CapoSud Magazine – Raising Cultural Awareness in Italy

In that land of contrasts which is Italy, at one end of the spectrum, we have the Lega Nord which has been labelled as being xenophobic, right wing, and racist, and despite attempts to water down this impression, most probably is alas, and then we have socially aware politicians, such as Nichi Vendola, the president of the southern Italian region of Apulia, who are genuinely working to make the world a better place.

Caposud, the fruit of one of Vendola’s attempts to promote inter-cultural understanding, is a relatively new Italian news magazine.  The publication receives funding from Apulia, as well as the Italian ministry for youth.

Here is a little more about the CapoSud magazine.

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Mike Bongiorno – the Quiz Show Host who United Italy

I’ve no idea how many people outside of Italy have heard the name Mike Bongiorno, or may even know that he recently passed away.  I would not imagine either that many would believe a television personality is credited with uniting Italy.

Mike Bongiorno 1924-2009

For the uninitiated, Mike Bongiorno was basically a quiz show host.  He was, however, revered by the Italian people, and a state funeral was held in his honour.  Silvio Berlusconi, a friend , the prime minister of Italy, and one time boss of Bongiorno spoke at the late quiz show host’s funeral held at the historic Duomo in Milan, last Saturday.

But why, some may be wondering, was a television personality accorded the honour of a full blown state funeral in Italy?  This surprised me, I can tell you.  Yet once you know a little bit more about Mike Bongiorno, you start to understand why he was held in such high regard in Italy.  Indeed, he is considered by many Italians as being the person who helped unite their country, primarily by getting them to watch television.  Why is this significant?  Read on to discover what Mike Bongiorno’s greatest achievement was.

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Is Life in Italy So bad?

At the end of the day, despite bickering politicians and dodgy organisation, life in Italy is not that bad.

Beautiful Italy

Certainly up here in Milan things work.  The ride is a bit bumpy at times and things could be better organised, but if you get ill, you get treated – for free.  Children do get an education, almost for free, and the streets of Italy, with one or two exceptions, are not exactly violent – just ask one or two Americans for some examples of really rough streets.

Years of creative accounting have left many Italians with decent stashes in the bank, and even today Italians seem to be able to buy houses with quite short term mortgages, if they bother with a mortgage at all.  Said houses will be filled with spanking new furniture, but only after many thousands of Euros have been spent on giving the new pad a ground-up make-over.  Quite the opposite from the UK, for example -where 100% mortgages have been on the scene for many years.  And many people do their houses up bits at a time – not in one go, as in Italy.

There is more to demonstrate that life in Italy is not a huge torture.

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Italian Scientists’ Success Tainted by Nepotism

Antonio Iavarone and Anna Lasorella are two Italian scientists who have recently revealed the results of their research into the causes of brain tumours in children.  The ground-breaking work of this husband and wife team may well lead to new therapies which could help save young lives.

Any parent whose little one has had problems which have led to the hospitalisation, and that includes me, will know just how traumatic the event can be.  The thought of losing my child scares me, and I know of people who have lost children.  It is something I don’t think they have ever really got over, and probably never will.

Antonio Iavarone and Anna Lasorella’s work may, one sincerely hopes, help a few parents avoid the trauma of losing a child.

Alas, the road to scientific success for this Italian couple has been nothing if not rocky. … Continue Reading

Hot Italian Girls From Puglia and Sicily – Part Two

In the first part of this post I looked at some of the differences between the two southern Italian regions of Puglia and Sicily.

The second part of this tale, which was inspired by a aperitif with two young ladies – Ilaria and Giaia, will look at some of the similarities of these two hot Italian regions.

There are also two interesting mini-documentaries on Palermo and Sicily which are worth devoting part of your lunch break to – but beware, watching them may well cause you to book a holiday to either Sicily or Puglia, or both!

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Anglitaliano – English Invades Italian

A fun guest post from someone who has noticed a few odd things happening to the ‘Italian’ language.  Over to you Ainsley:

As a Northern 40-something-year-old Englishman, the four years I’ve spent learning Italian haven’t exactly been plain sailing (blame the British school system).

The lowlights have included, on just the third time I met my future mother-in-law, mixing up ho scoperto… (“I discovered”) with ho scopato (I f****d). I meant to say the first, before you ask. And don’t get me started on the time I asked a Forte dei Marmi waitress whether I could leave la mancia (the tip) on the table. But ended up asking about la minchia (a vulgar term for penis) instead.

Yet sometimes – just sometimes – I wonder why I bothered learning the world’s most romantic language when half of Italy seems hell-bent on speaking a bizarre hybrid of Italian and English.  Want more examples?  Well here is a boat load of them for you. … Continue Reading