Leisure US VS Italy

The first thing that really struck me when we walked into the park and then to the zoo was that, compared with the rest of Rome there really wasn't a whole lot of people around. Some of this may have been because of the day, but I noticed more. Compared with everywhere else, there really weren't a whole lot of vendors around, and the zoo only had like one or two cafes. At most zoos I've been to there were loads of places to buy really expensive, fatty foods. You could tell that for once, we were in an area for locals and not tourist. When Italians go out or otherwise engage in leisure it seems to me they are very focused on their family. They want to get away from the hustle and bustle, and just have time to themselves.

In the US we some times consider leisure things like this. However, we usually spend a lot more time stressing and trying to get everywhere than really relaxing. It's true, it's my complaint about my fellow Americans, in general we are not happy unless we are accomplishing something. We have this thing called "wasting the day away," which I like to call relaxing and getting myself together. Don't get me wrong, day after day laziness would not be good. But really, we should spend more time with our families or just simply taking time out to evaluate where we are with everything in our lives. It really is a good thing to learn that you don't always have to be rushing.