breaking habits & blowing breakers
culture shock for an american in italy
part one of many
It’s currently noon in Italy. My daughter just went down for her midday nap. It’s a pretty cold winter December day, snow is expected north of us. And so far I’ve blown the breaker three times already. It’s laundry day.
The best part about having family visit us here is that each one of them pick up on something completely new and unique that is different from life in the states. For my mom it was how there are no “cookie-cutter” residential neighborhoods and how she went days without hearing an ambulance siren, how friendly everyone was. For my mother-in-law it was how strong the onions and garlic are when cutting into them, how vibrant the flavors of everything is. For my sister-in-law it was how struck she was with the beauty of everything; driving along the hillside and walking through the streets at night in Florence.
It’s a rite of passage for everyone to be confused by the recycling system: Compost pick-up Mondays and Thursdays, Glass every other Wednesday, Plastic and Paper on alternating Thursdays and Diapers every other Monday. On Italian holy days, pick up is moved one day later and the schedule changes completely during the summer. (I mean, what’s the big deal???)
But most evident is how everyone notices the shift in pace. How you instantly feel that life moves slower when you step into our home, into our world. How you focus on doing one thing at a time and doing it well. Believe me when I say that it’s taken time for us to get to this place and we’re still working on it.
I laugh to myself because I do remember how it felt at first. I wanted to love it but I was so frustrated. I hated how drawn out basic, every day tasks were.
You have to understand something about living here, and we live in a relatively “modern” home. I say “modern” because some of the places we looked at before settling on our home were built in, “oh….the 13th or 14th century” (Yeah.) But even living in a newer home, the electrical system is only designed to support a limited amount of power at once. Did you know you can actually get a ticket from the police if you leave your car running idle for more than 3 minutes? A lot of this is influenced by the country’s overall sense of monitoring emissions and conserving energy, but some of it is simply… why would you need so much excess energy to waste?
I’d say this was one of my first mini-culture-shocks I wasn’t prepared for: Breaking the habit of multi-tasking. As Americans, it’s hardwired in us to get as much done as possible each day.
We’re used to having an unlimited amount of energy at our disposal. I never thought to monitor my energy use, nor did I have to consider how to only run three major appliances at once. This includes the refrigerator (which is always on, obviously) and any single A/C or heating unit (which we have three in total, there’s no central air or heat). So, through trial and error, I got to know this home and her boundaries. You learn how to dedicate a day to washing and drying (not at the same time, certo), one part of the day to use the oven, evenings are the only time for the dishwasher. It’s a delicate dance that has taken two years to master and involves a lot of my husband and I yelling from different floors, “Is the dryer on? I need pre-heat the oven for dinner!”
And please don’t try to blow dry your hair, vacuum, or use the electric kettle during any of those times… or else, yup, it’s your turn. You’re blowing breakers.
Sometimes it feels like I’ve gone way back in time. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes, on mornings like today when I’ve carried my toddler up and down the basement stairs six times before noon just to dry one load of laundry, I hate it. I often describe my house an old Italian woman who has zero interest in multi-tasking at her age, and honestly I think we could all learn a bit from her.
She moves slowly, at her own pace. She does one thing at a time well. She has some cracks here and there but she’s rock solid. She doesn’t care if she inconveniences you. And she makes you work really hard to keep her turned on.
Che casa…