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NY Times | Donna in Piedmont
The first two years I lived in Italy I was in a bubble ...or maybe it was a vacuum.
Reliable access to the Internet was top on the list of things I didn't anticipate doing without before I left America. I was in a state of shock that I am only now recovering from with access to what we call high"er" speed Internet.
Now, after receiving 10 e-mails from friends and family about the story in the New York Times about the malaise that is supposedly running rampant in Italy I am longing for my former days of disconnect.
Of course reading this story side by side with the truck strike story did made for a very dramatic headline in the International Herald Tribune.
The truckers aren't bothering to stop the roads up here in the North (at least not yet) and it doesn't mean that we don't feel the impact, we do (a little), but nothing like what Rome and Florence are getting. The tangenziale around Rome on a good day it is a nightmare. But so far the pain is being felt by primarily by Romans (government) and Tuscans (tourists). Much of the rest of the country is watching it on television.
Also, with both of the the writers reporting from Rome is like saying both writers are from Washington D.C. It shouldn't make a difference, but in a big way it does. When we visit Rome or Florence it is like going to Washington D.C. and Disneyland respectively. They speak a different language that even my tourist grade Italian ear can detect. Admittedly, I have become accustomed to the Piemontese dialect (god help me) but an Italian can hear the difference between Tuscan, Calabrese, or Sicilian just on "hello". Remember that just 150 years ago these were three (of the more or less seven) distinct countries that made up what is Italy today.
My point is that culture all across this country is different. One of the writers also reported from Trieste which wasn't a part of Italy until after WWI (sadly, for most Americans I might as well have referred to an event equivalent to the Iron Age) and arguably the mid 1950's.
Don't get me wrong, I think the article is very well written and raises several very valid points about politicians, corruption and bureaucratic stranglehold that deters business investment and fueled an immense black market – all true.
But to tie all of these things into a blanket depression that is “gripping” the country, I have to say I don’t agree - despite the study from the University of Cambridge, which also have Greece, Portugal and the U.K. pretty unhappy.
After visiting here for 10 years and living here for two, my impression that in general Italians are at their core are glass-half-empty kinds of folks. I attribute it primarily to their post empire reality. There was in a brief period of optimism when the economy was really rolling here from about 1985 - 2001 when many Italians went out and bought big American sized cars and upgraded to really big dogs, both sights that still grate on my nerves.
But fundamentally Italy and Italians have so many things that are still very appealing; a simpler way of life, rich history that surrounds them in their cuisine, architecture and art, majestic natural beauty and the grace of a culture that still greets neighbors and strangers with “buon giorno” and “buona sera”.
And conversely, America and the draw of global commercialism and rubber vs road business philosophy that defines America is more and more appealing not only to the rest of the world, but also to Italians.
My biggest point is if you hold any economy under a microscope (America? rocks…. glass house??) you can dissect it down to a scary and negative reality. And in reality, if the American economy tanks most of us are screwed anyway.
So bottom line, Could be better? Sure. Do I see much overall unhappiness? No. Would I trade living here in Piedmont to be back in America that exists today? Oops, I gotta go, there is a market in Alba and I have to shop for dinner…..Ciao