L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022 L'Italo-Americano W e I t a l - ians are k n o w n f o r h a v - ing pretty strong feelings and opinions about things: for most of us, b e i n g d i p l o m a t i c d o e s n ' t come easily, even though Italy is considered one of the founding nations of the art of diplomacy. Perhaps it boils down to the fact we know w h e n w e n e e d t o t o n e i t down – i.e., in official cir- cumstances – but we let go and keep the fire burning when we talk about more personal stuff. Everyone knows we love our family and good food, but what about, let's say, for- eign food? Or what's people's view on Europe and our role within it? Here's a half-seri- ous, half-funny take on what we Italians think about some of the country's "hottest" topics. Italians and … the heat P e r s o n a l l y , I ' v e n e v e r been a fan of the summer, because anything over 70F is just too hot for me, but I've always appreciated the fact my country – as most of the w o r l d , r e a l l y – l o v e s a n d enjoys the sun. Perhaps it's because "summer" means vacationing and having time off work and school, but we quite love the hot season. Or do we…? Truth is that, while we are k n o w n f o r e n j o y i n g l o n g stints by the sea and on our beautiful mountains, and for being able to develop some of the best tans in the world, we haven't been so keen on t h e h e a t i n t h e p a s t f e w years. Take these last few weeks: temperatures have been constantly reaching the low to mid-90s in most of the country, with peaks over 100F in the South and in some internal areas of the P i a n u r a P a d a n a a n d Tuscany. During the night, temperatures don't go lower than 70F, which is consid- ered "tropical." And we are not a tropical country. Truth is that even being on holiday – t h e m a i n r e a s o n w h y Italians love the sun and the summer – becomes difficult when you sweat profusely to walk to your deck chair on the beach. A n d e v e n m o r e i m p o r - tantly, all this scorching, painful, fiery heat has an awful consequence: we have no appetite. It's so hot that Italy doesn't want to eat: I think we all agree this is no longer sustainable. Speaking of food, perhaps you are wondering what's the country's relationship with… … foreign food Well, this isn't easy. When I first went abroad on a holi- day with friends, I remember the group was split in two: part of us wanted to try local d e l i c a c i e s a n d s a c k t h e supermarket, filling the cart with all that we couldn't find in Italy; the others were des- perately looking for Italian brands, specifically Italian p a s t a a n d s a u c e s . T h i s wouldn't be an issue now, but it's been almost thirty years since then and I can guarantee you it wasn't easy t o c o m e a c r o s s B a r i l l a spaghetti in Ireland back then. My little trip down memo- ry lane defines perfectly the way Italians feel towards for- eign food: some of us want to try it and appreciate it, oth- ers stay away from it like the p l a g u e b e c a u s e " n o t h i n g beats mamma's food." We've certainly come a long way in t h e p a s t t w o d e c a d e s , though: there are more for- eign products in our local stores, and restaurants tend to offer a variety of vegetari- an or non-Italian options. Italians travel more, too, so they learned to enjoy other countries' cuisines and often want to recreate them back home. This is all good and it's the right way to go. While, with- out a single doubt, Italy has one of the most varied, rich and delicious cuisines in the world, it would be limiting not to try others, right? Italians and … Europe The history of our country is that of our continent. The history of our continent is that of our country. It's as simple as that. Europe is rel- atively small and, if it's true that each country has its own identity here, no one should forget we have a common p a s t a n d c o m m o n i d e a l s . Yes, we did tend to fight each other quite a lot on this side of the Atlantic, but we finally came of age in the 20th cen- tury, and the creation of the EEC first and the EU later is the most important sign of it. And while some Italians may think that Italy would be bet- ter on its own, they tend to forget how much they enjoy traveling around the whole continent without having to whip out their passport once, or how amazingly cool it is to go from one side to the other of a continent using the same currency. It's all normal for A m e r i c a n s , b u t w e Europeans are still getting used to it. Italy was one of the found- ing members of what was to become the European Union, s t r a i g h t a f t e r t h e S e c o n d World War, and its position h a s r e m a i n e d p r o f o u n d l y European since; only now we have political factions that play dangerously with the idea of leaving it all, follow- ing a trend, that of national- istic populism, which has been swiping Europe with f o r c e . B u t m o s t o f t h e Italians in the street, espe- c i a l l y t h o s e a g e d 4 5 a n d under - the younger genera- tions, we'd say – feel truly European: do you know how many of us got their degrees in a different European coun- try? How many of us have close friends from another part of the EU? How many of us love jumping on the train and getting to Paris with the same ease and simplicity we need to reach a village 20 miles away? Yes. Whatever they say, we love Europe. Last but not least… sports I think our relationship with sports is the same as the one Americans have: we love watching them but we barely practice them, preferring sit- ting down at the table for a g o o d m e a l a n d w i n e . Actually, now that I think about it, the "cena con parti- ta," dinner with the game, is a s t a p l e i n m a n y h o m e s . Mind, there is a pretty strong sports culture in Italy: each village has a soccer, volley- ball and, often, basketball team, especially for children and teens. Fathers and moth- ers support their children's sports activities, but they d o n ' t a l w a y s g o t o t h e i r matches: no soccer moms here, really. We are more of a watching, rather than prac- ticing, nation. Watching sports is a seri- ous activity in Italy, practic- ing them… not so much! FRANCESCA BEZZONE A busy beach in summer. While we enjoy – a lot! – our time by the sea, this year's heat is unbear- able for the vast majority of the country (Photo: Laurence Agron/Dreamstime) Europe, sports, the heat, foreign food … do we love them or hate them? ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES

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