Beauty

by Jessica Mico-Wentworth

In the small amount of time I’ve spent in Cagli, more than anything else I have probably enjoyed the cleanliness of the city and the wonderful community.  Every morning I wake up to the sound of the street sweeper.  This culture takes pride in and values making sure the city looks its best every day.  During our travels around Italy, Dr. Caputo mentioned the importance of looking up as you walk because of the beautiful, historical sights.  This is true in Cagli.  The community members have added colorful flowers to their balconies, and the color helps to brighten up the buildings. 

As I walked around the city, I noticed the shops are set in some of the most “random” spots.  Every day while sitting around the piazza, someone from our class would mention a new shop where they found something amazing and slowly each of us would trickle down to the store.  If it’s during pausa, the students would ask when it would open again.  Also, there is no advertising in front of the stores or billboards like the in U.S.  It reminds me of my home in Hawaii, where billboards are illegal.  Businesses in Cagli are not willing to take away from the beauty of their city to advertise the location of their shops, and they are not worried about having set store hours.  This doesn’t take away from the store owners having pride in their businesses -- they just see the beauty of Cagli more important.