ITALY
The Italian Culture
Language
Italian is viewed as the language of love , poetry and song . Considered to be closest to Latin in terms of vocabulary . It is spoken in Italy , San Marino , Switzerland , America and other European countries .
Values
- Family is very important . They tend to have many children due to the strong Roman Catholic tradition.
- Great pride in social intercations , good reputation and approval from peers .
Meal structure
- Aperitivo opens a meal .
- Antipasto is slightly heavier started (cold food) ex: sandwich like foods , vegetables
- Primo is the first course (hot food) ex: pasta , soup and broth or crespelle
- Secondo is meats and types of fish ex:sausage , pork , zampone ,lobster
- Contorno is the side dish served along with secondo . Consists of vegetables raw ,cooked , hot or cold . Served in a separate plate never on the same plate as meat .
- Insalata fresh garden salad
- Formaggi e frutta cheeses and fresh seasonal fruit
- Dolce dessert ex: zuppa ,inglese , cake , pandora , gelatto
- Caffè coffee is often drunk at the end of the meal
- Digestivo also called ammazzacaffe served after coffee is the drink to conclude the meal ex: grappa ,limocella or fruit / herbal drinks
Marriage
- During proposal , groom will typically serenade her first then present her with the ring because diamonds were created by flames of love
- Sundays are luckiest
- Wearing green the night before brings good luck
- Don't wear gold the night before or day of because it brings bad luck
- Receives challenges of fallen broom , crying baby testing skills before marriage
- Traditional tarantella dance of spider involves light and quick movements with passionate hand gestures
- Bake cakes or some other baked goods as thank you
Greetings
- Strangers you shake good day and shake hands with
- Friends and families kiss the right then the left cheek
Gestures
- Don't make a fist with your index finger it signifies Cornuto meaning your partner is betraying you .
- Uses their hands a lot when speaking
Table manners
- Hostess is the first to sit at the table , eat and get up when finished
- No hands on lap , and don't rest elbows on table
Relationships and communication
Face to face contact is prefered
Mores
- Grocery stores customs - put on little plastic gloves when you put produce into a bag
- No carpets
- No patience for lines , first come first serve , always cutting
Steortypes
Mafia jokes , which they hate a lot
Religion
- Not very religious even though its the catholic capital
- Church attendance is relatively low, but the influence is very high
- Many office buildings have crosses or religious statues in lobbies
Superstitons
- Malocchio meaning evil eye described as a curse
- Many Italians wear a horn shaped charm on a necklace for protection
- Having birds and bird feathers is bad luck , having the evil eye on them
- ill health to shave on Friday
- Friday the 17th as an ill fated day
- No housework done on January 6th , day of epiphany witch called La Beferna
- At 12 midnight on new years eve eating lentils is good luck
Technology
- In 1986 was the first internet connection experimented in Pisa , which was the 3rd in Europe after Norway and England
- Radio : first communication signal was in 1895 by Guglielmo Macconi . Today radio waves are broadcast from thousands of stations
- Tv : fist form of television media was introduced in 1939