An American tourist, eager to explore the local culture, found himself in a small Italian village. He wanted to ask for directions to the nearest historical church, but he didn’t speak a word of Italian.
He spotted an elderly local man sitting outside a cafe, sipping espresso. The tourist approached him, smiled, and tried to communicate using gestures. He pointed to his map, then made a steeple shape with his hands, and finally pointed vaguely down the road with a questioning look.
The old Italian man looked at him, nodded slowly, and then began to speak, gesturing wildly with his hands. He spoke for a good minute, a rapid stream of Italian, pointing in various directions, making elaborate hand movements.
The tourist, completely lost but trying to be polite, just kept nodding and smiling, pretending to understand. When the man finished, the tourist said, “Grazie! Thank you so much!” and walked away, feeling utterly confused but hopeful.
He wandered for another hour, getting more and more lost, before finally giving up and finding a small, English-speaking shop owner.
“Excuse me,” the tourist said, “I’m trying to find the old church. I asked an old man for directions, but I didn’t understand a word he said.”
The shop owner chuckled. “Ah, old Giuseppe. He’s a character. What did he do?”
The tourist demonstrated, mimicking the old man’s rapid Italian speech and wild hand gestures. “He was like, ‘Blah blah blah, this way, blah blah blah, that way, blah blah blah, over there!'”
The shop owner burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s classic Giuseppe! He wasn’t giving you directions, my friend. He was just telling you a very passionate story about his prize-winning tomato plant!“