Sunday 26th May

Sunday 26th May

We were up pretty late today. It was a rainy and cloudy day and Stefania had a big first communion party so she and she and her helpers were very busy setting up the room according to the instructions of the mother of the boy, called Matteo. The theme color was yellow and there were yellow favors and stars everywhere. There was enough confectionery to make a dentist crazy. It was all very beautifully arranged for the party of 55 who would attend in the afternoon. These parties are big events and I suppose that they are as much for the benefit of the parents and their friends as for the first communicant, him or herself.

We decided to make ourselves scarce as there was not much we could do.

We drove to Megalo to pick up a few things and had a small snack there before driving on in the heavy rain to Sulmona. The town was deserted, not surprisingly due to the weather. A few of the shops selling the famous confetti were open but there were few buyers. we went to a bank ATM and MAC managed to withdraw some funds but for some reason my card was declined and then I received the dreaded message from Chase Bank which asked me some questions and then confirmed that my card was OK. Trying again, I was again rejected.

We walked a bit around the narrow streets of the city but the rain increased and it became less than enjoyable so we decide to set off for home.

When we arrived, the party was just wrapping up. The poor guests had had rotten weather but I am sure that Stefania’s spread was great and she told us that the proud Mum was very content with the  arrangements, we hope that young Matteo was too as he starts out on his Catholic life. These parties are a lot of work for Stefania and although she has some Eastern European ladies to help her, she does all the cooking and supervises everything, often in minute detail on the instructions of the person who is having the party. She has regaled us with many stories of the strange requests she has received for the way the room is arranged and decorated. She also hosts wedding receptions which sometimes degenerate into drunkenness and bad behavior such as vomiting and mess. This is a sad reflection of what should be a happy day. One particular wedding she described involved a British family who had a wonderful ceremony conducted by a priest they had brought from U.K. Followed by a lovely wedding dinner and then the whole party just got horribly drunk and the event degenerated into an awful exhibition of debauchery which Stefania and her crew were left to clear up after the drunken party had left. I hope this couple ‘enjoyed’ their happy day!!!!

Today is the final day of voting in the elections for the European Parliament. So after we had dinner which considered of the delicious left-overs from the party, Stefania and Bruno set off for Pescara to vote before the polls closed at 10 p.m. These elections are being closely watched for signs of the rise of the populist, right wing parties in many countries including the awful Nigel Farage’s BREXIT party in the U.K. And the party of Marine LePen in France. In Italy the La Lega party of Mr. Salvini is also one of disruption, as is the party of Mr. Orban in Hungary. It is sad to see the grand design of a united Europe fracture in this way and I feel that little good will come of it. If the EU has faults and it certainly does, they are capable of being rectified with good will. 

Nationalism and populism have not proved to be a successful recipe for Europe before and it is unlikely that they will be in future but the way of the world seems to be in that direction, including across the Atlantic and one hopes that wiser heads will eventually prevail prevail before conflict breaks out. Responsible and intelligent leaders and dialogue are generally preferable to blustering empty rhetoric the usual outpouring of the nationalists and populists.