Campania with love/Campania con amore!

     I could speak to all the different experiences and mention where I have been and what I did in the sunny region of Campania: Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Capri and more but I found this second visit to the Amalfi coast to be very interesting in a cross-cultural sense. Being the student of all things intricate, interesting and culturally significant, I found myself drawn to a sweet little shop once our ferry dropped us off in Capri. It was a sandal shop. But it was not a place that just sold sandals. It was a place where I could get a pretty pair of sandals handmade for my foot within a half hour! Why is this interesting? Because the sandal maker is a sweet young lady born and raised in Sri Lanka! her name: Rosie! Her smile and hope, contagious!

     After receiving the disappointing news that, yet again, we would not be able to visit the blue grotto, I thought what better way to cure my own blues than shopping therapy. Don't get me wrong, I am not a shop-o-holic by any means but I was unsure I would ever see the grotto... a dream foiled. We entered the shop and I was in love. There were so many choices, I was amazed! Then, we began talking to Rosie while shopping. It seemed like I was cultural shopping, not just buying an object to wear which was a souvenir but really getting to know Rosie. Getting to know a subculture of Capri or even other well known places: the various other ethnicities that flock to tourist-based landmarks across the globe to earn a decent wage.  She explained that she was a seasonal business person who would go home during the off-peak months with the money she earned making shoes to help support her family in Sri Lanka.  It was some sort of old fashioned, styled franchise. Nevertheless, Rosie was professional in every way: very reverent, very humble and helpful. I loved her spirit!

    Here are photos of her products. I will not tell the process of how she constructed the sandals. But rather, I will leave you to see how she worked and evoke your own feelings for how the process went.
    In all, meeting Rosie made me feel as though modern society across the globe can do two wonderfully, cross-cultural things: keep the sacred traditions of each ethnicity intact while reaching out to other cultures to gain intercultural wisdom and wealth. It is not a new concept. It was just wonderful to be a part of the exchange. And to Rosie, I thank you for the experience!