What’s true in the Italian-stereotype?

Stereotypes always tend to have some truth mixed in with a few generalizations and a bit of exaggeration. Let’s see what’s true in the Italian stereotype!

Spaghetti and pasta in general are sacred. You cannot take pasta away from an Italian meal otherwise it won’t be complete. And a good meal should always be shared with someone else. It is a way to share conversation and jokes, forget about work for a couple of hours and enjoy life. Be assured, an Italian will always find the time to eat properly.

The Mafia is real: we are not proud of it, it is waning, but it still does exists (and we are not alone in this…I’m sure you heard of a Russian, Janapese, Chinese ect…mafia). Obviously, not every Italian is a Mafioso!!! And the great majority will feel offended and insulted if you use the term, even when if you mean it as a joke!

We work hard!. Do you know that Italy is part of the G8? (the 8 most important economies in the world). Yes, Italy is leader in a lot of industrial sectors like Machine tools, Eyewear like Luxottica, Ray-ban, Vogue, Persol, clothing like Brooks Brothers…
Packaging machinery, Precision manufacturing (the new nintendo joystick wii was developed in Italy!) Design, Fashion, Luxury cars and motorcycles (Ducati, Ferrari, Maserati…), Aeronautical transportation, like the new US predidential helicopther! And many more…

Yes, the way we speak is completely original. The most important element of communication are the gestures: the way we move our hands, hold our heads, move our shoulders, our facial expressions, as well as the way we use our eyes and mouths to make ourselves understood. We simply cannot talk without our hands! Italians speak very loudly in public whether on the bus, in the street or on the phone. Don’t worry, we are not all deaf. A lot of foreigners think we are fighting when we talk that way but it’s just the way we are!!

Yes we do enjoy romance (just like everyone else – more or less) and maybe the stereotype of the Italian romantic lover is not completely dead. An Italian guy will never let a girl go home unescorted…

We are also fashion victims: you can recognise Italians by the way they dress from the head to feet (strictly black Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses; Versace suits; Valentino dresses; Prada handbags; tanned skin all year long; perfect make up). We will dress stylishly for every possible occasion. You won’t ever see an Italian wearing sporting short pants combined with long socks: it’s simply against our fashion rules (let alone our sense of style)! 

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Why some Italians never get sick?

Limone sul Garda, the lovely town on the Western banks of Lake Garda (province of Brescia) with less than one thousand inhabitants, recently took the international spotlight for the ‘longevity protein’ found in the blood of several of its citizens.  

 

The story of the discovery of Apolypoprotein A-1 Milan began in 1979 when a railway employee, who was born in Limone but had lived in Milan for over 20 years, was hospitalized for a routine check-up.
The test results amazed the doctors: although the patient had very high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, he showed no major clinical symptoms and no damage to arteries and heart. Doctors thought this was very strange: incredible, in fact.

They decided to do more tests and discovered that the patient, his father, and daughter all had the same anomalous protein in their blood, which they called ‘Apolypoprotein A-1 Milan’ (named after the city in which it was discovered).

Limone, which is nestled in between the mountains and the lake, has always been an isolated frontier. Precisely this isolation, combined with a series of fortunate and fortuitous episodes, determined the birth of the famous ‘elixir’ in the blood of the locals.

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