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 As
the afternoon foosball game swings into full action at Il Chiostra, three
or four boys sit aside from the main group. In white plastic chairs around
matching plastic tables, they watch the game with looks of concentration
found only on the faces of the most serious sports fans. With tiny, multicolored,
plastic spoons they consume gelato slowly from small paper cups and stare
at the boys involved in the game. The older boys dominate the action around
the foosball table. Spinning the pegs on the table, they rotate their
own bodies, twisting and dodging, as if they were actually on a field
themselves. They look so intense that I approach the group apprehensively,
afraid to intrude on this seemingly cross-cultural form of male bonding.
The boys watching from the sidelines hardly even notice my presence as
I approach. Through a translator, I ask the spectators if they would mind
if I talked to them for a little while. Confused at first, then almost
embarrassed, they try to pawn off the questioning to some of the older
boys, calling them over from their game. Laughter and teasing follow as
four or five of the older boys accept the invitation. On this hot summer
day, in a country not my own, surrounded by young men who do not speak
my language, I feel mildly uncomfortable. Yet it is they who show discomfort,
rowdy and loud as they talk with me. Shifting around in their seats, they
try to recruit passing friends to stand with them for the discussion.
The younger boys make faces and sneak comments to one another. One, in
a red tee shirt and khaki Capri pants, says something to an older boy
who then jumps up out of his seat and playfully raises a fist, smiling
as he does. It takes a long time for the group to settle down.
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In the United States, most teenagers around seventeen would mention grades
and higher education, future careers and dating as their main concerns.
The youth of Cagli, however, don't think along exactly the same lines. They
joke that their main concern is "the hot weather!" and laughter erupts.
In a more serious tone, or at least one as serious as teenage boys can manage,
they also mention politics and world relations. They continue, telling who
of the group leans politically left or right. Yet they do not discuss current
politics or why they belong to which party, leaving me unsure as to whether
they are serious or joking still. As the boys begin to tease each other
again, I interrupt, "Well, what about grades and future careers?" They look
at me as if I've made a joke myself, and reply casually that they don't
really care about grades and are only mildly concerned about their future
careers. This is strange for me. My own cultural values cause me to assume
that future success would be a major concern of young men on the edge of
adulthood. The pressures are not the same for these Cagliese, though. These
boys are currently enrolled in vocational school, training to be workers,
not scholars. Soon they will have the knowledge and skills necessary to
enter immediately into the workforce. The competitive atmosphere that surrounds
surrounding schooling and careers in the United States does not seem to
exist here.
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| The
boys look anxious to get back to their game, as more friends have arrived
and gathered around the table. I ask them one last question before they
go. "What about dating and girls?" They laugh nervously and make a few teasing
comments in Italian. One boy with short, dark hair and blonde tips bravely
answers for the whole group. He says that they date, but they don't worry
too much about the opposite sex. He explains that they are too young to
think about such things. They all laugh and nod their heads emphatically,
agreeing that girls and marriage are way too far ahead in the future to
concern them now. I leave the group feeling like I have not really acquired
any of the answers I came seeking. It is obvious that these boys do not
feel the pressure that I felt as an American teenager, but is it possible
that they feel no pressure? Maybe I had just chosen the wrong time or the
wrong group of people to talk to. I know that boys in their teens tend to
be rowdy and immature--maybe talking to girls would give me more satisfying
answers. |
