thisweekinitaly.com

At the Fair

I went to a major national fair exposition (where an organization I am involved with had a booth) in Rimini.  For cinema buffs, Rimini is the home town of Federico Fellini and the location of two of his famous autobiographical films, I Vitellone and Amacord. The exhibition facility was gigantic. The name of the Fair was Rimini Meeting 2010 and the theme was “That nature which pushes us to desire great things is the heart.”  This theme is hardly self-descriptive, but I am told the Fair is sponsored by Catholic lay groups.

There were many exhibits with a religious nature. Of course, as always at such events, there were folks selling candy, vacuum cleaners, cars, etc. The event is obviously a Big Deal in Italy because some top political leaders appeared there. Some major exhibitions were quite impressive, for example one of the patron saint of Hungary and one chronicling the history of the Solidarity movement in Poland.

I, however, was most impressed by the exhibit “Flannery O’Connor, The Infinite Measure of the Limit.”  It was put together by some graduate students from DC (not studying English) who are fans of her work I applaud their initiative.  Here is a writer, I don’t think particularly well known in Italy (although the Pistoia public library does have most of her books), whose milieu is far removed from the Italian experience. She was a Roman Catholic and religious sensibility and themes pervade her work and life, but these are far from typical Catholic teaching and homilies. The exhibit marvelously illustrated the intersection of her life and work.  Unfortunately this exhibit does not have its own web site, but here is a link to a description of it.

http://www.meetingrimini.org/eng/default.asp?id=846&item=4931

The interest and attention of the Italians to this exhibit illustrates a point I have made before.  Quite simply the level of artistic and cultural awareness in Italy is much higher than in the USA. This may come from the fact that Italy has a unique cultural and artistic heritage. This difference between Italy and the USA is most apparent in talking to Italians who have only a high school education. Sure Italian TV is terrible.  Some aspects of Italian popular culture are low at best. Certainly many Italians are uncultured, but the respect for art and culture is almost universal. In the USA there is a times a political argument about whether the government should fund projects through agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Such an argument would never occur in Italy; art and culture are essential parts of life that the government has an obligation to support.

Loving George

I’ve written often about the Italian love affair with George Clooney.  He has just completed a film, The American that was shot in Abruzzo, the location of the terrible earthquake a while back. His co-star is an Italian woman.  She was interviewed on TV about the most important part of the whole venture, in Italian eyes, making love with George Clooney in a scene in the film.

Wonderful Word Choice

I mentioned before how, during the summer, when little of importance happens in Italy, the politicians fill the air with proposals, charges, and schemes in order to stay in the headlines.  As I noted, a friend of mine calls this “summer talk.”  Berlusoni made the same point recently when he said that summer was over and the time had come to an end of the useless jumble of talk. The Italian word he used to signify a useless pile of ideas and initiatives has a second meaning – a sexual orgy. I don’t know if he chose this word with the delicious irony in mind, given his reputation, but I found it an amusing choice.

A New Possibility for Me?

At times friends here have jokingly said to me, “Bob, you should run for Mayor of Pistoia.” That is impossibly and doesn’t interest me anyway.  A possible opening in a newspaper headline did, however, catch my eye.  It said the city’s Bishop had died. I majored in Philosophy and Religion in College, and I am an old guy like other bigwigs in the Roman Catholic Church. Now I understand there are a few obstacles – not Catholic, not a priest, divorced, etc. Still in the 1600s the Church was naming as Cardinals 12 year olds from prominent families.  Exceptions to the rules are possible. Unfortunately I then discovered that the deceased Bishop was the retired Bishop of Pistoia who left office in 2006. So I’ll have to wait a little longer for my opportunity.

Why Italians Can’t Speak English –in a Nutshell

A Scottish friend of mine who teaches English in Italy got a frantic call from the mother of a 15 year old who is studying English at a commercial high school. He was having trouble understanding the two types of the passive voice in English. My friend said “Are there two types of the passive voice in English? I never heard of this distinction.” It turns out that the distinction is between sentences such as “Anna received a present from us” and “A present was received by Anna from us.” The second form does not exist in Italian.  Now we have a 15 year old, who I am sure at best would struggle to speak only a few sentences of English, agonizing over an esoteric grammatical distinction of minimal importance.  This emphasis on grammar over speaking is the major reason Italians cannot speak English after many years of study.

Welfare Expenses in Italy

The term Welfare in Europe does not mean what Welfare does in USA (payments to families without income). In Europe it encompasses all programs to help children, elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, etc. Italy spends, as a percentage of GNP, less than ½ the average of European nations for such purposes. A main reason –Italy spends much less to support children.  Here the grandchildren are often cared for by the grandparents.  Also in general in Italy the family rather than the state takes care of members without income.

The Not Perfect Italian Medical System –Dispute in the Delivery Room

I wrote last week about the high ranking Newsweek magazine gave to the Italian medical system. That system suffered a small black eye this week.  In Messina in Sicily a woman was in the delivery room. The two attending doctors disagreed as to whether a Caesarian section was called for.  They did not just disagree; they began a fight.  Finally 90 minutes alter the procedure was done. The baby had difficulties upon birth and the mother too had complications.  Of course, the hospital head said that the medical problems of the mother and child were not caused by the battle in the delivery room.  As I’ve noted before, the medical system in Italy is administered by the regions and, like many other social services, is less adequate in the South.

This incident reinforces the stereotype of Italians as highly emotional, animated, and even hot-headed. Of course, as in any large nation, there are Italians of all different types of personalities, attitudes, levels of emotion, and levels of animation. They certainly are not all of one type. Still, that having been said, this unusually kind of incident may be a little more likely to occur in Italy than in most other European nations.

Goofy Gheddafi

Colonel Ghedaffi, the head of Libya, was in town (Rome) playing the clown.  He hires 100 beautiful girls from an Italian casing agency to be his escort. He lectures them on Islam (saying, among other things, that women are treated better in Libya than in Europe). He gives them all a Koran.  He announces that Europe should switch to Islam as its main religion because Islam is in fact the most recent of the three religions in the Judeo-Christian line. Berlusconi and other government leaders just grin and bear it.  Why? Italy is in bed with Libya. Libya agrees to provide energy resources to Italy. Italy in turn gets big contracts for public works in Italy.  Especially important is that Ghedaffi has closed off Libyan shores as a departure point for African immigrants trying to reach Italy illegally. Nobody wants to talk about the conditions in the camps in which these Africans are detained in Libya. So shall we say, regardless of principles, in this case “business is business:” (By the way, surrounding himself with 100 pretty girls, Ghedaffi becomes a delicious parody of Berlusconi – the same attitude toward women carried to a more ridiculous degree.)

Lest Americans might smile at this Ghedaffi show, think about the USA and China.  The USA grants some nations, including China “most favored nation” status as trading partners. One prerequisite to get this status is an adequate Human Rights record. China’s is hardly adequate, but China agrees to buy tons of US debt obligations in return for being able to sell tons of cheap goods in the USA. So the USA ignores China’s Human Rights abuses. Regardless of principles, in this case, “business is business.”

Getting into Medical School

In the USA, medical school is a graduate program for which students are selected on the basis of their university records (including activities as well as grades), scores of the national Medical College Admissions Test, and an interview.  In Italy one enters medical study immediately after high school.  Their may be 10 applicants for every opening to study medicine.   Students (with proper courses from high school) are selected solely on the basis of their scores on a single national admission test that contains both scientific and general culture questions.  In Medicine, as in almost all occupations and businesses in Italy, children often follow their parents into the field.  Jobs are hard to get so if your parent is in a profession or business where he or she can give you a job, you take that opportunity.

But with admission being based on the score on a single test, how can a doctor get his child into medical study unless the child is one the lucky ones with a high test score? I posed this question and was told “well of course doctors get a copy of the test in advance for their children.” It was not that the person I asked KNOWS this fact; it simply is expected that this is true because of the way Italy operates. If I had asked some other Italian this question, he or she might have given me a different answer, but it would probably be an answer that hypothesized some other “back door” method by which children of doctors receive preference. Regardless of the actual level if institutional honesty in Italy, the perceived level by citizens is abysmally low.

At the Art Museum

 At a recent art exhibit at a museum in Florence, there were often brief explanations of the paintings in both English and Italian. I have often mentioned the generally high level of artistic awareness among Italians. These explanations illustrated this phenomenon. They were short and assumed a fairly sophisticated understanding of both artistic techniques and art history. All Italians certainly don’t have this level of sophisticated understanding, but apparently among those who go to such museums, such a level of understanding is common.

 Highly Ranked Italian Medical System

 Newsweek magazine recently published a list of 100 nations ranked according to their quality of life as a place to live. The USA ranked 11^th and Italy 23^rd, but the highest rated aspect of life in Italy was its medical system which was ranked third among the 100 nations. People sometimes ask me what I do for medical care in Italy. I point out that I am enrolled in the Italian system (at a cost of about $550 a year for full coverage including drugs) and also in Medicare and Medicare Supp. in the USA (which I rarely use). Few retirees in the USA have as good overall medical coverage as I have.

 Integrating Muslims into Italian Society

 In Europe, and to some extent in the USA, there has been a lot of discussion about whether Muslims will integrate into the general society or always remain a group apart. I rarely see in Italy a Muslim woman with a face covering, but of course many wear the head scarf. When I see Muslim teenagers, except for the scarves on the girls, these kids seem indistinguishable from the Italian ones. They wear the same clothes. The girls all have the same kind of make-up. Muslims and non Muslims are talking to each other. All are quick to use the call phone. There have been cases in Italy of Muslim families taking extreme means to end a romance between a daughter and a non Muslim Italian, but this is not the typical reaction. I cannot say the extent to which Muslims will integrate in succeeding generations, but among the youth they are not completely separate.

 The World of High Fashion (Who Wears This Stuff?)

 When you see on TV a fashion show of a major clothes designer, you often see avant guarde clothes that may be interesting (or ridiculous) , but hardly look practical. Recently I saw an exhibition of the works of designer Roberto Capucci at the Bardini Museum in Florence. These were not presented as dresses, but as sculptures. Probably this is a more accurate description. You can examples athttp://www.fondazionerobertocapucci.com/ispirazioneNatura1.xml

or http://www.fondazionerobertocapucci.com/gallerie/galleriaMuseo.htm

 Does This Deserve to be the Number One News Story in Italy?

 A while back Fiat fired three employees, union activists, for unacceptable behavior on the job. The three went to a Labor Court where the judge ruled that firing them was a disproportionate penalty for their offenses. He ordered Fiat to rehire them. Fiat responded that it would pay them their salary, but they were forbidden to enter the factory. In addition to a controversy between Fiat and the union, this is also an issue between the union of the three, and two other unions who represent Fiat employees, but don’t support the case of these three. Now I am not expressing an opinion about who is right in this case – I don’t know all the facts or Italian law. I am saying that it seems “small potatoes” to be the number 1 story in Italy. I think that the status of labor/management relations in Italy is probably one of the many problems inhibiting economic growth in the nation.

 Updating the Last Newsletter

 My weekly newsletter is a two-way street with people often sending me comments and corrections at bobnrodvall@hotmail.com. My item about the illuminated advertising on a urinal in Germany brought an e mail telling me they have musical sinks in the restrooms at the Denver Art Museum that are activated by turning on the water. I discovered that Slovakia (and perhaps other countries too) has cash machines that allow you to specify the denominations of the bills you want to receive. As to the arty type of wedding photography in Italy, I now know that this us an international phenomenon thanks to the following from the father of a recent bride:

 It was interesting to read your comments about the changing content of wedding photos.  Having just gone through the wedding of our daughter, which included wide searching for the right photographer, we can tell you that what you’ve seen is pretty much standard for this whole generation, not just Italy.  Of the several hundred shots our photographer took, about 8 were conventional poses of the couple by themselves and with various family members.
 
It’s called “urban cool,” and it is the de-rigueur style for young people everywhere.  We saw it in Split, Croatia:  wedding photographer out on the streets, posing the young folks lolling on benches, leaning on Egyptian peristyles, jumping up in the air, etc.    
 

Pistoia Views

 My Australian friend David Emery who lives in Pistoia has taken up painting in retirement. A group of his paintings are now on display at the Globo Café in Pistoia. His usual subject is buildings and I have an album of a few of his views of Pistoia at http://cid-147d7e5c470b06da.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/David%20Emery%20Pistoia%20Views20Emery%20Pistoia%20Views  You can click on a photo to get a description of it.

 If you would like to purchase one of his masterpieces, his e mail is davidnina09@hotmail.com   

 Pistoia News

 The doping investigation of the Giostra dell’Orso is over.  One horse tested positive — the third place finisher out of four.  Maybe they need a different drug next year.  Meanwhile two seasonal headlines are in the news again this year, as every year.  First “Mushroom Hunter Lost in Woods” or “Mushroom Hunter Found Dead in Woods” Second “Exorbitant Prices This Year for School Textbooks”

German Ingenuity

 When I am in Germany, I always note little things that the Germans just seem to do better than others. At a cash machine, after I indicated my desired withdrawal there was a feature that allowed me to specify the denominations of the bills for  the amount I wanted to withdraw,  Maybe this exists elsewhere, but I hadn’t seen it before.

 On the other hand when ingenuity is mixed with crass commercialism, the results can be less encouraging.  At a restaurant, both the packs of sugar on the table and the paper towel roll in the restroom had advertisements printed on them.  I have seen this before, but not the other new feature in this bathroom.  On the top of the urinals there was an advertisement. As you began to urinate, this activated a light behind the advertisement that suddenly became illuminated.

 German Trains

 I have mentioned before that they are about twice as expensive as those in Italy, but of much higher quality.  Now Germany, like many other nations, is flirting with the idea of a mixed public/private ownership and management of the train system. The idea is that the government can give the train system less money, but the efficiency of private enterprise will allow trains to run with the same quality of service.  If this idea has worked anywhere, I don’t know where that country is.  My train in Germany was 18 minutes late.  There were more bathrooms out of order on the trains. You could see other little degradations in cleanliness and efficiency.  The high-speed German trains are slower than those in Italyor at elast make more stops along the way. All in all the German trains, while still superior to thsoe of Italy, now are clearly not worth twice the cost of those in Italy.

 Wedding Photos

 I suppose that wedding videos have supplemented and at times replaced wedding photos, but the wedding photo tradition continues in Italy.  The conventions, however, are different. In the USA you have the photos of the families, of the wedding party, the cutting of the wedding cake, etc.  These may exist in Italy, but in photo shops what is shown in the window are the more “artistic” poses. There will be the bride stretched out on a bench.  Another is the bride and groom on the stairs of the church (or some other building) but separated.  Some of these photos are how models are posed in advertisements.  Of course, there will be some of the bride and groom together, but “togetherness” in the American sense is not a strong feature of the wedding photos.

 The Palio

 This famous short horse race around the main plaza of Siena takes place twice each summer.  The contestants are the various sections of the city. This year a government minister stirred controversy by suggesting that the danger to the horses in this race (horses sometimes are injured) should cause the city to reconsider this tradition of centuries.  Of course, her suggestion got nowhere, but did get her name in the headlines, which was probably its purpose.  Meanwhile on the day of the race, a visitor from a sister city of Siena in France was among an official delegation to the event. As he was eating dinner outside, a large piece of stone broke off of the balcony above and killed him. Another spectator was injured when a large banner (of one the city sections) thrown in the air landed on her.  The good news was that no horses were hurt this year.

 Meanwhile, Pistoia had its miniature version of a Palio, the Giostra d’ Orso, a competition among four sections of the city.  It does not involve passions as does the Palio of Siena, but this year one of the losing sections claims that the a horse was drugged.

 NEWS FLASH.  The horses at the Palio in Siena are routinely  checked for doping after the race.  The samples are sent to two different labs. This year the two labs came up with conflicting results.  An investigation has been opened.

 Photos

 Last week I wrote about a trip to Solomeo in Umbria and another to Peacock Island near Berlin.  I have photo albums of these two trips for those who are interested.  Unfortunately I did not rotate the horizontal photos before putting them in the albums, but still the photos may give a good sense of the two places.

 Solomeo
 
http://cid-147d7e5c470b06da.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/solomeo
 
Peacock Island
 
http://cid-147d7e5c470b06da.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Berlin%203

A Trip to Solomeo

A friend sent me a while back an article “The Prince of Solomeo” about Brunello Cucinelli (The New Yorker March 29, 2010) who produces very high end cashmere garments and other fabrics in his home town of Solomeo in nearby Umbria. He has used the profits from the company to restore and improve the town so it a little model city. I went for a visit. There is no big factory; the workers produce the items in the original town buildings in small workshops. Everything is beautiful, pristine, and well maintained. No shops, bars, restaurants, at least in restored area. Of course, the town was never really like this in the past just as modern Williamsburg, Virginia does really reproduce what the city was in colonial times. There are no mud streets, excrement of horses, garbage thrown out the back door, hawkers peddling their wares, etc. It is very lovely but a bit antiseptic.

I went to the outlet store in one of the buildings. Cucinelli cashmere sweaters sell for $1000 in USA. At the store they had regular merchandise at a discount, closeout items at a bigger discount, and finally “seconds” at an even bigger reduction. Each “second” item had a tag telling what its defect was. I felt I could splurge and afford a T shirt. One in the “seconds” bin had a tag saying there was a spot on the front. I could not find it. The clerk could not find it. Finally I saw something that might be the spot – quite obscure. So I bought it. I always thought paying a lot of money for a T shirt was per se silly, and here I was paying $80 for this one. I will say the cotton is softer by far than any T shirt I have ever owned.

In the store was a lovely leather carry-on bag with wheels for a plane trip. It cost about $1700. At an airport there are always warnings about not leaving luggage unattended; it may be seized by airport security and even destroyed. If one left this bag unattended, somebody would probably steal it before the airport security folks ever saw it. If it ended up in the hands of the airport security folks, they certainly would not destroy this bag.

Basilicata Leads the Nation

My ancestral region of Basilicata is not one of the prominent areas of Italy in population, wealth, size, etc. This week, however, it led the nation in one statistic. The national health service did an audit the eligibility of persons getting disability checks from the government. Basilicata had the highest percentage of canceled disability payments, almost 30%.

A Conversation in Pistoia with an English Tourist

His grandfather was a prisoner of war of the Italians in WWII. After Italy surrender in 1943, his grandfather left the prisoner of war camp before the Germans arrived to take it over. He walked for six months and finally was able to cross the Allied lines. After the War he returned to the site of the camp at times because the Italians had treated him so well. (I recall reading about German prisoners in the USA who did the same thing after WWII.) The food was probably better in the Italian camp than in England—certainly better than English Army food. As I’ve noted many times, the Italians are not mean spirited. When the grandfather got back to England, after a four year absence, his wife was pregnant by an American soldier. He reunited with his wife and raised the child as his own. The English often show an admirable civility.

Lance Armstrong and Use of Banned Performance Enhancing Drugs

There is currently an investigation underway in the USA as to whether cyclist Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs and also knew of the use of these by his teammates. He denies the allegations. In the USA you can find people who believe Lance and those who don’t. In Italy few if any believe him because here the consensus is that all cyclists use such drugs. Furthermore, if it turns out that Lance has been lying, nobody here will be disillusioned with him as some will be in the USA. It is expected in Italy that a cyclist will deny such use. Expectations in general of honesty in sports (and elsewhere) are lower in Italy.

Nigerian Immigrant

The illegal Nigerian immigrant about whom I reported his third arrest because he was illegally in Italy, has been released to a friend’s address until his case is decided. The court is waiting to see if his request for legal status has been granted by the central government. As noted before, if it turns out that it has not, he won’t return for his final day in court. Maybe then he will be arrested a fourth time in the future.

Notes from Germany

I am in Germany visiting my son and his family with a side trip to Berlin.

In Berlin on the subway they have an interesting way to fight graffiti. The windows are covered with a thin film that can be torn off and replaced if people paint or scratch on it. The seats are covered with a very complex design on which it is difficult to make graffiti visible.

While I the subway I noticed that the man across from me had a rather large nose. After we exited the subway car, my friend Max reminded me that when I was last in Berlin I had seen an election poster and asked if the person pictured on it was the candidate of The Large Nose Party. It was this same guy on the subway.

When I was in Baltic states recently, I noticed hitch hikers on the road. Something I see much less today in the USA. My German friend Max said he recently picked up a young couple hitch hiking in Germany going to Berlin. To make conversation he asked them what their occupation was. They said they worked for “F**k the Forest.” Max naturally asked what this was. Their group makes amateur pornographic videos that are sold over the Internet and part of the profits are dedicated to the cause of saving the world’s rain forests. I don’t know how this organization would rank as a Green Business.

From Berlin we took a trip to Peacock Island in nearby Potsdam. This island was used by the King and Queen of Prussia in late 18^th and 19^th centuries as a rural retreat. The dairy building was a faux castle. The stables were made to look like a village church. As the description of the island pointed out, the buildings maybe looked like something you might find in a rural village, but inside they were pure luxury. The royal family imported birds including peacocks from which the island takes its name. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

More from the Baltic Countries

After Lithuania, I visited Riga in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia. Although Latvia is apparently in the most financial trouble of the three nations due to the world recession, it appears as prosperous, if not more so, than the others. In part this may be because it was more prosperous during the early 20^th century before the WWII. It has some lovely Art Nouveau buildings from this period. Both Riga and Tallinn were members of the Hanseatic League of trading cities during the late medieval and early modern period. This gave them great wealth at those times.

 Tallinn is more Scandinavian looking than the other two capitals. Estonia will be the first Baltic nation to enter the Euro zone. It will do so next year. All three capitals have very lovely Old Town sections. They have attractive churches, but the art in these churches does not compare with the richness you see in Italy. If you had visited these cities in 1989, before the fall of the Soviet Empire, they certainly would have looked much more drab and backward than they do today. Although these countries have infrastructure problems that reflect the neglect of the Communist years, they are making rapid progress. If not already, soon they may be more modern than Italy.

 These three nations are looking forward and not agonizing over the past in which they were almost always under the domination of somebody else. Still the past is not totally gone. In Estonia during WWII, young men were forced to serve in the German Army or the Russia Army depending upon who was in control at the time. At the end of the war, Estonians fought against each other as these two armies clashed. On the anniversary of the most important battle, there are two reunions of veterans (depending upon which army they served in) at the site, and police are present to avoid any problems.

 The most impressive thing I saw in the Baltic nations: the huge nests that storks build on chimneys or telephone poles. They add another layer to the nests each year. I can’t imagine how a chimney functions with one of thee nests on top.

 In the Baltic and Scandinavian area, the winters are long, dark, and cold, but the summers are glorious.

 Local Girl Makes Good

 A woman from nearby Montecatini Terme, was crowned Miss Fat Lady of Italy. She weighs 375 pounds. Despite the growing obesity problem in Italy, I read that in Europe the rate of obesity is still lowest in Italy and France.

 An Old Maxim Updated

 It is said that as ancient Rome changed from a Republic to a corrupt empire, the local population was pacified with “bread and circuses.” Silvio Berlusconi has updated this strategy. He entered politics in the early 1990s with his reputation as Italy’s most successful businessman. Thus he was a man to lead the Italian economy to greater prosperity. He was first elected in 1994. The leading 30 nations in the world are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OEDC). From 1994 to 2007, Italy was last among thee counties in its rate of economic growth. In short, Silvio did not deliver the bread. He did, however, do (and does) a great job with the circuses: his reign is like an ongoing soap opera in which the news is constantly full of: his sexual excesses, his alleged corruption, his legal problems, his personal family problems, etc. A majority of Italians seem to love the SILVIO SHOW while the rest of the world looks on in wonder.

 Political Update (I wish I could make it simpler, but I can’t)

 Talking about Berlusconi, I note that his recent political problems made the news in the USA with stories saying that his government might fall. It did not happen. His coalition survived a “vote of confidence,” but a group of deputies, some from the opposition and some dissenters from Berlusconi’s coalition, did abstain in the vote. Had they voted “no,” the motion of no confidence would have succeeded. So they obviously have a “balance of power” now.

 This group is led by the two men who hope to succeed Berlusconi. These guys have figured out that Berlusconi will probably never retire. He started the main party in the governing coalition and will give up the head of it only when they carry him out feet first. Each of the two is eager to get to the top before then.

 As I have mentioned before, Berlusconi’s party is strong in the South even though its main coalition partner, the Northern League, wants to have more government power sent to the regions so the wealth in the North will stay in the North and not go in national taxes to be distributed disproportionately to the South. Some say that southern members of Berlusconi’s coalition are becoming more worried now that the League’s plan will happen, and the south will suffer. So they are attracted to a dissenting group within the main coalition.

 Usually when a government falls in a Parliamentary system, the opposition wants immediate elections because it hopes to come to power. Not so in Italy. If elections were held now, Berlusconi would win again. So the opposition wants a transitional government (called a technical government) whose main task would be to draw up a new election law under which the opposition’s chances might be better. A transitional government, however, only makes sense if the major political players agree that this is best solution for a temporary period and support the government’s efforts, Berlusconi is totally opposed to a transitional government. If his government falls, he wants immediate elections.

 The famous World War II acronym, SNAFU, applies as usual to Italian politics today

 A Good Summary of My Philosophy

 This is from Robert Cottrell, a British journalist who has spent his life abroad as correspondent in various places for publications like the Financial Times and the Economist. I have friends in the USA (and elsewhere I assume) who would disagree strongly with his statement. That is fine; it isn’t an idea upon which all need to agree. I do agree.

 “When I was growing up and living in England, I would subscribe unconsciously to British exceptionalism: that this country was special, that this city was special, and that these people were special. That, in the end, there was no other place in the world where I would rather live. That our national values, whatever they were, were somehow superior to other people’s values, and that our history was somehow more glorious. I think everyone thinks that about the country in which they grow up, or the country in which they continue to live. It’s only by separating yourself from your native country and living in other countries that you can see that all countries are special in their different ways; and actually there are people just like you and just like your friends all over the world, who have perfectly satisfying and interesting lives in wildly different circumstances.”

 Two Recent Articles of Interest

 The first, from the New York Times, is about the problems of an Italian businessman that turn out to be problems that are endemic in Italy, not just in his company. The second, from the New York Review of Books, is an essay reviewing four recent books and a film about the excesses of Mr. Berlusconi.

 The Insanity Defense

 Like the USA, mental incapacity is a defense to a crime in Italy. A few months ago a 42 year old lady from the Ukraine in a town near to Pistoia tried to induce an abortion by herself. The baby nevertheless was born alive. She then suffocated the child. The court has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for her. Obviously a woman who kills her own child may be suffering from a serious mental problem, but I believe that her defense is even more likely to succeed in Italy. Children are so important and loved in Italy, that killing one’s infant at birth is almost per se proof of insanity.

 A New Toilet

 Although toilets usually last for decades, the one in my apartment cracked after eight years. While I was in the Baltic States, my landlord had a new one installed. It is a simple toilet and the installation was also a simple act. The cost was 500 Euro which is $650. These kinds of goods and services cost much more in Italy than in the USA. One thing that I have found to be less expensive in Italy is shoe repair.

Pluses and Minuses of European Parliamentary Systems

I’ve expressed before my admiration for the European system that separates the symbolic head of the nation (usually called the President but sometimes a King or Queen) from the political head of the government (usually called the Prime Minister). In this system the political head cannot wrap himself or herself in the nation’s flag and claim that attacks against him or her are also attacks against the nation. The Prime Minister is not the Representative on the country.

This works well internally, but it leads to problems externally. Usually few outside of the nation know the name of the person who is President; to those outside the nation the Prime Minister is in fact the Representative of the country. When Berlusconi says and does things in very bad taste, most Italians just shrug it off saying “well that’s Silvio.” They don’t seem to realize that the rest of the world is saying “well, that’s Italy.”

Summer Festivals and Dinners

In the summer almost every little town has a festival such as festival of the rabbit or festival of the wild boar or festival of beer. These last a couple of days and feature outdoor dinners of the food or drink featured. In addition there are one night outdoor dinners put on by organizations and groups. The restaurants complain that all of this is unfair competition. Recently I went to a dinner in honor of Pistoia’s patron saint, Saint Jacopo, that was held on the eve of his saint day. This featured (1) antipasto of salami, ham, rice salad, tomato/bread soup, and bread with mushrooms, or tomato, or liver pâté; (2) lasagna, (3) large macaroni with duck sauce, (4) cooked duck with string beans, (5) roasted ham, and (6) Italian cake. Of course there was water and white and red wine. The cost was 15 Euro ($19.50).

Serbia??

The headquarters and main manufacturing facility of Fiat is in Turin. Recently Fiat announced it will build its newest model in a factory in Serbia. A national outcry ensued. Some pointed out, of course, all the aid Fiat has gotten from the Italian government over the years. When something like this happens in Italy, it is not at all certain that Fiat’s plan is a genuine one. It may be just a ploy to exact more aid from the government and concessions from the Italian unions.

German Tragedy from an Italian Perspective

The tragedy at the Love Festival in Germany was news all over the world. This kind of horrible event could happen anywhere. Still as I watched the film of it, I tried to determine just what went wrong. It seems the police had a plan and strategy to control the crowds that was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers in attendance and the features of the terrain. Had this occurred in Italy, I think the police here would have abandoned the plan when they saw it was not working. (A more cynical American friend in Italy said they just would have gone off for coffee.) Italians are not obsessed with sticking to the rules, and the good side of this tendency is that they are flexible in the face of difficulty.

Minor vs. Major Frustrations

Generally in Italy you accomplish what you want to do although often a little slower than anticipated. You have to learn to tolerate the minor inconveniences along the way I went to Rome airport to catch a flight. The large board that shows all departures does not give a gate for flights, only the location of the counter where you check in. So I go counter and see my Baltic Air flight is at gate D2. When I get to D2 there is listed over the gate an earlier flight from another airline. There is nobody at desk at the gate. I ask folks sitting by the gate if this is gate for my flight, and they say yes. I go off to look around (I am there early) and when I return another flight of a different airline is now listed at this gate. I see another gate with a Baltic air flight so I go to ask a Baltic Air person at that flight about my correct gate, but , of course nobody is at desk at this other gate. While I am there two Alitalia representatives come by to this, and other gates, telling people that a certain flight to Seville has a gate change. When I return to D2, the people there are now moving to D1. Somebody has finally told them there is gate change. At D1 my flight is listed over the gate. Below the notice for my flight is a notice that next flight after mine from this gate is one to Prague. While I am checking in, it is announced at this gate that in fact the later flight to Prague will leave from a different gate. Nothing major just a succession of typical inefficiencies.

Interviewing Politicians and Business Leaders

When I am on vacation, as I am this week, I often see the BBC news on TV at the hotel. In Italy, persons doing an interview almost never ask tough follow-up questions or point out inconsistencies in the responses of the person being interviewed. The reason is said to be that the media covet access to politicians and business leaders, and this access would disappear if the media was at all hostile. In the USA, you do get follow up by the interviewer who may politely challenge the person being questioned. In Great Britain, it is war. The interviewer is like a lawyer in court cross examining a hostile witness. Because there is no in depth challenging of politicians in Italy by the media, a politician can say X one day and non X the next day, without any detrimental effect.

Quick Impressions from Two Days in Lithuania

Vilnius was the first stop on a quick tour of the three Baltic countries – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The old town section of Vilnius is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a pretty city and easy to navigate. Right now the country is suffering from world wide recession; there had been a burst of economic activity that came to a quick halt as the world economy worsened. Still the long term prospects are good. Prices here are quite reasonable.

From 1938-91 this nation suffered form occupations and repression b y Russians, then Germans, and then Russians again. There is a KGB and Human Genocide Museum in the old headquarters/prison that was used both by the Germans and the Russians (showing again that those great enemies, Fascism and Communism, were close to identical twins). The museum meticulously described what happened in those years of repression and names the German and Russian officers who were in charge of all this. In WWII Lithuania lost the greatest percentage of its Jewish population of any nation and in absolute numbers only Poland had more Jews killed. Aside from the 200,000 Jews killed by the Nazis, more Lithuanians were killed and imprisoned by the Soviet Union than by the Germans, but the Russians were here a lot longer. Still when the Soviet Union began to come apart in 1980s. The Lithuanians were leaders in the Eastern block in pressing for end of Soviet domination.

One part of Vilnius, in a tongue in cheek manner, has declared itself the independent Republic of Uzupis. They have their own currency, officials, and Constitution. The Constitution contains ringing affirmations of human rights but also other important items such as “Dogs have the right to be dogs” and “Cats have the right not to be loyal to their owners although they may help in time of need.”

Despite centuries of various foreign domination, it is a country of proud tradition and culture. It was the last country in Europe to be Christianized. Now Vilnius is a city of churches. Some are still in not good shape because of degradation during the Communist years.

As for art, it is only city in world with a memorial to Frank Zappa. There is a rumor this is to be sent to the USA so it can be like France’s gift of Statue of Liberty.

I did not see any woman in Lithuania with a tattoo.  Are the ladies of Lithuania more sensible or less fashionable than those of Italy?

Following the News on Italian TV

 Although I don’t catch every word, I can usually follow news stories on Italian TV. There is one big exception – stories about the latest political or financial scandal. Here the names, the insinuations, the plots, the subplots, etc. come in such a torrent that it is impossible to keep up.

 Pistoia Blues

 This year the three-day event was expanded to five. As I’ve noted over the years the music has been .less and less blues and more and more rock and jazz.  This year the schedule openly noted this fact. Another big improvement was the location of many chemical toilets near the concert scene. People going to the bathroom in streets and alleys have been an unpleasant feature of Pistoia Blues in the past. Local stores could not sell beer in cans or bottles during the five days of the event.  All in all the problems with crowds may have diminished this year because of better control (despite the typical stories in local papers about drugs and drunks) , but the newspaper reported that first night there was a fight on stage between a musician and his manager.

 There was one other little hitch with Pistoia Blues. The dates were delayed this year to avoid conflict with the World Cup. As a result, on the final night of the Blues, the central plaza was not available because it was being prepared for the next big event, La Giostra di Orso in which contestants on horses tilt at targets. Unfortunately the tickets for the last night listed the location as the central plaza. There were shuttle buses to the alternate location, but it was not clear to those arriving from elsewhere that location had been moved, where the buses were, and what the schedule of the buses was.

 Big Time Legal Case

 It appeared to be a minor case.  In Milan some producers of clothes were being sued for using the name of a famous person on their products without permission. The famous person – George Clooney – had to testify, and the courthouse was mobbed.  More media coverage than a double murder.

 No Room for a Local Oral Roberts in the Catholic Church

 Oral began his career as a Pentecostal faith healer. North of Pistoia, a local priest began to do faith healing, speak in tongues (as Pentecostals do), and explain some biblical passages as indicating the arrival of UFOs. Crowds were starting to come from other parts of Italy, but the Pistoia Bishop pulled the plug on the guy.  My suggestion to the local priest – learn English (if he doesn’t already know it), leave Catholic Church, and move to the USA.  There he could have a good future.

 Sex Sells

 I still think the naked lady in the Italian TV ad for shower and tub caulk may have been the most outstanding example of the Italian propensity to use sex in every kind of ad, but there is ad now running that has a sexy couple giving torrid looks to each other in order to sell canned tuna.  Well, it might qualify for second place.

 Momma’s Boy in Trouble with Mother and Montecatini Pays

 An adult son living at home in Naples took a trip to nearby Montecatini Terme.  This city of spas is probably better known now for its prostitutes. While soliciting a prostitute, he was pinched by the local police and given a fine. As a true citizen of Naples he, of course, didn’t pay the fine. So Montecatini got some office in Naples to deliver the fine to his house.  Here it was given to his mother who opened the envelope (not sealed) and all hell broke loose at home.  He sues Montecatini on grounds that his privacy was invaded; the notice of fine was not delivered in a sealed envelope as required by the law.  He is awarded 5000 Euro. Question number one: if the envelope had been sealed, what is the probability expressed in percentage that his mother would have opened it anyway?  The choices are: 90%, 95% and 99.9%.  Question two: how many prostitutes can he hire with his new found wealth?  This depends upon how luxurious his tastes are.  This sum would not even serve for one night’s fun for Tiger Woods, but I think our man from Naples can stretch the money much farther than that.

 A Very Believable Political Story

 A business leader who is a colleague of Berlusconi said that when Silvio was a young man playing in a band, the other band members fired him because instead of singing and playing the string bass, he was spending too much time chasing after the girls in the audience.

 An Example of Why Italy Cannot Control Illegal Immigration

 I’ve noted before that to control illegal immigration, Italy would need a much more efficient police and judicial system.  Here is an example.  A friend of mine was called to act as interpreter in a court case involving a Nigerian who spoke English well but not Italian.  Twice before this guy was detained for being without proper papers and ordered to leave the country.  This was his third arrest. The judge asked why he had not left when ordered to do so. He said he had no money for a ticket back to Nigeria – most probably true.  This time Italy was willing to buy the ticket. It turns out, however, that in September 2009, he had applied for proper immigration papers under a sort of “amnesty” law. The judge asked what the result of his application was. He did not know. The case was continued for one week and his lawyer was told to find out the status of the Nigerian’s application. Meanwhile he would remain in local prison.

 The next week the case was to start at 9 am. Of course, the prisoner was not brought to the courtroom in time.  So the case was finally heard at 11. There were in courtroom at this time, the judge, two assistant judges who write down the proceedings (but appear to be more than mere court reporters because they wear robes) two policeman who arrested the guy, and two policemen from the prison who brought him in and would take him back and the two lawyers.  It turns out that there had been no reply to his application almost a year earlier. The judge therefore continued the case until such a reply comes from the government. There will be another hearing soon to determine if he (1) stays in local prison, (2) if he is sent to an immigrant detention center, or (3) if he is released to an address he has in southern Italy. If number 3 is the choice (or possibly also number 2 where security is minimal) , you can be sure that if he finds out that his application was denied, you won’t see him in court for the next hearing.

Accentuate the Positive…

My Italian friends sometimes complain that I am too critical of Italy in my newsletters. My personal life here is quite good, and I enjoy Italy very much as a place to live. The travel magazines in the USA paint a rosy picture of Italy, as they should, so that people in the USA often already know the positive side of the country. I get many of my items from the media. In Italy, as in the USA, media stories emphasize the more negative side of life. So my news from Italy often reflects this media bias. It is not that these media stories are false; it is just that they often overlook the positive aspects of life here. Finally I am attracted to stories that show the silly side of life in Italy, and these can be viewed as presenting a negative image of the country.
If I were an Italian reporting on life in the USA, I would probably seem similarly negative toward America.

A Day of Strikes

On July 9 (of course a Friday) there was one of the not infrequent one-day strikes of busses and trains. By law these must run during rush hour even on a strike day. I was due to go to Florence, but I arrived at the station a little too late to get the last rush hour train. There was also a one-day strike of journalists (newspaper, radio, and TV) to protest a proposed law limiting the interception of telephone messages and publication of the content of the wire taps. Actually one newspaper did publish an issue, the one that is the house organ of Silvio Berlusconi. It could hardly take part in a strike aimed at a law he is proposing. So if one ever becomes tired of the constant onslaught of the news (even 24 hours on some stations in the USA) and dreams of a day without news, July 9 was that day in Italy.

Each afternoon I watch the end of the day’s stage of the Tour de France on TV. On July 9 the race was shown but with no commentary because of the journalists’ strike. I did not miss the commentary; I could follow what was happening.

The Growing Pervasiveness of the English Language

I’ve mentioned about beggars on the train. They pass out a slip of paper to passengers and then come by later to collect money. If the beggar is a young man, the note says he is one of five brothers without work and food to eat. If the beggar is a woman it says that she has no work and three young children.
This week I saw for the first time a bi-lingual version of the note in Italian and English. This may be in response to the fact that in summer the trains have many tourists and English is the most common language understood among them.

Getting Back into the Swing of Life in Italy

My first weekend back started with a visit to the semi-weekly traveling market after which I had coffee with friends. I then stopped at the photo shop to pick up the last photos of my tour of 11 National Parks in the USA and put these in my album of the trip. Then I went off to an art exhibit at Pistoia’s new museum of modern and contemporary art with a local friend. Part of the exhibit was of artists from Pistoia. My friend knew the names and backgrounds of many of these. Smaller cities in Italy have a more vibrant artist community than is common in the USA.

After dinner on Saturday I went to see the film “Basilicata Coast to Coast.” I doubt that this film will ever make it to the USA. It is about a small music combo that is invited to a festival in Basilicata. As a publicity stunt the group decides to walk across the region of Basilicata to attend the event. I was especially interested because this is the region from which my maternal grandparents immigrated to the USA in the early 1880s. It was fun to see the landscape of this rugged rural region which I have visited a few times. The film also showed a procession with a statue of the Virgin Mary that is identical the procession in the home town of my ancestors.

On Sunday morning I went to church where the special music was provided by an opera student from the USA studying in Florence this summer. She had a marvelous voice. During the summer such students often perform at my church. After lunch with a friend from Florence, I went to a party of the classes of adult students of the German language from Pistoia and from Siena. The party included a number of Germans who live in Italy. Of course, I could talk English or Italian with them. It has been almost 50 years since I studied German so as Humphrey Bogart said in Casablanca: “My German is a little rusty” We watched the final match of the World Cup. Although many Italians go to Germany to work because of the better opportunities there, it is less common for Germans to come to Italy to work. Not surprisingly some of the Germans were women who had married Italian men.
A delightful weekend of varied activities.

“Summer Talk”

This is the phrase a friend uses to describe the political news now. If one believes the newspapers, the Berlusconi coalition (which has a strong majority in Parliament) is on the brink of falling because of infighting among the various factions within the group. Of course these catastrophic predictions never seem to come true. Italy, like all European nations, has to make unpopular budget cuts during the recession. This naturally leads to political controversies.

Many friends in the USA asked me if Italy’s economy is about to go the way of Greece’s. I think not. Italy, unlike Greece, has not been running large debts recently. Italy does have a very large national debt from the years before it changed from the Lira to the Euro, but in the last few years it has had fairly prudent financial policies.

Is This Law Enforced Everywhere?

An Italian friend tells me that it is against the law in Italy for a bar or restaurant to serve someone who is barefoot or clad only in flip-flop sandals. I’ve never noticed whether patrons have such minimal footwear, but I’m willing to bet a lot of money that the bars in Florence that have a clientele of American students (for whom flip-flops are worn year-round) don’t enforce this law.

Flip Down Sunglasses

I’ve never seen these for sale in Italy. I buy my pairs in the USA. Recently I saw a film in which one of the characters was meant to be a bit strange. He had stopped talking when his wife died. He always had a silly smile on his face. To complete his portrait of eccentricity, he wore flip down sunglasses. I guess I will never be mistaken for an Italian (at least a normal Italian) while I wear these sunglasses.

In Matters Artistic….

I always defer to the Italians. On my recent trip to National Parks in the west I took a series of photographs of wild flowers in the parks and along the roads. I had wallet size copies made of these images with the plan to mount them all in a single large frame. The lady at the frame shop said “no” to my idea. She suggested a series of small frames of different colors, one for each photo. The photos were to be mounted between two panes of clear glass. Of course she was right.

The Unopened Restaurant

Some friends were talking about a fully completed luxury restaurant that has never opened on the top floor of a building in Florence. I asked if the owner had encountered financial problems, but, of course, things are never that simple in Italy. In Italy, for reasons I don’t fully understand, many buildings are constructed without proper permission. These are called “abusive” structures. Four things may happen after one builds such an”abusive” building: (1) nothing, (2) an amnesty is declared for such buildings in a certain area and after you pay a fine, the building now is “legal,” (3) the court may order the building demolished (rare), or (4) the building may be seized by the government and used by the government temporarily –during legal proceedings—or even permanently. Apparently the building (built long ago) in which the man put his restaurant was seized by the Florence city government, and now the guy can’t open his restaurant.

Retrieving a Registered Letter

When I returned from vacation I had a notice to retrieve a registered letter from the Post Office. I took the notice to the main Post Office, but then I noticed that the slip indicated to pick up the letter at a different Post Office. So I went to that Post Office. After a 25 minute wait, I got to the counter to discover that to get a registered letter you had to go to a different room in the Post Office. That room was already closed for the day. The next time I went to the correct room where I learned that since the notice was over a month old, the letter had already been returned to the sender.

I wrote in an earlier newsletter ( number 332 August 1, 2009) about why there is slow service is places like Post Offices and banks. I’ve written more than once about the slow service in Post Offices. In Italy, as elsewhere in Europe, the Post Office also operates as a bank. So the Post Office is the worst of all possible places – the slow service of a bank combined with that of a Post Office.

Italian Education System

I spoke with the young son of a friend who moved from Italy to USA three years ago. He likes school here, but notes how easy it is compared to school in Italy. At end of high school students in Italy have to pass a comprehensive test. Here is a list of topics from which they had to choose for an essay on the test:

1.about the search of happiness (36.9 %-students’ choice ) with referring to art 3. of Italian constitution and American Declaration of Independence, and to the sociologist Bauman

2.about the function and the role of music, starting from a quotation of Aristotle

3.” Piacere e piaceri”-short essay ( novel ” Piacere” by D’annunzio…Matisse and Botticelli)

4. The role of young in politics( quotation of MUSSOLINI, Togliatti, Aldo Moro e Giovanni Paolo II)
5.Foibe-History….from 1943 to 1954 ( the choice was only 0,6%)

6.Primo Levi-”with the novel: “la ricerca delle radici”-
7. the u.f.o.- “Are we alone?”

How many American students could write a cohesive essay on such topics?

As the following description shows, the Italian secondary schools (and universities too) require a great deal of individual initiative by students while, ironically, Italian society in general inhibits independence among its young people.

——————–
Seen some long faces on Italian teens (and their parents) recently? Summer’s the season when young students all over Italy learn the hard lesson of ‘too little, too late.’ At the end of each year, high school students (aged 14 and over) are promossi (permitted to pass to the following grade), rimandati (made to sit again in September the exams in subjects they have failed, with the hope of then moving into the successive grade) or bocciati (failed: they must repeat the year).

The Italian scholastic system is very different from that of Anglo countries, for example, not only in terms of structure, content and pedagogy, but also in terms of the considerable individual responsibility that is heaped upon the very young-and often very immature-students. At just 14, when they start high school (where they will stay for five years, until they are 19), the kids are faced with a tough decision: what do you want to do with the rest of your life? At 14, each child must decide which type of school to attend: classical (which includes Latin and ancient Greek), scientific, industrial-technical, art and design, hospitality industry, agricultural sciences, commercial and marketing, accounting, piloting-you name it, there’s a school for it! Subsequent to that terrifying decision there is no flexibility. There are no options, no electives, no choices: the course is set for the next five years.

And then there is the school day itself. Italian high schools typically run Monday to Saturday, from roughly 8am to 1:30pm. In the afternoon, millions of latch-key teens are at home alone, where they are expected to put in at least a couple of hours of self-motivated study. It’s a tall order for even the most mature, enthusiastic students.
——————–

The American system has much more emphasis on development of the whole person. The Italian (and Europeans systems in general) are more narrowly academically oriented.


Returning to Italy from USA — A Comedy of Errors

A friend drove me on Thursday July 1 from Gettysburg to Dulles airport outside of Washington to start my flight from Washington to New York to Pisa. All international flights from Washington to Europe start at Dulles, but my first flight was Washington to New York. I looked at my ticket and noticed for the first time that my flight left instead from Reagan Airport. It was too late now to drive to Reagan airport.

Still all was not lost. I told my friend to wait to see what I could do before leaving. I decided simply to try to get a seat on a flight from Dulles to New York and then catch there my plane from New York to Pisa. I would have to pay, of course, for the new flight from Dulles to New York. I asked the ticket clerk at Delta if I could credit for my scheduled flight from Reagan to New York that I was going to miss. He got going on the computer and told me that my reservations from Washington to Pisa had been voided by Air France (with whom I flew to Washington). I was very upset and went to Air France counter. There I was told that the reservations had been voided by my travel agency in Pistoia who issued the ticket for me. At this hour the agency was already closed in Italy.

So my driver took me back to Gettysburg. I sent an e mail to a friend in Pistoia who visited the travel agency for me the next morning. She told me that I had the wrong itinerary for my return trip. I told her this was the only itinerary I ever had. It turned out that this was an itinerary for an tentative reservation that had been made and then cancelled when the agency found a better one for me. They printed out the tentative one by mistake rather than the final one.

The travel agency suggested that I return to the airport and try to get a flight that evening. Rather than do that I called Delta. I discovered the first open seats were on Sunday, July 4. Then I was told first (1) no problem and then (2) I would have to pay for a complete new ticket. I got to a third person who got me a ticket but I had to pay a $250 change fee.

Needless to say, I expect the travel agency to reimburse me for this $250.

Irony number 1. Had I gone to Reagan airport, as my itinerary said, I would have said good-by to my friend who drove me and entered the terminal. Then I would have discovered that my tickets had been voided, but my driver would have already left to return to Gettysburg. I would have had to find someone else to come to retrieve me from the airport.

Irony number 2. My correct itinerary, of which I got a copy by e mail from my friend in Pistoia, actually had me leaving on Thursday from Dulles, not Reagan. I was at the right airport, but did not know it.

The whole problem would have been solved without any difficulty had I asked one question. When the clerk said my reservation had been voided I should have asked “Is there any other reservation in my name?” The clerk then would have found my correct reservations in the computer and told me my flight would take off from Dulles in two hours.

I Hate to Say I Told You So, But

I’ve written before about how the government did a good job of quickly constructing temporary housing for victims of the earthquake last year in L’Aquila. I noted that this was part of a multi-phrase plan of which the next step was rebuilding the city itself so people could move back into their own houses. I expressed doubt that the rest of the plan would go quickly. This week there was a protest in Rome of residents of L’Aquila.  It even turned violent.  They were protesting that almost nothing has been done to rebuild the city.

As Always, Upon Returning to Italy

You notice what a beautiful country it is. You also notice that the first two ticket machines you try to use at the train station don’t work and that only one of the three trains you take to get home has air conditioning,

Italy and the World Cup

I was in the USA as Italy ingloriously exited quickly from the World Cup, but I read the articles in the Italian press on the internet. Whereas American papers called the performance of the USA team “disappointing” or “discouraging”, the Italian press used the word for “shame” and “disgrace.”

My Article in The Florentine (English Language) Newspaper on Graffiti

I wrote this article at the request of a friend who wants to stir up an anti-graffiti campaign in Florence.

Getting a Handle on Graffiti

Although the word is Italian in origin, the problem of graffiti exists throughout the world. The gravity of the problem, of course, varies widely. Graffiti on the beautiful buildings of Florence is more discordant than it is on buildings in an already degraded neighbourhood of the Bronx in New York. If it is a graver aesthetic assault here, then what are the prospects for taming this plague in Florence?

The easy answer is that Italians are not particularly law abiding, so the problem is insoluble. Consider, however, the success of the smoking ban in public places in Italy. Many doubted that it would be obeyed, but it has been. Is there a renaissance of respect for the law in Italy? I doubt it. We have to look elsewhere for an explanation. I believe that after the new smoking rules were proclaimed, to smoke in public, especially in the immediate vicinity of others, was to make a brutta figura. So, cultural norms triumphed over habit. Of course, others may have a better rationale.

Yet a strong element of the culture in Italy is its strong aesthetic sensibility. This expresses itself in clothes, design, art, down to the way a package is wrapped at a store. Italian homes show a flair for interior arrangement and fanatic cleanliness. So one would expect that Italians, whose public spaces are some of the most beautiful in the world, would defend these spaces against the scourge of graffiti in a way that surpasses this battle in other nations.

Why has this not happened? One must consider another element of Italian culture: the general disregard for the cleanliness and maintenance of public spaces. The attitude toward public space is the exact opposite of that toward private space. There probably is no single explanation of the lack of concern for the public space, but my prime villain would be what a social scientist studying Italy calls familismo. The family is the sacred rock of Italian life. Furthering the interests of one’s family is the Holy Grail. As a result, a society in which people take seriously their civil obligations toward their fellow citizens is diminished. The public space is not my problem, not my family’s problem. It is something for the government, to which we pay our taxes (or, perhaps more accurately, to which we should pay our taxes) to take care of. If the government does not do so, it is no big deal.

I don’t wish to sound like an enemy of ‘the family,’ the prime source of joy and satisfaction in Italy. Like all virtues, however, when taken to excess, it leaks into the area of vice. To be sure, an analysis of the positive and negative roles of the family in Italian life and culture goes far beyond a discussion of the public space.

The results of the lack of respect for the public space, however, are obvious. Litter is omnipresent. The external maintenance of buildings and streets is poor. Finally, graffiti abounds.

I recently read a newspaper article (see ‘It’s war!’ in TF 124 and related article on page 5, this issue) about the city’s plans to enforce the rules against graffiti both in terms of apprehension of violators and the penalties meted out to them. This is one obvious approach to the problem. Another is to provide a public space where graffiti ‘artists’ are invited to practice their craft. Such approaches may have some effect, but when the underlying impediment is cultural rather than legal, I am not optimistic.

The situation, however, is not necessarily hopeless. In my years in Italy, I’ve discovered the Italians do unite around some issues and bring about necessary change. As we recently observed the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Italy in 1945, one could recall a strong, widespread (certainly not universal) movement in Italy to confront the German occupiers at the cost of many lives. Every time there is a natural disaster in Italy, citizens from all over the nation unite to aid to the victims. Italians can move beyond ‘what’s in it for me and my family.’ Consider far northern Italy, where the culture, for lack of a better term, is more ‘Germanic’: the public spaces are much cleaner. To make a successful effort against graffiti in Tuscany and Florence will involve a change in attitude toward public space in general.

 
Dealing with Loitering
 
A friend lives in an area of central Florence that is more and more inhabited by immigrants. Don’t ask me how they can pay the rents –they must live 20 to a room! Anyway on the steps of my friend’s apartment building some immigrants gather to drink and make a general mess. The residents of the building ask the loiterers to leave. Sometimes the police are called. The police usually come, and the people move. Soon they are back. If you call the police too many times, they stop coming saying that they can do nothing. Here is a difference between Italy and the USA. The police in Italy are very courteous and reluctant to use force of any kind. Consequently few fear them (although, to be accurate, there are some cases of police brutality.) . In the USA after a policeman was called the third time to disperse some loiterers, he likely would tell them “the next time I come here, I’m going to arrest you and you are going to spend the night in jail. It doesn’t matter whether you have broken any law, I’ll find a reason to arrest you.” In Italy the goal of the police often is to “do their job” not to “solve the problem.”

Italy is holding its first divorce fair, to help couples facing marriage break-ups.

Organisers say the event in Milan aims to help divorcing couples with legal proceedings and how to start afresh. Services include life coaching, beauty tips and advice on how to get rid of ex-spouses who turn into stalkers. Divorce levels in the traditionally Catholic country have been relatively low until recently, but there has been a dramatic rise in the last few years. (from the BBC news service)

 
Bargain Apartment (not Mine) for Rent in Pistoia
 
This is from a friend whom I know and trust