Visiting Naples (Italy)
with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Our
train for Naples arrived early in the station, but would not depart. I was anxious to get to the “Land of the
Mid-Day Sun” or the “Mezzogiorno” in Italian.
I took the time to write a few notes in my journal:
On
the way to Assisi, we passed Lake Trasimeno.
Haze and blue sky hovered above us.
It looked just like the background in most of Leonardo da Vinci’s
paintings. I always thought his
landscapes were contrived, but there are parts of Italy that have misty sfumato
atmosphere on a clear day.
Around
Florence, Sienna, and Pisa while we were on the train, we could see from our
windows that Italian farmers practice what is called “slash-and-burn” farming
techniques. I thought only African countries practiced this fertilization
technique. (North Africa was part of the
Ancient Roman Empire when they finally defeated Carthage. Flaubert’s novel Salammbo has Carthage and
Hannibal and his elephant tanks as a subject.)
I
learned about this farming technique of slash-and-burn in an East Asian
Geography class at the University of Chicago and my AP Biology Classes in high
school. Slash-and-burn fertilization is
good for the soil for only about 3 years before harming it.
The
train finally started moving, and I spent the morning staring out the
window. Blood-red tomatoes ripened in the
sun and made me want to cut them in half, slather some Dijon mustard on the
bread, and add the slices of tomato to make a sandwich. I liked my version of tomato sandwich. Mayonnaise can easily spoil in the heat.
On
the way to Naples, I thought of how dirty Rome was. Rome, however, seemed downright clean when we
saw the garbage strewn on the streets of Naples when we arrived at the train
station.
We
walked to the hotel. All along the way,
people with sidewalk displays sold cigarettes, razors, and soap. People tried to sell us watches in several
languages until they arrived at French.
Communist
graffiti covered the walls. Inequitable
housing codes and standards and lack of enforcement might have caused that form
of protest.
Two
girls zoomed by on a Vespa and cut off a car.
The car honked at them and the girls shook their fists at the car
driver. The girls were not wearing
helmets.
When
we arrived at the hotel, I showered and sat in bed while Laurent went out
exploring and buying groceries. Going to
the grocery store overseas is a fun marketing research exercise. You can ask yourself questions such as, “What
do they make in a microwave or instant here?”
I
picked up my journal and wrote some impressions:
The
dirt in Naples unsettles me. I wrote
that both Rome and Naples were dirty and made me think that no one valued the
architecture in these places. It seemed
like these cities had no civic pride.
Had corruption taken over everything?
The
dark grime probably came from pollution.
Since our visit in 1988, many of the buildings we saw have been cleaned
to prevent the grime from eating away at the monuments.
Everywhere
in Italy, I noted that people wore fashionable clothes with creases ironed into
sleeves, even if they did not have them.
I knew from helping with this chore that we also did this in Detroit and
in the South, so insects would not lay eggs in the “burned and smooth” fibers
of cotton.
The
Appenine Mountain Range runs down most of Italy from North to South. The mountains keep regional foods distinct as
well as accents. Italian television helped
make Tuscan Italian, the language of Dante, the national language.
I
watched television and listened to how words were pronounced the rest of the
evening as I ate bread, water, and chocolate muffins.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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