Searching for Answers from Cagli's Youth

At the Il Chiosco cafe, beneath the canopy that shields them from the unusually hot afternoon sun, a group of ten or so boys gather together for gelato and foosball. Ranging in age from fifteen to nineteen, the boys are charged with youthful energy; they jump around haphazardly, playfully punching and mocking one another. Laughter erupts in loud bursts that seem to echo for miles. Though their shirts are a bit tighter and their shorts a bit longer, they look just like any group of American teenagers. But these are not Americans. They are ragazzi--teenagers-living and growing up in the small town of Cagli, Italy.


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During my own American high school days, when my peers and I weren't fretting over grades or what college we would attend, we faced the growing pressures of relationships and the opposite sex. For four years, conversation at the lunch table revolved around two subjects: dating and test scores. We stressed over every detail of our academic and romantic lives, constantly comparing ourselves with one another-always searching for personal perfection. But life in Cagli is different.
Here, where time moves even more slowly than everywhere else in Italy, the boys can spend their afternoons together and the girls can walk quietly through the park without worry. In a town where all the stores close every afternoon from one until four for pausa, it becomes obvious that less emphasis is placed on financial success. Life here is not to be wasted, it is to be savored. The Italians live "la dolce vita," the sweet life, where it is more important to live and love well, than to get into the best school or make the most money. Even for young teenagers, "la dolce vita" has already become their way of life. Story and Photography by: Stephanie Hossbach

Video by: Kelly Costello

HTML page by: Michael Enright
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