The political rallies that I have recently attended in an attempt to make the most from the forth-coming elections in Italy and the perfect timing that they have had with the Italian politics and society class, have only further cemented my interest in Italian culture. However, they have confirmed some of the more, 'entrenched', cultural aspects, which are sometimes assumed to be merely myths of the society.
             Tardiness, an art that Italians seem to have perfected, was demonstrated in the fullest fashion, in the two important rallies that I attended. The first was a gathering of the European Christian Democrats, at Via del Pozzetto 158, Thursday 29th March at 4.00pm. The second was a press conference of sorts, at the American University of Rome; on the 11th of April at 6.00pm the guest speaker was Giovanna Melandri, the Minister of Culture for the Ulivo.
             A brief comparison of all would lead me to conclude that in some aspects, traditions just cannot be broken, and in others, that the Italians as political actors are full of surprises to someone who is only just beginning to live an Italian lifestyle. In each case, my presence at these assemblies gave me chance to learn a little more about the respective parties; but perhaps more so, a chance to gain more of an insight into the way that official congregations can be conducted. However, the aim of each is still to convey the same information, and the outcome of each is mostly what would be expected with few surprises.
             Press conference with Minister Giovanna Melandri on the 11th April; American University of Rome 6:00pm given in English.
             The atmosphere was that of the anticipation of waiting for a school play to begin, which can only be explained by the fact that the conference was held in what, appeared to be a small rather deficient auditorium. The walls were covered with Pine panelling, and mounted in rather odd places were printouts of words that were related to ...