Welcome to the South

I have decided that watching movies in Italian definitely counts as studying, but is actually enjoyable. I actually really like watching movies in Italian, despite the fact that I don't understand much. One of my favourites so far has been "Benvenuti al Sud" (Welcome to the South). This was an Italian movie I saw in the theatre. The story was about a man who moves from northern Italy to southern Italy. As I've mentioned before, culture, and dialects, can change depending where you are. The south has a bit of a reputation as being overrun by poverty and crime, so the man is very anxious about this move. He arrives in a place with a totally different society - he doesn't even understand the Italian the people speak! I enjoyed this movie because I felt that I could relate to the main character. Being from an area in Canada with a high Italian population, as I told people that I was going to Italy, their faces would light up. As I told them I was going to be in Sicily, advice would change from language suggestions, to safety concerns. Of course, like the character in the movie, I have completely fallen in love with the people here, and haven't really had reason to be concerned for my safety any more than I would be in a city in Canada. The people here have been more friendly than anything, and even strangers have been encouraging my use of Italian. When getting gelato, asking in poorly pronounced Italian got me an extra cookie, not looks of annoyance.