"Drive a little while on the wrong side of the road..."

Okay so maybe Italians drive on the right side of the road, but there was something about that line that reminded me of Europe. And I've been listening to the song the line comes from alot since I've been here, and I think it sums up my feelings about my trip so far. I've been here almost two weeks and I can say I am thoroughly in love with this country! It has been such a crazy few weeks I can't even imagine that its already almost my 2 week anniversary in this city. I'm finally starting to get used to the pace of life here and both the small and major differences that Italy has from the U.S. Everything here takes twice as long and about as much effort. I experienced my first scorpiero for the bus system yesterday. Scopiero means strike in Italian and apparently they are common occurances here in Italy. Yesterday's strike meant that I couldn't get to the large grocery store in town because I couldn't take the bus there. This was something completely foreign (please mind my unintentional pun) to me. Back home if there is a strike, it's well announced, shuts down operation of whole cities and only happens once a year, if that. Unfortunately this is NOT the way it happens in Italy. Here strikes happen very regularly and while they are announced in certain places they are not always easily predicted. However, it doesn't seem to slow Italians down at all! I'm sure that they are used to the unreliability of the public transportation but it doesn't seem to phase them or interrupt their day at all! If only I could be so free spirited as they are! Reliability is definitely something that I miss about the U.S.
I guess though, it wouldn't be a truly Italian experience if every once in a while something like this strike didn't happen. They told us to be open to new experiences before we came here, I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that those experiences would've included something so vital to my life here as public transportation. But I guess that that is just the way things go. I think I'm being pretty open minded about most things here in town and around the country that are different from what I'm used to. It's still going to take some effort not to be surprised when I can't get on the bus, but I think that I am doing far better than some of my program mates. Being angry or frustrated helps no one and it certainly doesn't change the fact that the bus doesn't run! No wonder so many Europeans are so relaxed and care free, because if they stressed about anything, they'd have to stress about everything and then they'd have no time to enjoy life. So i say c'est la vie! And while that may not be an Italian phrase, it’s going to be my new catch phrase. Because I can’t change things like that, so I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the ride, (barring scopieros!)! Ciao!