Random Anecdotes

I've noticed that lately my missives have been full of quotidiana (I love
that the Latin word for "daily life" was adopted full-scale into Italian
and is actually an obscure English word). So, on the heels of
yesterday's, here are a few random observations.

Two days ago I was walking down the street when I saw an old gypsy lady
passing by. My first thought was "off-duty beggar" and I immediately
started castigating myself for such a racist thought full of ethnic
stereotyping. At which point she pulled out a rosary and a cup and
started soliciting passers by. Does being right make me less racist?

I'm heartless as far as beggars go. Street performers almost always get
something from me (at least until they know I'm a colleague, because then
it feels weird to me) but never beggars. One of the most creative I've
seen, though, was on a main street in Genova - I saw him every day I was
there, from February to last week. He had a cot with a German Shephard
lying docilly in it, covered with a blanket, with a sign that said "my dog
is sick, please help". Now that's a way to tug Italian heartstrings! One
of the last times I saw him before leaving Genova he was sending a text
message on his cell phone...

Which segues to the street violinist in Ferrara who took a call during his
set. That struck me as funny, but better still was the fact that he had
been playing to a backing tape which kept running as he chatted.

Now I'm headed off to see if I can find the medieval event; apparently
they've taken a page from their American counterparts and, instead of
holding it in one of the beautiful historic piazze scattered liberally
through the city (or even the ugly fascist Piazza Vittoria), it's in a
sports arena...