Italy is a country. Little Italy is a section of San Francisco where a lot of Italian immigrants settled. A lot of cities have one. You should also check out Chinatown. Apparently the one here is the most authentic one outside of China itself.
Happy isn't his real name. I don't think? I'm pretty sure it's a nickname? We've just always called him Happy. Which is funny because he's not an overly happy kind of guy.
And sucks just means bad, really. He was a good friend, he's helped me through a lot of stuff back home.