It's All About Perspective

If there is one thing I am being reminded of quite often since arriving in Rome, it is that there are so many ways of looking at things, doing the same thing, etc. Since I am a newcomer in so many ways to the Italian lifestyle, I have so many reminders of this. All too often, value judgments are assigned to these differences, or they are elevated to the realm of the universal when in reality it's all about perspective.

The category of masculine and feminine is one such area. It's a bit stronger here in Italy since the nouns are either masculine or feminine, as well as the definitive articles and pronouns that accompany these nouns.

A feew weeks ago I was looking around our convent for a scale so I could weigh myself and came up empty-handed, so I asked Sr. Tarcisia if we had one. The word I remembered for "scale" was "bilancio". When I asked Sr. Tarcisia if we had a "bilancio", her eyes got really big as if to ask," why in the world would you want a bilancio? Another sister was nearby and overheard what I had requested, and noticed Sr Tarcisia's confusion. "O," she said, "I think she is asking for a "bilancia". "Isn't that what I just said?" I'm thinking to myself.

"Oh," Sr. Tarcisia says, "You want 'la bilancia'--it's feminine. What you asked for was 'il bilancio,' which is masculine, and means the balance sheet that we prepare at the end of the year. I couldn't figure out why you wanted our balance sheet." So, there you go--a balance sheet is masculine, and of course, the scale would have to be feminine! At least I asked the right person: Sr Tarcisia is our accountant!

This is not the only word in Italian which has both a masculine and feminine form, each form having a different meaning. There's also "Il fine" (masculine) and "La fine" both of which could be translated as "end" in English. However, the feminine formof the word means the end of a show, or the end of the world; the masculine form would be used when indicating a goal or purpose. God help us we confuse the two! It could be the end of us! 

A lot can also be said about ways of doing things, customs, etc. Even handwriting! This past week a gentleman asked me for help in the book center. He had written down the title and author of a book he was looking for. I typed the title into the computer and couldn't find it, so I went to the sister in the Italian section. She typed the title in, a different title than the one I had typed in, and of course it came up. Then I realized that what I thought was a "D" was an "A". When the customer left, she turned to me and said, "why couldn't you find it? His handwriting was perfectly clear." I said to her, "I thought the D was an A because I am used to different handwriting." "But that was beautiful handwriting," she said to me shaking her head. Another employee who had overheard what had happened said to her, "But they have different handwriting than we do." The sister still couldn't comprehend that and went away continuing to shake her head completely bewildered that I couldn't read the "perfectly clear, beautiful handwriting."  Once again, it's all about perspective!

I have a lot of reminders. Every evening after we have eaten dinner we have a ritual here. That ritual is to open the windows and air out the dining room--even if the air outside is bitter cold. WE HAVE TO CHANGE THE AIR IN THE ROOM. Okay, I get that. But when I want to change the air in my bedroom by leaving the door open, one of the sisters always closes it, even when I am in the room.... Then she came to me the other day, asking I if ever open the window to change the air in my room. "At times," I told her (after all, I open and close the window every morning and evening to open and close the metal shutter). "Well, it's not enough, she said, because you leave your bedroom door open and the air from the kitchen gets inside of your room. You need to open your window, not your door" Okay????

So, you want to know what my new mantra is?

That's right, you got it: "It's all about perspective."

And that my dear friends, is the end (feminine please, I remind you) of this blogpost (as well as the purpose (masculine, I remind you).