美食祈祷与恋爱意大利文化 《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 34 (72):悲伤的气氛

《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 34 (72):悲伤的气氛  

Thanksgiving turkey
though he's seen them in pictures. He thinks it should be easy to replicate such a feast (especially with the help of me
a real American). He says we can use the kitchen of his friends Mario and Simona
who have a nice big house in the mountains outside Rome
and who always host Luca's birthday parties.
So here was Luca's plan for the festivities—he would pick me up at around seven o'clock at night
after he'd finished work
and then we would drive north out of Rome for an hour or so to his friends' house (where we would meet the other attendees of the birthday party) and we'd drink some wine and all get to know each other
and then
probably around 9:00 PM
we would mence to roasting a enty-pound turkey . . .
I had to do some explaining to Luca about how much time it takes to roast a enty-pound turkey. I told him his birthday feast would probably be ready to eat
at that rate
around dawn the next day. He was destroyed. "But what if we bought a very small turkey? A just-born turkey?"
我不得不跟卢卡说明，烤一只二十磅的火鸡必须花多少时间。我跟他说，以这种速度，大概隔天黎明时分才吃得到火鸡大餐。他大失所望。“那买一只很小的火鸡如何？一只出生不久的火鸡？”
I said
"Luca—let's make it easy and have pizza
like every other good dysfunctional American family does on Thanksgiving."
But he's still sad about it. Though there's a general sadness around Rome right now
anyway. The weather has turned cold. The sanitation workers and the train employees and the national airline all went on strike on the same day. A study has just been released saying that 36 percent of Italian children have an allergy to the gluten needed to make pasta
pizza and bread
so there goes Italian culture. Even worse
I recently saw an article with the shocking headline: "Insoddisfatte 6 Donne su 10!" Meaning that six out of ten Italian women are sexually unsatisfied. Moreover
35 percent of Italian men are reporting difficulty maintaining un'erezione
leaving researchers feeling very perplessi indeed
and making me wonder if SEX should be allowed to be Rome's special word anymore
after all.
In more serious bad news
nieen Italian soldiers have recently been killed in The Americans' War (as it is called here) in Iraq—the largest number of military deaths in Italy since World War II. The Romans were shocked by these deaths and the city closed down the day the boys were buried. The wide majority of Italians want nothing to do with Gee Bush's war. The involvement was the decision of Silvio Berlusconi
Italy's prime minister (more monly referred to around these parts as l'idiota). This intellect-free
soccer-club-owning businessman
with his oily film of corruption and sleaze
who regularly embarrasses his fellow citizens by making lewd gestures in the European parliament
who has mastered the art of speaking l'aria fritta ("fried air")
who expertly manipulates the media (not difficult when you own it)
and who generally behaves not at all like a proper world leader but rather like a Waterbury mayor (that's an inside joke for Connecticut residents only—sorry)
has now engaged the Italians in a war they see as none of their business whatsoever.
"They died for freedom
" Berlusconi said at the funeral of the nieen Italian soldiers
but most Romans have a different opinion: They died for Gee Bush's personal vendetta. In this political climate
one might think it would be difficult to be a visiting American. Indeed
when I came to Italy
I expected to encounter a certain amount of resentment
but have received instead empathy from most Italians. In any reference to Gee Bush
people only nod to Berlusconi
saying
"We understand how it is—we have one
too."
We've been there.