When I sit and read about the beauty and wit of your country, of the beaches, mountains, food and people, i know that I am missing out on a piece of the world that i long to understand better, more deeply, with insight and passion. 

Your country of lovers, of people with ideas and motivations, of those longing for work, for importance, for reality, those longing for a piece of the pie, just a liver, is where I want to be. I want to be mixed into this slew of youth and oldness, of generations gone by, but of history and knowledge still present now, flowing through the products, through the families, through the lives and times of your fellow Italians. 

But the beauty and the class is overshadowed by the mess and the corruption. You only have to look a bit deeper to see that things are not shiny and golden. But then, what is with the full restaurants, the bars still packed with gentlemen drinking coffee and reading the sports paper? Why are there so many tourist, so many gelatos being bought. The life of the Italians in hardship, in peril sometimes appears to be the life that we all wish that we could lead, one of drifting and idleness giving us the time to manage and improve our selves, our senses, our hobbies and crafts. 

It’s a mystery of a country, but one for me, that needs to reveal it’s secrets, bit by bit. I need more time, more ability to explore it, understand it and become part of it’s future.