Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Suffrage, Tudertina style

By virtue of my British citizenship, I have (had? With Brexit, who knows?) the right to vote in European elections and local elections, but not national elections.

I missed the deadline for the last European elections because I found out about the right to vote at the last moment (much to my dismay; I love finding out about how different countries do things, and voting is certainly important!). So when it was time to elect a local mayor, I definitely wanted to be counted!

Here was the process:

1. I went to City Hall to tell them I wanted to vote. They were very welcoming and kind, but said that I couldn't register yet because it was too early. One can only register a maximum of x number of days in advance (45? This detail eludes me now). The only problem was that the date of the election had not yet been fixed, so they had no idea of when I could/should actually register. I was to come back "at some point, probably in May."
2. I went back to City Hall, in May. They were so happy to see me, remembered the situation, and nope! Still too early. Plus, technical problem: they didn't yet have the recent voter registration forms. They were extremely accommodating, though, and suggested (to avoid a third trip) that I fill in the old forms since they would probably be identical (except for the year printed at the top). If they couldn't use that form, they assured me that they would call.
3. Feeling a bit nervous, I went back a few weeks later. Everything was great! And ready! And the forms I had used would be just fine! Now, I just had to wait for a letter from the city to tell me that I had been approved and could pick up my voter registration card. I waited.
4. The letter arrived. In the meantime, however, I had learned that the elections had in fact been scheduled...for the time that I would be in Milan! GAH! That meant no voting for me...there is no provision for an absentee ballot. My only chance to vote would be if there were a runoff election; this was a possibility, given that there were something like 7 candidates. Discouraged, I didn't bother to run by City Hall to get my voter card.
5. While in Milan, I heard that there would, in fact, be a runoff! Much excitement in the Hook camp (at least on my part). Sadly, the candidates were "not great" and "worse," which of course does diminish one's enthusiasm. Nonetheless, new experiences, right?
6. I went by City Hall to pick up my voter registration card. This is what they gave me:
This is about 4" x 7", trifold

They add a stamp when you vote. This is good for up to 18 elections.



7. Time for the actual voting! A room in Jeremy's school had been converted into a polling center. This involved installing access ramps to the school, and a few carabinieri sprinkled about the place. Upon entering, the officials indicated a room, where one of my acquaintances (Barbara) greeted me enthusiastically. There were two registration tables: women's and men's (for no apparent reason, but whatever). Barbara couldn't check me in because she was at the men's table, but told the fellow at the women's table that she knew me so don't worry about the identity card. I pulled it out anyway. I was handed a large (9" by 18"?) piece of paper that was a tealy blue on the outside with lots of hashmarks (to prevent visibility, I'd guess). On the inside, the space was divided into two large squares via borders. One square had the name of "not great" with his supporting parties. The other had "worse" and his supporting parties. I had been told to cross out the name of the candidate for whom I wanted to vote and leave the other as-is. As I entered the booth (a little temporary aluminum jobby with black curtains, much as in the US), I realized that they'd given me a pencil. REALLY? This didn't give a lot of confidence, particularly given that there had already been rumors of vote-tampering. To proceed: I disobeyed the rules and not only crossed out the name of "not great" but also wrote his name in the square containing his name. Hard. I wanted to do what I could to make sure that my vote wasn't changed. Who knows, perhaps that was enough to disqualify my ballot, but I at least wanted my intention to be clear. Next step was to fold the ballot into eighths and drop it into a large cardboard box with a slit cut into the top. Oh, the box had a paper label stuck to it that said something about its being a ballot box.

And, done!

So, a few observations:
1. The campaigning started for one candidate a few months in advance, but many didn't announce their candidacy until about two weeks in advance.
2. In the first round of voting, not only could one vote for the mayor of choice, but also for councilors. Each councilor also announce his/her candidacy under a particular mayor's flag, as it were. These candidacies were announced largely via Facebook.
3. Once the runoff had been established, the non-elect mayoral candidates were expected to show their support for one of the two in the runoff. All their councilors were then subsumed into that chosen candidate.
4. The winning mayoral candidate would then take for his ten councilors those who had taken the most personal votes in the prior election (whether or not they were on his original ballot).

Oh, and I checked with Barbara later. She said very definitely that the pencils were specially designed to write only on the ballot paper, and could not be erased from the paper once it had been marked.

Love,

Alexandra

(Oh, and "not great" won by 26 votes!)

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Musical weekend, plus Corpus Domini

Because the calcetto tournament and road race weren't enough, this was also the weekend of the musical festival AND Corpus Domini.

Different musical groups perambulated to 17 different locations and played mini-concerts all Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. We will also have a battle of the bands in the Piazza Tuesday evening; I can't wait!

We had a combination of singers, dancers, and other performers throughout the day. The spaces were as varied as the ballroom of the Palazzo Pensi, the cisterns, and little courtyards in town.

Greek dancers


Flamenco

Some kind of funky mouth organ


This group was really fantastic

Musical school from Rieti, about an hour and a half away

The local choir in the ballroom of the Palazzo Pensi

A singing/dancing group from southern Italy

Their beat is absolutely intoxicating!

Inside a palazzo

An itinerant musician/reciter

Tango! 
Horn ensemble (including Gabriele Falcioni, our church's choir director)




Modern dance


Woodwinds on the steps of the theatre
Sombrero girls!




On the way to Mass, I came across our Corpus Domini decorations...small but pretty!



And then after Mass, the procession!

Love,

Alexandra

Duomo di Milano

In my opinion, the highlight of Milan is the Duomo and not to be missed. Since Jim and Sharon were only in Milan for one day, we pre-purchased tickets so that we didn't waste any of their time in line. Arriving at the Duomo about 9:15, we went straight up onto the roof. And what a roof it is! We also went to the Castello Sforzesco (now a museum, built and rebuilt during the years) since we had a little time before the train back to Todi.

We were debating what the payment terms might be.

And the hotel? What would that be like?

The spires from the roof

The detail of the carvings is amazing, particularly
given that they are not visible from the ground.



I love the way all the little ends are different.

See the moon here?

And little faces!

The floor of the Duomo

The scale is impressive





I love the lacy carvings!


The haut relief and perspective were amazing

Just one panel in about 150 in the overall window


I'd not been in the crypt before; small but beautiful




And moving on to the Castello Sforzesco...

The incised stucco is lovely








Jeremy and Granddad!



Some of the fish were enormous!

Who can resist a duckling?

Love,

Alexandra