I normally try to blog about emotions, social and envirolmental issues and exotic locations, but rarely have you heard me talk about my hometown, Napoli, Italy. The historical harbour of ancient civilizations, the "
Campania Felix"(litterally, the
'joyful countryside') used to be the place-to-be, the a glam summer resort for prestigious Roman citizens and the inspirational muse of poets, songsmiths and artists from all over the world. Goes the saying "
Vedi Napoli e poi 
muori",See Naples and then die,which summarizes the spirit and the enthusiasm that used to animate tourists visiting the beautiful partenopean city. Entering Naples one is immediately confronted by centuries of traditions which still cohabit to this day with extemporaneous dexterity. Naples, with its buildings and palaces,is some sort of open book:every monument is a piece of history that leads back to the various dynasties that have succeded in the government o
f the city. The
Unesco has declared the urbanistic richness of Naples "heritage for humanity"...all good and sound...until you physically enter Naples (be it via air,rail or car) and the saying suddenly becomes closer to reality than you ever thought possible. Overwhelmed by a chaotic conglomeration of buildings, neglected roads, anarchic scooter riders and barbarian swearing monstrous car drivers, suspicious looking thugs selling drugs and contrabanded fags, ever-pregnant destitutes, dirt, smog and clandestine immigrants selling fake labelled fashion items and pirate media on the streets whilst oblivious police officers jauntly stand at the bar sipping expressos and puffing cigarettes,you nearly expect it to put your life to the risk. Call it the
Italian way?! I am not sure. Often talking to my foreign friends they express admiring opinions on the Italian friendliness, easy-going,chilled life style..the noise,the chaos,the opulence adds up, in their view, to season the goodness of our food and land. I must say I do miss sitting outside of my favourite cafe by the seaside overlooking
Castel dell'Ovo and the Marina on a sunny afternoon drinking Hazelnut coffee or eating ice-cream..but it frustrates me no end to see how lack of general basic civic responsability has led to the ultimate deterioration of such a charismatic city. Inspired by
J-Mac's post,I was debating with my dad and some of his middleclass mid-forty intellectual male friends the other night and they aggressively responded to my "friends-of-the-earth" approach to life with the stereotypical "
why do we bother making any efforts when the USA and China are polluting the globe" - which is an understandable and ver
y logic, but if we don't take personal responsability for ourselves, how is anything,even the big government policies,going to change?! I have had a very conflictual love/hate relationship with Naples for years,but that is not because I don't appreciate my origins. I simply detest the attitude of the Neapolitas which has turned an earthly paradise into a ghastly place. Coming back to my title,my appeal is a call to the napoletani to get off their lazy arses,to get active,fierce and determined to retrive the beauty within our magical city and to my foreign readers to visit Napoli: for info, ask me,anytime,there are some magnificent, breathtaking scenaries, artefacts, architectural masterpieces and naturalistic wonders to see, the food is the best in the world and there are things to experiences that will awe your memory for the rest of your longevity! And,of course,I am Neapolitan,what else could you ask for!?!(",)
"Paese che vai, gente che trovi" is a traditional Italian saying which literally means "Places you go, people you find" - (bear with me, it does have a meaning after all!), and it refers to the now popular postmodern concept of 'global village' which undermines a common umanity in cosmopolitanism. The good old ancient Greeks, who, amongst many things, coniated the term "cosmopolitan" (literally, citizen of the world) had foreseen in the Hellenistic empire the ideal that a man could be at home anywhere in the known world. Imagine the scene. The Greek civilization had started off pretty small; first, it was Athens, then its prefecta in the boardering regions, then to Macedonia, the Balcans, northern Africa, the Middle East, Asia. There are conspiracies and archeological exhibits which prove that Alexander the Great reached out as far as India in his conquests..what a man!!!. Nonetheless, as soon as the so called Hellenistic era started (4th century BC),like under any period of prosperity and progress (es. the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution), there was a brewing of optimism, inventiveness and progress. They invented things, created p
hilosophies and academic disciplines and were led to believe that the world was their oyster, that, as long as you spoke Greek, you could be anywhere and do whatever you liked. Too bad that this concept was only true if you could afford it. Greeks benefitted from inequitable priviledges at the expenses, 
like always, of the non-Greeks, the slaves and the thousands of local communities that had been nullified for the advantage of their own. Remarkably enough, studious of the time would tell you that, unlike many other colonizations, the Hellenistic empire favoured and integrated local identities. For instance, the raise of Christiandom in the first century AD is a direct offspring of the Greeks fashination and acceptance for foreign beliefs and customs. However, their acceptance was only on an intellectual level and only for what could,somehow, improve their lives. Kind or less refined, colonialism is always a venture for potential abuse. What was the point of the whole academic regurgitation,anyway?! Oh, yes. I am currently reading a book by 2004 Peace Nobel Prize winner, Wangari Maathai. "Unbowed" is a wispy yet direct autobiography, "a compelling tale about the challenges and triumphs of modern Africa, a universal story about courage, perseverance and success for a noble cause"(Bill Clinton). I am loving every word of it and being absolutely absorbed in the life of this extraordinary w
oman. I am especially appreciating the old African fables and the tales of a forgotten tradition. Also, I found of interest the way she perceives the British ruling in Kenya. Due to her mixed Western/African education, she is the best qualified person to speak about the issue and does it with immense grace, wisdom and balance. "Take the good, leave the bad, 'cause we are all bound by a common humanity" would be my take on cosmopolitanism. Being the aspirational globe trotter that I like to describe myself as, I have utterly enjoyed the discovery of alien cultures. In my quest for cultural full-immersion and integration, I have often debated the dangers of imposing my national identity over others. This does not merely restrict to watching the Olympic games or the football worldcup where I am suddenly and scarely transformed into a hooligan-Hulk-like yelling,beer drinking monster (my apologies to those who have had to watch these events with me). Many of you know that my ultimate ambition would be to work as a missionary doctor in developing countries and that I have been priviledged enough to do some umanitarian aid work in various parts of the world - and loved ev
ery minute of it. An example of this is this picture on the left: me and Rosie teaching songs in a primary school in Nanchuwa, Kisii, Kenya, where, allegedly, the pupils had never seen a white skinned person before and there, behold, the crazy Italian chick and the chatty Northern Irish girl dancing and singing like mad women..I indeed enjoyed myself, but I remember being very weary that night about potentially having imposed "my way" onto a foreign culture. But how do you do that? How do you pursuit healthy cross-cultural communication and exchange and stay away from the dangers of imperialism and imposition? "Places you go, people you find" - of course, but what makes a man is not merely his genes, but it's his beliefs, his history. As Maathai writes: "The way we were brought up and translate the life we see, perceive, smell and touch (the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat) is what we are".
.bmp)
.jpg)
light shining off a lighthouse in the midst of a sea storm. She has just completed her third of six cycles of chemotherapy and despite having suffered severely from all the expected side effects of both her illness and its treatment, her moral strength,determination and faith have been admirable and inspirational. Fourty-eight and not looking a day over 25!!!My mom: what a wonderful woman she is. (If anything I looked pretty rough on her birthday..d'oh!) Love ya!! *PS: We just got the result from the first post-chemo scan and the cancer is shrinking!!! Praise God!!!
~ An Apple A Day Keeps the Doctor Away...
2.It's no sci-fi: look at his striking resemblance with my other childhood nightmare,
By now I've kinda lost my train of thought..oh yeah, the reason I started to blog about this is that I am frustrated to see hyperactive,lazy teenagers who stuff their faces with junk food and cheap pop whilst being unnecessarily fussy with their greens! Enough, so from tomorrow we will be ditching the old style tuck shop from the youth group to start selling fruit smooties and home made healthy cakes to promote healthy eating and,hopefully, happier individuals in the long run --WATCH THIS SPACE! (and lets pray the smoothies don't get chucked at me instead!)