Primo Maggio a Trento

Greetings from Trento.

I guess my cultural moment for the day is the odd inclusive feeling I am having as I intrude on my 19 year-old son's life. Over the past few days, we have been out to dinner one evening, an ice cream another and several walks about town -- all with one or more of his friends, meeting up off on as kids do. He is fine with having me hang around and so are his friends. They may leave me off before continuing the evening, but no one feels uncomfortable. Although this just may be a personal thing, I think that there is an "Italian family" component that leads to a different process for becoming independent.

In the meantime, I shall just enjoy my last day.

One note on "il primo maggio" that celebrates the worker. Like all non-Catholic holiudays, this one is also often full of tensions -- the relationship of the worker and society as both change over time. This has always been a day full of demonstrations on one side and concerts in the piazza on the other (to appease the masses).

Our "labor day" is instead a celebration of "work" not "the worker" -- the difference is subtle, but significant.

a domani,
E