Personal Narrative: Chiara

In Latin, Chiara means light, bright, and clear, which is just what she is. Chiara lives in Rome, Italy with her family of seven. Growing up there, you could find her competing in jumping events with her horse, out at sea sailing or windsurfing, and playing sports or piano. Her favorite memory of childhood is going up to the mountains in Northern Italy with her family to the Arzino River where they swim and have a good time, even though the water is cold. On her birthday, she loves to celebrate by going out to restaurants to eat pizza and ice cream. In her family, she is the third child out of five. She has three brothers, a sister, and two parents, her father being a pilot and her mother a flight attendant. She describes her oldest brother,

She told us, “On the first day of school, I didn’t want anyone to talk to me because I was afraid I wouldn’t understand so I just walked around by myself.” Now, she is much more comfortable here and confronts people when she doesn’t understand. Besides the language barrier, the biggest difference she noticed between Italy and the U.S. was the food and social life. Here, fast food is much more common and she does prefer Italian food. When asked if she has had Olive Garden, she said, “No and I don’t want to.” Even though she doesn’t like the food as much, the thing she does like about the U.S. is the outgoing nature of the people. Chiara said she admires how when we think something isn’t fair or right, we say it. Even though she enjoys the states, she does think we should change the way we greet each other by adding a kiss on the cheek. In Italy, when you see someone you know, you give them a kiss on the cheek and if you are closer to that person, you hug them. To Italians, hugging is more intimate, so everyone kisses. One thing she wants everyone to know about Italy is they do not, and I repeat, do not wear open toed shoes with socks. “Especially white socks.” Chiara