Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Va a Scuola

The third in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what Gibbs thinks of having gone back to school this year.

A little background info for you: In October we discovered my study visa wasn't enough to get us both a permesso di soggiorno and Gibbs' original idea of getting a digital nomad visa wasn't workable either.  Gibbs chose to head home for about 5-6 weeks and request a study visa, like mine. This requires that you study Italian (or another subject in an Italian University program) full-time, which is 20 hours a week.  

If you know Gibbs, you know that he loves learning, but that he does not love going to school.  Going to Italian school at ARCA, however, turned out to be a positive experience for him.

Here are a few pictures of Gibbs learning to play Briscola, and Italian card game that our teacher, Sara, said is probably more valuable for connecting with Italians than mastering the congiuntivo (a piece of Italian grammar that is notoriously tricky for English speakers)

Last night we were out with friends from school celebrating our year.  We each shared a little about our first impressions of school and favorite memories.  Gibbs shared the following in Italian.  I will do my best to translate what he said:

I didn't really want to go to school.  It's not really my thing.  But I'm glad I did.  My Italian improved a lot and I learned so much about Italian culture and history.

One of our friends pointed out that he hadn't mentioned the people.  Gibbs said,  That's because for me that's a different thing.  The people, they're even more important.

Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Ammira l'Arte di Strada

The second in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what kind of art Gibbs has been appreciating in Bologna.

A little over a month ago on my last day of teaching at Liceo Copernico, I came home to find Gibbs waiting for me.  He told me we had important homework for class: to document some street art in Bologna.  And then he asked, "If you had to pick three things to photograph and share, what would they be?"  I replied, "I'm not sure, but I'd definitely add Don't happy, be worry."  He said that had been his first thought, too.  This piece caught our attention very early on in our stay.  It's across the street and we see it whenever we walk home from one of our favorite grocery stores.

We took off on our homework mission.  Gibbs wanted to share the gist of the article they read with Annalisa in class while I was teaching.  He also wanted me to see that he had discovered some interesting graffiti and other pieces by the Don't happy, be worry artist (learn more about them here)

We proceeded to snake our way through the streets of Bologna, run into a colleague from Coperinco, and snap more than three photos each to share in class.  Here are a few of them.

When I asked Gibbs what he would like you all to know about street art in Bologna, he shared these three gems:

1. If you slow down and pay attention, there is some pretty interesting stuff happening (running themes, cultural references, artists with a body of work to share, history, social critique...)
2. Some of what is one the walls of Bologna is just tagging or bathroom wall scribbles
3. The murals that some shop owners commission for their roll-down security shutters are pretty cool, and they appear to work well to discourage vandalism

Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Legge in Italiano Ogni Giorno

The first in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what he's been reading.

Gibbs reads every day here in his apartment in via Marconi, Bologna.  In the morning, he reads the news.  Sources close to Gibbs report that he reads NPR and MPR news in English and Il Post in Italian.  He has been observed sharing about the day's news first thing in the morning, giving summaries in Italian.

In the evening and occasionally all day on a holiday or weekend, Gibbs reads books. He started with some familiar translations from English into Italian, and has moved on to reading local Bolognese author Filippo Venturi who has written a series of gialli, or mystery novels.  The move into local fiction is reportedly the result of a recommendation from friend and classmate, Blake.  

While Gibbs reads his gialli, he can been seen with a thick hardcover Italian dictionary and book of Sinonimi e Contrari (thesaurus) nearby, which he consults regularly.  

Gibbs was recently overheard marvelling that in just the first few pages of his latest novel, he encountered three Italian idiomatic expressions he had learned only that week.  He also reportedly loves catching the local author using poetic license when describing Bolognese sites.  This can sound like, "There's no way that street was empty on the day Venturi describes, there's a pop-up market there for the Madonna of San Luca that week of the year, impossible!"

Filippo Venturi isn't just a local writer, he's also a local restaurateur (as is the protagonist of his mystery series).  Sources close to Gibbs say to keep an eye out for photos on social media of dining at La Montanara coming soon.

Habemus Papam!

It's news all over the world and we've had an interesting view of it all from Bologna.  It started on April 21 when we were in Piazza Nettuno for the 80th anniversary celebration of the Liberation of Bologna from the Nazi-Fascists.  The organizers paused the ceremony to hold a moment of silence for Papa Francesco.  We were all amazed, he had just celebrated Easter mass the day before.  See a video below of that ceremony.  What is pictured is not the moment of silence, but rather a bugle solo to recognize the lives lost.  

Next came a declaration from Georgia Meloni's administration that there would be a (totally unprecedented) 5-day national mourning period for Papa Francesco and that all acknowledgements of Italy's Liberation Day (a national holiday celebrated on April 25th) should be done in a sober manner.  Conveniently, Meloni planned a trip out of the country on that day.

On Saturday, April 26th we could hear a church service wafting in on the breeze from the balcony.  It suddenly occurred to me that this might not be a regular service.  I turned on the TV and realized that there were enough people watching the pope's funeral live that it was effectively being simulcast to the nation.

My favorite part of this time, however, was the learning we did in our Italian class.  From studying about the rules of the conclave (above), to reviewing quotes from Papa Francesco and choosing our favorites, to reading online about the top likely candidates (including Bologna's very own 'prete della strada' Cardinale Zuppi, pictured in the middle of the top row here, right), it's been exciting to dig in.

One more Italian lesson we had in this series was on idiomatic expressions with pope references (see our worksheet for helpful images).  If you're looking to add some to your lexicon, here are some to try:

1. Habemus papam! literally, We have a pope! 
   It's used to announce a milestone, usually something pretty common, but that takes some effort, like when a family member graduates from university.  My favorite example of this was when our instructor's Dad and sister came home from her driver's license test, this is how he announced she had passed.
   
   
2. Chi ha fatto trenta puo fare trentuno literally, Who has done thirty can do thirty one. 
   According to our text, it comes from Papa Leone X in 1517 who needed to gather church leaders to nominate cardinals and realized, at the last minute, that he had forgotten to add one.  He added the leader and coined the phrase.  Now it's used to encourage someone make just a little more effort in the final stretch.
   
   
3. Entrare papa in conclave e uscirne vescovo literaly, Going in a pope to the conclave and coming out a bishop. 
   It's meant to remind people that high expectations at the beginning don't always mean a big result.  Could be used to remind someone that despite being a favorite for a promotion, it's not theirs yet.
   
   
4. Ad ogni morte di papa literally, In each pope's death. 
   This is like the English 'once in a blue moon' and should be used for the most banal things that you rarely do: clean out the fridge, go after the cobwebs on the ceiling, etc.
   
   
5. Stare come un papa literally, Stay like a pope.
   Used for describing comfy situations.  Did you see Sara's new apartment?  It's got two bathrooms, a balcony with an amazing view, and there's lots of green space nearby, sta come un papa!

I Got a Temporary Part-Time Job! But First... Part 2: Privilege & Racism in Italian Bureaucracy

Ok, this is Part 2, so first, a quick recap:

I have already done 12 things to get ready to accept a lovely position at a local high school teaching English once a week after school to prepare 17-18 year-olds to pass the Cambridge English B2 exam.  I still don't have the electronic ID card I need (la CIE) to be hired and the position starts in two and a half weeks.  It's supposed to take 10 business days to get la CIE but first I have to get the physical card proving that I have my permesso di soggiorno so that I can establish residency in Bologna so I can start the application for the CIE.  I'm sweating because I know that means there are at least 3 steps for which I am completely subject to the whims of Italian Bureaucracy.

Here is a photo of the Italian State Police headquarters for Immigration in Bologna (la Questura per Immigrazione).  A sight that brings shivers to permesso seekers from all over.  You don't know when you enter if you will be successful with your task, you don't know how many times you will have to return, and on a really bad day you might get yelled at or completely ignored.  An American student posted a video on instagram of her visit and said, "It went great!  I didn't even cry!"

OK, I'm going to jump ahead to the spoilers.  I was successful.  I got my permesso di soggiorno card, and I was able to apply for la residenza and the CIE on the same day and get a temporary paper CIE that worked fine for entering my hours.

My class started January 21st.  I was able to get everything taken care of on January 15th- after spending about 10 days where I woke up early to go to the Questura and the Comune several times each.  I stood in various lines, asked for help, did everything they told me, got yelled at and mocked, but more than that I met people who were not so lucky.  

On one of those extra attempts at the Questura to retrieve my permesso di soggiorno I met a woman from Cuba who had been living legally in Italy for 13 years and had been trying, without success, to get her permesso di soggiorno that comes with being the mom of an Italian baby.  Her baby is now three.  She told me that the Questura messed something up on her paperwork and that she comes back occasionally to see if they can fix it.  Her Italian was perfect, she followed all the rules, she was just asking them to review the documents to iron out any wrinkles so she could get on with her life.  After three years, she said, she really doubted that they would ever admit to and fix their mistake.  She wished me luck with my permesso.

I met an African man that same morning.  We commiserated a little about the long waits and the lack of transparency in the process.  He shared that he had applied for his permesso in November and was still waiting for his card.  He said his legal employment was in jeopardy if he didn't get the plastic card soon.  I said, "Me, too!  I applied in November and I'm still waiting."  He asked "November 2023?"  He had been following the rules and waiting patiently and checking in in person for a year and two months.  My new acquaintances from Cuba and Brazil and I watched as he was called in to share his receipt so someone could look up his permesso progress and we were there again when he got the bad news that there was no news.  He left with a look of frustration and disappointment.

In this story, my privileges were many: my skin color, my US passport and my middle-class life where being in Italy, not to mention working here, were a choice, a bonus.  Based on what I saw and heard, I believe the Italian systems for immigration are not currently set up to treat everyone fairly.  Your chances of doing everything by the book and succeeding are less if your skin is dark and you have a passport from somewhere South of Florida or Ragusa.  And that's a kind of racism.

I'm writing this a little over 4 months after the fact.  Coming up next weekend there will be a referendum in Italy on 4 issues related to worker's rights and one related to citizenship- the referendum question number 5 something like this 'should Italy return the number of years of wait time for legal residents to request citizenship back to 5, from the current 10'  The Meloni government has suggested everyone just sit this referendum out.  I hope 50%+1 of Italians (the quorum) vote that the majority of them say Sì! 

 

I Got a Temporary Part-Time Job! But First... Part 1: Advanced Italian Bureaucracy for Foreigners

I have not added many posts in 2 months.  This is in great part due to an exciting new development.  I was offered a lovely, very part-time and temporary English teaching position at the High School where I did my volunteering this Fall.  Whereas my position is compelling, getting through the bureaucratic hurdles to start it was draining.

First, the fun part!  I am an esperta madrelingua for a Cambridge English B2 Test-Prep course after school from Jan-May this year.  I have 22 delightful students once a week for two hours on Tuesday afternoons.  I work with lovely colleagues at Liceo Copernico, I get to learn lots, and make a contribution I really enjoy- it's a joy in every sense!  

There's an interesting context to the position, too- it is a project of the PNRR, Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza.  The plan is co-sponsored by the European Union, and plays out on several fronts: Innovation, Green Revolution, Infrastructure & Sustainable Transit, Education & Research, Inclusion & Cohesion, Health, and Energy (non fossil fuel, non Russian).  It's inspiring to think my weekly classes are part of a future- and sustainability-oriented multinational collaboration.  

I will share more about my classes in the coming weeks.  But for now, the less-fun part.  I was invited to apply for the position about a week before Christmas.  Here's a quick tally of the things I (initially) had to do in order to start the position on time:

• Verify that I can, in fact, work in Italy before I receive the physical, plastic card for my permesso di soggiorno (applied for the first week of November, not yet ready 6 weeks later)- All official Italian websites agreed, I can!  Luckily I also had my codice fiscale (like our American Social Security number) from 2008.
• Complete application, including a survey of my experience for the point-based selection process
• Quick, write a resume in the European format in Italian (see first page below)
• Ask my teacher, Corinna, to proofread my resume- Grazie, Corinna!
• Go to the high school and officially upload my application materials.

Whew!  All done before the Dec 23rd deadline.  I was feeling pretty good.  This is the land of bureaucracy, so I saved a little room in my heart for possible additional steps.  It's a good thing I did, because I found out on Dec 30 that there's an electronic ID card I need for the online time-tracking system for a position that accesses EU funds.  I just needed to get that.  

Here's the next quick tally of the things I needed to do to get my electronic ID, part 1:

• Go online to get an appointment to get the electronic ID at the Comune (City Hall, main local government office, located in Piazza Maggiore)
• Swear a little, because the soonest appointment available was for almost two weeks later
• Go to the Piazza Maggiore Comune office first thing in the morning anyway, and ask if I could be helped in advance of my appointment time given that this is for a project of the PNRR.  The answer was Si
• Find out that before I can get an electronic ID, I need to get la residenza in Bologna.  "No problem," said the woman helping me, "you just need to go to another office a couple of km away, they're open right now, see you later."
• Go to the via dello Scalo Comune office, chat with someone who said "We're closed right now, but you can come back tomorrow first thing and one of us can help you."  I asked him to preview my documents, just to be sure I had everything in order.  He did, and said, "You're all set!"
• Go back to the via dello Scalo Comune office, and hear from a colleague of the person who spoke to me less than 24 hours prior that I can under no circumstances get La Residenza and therefore not the electronic ID without first getting the physical, plastic card for my permesso di soggiorno.  I tried quoting from the website and the colleague who had helped me the day before.  No luck.
• Go to the Questura per immigrazione (State Police Headquarters for Immigration) to see if I can speed up the permesso di soggiorno.

See you soon for Part 2: Privilege & Racism in Italian Bureaucracy

La Pinacoteca Nazionale- Letter to Opal

Read on for a letter from me to Opal about a recent visit I made with friends Lucia & Cinzia to the Pinacoteca Nazionale:

Hi, Opal,

How are you?  I hope school is going well and that you had fun with Jo when you got home.

I'm so glad you and your parents came to visit us in Italy.  I've told lots of friends about what an interested traveler you were and how you used the Pimpa book to explore Bologna and learn a lot.  We're telling our next visitors they should read the Pimpa book, too, and maybe they will have as good of a time as you did here.  Do you have any other suggestions for visitors?

I couldn't help but think of you on Friday when I went to the Pinacoteca Nazionale here in Bologna with some friends.  The Pinacoteca is a museum where there are lots of paintings.  I saw some things there I want to share with you.

Do you remember how we taught you to look for the Due Torri on signs in Bologna?  Well, I discovered lots of them along with other references to Bologna in the drawings and paintings in the Pinacoteca.

My friends told me about the history of painting in the 1500's and 1600's (that's 400-500 years ago!).  They said that the many paintings were used in churches to help people feel a close a connection to the stories in the bible and the stories of the lives of the saints.  They wanted people to feel like the stories weren't just about far away people, but people like them, living where they live.  They painted the stories and put hints in the paintings that the scenes were taking place there, in the walled city, under the portici, or near the two towers.

I learned something else, too.  I always thought the really crooked tower, the shorter one called the Garisenda, started tipping recently.  That's not the case.  My friend said it started tipping while they were building it.  In fact, it was supposed to be much taller, but when it started to lean a little during construction in 1109 AD they decided to leave it short.  

I pasted a few photos below of some of the paintings I saw with signs of Bologna in them.  Can you find the Due Torri in each one?  Are there other signs you notice?  You might even be able to see how crooked the Garisenda tower was hundreds of years ago.

Hugs to you, Opal, I love you!

Granny Bean