Fiorentina!!

Last Sunday most of our undergrad students attended our first Italian calcio (football) match! Met at the train station, hopped on a bus and after ten minutes were at the stadium. Its a good sized stadium but we were told to sit in the one section where no one else was sitting, which we found out was the neutral part of the stadium. A few minutes after the game started the security guy told us to move over with the rest of the Florentines. I think he saw us obviously cheering for our city. We all find it very convenient to assimilate into the Florentine culture because the colors of the Fiorentina (the name of the team) are purple and gold. JMU represent!! (Our school colors are also purple and gold)

Fiorentina was having a bad loosing streak this season and they were playing Catania from Sicilia (Sicily). The game was very good and we won 3-1!! It was very exciting cheering and celebrating with the Florentines. We learned a lot of vulgar hand gestures and some key Italian phrases to shout while watching a calico match.

Per chi? – For who? (Bad passes)
Per che!?- WHY!?
Vaffanculo! – ____ You!
Andiamo! –Let’s go!

The fans were almost as entertaining at the match. They had huge flags, were all decked out in purple, and ranted and raved in true Italian wear-you-heart-on-your-sleeve fashion. If you ever visit a city and want to feel a part of the community, I would definitely recommend going to a football match.

Speaking of hand gestures, one Italian class this week we spent an entire class learning about hand gestures used in everyday language. The stereotype is true: Italians can’t talk without their hands. They can actually have conversations without being able to hear each other at all. Evidently it is so engrained in the Italian culture that Italian children who move to another country and forget the Italian language, still use and remember the hand gestures. There are hand gestures for statements such as: “I’m hungry”, “You must be dumb”, “It’s crowded in here”, “I’ve had enough of this person”, “leave me alone”, “Let’s go”, “Come here”, “Go away”, “Its finished”, and “nothing”. We’re slowly trying to integrate these into our speaking, but it may take some more practice. Well, it’s time for one of Mamma Lo’s famous dinners and to pack for Prague. A Domani!