The day the music died.

Today and the last 2 days have been gray and rainy in Ottawa. Typical Fall weather, low clouds, some  burst of sunshine and winds. The Rideau Canal has been emptied and all the flowers beds in the parks have been cleaned and prepared for Winter.  It is also the last week of the Ontario province wide Municipal Election.  A thing I learned about this election is how nasty some of the candidates can be especially if they are business people or from the Suburbs and Rural areas, they are not shy about displaying their prejudices in public since they believe it's ok because they have money and talk for the oppressed White folk they think they represent.

We may think ourselves above certain hatreds but it is all surface, look at the supporters of Doug and Rob Ford in Toronto.  It does not take much to see the haters come out in full force, it is always the same thing, hate of Bilingualism in the National Capital, hate of the poor or the homeless, illogical debates about not wanting to pay taxes for any basic services all the while demanding more and more services, refusal to recycle waste, hate for the environment or anything to do with the green movement, hate of public transit systems as one candidate put it, if you do not have a car you're a loser.

It is not clear what type of City Council we will get in Ottawa on 27 October but it can be hoped that it will be a stable one like the one we had prior to this election. It also looks like the current Mayor Jim Watson will be re-elected since no credible opponent has been able to mount a challenge. Which is a very good thing for this City and for all of us, the last thing we need now would be some clown beholden to business groups and private enterprise to come and impose a right wing agenda.

Let's change the channel, today I went to do some grocery shopping at my favourite store, I say favourite because the service level is good and the staff is pleasant which is a rarity in this city, most businesses treat the word 'service' as if it was some kind of perversion.

This song is amongst my second favorite after Peggy Lee ''Is that all there is'', they were playing it in the store and I stopped shopping to listen to it. Thing is if you can remember this song and what it talks about, the events, that time, you are at least over 55. It would really mean nothing to a younger person. It was not an easy time in the world, but the world was a very different place. It all seems so distant now. But I like the fact that I remember and lived through this period.

September

A funny month, the summer is coming to a close and schools are re-opening, life returns to its usual routine. The weather is changing and a new social season is opening. Have been very busy with my Club here in Rome organizing the first event of the new Season, a million details to think about. Members who do not appear to be able to read bulletins or give correct information.
Having to deal with the media, caterers, security and bringing people from Canada for the party. Hoping the weather is good that day.
New colleagues at work are getting use to life in Rome, want things to be like in Canada, do not quite understand that you cannot have lunch in Rome in 25 minutes, minimum here is 90 minutes. Coffee is not that American stuff served in a bucket called a mug, but rather a well prepared drink in a china cup not a styrofoam or plastic one.

They are still running around when everyone else around them are walking. They will learn, it will take 6 months or like so many others will start hating this place and long to return to bleak suburban Northern climes. Rome is a difficult place to live, compact city, high density, noisy, dirty, poor infrastructures, no big shopping malls, lots of small shops open at odd hours for North Americans.



You either love Rome or you hate it, in fact this city is an excellent place to test if you are a flexible person, if you are adaptable. Can you rise above pre-conceptions, can you change your way of thinking in such a way as to adapt to your new surroundings, some can, others cannot, so stuck in their back home mentality. Can you stop thinking about how much things cost, this constant conversion of currency for every transaction. Wanting to take the bus instead of a taxi to save a few dollars when in the end taking the bus is a huge inconvenience and no savings at all. Being intimidated by a person or a place because of a title or because of what this place represent.

Not understanding where you are because you have not made the effort to inform yourself beforehand. Making silly assumptions, why do they not speak English here, could it be because it is not their language. They must be very devout Catholics because of the Pope being here in Rome. No, Romans have always had a difficult relationship with the Papacy and being close to a religious leader does not make people more religious. In fact in Rome the papacy is discredited because of its long association with the city and the many scandals through the ages.



They will learn eventually, or they will leave disillusioned, so is life in Rome. Like the movie la Dolce Vita which speaks of the disillusionment of so many people at the failed social and political promises in the aftermath of the Second World War between 1950-1960, a lost generation. People come to Rome with illusions, but it is all smoke and mirrors and in the end you find your place or you don't. We will see how this new group of colleagues will fare.