Italian for dummies
By McKenna, Lydia, and Mercedes
This is an easy way to learn step-by-step on how to be a basic Italian!
Step one: Food One of the Italians favorite drinks is a, grape wine. The wine is made from the grape vineyards, in Italy. An important fact to know is the average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine each year.
On Christmas, one of the traditional foods is sautÊed shrimp. Also, another traditional Christmas meal is spaghetti with clams. On Saint Joseph’s day a traditional food is fried cream puffs.
In the north of Italy, pasta or rice is part of every main meal. Italians have a glass of wine with each meal. Also, cheese is always included with something in each main meal.
Something Italians eat is a kidney bean- which is a large kidney shaped red bean. Popular herbs in Italy are basil, rosemary, marjoram, and sage. Surprisingly, the ice cream cone is an Italian invention.
Step two: Religion
Did you know that 98% of all Italians are baptized as Roman Catholics? Many Italians are very religious, yet only a 3rd goes on a daily basis. That is because Italians are usually very busy.
Most Italians are baptized. Many important events in their lives are marked by a religious ceremony. Religion is a big part of Italy. But half a million people belong to a protestant dominion.
In Italy the church has a social and political influence on the people. It has such a big influence because Vatican City in Rome is the world capital of the Roman Catholic Church, headed by the Pope. Every town in Italy has a church.
Jesus Christ’s disciples lived in Judea, which was then part of the Roman Empire. The Muslim religion became more important because of immigration from Africa. But Italians are finding ways to worship different religions.
Step three: Everyday life Everyday life in Italy is in some ways very similar, today, to people in America. Most people live in apartments, or century-old houses. If people can’t afford to live in a house they will live in shacks. When people live in houses or apartments, most of the time extended family lives together, and everyone has to contribute to the family in some way.
Most Italian people are extremely friendly. They are also very outgoing, and aren’t shy to show affection to other people. When they first see one of their friends they will kiss each other on the cheek. If they just met they will simply shake hands. Italians also use a lot of hand gestures to communicate with each other. For an example, they pull down their lower eyelid to show if someone is clever.
Italian people socialize in bars, discos, and restaurants. Their favorite activities are to go to movies, read the newspaper, watch television, and listen to music. The most popular sport in Italy is soccer. Every Sunday Italians enjoy watching the soccer games.
On a regular work day they start in the morning, then the offices in central and southern Italy, close in midday for 2 or 3 hours, to go home for lunch, and then go back to work. On a regular school day the hours are from 8:30am, to 1:30pm. From Monday to Saturday are the days a student will go to school. In Italy it is only mandatory to go to school between the ages of 6 and 14.
Hopefully you’ve learned a little bit about Italy and the Italian people.
The End