Italian is a beautiful language and the culture just as beautiful…after my first week.

The first week has been difficult.  Arriving in Jesi (yesi) I found that my accommodation for two months was a hostel with a shared room and a shared bathroom.  The guys I would be bunking with are great guys and only speak Italian (with Chinese and Japanese mother tongue) but as I’ve gotten older I find that I need my own space.  After two days of looking at B&B’s in the area I came upon the B&B La Conce where my negotiated long term rate is 5 euro’s more than the one at the hostel.  I went from a single dorm style bed to a real bed, my own bathroom and a very nice breakfast.  Accommodation resolved, I was able to focus on the language and culture of Italy.

I’ve spent a bit of time over the last few years in Italy as it is a 4 hour drive south from Basel.   To make broad generalizations about countries will be inaccurate, but I find Italy preferable to Germany and France as a country to easily visit from Basel.  Over the years I have become more enamored with my perception of an Italian lifestyle and now I can immerse myself in it for the next six months. My first week here has been a bit of a confirmation that living life well with family and friends is what life is truly about.  Yes there are the rich and famous, but the people I have met  in Jesi center their lives around family and friends.  This extends to the people who run the restaurants, the coffee shops and the markets relative to their customers.  By the end of the first week, the staff at the Enocaffè Pergolesi and at the Caffè Imperiale know that I ask for a double expresso at 10:30 and 13:00 when we had our breaks.  After the first two days their greetings went from buongiorno to salve to ciao, come stai.    They knew my face, knew why I was in Jesi, where I was from and how long I was going to be there and most importantly, spoke more slowly and helped with word choices when I got tangled up.  As they got to know me they were more familiar.  Thursday night the woman at Pergolesi gave Kai (the other student) and I a huge appetizer plate when we ordered  a glass of wine and a coke.  It could have (should have) been our meal.  She knew who we are and treated us like regulars.   This importance on connecting with people has really struck me as the way that restaurants should all behave.

Trattoria Antonietta is another example of Italian culture.  A Slow Food trattoria on a busy street where there is only a narrow sidewalk for one person, no parking and when it get’s busy people line up single file outside or stand in the middle of the street and dodge cars.  Touted as one of the most authentic and delicious restaurants in central Italy, it is also easy to have an amazing lunch for 15 euro.  The server who has seen us twice remembered us the second time and knowing that we were at the cooking school recommended a couple of dishes.  I’m really enjoying this recognition, but what has struck me more is how they operate.  There are no menus, she’ll tell you what is available.  They are only open for lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday.  They are closed on Sunday.    Take a look at their card below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I find interesting is the expectation that you would be with your family for lunch on Sunday, just like they are with their families for lunch on Sundays.  Yes they are open every day for lunch, but not on Sundays.  Not really a contradiction as much as a recognition that family and customers are important.  They have their family lunch on Sunday.  Their customers have their lunch on Sunday.  So why would you open on Sunday?    That just doesn’t make sense here in Jesi.  And my learning goes on…

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Location:Piazza Ghislieri,Iesi,Italy