We saw a poster in the bar (and on the village FB group) advertising a litter-pick in the borgo and round about, starting at 09.30, organised by the younger village members. We wanted to get involved, and so it was that, on Sunday morning, we readied ourselves in warm clothing and hi-viz jacket as requested, and went to the bar for 09.15 and a coffee beforehand.
Here we were reminded of the important lessons for any event that has an official starting time:
1) arriving early makes you a source of general amusement to everyone else in the bar
2) at the appointed time you will still be the only one there
3) within the next 15 minutes, a few people will turn up
4) by about half an hour after the start time, a group will have arrived, but no-one will know what is going on or who is in charge. There will be a sense of clustering together
5) 15 minutes after that, tools (in this case gloves and bags) will be handed out
6) 15 minutes after that, everyone will set off with much gusto!
And then, for the next couple of hours we trawled the lanes round and about Papiano, finding items big (a bike, a toilet) and small (fags, bottles, receipts). Very satisfying..
at the end, all back to the bar for a swift drink and a 'torta al testo' (flat bread and prosciutto), provided by one of their friends who whizzed by on demand with the snack
A quick photo and we were done!
And - it really was lovely to be part of this, we met some new friends, and it reminded us that in Italy, a community activity has three important components - a chance to meet, to talk and share, and to have something to eat afterwards. In a way the activity itself is incidental, it is really just a reason to do the other things!
Here we were reminded of the important lessons for any event that has an official starting time:
1) arriving early makes you a source of general amusement to everyone else in the bar
2) at the appointed time you will still be the only one there
3) within the next 15 minutes, a few people will turn up
4) by about half an hour after the start time, a group will have arrived, but no-one will know what is going on or who is in charge. There will be a sense of clustering together
5) 15 minutes after that, tools (in this case gloves and bags) will be handed out
6) 15 minutes after that, everyone will set off with much gusto!
And then, for the next couple of hours we trawled the lanes round and about Papiano, finding items big (a bike, a toilet) and small (fags, bottles, receipts). Very satisfying..
at the end, all back to the bar for a swift drink and a 'torta al testo' (flat bread and prosciutto), provided by one of their friends who whizzed by on demand with the snack
A quick photo and we were done!
And - it really was lovely to be part of this, we met some new friends, and it reminded us that in Italy, a community activity has three important components - a chance to meet, to talk and share, and to have something to eat afterwards. In a way the activity itself is incidental, it is really just a reason to do the other things!
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