Here in Urbino I haven’t seen a lot of racial/ethnic diversity.  One day I ran into a buddy and asked him why there was such little diversity in Urbino.  He told me that there is actually some ethnic diversity here.  He said that there is a small Greek population in Urbino, but they are very separated and keep to themselves.  He also said that the Italians and the Greeks don’t really get along. Nothing new.  Being the journalist that I am, my ears instantly perked up.  Why is it like this? Why are they so separate?

Later that I night I went to Bosom Pub, much like I do every night.  I bumped into my other friend and asked him about the situation between the Greeks and Italians.  He said the same thing I had been told earlier in the day.  He also said he thought he had seen three Greek girls outside of the bar and asked if I wanted to go talk to them.  I was curious about their perspective so, naturally,  I said yes.

We went outside and started talking to these Greek girls.  I quickly learned that my Italian friend had no Greek friends and that the Greek girls didn’t have any Italian friends.  After talking for a while they all agreed that they didn’t want to be separated like that.  They wanted to be friends but, because of the status quo, they could not socialize together.

That night, we broke that barrier.  We spent the whole night getting to know each other on both cultural and personal levels.  It was a  unique experience.  I was really surprised with myself.  Because of my curiosity, I managed to bring two groups together that would probably have never combined.

An American bringing two cultures together is something they will probably not forget.  It is certainly a cultural experience I will never forget.