“Tedesca?”
“Um, no. Non sono tedesca. Americana.”
“Ah, Americana. Bionda.”
Almost every day, someone comments on my hair. It feels very odd to have strangers come up to and just declare, “bionda!” Or, “blonde!” Without fail, they always inquire into my heritage.
Like the man in the elevator at school yesterday. Elevators in the US are large, impersonal spaces. There is a unwritten rule that you enter, find a spot, and face forward to watch the floors go by and avoid making eye contact with any of your elevator companions.
Elevators in Italy seem to be approximately 1/10 the size of American elevators. What I believed to be a two-person elevator, carried 8 of us. As you can imagine, 8 people in a two person space makes for some close encounters.
The question came from 3 inches to my right. “Tedesca?” “German?”
“No, I’m not German. American.”
“Ah, American. Blonde.”
Obvious Americans, please exit the elevator on the floor 7- Language Center.
“Ciao!”
I’m blonde too, and I’ve been called all sorts of nationalities, from Scandinavian to Swiss, American and like you, German. Italians have a bit of a fascination with blonde hair, some of my most amusing experiences have been at the hairdressers, even though I’ve been going to the same place ever since moving to Milan the girls always end up cooing over my hair and saying the colour’s so nice.
Not so nice is when some random ragazzo “Ciao bionda/biondina”‘s me in the street. There’s more to me than my blonde hair mate!!
I used to get Americana?, then it became Polakka?
Hmmm I’d like a cup of ctcholaoe and coconut soy gelato and a cup of pistachio, please! 🙂 Oh man, it all looks so incredibly good, I’d have to try every flavor! I probably wouldn’t fit in the Colosseum after a week in Italy! LOLThat fruit stand may be expensive, but it sure is beautifully appetizing! I could plow my way through that, too. So I’d be penniless and waddling when I got home, but it would be worth it. :-)Love your photos of Rome, especially the Don’t forget to look up! picture! Are those glass floats? So pretty!
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