Maleducato

Il turismo è molto buono per l'economia italiana, ma si ha molti problemi. Alcuni dei problemi parte sono causati da turisti che sono maleducato. Questa è una parola molto migliore di quella inglese "rude", perché il problema è davvero che la gente sta male-educati. Prima di un viaggio in un paese educare te stesso su usi e costumi e non essere scortese. Indossare abiti modesti quando si visita una chiesa. Non si arrampichi sulle statue antiche, non bere e mangiare sui gradini di una chiesa. Non scrivere sui muri del Duomo. Trova una toilette quando si ha bisogno di fare la pipì! Non farlo in strada (ed essere onesti, ho visto gli Italiani lo fanno anche)*

Approaching the end of my project, I have very mixed feelings. On the one hand I am living the dream, to be learning Italian and experiencing Florence in a way that no brief visitor can. I can pop down to the communal rubbish bins on the corner to deposit my recycling, green waste, and rubbish (no garbage collection here) and on the way back via the Santo Spirito Square happen upon a concert of the music of Fabrizio de Andre (an Italian Leonard Cohen, he even sang a version of Susanne in Italian), with small orchestra and full choir on the steps of the magnificent Santa Spirito church. 

I can take the time (after class of course!) to wander through parts of Florence that most tourists never see; to line up with Florentines from outside the Porta to buy a roll jam-packed with lampredotto (Google it - it's not for vegetarians, but unsurprisingly delicious) for 3 euros. I can catch a movie in the magnificent Odeon Theatre, or walk over to the Mercato Sant'Ambrogio for supplies.

I like to think I am different, but really I see me everywhere - middle-aged women wondering around looking a little lost, but happy to be so, struggling with basic Italian with mostly patient Florentine shopkeepers and taxi-drivers. My small class of 5 is multicultural, but all, again, just me: 3 53 year olds and a glamorous 40 something, even the teacher is 53! A new student started yesterday and she really mixed it up: She's 70!

When I went to the fabulous Odeon Cinema to see a movie on Thursday night, it was an English movie with Italian subtitles which was great for my Italian, of the 40 or so attendees, you've guessed it, 90% were women over the age of 50.

So the 'other hand' of this wonderful experience I am having is that I am living the cliche and adding to the problems a city like Florence has. It is essentially overrun with people like me, as well as the legion of other demographics who invade.

I have discovered that the Italian word is maleducato, and we even had a segment on it in class in our textbooks - which of these things is maeducato, and I've seen them all: scantily clad tourists wandering through sacred spaces; people eating pizza and drinking beer on the steps of the Duomo; graffiti scrawled on ancient walls and statues. Laneways often smell of piss and as I walk to school through the Santa Spirito, I have to watch my step, lest I step in a pile of vomit.

When I happened upon that amazing concert in Santo Spirito square, the experience was spoiled for all by the drunken Englishmen who stood alongside on the (church) steps beer in hands talking loudly and oblivious to anything but their own enjoyment. 

While I may do the right thing and carry my rubbish down to the communal bins at the end of the street, many visitors, confused by the process will simply leave them on the street.

I hasten to add that I don't think its middle-aged women peeing, barfing and otherwise leaving their mark on this awe-inspiring city, in fact it may well be locals, but it's symptomatic of a city filled to bursting and beyond, a city of 360,000 people which was invaded this last summer by 2 million visitors!

*Tourism is very good for the Italian economy, but it has many problems. Some the problems are caused by tourists who are rude. This is a much better word than the English one "rude" because the problem really is that people are badly-educated. Before travelling to a country educate yourself about the customs and habits and don't be rude. Wear modest clothes when visiting a church. Don't climb on ancient statues, don't drink and eat on the steps of a church. Don't write on the walls of the Duomo. Find a toilet when you need to pee! Don't do it in the street