Letters from abroad

BOLOGNA, Italy – The easiest way to cross the chaotic streets here is to just close your eyes and run.\nGenerally speaking, Italians are the most laid-back people I have ever met. In contrast to the typical American, they never seem to be in a hurry and nothing seems to stress them out. They know that everything will work out in the end. \nAll of the shops close around 1 p.m. and open two hours later so the shop owners can have a nice long lunch. I have not once received proper change while I have been here, because it is much easier to round up to one euro rather than count out 85 cents. And, I still don’t have the Internet in my apartment, because it takes at least a month for the provider to keep an appointment. \nNeedless to say, it has been difficult to retrain my American mind-set to be more relaxed. This weekend, I decided to take a trip Italian-style: completely spontaneous and completely relaxed.\nMy friend and I met for an hour Friday morning to look up train departure times. We picked a destination, Padua, looked for an affordable hotel and ran to the station. We didn’t run fast enough, so we missed the train. At this point in America, I would have had a small stroke. But, instead of freaking out, we decided to get lunch and discuss our options. \nWe realized there was no reason why we could not catch the next train, or even another train to Venice, Naples or Rome. It was such a liberating feeling, realizing we had three free days, enough money to catch a train and pay for a hotel and all of Italy flashing on a train schedule in front of us. \nWe decided to catch the next train to Padua. We got there, bought a map and checked into our hotel. We wandered around the city for a while, and saw, in my opinion, one of the wonders of the art world: Giotto’s fresco cycle in the Scrovegni Chapel. He completed this enormous revolutionary work in only two years. We also strolled through the oldest botanical gardens in Europe. It was an amazing experience. \nThe most important lesson I will learn from this trip and from the Italian people is that stress will never resolve any difficult problem or save you from a challenging situation. Everything will work out in the end. If the results aren’t exactly what you expected, at least you’ve saved yourself from heart failure. Just close your eyes and run.