thisweekinitaly.com

Drop in Auto Accidents

In July 2003 Italy instituted for the first time a “points” system for
drivers
so that a person with too many violation points first has to go to a
driver’s
school and could even lose the license for a while (although some of my
Italian friends see this latter penalty as unlikely to be used much). There
has been about a 20% drop in serious accidents and deaths since July 2003.
I remember reading once in a behavioral science course that when a new law
like this is passed, there is an immediate effect, but over time behaviors
tend to return to where they were before –especially if the new law turns
out to be less drastic in its application than its wording appears to
indicate.
So two cheers for the law’s initial success, but judgment on its final
effect
remains reserved.

Berlusconi’s Latest

Silvio caused a storm of controversy by saying that many politicians have
big houses, yachts, etc. — all through money stolen from the public. The
sub-theme to this remark is “I made my money legitimately outside of
politics.”
Some of his opponents claim that Silvio’s media empire was saved many years
ago from failure by a law he got Parliament to pass so that his fortune
too is dependent upon politics. But aside from all that, I notice that
when he says something “outrageous” such as his latest statement or his
earlier remark that nothing good had come out of Islamic culture for 1000
years, it usually is something that most Italians believe but few people
say in public. He is a clever politician. He is hated in Tuscany (left
wing area) in
the same way that Republicans hated Clinton and Democrats now hate Bush.

Strange Rain

I emerged from my apartment one day to see that every car on the street
was covered with mud as if a large truck had passed and splashed a mud
puddle
onto the car. Obviously it had rained mud. It turns out that when there
is a big wind storm in the Sahara, the sand gets taken up into the clouds
and then can fall as rain on Italy. This happens every few years. A Godsend
for the owners of Car Washes; unfortunately for these owners a few hours
later a regular rain arrived and washed the cars clean.

Revision of My Earlier Theory on Umbrella Theft

When my umbrella was lifted at the Museum in Siena, I suggested that such
theft must be uncommon because Italians regularly put their umbrellas in
the umbrella stands outside the stores before entering. Now that
I’ve had a second umbrella lifted from such a stand, my theory is that such
theft may not be so uncommon. This thought is reinforced
by the fact that my friend Gabriella also has recently lost two umbrellas
to theft. With umbrellas sold (on a rainy day) for 5 Euro by immigrants on
many corners,
an umbrella becomes close to a “throw away” item. So no big deal if it is
stolen.

Church Meal

My church had its annual meeting recently after the 11 am service. Following
the meeting, there was a lunch in the fellowship hall. The pastor’s
daughter
is a student at the Culinary Institute of America. She was visiting
Florence
with her boyfriend, a fellow student at the Institute. They prepared the
meal — a very fine pasta and then Chicken Marsala. Had they not been
present,
the meal would have been similarly very fine. In Italy, you are not going
to get a church meal of overcooked roast beef and vegetables.

The Play Poster — an Example of What is So Nice about Italy

At the theatre I attend, I wanted to get a copy of the poster advertising
the most recent show. The posters come both in a small size posted in
shops
and in a large size put on walls and posted in the theatre itself. I asked
about the large size at the ticket office. None were available but the
lady suggested I could take the one from the theatre lobby after the play
had ended its run. The plays run Thurs. — Sunday. I went Saturday, but
was unsuccessful in my attempt to take the poster then. The usher said I
needed to come back Sunday. I returned Sunday during the final Matinee
performance, but the usher said I could take it only after the play had
ended — around
7 or 7:30. I did not get back until 7:45 and the theatre was closed.

I returned Monday, but the theatre was closed all day. I found out it next
opened at 4 on Tuesday. I had an appointment at 4 on Tuesday, but I hoped
the poster would still be there when I went to the theatre after the
appointment. At 4:30 I got a telephone call. The woman at the ticket booth
had recorded
my name when I first asked and had taken down the poster for me. It was
waiting for me at the ticket office.

Next, I wanted to get it framed. I went to my favorite frame shop to see
if the cost would be too much to make it feasible (This is a big poster,
about 28″ by 38″.). The lady told me that for such an item (It was not in
mint shape.), it would be best to get an inexpensive clip frame (using
plastic instead of glass) which she did not ordinarily recommend but which
was the best thing for such a poster.
She did not sell them, but told me where I could get one. The frame cost
$9, and now the poster is hanging in my apartment — thanks to two very
gracious women.

The Play Itself

The play for which I got the poster was itself very hard to understand.
It was in the Neapolitan dialect. Even my friends from Pistoia
did not understand all the dialog. Italian plays from over 50 years ago
are often in dialect. A playwright who wanted his plays produced in
his own area probably had to write in the dialect of that area. Before
radio, TV, and universal education, many Italians did not speak or even
fully
understand the standard Italian language. I wish my friend Ralph Cavaliere
from Gettysburg was with me at the play; the Neapolitan dialect was the
language spoken in his home in New Haven, CT.

Large Sizes

I have mentioned that in Italy shoes ( I think European shoes in general)
come in only one width. I was reminded of this when I saw a man on the
train with athletic shoes with the laces barely tied at all. He clearly
had feet too wide for standard Italian shoes.
For clothes beyond shoes, one can get large sizes of items that come in
S. M. L, XL, XXL, etc. For item with numbered sizes, I am not so sure. I
have seen large sizes at the market, but not often in the stores. A store
that featured clothes for the full figured woman carried sizes (USA
equivalent)
10-20. It was interesting the sizes started at 10, hardly a large size
in the USA. For men’s shoes, it would be hard to get USA sizes 13 and over
anywhere.

In the USA there are catalog companies that specialize in hard to find
sizes,
but in Italy buying by mail order is uncommon. Although there is an ebay
site in Italy, in general, Italians want to see it before they buy it. So
in Italy the person with big feet (or very small feet) is left with the
options
of the more flexible athletic shoes or custom made shoes.

True Love

A few weeks ago I reported seeing the local headline “Priest and Young Girl
Tell Their Love Story.” I’m sure you have all been waiting for further
news of this touching story. The local Bishop offered the priest a three
months leave of absence during which he might consider the path he wanted
to take. It took, however, only one week for the priest to decide to leave
his calling and enter the secular world with his beloved. As always with
men (priest or otherwise) this was probably not an intellectual or spiritual
decision. The girls’s parents are outraged, but can do nothing since she
is an adult. She is about 20; the priest is in his early 40s.

In Business Since ???

You often see business signs in the USA that say something like “in business
since 1950″ or “serving your needs for over 50 years.” When I see a sign
that says, for example, “founded in 1975″. I say to myself “That was only
yesterday; why would anyone brag about that?” My Italian bank has a sign
too — “founded in 1472.” I guess that is long enough to merit a little
bragging.

Lost Cell Phone

I lost my cell phone on a trip to Poretta Terme. I can’t figure out when
I even had it out of my pocket to lose it, but I ought to be happy I kept
it 15 months without losing it. That’s a good record for me and things
that can be misplaced. The important thing is that I was able to keep the
same number when I bought a new phone. I bought a used one this time, but
it has more advanced features than my old phone. Before buying a new phone,
I went up to Poretta Terme the next day to retrace my steps. At the
restaurant
where I checked, the waiter asked if I wanted anything to drink. Since they
were helping me, I ordered a cappuccino, but when I went to pay for it, it
was on the house. The Italians are always very polite and helpful to people
who have a problem.

Poretta Terme is a spa town. It is not as big of a spa town as nearby
Montecatini
Terme. The waiter told me that three of the 10 hotels in Poretta Terme have
closed. As in the USA, the closed hotels have been converted to senior
citizen
homes.

“Animal House” Antics Make the Headlines

A recent headline in the in Pistoia — “Students Steal the Notes of the
Professors.” As always, the headline story does not have to be important,
only colorful.

The Death of Il Pirata

Prominent Italian bicycle racer Marco Pantani (nicknamed the Pirate with
his bald head, large earring, and bandana around his forehead) was found
dead in his hotel room. In 1998, he won both the Tour of Italy and the Tour
de France (something that Lance Armstrong has never even attempted). In
1999 he was leading the Tour of Italy after many days, when he failed a
blood test for doping. He was dropped from the race and then suspended from
racing for a while. He never returned to his former greatness. He was a
great climber – riding out of the saddle all the way up the mountain.

An autopsy was done. Suicide was expected. The cause of death was edema
of brain and lungs. Now there will be a further test for toxicology. Already
there are rumors of drug addition in the newspapers. If the further tests
find the death to be natural, many Italians will nevertheless say it was
from drugs. If the these tests find that he died of drug overdose,
many Italians will say that he was murdered. Here the “official” story,
whatever it is, is always disbelieved by many Italians.

This story got some coverage in the USA. In the daily national sports
newspaper
of Italy, the headline was “He is Gone. Shock, Sadness, Grief, Pain. The
Whole World Weeps.” So if you haven’t wept yet for Marco, please do so to
validate this banner.

A trip to Germany and Prague

a. Getting to Prague

My son Chris and I were to leave at 5:46 am for the first leg of a trip
to Prague that would get us there by train at 11:30. Our first train ride
was a 30 minute one after which we have a four minute interval until we
boarded the next train. Unfortunately the sign at station told us that
first train was 10 minutes late. I asked Chris if the train could make
up the time so we would make our connection, but he noted that the first
leg of the trip was a short one so it would be difficult to make up a lot
of time. So he went to the computer at the train station, and we did a
rerouting,
and took a different train.

Later we had to have our ticket rewritten to reflect our new itinerary.
The clerk at the station called to check if in fact the first train was
10 minutes late. It was 10 minutes late originally, but it made up five
minutes before reaching the next station, and the train we wanted waited
one minute for the connection. In short, we would have made our original
connection, but of course we could not know this would occur. The clerk at
the station seemed to imply that we should have known that the train would
make its connection even if it was late for a while–in Germany the trains
make the connections. In Italy, nobody would ever expect a train to make
up time. If it is 10 minutes late at the first station, it will be 10
minutes
late or more on the entire journey.

At the second station, a woman was mopping the floors. She became noticeably
disturbed when people walked over a freshly mopped section before it dried.
Chris and I made sure we did not do so. A fellow passenger said that she
was late in doing the mopping; it usually is done earlier in the morning
when there are fewer passengers. In Italy, nobody would get upset that you
walked over the damp floor. The worker would think “I’ve done my job; I’ve
mopped the floor. It’s not my problem if people walk on the floor before
it dries.” Example number 1001 of the differences between Italy and
Germany.

b. Prague

Prague is, as everyone says, a lovely city. It has churches, museums,
palaces,
etc., but the charm of the city is not these specific attractions but the
overall city itself. It was not destroyed in WW II. Prague was for centuries
part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. ler was an Austrian, and he viewed
Prague as part of his ancestral homeland. Under communism there was some
sterile Stalinist construction, but not too much.

My older son Andy visited Prague in 1989. my younger son Chris saw it in
1992 and 1999 as well as with me this time. I imagine that when Andy saw
it in 1989, the commercialization of Prague had not begun much. By 1992
there were already McDonalds and other American chains. Now there are many
more. There is a joke in Prague that you can give directions to someone
by telling him to go first down street X until you reach the McDonalds,
then down street Y until you reach another McDonalds, etc.

Tourism is obviously a major, if not the major, industry in Prague. But
there are lingering effects of the years under communism — in Prague they
have difficulty getting all the details right on serving tourists. At the
information office at train station, they did not have maps to show us where
to catch the metro and where to get off. When we had a drink at a bar, the
bartender hadn’t quite gotten around to removing the glasses from the last
customers. We ate a meal with a fixed menu. When my friend asked about
getting tea instead of coffee, the waiter said “the menu says coffee.” At
another restaurant, when we got a salad, the waiter brought a tray with
two vials of olive oil but no vinegar. All these (and I could cite others)
are VERY MINOR items, but they show the difficulty of making a smooth
transition
to a competitive service economy.

Festival of St. Anthony Abbot in Capena

This festival got a write up in the USA this year because the part of the
festival that in the past had residents smoking rosemary in pipes has
evolved
into smoking cigarettes. Everyone gets to smoke on this day –even young
children. Obviously there are people in Italy who think it is a bad idea
for young children to smoke, even for only one day, but this Festival
illustrates a difference between Italy (and I think Europe in general) and
the USA.
There is much less of an effort here to “protect” children from adult vices.
Nudity on TV is more common. (The only thing that might be newsworthy in
Italy about the Janet Jackson Super Bowl “exposure” is that the incident
triggered an investigation by the American governmental agency that
regulates
TV.) Young school students will be taken on museum tours and allowed to
view nude paintings. There is no hard and fast legal age for drinking
because wine
drinking by children is not seen as evil. Concerning the Festival at
Capena,
I think that most Italians would say that whether people smoke or don’t
smoke as teenagers or adults will not depend upon whether they were allowed
to smoke for one day a year as children.

Strikes of Judges and Doctors

Both doctors and judges went on strike to protest proposed governmental
reforms. Whereas when the train employees are on strike, you know it
immediately because the trains don’t run, with the excruciatingly slow
Italian justice system, I don’t know how long a strike of judges would have
to go on before somebody noticed a difference.

The judiciary is more “political” in Italy than in the USA. There is only
one justice system in Italy whereas in our federal system there are many.
Over the last 60 years more and more “big” controversial questions in the
USA have been resolved by the courts rather than the legislative or
executive
branches –segregation, abortion, voting rights, aspects of capital
punishment,
etc. These issues have been too “hot” to resolve in the normal political
process. The result has been that in the USA the federal courts especially
have become more of a political arena. Presidents of both parties have
difficulty getting their judicial appointments approved by the Senate.
I’m not a political scientist; I don’t have an answer to what I see as an
unhealthy politicization of the judiciary in the USA. But if you want to
see where this trend ends in terms of disrespect for the judiciary and
political
paralysis–come to Italy.

The Ongoing Saga of Postal Rates

I groused in past issues about how it now takes two stamps to pay the new
80 cent rate to the USA because the new rate was not accompanied by the
issuance of an 80 cent stamp. The rate for ordinary mail in Italy went
up from 41 cents to 45 cents. I should not complain about my letters to
the USA. For an ordinary letter within Italy it takes 3 stamps now — the
old 41 cent stamp, a 3 cent stamp, and a 1 cent stamp. There is neither a
45 cent stamps nor a 4 cent stamp.

Living Economically in Italy

As in the USA, prices are generally lower in larger stores. With the
declining
dollar, I should seek to find the lowest prices. But it is much nicer to
shop at the neighborhood grocery of Marco and Fredrica where they know me
by name and make a special order for my 500 ml. carton of cream every few
days. Although photo developing is cheaper at the supermarket, the two
men at the local photo shop know me too (I don’t even need a numbered
receipt
for my order) and, of course, always give me a little “discount.” Similarly
I enjoy joking with the two brothers at the the tobacco shop where I buy
envelopes. And so it goes. I realize that part of the pleasure of living
in Italy is my relationships with local neighborhood merchants. Saving
money by shopping at big stores can be a “false” economy.

The Lexicon for Being a Cuckold

In Italy there is a gesture made with the index and the little finger
extended
that has two contradictory meanings (1) bring me good luck and (2) you are
a Cuckold — your wife is cheating on you. The gesture is Fare le Corna
(make the horns). In Italy it is a sign of disgrace for your wife to cheat
on you but an ordinary occurrence for your husband to be unfaithful. There
is a whole lexicon of phrases built around this gesture. The person cheated
on is a “cornuto.” “Quel Cornuto” means “what a jerk, what a fool.” “Fare
come i cornuti” (To act like persons who are cheated on) means to be
obsessed
with something that has happened after other people have already forgotten
it. But my favorite is “Pasta dei cornuti” (the pasta for the men whose
wives are cheating on them). This means a pasta similar to that made by the
wife very quickly
(still tasty of course) and with the most simple of tomato sauces because
the wife is eager to get dinner over with in order to move onto “other
activities.”

The Musical Event

A friend told me to be sure to see an event coming to town that featured
some well know Italian musicians. So I went. In the the cast were a famous
jazz trumpeter and piano player and a well known singer, but there were
others too. I could best describe this in American terms as a concert
featuring the Wynton Marsalis trio, James Taylor on guitar and vocals, and a
group from the Spike Jones Orchestra. The comedy group of musicians was
very slapstick. They did not simply play funny songs, they also used their
instruments as props in the comedy sketches. For example two trombonists
pretended
to be fighting each other by striking blows with the slides of their
trombones.
The “serious” musicians also took part in the slapstick activities. So there
were songs sung seriously and very well. There were lovely jazz pieces.
There were silly sketches, and sometimes the silly routines interrupted the
“serious” pieces.

It was a kind of mixture you don’t see in the USA. In Italy you might see
on TV a banal love song sung with the accompaniment of a full symphony
orchestra. The divisions between serious (classical, vocal, or jazz) music,
mundane
popular music, and comedy are not observed. My American companion at the
event wondered why they “screwed up the good music” with the silly antics,
but the Italian audience loved it and called for encores.

A Rare Musical Treat

At the Friday night concert series I attend, there was recently a concert
by two musicians playing the guitar and the mandolin. The program consisted
of the entire 19th century repertoire of music specifically for these two
instruments together. I am not clear that there are any 20th or 21st
century
additions to that repertoire. I did buy the CD available after the program.
Now if a friend visits me and says “tonight I really feel like hearing some
guitar and mandolin duet music,” I AM PREPARED.

Concerts include a program about the musicians and the selections. From
these programs I get the impression that musical competitions are very
common
in Italy. For example the description of the career of a pianist at a
recent
concert included his victories at contests in Cesenatico, Castiglion
Fiorentino,
Piombino, Lamporecchio, Grosseto, Terme di Saturnia, and six other cities.
He
is only 28 years old.

Peruvian Art Exhibit

In Florence there was an excellent exhibit of the arts of ancient Peru.
Although Italian art is everywhere in Italy, Italians also appreciate art
from other countries (more than they appreciate food from other countries)
and art exhibits from all eras and locations are common.
This exhibit contained a room of erotic art. For the native peoples of Peru
are was functional, not merely decorative. So the erotic art was in every
day objects. I noted a small pitcher with a handle in the shape of a penis.
If you go to a tacky novelty store in the USA, you will see items such
as a coffee cup with a handle in the shape of a penis. Instead of turning
away in disgust, I suggest you buy one of these and try to figure out a
way to pass it down to your descendents for enough generations until the
time the cup passes from being a tacky novelty item to a piece of art
suitable
for a museum exhibit.

Train Waiting Rooms

I made arrangements to meet a friend at the waiting room of the Milan Train
station. I did not know if the station had one or two (First Class and
Second Class) such rooms, so we agreed to meet in the Second Class room
if there was more than one waiting room. When I got to the station, I
looked
for the waiting room(s). There were directional signs for the waiting
room(s),
unfortunately pointing in different directions. There was a map on the
station posted showing a waiting room in a totally different area. One
set of signs and the map were wrong. But I did finally find the one waiting
room.

The Florence station has a very nice waiting room. It has TV monitors
showing
the arriving and departing trains although the monitor for the departing
trains in the main part of the waiting room does not work. The one thing
it does not have, which to me is an essential in a waiting room, is a clock
that works. There is a large clock that has been broken for as long as
I can recall. The trains are announced in Italian and English, but not
all travelers speak one of these languages. If you don’t speak Italian
or English, be sure to bring a watch to the waiting room.

Visiting Milan

In a recent visit to Milan I noticed something that I hadn’t recognized
before. The train station is a large edifice from the Fascist era that
cleary
survived World War II bombings intact. Had it been seriously
damaged in the War, it would not have been rebuilt in the Fascist style.
On the other hand the church where DaVinci’s “The Last Supper” is located
was almost destroyed by Allied bombs. Fortunately the wall with “The Last
Supper” on it survived. This church is not in an industrial area; it is
hard to understand why this area had any priority in bombing. The hugh
train station was an obvious military target. World War II was certainly
not the era of “smart bombs.”

Italian Scam number 2468 (in the train station)

It costs 60 cents to use the toilet at the train station. You put the coins
in a machine and then the glass doors open to admit you. By the way, if
you have only a one Euro coin, you are out of luck. The machine, which
doesn’t
give change, also does not accept a one Euro coin. When you leave the rest
room, you push a button on the inside and the same glass doors that you
paid 60 cents to open to get in, now open to let you out. I saw a guy on
the inside who was pushing the button to open the doors from the inside,
and then accepting contributions (maybe less than 60 cents or maybe a full
Euro from someone who did not have any smaller coins to operate the doors)
for admitting people to the restroom.

Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests

The Pope spoke out against such abuse and urged a policy of “zero tolerance”
for it. This is not a big issue in Italy as it is in the USA. Last week I
did see that an Italian priest had confessed to fondling a young girl but
denied having made obscene phone calls to her; unfortunately for him the
record of telephone calls from his phone told a different story. Also this
week there was a local headline “Priest and Young Girl Tell Their Love
Story.” I have not noticed stories about priests abusing young boys
although I am sure it has happened here. In Italy, however, the revelation
of such abuses would not lead to a big law suit with very high damages paid
by the Church.

Abduction of Young Girl in Sarasota Florida

This story from the USA was the number two story on the nightly news; the
lead story was the bombing on the Moscow subway. The fact that the
abduction was captured on videotape gave the story a special twist.
Nevertheless, I doubt very much that if this story had occurred in Italy, it
would be the number two story on national TV news in the USA. Its coverage
here may reflect in part the strong interest here in what happens in the USA
and in part the great importance in Italy of children and family. As I have
noted before, children are at least a bit more important in Italy than in
the USA.

The New Postal Rates (continued)

There are still no Priority Mail stamps for 80 cents to use to send mail at
the new rate to USA, but now there are 3 cent stamps that you can add to the
old 77 cent priority mail stamps to cover the new rate of 80 cents. A
friend theorized that there will be no 80 cent stamps until the Post Office
has used up its supply of the old 77 cent ones.