Everyday in class or in the street you hear that Italy is still not unified. Still no sense of patriotism in the country. Today was no different. Our teacher Francesco was explaining the reasons to us. he being a northerner, a Florentine, had all the reasons memorized. The economic situation in the South is very poor so they depend on the people in the north for everything. and of course the northerners resent this fact a bit. In the South they lean a lot more towards socialism—they call the left. They are extreme leftists obviously since they have no money. And in the north they lean much more toward conservatism. In the South they are very traditional and religious and in the north they are much more modern etc. in the South their language is totally different, kind of a hybrid between Spanish, Arabic, and Greek. In the north more of a French and German thing happening. People from the deep South cannot understand people from the north when they speak etc. I guess its like what we have in America say if a person from Wisconsin was to go to Louisiana, but just a lot more pronounced. 

I listened today like I have for the past two months to everyone talking about how Italy has only been a unified for a hundred years or so. And they are all very competitive against each other. Each region thinking that they are a separate state all on their own. no one wanting to be part of a country. Everyone very protective about their own region and their own dialect and their own customs. I cannot help but wonder why don't these people just come together. I mean rather than acknowledge the problems and the lack of unity and complain that oh we’ll never be unified, why not let all that go and just start taking action for some serious unification. I asked my teacher this question and he said it was impossible. O.k. well there's the answer. They just don't want to work together for some reason. In Brasil there is such a sense of patriotism for example. They just love their country. Its nice. like in America. It doesn’t matter where you live, you love your country. I pondered this question all day. what can they do about the South also? I mean, it’s a tough call. Its kind of a barren region. Not much going on. They have no money. No industry. Not much of value. So the people of the north definitely have a point. The South isn't bringing any money in. Why should the people of the north support them. hey that's the free enterprise system baby. If you cant make money in the South, get your ass to the north or starve. But regardless of the problem of the South at least the regions of the north should all get together and really do something to unify themselves. Like their glory days. But these are not a “unify” type of people in Italy right now. not even neighbors living in the same town. They are a very “cold shoulder” people right now in their evolution. Not like Americans at all. Francesco tells us that it is because of their long history. That they have gotten like this. not to trust. Not to look forward to things. not to be too friendly for fear of being taken advantage of. 

In the new world of course we don't have this yet because we’re just too new of a people. last night me and Giovanna were sitting on these really ancient stairs while she rolled a joint and I'm starting to catch this buzz and I look up at this plaque that is on the wall of this mammoth building that is in front of us. and I'm like in slow motion reading it, “ Augustus Cesar ...” and I'm like “what is this place where we are right now?” and she drags from the joint and then says “it’s the tomb of our first emperor,  Augustus.” And I'm like “holy shit. We’re sitting here on the tomb of Octavian? The nephew of Julius Cesar? Augustus? The first emperor of Rome?” and she's like “yeah. You know about him?” and I'm like “uh yeah, a fucking little!!! The whole fucking world knows about him. That's where we got a lot of our ideas for America. From the roman pseudo-republic of Augustus Cesar and the Greeks.”