Proud To Be Italian? Part – 2 Posted by Serena on Jan 28, 2016 in Culture
In my last post Proud To Be Italian? Part – 1 mi sono sfogata abbastanza (I vented my frustration quite a bit), but I make no excuses, I’d be lying if I maintained the stereotypical fantasy of la bella Italia. There are, however, many aspects of Italian culture that I am proud of, and today I’d like to tell you about a few of them.
Serena’s list of things that make living in Italy worthwhile:
Campanilismo (Provincialism)
Venezia, Regata Storica. Photo: Jon MountJoy, Flickr Photo Sharing
Really, campanilismo! This is a concept that has many negative connotations in Italian such as narrow mindedness, lack of cooperation and so on, but strangely it also has its positive side: variety. Travelling around Italy one is amazed by the sheer variety of everything, from local recipes to strange and wonderful festivals. Campanilismo nurtures traditions that have become amorphic or lost altogether in many other cultures. See for example A Huge Italian Bonfire – Part 1 and Part 2
La Gente (The People)
In Italy, due to the terrible bureaucracy and lack of infrastructure it’s very important to know the right people if you want to get anything done. Fortunately there are many good people to be found. Many public employees are themselves incredibly frustrated by the inefficiency of, well, everything! This means that they are often well disposed to helping the normal citizen to aggirare le regole stracomplicate (find ways around the overcomplicated rules).
Il Cibo (The Food)
Oh, che bei carciofi!
I’m not referring to Italy’s famous cuisine, but to the Italian passion for ingredienti nostrani (local ingredients). Most of the best known Italian dishes are simple, but require the best ingredients in order to live up to their name. I know, I’ve tried making Italian recipes in Northern European countries, but without my fresh sun kissed local pomodori, basilico or aglio (tomatoes, basil, or garlic) … it just isn’t the same. Fresh local produce is readily available in Italy, and is, in fact, what Italians search for in the shops, avoiding if they can imported ‘rubbish’!
Il Bar (The Bar)
In Italy you’ll always find a bar (or twenty) open! The ubiquitous unpretentious local bar caters for everyone, from infants to their great grandparents. And perhaps because there’s so much competition, and because we Italians are great connoisseurs, the quality is nearly always good, even in the motorways service areas! Which leads me onto …
Caffè (Coffee)
Oh, how I missed it when I lived in England. Well, what can I tell you about Italian coffee that you don’t already know? Not much, except that variety, once again, is the key. There’s a type of caffè to suit just about everyone, unless, of course, you don’t like it!
Musei e Gallerie (Museums and Galleries)
Parma, Galleria Nazionale: Leonardo, La Scapigliata (Photo: CC)
In many countries the great works of art and important historical treasures are stored in big important national museums in the main cities. But due once again to the fragmented nature of our peninsula, important art and monuments can be found in many relatively small out of the way places. Here’s just one example: La Scapigliata.
Teatri (Theatres)
The same holds true for theatres as it does for works of art. Here in Italy we have a tradition of high quality travelling companies which include some very famous actors. It’s not necessary to travel to Rome or Milan to see a great show because superb theatre can also be found in tiny provincial theatres, such as Il Teatro Della Rosa here in Pontremoli.
Paesaggio e Clima (Landscape and Climate)
La Costa Ligure. Photo by Geoff
If you enjoy the landscape we have just about everything to offer here in Italy: beautiful coastlines and the highest mountains in Europe, green plains and rocky hills, lakes nestled amongst amazing peaks, huge rivers, dramatic torrents and waterfalls, active volcanoes and myriads of large and small islands. All of this within a relatively small land mass. Plus, due to Italy’s long narrow profile, the climate varies dramatically from north to south, and from east to west. If you were feeling ambitious, you could even go skiing in the Alps in Trentino Alto Adige in the morning and snorkelling in the blue Sicilian sea in the afternoon … although it might be a bit of a rush!
There, I feel much better now, I think I’ll go and unpack my suitcase again …
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Comments:
Joe hardy:
Great article as usual but I noticed you translated aglio as oregano? I was brought up knowing that to be garlic… Just thought it was interesting maybe one dialect is different I don’t know.
Geoff:
@Joe hardy Thanks for spotting that Joe, it should, of course, be garlic. For various reasons this post got edited about 15 times, so I’m not surprised that we missed something.
Grazie infinite, saluti da Geoff e Serena 🙂
Gary Donovan:
Meraviglioso !
Gary Donovan (Saskatchewan)
Gary Donovan:
Meraviglioso ! Veramente lo è.
Gary Donovan (Saskatchewan)
June:
or, of course, garlic!
Geoff:
@June Corrected! 🙂
FAY WRIXON:
Thank you Serena, all very interesting and reinforces what John Hooper in his new book “The Italians” goes some way to explaining. But may I suggest one more excellent reason to be proud of being Italian – you are fluent in the most beautiful language in the world. Even the most disparaging remarks sound musical in Italian. Beati voi.
Serena:
@FAY WRIXON Salve Fay! Grazie! Lo so che l’italiano è la lingua più bella del mondo, ma non volevo esagerare coi complimenti, così mi sono detta: ‘lasciamo che ognuno consideri la propria lingua la più bella.’
Saluti da Serena 😉
Bill Auge:
Let’s face it, no matter where you are from or where you visit there are always positives and negatives. In the U.S. we are blessed with a vibrant and diverse society with many opportunities to succeed and much personal freedom. But at the same time our political system is controlled by those with wealth and power, and the great capitalistic machine and corporate greed plow forward with little regard for those pushed to the side. We live with the legacy of the genocide of Native Americans and the terrible stain of slavery which still today greatly effects our society.
When I travel to a foreign country I am aware that visiting is not the same as residing. For those couple of weeks I am free of all the mundane jobs and responsibilities I have back at home. I can open my mind to all the possibilities the foreign land has to offer. It’s not just the cuisine or the museums or the sun drenched hills of Tuscany I am interested in. I also want to connect with the people and their culture and with that a tiny crack is opened to observe the daily life of Italians.
Serena:
@Bill Auge Grazie Bill!
Phil:
Se tutto è perfetto, deve essere il cielo. Every place has its positives and negatives. We have a “capitalistic machine” that sometimes makes life difficult as it churns and changes but it also provides opportunities for anyone to make it in our society. We did bad things at times but also led the world to eliminate the scourge of Nazism in WWII. Our political system may be driven by wealth but the system is open enough that even the son of Cuban immigrants can be considered a possible President and the son of a Kenynan immigrant can be President!
When I get in those negative moods, I think back to my father who was the son of immigrants and a veteran of WWII (he was captured at the Battle of the Bulge and was in a POW camp for several months). When things looked dire he would say “At least I’m not lying face down in a muddy foxhole with sombody trying to kill me.”
Phil
Serena:
@Phil Salve Phil, sono perfettammente d’accordo con tuo padre!
MADELINE PARELLA:
grazie
Mike and Catherine Rose:
Serena and Geoff,
Thank you so much for your last three thought provoking blogs on Italy. Please read books by Tim Parks, “Italian Neighbours”, “An Italian Education”, “Italian Ways” and many novels. An English professor from London, he has lived with his Italian wife and three children for 23 years near Verona and translates and lectures at Milan University. He makes wonderful observations, insightful and amusing, picking up on many of the comments you have both made. Every book is a good read.
Mike and Catherine Rose (S. Wales).
Mike:
Che cosa piace a me in Italia, soprattutto?? La gente la gente la gente.