There is something about the friendliness of Italian people which never fails to warm my heart, even on such a cold day like today (it's currently three degrees warmer in the south of England than here, and I envy you).
Today saw the hundredth time I went in to the Copisteria to photocopy another bajillion or so pages of music. The owner of the shop and I are getting to be warm friends, and he always greets me with a big grin and prepares himself to be stood by the photocopying machine for a long time, as I hand him delicate book after delicate book and try my best to give him specific instructions as to which pages to copy and how I want them. Today I was ten cents short when it came to paying. He smiled and said "ti faccio uno sconto, non ti preoccupare" - I'll give you a discount, don't worry. And off I went feeling that little bit happier.
Then after a days' worth of lessons, as I left the Conservatorio, the very first member of staff I ever met (called Vittorio - he was very happy when he learnt my name), handed me a small gift. A pin of Verdi's face. Nothing much, but again it made me so happy that I never forget to smile and say hello to him every time I see him.
After previously having talked with a lady who worked at a market stall on Sunday about how the Italians were just naturally friendlier people, always keen and eager to help when they can, and never wanting to pass up an opportunity to practise their (sometimes quite hilariously terrible) English, my agreement with her thoughts was sealed when the lady in the bakery gave me an extra little pastry for free and wished me a good evening.
And just for the record, those two pastries were delicious.
No comments:
Post a Comment