Olfactics

Olfactics is perhaps the most interesting nonverbal communication to me that we have studied thus far in the course which has already been a challenging and growth experience for me. I have always been sensitive to smells and aromas. Like pleasant or unpleasant sounds like Mozart versus a baby crying, smells and aromas can have the same effect on my mood. There are smells that I don’t like, and some can be very unpleasant to me. I prefer the aromas that I love. Near the top of my list in the pleasant category is the smell of fresh, warm bread. That yeasty aroma just makes me feel warm and excited with anticipation for the first bite of a crusty roll or baguette. When I was younger my family traveled quite often. I have been to Germany, Italy, Belgium at least once and France several times. I have also been to Malta, Dubai, and Abu Dabi.  Each of these fabulous places has their own version of a national favorite bread like pretzel rolls in Germany, rustic white bread in Italy, and flat bread in the Middle East. I enjoy them all.

One of the things I liked best about my travels and miss greatly hear in the US is a prevenance of local corner bakeries that just smelled wonderful as you walked by.At the very top of my list is Italian food. When I smell that garlic-heavy aroma I am transported back to some of my favorite restaurants. I am not a food snob. My all-time favorite Italian food experience was eating the cannoli cake at Carabbas for the first time. It is that good! The best pizza I have ever had was at a small restaurant in Rome. I was about 10 or 11 at the time. We had spent the day wandering around Rome. We had climbed the Spanish steps and by then it was late afternoon and we were all very hungry. We found this little place that was just a doorway on the street, the seating was at the back of the building and the front was a store front souvenir shop. Every time I smell a bubbling hot pizza as it comes out of a brick oven I remember that day, and that pizza in Rome. Bon apatite!