You just never know.

Though it is my job--or one of them, anyway--I am always wary when it comes to talking about “Italy” in terms of culture and customs. Finding common ground in a country that prides itself more on disunity than unity is no easy feat.

Take political views, for example. Living in Florence, a solid bastion of the (extreme) left, it is nearly impossible to understand how Silvio Berlusconi could ever be victorious given the vitriolic treatment he gets at every turn around here. Of course all it takes is a quick glance at a geographical breakdown of election returns to see that old Berlusca is as adored in the North as he is despised in the Center.

Take soccer. Most people cite the World Cup as the only time the population of the boot actually get together and cheer for a common goal. Not so in Florence where the majority of folk loathe the Azzurri (Italian national team) given that it is primarily populated by players from Fiorentina’s “rivals”—Juventus, Milan and the like.

Take food. In Tuscany, you could write a lengthy cookbook on the various uses of the chickpea: cecina, pasta e ceci, torta di ceci, zuppa di ceci, and on and on and on. Yet once when I took a visiting Italian friend and her boyfriend to lunch at a local trattoria, the latter ordered the Baccalà alla Livornese because it came with ceci—which he had never seen before. He is from the mountains of Friuli in Northeastern Italy. 

Take tomorrow’s festivities. Thursday, March 17, 2011 has been declared National Unity Day in honor of the 150^th anniversary of Italian Unification. I am fairly certain that before this year only a minute percentage of the population could have spoken with any amount of clarity about the significance of that date. (It was the day that King Vittorio Emanuele established the Kingdom of Italy.) 

The entire holiday was kind of sprung on the country—they only just declared it an official festa a few weeks ago—and after a fair amount of bickering between political adversaries, some of whom rue the day Italy was united in the first place.

So here, too, I find it hard to gauge the mood. Have “Italians” gotten into the spirit of "March 17"? There are some signs that they have: Tonight’s national evening news featured a corny montage of regular Joes singing parts of the national anthem—indeed most of the singers were wielding pizzas or waving other local foodstuffs from behind their deli counters (not doing much in terms of combating the whole pizza/pasta image if you ask me). There are scores of patriotic events planned for tonight and tomorrow, and everyone has been encouraged to fly the tricolore from their balcony or business.

In fact, a few days ago when I went on Florence daily La Nazione’s homepage I found a jaunty plea from the editorial office to vote in the “Most Beautiful Flag in Florence” competition. I was mildly surprised at this uncharacteristic show of patriotism, but then I got to the comments section where the very first comment (since removed, ahem) said: “Don’t you people at La Nazione have anything better to do than ask people to vote on stupid flags??”

I'm not sure what the mood will be like tomorrow. Will the Florentines surprise us and unfurl their flags in the night? Will the festivities be a flop near and far? Will the Milanesi turn and fold their Southern brethren into a long overdue embrace? Will the rest of the country understand when the napoletani speak?

Really, you just never know. 

Love for the Ladies

As local florists prepare their overpriced mimosa bouquets for the upcoming Festa della donna (International Women’s Day), a study has just emerged that ranks Florence high on the “Women Friendly Index”, a measurement of19 factors including economic stability, employment rates, safety, culture, and access to social services.

The index, released by the Monza e Brianza Chamber of Commerce, gave the city four out of five stars—placing it third in the country. First and second place went to two other central Italian cities, Pescara and Teramo. According to the study, women in these cities “have more fun” and live and work better.

These days, any discussion of women in Italy is timely given the recent protests over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s, er, behavior of late. While I might differ from many of my contemporaries in not blaming Berlusca wholesale for every one of Italy’s maladies (and there are many), I would agree that he has brought the country to a new low in terms of international prestige and general adherence to social mores.

In a particularly cringe-worthy moment yesterday, Berlusconi dedicated a portion of a speech on public education to women, who he lauded as “better than us [men] in every way: better in school, at university and on the job.” He went on to say that women work “as well as and usually better than men because [they] know how to organize, manage, create and bring talent and determination to everything they do.”

While yesterday's words are no doubt better than other moments he's had while talking about women's abilities (e.g. encouraging U.S. businessmen to invest in Italy because it has "the most beautiful secretaries in the world"), it is actually this kind of vapid rhetoric and shameless pandering that leaves me infinitely colder than any details (real or imagined) about his private life.

I don’t know if Berlusconi’s mandate will last, but I do know that this year’s Festa della donna will likely be more than an excuse for flowers and a trip to the local male strip club (ew), especially in “women friendly” Florence. 

Women in Berlusconi's cabinet (even that sounds smutty now!)