in boca al lupo

in boca al lupo is what Italians say when they mean ‘good luck.’ If you are familiar with latin or romance languages you may have already guessed that it literally means, ‘in the mouth of the wolf.’ And to such an image, you cannot merely answer ‘thanks,’ you have to say ‘crepi,’ or ‘that the wolf die.’ It’s not only a violent image (I guess ‘break a leg’ is), it’s also a combative one. We have been wished in boca al lupo, or the less violent, but even more ironic auguri (best wishes) on many occasions- trying to get our codici fiscale (social sercurity numbers), buying a car, getting our permessi di soggiorno (temporary residency), sending packages to the US- in all those circumstances when you’re subject to something greater, something bureaucratic, something Italian.

Now we’ve been waiting for four weeks for telecom italia to reconnect our landlords’ mistakenly disconnected phone line (did I mention that TELECOM ITALIA was who disconnected the line by ACCIDENT in the first place?) so that we can have wifi at home again, and I’m finding this violent and combative image of killing a wolf a satisfying fantasy- a big fat telecom italia wolf. It would be a bloody fight, and I don’t know who would win.

I think they took out our line just before thanksgiving, they said it would be a week, then two, then nothing until December 12th, then not before Saturday the 13th, now on Weds the 17th they re-estimated: not until Dec 27th. I cried hot tears of frustration for an hour at this news. And it’s just our internet, for our neighbors it’s their PHONE LINE, too. Sorry, I just can’t help but think THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN THE U.S.!!!! In the first place it would never take more than a couple of days (maybe a couple of hours) to get the error fixed, and if it went on for any length of time, some kind of reparations would be offered. This is so wrong, so unjust!

I was too frustrated for words at the thought of not being able to skype with family over Christmas. So when I was almost done crying, I got off my duff and stormed out the door for a walk in the hills (we had the first sunny day in many and it was a treat not to be missed despite my nasty mood). As I walked I thought at first how sick I am of feeling this helpless- ‘I have my rights as a customer, you know?!’ and then I realized thoughts like those apply in the US, and not necessarily in our circumstances (ie: using the neighbor’s wireless). And then as I walked some more and I ran into some chickens who were soaking up the sun by the side of the road (free-range style). They looked annoyed with me that I might want to walk through their whole patch of sun, too, making them waddle off into the shade and mud. A little further up I found my spot- the one I like at the top of our road where you can get a great view on a clear day of the south on into Tuscany and the north up to Bologna. I picked my own sunny spot by the side of the road and sat down to soak up the sun. I tried to think of reasons I have for being thankful- this gorgeous, soul-filling view; watching the kids learn so much; a husband who never takes me too seriously, thereby helping me shake bad moods like this; the chance to make new friends; the chance to realize how much we love and appreciate our family and friends at home… And then I thought; what am I so upset about? No internet access? Not skyping family and friends? I can work around those with a little footwork and some old-fashioned substitutes (phone calls instead of skyping, sorry, it will have to do). No, I’m mostly upset about the fact that it SHOULDN’T be like this. But is this situation truly unjust, and worthy of my anguish? Or is that a word that should be saved for really serious occasions?

ps: you might notice that I posted 8 new entries today, I was able to do it at the library about 15 km away in San Lazzaro. I can sneak over there or into Bologna once a week or so, so keep an eye out for multiple posts when you see any thing new.