"Then she will take a umm..what do you call it? a stink?" "huh?? You mean a drink!!"

For the record, on my paper in class I definately wrote "What is an Italian pizza, what does it do for Italian culture, and is there an American equivalent to these pizzas?" ha Just thought I would share that with you.

An Italian piazza, not to be confused with pizza, is pretty much an open area with lots of activity of various sorts. Some piazzas have historical significance like the Piazza Nuova with it's fountains that were once used as a circus. Now people from all over gather there to take pictures, eat good food, shop for cool stuff, and oogle at the street performers. It brings everyone together which is a huge part of Italian culture. They are always known for gathering to talk about everything and everything.

There are a few potetiental similar cultural structures in America. The first one that comes to mind that has absolutely no historical relevance at all is your standard mall. There are always tons and tons of people at malls--tourists, naitives you name it, they can be found in malls. They shop, eat, gather, talk, play and everything that is done in piazzas pretty much without the important background. Some malls are more well known than others such as the Mall of America just as some Piazzas are more well known. The next thing that comes to mind may just be a small town tradition thing, which gives it a little bit of history. In Marysville they always block off the center of town (Historical downtown Marysville ha) for festivals and so on. One of the big things to come through Mville is Honda's Bike Week. There is a big festival and all of downtown is closed off, stores stay open, people set up food stands and all kinds of good stuff. People come from all over the place to be there because these bikes are traveling from all over the U.S. for this festival alone. For that week downtown Marysville turns into a cultural structure similar to the traditional Italian piazza!