by Paul Glover
(editor's note: this was originally a letter from Paul to family and friends.)

I was hired to give speeches about community economic development in several Italian cities May 3-12. Sponsored by Walter Veltroni, the Mayor of Rome, by Beppe Grillo (Italy's most famous comedian), Etica Economia, Italian Communist Party (now merely Democrats), and private donors. 

They paid all flights and trains, buses, trollies, and shuttles; all lodging in hotels, bed and breakfasts, a co-housing village, and a private home. They paid all meals, most of which were huge. And they paid a stack of Euros, worth more daily. Schedule of visits: http://www.socialforge.net/ita/index.php/Paul_Glover

Arrived here assuming that most Italians dressed well, that they ate slowly, and touched formally. This is not so. But it's true that Italy is amazingly beautiful, that the food is delicious, and that Italians speak eloquently with hands.

Spoke in Siena at a conference on economics, Pisa at an eco-sustainability festival, Rome in a government office building, Bologna at a community center, Milan at Radio Popular, Monza at a workers' recreation center, and Villasanta in a movie theater.

The Italian economy is falling apart, so there was strong interest from government officials, academics, and workers. Italy's national debt is higher than their GDP, the government can't afford health and education services, and unemployment for young adults is at forty percent as industry moves to China. I explained how they could create local credits that would enable them to maintain public services without raising taxes, how to make grants and loans with this credit which would help them create new businesses and jobs while repairing the environment. Interview with Il Manifesto: http://www.ilmanifesto.it/Quotidiano-archivio/09-Maggio-2006/art64.html 

Magius Giustini and Helen Ampt accompanied me. Magius is the Roman giant, a progressive banker and an excellent organizer who made all the connections. He is endlessly genial and is inexhaustable when speaking about social change. He said that more organizations asked for me to speak than we could fit into this trip, and that southern Italy would be our next visit. Helen is an Australian who lives and works in Italy as a translator. She translated several of my speeches and many social occasions, and made Magius’ English clearer. We were a good team, and I feel affection for them.

Helen drove us along back roads from Siena to Pisa. One can wave one's camera at random and capture beautiful scenes. My camera battery died as I turned a corner to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Coincidentally though, the family with whom we stayed that night lived exactly one block from the Tower, so the next morning I was able to get rare pictures of the piazza without tourists. But I was more interested in taking pictures of bicycles, grafitti, scooters, tiny cars, kids and narrow alleys, than of cathedrals and monuments.

My Italian is still very simple, but I'd become reasonably conversant in a short time were I to live there. To make myself understood when there was no translation, I relied on Italian, French, and Spanish words that came to mind.

Since this was my first time in Europe, the contrast between Italian cities and American cities was startling, even though I've seen pictures. They don't so carelessly tear down historic buildings or suburbanize farmland. And they value alternatives to the automobile.

On the flight back, a guy from Morocco said their poverty is extreme and that his cousin's wife, employed by the World Bank, might hire for consulting there. I'm willing to travel now, for the first time in years.

Paul Glover is founder of Ithaca HOURS, Ithaca Health Alliance, the Ithaca Community News, and most recently, Philahealthia.