Beautiful wedding!

Brindisi
Originally uploaded by margiana.

Last Sunday Andrea and I attended Sandro and Rita wedding!
It has been a very touching ceremony. The priest said beautiful things. He said he had to give them a bad news: It is hard, very hard! And the whole mass was based upon this concept. It is hard to bring on a relationship... but as soon as we commit to our beloved and are willing to communicate and exchange and share a whole life with him/her, than things are beautiful. Well, there are thousands of things he said that I am not able to reproduce here as he did. But I cried and laugh loud several times. It has been really inspiring!
Then we went to a beautiful villa for the lunch... and later had the cake in the garden. The day was gorgeous and everything went up fine. I was so happy for them.
As for me... well, tomorrow Andrea and I are gonna 'promise our marriage' in the city hall. This is nothing of a special importance but I feel excited!

Post-Easter effects

Last week was a busy week, working early shift at the airport, going to the free-trial-gym and working in the afternoon at the pool and maintain a family armony and a almost clean house. Wow girl, it is hard! And I don't have children. I don't know if I want to figuire it out!
By the way, the last 3 days have been really crazy. Saturday after the work (finished at 10.15am) Andrea and I went shopping, to search for a small weird tool we need to fix the shower-box that is still broken. And we were around until 5pm.... without finding the tool.
Back home I started cooking and finished the pastiera napoletana around 11pm. Went to bed for 5 hours and on Sunday went to work. Once back home I prepared the table and finished cooking. At 1pm Patrizia and Fabiola came over and brought their wonderful dishes. We had a nice and good dinner together, all far from each other's family but yet a family. I love those feelings.
Then my brother and his girlfriend arrived for a short visit and stayed until Monday afternoon. On Monday we had a walk in the city centre and enjoyed the empty city.

Those are the good feelings.... but of course there are some bad too.
I invited Arianna and Claudia and partners over for Easter dinner and they did not said if they were coming or not until Saturday afternoon... and the excuse was they were going to have a bbq somewhere over the hills. Then on Sunday they had a lunch at Arianna's saying they did not want to go out anymore. I just let you notice, she's my nextdoor neighbor. And that is silly, and I don't like silly things.
Last thing, I got into an argument with Silvia (my brother's girlfriend) about her being vegan... so after all I felt sorry because I saw her and my brother hurt by my words, and also felt frustrated because I did not accomplish anything if not putting walls around me.
In all those things I lost the sense of Easter, I did not concentrate enough on the real meaning and the real symbolism of it. So I feel even more frustrated.
Hope the week will be better.

Ch- Ch- Ch- Change!

The Unione won the italian election. I'm happy for it even if I'm disappointed by the short distance victory. I thought Italy was really tired of the Bug-Berlusconi... but it's not like this.
I'm happy though.
I hope and pray that l'Unione will be able to govern for longtime. I only hope they will understand that Italy is a country split in 2... and this is a matter of fact that cannot be ignored.

Election day

...today and tomorrow is election day here in Italy... and I'm really praying some change will happen. Think of us.
Tomorrow another demonstration of workers 10am-12.30. Let's see what will happen.:-)

Demostration of workers

I'm sorry to bring on the social-political arguments but, I think there are some points to think about lately.
Today there was a demonstration of workers at the airport from 8 to 11am. I work at 3pm so I went. The demonstration is a protest against Aviapartner, one of the 3 handling companies in the Bologna airport, that will close it's office here in Bologna leaving jobless some 70 workers: check-in agents, weight and balance agents, ramp agents and loading teams. The offices will be closed in days and still nobody knows where those 70 people will go.
Now the thing is that the Airlines they give service to will keep on fly from and to Bologna Airport, so that somebody will have to give services to them. Aviapartner serves KLM, Airfrance, Malev, Spanair and other charter airlines... meaning a good slice of the traffic in this airport. At today we still don't know if Marconi Handling (the one I work for) or Bas (the other handling companies in the airport) will gain those airlines meaning they will also need more employees to give the right services = they will hire those 70 jobless left home by Aviapartner.
So we protested with slogans, whistles and billboards. We were not more than a hundred and we were allowed only to protest and not stop flights or such... we just wanted to inform passengers and public opinion of what it's happening in the airport.
Usually passengers complain about long lines, lost baggages, poor services and delays, but sounds like they don't know that if there are only 2 check-in agents to check-in 200 passengers in 2 hours, and if passengers arrive 1 hour prior departure, it is really difficult that the flight will be able to leave in perfect time and that all baggages (that have to go throught the security checks and x-ray and then sorted out over different carts and then all the way to the aircraft and loaded over it) will get into the right aircraft. It is stupid to think that everything can work perfectly with few workers doing the job of a lot others left home.
So I was distributing leaflets to the passengers standing in line for the Airfrance check-in with a big smile, trying to explain our presence there. We were not stopping the check-in... we were just shouting slogans... when a woman crumpled up the leaflets I just gave her and throw it to me shouting that I had to go clean my ass with it... and that she has been waiting 3 years for this flight and that I am an asshole who is disturbing her vacation. Of course I was shaken but I calmly replied her that it was more than 3 years that I do not take a vacation and that I was simply trying to let her know what it is happening to 70 persons who have families and will be jobless in some days... and then the tension rised and other collegues started yelling at her and she yelling at them and a big caos came out of it... I just tried to tell her I wanted her solidarity and that being jobless it's nothing to wish for and that we were there protesting for a future better service for her and other passengers but she replied I have to go to manure a field because this is the only thing that parassites like us are worth for.
I did not replied except for 'I wish you miss your vacation for other 3 years' phrase that skipped out loud from my month.
Now the thing is: I am not in the 70 who will be jobless in days and some of them will probably be hired by Marconi handling meaning that, since I still have a short term contract, I may be left home at the end of my contract because they will take 'my place' and those of other 40some seasonal workers like me. But I was there protesting because I think that it is my duty to do so... because I know what it is to be jobless and because nobody should suffer this condition.
I give simpathy to those who have less and I wish I could protest against unequity more often.
But I tell you... that lady yelling at me and looking at me like if I was a shit really hurted me. It is so unbelievable to me to understand that people around me does not shows any solidarity to us but wish for us the worst.
After the intervention of the police and other verbal accuses flying around, the protest finished at 11 and I took my bike back home. Of course I was crying... but the thing that I don't know how to fight is this sense of defeat, of being left to ones chances... sense of being alone, lonely in this big world... where loving persons should live together to SHARE this humanity, to joy for the gift of life we received and to join together for a better life. And yet only bad words and hate and indifference and apathy surrounds me.
I believe we can change this attitude, I believe I can live in a better world, I believe another world is possible... I only need the strenght to fight for it.
... but it is this 'fight' word I don't want to use... is this building differences I don't think it's right.

Political elections???

I'm really into the elections in those days and I also read a bunch of foreigners articles and stuff but still can't come out on why so many italians are still willing to vote this warmonger and moron. The italian media of course do not speak the truth (Berlusconi owns 'em) and when I read the foreigners article I wish they could be all translated in a second and be read by italians. Kathy sent me one of the article in this section of The Guardian and then I kept reading all. Two days ago Berlusconi said "I have too much respect for the Italians to think there are that many dickheads around who'd vote against their own interests."... coglioni, he said coglioni...which is yes dickheads but has a more vulgar meaning. So now there's a new people movement exploding through the streets and around: Coglioni, no orgoglioni(something that means proud to be coglioni). It's so much alike the Commedia dell'Arte! But this is too much of a compliment.

Energies!

Tulips and viole
Originally uploaded by margiana.

I have plenty of energies in those days. It may be the Spring with all the blooming and blossoms... it may be the job that gives me some sort of adrenalin... it may just be me who saved energies for so long and now would like to explode. It is like if I don't know how to contain it.
From the 1st of april that I start working I always did the 5.15am shift, meaning that at 10.30am I finished working and had time to do all the rest. Yesterday for example I worked from 5.15 to 11am, went to the post office and then to the bank, came back home and Fabiola was waiting for me getting tanned on my garden bed... I prepared the bag to go to the gym (there's a brand new gym near my house and it's free for the whole week). We went there and spent 1 hour there pushing and pulling and jogging and stuff. Back home, ate something and then went to the Swimming Pool. Came back home at 8.30pm, cooked something and saw the 'political fight' on tv.
Then fell in bed at 10.30. A marathon!
Today I have the late shift 7pm-midnight.. and it is a shift I usually don't like but it's part time and I can do it! I made some gardening and now have to do other millions things.
I should stop some day soon... as for now I keep going as much as possible:-)

New start.

A brand new start! After 6 months I don't remember how to do my job anymore. I had to make some traning (2 days -10 hours) and still did not go through all the 'operative communications'. I need more training but they won't allow me to have it because they need ramp agents under flights. The thing is: I need this training for the safety and punctuality and good service of the flights... but sounds like this is only my need. They do not care.

I have been very happy to hug and kiss and receive welcomes from collegues but my biggest satisfation is receiving hugs and big smiles by the workers of the loading team. They are all foreigners who work underpayed and with horrible contracts so not to have the health care, and yet they are those exposed to a higher rate of accident at work considering they work in holds moving baggages and freight with the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter.
They are the 'last wheel' of the airport gear and yet the most important (an aircraft can leave without a ramp agent but not without a load-team) and I'm proud to know they thought of me in those months.
Of course I'm not feeling comfortable in there. I feel I'm not independent right now (I'll probably need a week more) and I have bad feelings toward the company (how can I:-)) and toward those who did not show any simpathy for 'our' (meaning us who were laid at home) situation. Not a strike has been held, not a single protest. The egoism pervades our society. There's no solidarity. The social situation in Italy is pretty depressing at the moment and we all care for our small and empty pockets but I don't understand why in those situation we don't get together and start to build things from the foundations.
I won't have answers at it, and I hope in a week (the 9th-10th of april we vote for the political elections) there will be some political changes but I hope there'll be a social change too.
Too depressing? :-(