Monthly Archives: February 2004

Italian Mafia Boss Fortune Up For Grabs?

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Mon Feb. 23 18:32 pm zoomata staffItalian government officials are rumored to be trying to track down relatives by the last name of Perri, unwitting heirs to a fortune left by mafia boss Rocco Perri who emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s.

Perri, who became known as king of the bootleggers in Canada, disappeared leaving around a million dollars in 1944. In his heyday during prohibition, he was said to have sold 1,000 cases of 60-proof whisky a day. His wife Bessie was killed by rival gangs, his brother Michele has since died and the whereabouts of his two children Caterina and Giuseppe are unknown.

That means a small fortune would go to distant relatives in the southern Italian region of Reggio Calabria who may have never even heard of him. If there are any direct descendants the quest may not be a quick one, since the Italian phone book counts nearly 3,000 Perris throughout the country.

Italian media reported that the town hall of Platì (population 3,500) where Perri was born in Reggio Calabria has seen a surge in requests to review birth and death records.
A fortune is a good reason to be diligent in tracing one’s roots to see whether the mythical wealthy ‘zio americano,’ or American uncle, many Italians are convinced they have somewhere?
Related resources:Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic

Christopher Columbus — a New Italian Holiday?

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Thu Feb. 19 18:25 pm zoomata staff
Overturning the old Latin proverb that no one is a hero in his own country, Italians want to celebrate Christopher Columbus with a national holiday.
Better late than never?
Americans have been celebrating, and more recently contesting, the Italian explorer from Genoa off and on since the late 1700s, his patrons the Spanish and countries in South America since 1915 — but it took the 500th anniversary of his death in 2006 for Italians to jump on the bandwagon.

The proposed public fete is more than just a nod to the past. Although Italy has one of the highest number of public holidays at more than 16 per year, almost all of them are religious. The proposed Columbus Day, Oct. 12, would also be the first national Italian holiday to celebrate an individual.

“I’m not sure I see the point, really, why Columbus and not Dante or Michelangelo?” history teacher Alessandra Daverio told zoomata. “This country has had many great men, and their anniversaries are often honored with special initiatives so I don’t understand a national holiday only for Columbus.”

Not by chance Italians, who know the sailor as Cristoforo Colombo, plan to call the holiday “Columbus Day” in English. After American cousins successfully lobbied Congress for recognition of the invention of the telephone by Italian Antonio Meucci in 2002, politicians in Italy battled to see who could out-ceremony the inventor who died in the US in poverty. City officials in his birthplace of Florence proposed a bas-relief along in the Santa Croce church, where many local sons are honored, even if, like Dante, they died in exile.

The 1,500 Italian organizations behind the Columbus Day initiative have their work cut out for them — as with Meucci, there’s very little of Columbus left to celebrate in Italy. Of the two tombs said to contain his remains, both are on foreign soil (one in Seville, Spain and the other in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic) and the ‘Columbus House’ in Genoa, thought to be where his mother’s house once stood, was built long after his death.

Daverio remains skeptical about whether plans for the holiday will come to pass.

“Another holiday in the fall isn’t such a bad idea,” said Daverio. “But it could end up the way of other proposals like the one for a patron saint of Italy — lots of talk, but it hasn’t made it to the calendar yet.”
Colombus day lobbyists hope an early start will mean they’ll manage to push the holiday through the obstacle course of the Italian government before the 2006 anniversary.?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Controversial Archbishop Returns to Italy

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zoomata staff posted: Wed Feb. 18 15:05 pm

The most famous stray of the Catholic Church, African archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, who rocked the Vatican by eloping then repenting, has returned to the fold again after reportedly fleeing to his native Zambia in late 2003.

Milingo, crucifix slightly askew over his ample belly and hands together in his lap, appeared on Italian television seated in row of bishops behind Pope John Paul II during an audience for the Focolare Movement. The movement is credited with negotiating his return after the 2001 elopement.

Milingo’s recent disappearance and reappearance are still shrouded in mystery. After Vatican officials stopped him from appearing at a press conference in November, he left unexpectedly for Northern Italy to undergo medical exams sparking rumors that he was contemplating moving from where Church officials have him under ‘house arrest’ in a Rome-area monastery.

He then left for Africa and, according to news reports Vatican officials knew, but did not authorize, Milingo’s trip home. Church officials also did not know when he planned to return.

Milingo fell from grace in 2001 when he married Maria Sung in a group ceremony of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification church. Pope John Paul II managed to bring this embarrassing stray back into the fold a few months later, but Milingo has been kept out of the public eye ever since.

Italian papers reported that Maria Sung has not given up on her short-lived marriage: she reportedly came to Italy and tried to visit Milingo during his recent hospitalization but police guarding the archbishop refused to let her in.

The Zambia native, known for his exorcisms and faith healing, was called to Rome in 1983 so that the Vatican could keep a closer eye on him. Milingo refused to be confined to the desk job they gave him and soon gained a large following in Italy, where he became a popular figure on television and also cut a CD.?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Olive Oil ‘brain food’ for kids, Italian docs say

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zoomata staff posted: Tue Feb. 17 12:21 am

A teaspoon of olive oil a day during pregnancy makes for smarter children, according to Italian researchers. The effects of ‘green gold,’ on a mum-to-be are many — from a healthier liver and cleaner arteries to reinforcing cell membranes– and can add up to a 30% increase in intelligence.

“Olive oil isn’t just a condiment, it’s a food,” said Giorgio Calabrese, professor and nutritionist. “Our studies have shown that it is an important element for health, not only contributing to intelligence but also in preventing tumors, reducing risk of heart attack and improving cholesterol levels.”

Those of us who missed out on a mediterranean diet in the womb can still benefit from regular consumption of olive oil.
A study by the University of Bari found that elderly people with a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids contained in olive oil had and maintained higher cognitive skills than those who did not. During the nine years of the study, researchers studied over 700 people between the ages of 65 and 85, and found that followers of the mediterranean diet, where 29% of total calories were fat from olive oil, scored highest on cognitive tests and maintained that advantage over the years.

Trying to convince the rest of the world that olive oil is the ‘divine gift’ mediterranean populations consider it may take some doing. Even before the low-carb, high-fat diet craze set in, only 3% of the worldwide consumption in fat was made up of olive oil.

“It’s conquering the other 97% of the people that concerns me,” said Calabrese. “We can talk about benefits all day long, but we need to change habits.” ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Related resources:
Barbera Frantoia Olive Oil in Hand-Crafted Ceramic Jar

Converting from butter to olive oil — quantities & tips
www.worldfood.com/med/tips/ioo.asp

Clive Hawkins (Cagliari, Sardinia)

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First Person: Real Life In Italy

Each month we introduce you to someone who has made the dream of picking up and moving to the Bel Paese a reality.
In their own words they share the good parts, the bad parts and the just plain absurd moments of day-to-day life in Italy.

Looking to move to Italy? Try the reader-recommended Survivor Package
If you live in Italy, we would love to hear your story–Contact form

ID Card:
I’m Clive Hawkins, 34, and I teach English as a foreign language to adults in a private school. I’ve lived in Sardinia for 3 years and have just committed to at least another year here.
Currently living in:Cagliari, Sardinia.

By way of: Watford, UK.

How (or why) did you get here from there?
I’d grown tired of life in the suburbs of London and had felt that there was a lot more out there than just the 9-5 routine I was following. Therefore I decided to take an English teaching qualification, something I’d wanted to do for years, which has given me the opportunity of working almost anywhere in the world. I chose Cagliari because at the time I had a girlfriend from here so it seemed as good a place as any to start my travels. (Note to self: It really is time I moved on? This isn’t travelling!)

What role did language skills play in your experience?
I arrived here without a word of Italian so completely relied on my girlfriend to help me get through daily life. At the time this was obviously invaluable but with hindsight it encouraged me to be lazy with regard to learning the language because the need wasn’t there. However, even this still left me severely limited in what I could and couldn’t do so after a couple of months I started to knuckle down and was surprised to find it wasn’t as difficult as I’d expected. An almost immediate result was that the local people became more accommodating as they could see I was making an effort.

Your biggest challenge: My biggest challenge was adapting to just how difficult and time consuming some things can be to do here. The infamous bureaucracy you hear about ISN’T an exaggeration! Even with locals to help me I found myself being passed from pillar to post as nobody seemed to quite know what they were doing. You just have to bite the bullet and get on with it and eventually you’ll get all the pieces of paper you need to be legal. Patience really is a virtue here.

What did you do to feel at home or adapt here?
I was very lucky that when I came here I was with my girlfriend and stayed with her family, so I never had the misfortune to feel lonely. Her family and friends were all very friendly so I was never short of anyone to show me around or help me. I’ve since discovered that this is a typically Italian trait. You really would be hard pushed to find more hospitable people.
Also finding a job almost immediately helped, especially one in an English school working with English people. It was good to be able to chat in my own language and be around people with a common culture. They also provided invaluable advice from an English perspective on how to survive. Find your own, but not to the exclusion of the locals or you’ll never adapt!

What do you still have to get used to/learn?
It’s an old cliche but the driving is abysmal. The sheer arrogance of a large proportion of the drivers is incredible. The concept of waiting patiently does not exist and they’re happy to risk their lives just to gain a few precious metres in traffic. In fact this attitude is also reflected anywhere where waiting is involved (not the life threatening bit, unless they catch me on a bad day!) i.e. bars, shops, banks etc. It’s just one of those cultural differences you have to get used to. So as not to get too angry I’ve now found myself doing the same hey, when in Rome!

Compare an aspect of your home town (or other place you’ve lived) to current town.
Don’t get me wrong, as I’m proud of where I come from, but one of the biggest differences between Cagliari and Watford is what happens after dark. In my home town (and I guess this goes for most of the UK) there is a greater drinking culture and inevitably more violence. Here, in Cagliari, people seem to be able to have a good time without getting drunk (some do, obviously, myself included!) and as a result I can honestly say that in 3 years I’ve never seen a fight! (football stadium aside).
Another noticeable difference is how people spend their free time. Here they seem to do more with it, whether it’s playing sport, going to the beach or even just taking a walk to the piazza and meeting friends for coffee. Sunday evening isn’t spent at home feeling fed up that tomorrow is a work day; they are happy because it isn’t Monday yet!

Latest pursuits:
Living on an island in a city by the sea my pursuits tend to be beach-orientated, even if that mostly involves only relaxing with a good book, swimming and chatting with friends. A recently broken toe has put paid to football and tennis (at least that’s my excuse anyway!)

A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is not true:
Italian women are ugly and become fat on their 30th birthday. This is so NOT true.

A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is true:
They’ll argue for fun but don’t take it personally!

Your response to the following question: “I really want to live here, but I don’t speak Italian or have a job. What do you think?”
Do it. Study a bit of the language before you get here, even if it’s just basic courtesies for shops and bars , you’ll soon pick it up when you get here. As for a job I guess that depends on the individual i.e. qualifications, whether you can come and work for a branch of your current company, what you’d be prepared to do etc.
Try to sort out as much of the paperwork you’ll need BEFORE you get here (if possible) and be prepared to adapt. Finally, don’t be afraid to talk to people ? you’ll find them very open and usually pleased to have the chance to show off their English.

How would you sum up your Italian experience in a word (and why)?
Life changing. (I know it’s not one word but I can?t think of only one, and I’m a teacher! Che vergogna!) Why? Because I’ve become more relaxed, more open-minded, healthier and as a result a lot happier.

Italy’s best kept secret (music, culture, food, way to get round things)
Summer outdoor discos. Great music*, great locations, great vodka tonics and great company. Dancing as the sun is rising really is a lot of fun!
* Joe Dolce, Renee+Renata and Spagna are NOT typical of Italian music ? trust me!