Random Musings

Ciao!

I had a first today in Sicily: I heard thunder! I have actually debated whether storms existed here. I realize that sounds silly, but I have only seen rain. When it rains, I haven't heard any thunder or seen lightening, until today. When I woke up this morning, it was gorgeous weather, but now I'm at school and it's raining and thundering (but I still haven't seen the lightening). I think once I walk all the way across town for lunch, (I really miss my old house today because it was so close!) I'll just get into my pajamas and curl up with a book the rest of the day. Or play Monopoli with Clay. We found the Italian version in my room the other day and we played it. It takes just as long to play in Italian as in English, especially since we occasionally have to stop and look up a word on the chance card. I do feel richer when I play it, though, as the money is in lire!

So today I just have some random musings/things to explain. I believe I've briefly mentioned all of these before, but they all deserve to be explained in more detail.

1. Exact Change. For those of you who don't know about euros, here are the denominations. There are 1 and 2 euro coins (a euro is like a dollar, except way stronger and worth more right now, but for our purporses, they're equal). Then there are 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 euro bills. I think there is a 500 euro bill as well, but I'm not that rich, and I have no idea where you would break a 500 bill. As far as centissimi go, they have a 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 centissimi coins. All of the coins and bills are different sizes, which makes my wallet look a little odd. Ok, I hope that helps as I attempt to describe their weird obsession with exact change. I described a situation in my Venice blog where a ticket lady went crazy about exact change. This was not really unsual. Stores and ticket offices here generally expect us to pay in exact change. This isn't too difficult as the grocery store is the only place that ever has an uneven total. Ice cream shops and stores sell things in whole numbers, which makes a lot more sense. Personally, I'd rather pay $10 than $9.99 for a shirt just so I don't have to carry around the penny. The Italians think the same thing, which is fantastic. HOWEVER, because there are few places where you pay any centissimi (with the exception of 50 centisimmi. That is quite common for something to be 6.50 euro), they don't like to make change for you, even in full euros. For example, if I buy a gelato for 3 euro, they expect me to pay in three euro. It's not a huge deal if I pay with a five euro, but anything larger than a five euro, and I risk getting a dirty look. This also is silly since all the ATM machines spit out only 50 euros, but it's difficult to break a 50 euro. We usually break our 50s at the grocery store, and for that reason, the clerk there does not like us. When we do pay with a higher bill, like at the supermarket, this is where we run into problems with the exact change.

For instance, the other day at the supermarket we had a bill of 14.80 euro. I had a 20 euro, and I knew she'd want exact change, so I fished out the 80 centissimi. She kept looking at me, even though I had now given her enough so she could return 6 euro. That was not good enough. She wanted me to pay another 4 euro so she could give me a 10 euro bill instead of a 5 euro bill plus a 1 euro coin. For some reason, they prefer to give out bills. I suppose that makes sense because I do hate carrying around 10 euro in heavy 1 and 2 euro coins, but still! If I want to carry around those coins, then let me! It's very strange to me, and sometimes I can't do the math fast enough in my head to figure out which combination of bills and coins I should give so the cashier can make the most effiecient change. I should note that I'm actually good at math, but for some reason I find it difficult to do math in euros, even though it's the same numbers . . .

Ok, my other random topic of the day: mobbing. Not like, the mob, although I think the two are related in an indirect way I'll explain one day. You can probably deduce from my blogs that many things in Sicily have no rhyme or reason or order to them. The streets/drivers are chaotic. Public transportation leaves when it wants. Stores open and close at will, etc, etc. In addition to all this, the Sicilians never form lines. I'm not sure if they just don't like them, or if their 2nd grade teachers never taught them. But for whatever reason, lines don't exist in Sicily. This can sometimes pose a problem. I've lost count of how many times I've walked into a panini or gelato place and patiently waited my turn, only to have a huge group of people walk in and order before me! In the States, even when there's not a line I typically take notice of how many people are ahead of me, and I let them order, then I take my turn. Here, if I wait for "my turn", someone else will walk and not even notice me and "cut" in front.

I actually first noticed this at Hartsfield Airport the day I left for Italy, but I didn't realize it at the time. While we waited for our flight, a line formed at the counter. The next person in line waited several feet back from the counter to give the person ahead some privacy when speaking to the Delta representative. Out of nowhere, this Italian family (and now I'm convinced they were probably Sicilian) came barreling in and right as the person at the counter left, the man walked up to the counter and started asking questions. The 5 people in line looked at each other and started talking amongst themselves. Now I realize the man probably didn't even see the line, and it's entirely possible he thought those people were just hanging out in a linear formation.

The post offices and banks here have tried to remedy the problem. Since the Sicilians won't stand in a line, they employ the "take a number" system, as do some butchers as well. This way, the Sicilians don't actually have to form a line, but they can't just step up and order when they feel like it. They at least have to wait their turn.

The other form of mobbing I've noticed is on buses and trains. This really cracks me up actually, mainly because it's such a paradox. The Sicilians seem to go at their own pace, and to be honest, if you took the clocks out of their houses, I'm convinced they wouldn't even notice. In fact the clock tower in town is almost always wrong. Despite the fact that they don't pay attention to time, they always seem to be in a hurry when on a bus or train. On the trains, people begin to stand up and gather their things at least 5 minutes before the train pulls into the station. I can understand this one a little bit since the train only stops for a few minutes at smaller stations, but I think 5 minutes might be a bit overkill. When we went to Palermo two months ago, we were quite confused because we saw everyone get up and head to the doors. We naturally got up as well, only to stand up for a good 15 minutes before we reached the station. The buses are a similar situation. People get up, walk to the front, and stand by the door a few minutes before the bus stops. This is more practical on the buses, though, as you sometimes have to tell the drivers where to stop.

What I don't understand on the buses, though, is the desire to crowd the front half. If there are only 5 people on the bus, all five people will sit in the first 2 or 3 rows. As people file onto the bus, they take the first available set of seats. I think this is probably because unlike in the states, the Italians (and Europeans in general) aren't obsessed with having a large personal space area. In the States, when I climb onto Tiger Transit and there are only 3 other students, we typically spread out. It's also expected on Tiger T that you don't sit next to someone unless there is not another empty double seat anywhere. That's not the case here at all. The buses here between cities are long, charter buses, so there's probably at least 50 seats or so. If a Sicilian climbs onto a bus and notices that there is someone sitting in the first 6 rows, but the back is empty, he'll most likely take a seat next to someone in the front so he can sit closer to the front, even though the entire back of the bus is empty! It's really hilarious to watch, actually.