Me and Old Italian Men

So I've inadvertently created a little travel ritual on countless occasions since my arrival here. I'm usually heading off to some cathedral, piazza, bar, or whatever. I've carefully consulted my little pocket map, and am pretty sure I know where I'm going. But you know, I just like to check. Or, ok, sometimes I might be a little, um, turned around. Anyway, I never fail to find an Old Italian Man, either sitting on a folding chair on the side of the street, amidst parked cars & laundry, or sometimes standing in a doorway smoking a cigarette. Why I don't just ask someone younger, I'm not sure.

It goes like this:

Me: "Scusi? Dove via Alloro?"
Old Italian Man: "via Alloro?" He stands, walks out toward the street.
Me, laughing apologetically: "Non parlo Italiano..."
Old Italian Man, ignoring the fact that I just told him I don't speak Italian: "Si, Si...via Alloro... something something...sinestra...something something something...piazza Marina... something something..." 
Me, nodding intently: "Si...Si..." 
Old Italian Man, hands exuberantly gesturing: "...something something something..."
Me, smiling, still nodding, backing down the street: "Si...ok...si, grazie." At this point, I think I understood "left." 
 Old Italian Man: "d'Espania?" (They always assume I'm Spanish)

Me: "Oh. No, no. Sono Americana... New York."
Old Italian Man: "Oh! New York! Something something...famigilia...something something, Brooklyn..."
Me, pointing to myself, nodding: "Me too. Si, si. Grazie, grazie... ciao." 


And I walk the way he told me, only finding the street I wanted about half of the time.
One time a guy walked me all the way down the street, giving directions, warning me about the mafia, telling me what to see in the city. Not that I really understood any of what he was saying. What I love about these guys is that I know they're probably someone's grandpa; they laugh and kind of seem to get a kick out of me. You'd think I'd choose my guides a bit more wisely, but it turns out they're definitely part of the experience here, something I've just come to expect. At this point, I think I'd be lost without them.