Culture Shock?

I believe I am experiencing my first culturally shocking emotional experience. I am starting to get very annoyed, because wherever I go I am being harassed by someone. Now don't get all worried over there, because it's all harmless, I promise! However, it becomes exhausting when you cannot walk down the street without men ogling you, or gypsies asking for money.

When I first arrived, I thought it was kind of great that wherever I went there were guys on the street saying "Sei Bellissima!" After coming from a small liberal arts campus where I pretty much feel like I would have to stand naked in the middle of the quad to get any attention from guys, this was a very interesting discovery. However, I am now sad to say that I am losing my faith in Italian men (for the most part). There are skeevy guys on the street that make noises when I walk by on my way to school at 7:45 AM. This is way too early for me to deal with creepers. Also, there is always someone trying to sell me something, or shoving advertisements in my face. I used to be polite about it, and I would take their little pamphlets, or say "no grazie" and continue on my way. Now on my way to school I put my headphones in and keep my tunnel vision turned on until I get to school. For the most part, I don't make eye contact with anyone when I'm alone, because I don't want to be bothered. I have also given up on being polite, and now I am perfectly comfortable putting on my bitch-face (I know you all have seen it from time to time-scary, yes?) and I tell them to go away "Via Via!!"

I'm also getting pretty good at dodging gypsies and beggars. I know where they hang out, and I have adjusted my walking routes to bypass them. For anyone who has never seen a real gypsy, don't be fooled by the disney version of Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Most of the gypsies here resemble Quasimodo...seriously. They are all hunched over with missing teeth and crinkly faces and long skirts. I always picture them arriving home at night, to their gypsy lair, and finally standing up straight like I know they can; working out the kinks from a long day of unnecessary hunching. I have been wondering...is there some universal law that says gypsies must wear long, obnoxious skirts? I'm not sure if it's in the gypsy handbook, but I'm glad they do, because they are very easy to spot. They also carry around bundles of blankets and baby bottles, and try to convince people they have a baby. I'm still gathering fieldnotes on my gypsy observations, but these are my preliminary notes.

Besides that, the most annoying thing here to me is the other American students. I have definitely met some nice people, but I can understand why there is a stereotype associated with the American students in Florence. I resent the fact that there is nothing I can do to escape my association with majority of the idiots here. Many of them do not care to learn the language, or truly experience the culture. They mostly live in apartments with other students, and go to the bars and clubs everyday of the week. Maybe I don't have a ton of friends here, but that's because I refuse to associate myself with any of these types. The friends I do surround myself with are genuine and intelligent people; some of the few in the American student pool.

I had a particularly unpleasant experience with a group of these girls in one of my classes. First of all, it has always been a huge pet-peeve of mine when students whisper while a professor is talking. This becomes even worse when you are in a foreign country, and everything you do is a reflection of where you come from. Anyways, my very soft-spoken and sweet professor, who is italian, was giving a lecture, and a group of girls would not stop whispering. The professor is not the type to address the problem, so he just kept talking, and looked kind of sad and exhausted. It was all I could do to not leap across the table and strangle all of the bimbos. They are so disrespectful and self-absorbed-NOBODY CARES HOW DRUNK YOU WERE LAST NIGHT! I grit my teeth and tried to look extra-attentive, in hopes that he noticed that someone was paying attention.

I'm not sure if this is really about "culture shock." I get annoyed with my peers at home when they are disrespectful, and hate that I usually can't escape being associated with their behavior. I also get annoyed with any creepy old men that jeer at me in any context. One thing is for sure though- I have never seen a gypsy in the U.S.