The very first thing I noticed when I arrived in Florence last Tuesday was a simple observation, yet it’s already defining my entire first week’s experience: it’s small.

If you take New York City, add some Italian flair, an army of pigeons and scrunch everything closer together, that’s Florence in a nutshell. Not too surprising, considering Italy has a population five times smaller than the United States, and the country itself is around 32 times as small. This can be frustrating when you’re from a more spacious country, but at the same time, it actually enriches the whole experience.

This lack of space was apparent right away in our initial hotel rooms. Three other students and I shared a room with four beds neatly crammed into it. It was a struggle just to move around and find enough working power outlets — although the roommate who helped me find them wound up becoming a good friend during orientation.

When we arrived at our Syracuse campus, the Villa Rossa, it still felt small.

There’s a single door to enter, with slim doorways and a maze of narrow corridors. And the student lounge for a program with roughly 300 students can seat 20, at most. But, thanks to the close quarters, I have started meeting even more people, either through waiting in cramped lines or nearly bumping into fellow students in hallways.

This was all especially true when I met my host family: a mother named Daniella and her son, Paulo. After our long introductions, I went outside on a small balcony by my room for a private moment — but Daniella walked outside on the second balcony for a cigarette one yard away from me, and our dual attempts for privacy turned into a conversation about the neighborhood and plans for a walk to a nearby park after dinner — forced interactions have even been persistent where I live.

Things were no less cramped during that quick walk through the park. We had to stick close together because of the small sidewalks, crowded streets and the passing bikers and runners. The park itself was fairly little, smaller than the one near my home in the United States.

We passed by lots of people walking dogs or playing with children and those just enjoying the night. Yet, it felt more like we were actually seeing them — what they were doing and the emotions on their faces. We were too close to just passively phase them out and pretend they weren’t there.

I was surprised by how those last few days went — but that night especially so — mainly because I’m a very withdrawn and somewhat shy person. Daniella even said she was the same way. Something she said on that walk, though, managed to explain everything.

She said she’s always known Florence, and even all of Italy, to be cramped. But with things so small, it brings people together more than usual, even for the introverts like the two of us. And after my first week in Florence, I’d have to say I agree.

She and I barely speak the same language, often using a weird mix of Italian and English to communicate, but we’ve already talked about so much, from our hobbies and our passions to our goals in life. We’ve talked about our political views, including who we support in the recent Syria debate. We’ve discussed our families, from what we love about them to why they drive us crazy, and we’ve even talked about tragic moments from the past.

All of that from the first week, after just meeting her. It all happened, completely naturally, in the cramped streets of Florence and her cozy apartment kitchen. It’s true there is less space, but with that comes more connections.

Max Antonucci is a junior newspaper and online journalism major whose column appears every Tuesday in Pulp. Visit his website at www.MaxwellAntonucci.com, find him on Twitter at @DigitalMaxToday, or email him at meantonu@syr.edu.

Published on September 9, 2013 at 9:03 pm