Bella Figura

“First of all, let’s get one thing straight. Your Italy and our Italia are not the same thing. Italy is a soft drug peddled in predictable packages, such as hills in the sunset, olive groves, lemon trees, white wine, and raven-haired girls. Italia, on the other hand, is a maze. It’s alluring, but complicated. It’s the kind of place that can have you fuming and then purring in the space of a hundred meters, or in the course of ten minutes. Italy is the only workshop in the world that can turn out both Botticellis and Berlusconis."  Beppe Severgnini

Beppe Severgnini is an Italian journalist, essayist and columnist.  He has authored several books on the lifestyle of his country, the latest "Italian Lessons: Fifty Things We Know About Life Now", published in May, 2022.  His "La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind", published in 2008, is a classic.  In La Bella Figura, he starts Chapter One with "Being Italian is a full-time job. We never forget who we are, and we have fun confusing anyone who is looking on". He goes on to caution readers to not take his country at "face-value" but if you do, don't complain later.

Needless to say, he's a favorite author. Kind of like an Italian David Sedaris. In Beppe's case, he calls Italian lifestyle as he sees it, through the lens of a man who clearly loves his country without apology and is proud and happy to be Italian. I get it. 

In my humble opinion, the only way to understand Italian life is to live it. The best way to accomplish that is to dive in, feet first and stay afloat for as long as you can. And, save yourself the aggravation, don't complain about it. Nothing is going to change. And why should it?

I have come to accept the quirks that Beppe describes in his books, probably not thinking twice about most of the differences that are part of the daily life of those who graciously share their country, some more gracefully than others. Having rented many an Italian home, it is with authority and generosity of heart that I say that Italy is bobby-trapped. From steps up to get into bathrooms to washing machines that take no less than one and a half hours with absolutely no directions for use, the best of accommodations prove that life is confusing. Italian life does not come with an owner's manual and if you ask too many questions, you will get some version of "Allora, Signora, how many times I must tell you?"

Do not come to spend time here if you are intending to offer suggestions on better ways to do things or if you are an accident prevention specialist. Your words will be half-accepted with a smile but guaranteed, nothing further will come of your efforts. Why change it? In the Bella Figura world, nothing is broken, all faults and mishaps are hidden. And, as Beppe or anyone who understands Italian culture will tell you, if it looks good, it is good. Pretty oftentimes overrides practical. Form takes precedence over function and why worry about finding your seat belt in the backseat of a car when seat belts are only required by law for the front seat? It's all very easily understood. 

So, from the complicated and alluring, Green Heart of "My Italia", I remain purring and refusing to complain. My "workshop" is a corner of Heaven and always will be.