Now that I have officially been living in Rome for about a month, I have noticed a lot of cultural differences. One of the main differences I have noticed is the different value Italians place on time. Upon my arrival in Rome, I mentioned in my first blog post that the one thing that I was looking forward to was experiencing a different pace of life and learning to appreciate the value of taking things slow. Now that I have been fully living in a culture where everyone takes their time and is in no rush, I thought that I would be able to adapt quicker than I have. A couple of weeks ago, as I was walking through Trastevere, a little neighborhood with tons of cute shops and restaurants, I stumbled across a bookstore where I picked up a book called “Live Life the Italian Way with Dolce Far Niente” by Sophie Minchilli. “Dolce Far Niente,” which translates to “the sweetness of doing nothing,” is a popular phrase and philosophy used by Italians that perfectly describes the way of life here in Italy. Dolce Far Niente is about taking things slowly even when we live in a world where everything seems to be moving fast, and since reading this book, I’ve become more appreciative of taking breaks when things start to become a little stressful for me, especially with school starting and tons of exams and projects coming up. With my time so far in Rome, I have come to realize that it is the little things in life that bring happiness, like cooking a delicious meal for yourself with the fresh ingredients you bought at the market, reading a book at a local cafe and eating a delicious cornetto al cioccolato, or having an aperetivo with your friends.
