A not so modest proposal

A few days ago after class, Luca, the international studies director here at Dante Alighieri, gave us a lecture on the Palio and Contradas that make up Siena. I already mentioned a bit about that, but in case you don’t remember, the Palio is a huge (and vicious) horse race that takes place twice every summer in the center of town on July 2 and August 16. The city is split up into 17 Contradas, each of which has a bitter enemy among them. Which they are VERY serious about. For example, if members of enemy Contradas ever get married, Luca said they usually don’t live together during the months of July and August. Apparently it’s not even so much about winning the Palio, as long as your enemy loses. And these rivalries start young. Luca witnessed a mother feeding her baby in the Campo one day, and here’s how her dialogue went. "One for Mommy…" the kid takes a bite "…one for Daddy…" another bite "…here’s one for Torre…" the kid gets a real big bite… "and here’s one for the Goose…" kid goes in for the bite, but mom throws the food on the ground right before he eats it. "Never for the Goose!" Talk about bad associations.

Each of the Contradas has a street contained within the city walls, while the Campo (where the race takes place) has no allegiance. Like Switzerland. In each of the separate streets, there are these sweet lamps and flags all over.

As I have mentioned before, I am of the Istriche, or porcupine, Contrada. Check it out. Oh, it may LOOK like I’m pointing at that sissy Contrada to the right of my most noble and brave Istriche, but do not be mistaken. I’m to the left.

Luca (who is not actually a native of Siena) started out the lecture telling about when he first came to Siena 35 years ago and learned about the Palio. He said he knew the people of Siena were either mad, or he didn’t fully understand. And now, after 35 years, he’s as mad as the rest of them. Well friends, after only two weeks in this magical place, I am Palio Mad. And I learned something truly joyous in that lecture-my most beloved porcupines won the Palio this very summer on July 2!! Viva Istriche! After I heard that, my heart grew warm with porcupine pride. And as soon as we were done I went down the street and bought an Istriche bandana. By the way, you’ll never guess who are the enemies of Istriche. ...So I’ll tell you. The She-Wolf!! The very Contrada we saw parading down the streets on our second day in Siena. I knew I didn’t like the look of those flag-waving pansies.

Look at how fierce the porcupines are! Intimidating, huh?

This whole Palio/Contrada talk really got me thinking. How lame is America, that we don’t have such intense street pride? Ok, I realize that I am comparing a city to a country here, so the street to street ratio is a little high. But we’ve got to start small. Whadaya say, Provo? Also, I understand that the Palio has been going on since the time of Little Foot or something, but history has to starts somewhere, right? And anyway, the only sense I could make out of how all these street rivalries got started was something to do with protecting the wells. So, people of Provo, are you going to let those guys on the street over use up your lawn-mowing water? I don’t think so! Arise, Seagull, waggle those tail feathers proudly in the face of your most abhorrent and retched enemy the Bee! (I’m going with historical Utah animals…get it?) To your mounts, jockeys! And an epic horse race ensues, followed by hours and hours of singing, partying, and thoroughly abusing your looser enemies. How about it, America?