why not...indulge?

Life here in Italy runs at a different pace. People are constantly late, they close down their business at midday to take an extra-long lunch, and they have no qualms about finishing a phone call before serving a customer. Italians love a good glass of wine with their meal, eat pastry for breakfast, pasta at least once a day (according to my cooking teacher!), and routinely stop for gelato at random times of day. To summarize, these people live by what I'm going to call the "Perche no?" philosophy.

Translated, "perche no" means "'why not?" It is actually the name of a little gelateria near Palazzo Vecchio that we have recently fallen in love with, as well as the inspiration behind today's post.

People in America are constantly on the go, driving somewhere, always multi-tasking, never taking a moment to just stop, enjoy, and indulge. Shockingly, despite their indulgent eating habits, I have seen very, very few overweight Italians! Shocker! I feel like back home, I was either constantly indulging (eating sweets like there is no tomorrow) or cold-turkey depriving myself of the things (foods) that I love most. This unhealthy kind of attitude lead me personally to some unhealthy eating habits, and I know that I'm not alone. There is probably a reason that America ranks so high in obesity, cancer, and heart disease!

[Hope you're not tired of gelato pictures yet, because I forsee many cones in the upcoming weeks.]

One of the reasons I came to study abroad was to learn about myself. To figure out how well I would function in a foreign country, thousands of miles from everyone I know, on a budget, where I don't speak the language! Despite a lot of people's jealousy over this amazing opportunity, this experience has been a challenge. Fortunately, with all challenges, we are able to reap the benefits of the things that we learn.

What I've learned here is about balance. Balancing my work with pleasures, like traveling. Balancing my bank account, money I need with the money I want to spend. And easier things to balance...such as how many times a week to eat lunch at Sergio's versus Mario's! :D Anyway, the point is that life here has given me a different perspective not only on eating things like gelato (a couple of times a week won't hurt, with all the walking we do!) but also with life in general.

There is no need to rush, people. (Except of course, if you are rushing to a gelateria! Just kidding.) Slow down. Enjoy your life. And every now and then?

Indulge!

As the Italians would say...perche no?