1. Honestly the vaunted Neapolitan pizza does not hold a candle to the Umbrian pizza. I’m sorry, Dan, but the crust is too thick on the edge and soggy on the bottom. Pick up a piece and the entire topping slides off in a gloppy mess. We have tried them in the “best places” according to locals. Give me Taverna del Perugino in Pieve any day. The pizza above was featured in Eat, Pray, Love. Pictures of Julia Roberts all over the walls. We had to wait to get in because the movie has made the place so popular. It was a farewell to two volunteers so we had no choice but to accede to their choice. 
2. The stereotype of Neapolitans’ talking with their hands is not a stereotype. It’s a description. I was beginning to think the entire city was deaf. Truly! Hard to tell the deaf from the hearing in this town. Luckily, I am adept at reading gestures and facial expressions (occupational hazard), so I appreciate the the help in decoding the Neapolitan/Italian spoken here. Speaking of Neapolitan, it is una lingua appropriata, not a dialect according to many proud Neapolitans. It has been recognized as such and is even taught in some schools.
3. The educational methods I observed in our classrooms were not much different than those of 60 years ago when my siblings and I were in school here. Sit, copy, memorize, recite. Little kids need to move, but there is little opportunity for them to get out of their seats, and so they do it anyway and get yelled at. Tough especially for little boys.
The teachers of Istituto Filippo Smaldone are wonderful, loving people. The student body is particularly challenging- many multi handicapped, 40 deaf, and the other hundred from poor and immigrant families under stress. Teachers yell at kids at the top of their lungs one moment (kids unfazed) and kiss and hug them the next. It’s normale!
4. The trash in the streets and sidewalks and vomiting from the bidoni seem much worse in Sanità. Is it because poor neighborhoods receive fewer services, or because in poorer neighborhoods people don’t think twice about dumping their bottles, old sinks, and motorcycle parts by the side of the road? Or is it both?
Arg! I need to stop obsessing over trash!
5. In general I have always found the Italians to be kind and helpful. They appreciate and compliment our lousy Italian. They go out of their way to help us, even look out for us, like when the pickpocket on the C63 targeted Toby. But the southerners in general, and the Neapolitans in particular are among the kindest and warmest of all. Suor’ Piccola has practically adopted us.
Volunteer Napoli 