I would like to discuss the life in Sardinia. As a person, who has lived in three countries now, I know some of the stereotypes are true and some of them are not. I have been living in Sardinia for two months now and think is about the time to break down some cultural differences and talk about the Italian, Sardinian and the whole culture. Because as I have been corrected many times, Sardinia is not Italy and Italy is not Sardinia.
I think all of us have heard some stereotypes. Italian people are supposed to be warm and temperament – that is correct, but they are also very slow and too self-confident. So let´s chat about the Italian culture, traditions and other things that I have been experiencing during my stay in Sardinia.
Italy is so different from Britain, where I have lived for two years now. Sardinia is an island and as mentioned before, the Sardinian people are extremely proud of it. One of the locals has explained to me that it is unfortunately not financially possible, but otherwise, they would love to be independent.
Coffee
Let´s begin with the positive things. One of them is coffee. Delicious and cheap coffee is the must. Coffee is drunk for breakfast, lunch and in the evening as well. In the morning, most of Italians will drink a cappuccino or coffee macchiato and a pastry. Not long time ago, an elderly woman explained to me how to have a breakfast properly. Firstly, you need to drink the hot cappuccino and after that start eating the pastry. The common practice at the lunchtime is to stand at the bar and drink coffee quickly, chat with the waitress and return to work. If you decide to sit with your coffee, the price won´t be different. It might be more expensive though at the main square and from my personal experience I know they charge more in Rome when you don´t drink it a the bar. I have had breakfast out every day, so I have tried all the kinds of pastry, but my favorite one is a chocolate croissant. Sometimes you can see people ordering a fresh orange juice as well as a part of their breakfast. And just to be clear, they call espresso caffé. So you will say prendo un/il caffé.
Italian people love to talk. Everywhere and anytime. If you will be having a breakfast alone, there is a decent chance someone will talk to you. If two Italians meet at the street, they will always make a small talk, hug themselves and when leaving each other and walking in other directions, they will continue screaming at each other. The good thing is, you always know how you stand. They won´t pretend they like you if they don´t, and they will let you know what they think about you.
There is enough time for everything
That is one thing you will learn very quickly. Words such as aspetta and tranqiulla – wait and calm down – are the most common ones. They will take their time, and you will need to be patient. However, they will do their best to solve the problem for you, and in the end, it will all work out. Italian people just need to do things longer than you might be used to, they will take their siesta as well and they might close some shops because of that in the afternoon. On Sunday, they will be chilling by the sea and you will have a hard time finding a place to buy food. But, in the evening they will start to live again.
Good food. And an easy one to cook
They will cook their meal for twenty minutes and eat it for two hours. Being in a bigger group or with the whole family or friends, food is an experience in Italy. Doesn´t matter if you order a proper food at a restaurant, will wait for your take away pizza or you just grab a sandwich on your way home. The food is good. One of the things they do is so-called aperitivo – when you order a drink such as beer or wine – and they will bring you a small dish as well. In Sardinia though, almost every single time you order a drink, they will bring you crisps or something small to eat. As I have heard though, it is not so common in other parts of Italy. Having a nice pizza can´t be done before 8 pm, and if you walk from a party at 2 in the morning, you won´t find anything opened in the city, if you don´t know that one place in the suburbs. Therefore, there are a lot of automats where you can buy a bottle of watter or a small sandwich.
The language
Italians are temperative. As I have been working in a press office, I can tell, there are people you come to fight about stuff. Gesticulation is a big part of the conversation, sometimes more important than the words. When they will be angry, they will act angry. They will scream at each other and hug in ten minutes after that. Sometimes I feel they can´t even deal with things in a calm way. And sometimes they are talking so loudly you start to wonder whenever they are fighting.
They won´t learn languages. They might know some basic Spanish, but English isn´t a thing for them. I have been many times in a situation when they have preferred to speak with me with my Italian, so they wouldn´t have to try to speak English. But there are some exceptions as well.
So what is the conclusion? I have learned Italian for many years now, I have been to Italy many times, so it is not such a huge shock for me. I personally love Italy, it influences me very positively. Just the weather can make your day better already. Italians are nice people who will appreciate if you can speak a bit of Italian.