Found the Bridge. Lost the Rest in Translation.

by K. Greer 
This morning, I left my Italian apartment early, headed to the old Roman bridge just outside of town to get pictures of Cagli from a distance. I passed several Cagliese, offering my Georgia-affected Buongiorno! as greeting to the dog walkers and garbage disposal men and bakers I passed along the walk.

The old bridge rests in the shade of the new one.

When I reached the bridge, I exhaled, unaware that I’d been holding my breath, hoping I was traveling in the right direction. The town is small, but the fear of getting lost was still real. I’d been inadvertently clutching my Italian cell phone just as tightly as I clutched the camera strap hanging from my neck.

I maneuvered the bridge carefully, as Italian drivers seem to be less sensitive to the rights of the pedestrian than American drivers are. Before I reached the end of the “new” bridge and turned the corner onto the Roman bridge (circa 8 A.D., I’ve been told), I heard a truck slowing to my right and turned to press myself into the rail as much as possible to avoid losing limbs on a Cagliese bridge.

The truck, a service vehicle of some sort, was full of rowdy young Italian men who began barking and yelling at me in rapid, unintelligible Italian.

I wanted to react, but several things were going on: first, I was taken aback by their calls. This doesn’t happen to me in the states – certainly not in the proximity that I was experiencing then. They couldn’t have been more than three feet from me. Secondly, I was unsure whether I was being insulted or propositioned, and there is a very specific and unique reaction for each circumstance.

Instead of “tsking” the men or smiling in appreciation, I stood there, dumbfounded. Somehow, even though I’d made it to my destination, I’d ended up lost after all – lost in a language and a cultural situation I didn’t understand.

I did get the pictures of the city, though, and, like this interaction, my picture was just a snapshot among all of those I’ll bring home to the states nearly two weeks from now. Wish me buona fortuna!