Sitting in the piazza at 2:30 a.m. was not what I saw myself doing when I came to Italy. However, that’s exactly what I was doing when the best dancer in Urbino invited me to his birthday party. I had seen this man before in the center of town.

One aspect of Urbino life I love is the nightlife. It isn’t nightlife in the way that it’s regarded in the states. People stay out late at night but they aren’t drinking heavily or being loud. Instead they talk to one another and enjoy each other’s company until 3 or 4 a.m. It was on one of those nights when I met him for the first time. I briefly spoke to him outside of a small pub when he came outside and thanked a friend of mine for dancing with him. It was then that she told me that he was the self-proclaimed best dancer of Urbino. She of course couldn’t contradict this proclamation.

Though we weren’t formally introduced he was hard to forget. He is about 5 feet six inches tall. He was wearing a black baseball cap and red and black leather jacket reminiscent of a Nascar jacket. His face was thin and the fourth tooth on the right side of his mouth was missing.

When I saw him from afar I recognized him immediately. We met eyes and he began walking in my direction. We exchanged greetings and I was immediately lost when he rattled off Italian faster than I’ve ever heard it before. Though he didn’t speak a word of English I was able to understand that he was having a birthday party in a place that is a bookstore. A bookstore? Ah! Portico was a bar by day and bookstore by night. The Italians really know how to put all that is good in life together don’t they? I digress. Perched on his toes, arms slightly elevated and extended, he attempted to impersonate the graceful movement of a ballet dancer. I understood finally. He was inviting me to celebrate on a day that was very important with him. This is something that would never have happened to me in America. It was wonderful to find someone who was so warm and inviting. He seized the opportunity to speak to someone that he might never see again and put himself in the position to possibly make a new friend. I can only say that I wish I was that brave.