Perugia – the old lady with the scratched knees

Benvenuti in Italia… il paese dove tutti amano tutti! (Welcome to Italy. In the land where everybody love everybody! ) This expression stayed for a while on the small blackboard in our rented apartment – it was written by my hand. I think these words reflect Italian people most brightly. Italy is the land of love.

This is a story about Perugia, an Italian city in the region of Umbria, where I spent 5 months as an Erasmus Exchange Student in Tourism Management. Perugia differs tottally from Sardinia, and this story is different as well.

The first month in Perugia I walked around feeling a bit lost, looking for sincere Italin people, but it was so hard to find anything in this colourful city. As a city – Perugia is very beautiful. With my eyes closed I would recognize the white daysprings and sunsets painted with fire flames. Me and the other Latvian student rented a small apartment in the very heart of the Oldcity, on the top floor where there was a wide terrace over the apartment, where we enjoyed devine views. It’s worth to live in the very heart of the Oldcity just because of these views. It feels that there’s just a litte bit – and you can touch the Big Dipper in the starry sky – as truly as, just a little bit – and the clouds covered by the morning fog, walking under your feet, will roll up a white pearl rug in front of you.

City in the clouds. Perugia is the highest city from all Italian cities above the sea level. However, an interesting fact appears that during the winter there is no snow at all. All the other cities below has it, but Perugia has not, and at the same time when you look at the mountains far away – you can see that everything is white! The snow and my cat Hercogs were the only things I missed this winter.

The same thing happens when you go out in the Oldcity, turn wherever you want, archaic buildings, blossoming terraces and Balzac age palmtrees are looking all over you. Going after a warm croissant you can hear the narrow little streets whisspering something to each other. There are fantastic views, the windows are so close to each other that taking a small look accidentaly into the kitchen of the house next door I can swear I heard la pasta boiling in casserole. There are magnificent stone walls, many archs, where Etruscans once immigrated and millions of small steps as Perugia is a continuous drive up and down, up and down.

I concede that Perugia has the lowest range of women with cellulitis. The natural fitness is held every day... It is not possible to move forward without climbing over a bigger or a smaller mountain. You can forget about the high heels here! Everything here is powerful and beautiful! And in this exact place, after word Powerful and Beautiful, the real story about Perugia can begin!

Miss Perugia is a small, grey, aristocratic old lady. Red lips, black eyes, fine nose and heavy bones. She is sitting in the Square of the IV November on the stairs of the Council Hall and talks to every newcomer. I remember from our first meeting the deep, hollow laugh of her, which, in my opinion, did not fit with her elegance. That’s a miracle – but she was wearing non of Italian brands, she wore a self made coat, small, black hat, very elegant Prada shoes and tights covered in holes. Her knees were scratched, and along the whole conversation she was covering her bloody knees with her hands. Too much seen, experienced, felt and hurt to keep the lightness. Yes, even statistics show that Perugia happens to be a place where bad accidents occur more often... (I won’t get deep into details and call the lethal names). Honestly – you can feel it, at least my sensitive nature felt it since the very beginning.

I came to Perugia straight from Sardinia, where I had spent 3 incredible months. It seems that the old lady Perugia did not like it at all. I was too happy, too released, I trusted people, I was laughing and I was unshakeable. My easiness and feathery feminity stung her eyes – this is not how we do! She was laughing at me about my high heels, my skirt, my light clothes suitable for Sardinia, she sent me rain and winds, and made me understand that nothing I owed was worth a penny. Nor can one count the greedy looks of men, neither the avalanches of sweet compliments. I didn’t know what is it about me, but I couldn’t move around this city normally. Sometimes I felt the eager looks of men so strongly like someone would draw with a sharp barbed wire over my body.

One day everything changed. Tired of shouts and looks all over I run into the store desperate and said to the sales woman: "Please, please help me! Dress me so that I look like the others! " She looked at me and said: "You are too different from the others not to be noticed! Italians are like crazy for women like you! " However, we found some black clothes and slowly, slowly I changed my style! I should mention, that I was dressed totally in a normal manner, my mistake were natural colour tights under my shorts. Italian women wear black tights. Oh... In Latvia I never felt this uncomfortable dressing like that, because we have used to see beautiful girls!

I believe that every country, city, just as every person has its aura, which has developed through many years, centuries even. I think Perugia is saturated with faithlessness, variations and desire to try everything in front of them, which at the end is totally logic, because everybody really come here and they leave. Perugia is a student city and therefore the biggest part of the citizens are the former or the current students from all over the world, as well as Italians from the South, where the unemployment rate is very high, so they go to the Central Italy for a work. And, of course, there are Lebanese, Morrocans, bagful of Albanians, Romanians, who are leaning against the walls of Perugia and reproducing themselves in the gate corners. However, it all suits Perugia pretty well. Every five months there comes a new batch of students, and can you imagine how every nation differs? American, Japanese and girls from EU. All the new girls, surrounded by the attention of the guys, are crowding in the clubs every night, and blinking eyes they’re giving the regular 5 Euros for the drink to the bar tender. Life is beautiful! At the beginning.

Do you know what the head of the University said on the Student day of Erasmus? "Welcome to Perugia... We wish you to entertain yourselves, meet new people, find friends, enjoy yourselves and don’t forget to study from time to time! " Italian students also study different from us. They don’t hold seminars or group works, they only have lectures where you can come or not to come, they just have to pass the final exams. And if the students party around for the whole semester, then they dig into the book shelves during the exam sessions. They can be examined for three times in one subject. If you don’t know anything in the first time, you have read through the questions and you just come again. At the beginning I was surprised about their manner of studying, but it’s ok... It’s Italy, however. Don’t make things more complicated.

It’s incredibly hard to find faithfulness in this city, everything is changing too fast. The constancy is impossible here, as everybody are playing by their own rules. Watching people for many times I have had thougts about our – Latvian – values, and I always thought how it is possible that word FAITHFULNESS has so many different meanings. Of course, I’m not speaking about all Italians, but in general I’m not affraid to say that another term has taken place of word FAITHFULNESS – it’s the art of love! They live loving, thinking that the art of love is the most important criteria in relationships, while we Latvians are talking about and looking for beautiful, soulful and harmonic relationships. The other question is – how easy we find them.

When you’re in Italy, and – if you speak at least a little Italian, read their surnames on the gates of their houses or doors of their apartment. That is so exciting. For example: Claudia Speranza – Hope, Antonella Gioia – Joy, Vincenzo Pulito – the Clean, Simone Voto – Promise, Cataldo Ferrari, Mozzarella, etc. Sometimes I spent several hours walking around and reading the titles of the streets – Via del Paradiso, Via della Cometa, Via dell’Oro (The Golden Street), Via della Bella, etc. Mmm... so divine!

There are not many other problems to be solved as the trials of love. Once I asked to a guy: "Listen, why you all cheat on your girlfriends? " And can you imagine what he replied: "Because we are young (on average 26 – 30 years) and this is Perugia! " That made me think. I guess Perugia is like „one day” stop which can last for more years for some people! The train stops at Perugia – a person gets out to the platform – he goes somewhere – gets lost in the hole – wanders for a while – looks for one thing – finds another – enjoys – gets dizzy – wakes up – puts himself in order – gets into the next train – AND goes away, to LIVE forward! Very strange city...

Oh! Italians know how to celebrate life, they’ll always find time not to rush anywhere and be late a little bit. Even I have learned to enjoy the time of aperitivo. It is around 19:00 o’clock when lots of people come together in a café, they buy a glass of wine or a cocktail and during one hour they feast with different cold and warm snacks for free, they can talk to their friends, meet new people of course, music is usually provided by DJ, and then – if somebody is waiting you at home – you can go to dinner or dine with your friends (Italians often cook at one of their friend’s home), but if not... you can continue meeting new people or enjoy your wine! Aperitivo is very typical Italian tradition I couldn’t understand for a long time, because I thought it was useless – waste several hours only to chat. But now I have got used to many strange things.

On my way to the airport – to go to Sardinia – I met a guy in the bus, a guy from Argentina, lightly stunned from his inside freedom. Until we started the converstaion, he was looking at me and smiling all the time. I was smiling back. I always smile, even when I don’t smile. He’s on his WAY, armed only with his one rucksack. He is going somewhere... maybe Paris, but he’s not sure about that, he will check where the first flight is going to. He’s done with Italy. "I’m here for a month", he says, takes a pause and grabbing my hand he starts begging – "Come with me"!

That doesn’t surprise me at all. Every day here is like a new page of exciting novel. Running to my flight to get back to Sardinia, hair curling on my face, I shout through the crowd a combination of 8 numbers which could be my phone number, but it’s not... I hope that calling me he will reach Her, a girl – who is really ready to go with him. I look back for the last time, we smile to each other, and after a while I’m gonna be in my airplane... He stays standing in the line, to find out where the first flight is going to. Oh, how I love this life...

I’m drowsing in the clouds... only one hour flight to Sardinia. I couldn’t sleep on the last night in Perugia. I spent it saying goodbye... You can say goodbye in different ways. I guess I’m too grown up, as I never cry saying goodbye, and I know that it is not worth to take your past with you in the future. Ooops, something aches in my heart, it feels like I’ve forgot something in Perugia, and I start to miss something... Yes, I forgot to take off the Prada shoes from Perugia’s legs. I fell in love with them from the first time, and I know that they would fit me better than her...