PACE SUBITO... Anti-war Protest
Anything I say about this event will completely pale in comparison to the what actually happened. Let me start out by saying that I think I learned so much more about Italian culture through this even alone than I had learned in my time spent in Rome prior to this event.
Pace (peace in Italian) flags everywhere, members of many social organizations mixed holding banners, the beating of drums, dance troops dancing down the streets, chanting, announcements blaring from vans slowly coasting alongside the protestors, small marching bands playing, rainbows (the colors of peace) worn by Italians of all ages. These were just some of the scenes from the protest. I had never been to something like this before. I felt as if I was part of something important that actually meant something! It felt very "now" and very exciting. There was a certain spirit in the air that I had felt only once before in marching band. It was the feeling of everyone being focused on one thing and one cause. I loved it.
It all started Sarit called our apartment and asked if we wanted to go to the protest. Nabihah immediately said yes, but I was not sure because I had to study for my Medieval midterm. I decided to forget about studying and attend something that does not happen in Rome everyday. My rationale was "my books will be here when I get back, but the protest will not be here for very long." Before I knew it, I was on my way to Piazza Navona with Nabihah and Sarit.
When we got to the piazza, the protest was not there. We asked where the protest went an they told us that it should probably be in Termini by now. Allora, we hustled our way over to Termini. We initially knew that we were in the right place because we saw Pace flags everywhere.
All the parties were represented and all of the social groups were present. Greenpeace, the Communist party, the Socialist party, etc. Everyone was holding banners and wearing something rainbow. The protest was totally unorganized, but to expect from Italians is like expecting a dog to speak in perfect English... It is just will not happen. Actually it was organized by Italian standards, I would say because it was not one big mob. There were clusters or people. All together I think thousands of people had attended.
The parade went down many of the important streets of Rome and the cities public transportation system was pretty much shut down because of all of the detours that they had to make. To get anywhere around the city took twice as long. The parade passed Piazza Venezia, passed in front of the bookstore Feltrinelli (close to where I go to school), down Vittorio Emanuele, and ended up where it had started in Piazza Navona.
When we got to the piazza there were many groups that had already set up tables. There was also a stage that was set up for speeches. Young students were sitting everywhere. They were students of all types. Some were dressed up, some had dredlocks, some looked like they had not showered in a week, some looked like they were in highschool. The whole congregation of young people smelled of pot. It was insane! The interesting thing was that police were around, but no one was doing anything. That would never happen in the States... Especially in Irvine!
The speeches started on the stage and they were very hard to understand because it was in fast and passionate Italian. I could pick up a few things here and there. The theme of the speech was very anti-America/Bush/war and anti-Berlusconi. People started to cheer when the speaker told the crowd that we must stop Berlusconi and think about the future of our children.
After the speech we soaked in a bit more of the protest then decided to go home. All in all the experience was pretty magical. I still cannot believe that we have been in the war for three years already. I actually do not think a lot of the people actually realize this fact! It is sad to think that there are some people who do not realize how the war directly effects them. There was someone in the program who said, "yeah, I'm against the war, but now that we are there we might as well get our oil prices down." It is statements like that which just break my heart.
So yeah... That is my protest experience. I'll post pictures later when I have internet in my apartment.
Ciao for now!
posted by Cristina @ 5:21 AM
0 comments
