Life In Rome: The Fourth of July Weekend

Here in Roma, we started celebrating The Fourth of July at midnight on Friday and we didn't stop until Sunday morning. It was fun to see how proud Americans are of their country and even if the rest of the world hates us (more or less true). We still love what our country stands for and one of those things is NOT caring about what the rest of the world thinks of us.

It's also an interesting contrast to be here in Italy where there hasn't been much nationalism at all since the end of WWII. Italians identify first of all with their city, then their region and finally with Italy, as a country. It's strange to think about, but the u.S. has been a unified country longer than Italy has. This accounts for a part of the real bad blood that exists between the north and south here in Italy. While in the American north, we just kind of look down on the south but we certainly don't hate them!

I walked by a street vendor selling American flag bandanas and I couldn't resist. I decided that I had to have one. Of course, when I asked how much for the American flag bandanas he asked me if I liked "Booosh", the standard question received by every American abroad nowadays. I politely responded with a non-answer and went on my merry way. But I didn't want to be the only jack-ass out there wearing one so I bought one for my buddy Giles too. Turns out we weren't the only people out showing their pride. We passed a group of about 60 early-twenties Americans that were all decked out. The guys were draped in the flag and the girls were all wearing the flag as a top. Of course, the America, F**k Yeah! chant started soon after.

I had honestly never felt truly proud to be American when I lived in America but these last two years have helped me realize how great America is, even with all of her faults.