Patience and letting go

It's one of my weaknesses, maybe my biggest (thanks Dad). But I have to say, and I'm open to other opinions here, but I think Italy has helped me enormously on this front. I realized after maybe 3 months that you will be miserable living in Italy if you can't take a deep breath, pause, and also let it go. The tricky thing about Italy is that you think it's developed, you think 'hey, they came up with democracy, art, etc.' this place has got to have it down, and then you encounter your first what would be in America a run of the mill exchange, let's say for fun - returning an item to a store that is faulty or calling a plumber. In Italy this is not a one off exchange, but often a ten to twenty off exchange - and if you don't accept it, stay calm, be patient, breath out, you'll never last or at least while you're lasting you'll be miserable. And what I can say is that throw an Italian into another country and they'll always be pleased about how fast, efficient, helpful people are (if they speak the language of said country where they're at). The lesson here is expectations - Italy has taught me to expect the worst, and then I'm always prepared (in campana) and pleasantly surprised when things do go right, which is a great way to pave happiness in the rest of my life. Thank you Italy for teaching me the art of breathing and letting go - let it go, let it go....one thing that makes patience an easier medicine to swallow in Italy is a plethora of mozzarella. Let's see how my newlearned patience goes away from all that buffalo milk....