"READY FOR LIFE"

There were those, as Mr Renzi said at the opening of Expo 2015 today, who thought that Italy would never be able to get it ready in time. Yet it did, and now, as the Premier also said, it has the six months of Expo in which to prove itself worthy of the responsibility.

The prelude to today's opening of the exhibition site was last night's televised concert from Milan. The undoubted stars were Andrea Bocelli and Lang Lang who, along with Simone Piazzola, Maria Luigia Borsi, German soprano Diana Damrau and the company of La Scala, performed against the fabulous backdrop of the city's illuminated cathedral. I must say I thought that Miss Damrau should have been advised against wearing a [presumably real] fur stole and perhaps she was, but otherwise it was an uplifting and dignified show, reminding me of why I still love Italy.

As always, in this country, there are contradictions - the wonderful and the absurd: I read recently, for instance, that the organisers of Expo were finding it difficult to find the employees they needed because young people had decided they didn't like the shifts [presumably the idea of working through the lunchtime and the summer]. In a country where it is notoriously difficult for young people to find any work at all, this just makes me want to cry or scream - I'm not sure which.

The wonderful, the absurd - and the ugly, of which we have seen plenty today in the form of "Black Block" protestors who have devastated Milan, damaging property, setting cars on fire and terrifying locals and visitors alike. The good news is that the Milanese have not caved in and by mid-afternoon the Italian media were carrying photos of bar and shop owners clearing up the mess in the streets themselves.

Sicily, I'm happy to report, is being well-represented at Expo, as the region was chosen to coordinate the Bio-Mediterranean Cluster, the largest of the themed pavilions, in which 12 countries are participating. The Cluster focuses on biodiversity and the Mediterranean diet. Sicily also, of course, features in the Italian pavilion, where a Sicilian square has been created. Two Sicilian "guest stars" at Expo are the "Dee di Aidone" or "Aidone godesses", acroliths of Demeter and Persephone which have travelled from the Aidone Museum [to which they were returned by the Bayley Museum of Virginia University in 2009]. I hope the ladies enjoy their trip!

Now I want to tell you about a great gesture of solidarity that has already come out of Expo and it is this: following last week's tragic events in Nepal, Nepalese workers on their country's pavilion understandably wanted to go home. Everyone was sympethetic when they did so and their pavilion was finished, voluntarily, by other foreign workers in their spare time and by Italian Expo employees from Bergamo and Brescia.

Finally, there couldn't have been a dry eye in the house this morning when the children in this video clip changed the line, "We are ready for death" in Italy's national anthem to "We are ready for life", a sentiment also expressed in Mr Renzi's speech

Thank you, Corriere della Sera:

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 24

Here is my pick of last week's Italy Magazine articles.

Everyone is talking about the rubbish crisis in Naples but, in the run-up to Christmas, let us not forget a more positive claim to fame that the city has.  Everyone also continues to talk about Mr Berlusconi and you really would think that the Prime Minister's manhood had caused enough trouble;  then this story broke.  If, on the other hand, you are fed up with stories of the airheads who surround him, here is the perfect antidote.

Immigrant workers in Brescia found a unique way of drawing attention to their plight but the day after this story appeared torrential rain forced them down from their crane.  

Tired of politics and protests?  Here you can learn why it will shortly be time for tea in Rome 

With an early genereal election in Italy looking increasingly likely, I wrote about my personal experience of participating in Italian elections for my Patti Chiari column.

Happy reading.

PANTS-DOWN PROTEST

To start the weekend on a lighter note, here is a short article of mine that was published in Italy Magazine yesterday:

Fifty or so town hall officials in Rome decided to protest against the slow bureaucratic process of the city’s 2010 budget by pulling their trousers down on Monday.

They carried banners saying that the city’s Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, of Mr Berlusconi’s Pdl Party, had “reduced them to their underwear”. Other banners criticised the abandoned state of parks and public gardens and blamed the number of homeless people in Rome on the current administration.

The workers suspect that the budget is being delayed because it contains unpopular taxes. They are concerned because no new projects can begin without the release of the 2010 budget funds.

Quite why the officials thought their “show a leg” protest would be effective is anyone’s guess. But hey, it got the photographers round!

CLASHES IN THE CATHEDRAL

Angry immigrants today occupied the Cathedral in Naples after spending three nights on the street following a fire which had forced them to leave their homes. Their main grievance was that they believed that Italian citizens who had also been affected were offered decent alternative housing immediately.

It seems that the immigrants were initially waiting to see a member of the Catholic Curia but the trouble started at around 12.30 pm when they were asked to leave, as that is the time when the Cathedral closes for the afternoon. At that point, the immigrants lay down on the pews. Many of them were terrified of being identified because their documents were not in order.

Then things got ugly and scuffles broke out. Three arrests were made and one man was treated for cuts and bruises. The immigrants’ cause was supported by several groups, including Italy’s No Global.

This incident raises so many questions, many of them uncomfortable ones: Does a country have a right, or even a duty, to look after its own citizens first? On the other hand, surely everyone has a right to be treated with some human dignity? What would any of us do if we suddenly found ourselves homeless through no fault of our own? And if you are seeking a little compassion when you most need it , is it unreasonable to suppose that you might find it in a church?