In the small town of Urbino Italy, I am more popular than Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Bono, John Lennon, and yes, Barack Obama.

It seems like everywhere I go, I run into individuals that I have met in my nine-day stay. How is this? I have no idea.

My first three nights in Urbino, I decided to leave the group of students participating in the Urbino project and see what it was like making friends on my own. No matter where I went, I always managed to run into someone who spoke just enough English to get by.

It became evident to me that I was gaining popularity when, on the third day while I was walking to town with my group, someone driving by in a small red car yelled, “Gino!” out of their window. Right at that moment, my classmate Jack, who was walking beside me, looked over and said, “Did he just call your name?” with a puzzled look on his face. I was just as confused as he was.

The second time someone recognized me was while at the beach 30 minutes outside of town. After a long walk down the sandy shore, a few of the girls in my group approached a lifeguard to ask how much it was to use the beach. As he began to answer the question, he looked up, noticed my face, and in mid sentence said, “You’re the American boy!” I thought to myself, “You have got to be kidding me.”

The third time another local recognized me was in the lower floor of my dorm while I was using the internet. As I looked to my left, I noticed a student making his way down the winding spiral staircase. Thinking nothing of it, I went back to work, and no more than five seconds later, he popped his head back up and called my name. “Gino! Do you remember me?”

The fourth time this happened was while I was heading to town to get some footage for our project. Directly after my group passed a dark haired, skinny man, he turned around and grabbed my shoulder. “Gino!” he said. Having no idea who the man was, I listened carefully. “Tonight I am having a dinner and would like to invite you.” Still a little confused, I did what anyone would do in that situation and accepted. I got his number, went, and had an amazing time.

Is it my Italian name, my eagerness to meet new people, or is the town of Urbino stalking my every move? I guess I will never know.