English, anyone?

Hats off indeed to my Slovenian, Croatian (and also Greek friends) out there and their very good command of the English language!

I was recently at a concert in Udine.  Before the show started I was chatting with some Slovenian and Croatian colleagues.  I don’t know Slovenian nor Croatian, and some of them don’t know Italian, so what could the common language be?  German or English?  The latter one obviously. 

And so we chit-chatted on a variety of things and also had a laugh or two along the way.  We were basically socializing and having a good time too.  Right next to us was an Italian friend of mine. He was standing there and was (trying) to listen to us, but with no such luck as it was clearly evident that he didn’t understand a single word.  We spoke about his new job covering weddings (as a photographer).  At one point he told me that he really needed English for his work with foreign couples coming to Italy for their weddings (a BIG market for that type of photography in Italy).   He told me that at school as a kid he had learned it rather poorly.  So I “tested” him and said the following and rather simple phrase: “So where did you learn English”?  I admit that I said it with a quasi-American accent/slang, just to “test” his linguistic skills.  Well, he didn’t understand a single word (and we’re NOT talking about a lengthy and complicated speech like the recent one that Obama gave at the U.N. General Assembly, but a very simple phrase).

To emphasize this linguistic “ignorance” on behalf of the average Italian, years ago I taught English to Phd students at the local University of Udine.  There was not ONE single student who could, while speaking, put together a simple phrase and WITHOUT making the simplest of mistakes.  And we’re NOT talking here about under-graduate students in 1^st university, but about people with ALREADY Phd degrees under their belts!   This scenario is also multiplied in the rest of Italy, and is not just a problem in Udine.

This “ignorance” we can also owe to people like Pietro Fontanini, the current president of the Province of Udine (a “Leghista”, a Northern League member):  in a recent editorial in Udine’s local paper, he insisted that MORE should be done for the local language, called “Friulano” (n.b. some refer to it as a simple dialect, when in reality it’s a proper language with its own grammatical rules. The locals here get greatly offended if you refer to Friulano as a “dialect”!).  He stated in his editorial that 74% of families in the Friuli area want their kids to learn Friulano at school, a language that quite personally OUTSIDE of Friuli’s borders is totally useless (not taking anything away naturally from safeguarding a region’s cultural heritage.  After all, I did live for 3 years in Montréal.  I lived daily the separatist and language issue in that Canadian province known as Québec, so I do respect a region-country’s specific cultural traits).  I’m wondering when I read that if these very same parents know a) English and b) the importance of knowing English.  Probably not.

It also doesn’t help that we’ve had major mismanagement on behalf of some of our “illustrious” and corrupt leaders, such as Silvio Berlusconi (a friend of mine in Rome has been his personal interpreter and went with him on many occasions to the White House to meet U.S. Presidents).  Famous were his words years ago of the famous three “I” that he wanted to promote so dearly in Italian schools:  Imprenditoria (entrepreneurship), Internet and Inglese (English).   None really took off well in Italy under his so-called leadership (few things actually do!).  As far as his management style vis-à-vis the first “I” is concerned (being also the rich businessman that he is), here’s what a recent Economist article said about good’ol Silvio:

“During the years when Mr. Berlusconi dominated Italian politics, its economy grew more slowly than anywhere else in the world, apart from Zimbabwe and Liberia”!

But in the language debate in Friuli you not only need some criteria but you also need some plain common sense (and brains too!):  times have changed now and kids nowadays gobble up social networks and what-not hook, line and sinker.  One primary communication tool is the English language, and not necessarily Friulano.  Also, with low-cost flights in Europe you can be in the center of Dublin with about 50 euros, and to have a REALLY good time in the Irish capital, you’ll do it (more) knowing English, than just Italian or Friulano (as I myself have notices in my many travels throughout the EU).

My foreign friends not only speak English very well but they also write it correctly too.  As one knows, speaking and writing a language are two completely different things!

I also mentioned my Greek friends because I’ve been to that wonderful country now 5 times, the last time just a few weeks ago in September to the wonderful island of Leros.  I met no one on that small island who DIDN’T know English, some in a basic way mind you, but at least they spoke English and I could understand them (and they could understand me, unlike my Italian friend)!  This is perhaps because these three countries (together also with Portugal) also show programs on their tv networks in the original language and with subtitles in Slovenian, Croatian and Greek.  In Italy instead the programs are dubbed in Italian (they say that “dubbers” in Italy are some of the best in the world), but the end result is that Italian friend of mine who couldn’t understand my simple question (and he’s NOT the only one either!)… 

P.S. After all these years of linguistic ignorance on behalf of our politicians, it is soooo refreshing to finally see an Italian leader, one who pops up once in a blue moon, who is interviewed by the foreign press in English and who can calmly converse with other world leaders in English, and without the presence of those fastidious Italian interpreters.  I’m naturally talking about our current Prime Minister, Prof. Mario Monti!  Now, if he could only convince someone like Fontanini (and all those like him) on the importance of learning English…

Amazing Greece!

We spent 8 wonderful days on the wonderful Greek island of Leros, in the Aegean Sea.  We went during a great period and with few tourists around, from Sept. 3^rd to the 10^th (great weather with about 30 degrees and LOTS of sun, not a single cloud in the sky!).  Leros is part of the Dodecanese Islands.

The trip itself began from Rome’s Fiumicino airport directly to Athens’s airport, just a 90 minute flight (it’s always interesting to be in an airport which was in the 1980s a major hub for international hijackings, especially American TWA flights to Beirut).  We only spent a few hours there but had a chance to see Athens from high above and to also capture some of the locals as they too were waiting for their flights.  

From there we took a local flight to Leros, 45 minutes away by plane, and what a plane too!  It was a 35-seater De Havilland propeller jet (I believe it’s a Canadian company)!  I think it was the very first time I took a plane of that size since flying at age 7 when came to Italy on vacation for the very first time in my life.  The plane was half-full and once up in the air I imagined those famous movies where “Jaws” (Canadian actor Richard Kiel), who starred if I’m not mistaken in two 007 movies, would pop out of the cockpit and battle Bond OUTSIDE of the plane!  Either that or I imagined that at a certain point the pilot, donning large goggles and a parachute on his back, would all of a sudden say “au revoir” to us all and would throw himself out of the plane.  Not a terribly comforting feeling being aboard these small planes, especially when your seat is right next to the propeller (you keep thinking, “Oh, how I hope that it DOESN’T stop”!).

Both flights thank God were very smooth and we landed safe and sound on the island of Leros in a rather small municipal airport and with a runaway which wasn’t all that long either.   The taxi drive to the hotel-studio was only 8 kms away.   Leros itself is only some 317 km (or 171 nautical miles) from Athens’s port of Piraeus.  The entire island is only 74 square kilometres (29 sq mi) and has a coastline of 71 km (44 mi). The population is 8,207, although this figure swells to over 15,000 during the summer peak.   

And naturally, once at the hotel-studio (we also chose this option last year in Samos where we get to cook our own meals.  Going out every night for souvlaki after awhile can become a wee bit tiring), the very first thing we did was to rent a scooter, a 125 cc.  Quite amazing: for 8 days (we also used it before leaving for Rome) it came out to a mere 84 euros, with unlimited mileage too!  That works out to only 10.50 per day, I think rather unthinkable for a rental in Italy.

Leros has a rather imposing medieval castle of the Knights of Saint John which had been possibly built on a Byzantine fortress plus 6 nice windmills that lead up to the road for the castle.  We went up there several times to see the sun go down.  The island also had a famous sanctuary of the goddess Artemis. 

Not only splendid sun and crystal-clear blue water on these magnificent islands but also a LOT of interesting history, as old Julius Caesar who had once been imprisoned on the island (he had been held hostage by local pirates for forty days), or the years spent there by Alexander the Great and also his successors.  Several others occupied Leros, such as the Genoese and the Venetians too.


It was interesting to see that the Italians dominated the island for 31 years.  In 1912, during the Libyan War against the Ottoman Empire, the Italians occupied all of the Dodecanese islands.  The island was seized by the sailors of the Italian Navy cruiser "San Giorgio". The Greek inhabitants of the islands declared the autonomy of the islands under the title "The Aegean State", with the aim of unification with Greece, but with the outbreak of the First World War, these moves came to nothing, and the Italians retained control of the islands.


The new Italian Fascist regime actively attempted to Italianize the Dodecanese by making the Italian language compulsory, giving incentives to locals to adopt the Italian nationality, and clamping down on Greek institutions (that would also explain why 80 year-olds who live there still speak very fluent Italian).  In the 1930s a new model town, Portolago, was built by the Italian authorities. It’s one of the best example of what is called “Italian rationalist architecture”.  The Greeks later renamed the town/port Lakki.  


There’s a part of Rome (known as EUR) and surrounding towns of the Eternal City which have typical architecture of that Fascist period.  One such town, some 100 kms from Rome, is Sabaudia.  Leros’s port Lakki has, as one can see from the pictures, buildings and areas which are very similar to the Sabaudia area.


During the 31 years that the Italians remained in Leros, they set up a great plan to build and fortify the island, since its strategic position and its large natural harbours (the largest of which, Lakki, is the largest deep water harbour in the Mediterranean Sea), made it an ideal naval base. The fortification of Leros and the creation of a major naval base at Lakki ensured that the Italians had control over an area of vital interest to the Allies.  Mussolini saw the island as a crucial base for the Italian domination of the eastern Aegean Sea, and even built a mansion for himself in the town of Portolago.

From 1940, when Italy entered the Second World War on the side of Germany, Leros suffered bombing raids by the British Royal Air Force. As a result of the excellent anchorage provided to warships by the many natural coves, the island was the second most bombed during World War Two (after Crete). On 8 September 1943, as Italy could not continue the war on the German side, it signed an armistice and came over to the Allied camp. After the Italian armistice, British reinforcements arrived on Leros and other Dodecanese islands and the island suffered some major and continuous German aerial bombardment (for two solid days too). The forces involved were paratrooper units and a battalion from the elite Brandenburg division. The ground troops were supported by bombers of the Luftwaffe. The island remained under German occupation until the end of the war.


After the Germans evacuated the island, it came under British administration, until, on 7 March 1948, together with the other Dodecanese Islands, Leros was united with Greece. Approximately 700 years after the end of Byzantine rule, the Dodecanese was incorporated into the Greek State. During the post-war years the Greek governments used many buildings in Leros for various reasons. In 1959, the mental hospital of Leros was also founded, whose original bad conditions have been improved.

During the junta of the Greek Colonels of the 1960s the island was used as a place of internal exile for political dissenters, with old Italian barracks of the island used as a concentration camp (in what now are Greek army barracks, barracks which also contain small tanks as Greek-Turkish tensions are always alive and kicking in that part of the world).  


Something on that Greek military junta of the 1960s by Prof. Noam Chomsky’s book, “The Essential Chomsky” (2008, p. 208):

“The dedicated savagery with which the U.S. Mission (in Athens) set about the task of liquidating the class enemy was a bit too much even for the British who are not known for their gentlemanly decorum in such procedures; they were also not too happy about being displaced from yet another output of British influence and power.  With the enthusiastic approval and direct participation of the U.S. Mission, tens of thousands were exiled, tens of thousands more were sent to prison islands where many where tortured or executed (or if lucky, only “re-educated”) the unions were broken, and even mild anti-Communist socialists were suppressed, while the United States shamelessly maintained the electoral process to ensure the right men won.  The social and economic consequences were grim.  A decade later, “between 1959 and 1963, almost a third of the Greek labour force emigrated in search of satisfactory employment”.  The fascist coup of 1967, again with apparent U.S. backing, had its role in the same events” (n.b. the Greek Junta lasted from 1967-1973).  


After having visited several concentration camps in Germany, Austria (the dreaded Mauthausen camp), Poland (including Auschwitz-Birkenau) and also the Czech Republic (Terezin, north of Prague), one would NEVER imagine to be on a magnificent and peaceful island such as Leros and to be on a scooter passing by in front of a former concentration camp while on the way to a secluded beach, certainly NOT on a Greek island, that’s for sure!  But alas, there on Leros is a sad example of yet another brutal dictatorship in days of old....



And speaking of another sad venue, there’s also the War Cemetery in Leros which is dedicated to 179 British soldiers and to also 2 Canadian and 2 South African servicemen who died during the war on the island.  Looking at the rows of crosses one feels rather sorry for friends and relatives who have their loved ones buried on an island so far away.


Churches: plenty of them, very, very nice and also interesting, some quite small actually, such as the one dedicated to the Madonna and the crab (a rather long story behind that one).  

Beaches: plenty of those too.  We personally visited a total of six of them.  Again, seeing that the island isn’t all that big you can move about rather quickly, so we’d try to take in at least two a day.  One in particular which wasn’t too far away from the concentration camp was simply magnificent.  When we got there at one point there were only three of us.  Eventually, the quasi-deserted beach then “swelled” to 9 people! 

“Mr. Bond”!  And as always when I’m in Greece, I CAN’T help thinking about Bond movies, not only with some of the rather treacherous roads which remind me of 007 being chased by the bad guys (such as some roads on that other great Greek island, Karpathos!) but also some of the things on the island one sees, such as the blue French car which was parked on that tiny beach.  That car was reminiscent of Bond’s “For Your Eyes Only” with Roger Moore as 007 and Bond girl Carole Boquet where the two in that same car are being chased through the tiny roads of Southern Europe.  In fact, as the car pulled up at the beach I was hoping to see 007 pop out and say, “My name is Bond.  James Bond”!   Geese and goats also populate the island.  It’s all very “Greek” to all of a sudden be riding your scooter, taking a curve and suddenly be faced with shepherds rounding up their goats and sheep and blocking the small roads.  As I said, Leros is indeed very Bondish in nature (as are also other Greek islands)!  

Hotel/Studio: we went to a place called “Hotel Tony’s Beach” (www.tonybeach.gr).  The place is located in Vromolithos and is a hop, skip and a jump from the small port of Pandeli.  It’s also not too far from both Lakki and the Ag. Marina port (with an exquisite bakery!).  Very nice the hotel/studio as it has a beautiful view of not only the beach but also of the castle and windmills off in the distance.  A very comfortable location where you can cook and eat what you want (the island is also well-stocked with small grocery stores).  The management decided to also include in the price breakfast, which was also fine as we got to eat on our small balcony while staring at a deep blue sky and crystal-clear sea.  Yes, indeed a rough life I must say! 

Generosity:  while we were there BBC World reported that unemployment in Greece had hit a whopping 24%!  Quite tragic if one thinks about it, and yet, the generosity once again of the Greeks (as last year in Samos) goes beyond belief.  On only one occasion did we have to pay for two sunbeds and an umbrella, and that was an “astronomical” fee of just 5 euros.  In all other occasions the beds and umbrellas were free.  On the 2^nd last day that we checked out a beach as I went to pay for my coffee frappe’ (it’s the only place in the world where I drink the stuff, along with Mythos beer!) I added: “How much also for the two beds and umbrella”?  The owner looked at me and said, “Oh no, it’s free for our guests”!  Truly unbelievable as the same thing in Italy and with its (eternal) crisis would be totally unthinkable.  

And all the people we bumped into, from shop owners to airport staff, were very gracious indeed.  That type of philosophy (didn’t the Greeks after all invent it?) could be clearly seen in the t-shirt which I bought in Samos last year: “Greek crisis. No job? No money? No problem”!  I don’t know just how many countries in the world could still keep a smile with such a horrendous unemployment rate as the Greek one (funny also to hear one Greek who said: “There are economic problems in the world? It’s Greece’s fault!  There are other problems in the world? It’s Greece’s fault!  It’s seems like it’s ALWAYS Greece’s fault”!).

A last example of this incredible generosity (by the way, two Ouzo drinks in a bar in Pandeli after dinner were only 3 euros!) was the last evening when we decided to go to a fish restaurant in Pandeli (we also caught on a Saturday night their local feast with typical Greek dancing.  It looked as so though the entire town was there.  Again, incredible generosity on behalf of the Greeks as they offered what looked like unlimited doses of white and red wine!  And the entire scene seemed like something out of “Zorba The Greek” with old, young and tourists alike taking part in the traditional dances!).  The bill came out to 24 euros.  I gave the owner 50 euros.  Instead of giving me back 26 euros she gave me back 30, a 20 euro bill and two 5 euro bills.  I thought she made a mistake so I went back to give her 5 euros.  She not only refused to take them but she ALSO wanted to give me back a 1 euro change!  Indeed a rarity when you’re on vacation in a foreign country!

‘Twas indeed sad after 8 wonderful days when we had to head back to the tiny airport (again, we prayed that the length of the runway we be enough for our 35-seat plane, otherwise we would have had to go once again swimming!) and our connecting flight back to Rome.  But as the saying (doesn’t go): “All roads lead to a Greek island”, and with over 200 of them which are inhabitable (out of some 6,000), for SURE we shall head back to this wonderful and very accommodating country.  

Greece, it’s simply soooooooo Greek!