IV.iv. Immaculate Conception

"For us to go to Italy and to penetrate into Italy is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery—back, back down the old ways of time. Strange and wonderful chords awake in us, and vibrate again after many hundreds of years of complete forgetfulness."
- D.H. Lawrence

It surprises me to no end that Italy is one of the most productive economies in the world. The Northern Italian, on average, is significantly wealthier than the German or the Brit, yet partakes in an inordinate number of religious holidays, coffee breaks, and strikes, all of which, in this country at least, further enhance quality of life.
    So, in terms of a purely economic analysis, Italy ranks among the richest nations in the world, even though in most places it lacks a usable banking system, free public washrooms, timely train service, and so on. Astonishingly though, these things can be coupled with a more qualitative view of development that also places Italy at the top. Despite the petty criticisms that are easily leveled, the Italians have constructed a society for themselves that is eminently, and fascinatingly, beautiful.
    This is no weekend revelry; the local drogherie, a type of old fashioned wine bar, are packed every evening with professionals and students alike who share bottles of Lambrusco or Chianti with friends while snacking on aperitivi provided free of cost. These bite-sized portions of prociutto, Asiago cheese, focaccia, grilled vegetables, and sausage, are the only exception to the Italian aversion to eating between meals. In recent years however, probably through the dreaded though inevitable influence of American culture, snacking has become more common, and the primacy of the pranzio, the lunchtime meal, has eroded in favour of a familial cena, the main evening meal. Still, the Italians enjoy themselves in droves. Only the French and the Spanish have worldviews of a comparable aesthetic. In Italy it would be hedonism if only there were not so many businessmen, inventors, and scientists among them.
    Today, December eighth, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Classes are cancelled and shops are closed. The streets are mostly empty and people remain at home; some even go to church. Despite the erosion of such things, the family unit is still of extraordinary importance here. Families are enormous, longevous things. Often three generations will live under one roof for decades; Italian students live at home longer than any others. Many of those studying in Bologna do the settimana corta, returning home every weekend to families who send them back on Sunday loaded down with home-cooked dishes in Tupperware containers, a relatively recent arrival in Italy. I have even heard stories of more attached Italian mothers leaving parcels of food on trains and having them retrieved by their children at the appropriate station, thus avoiding the need to visit or the cost of shipping.
    My brother Alex is in Tuscany. He traveled to Siena for a few days while I stayed behind, ostensibly to study. Later tonight, I will go out to the Scuderia with the Americans, the other family-less residents of Bologna, to hear some jazz and possibly drink some beer. I can take holidays too.