Everybody says: Italy I love you

Well you'd be surprised by the amount of New Yorkers that want to go to Italy. Maybe because everybody here has Italian ancestors or claims to have them.
I was at a party (a house party. Without knowing whose house was that. Welcome.) and there was this girl begging me to bring her to Italy when I'll go back. But it's something I hear all the time: a guy thought that by saying -I'm from Italy - I was just "showing off". Another one told me that he would move any moment to Italy, cause it's the best place in the world. They have an ideal picture of Italy in their mind, like I had one of New York City. And none of this imaginary places really exists.

On another note: I seriously have to cut on coffee. It's not healthy.
But for those of you who are not concerned about water retention, I feel like giving some Starbucks 101 lessons.
The fact is that it's impossible to really understand what people who work at Starbucks are telling you. But since it's always the same stuff, here are some insights:

1. the very first thing they say is something like: how are you today? or What are you having today? It actually sounds like -owarydy? so in case you don't understand which one of the two options they chose, answer number 2. It's pretty acceptable to just ignore the option number one (cause they're not listening anyways). Option number 2 is what they really care about and it's always better than asking them to repeat.
2. After your order they're gonna ask you: sdl? That means -is that all? You can nod.
3. Then they'll probably ask your name, and then they'll ask you to repeat it. 
4. If they're still holding a marker and a cup and it clearly looks like you didn't move to the next step they're asking you to spell it. 
5. If your coffee is more than just a medium roast or an americano, pay attention, cause that short sound with a question mark at the end is: whip? so they wanna know if you want whip on top of your coffee or not. The answer is yes. Always.
6. Ok, they are showing you the palm of their hand, place there your money/credit card
7. In case it's a card, there's another question for you: credit or debit?
8. You're done. Enjoy your coffee.

Now, if all 8 steps take more than 50 seconds, don't be surprised if they look really annoyed.