Italian Friends

So, after last week's onslaught of presentations and midterms, I've been putting all of my energy into making new Italian friends and really learning the language. When I first applied to study abroad, everyone in the U.S. could only say wonderful things about the Italian people and their warmth...I think I might need clarify for the rest of you. Italy is semi-split culturally. In the south you have regions like Puglia (the heel), Calabria (the bottom), and Sicily. According to Northern Italians, this pretty much means that Southern Italians are basically African. A lot of Northerners don't view the Southerners as Italians and can be pretty stuck up. The Southerners view the Northerners as cold and distant. This said, I have to agree with the Southerners. All of the Italian friends I've made are Southern Italians studying here in the North, because the education is better. They are a lot friendlier and really make an effort to include me when we hang out. One of the good friends I've made has created his own social networking project to make money on a website (he totally belongs in SI, (internat'l SI students perhaps??)). He's studying economy here in Ferrara and needed money so him and his brother started creating social events for students in Ferrara and then made a website you can join to hear about the next event and see pics from the last one. It's really taken off and they've done a great job. The picture is of me and a couple of my new Southern Italian friends hanging out in la piazza in Ferrara.