Current Event: Italy

After my amazing time in New Zealand, I have traveled to Italy! I have been in the country for 7 days and today is my last day here. I spent my first half of the week in Naples and the second half in Sicily and I have learned so much about the culture in each of these beautiful cities.

I really got to immerse myself into the Italian culture during my time in Naples. I absolutely loved it and it was so cool to see how different everyday life is in different countries. Take going out for dinner as an example. I’m used to going out to dinner and being gone for less than two hours. The whole process is just so much more rushed, as fast service is the expected norm. In Italy, on the other hand, a full dinner could be as long as several hours! Italians see eating as a social event, rather than just a meal, so they don’t expect the food to come out quickly at all. Also, contrary to what I’m used too, you always have to ask for the check at a restaurant. In Italy, it is seen as rude if a waiter brings the check without the customer asking because it is implying that they are trying to get rid of the customers. It was just so interesting how something as simple as eating out, can be so different from country to country.

The sight seeing in Naples was absolutely incredible! When I thought of Italy, Naples was definitely what I imagined. Even just walking through the streets was exciting because of all the sights. I also got to learn more about the history in Naples, and visit some of the landmarks myself. One of my favorite days was when I got to hike Mount Vesuvius. It’s crazy to think that I hiked on the still-active volcano that once wiped out the entire town of Pompeii. It was definitely sad to think about all the devastation that the event caused, but it was also cool to go to a place I only read about in my history books. Naples is known for its art and architecture, so I wanted to soak up as much of it as I could. One of the most memorable works of architect was the cathedral. It was beyond gorgeous and it was unlike anything I had seen before. I also got to see the Royale Palace and Castel Nuovo, which is a 13th century castle that had an amazing art gallery inside.

After days of sight seeing and tons of pizza later, I traveled down to the largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily. This leg of my Italian journey consisted of more sight seeing, and guess what, volcanoes. I didn’t realize how many volcanoes I would be visiting on this trip, but I’m so happy I did because the views I have seen have been breathtaking. Near Sicily there is a volcanic island called Stromboli, where I hiked around the volcano and spent the rest of the day hanging out on the beach. It was super fun and I loved throwing in an unexpected beach day into my busy week of traveling. My other favorite day in Sicily was when I visited the Valley of the Temples. This historical site is the home to the well preserved ruins of 7 monumental, Doric-style Greek temples. It was mind blowing to actually be seeing what people thousands and thousands of years ago saw as well. It was a once in a lifetime experience to be witnessing something that has so much history connected to it.

After talking to some locals I learned something really interesting that some old Sicilian villages are dealing with. We are so used to hearing about overpopulation as a universal crisis, but these small villages in Sicily are actually facing a demise of depopulation. The locals were talking about the village of Acquaviva Platani, but the issue rings true for many other small villages on the island. They told me that births are so uncommon in Acquaviva, that when a baby is born the village bells toll and they celebrate the birth. Apparently there is an average of two births a year, compared to the 30 deaths. I also found out that Italy is the only major European economy that is set to have a population decline in the next five years. Italy also comes in second, next to Japan, in terms of having the most people over 65 living in the country. The locals told me that the birth rate and emigration are to blame for this rapid depopulation. The birth rates have been at an all time low, due to the recent unification of Italy and many young people are emigrating to other European countries in search of more job opportunities. They told me that in a last ditch effort to attract more people, villages have been selling properties for only one euro to whoever will move in. It’s such a culture shock to hear how Italy is doing everything they can to get more people to come to their country, while almost every where else dealing with the repercussions of overpopulation. It just speaks again to how different things can be from country to country.