Sunday, June 01, 2008

Lost in Translation

Not growing up in Chiavari does set one up for social ignorance. Friday night Sam and I went out to an inauguration of a friend of a friend's restaurant.  As usual the information about the event was thin, but I thought, well dress up it is Friday night. I chose wisely for this was the social event of the weekend.  The restaurant, "A Casa Mia a Mare" is located in "Skipper" which used to be the "disco" way back when, was for a long time, then as those things go Skipper faded away as the crowd moved on to new and other exciting places. Well. Not anymore. The place has been made into a thoroughly modern hip lounge/restaurant complete with a sushi bar! The inauguration was invitation only and all the beautiful people of Sestri, Lavagna and Chiavari where invited - if you could believe it Sam and I too. There was press, photographers and well - Buzz. I must say, Italians sure do know how to make an event "exclusive", chic and you feel like a star. I felt as if I was at a Hollywood premier yet the atmosphere was, under the all the glitz, more like a high school reunion. Thing was, Sam and I didn't go to that high school. We had fun, yet there was that awkward feeling that one can get when you are watching people more than connecting with them. I suppose that is one way of describing what I feel like living Italy and not being fluent with the language. You tend to listen more than speak. Watch more than participate. A bit on the outside.

After we caught up with our friends from Chiavari and got tired of fighting to get to the free food and drink, trust me, Italians just don't do buffets well. No one queues and you have to push your way to the front - think bread line in a war zone -  we went home. Sorry no photos. I didn't even think to bring the camera. Who knew? 


Krista


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