MIGRATION UPDATE - 7

Since my last update the term "Arab spring" has been coined and news of the migration crisis in its wake has at last been reported by the media of nations not directly affected. However, as certain EU states work out how they might tackle the problem by modifying the Schengen Agreement, tragedy again proves that it does not wait for bureaucracy:

On Friday an inadequate boat carrying up to 600 migrants foundered off the coast of Libya and no one knows how many of these perished.  UNHCR reports today that 16 bodies have been found, among them those of two babies.  It is unclear who, if anyone, is searching for the other passengers.  There are also, as I write, unconfirmed reports of a second boat which might have run aground nearby at the same time.  Some migrants who have already reached Lampedusa say that they saw it and enquiries are underway.

Then, in the early hours of  Saturday, what could have been another major tragedy was averted by the immediate and decisive action of Italian officials, military and ordinary citizens when a migrant boat got into trouble on the rocks off Lampedusa Island:  the Italians literally formed themselves into a human chain and bravely fought appalling sea conditions to bring 528 migrants, including 24 pregnant women, to safety.  I, for one, was humbled by the television pictures of the rescue and I can only salute the courage of all involved.  Later on Saturday the citizens of Lampedusa took toys, clothes and nappies to the children and babies who had been rescued and lampedusani children and police organised games for the migrant children, clearly demonstrating that on this island, the humanitarian spirit transcends all other concerns.  Sadly, three male bodies were found under the wrecked boat today and it is impossible to say whether there are more.  Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has declared that all the survivors are genuine refugees and therefore will not be deported.

The humanity and capacity for empathy of the Lampedusans was recognised by Pope Benedict at his Papal Audience of April 28th, when he commended them for their continuing kindness to the migrants arriving on their island.  He also tactfully expressed the hope that the authorities there would be able to maintain law and order in the interests of everyone. Representatives from Lampedusa who attended the Audience presented the Pontiff with a cross made from the wood of a migrant boat.  Yesterday during his visit to Venice the Pope urged Italians not to be afraid of difference and to welcome migrants.  This was a pointed message as the Veneto [though not Venice itself] is a stronghold of the anti-immigration Lega Nord.

Meanwhile, an agreement signed by Italy and Tunisia on 5th May allows for the repatriation of migrant Tunisians arriving in Italy after that date, plus another 800 who arrived before it.  However, in recent weeks the provenance of most new arrivals has changed, with the majority now fleeing Libya or Sub-Saharan countries.  The International Organization for Migration  [OIM in Italy]  is supporting a voluntary repatriation programme funded by the EU and managed by the Italian Ministry of the Interior.

Back on Lampedusa a Museum of Migration is being planned by the artist and singer Giacomo Sferlazzo of the cultural association Askavusa.  Mr Sferlazzo feels that society has a duty to remember and document what is happening, "for the sake of the children and grandchildren of these migrants - the future citizens of Europe."

31,528 African migrants have landed in Sicily since the beginning of 2011 and it is estimated that 1,000 have perished on their way here by sea.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR HILLARY!

Every girl knows that there's no therapy like retail therapy and, of all the stores out there, none can beat the shoe shop for the busy woman in need of an instant fix.  So if the woman just happens to be in the Eternal City and has a squad of security men standing by ready to whisk her to the via Condotti the temptation would be hard to resist, right?

Who, then, could blame Hillary Clinton, in Rome on Thursday after experiencing "the most intense 38 minutes of my life" last Monday,  for keeping Silvio Berlusconi waiting while she destressed at Salvatore Ferragamo's place?  I'm sure the Italian Premier understood, shrugged his shoulders and uttered, "Pazienza".  Let's hear it for Hillary!

SABATO MUSICALE

It's May so no apologies for reposting this pretty, seasonal song:

Fabio Concato - Fiore di maggio

MODICAN CHOCOLATE FOR WILL AND KATE

Image: http://www.siciliainternazionale.it/

If they are not still replete after all those canapés, the world's most famous newly-weds have another culinary treat in store, for Kate and Wills are to receive a taste of the Mediterranean in the form of Modican chocolate.  

One of the guests at the Royal Wedding bash laid on by the British Ambassador to Italy and the Association of British Ex-Pats in Italy last Friday was Jacopo Scivoletto of the Consorzio per la tutela del Cioccolato modicano  [Association for the Protection of Modican Chocolate]  and, as well as presenting each of the hundred or so guests with a commemorative bar of the famous product, Mr Scivoletto asked the Ambassador to deliver a ceramic container by the Caltagirone potter Anna Boria to the happy couple.  The container is, of course,  filled with bars of Modican chocolate.

The inscription on the gift reads:

Augurale dono dalla Sicilia mediterranea
Il Cioccolato di Modica, plurisecolare tradizione “dolce” della Sicilia sud – orientale, possa tradurre simbolicamente la semplicità di un sincero e corale augurio per la fioritura del vostro felice progetto di vita.

A gift with best wishes from the Mediterranean.
May this Modican chocolate, a centuries-old "sweet" tradition of South East Sicily, symbolise simple and sincere good wishes from all of us for good fortune in your life together.

A FAMILIAR AROMA

A sensual, heady aroma filled the air as I strolled home from work tonight.  What was it?

Yes, the orange blossom is out in Orange Blossom Square.

CHICKEN BOCCONCINI WITH OLIVES AND RED ONIONS

For those of you in Italy, the basis for this was a recipe in last week's Donna Moderna but I think I have changed it enough, mainly by adding potatoes and more herbs, to be able to give my version here.  I haven't suddenly relented and started peeling potatoes, by the way, but can I help it if supermarkets here are now selling chilled packs of peeled, new ones?

First of all you will need a whole, boned and skinless chicken breast which, as I've explained before, means asking for one breast if you are in Italy but two if you are in the UK.  Cut the breast into bite-sized pieces.  Slice two or three red onions.  Heat three tablesp olive oil in a wide pan and cook the chicken in this until sealed on all sides.  Add the onions and cook for a minute or two.  Now add the amount of new potatoes you want,  seasalt and black pepper to taste, some fresh basil leaves, sprigs of rosemary and some dried oregano and continue cooking for about five minutes.   Throw in a handful of black olives, give everything a good stir, put the lid on and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Buon appetito.

IL SIGNORE VESTE ARMANI

Staying with ecclesiastical news tonight, if the devil wears Prada, God, it seems, wears Armani or at least, his representative in Mazara del Vallo [Trapani Province] does.  Monsignor Domenico Mogavero caused a bit of a sensation on Sunday when he blessed the new churchyard on Pantelleria Island dressed in red, purple, green and white vestments designed by Giorgio Armani.  Emblems of land and sea, representing the island, were also depicted on the garments.

They sound very fine garments to me and I do think the Bishop's critics are being a little harsh:  most of us feel better in a set of new clothing and it's not as if the good Monsignore had spent any money on these, as they were a gift from Giorgio Armani himself.  The designer has a home on Pantelleria and has spent his holidays there for the past 37 years.  In 2006 he was made an honorary citizen of Pantelleria.

The Bishop felt that he was honouring both the new churchyard and Giorgio Armani by wearing the new vestments and good luck to him, say I.

A ROUNDABOUT FIT FOR A POPE

On the day when 1.5 million people gathered in Rome for the beatification of the Blessed Pope John Paul 11, the  50,000 inhabitants of Modica also remembered this most human of pontiffs by unveiling a statue of him in the little garden on this roundabout in the modern Sorda district.

I am pleased to be able to report that the seats in this pleasant oasis, for so long disfigured by graffiti, have had a makeover for the occasion:

This seems an appropriate day on which to repost Antonio Lonardo's poem Outsider, which is dedicated to the Blessed Pope John Paul 11, along with my translation.  The poem is published in our collection Il Profumo del Pensiero.  [For details, see the sidebar.]

OUTSIDER

Policromia dell’esistenza,
incrollabile empireo
di una vita vissuta
a coniugare costantemente
la forza delle idee
con il turbinìo dei tempi…

Caleidoscopica luce,
venuta dall’Oriente,
ha attraversato i deserti
dei cuori induriti,
scavalcando i muri,
caduti con le ideologie.

Desideroso di vita,
ha baciato, estatico,
le orchidee trasparenti,
fecondate dall’amore
e protese nel tempo
a raggiungere il cielo.

Strabilianti coincidenze,
profeticamente scatenate,
di pericolosi attacchi
miracolosamente superati:
eroismo decretato
dalle masse festanti.

Coraggiosa volontà
d’inginocchiarsi alla storia
e chiedere perdono
di macroscopici errori:
costante paradosso
di tempi ormai superati.

Universale visione,
ha valicato confini contratti,
inchinandosi a qualsiasi terra,
per avvicinare l’umanità
alla radice comune
di un’unica origine.

Incessante torre orante
di visione geo-trascendente
per disincantare i temuti silenzi
di un Dio certamente offeso
da insensati conflitti
scatenati da supposti moventi.

Dolorosa esistenza
del corpo e dello spirito:
assurda miopia di gruppi,
provvidenzialmente sconfitti
da miracolosa resistenza
decantata dalla storia.

OUTSIDER

A many-coloured existence,
unshakeable empyrean
of a life lived
constantly linking
the intensity of ideas
with the turbulence of the times…

Kaleidoscopic light,
coming from the East,
you crossed the deserts
of hardened hearts,
climbing over walls
felled with their ideologies.

Lover of life,
you kissed, ecstatically,
the lucent orchids,
conceived in love
and reached out in time
whilst seeking heaven.

Astounding coincidences,
prophetically unleashed,
dangerous attacks
miraculously survived:
decreed a hero
by rejoicing crowds.

The courageous will
to kneel before history
and ask forgiveness
for macroscopic errors:
constant paradox
of times now past.

Universal vision,
you crossed agreed boundaries,
bowing in any land,
to bring humanity close
to the common root
of a single origin.

Incessant tower of prayer
of geo-transcendent vision
breaking the fearful silence
of a surely offended God
at senseless conflicts
loosed by so-called “causes”.

A painful existence
of body and of spirit:
the absurd myopia of groups,
providentially defeated
by the miraculous resistance
extolled by history.

THE WOW FACTOR

These traditional chocolate biscuits, made by the mother of a student of mine, are quite simply the best I have ever tasted:

Normal dieting will be resumed as soon as possible - or maybe not.

SABATO MUSICALE

For romantics everywhere, here is the most requested song at wedding dances in Italy.  Got your box of tissues?  Now enjoy:

Jovanotti - A te

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM - 2

I was delighted, a few days ago, when my new British-Modican friend Emma called and invited me to "the Royal Wedding - with bacon sarnies", for what Brit - even a diehard Republican like me - could resist the lure of all that pageantry, a big television screen, wonderful company and bacon sarnies?  So it was that a group of about fifteen of us gathered at Emma's house in the Sicilian countryside this morning.

It was easy to pick out the house, although I'd never been there before:

And once inside the gate, there was no mistaking the nature of the occasion.

Emma is an artist and furniture restorer, so indoors there were details like this vintage bunting:

No sooner were we all seated than the bacon sarnies arrived - with "proper" bacon!

And then, during the interval between the arrival of the bridal party at Buckingham Palace and their balcony appearance, lunch was served:

The main course was Emma's delicious Coronation Chicken.

Our friend, artist Marjorie, had made the superb wedding cake, there was also a Victoria sandwich and you can just see my strawberry tiramisù again behind the champagne on the right.  I'll let you have another look at the wedding cake

and the glorious Victoria sandwich:

If these two were the stars of the day for some

for me the top of the bill was Emma's lovely dog, Malaki

who was obviously feeling patriotic too:

Thanks for a lovely day, Emma!

If you are visiting Modica, do stop by Emma's shop.  There you will find the lady herself, plus many objets d'art and other beautiful items.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM

With the above proverb in mind, this is my strawberry tiramisù, in British colours [well, almost] for a Royal Wedding party here in Modica tomorrow morning.  I toyed with the idea of forming the silver balls into an ER but then remembered what Rita Levi-Montalcini said about knowing your limitations!

QUIDDITCH IN MODICA?

Well, now, this is very strange:  according to an article in today's online Corriere di Ragusa, a tomb erected in Modica's cemetery at the end of the nineteenth or beginning of the twentieth century bears a symbol which is remarkably similar to the golden snitch  in the Harry Potter novels.  Local children, apparently, are sure that the carving is of the famous snitch.

The tomb, sadly, has not been cared for over several decades but what is very curious is that no name or date was ever inscribed upon it.  The journalist informs us that a woman is buried there and that she had a surname which is common in these parts but he does not tell us what it was.

I am not an expert on Harry Potter myself and I cannot copy the picture of the tomb onto this blog for copyright reasons. However, you can see the original story here and I'd love to know what you think.

"10.51 ????!!"

I am not, as most of you will know, a royalist but when my Italian friends and students ask if I will be watching this Friday's extravaganza, my reply is, "Yes - for the sheer, British precision of it."

When I explain further, my students do not believe me when I tell them that everything is timed not to the minute, but to the second and when I show them the timetable of events, they are even more incredulous.

"10.51??!!  Mamma mia!" they shriek when they read that the bride will leave for the Abbey at that time.  "But why not 10.50 or 10.55?" 

"Because everything is worked out with military precision", I reply, hiding, I hope, a smug, British smile.

In a country where an event planned to start at, say, 9pm can begin as late as 9.45 pm [if you are lucky] this  obsession with punctuality that the British seem to have does, at the very least, raise eyebrows and when everyone has finished being incredulous, they express a certain admiration.

Then I shrug my shoulders like a Sicilian and ask them to indulge my compatriots on this one day:  we are not good at very much any more, but nobody does precision like us!

Meanwhile, I am ready with my Royal Wedding sick bag:

PASCHAL LAMB

Some students brought me this traditional Easter lamb crafted from almond paste and surrounded by frutta di Martorana.

Buona Pasqua a tutti!

SABATO MUSICALE

Enjoy:

Fiorenza Cossotto - Inneggiamo 

BOOK REVIEW - "LA CLESSIDRA DELLA VITA DI RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI"

La clessidra della vita di Rita Levi-Montalcini by Giuseppina Tripodi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Italian heroine, Rita Levi-Montalcini, is 102 years old today so what better time could there be to review this book about her? La Clessidra della Vita di Rita Levi- Montalcini is not a chronological biography: it is what it says it is, an "hourglass" view of this great lady's life and achievements through themes such as her closeness to her artist sister Paola Levi-Montalcini, her thoughts on science, women's rights, world peace and the internet and, most importantly, her rapport with and inspirational effect upon young people.

Born in Turin to a Sephardic Jewish family, Rita Levi-Montalcini decided early on that she wanted to go to medical school. She overcame her father's opposition, which was based on a traditional view of a woman's role, and graduated from the Turin Medical School in 1936 - just in time to be barred from her professional work by the Mussolini government.

Undaunted, she set up a laboratory in her home and in 1943 she fled, with her family, to Florence, where she set up a second laboratory. She returned to Turin in 1945 and was invited to work at the Washington University in St Louis, where she was made a full Professor in 1958. She returned to work in Rome in 1961. In 1986 she received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work with Stanley Cohen on nerve growth factor.

In 2009 she told a Times interviewer that she had never married because she had not wanted to be "dominated" in the way that her mother was and that she puts her longevity down to getting up at 5 am, working hard to keep her brain active and eating only one meal a day, at lunchtime.

In this book we learn that this modest lady attributes her success in scientific research to trusting her intuition and knowing her limits. Never afraid to speak her mind or to change it, in 1998 Rita Levi-Montalcini called upon the UN to liberalise drug use in order to free young people from what she calls the "drug war" . She now believes, though, that the use of soft drugs can lead to dependence on hard ones and has thus modified her view somewhat. She remains interested and concerned about the problems of the young, believing that much unhappiness arises from wrong choices made during adolescence.

She also believes that genocide, violence and war are not the result of man's natural aggression but of our blind obedience to those in power. She champions a new Charter of Human Rights for all states and in this the banning of the atomic bomb and further weapons of destruction of any kind, plus a commitment to improving the quality of life everywhere, rather than only in certain areas, would be fundamental.

The governments of the world would do well to listen to the words of Rita Levi-Montalcini. Meanwhile, if you read Italian and would like to know more about her, I recommend this book.

View all my reviews

The Vice President of the Italian Senate, Vannino Chiti, has sent a congratulatory message to Rita Levi-Montalcini, thanking her for her commitment to science and to scientific and educational institutions and for being a valuable role-model and example for young people.

AND NOW WE ARE 5!

Yes, this blog shares a birthday with Queen Elizabeth 11 and is five years old today!  In celebration, I am republishing the very first two posts I wrote on that April day when I had no real idea what I was doing:

From April 21st 2006:

TANGERINE LAND

When I was a little girl, in Bristol, England, in the 1950s, you could only get tangerines at Christmas. They were about the most exotic food you could buy and we didn't differentiate between tangerines, mandarins, satsumas or clementines. Any round, orange, citrus fruit that was too small to be an orange was a tangerine!

I can still see my father's delighted face as he came home on winter nights and produced a tangerine from each of the pockets of his long, dark blue overcoat. I thought the smell of the tangerine was heavenly and even now, it signifies Christmas for me. I didn't know where the fruit came from but I knew I wanted to go there!

Coincidentally I am writing this almost 33 years to the day since my father's death. How happy he would be to know that I have come to live in the land of the tangerine!

BUON COMPLEANNO, MA'AM!

I'm not even a royalist so I am surprised to find myself in the least affected by the Queen's birthday.

But one of the elements of culture shock, about which I have done a lot of research, is that an event in your country of origin which wouldn't even interest you, were you there, can suddenly take on importance for you as an ex-pat. As an Italian linguist and someone who knows and loves the culture of my adopted country, I didn't expect to suffer from this condition: but, as my research bears out, the more you do know and love the adopted country, paradoxically, the more you are likely to suffer to some degree; it's as if, at times, your very perceptiveness works against you.

So today I, the Republican par excellence, found myself feeling strange because it's Lizzie Windsor's birthday and very few people here know about it or give a damn! - and, indeed, why should they?

This morning I talked to the nice old gentleman who always greets dog Simone and me on our walks and for some reason I found myself telling him that the Queen - I did add "of England" as he looked a bit puzzled - is 80 today - and, whilst he didn't exactly shrug his shoulders, I could see that he was wondering why it should matter.

And why, indeed, should it matter to me, of all people? It was one of those times when you can feel a bit isolated, that's all, because if I had been in the UK on this day I would have been arguing about the occasion with everybody on the bus and being my iconoclastic self.

It's a very British thing, this "collective memory" that the Queen represents: it's hard to explain to others. It's just that, whether you are a monarchist or not, you do remember her being "there", at every important national event.

And for me, the monarch's ageing is a reminder of my own: I was 3 when she was crowned and I thought it was like the Presidency of the USA - I thought anybody could get to be the Queen [or the "Preen", as I called her, as I couldn't pronounce "Queen"] . Then my Dad explained that I would have to marry Charlie to be Queen, and that certainly didn't appeal! Then, as I grew up, the whole absurdity of the monarchy as an institution struck me.

Nowadays, whilst I am quite happy to wish Her Majesty a happy birthday, I cannot understand these "fans" of her gracious self who send / give her cards and flowers! [And I couldn't understand those who did the same for her mother, either.] Why don't they go to their nearest care-home and do something [ in Her Majesty's name, if they must!] for those who are really in need?!

Incidentally, every Italian I have spoken to today thinks that "gli Inglesi" are a little mad. [Being Welsh, I can happily dissociate myself from this, of course!]

Not a word about any of it in "Corriere della Sera" today - at least, not in the edition I read at lunchtime for, hypocrite that I am, I strolled along to my favourite bar to read the paper and drink to HM!

22.4.06: Incidentally, HM is referred to as "Queen Elizabeth", not "the Queen" on BBC World and "la regina Elisabetta" in the Italian press. I note that the event is covered in "Corriere" online today.

Well, now Lizzie Windsor, my blog and I are five years older and I think it's fair to say that we are all three still going strong!  If I didn't know what I was doing on 21st April 2006 I had still less idea where it would all lead:  My blog has disciplined me as a writer, enabled me to see my own country through Italian eyes, helped me settle in Italy and indirectly brought me paid work.  But most importantly, it has brought me into contact with you, my dear readers and today I would like to thank you all for your pazienza, encouragement and friendship over these five years.  Cincin!

MADONIE LAMB WITH PEPPERS AND DRIED PORCINI

This recipe from the Madonie mountains around Palermo turned out to be one of the best lamb dishes I've made here.  It consists of layers of lamb, onions, garlic, dried porcini, peppers and herbs, all marinated in olive oil and lemon juice and then cooked slowly in the oven.  It's another recipe from my "birthday cookbook":

RED FACES AT STRAWBERRY FAIR

There have been some red faces, as well as red fruit, in the town of Cassibile [Siracusa Province] where the good citizens are justly proud of their annual strawberry festival.  Preparations for the 2011 festival, to be held over the two weekends 29th April - 1st May and 6th - 8th May, were going well until some publicity posters like the one below, using a woman's cleavage to extol the "beautiful, firm and fragrant" qualities of the fruit, appeared:

Complaints that the posters were degrading to women were immediately made to the town council, whose members agreed to withdraw the offending publicity, but something went wrong and not only did the posters continue to appear, but they appeared bearing the town's logo and sponsorship approval.  When further complaints reached the Mayor he immediately withdrew both and the Province of Siracusa also had its logo removed.

The organisers of the festival say the "cleavage" poster was only meant to be an experiment, however, and that no offence to women was intended.  A more innocent advertisement now adorns the festival website and preparations are once more in full swing.   In the words of John Lennon,  "Nothing to get hung about", then.