The Pleasures of Living in Italy — A Bicycling Adventure

When I report about happenings in Italy, I tell about things that are reported in the media. As elsewhere, the media in Italy emphasizes the problems of the nation, not the positive aspects. So it is good to recall the kind of pleasant adventures that make life in Italy quite enjoyable.

Pescia is about 15 miles from Pistoia. The hills north of Pescia are called Little Switzerland. In these hills are 10 villages called the 10 Castella. They are walled and fortified villages that once served an important military position between Pistoia and Lucca. They are well preserved and maintain their medieval look and feel. They are in two overlapping circles. We took a bike ride along the lower of these two circles. The climb going up was constant but not brutal – no problem for me and the new electric assist bicycle. This bicycle is geared a little higher than my friends’ bikes so even pedaling at a slow cadence, I get well ahead of the other riders. We stopped to eat at a famous restaurant, Sandrino (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1016807-d1094986-Reviews-Trattoria_Sandrino-Pescia_Province_of_Pistoia_Tuscany.html) , located in one of the villages, Sorana. Sorana is well known for its beans; the beans at the restaurant were excellent although I can’t say that I could distinguish them from other beans I have eaten.

Attached are some photos of the area.

The Easter Parade

Those who know me know that I have a very large wardrobe and enjoy having clothes that are brighter (more outlandish? ) than many men choose to wear. I think I am one of the more spiffy dressers at my church (Others are free to disagree.) , but, nevertheless, I am not without competition. We have a substantial African segment to our congregation, and sometimes my suit or shoes will match what some of these gentlemen are wearing.

Comparing Social Statistics Among Nations – Not Always Accurate

At onetime suicide was considered a mortal sin by the Catholic Church and those who killed themselves could not receive a church funeral. This may still be the case or perhaps the Church is more flexible today. In any case, as a result of this doctrine, the suicide rate was low in Italy, not because people did not kill themselves but because the family got the death certificate to state a different cause of death. So the official Italian suicide rate was simply quite inaccurate.

A similar phenomenon exists in divorce statistics. Divorce in Italy is long, expensive, and still has a stigma of social disapproval. Although the divorce rate is rising in Italy, there are many couples who separate but never divorce. A more accurate figure for cross national comparisons would be a Marriage Failure Rate which included divorces and separations of over one year. Of course, since separations are not legally recorded as divorces are, this statistic would be harder to assemble.

The Future of Nuclear Power in Italy

I wrote recently that in June there will be a referendum in Italy whose purpose is to overturn the recent action of Parliament reauthorizing nuclear power in Italy which has been forbidden since the 1980s. For a referendum to be valid, it must reach a quorum of over 50% of the voters. I feel that if the quorum is reached, the referendum will succeed so that the only hope of proponents of nuclear power is that the quorum will not be achieved. Now the government has announced a two year moratorium on nuclear power plans while the safety issues are studied in light of recent events in Japan. Remember that Italy is a prime earthquake zone. The anti-nuclear power forces see this moratorium as an attempt to blunt the issue so that people won’t feel motivated to vote in the referendum. The referendum, however, contains two issues. The other is to overturn a law that authorizes the privatization of public water systems.

Visiting Etruscan Tombs

I gave up my ticket to the Royal Wedding to go on a bike trip with friends to the Etruscan areas of Lazio and southern Tuscany. Our first stop was at the necropolis at Cerveteri. The tombs are in a sort of separate city of the dead. They are in the form of buried little houses with features of domestic architecture. We encountered some guys at the entrance who were willing to sell Etruscan artifacts that presumably were from tombs in the area. Of course it is illegal to loot the tombs. While we were there a police helicopter circled above and two police cars were present. It seemed that there had been complaints about guys digging up new graves, and the police were making a show of force. Of course tomorrow the police will be gone.

Police use of Violence (contd.)

I wrote recently about the restrained use of violence by police in Italy. There was a good example this week. At a routine traffic stop, four youths attacked two policemen, nearly killing one and causing the other probably to lose an eye. The youth had attended a rave party and were drunk (drugged too?) and afraid of losing the driver’s license. Another police car apprended the youths soon thereafter. In the USA the story of this incident in the newspaper might well contain the following “upon being stopped the second time, the youths again resisted arrest. They are now recovering in the local hospital.” This did not happen in Italy.

Of course the Italian police are not angels. Last year a youth died in a local jail where he obviously had been beaten. In the 1980s a famous terrorist died when he “dived out a window while in police custody.” Still, all in all, the police use much less violence in Italy.

Over the Counter Drugs

Previously these were only available at a pharmacy. Now you can buy them at a supermarket although the selection is not extensive. The good news is that they are less expensive at the supermarket. The bad news is that they still cost a lot more than in the USA. So I buy things like aspirin and vitamin pills when I am in the USA. Prescription drugs are free or practically free for persons enrolled in the Italian medical system.

Secret Vote in Parliament

Votes are taken by pushing a button with the totals being displayed on a large board. I assume most legislatures use such a system. The system can probably show both the total votes and also the votes by individual. In Italy the total number of votes may exceed the number of legislators present as a single person sometimes presses his button and one or more for absent members. I assume that in the US Congress a member can request a roll call vote or other type of vote on the record. This is so that on important issues, the public can know how each member voted. In Italy, on the other hand, there can be a secret vote with no opportunity for a roll call or other registering of votes by member.. Of course in Italy individual legislators are not held responsible for their votes. They run on a party list (You vote for the whole list not the individual persons on it.) rather than against specific opponents who could call them to task for votes they had made.

Palm Sunday

At many churches in USA, palm branches are distributed to worshippers for the service on Palm Sunday. At my church, and I assume others in Italy, we distribute olive branches instead which are easy to collect in Italy. My church in Florence has a large stained glass window illustrating Palm Sunday of which I have attached a photo.

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem as a conquering hero. Five days later he was crucified. I am reminded that in December 1944 Mussolini made in Milan his last public appearance. He was cheered by a crowd of Fascist supporters. Five months later his dead body was hanging upside down in public in Milan with some bystanders spitting on it. Of course those who cheered him in December, 1944 may have been a totally different group than those who despised him in April, 1945, but the idea that there was some overlap in the membership of the two crowds is not at all impossible.

Youth Unemployment

As I have noted, it is reported to be 30% in Italy. Recently the Italian Finance Minister said that unemployment among immigrant youth is very low. These your people do the jobs that Italians no longer will do. In all western nations, some jobs become over time defined as “immigrant jobs” and the native population no longer wants to do them, and employers only look to immigrants to fill the jobs. In Italy, as elsewhere, many of the unemployed youth are well educated. A university graduate is not going to work picking tomatoes. It is better to live at home with Mom and Dad and hope something will turn up. In general immigrant youth do not have the option of being supported by their parents.

A Little Personal Medical News

As far as I can tell from reading the Italian, my latest CAT scan, like all previous ones, shows no change in the dissection in my aorta. Of course I’ll check with my personal doctor. To ride my bicycle in the hills without becoming greatly out of breath (forbidden by the doctor), I am enjoying my new electric assist bike. I have taken it on some steep local climbs including one that was used in the Giro d’Italia a few years ago. On that one the battery ran out of juice before I reached the top, but fortunately I was close to the summit and could walk the rest of the way. It is not a piece of cake to pedal this bike up a steep grade. I still get some good exercise, but it is not exhausting.

War Against the Judiciary

As the political leader of the nation, Silvio Berlusconi has essentially declared war against the judiciary. He claims it is controlled by the left and is used to frustrate the will of the people who elected his coalition to make certain reforms. He also claims it is on a campaign to persecute him personally. This puts the President of Italy, the symbolic head of the nation, is a ticklish situation. One of the President’s duties is to promote cooperation and respect among the various branches of the government. So regardless of what his personal views might be of the judiciary, the President cannot endorse Berlusconi’s campaign against the judiciary. Not unexpectedly, the President has criticized the tone and language of Berlusconi’s attack upon the judiciary.

Domestic Violence in Lucca

I wrote recently about the high degree of domestic violence in Italy (Newsletter 410, April 1, 2011). Near to Pistoia is Lucca, a beautiful city of about 85,000 people. Within the last 18 months in Lucca, five women have been murdered by men with whom they were or had been romantically involved as wives or girlfriends. That is a very high murder rate even by USA standards. I doubt that an American city of the size of Lucca could match it.

I’ve Read Articles Like This Before — Women in Italy Today

Below is Article from April 25, 2011 Newsweek. At least twice in this newsletter, I’ve reprinted items from the Western media about the role and status of women in Italy today, especially with reference to the Berlusconi government (newsletter 298, October 6, 2008 “Italy—Sexism Capital of Europe” and newsletter 243, August 11, 2007 “A British Newspaper Looks at….”). What I think is important is that, even if Berlusconi’s approval rating among women has dropped, it does not appear that in election polls that they are ready to vote against him in mass numbers. In politics the important thing is not to be liked but to have people vote for you.

‘We Are Treated Like Prosciutto’

Defying the Berlusconi-Bimbo Stereotype

“Did you hear the one about an Italian trying to teach a German how to seduce a beautiful woman?” Silvio Berlusconi asks the university students at their formal graduation ceremony. He pauses, lifts an eyebrow, cocks his head, winks at the male emcee, and then reveals a punch line involving oral sex and champagne flutes. The joke bombs; the room is silent. “That was the watered-down version,” he says, trying to recover. “The original version is much funnier—as you can imagine.” A few minutes later, he’s at it again, smirking at two blondes, there to collect awards for academic excellence. “Congratulations,” he tells them. “You two are fabulous. I’m thinking of inviting you to a bunga-bunga” (referring to his infamous sex parties). It takes embarrassed laughter to break the uncomfortable silence.

Berlusconi has always been a joker. But Italian women are no longer laughing. The prime minister’s apparent imperviousness to charges of corruption and seemingly unending revelations about sex parties have fueled anger and dismay. In February, nearly a million people demonstrated against his boorish behavior. And the fury has only escalated since. Editorials, livid op-ed letters, and sex strikes proliferate. There are demands for equality in the workplace and legislative movement to put women in positions of power. “Finally,” says Maria Latella, editor of the magazine A, “the indignation and outrage is starting to spread.”

The rage can be read in the polls. Berlusconi’s approval rating among women has dropped from 48 percent a year ago to 27 percent—an all-time low. True to form, Berlusconi has his own statistics. “Did you hear about the latest poll?” he recently joked. “They asked women between 20 and 30 years old if they want to make love to Berlusconi. Thirty-three percent said yes, and 67 percent said, ‘Again?’”

Arcidonna, a woman’s group, filed a lawsuit against Berlusconi last month for 25 years of abuse against Italian women. “The conduct of the prime minister—now charged with child prostitution—is the final straw,” says Valeria Ajovalasit, the group’s president.

The 74-year-old recently admitted to paying about $65,000 to a Moroccan belly dancer known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer” when she was 17. But the money didn’t pay for sexual favors on 13 different occasions, as the prosecution contends. Rather, it was intended for a hair-removal machine so the belly dancer could start a beauty salon, he told reporters. “I paid her so she wouldn’t have to be a prostitute.”

“Once again Berlusconi has managed to transform something grave and serious into a ridiculous comedy,” says Anna Finocchiaro, a senator with the opposition Democratic Party. “The dignity of women is not a commodity that should be bought and sold.”

Like their American counterparts, Italian women burned their bras and demanded equal rights during the 1970s. But any gains slipped away during the following decades. “Women actually started moving backwards,” says Emma Bonino, a vice president in Italy’s Senate. “They went to sleep.” Berlusconi’s behavior, however, has awakened a desire for change. “They are determined to change the status quo,” says Bonino.

During demonstrations earlier this year, protesters in Rome carried signs with slogans saying, “Our Country Is Not a Whorehouse” and “Give Women Back Our Dignity.” A huge inflatable penis, flaccid and caught in a pair of giant scissors, floated above the heads of the more than 100,000 protesters at the historic Piazza del Popolo. There were more than 200 similar protests that day elsewhere in the country.

Mussolini “used to say that genius is just a men’s quality,” says the actress Monica Bellucci. “We are coming from that as the base, and it takes so much time to come up from that mentality.” Bellucci, who quit law school to model, could have ended up a velina—one of the sequined and lacquered showgirls ubiquitous on Italian networks—but instead chose to move to Paris and built a successful career as a serious actress. “In Italy, women have to learn so many things,” she says. “But most importantly, they have to learn confidence. Women in Italy are beautiful and sexy, but they have to learn that’s not all they have.”

Mara Carfagna, a former showgirl whom Berlusconi appointed minister of equal opportunity, has proposed an “independent gender authority.” Once listed by Maxim as one of the “world’s hottest politicians,” Carfagna has also signed an agreement with 20 major advertisers to end hypersexualized depictions of women, and has promised to back it up with a bill. Berlusconi has said he’ll back the law, and Carfagna has refrained from commenting on the allegations against him. “What’s important is stopping the imagery that is plainly wrong and offensive to women’s dignity,” she recently said.

As it is, Italian media are saturated by female nudity. Giant advertising billboards show women in seductive, open-legged poses. Radio shows are peppered with orgasmic moans. And the television anchors have a skin-to-clothing ratio that would make Caligula blush. In his dual roles as media mogul and Italy’s head of state, Berlusconi has done more than anyone to shape the media landscape. During the 1970s, he offered revolutionary programming, including a racy quiz show with housewives who stripped off an item of clothing—apron, kitchen glove, housedress, down to the garter belt—every time a male contestant answered a question correctly. The format for successful television shows hasn’t changed much since then: men are still at the forefront, participants and winners, while women are relegated to the background, silently taking off their clothes. “Women on television are treated like pieces of prosciutto,” says author Lorella Zanardo, whose popular documentary Il Corpo delle Donne, or Women’s Bodies, criticizes sexism on Italian TV. “A woman is either a passive nothing or a blatant whore,” says Zanardo. “While the rest of the world is advancing towards gender equality, we women in Italy are stuck in time, living permanently in a subordinate role.” Certainly, the statistics are staggering. According to the 2010 Global Gender Gap report by the World Economic Forum, Italy ranks 74th in terms of women’s rights, behind Colombia, Peru, and Romania. Indicators include wage parity, labor-force participation, and domestic violence. Other statistics reveal 95 percent of Italian men have never used a washing machine, and that Italian women spend 21 hours a week on housework while Italian men spend only four. “It’s the Latin tradition that a man is too macho for housework,” says Bellucci. “The idea was—and often still is—that women have to just be at home, to make babies, and that the father has to be a real man who is always in charge of the situation.”

Many have begun the countdown to the end of the bunga-bunga era when Berlusconi’s term finishes in 2013. “It’s time to take back the country and change the direction of history,” says Finocchiaro. “Women are the new protagonists and we must help them. We represent a great modern power.”

A Lovely Spring Afternoon

We have had some unusually warm Spring weather.  A friend and I went to a spa in nearby Monsummano Terme to lounge in a thermal bath. Unfortunately, the pools were closed on Wednesday afternoon.   A bit of trivia.  Monsummano Terme is the home town of one of the most famous recent persons from the Province of Pistoia – the French movie star and singer Yves Montand.   His family were Communists and fled Italy in the 1920s as the Fascists took over and persecuted Communists.  Montand’s original name was probably Italian in form, not French as it became.  Within the last 20 years he was invited back by his home town to be honored, but he was having none of it. 

After this initial disappointment, we drove up to the nearby scenic hill town of Montevettolini. As is often the case, if you could simply remove the cars, electric wires, and TV antennas, this  town would look essentially the same as it did 300 years ago.  There are no extraordinary edifices, but everything is very picturesque and well ordered.  An overall serene beauty with wonderful vistas of the valley below.  One discordant note was the number of vacant buildings.  You see this often in Italy – buildings that are abandoned and eventually going to ruin.  You wonder if the owners have any intention of rehabilitating the house.  If not, why don’t they sell it rather than letting it decline into no value.  The idea that the city can tear down an eyesore building because of “Condemnation By Neglect”  doesn’t exist in Italy. 

Self Defense in Italy and the USA

The law of self defense is essentially the same in the two countries.  You can use lethal force to defend yourself against another when it reasonably appears that you or others  are threatened by grave harm.  If you kill someone, claiming self-defense,  in circumstances that don’t meet this criterion, you are subject to criminal prosecution and a possible civil law suit for damages by the survivors of the person you killed.  In both the USA and Italy, this law applies also to the police. 

Two recent cases show how the law is applied differently in Italy. In one a shopkeeper (who had been robbed before) chased after some robbers of his store and shot one in the back when the robber was not longer a threat.  The shopkeeper was first convicted of homicide but won on appeal when his lawyers successfully argued that he was in a state of shock and thus believed he was in imminent danger even if he was not.  In the second case the robbers fled from a theft and got into a car as they were pursued by two armed guards. The robbers did fire some shots, but then were trying to pull away in the car. At this point one of the guards shot and killed two of them. Here too, at the point of the shooting, the criminals were no longer posing a threat.  The guard will possibly be charged with homicide.  In the United States prosecutors don’t tend to bring homicide charges against people who kill armed criminals who are fleeing from the crime scene – even if technically prosecutors  could do so given the circumstances which do not exactly fit within the law of self defense.   As I have noted before, the norms against police violence are much more severe in Italy than the USA. (Number 314 March 28, 2009,  Police Violence; Number 273, March 28, 2008,   Restrained Italian Police; Number 133,  May 21, 2005,  An Explanation about Violence).

New Yorker Article

Here is the link to read an article in the April 1 New Yorker about the unity of Italy as a nation and its current political climate. (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/04/11/110411crat_atlarge_parks  The author, Tim Parks, is an Englishman who has written a number of books about life in Italy.

A Trip to Belgium

I met a friend from the USA in Belgium.  He came to watch the one-day  Paris-Roubaix bike race which ends up near the Belgian border.   We stayed two nights in Bruges which some call “the Venice of the north.”  It is like Venice in two ways – it has canals and it is almost totally a city dedicated to tourism.  It is very well preserved and picturesque.  We also spent an afternoon in Ghent which is a similar city in appearance, but is not totally touristic.  As I wrote recently, Belgium is the world capital for French fries. ( newsletter 387, October 22, 2010, Advanced Study in Europe – a New Twist)  They were good, but the ketchup  we ordered with them  was an extra charge.  In one building we entered, there was a sign with three drawing with a line through them (showing the items were forbidden in the building) – one showed a dog, the second a drinking cup, and the third a paper cone with French fries in it.

The Paris-Roubaix Bike Race

We watched it pass by in a part of France near the Belgian border. At this point, there was a large tent with a big screen TV so that after the racers passed, one could watch the rest of the race on the TV.  Most of the crowd was Belgians.  The number 1 Belgian rider had trouble with his bike in the race and then was in a multi-bike crash.  He then withdrew for the day.  Amazingly another Belgian rider, not well known,  shot to the front and easily won the race. Needless to say, this was received with much enthusiasm in the large tent where we were watching the race. 

Controversy of the Week in Italy

Parliament  is about to pass a law that sets shorter limits for the time within which criminal cases must be concluded. There is a need too for quicker disposition of civil cases, but the new law doesn’t cover them.  Anyway the opponents of the law say it is being passed so Berlusconi will be absolved in a number of criminal cases against him.  Berlusconi’s supporters say the new law does not apply to cases already in progress so it won’t affect these cases against Berlusconi.  Laws are always subject to interpretation, but the effective date of a new law is usually clearly stated and not subject to interpretation.  Is one side in this debate simply lying?   If somehow the wording of the law in Parliament is unclear as to the cases to which it would apply, such wording could easily be changed  to make it totally clear.  How can the discussion of a major reform revolve primarily around a false problem (if the law is clear) or an easily resolved one?

Coming Home on the Train

After a dinner at my church in Florence, I went to the train station at 9.30 and discovered that, although the 9.07 train should have left, it had not yet departed.  So I ran to catch it. I did not need to run. After 10 minutes on the train, it was announced that there was something broken on the line,  and the train would not leave.  Passengers were directed to the 10.07 train on another track.  After a few minutes on this train, passengers were told the next train to leave was on a different track.  This train also was due to leave at 10.07.  After 10.07, there is a 10.25 bus to Pistoia (run by the train company) and then a 12.20 am train.  At 10.15 I found the conductor and asked if the train was going to leave or not. He said it probably would later, but could not say how much later.  I told him about the 10.25 bus, and he suggested that I take the bus.  As I was leaving this train a crowd of passengers, who, like me, had been moved from train to train were arguing with a train conductor.  I was glad they were arguing and not all going to the bus which did not have enough seats to accommodate all those waiting on the train.   The bus did leave promptly at 10.25.  The bus takes a half hour longer to Pistoia than the train, but it was moving and the train was not. 

Whenever there is a problem on the train line, the first announcement on the schedule board will announce a 10 or 15 minute delay.  Almost no problem in Italy gets solved in 15 minutes so the delay becomes 20 minutes, then 30, then 40.  After about 40 minutes of delay, if the train has not left, it is often cancelled altogether. 

The Silvio Show

Americans often ask me , “why do the Italians keep voting for Berlusconi?”  That is a complex question, but here is are examples  of a mode of action, sometimes called “the Silvio Show” that endears him to many Italians.  You start with a big problem that  now displays a salient crisis feature.  First example – the L’Aquila earthquake.  Many people were homeless. Silvio goes to the city and promises the homeless  would be in temporary housing  by end of year.  This is part of four phase plan that includes temporary housing now, rebuild homes in the city, return people to their homes, and use temporary housing as new facilities for local university.  Step one is accomplished . The temporary housing is completed on time. Silvio makes 15 trips to L’Aquila to garner praise.  Since then almost nothing has been done on step two, and local residents are very angry. Still many Italians believe “Silvio solved the housing problem in L’Aquila.”

Example two – the Naples garbage crisis.  Garbage was piling up in streets of Naples.  Silvio goes to Naples and promises to clean up the mess.  This is first step in plan to have new facilities to deal with the refuse and to get local residents to follow rules about separating garbage for recycling and other  modes of disposal.  Silvio got the army to pick up the garbage.  A new facility to burn garbage, that was almost completed at the time of the crisis, then came on line.  Within a year or so later the garbage piles were in the streets again in Naples. The  army was called out again.  Plans to reopen a nearby local landfill lead to an almost armed revolt of  the residents there.  I doubt that the residents of Naples today are anywhere near properly separating their refuse.   Still you will have no trouble finding people who say “Silvio solved the garbage problem in Naples.”

Example three – the island of Lampedusa  recently was flooded by new immigrants from North Africa arriving in little boats.   Local resident there were enraged.  Silvio arrives and announced “all immigrants will be off of the island within three days, you will get a one-year tax holiday, I am buying a house on the island to show my solidarity with you, and I am nominating the people of this island for the Nobel Peace Prize.”  This is part of a plan whose later steps are : (1) take immigrants to welcoming centers throughout Italy, (2) process them dividing  them between political refugees and those simply seeking economic improvement in Italy, (3) let the refugees stay but send  the others back to their homelands.   Tunisia has agreed to take back Tunisians, a large part of this group, who are not political refugees because Tunisia is not a place of war or repression.  At this point you can be sure that the ones who are due to be repatriated, to Tunisia or elsewhere,  will have disappeared from the welcoming centers (They are already doing so.) long before they are rounded up to be put on boats.  Still people will say “Silvio solved the problem of North Africans arriving at Lampedusa.”

In short Belusconi well understands the Italian attraction to a big show in response to a crisis and the Italian propensity  to forget about the promised follow-up of  actually dealing with the problem. 

In his defense, it may well be that other Italian leaders would not even get the big show step one done in a crisis.  Also some of the problems, such as the garbage in Naples, involve local issues beyond the control of the national government.  Finally other parts of his plans are theoretically within the power of the national government, but not very likely to occur given how the government operates in Italy.  You might say that Berlusconi claims to be a magician, many think he is, but in fact it’s mostly smoke and mirrors. 

American History Italian Style

Italians know much more of American history than American do of theirs.  Italians can identify Washington, Lincoln, and JFK.  Few Americans know Garibaldi, Cavour and DeGasperi.  Still what you read about US history in newspapers here is not always correct.  Recently I read an article about the raid by US Marines in the late 18^th century on the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean.  This is the raid remembered in the line in the Marine hymn “to the shores of Tripoli.”  The article told how daring and successful (and brutal) the raid was. It said that the Marines were all Sioux Indians. The Sioux were a western tribe probably unknown to the US government in 1790, and certainly were not in the US Marines.  I checked with a good friend who is a former Marine.  We doubt that the Marines were from any Indian tribe at this point in history.  Hey, it did make a good story.

My Current Favorite Restaurant

It is in my neighborhood and called Ristorante Osteria da Ale & Sally.  One of them is from Puglia and the other from Calabria. The food is excellent and very reasonable priced: it includes many items from the southern cuisine.  I suppose it doesn’t hurt that they both have the very vivacious personality that is more common in the south of Italy than in Tuscany,

Meals on Wheels – Italian Style

In American social service agencies have Meals on Wheels  programs to deliver meals to people no longer able to prepare them because of age or disability.  I also dealt once with a company in the USA that shipped high  quality prepared meals to older folks.  The idea was that the children (who lived far away) could be sure that their elderly parents were getting good meals by shipping them to the parents through this company.  In Italy there is a company with a little different twist.  There is a guy who picks up meals from the Mommas in Calabria and transports them to Rome so the children (I assume primarily the males) can at least once a week have some of Momma’s good cooking.

Camilla Trinchieri

She is an Italian-American author who was presenting her latest book (Looking for Alice)at a local book shop. The book was written in English and now translated by a lady from Pistoia into Italian. (An interesting side note – it has not been published in the USA so the translation is the first edition.) Camilla had an American mother and an Italian diplomat father.  She was born in Prague in 1942 and lived in other countries too where her father was posted. Now the Italian government has Italian schools in major countries so the children of diplomats can get an Italian education.  This was not true when she was a child. So she was educated in English. Her spoken Italian sounded very good to me.  So why did she not translate the book  herself into Italian?  She said that, although she can speak Italian, she is not confident in writing it because she has never been trained in Italian grammar.  As I’ve noted  before, beyond issues of grammar, the style of writing in Italian is different than English.

Borrowing from Benito

I’ve mentioned before that the claim that (Benito) Mussolini made the trains run on time in Italy, probably reflected the fact that he simply stretched the schedules rather than increased the efficiency.  I was listening to a radio show from the USA about complaints of airline travelers. The host of the show was talking with an air travel specialist.  The host noted that airlines have improved the percentage of planes arriving on time. The expert countered that this has been done by delaying the scheduled arrival time over what it was in the past. The expert mentioned this was a technique of Mussolini. 

Life Imitates the Movies

A recent popular film in Italy is a comedy about a group of Italians in their early 30s who discover that they mistakenly were given passing grades on their national high school exit examination (La Maturità). Now they have to retake this difficult comprehensive examination or their high school diplomas will be voided.  The film portrays humorously this trauma for the young adults. This very thing happened this week in Italy. A private high school gave diplomas to 150 students who had not in fact passed the exit exam.  The news says that these students will have to retake the exam or  possibly lose their diplomas and thus their jobs. My guess is that some compromise will be worked out and these students will never be retested, but the idea of them retaking the exam, like the characters in the film, makes an attractive news story.

Boosting  Tourism in the Mountains North of Pistoia

Italians frequently take their summer vacations in the mountains or at the seaside.  It seems, however, at least around Pistoia, that the tourism business in the mountains has declined  quite a bit in recent years.  One could hypothesize various reasons. A large number of Italians own a second vacation home so they no longer need a hotel for a summer stay.  Although air conditioning is not as common as in the USA, still it is more and more used, and this makes it less necessary to flee into the coolness of the mountains. Anyway there was slight boost this week for a hotel in the mountains – it is the spot where the region of Tuscany is placing temporarily some of the recent illegal immigrants from Tunisia who flooded the island of Lampedusa and now are being transferred  to  holding centers throughout Italy. 

Cross Referencing

I sometimes put a reference in my items to earlier editions of this newsletter that have dealt with the same issue or person. I don’t expect that many readers, if any, are eager to do research into earlier newsletters, but I note the references just in case. All the newsletters are on the web at www.thisweekinitaly.com

How to Avoid Being Murdered in Italy – Leave Family and Home

An article in the paper said that in 2010 there were 113 murders in Italy.  Although Italy does not have a high murder rate, this figure seemed low to me.  On the internet I found another figure of 770, and a site that said in the first part of 1990s Italy had about 1400 murders a year.  The 113 figure is clearly way too low.  The article went on to say that of these killings 85% were of family members of the murderer.  A total of 62.5% took place within the home.  Of  these the great majority of victims were women.  Once before I reported that about 30% of murder victims in Italy are women(number 267, February 2, 2008 “Murdering Women”) ; these new figures seem to make that percentage higher.  So all in all this article is not highly credible, but in any case, Italy is a place where a lot of the violence is domestic.  You are not likely in Italy to be the victim of a drive by shooting or assassination by a stranger – just be careful at home.

Churches – Closed and Changing Names

Pistoia has many closed churches that have been deconsecrated.  Closed churches may result when the Diocese  re-systemizes the churches and finds some unnecessary.  Remember that churches were build in the past by families and patrons when there was no need for another church to accommodate worshipers. Napoleon closed many churches when  he ruled in Italy. Finally some churches were built by religious orders.  At times an order was suppressed by the Pope, and its churches were either closed or given to another order.  The Church of Santo Spirito in Pistoia is one such church. It was built by the Jesuits in the 1600s and then turned over to another order when the Jesuits were suppressed in 1773.  Later the Jesuits were reauthorized, but they did not get the church back.  It originally was the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.  This year, after 240 years, it has retuned to its original name. 

Italy and the Libyan Conflict – Looking toward a Resolution

I’ve noted before the close relationship between Italy and Libya, especially under the Berlusconi government. Italy is part of the NATO coalition, but Italian planes are not bombarding Libya. The news everywhere talks about how to get Qadaffi  to accept voluntary exile.  The ideal person to broker such an compromise is Silvio Berlusconi.  He has been a close friend of Qadaffi.  Silvio has excellent persuasive skills.  A great example of those skills is recounted in newsletter 265, January 10, 2008, in item “Silvio Berlusconi Super Salesman.”   So it is best for Italy not to appear totally anti-Qadaffi .

Confession ala Bill Clinton

I have written before about Mara Carfagna, ex showgirl , who is a minister in Berlusconi’s cabinet.  One magazine crowned her as “hottest government minister in the world.”  For a photo of her before she entered politics go to  http://foto.giovani.it/cgi-bin/foto/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Belle_Donne/Showgirls_italiane/Mara_Carfagna&image=03.jpg&img=&tt= .

 Italo Bocchino is a politician who formerly was allied with Berlusconi, but  when Gianfranco Fini left the Berlusconi camp, Bocchino went with him and now is a major spokesman for the Fini wing of the center-right.  This week, however, Italo was not talking about politics; he was confessing and apologizing to his wife on Italian TV for a relationship he had with Carfagna that went beyond the merely political.  I don’t know if his change of political allegiances had anything to do with the ending of the affair.  Personally I’d rather be caressing  Carfagna than following Fini.

My Birthday Present to Myself

After a lot of research and looking, I finally settled on the electric assist bicycle of my choice and purchased it.  This bike has an electric assist motor that functions when you begin to have difficulty pedaling;  you cannot propel the bike by the motor alone when not pedaling.  About five years ago I had a separation in the lining of my aorta.  After this incident, my doctor forbid strenuous exercise that causes me to become badly out of breath.  Thus I could no longer ride my bike in areas with steep hills and mountains.  In a country as hilly as Italy, this has proved to be a troublesome restriction; on bike trips I ended  up having to walk my bike up the hills.  Now I can just turn on the assist motor and go up without a lot of effort.   The bike I got is a brand from Austria but distributed by an Italian company.  In the world of bicycles, the Italians make models of excellent craftsmanship and quality, but Italy is not at the cutting edge of bicycle technology.

I know that the next step for me is the adult tricycle.

Good News on the Soccer Front

In Italy there are four major levels of professional  soccer leagues: A.B.C, and D. Below level D is what I called the semi-pro leagues.  At one time Pistoia was at level B. Based on their record, teams can rise or fall in the level to which they are assigned.  Recently Pistoia fell down to the semi-pro level.  ( For details see Newsletter 335, August 22, 2009.) I’ve noted that Pistoia’s team has been successful at this level.  The other teams at this level are from towns I have never heard of.  Due to this success, Pistoia for next year has been promoted to the D league.  It is still a long way back to level B if ever.

Visiting Nearby Pescia

I went to Pescia to the hospital there for a CAT scan. I forgot that prior to this test one should fast for 10 hours.  So the test was delayed until next week when I will remember not to eat before coming to the hospital.  With the canceled test, I had some time to play the tourist in Pescia.  I visited a convent on a picturesque site that now  is used as a group home for persons with drug and other personal problems.   There are also rooms which are  rented to tourists.  In Italy many convents have such rooms that can be rented at a quite reasonable price.  The accommodations are Spartan but quite adequate. I looked at a few churches including a church of St. Francis that claims that its painting of him is the oldest one extant and thus is probably the most accurate depiction of his face.  There was also the museum of Libero Andreotti, a 19^th century artist,  who made the plaster casts that were used to fabricate bronze and marble statues.  This is one of those little, out of the way,  museums where the curator is overjoyed if any visitor arrives.  Although the door to the museum was open, the lights were turned off as I first arrived. 

Crisis at Lampedusa

I have written about Lampedusa, the Italian island near Africa, that is the first stop for refugees fleeing Africa for Italy and perhaps elsewhere in Europe.  (Newsletter 307, February 7, 2009)  The  unrest in North Africa has spawned a flood of persons arriving at Lampedusa.  Immigrants’ now outnumber residents.  Italy plans to resettle these new arrivals in other welcoming centers in throughout the nation.  Italy’s calls for help and assistance from the rest of Europe to resettle the refugees outside of Italy have gotten little response.  France will not accept the Tunisians (who are French speaking) that want to settle there. The official Italian government policy is that those who are refugees from a war-torn area can stay, but those coming merely for economic reasons have to be returned to their homeland.  In fact few, if any, will be returned.  In Italy you have the immigration law, but you also have a culture that is both inefficient and not hard nosed in enforcing the law.  Once immigrants are transferred from Lampedusa to the Italian mainland, they will walk away from the welcome centers and become part of the illegal immigrant population in Italy.