Alyson Ferrari – Electrical Engineering
As an engineering student who is pursuing an Italian minor, my motivation for this trip
spanned beyond simply visiting Italy. I wanted to truly live there and learn how to interact with
locals, learn Italian phrases that were most useful to everyday life and attempt to blend in and
make my “Americanness” a little less obvious. Here’s what I found:
A little goes a long way. If you want to impress the locals and gain a bit more of their
respect, use the language! It really means a lot when you show an effort and I have found that
they will treat you differently when you do. When it comes to ordering food, something as simple
as “Posso avere un…” or “Vorrei un…” which mean “Can I have a …” and “I would like a…”
respectively, shows the barista or waiter that you are putting in some effort to learn their culture.
It’s fun to see their faces of surprise when you do, for Florence is no stranger to clueless
tourists. However, be ready for them to follow up in Italian with something along the lines of
“Mangiare subito o portare via” which is basically asking “eating here or take out”. They may
also ask you for your method of payment “Contanti o carta” – “cash or card” which is fairly easy
to respond to. Knowing just those three phrases got me through most of my cafe experiences in
Italy fully in Italian, but it does help to know more. Also, don’t say “Grazi”, the e is not silent!
Italian is a very phonetic language so make sure to add the grazi-eh to the end of the word. With
that as well as my ability to pronounce rather strange letter combinations such as “sci” “gli” and
“gno”, Italians went from “She’s an American” to asking how long I’ve lived in Florence.
Genuinely the best compliment I could have ever asked for was when I was there.
With that said, don’t be surprised when they start talking to you in English first. I learned
that it is very difficult to mask one’s “American-ness” in Italy, especially when you’re in highly
touristy areas such as Rome and Florence. They will assume you’re American before you even
get the chance to speak. I found that this was in part due to the way we dressed. Italians
seemed to dress more modest for the most part and very warm. The first day I was in Florence,
I wore a short skirt and short sleeved top and the Italians that walked by me were in a lightly
puffed coat and long pants. It was 75° F. So, if you are trying to be a little less obvious, bring a
good pair of wide legged jeans, a nice top, well-cleaned sneakers and a fashionable jacket, but
don’t forget your personal style and what you feel comfortable in! Also, clothing is only going to
get you so far. We’re American, we’re very loud and we don’t have much shame when it comes
to sharing rather crazy life stories in public, so if you hear or see any of that just know you’re
surrounded by people from home.
Swanson School of Engineering 