while you go by to give them a warning.
    14. Italians are fabulous parallel parkers; I am so impressed by it. I think people in Illinois need lessons from these people.
    15. Jaywalking is totally fine, and is most likely the only way you will get across the street.
    16. When crossing a four lane highway on foot on your way home from school, make sure that once you get halfway across to lean half your body out into the road, so
       that this side of traffic can see you and stop to let you cross.
    17. School on Saturday sucks.
    18. When you obtain books for the classes you are taking, make sure you know which volume to get (somehow, I managed to get the wrong volume in almost every subject)
    19. The kids here know British English, so when they keep referring to "Rubbers," they are referring to erasers. NOT Condoms.
    20. You have to stand up everytime a teacher enters or leaves the room.
    21. If you are trying to translate what the teacher is saying, your brain needs more oxygen so you will yawn. Then, the teacher will yell at you for yawning.
    22. They use commas where decimals should be, so numbers are even more confusing.
    23. They don't use factor trees here. They use some other method that is really long and confusing.
    24. All toilets flush differently. You just have to figure it out.
    25. Graffitti is everywhere!
    26. Mosquitoes are abundant
    27. Zumba is extra hard when you can't understand what the instructor is saying.
    28. You must always have shoes or slippers on. Even at home.
    29. Euros are really confusing
    30. The temperature in Celsius is even more confusing.
    31. The grapes have seeds in them here.
    32. When you have pizza for dinner, everybody gets their own pizza (It's giant and hard to finish).
    33. Granita is the tastiest thing ever.
    34. Watch where you are walking because there is usually dog poop in the middle of the sidewalks.
    35. Perfectly normal for a 14 year old to be in a relationship with a twenty year old (Weirdest thing ever).
    36. Cell phones are all pre paid here.
    37. Scrunchies are perfectly acceptable to wear(somebody call the 1990's back).
    38. The rules of Handball are completely different here.
    39. They don't have central heating/air conditioning.
    40. No Clothes dryer.
    41. Don't wear sweatpants to a restaurant (guilty!)
    42. Catholic mass here is exactly the same, just in a different language.
    43. Nuns are in full nun-outfit here.
    44. People hate rain here.
    45. When writing down your assignments, write it on the page for the day it is due, not the day it is assigned.
    46. Water with gas has to be one of the weirdest tasting things ever when you drink it unknowingly.
    47. Everybody knows "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson.
    48. Everybody looks at you like you are an idiot if you can't speak Italian well.
    49. It is so hilly here!
    50. The Meditteranean Sea is prettiest thing ever!