CAGLI, Italy - On the Sunday morning celebrating Corpus Domini the procession that flowed from the Catholic found the streets in this historic Roman town  awash in a sea of colorful flowers and herbs painting in precise detail  countless religious scenes. The artwork stretched the entire length of the marchers route circling the outer wall of the city, then back to the main piazza.

Yet just three hours earlier, the same streets were bare, grey cobblestones.

Sisters work on a yellow sun using the flower genestra. The people of Cagli use a variety of flowers and herbs to create colorful mosaics.

The quick transformation  wasn’t unusual. It’s just another a sign of the community commitment to tradition – civic or religious – in Italian towns that involves citizens of all walks of life, and beliefs.

Gardener Bruno Dilmedico is one example. He does his part by gathering wild flowers for neighbors who fashion the artwork. Two days before the procession, he was climbing the side of Monte Bambino, located about 10 minutes outside of the center of Cagli (pronounced Kal – yee), to pick an herb called sterpolle used for the procession art.

A long-stemmed green plant with oval leaves that come to a point, sterpolle grows on steep mountainsides filled with slippery rocks. It’s a habitat also preferred by local snakes, which adds a spice of danger to the job.

But it was clear that was not Dilmedico’s first try. He arrived dressed in thick olive green pants, hiking boots, a tan long-sleeved shirt and a matching vest. His dark hair was slicked back into a ponytail, and his face was tanned a deep  mahogany from a life sent under the sun.

Armed with a hooked metal blade called a falcetto, Dilmedico started up the slippery path, continuously stomping the ground to scare away snakes. He said the falcetto  is the ideal tool for this work because the plant is able to grow back stronger after it is cut down. Bruno said, “the roots of the herbs are deep in the ground and many people just cut the most superficial part. So you keep the roots safe, but [you are able to] cut the flowers so it comes back next year. 

A priest is carrying a cross down the flowered streets of Cagli. Behind him are scouts. The scouts come early to help decorate the streets in honor of the procession.

Sterpolle, also called santoreggia, is in the oregano family and common in southern Europe. It is often used because of its fragrant aroma. 

Ginestra is another common flower used to shower the streets for Corpus Domini. Its bright yellow color stands out against the green of the sterpolle and gray of the streets. Roses, wildflowers, and died woodchips are also used to bring the streets alive.

The plants are usually picked a day or two before the precession, stored in a cool place and often soaked in water. “The herbs need to get wet because it can be really windy and they could fly away,” Dilmedico explained, speaking through an interpreter.

When he finished cutting, Dilmedico took his haul to Cagli residents Rosanna Pecorelli and Paola Passetti, who live off the main piazza in a row of light brown concrete buildings, their wooden door framed by stone blocks. Three hours before the procession started, they were on their street joining neighbors creating the flower art. They begin by drawing chalk outlines of their chosen designs, then use the colorful, fragrant flowers petals and herbs are used to fill in the images. 

Passetti, in black capris and a flowing white scoop neck shirt, said they change the design every year, depending on what’s on their mind at the moment. According to her, the festival is “a family tradition.” This year they placed a design of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

On either side of the two women, the streets were coming alive with mosaics painted on the ground. The Scout troop of Cagli used wild flowers and died woodchips of bright greens, yellows, reds, browns, and purples to  create the scripture line   from Christ, “Io sono la vera vite”  – I am the true vine.

But many images appeared to have no religious significance, but were simply beautiful designs. 

By the time the church doors open for the procession, the streets of Cagli have quickly been transformed for Corpus Domini, just as they have been for generations.

Even if the residents laying out a carpet of flowers aren’t religious, it doesn’t matter because Corpus Domini is a time to celebrate with everyone.

Dilmedico leaned back on the side of a concrete building and watched the line of people passed through the street over the artwork. through the streets. He said he didn’t feel the need to join the trail of worshippers behind the priests.

“It’s a tradition for each person, “ he said, “even if religious feeling is not there.”

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URBINO, Italy – Like workers in the U.S., when residents of this famous hilltop Renaissance head home after a long day, they are eager for a satisfying meal, and a relaxing beverage.

But you won’t find any drive-through windows here. This is a place immersed in Slow Food – a growing worldwide movement and cuisine that speaks to more than just cravings by emphasizing the use of locally produced products. 

“It sustains a more genuine approach to the territory, a sense of appreciation for the territory,” said Francesco Ovarelli, restaurant owner and Slow Food member. 

Slow Food, in fact, was founded in Bra, Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini. Outraged by the opening of a McDonald’s in Rome, Petrini and other activists became motivated to remind people of the traditionally slow pace of Italian life and the pride they should take in their locally produced foods.

It’s almost ready! Time to add some finishing touches.

Its motto “good, clean, and fair” seems simple, but it covers plenty of important details surrounding the use of local foods:

• A diet consisting of local products tastes better because it uses fresher goods.

• It helps the local economy by supporting area growers.

• It’s better for the environment because local production requires less energy to bring the good to users. 

• It requires members to produce products using environmentally friendly methods.

• And knowing where food comes from fosters an appreciation for local cuisine and traditions.

Let’s see what’s cooking! Angela handles preparing multiple dishes at a time in this busy kitchen.

Because the Slow Food organization considers education a key to success it hosts events such as farm tours, workshops and dinners to inform the public about healthy eating habits. And in 2001 it began an effort to educate children about the benefits of growing their own healthy foods by starting the “school gardens” programs. Of the 180 school gardens worldwide, 125 are in Italy.

Slow Food also works to promote and draw attention to local products that are close to extinction with an initiative called The Ark of Taste. In the Urbino region, for example, local chapters are striving to continue the production of “Mele rosa dei Monti Sibillini,” or rose apples. Once highly sought after, the tiny pink apples have not been able to compete with the larger apples in today’s markets and have almost disappeared from the landscape.

Another local food currently under the protection of Slow Food is “Cicerchia di Serra de’ Conti,” a grass pea specific to Le Marche. Usually gathered in bundles, this legume is typically hung in the sun to dry, then soaked in water before being cooked. It is traditionally used in soups or served as a side dish. 

Saving those foods and spreading the Slow Food ethic requires the attention not only of individuals, but also restaurants.  Francesco Ovarelli, owner of La Valle Del Vento, only recently registered his restaurant with Slow Food, but he’s been a strong supporter of local vendors since he opened 12 years ago.

 “We started with an idea to work with good products just from the area,” says Ovarelli, “It’s simple for us because we live in a beautiful area with good products and great farmers.”

Ovarelli’s philosophy includes an effort to have secure all the products within “0 kilometers” from his kitchen. That means his menu has no choice but to change with the seasons. 

 “We serve seasonal dishes and depending on the period, we change our menu,” he said, “not imitating our traditional meals, but revisiting them.”

 This summer, he says, they are using a lot of vegetables from local farmers such as eggplant, tomatoes, and asparagus, to name a few.  That showed up on a recent Saturday menu with  Spaghetti alla Chitarra con asparagi e noci, a pasta with asparagus and walnuts. And  Gnocchi di Patate con Crema di Melanzane, potato gnocchi with eggplant cream.

Slow Food might be Ovarelli’s guiding philosophy, but there is nothing slow about how his restaurant operates. There is constant chopping, stirring, mixing, and breezing in and out of the kitchen doors to deliver food to hungry customers. Everything is prepared fresh by hand with ingredients from local vendors such as Longhi Rovaldo (for fresh truffles and mushrooms), Grossi Family Salumieri (for cooked meats), and Verde Mela (for fresh fruits and vegetables each season). Over ten different vendors are listed in the back of the La Valle Del Vento menu, all from Urbino and the surrounding provinces.

Ovarelli says the extra care in keeping the Slow Food ethic helps his business, as well as local producers.

 “We work with foreigners, mostly coming from northern Europe and Italian cities as well,” says Ovarelli.

 “They are attracted by products which they can’t find ordinarily.” 

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URBINO, Italy – On a sunny morning the playing field on the Fortessa  – fort  – overlooking this city is filled with Italian Scouts who, at first glance, mirror their U.S. counterparts. The members wear uniforms of shorts and shirts complete with kerchiefs and shoulder patches. Younger members are boisterous and energetic, while older leaders attempt to instill order.

Scouts of all ages help with the elaborate ornamentation.

But a closer look shows some serious differences, the first of which is hard to miss: There are no “boy” or “girl” scouts, just Scouts of both genders. And as these boys and girls, men and women, finally gather to start the day’s activity – joining a procession honoring the city’s patron saint – the anticipation and excitement written on their faces would be unusual anywhere.

Scouting in Italy, explains leader Veronica Dadi, is “not just an activity, it’s a lifestyle”.

The scouting movement in Italy is, of course, similar to its American cousin in many ways.  Both are part of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, and share the same guiding principles of hard work, civic duty and personal responsibility.

But the differences are more numerous, and noticeable.

 There are two scouting groups here. The Associazione Guide e Scouts Cattolici Italiani (AGESCI), associated with the Catholic Church, has roughly 177,000 members. The secular group Corpo Nazionale Giovani Esploratori ed Esploratrici Italiani (CNGEI) has about 12,000 scouts. 

After a long morning of hard work, the scouts have almost completed the decoration of the streets.

Italian scouting combined genders over the past 10-15 years. 

Dadi, 25, said that move has resulted in greater respect and understanding. “Young teenagers are really embarrassed by [other] boys and girls,” she said. “With doing things together and friendship, they really learn how to respect one another.”

Dadi said scouting’s goal in Italy is to help members become good people and “be useful to others.”

For example, the scouts in Cagli recently participated in colletta alimentare – collecting food and other items for the poor. Natalia Toccaceli Blasi, 23, a Cagli leader, said those types of experiences help scouts become more responsible, offering an education unattainable anywhere else.

The scouts lead the local people and officials in the procession as they make their way around the town.

And because Italian scouts are more likely to continue with the movement later on in life, scouting here is often a family affair with children growing up to serve as age-group leaders after having children of their own.

The Lombardi family is one example.

Gregorio Lombardi, 25, a scout-turned-leader, explained he continuing a family tradition.  His father was a scout-turned-leader, while his mother caught scouting passion as an adult from his dad.

And today scouting helped form the foundation Gregorio’s relationship with his girlfriend, Giada Todisco Grande, 25, another scout leader.

But there is one aspect scouting life Italians in the movement share with their American cousins: They are the victims of certain clichés.  While Italian adults admire the maturity scouting encourages, members of the younger generation often see them as a too conformist. To them, scouting is seen as an uncool thing to do, especially when the person has no knowledge on the subject. 

Dadi described how she and many of her scout mates were teased because they were scouts. She said the common thought among young people here is of a scout “being a loser.”

Judging by the excitement shown by the scouts of all ages on the Fortessa, that hasn’t diminished their passion for the scouting life.

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A powerful aroma of sweet perfume fills the air as the sun peaks through the ivory clouds on a warm afternoon in early June. Among the hills outside of Urbino lies a secret garden, unknown to many. The delicate, white painted sign at the end of the driveway reads, “Giardino delle rose perdute” (Garden of lost roses). Rolling hills of greens and browns can be seen for miles at the top of the hill. The town of Urbino sits below; the old brick walls seem small from up above. The only noise comes from a flock of birds flying overhead. Vibrant pinks and purples envelope you in a bed of roses. A woman stands among the roses chatting briskly on a cellphone, her purple shirt matching the flowers she stands between. She ends the call. Her calloused hands carefully pluck one of the purple roses and present it with a welcoming smile. This kind gesture invites you to the secret that is Rosetta Borchia’s ancient heirloom rose garden.

Combine three years of research, 15 years of collecting roses from abandoned cemeteries, and one determined, passionate woman, and you will find a magical garden of over 100 unfamiliar ancient roses hidden in the hills of Urbino. While the world was ringing in the new millennium in 2000, Rosetta Borchia was moving her husband, Angelo, and son, Giovanni, to a hillside house on the outskirts of Urbino. With an ample amount of land at her disposal, Borchia, a painter and nature enthusiast, became determined to build a virtual work of art. The spotting of a single rose on the side of the road sparked an idea and a passion. After deciding that this sighting was fate, she began her research on ancient roses in the Le Marche region. Today the garden is host to the one of most extensive and unique collections of ancient roses in the world.

Borchia’s passion for nature and more specifically for the beauty of flowers radiates from the wonder in her eyes as she recalls the blank canvas she started with many years ago. As a painter, she has an eye for artistic opportunities. Looking out over the vast, empty land, she knew that a garden full of rich colors and powerful scents was exactly what her home needed. One short back-country drive later and her imagination was ignited.

A pair of heirloom roses linger in the early days of June after the peak bloom season in May. Rosetta Borchia’s garden is home to more than 100 ancient varieties of roses.

As a young girl, Borchia dreamed of wanting to receive a single rose. “Now that I have all these roses it’s only fair for me to share them,” she says. The final product, “The Garden of Lost Roses,” has taken her 15 years to complete. The first three years were spent with her nose in books, reading and learning everything she could about ancient heirloom roses. After discovering that the majority of roses were located in old cemeteries throughout Italy, she began her search. With the help of the municipality of Urbino, she was granted access to the abandoned cemeteries of the region where she found the small treasures she was searching for.

As the sun shines down on a hot June afternoon, Borchia demonstrates what a typical searching day would be like. Clad in an olive green t-shirt with a subtle rose pattern gracing the front and a pair of gold rose earrings dangling from her ears, she treks through the remnants of an ancient, abandoned cemetery. Stick in hand to fend off the snakes, she walks through the long patches of overgrown weeds and grass. This is one of the many cemeteries she worked in day and night in hopes of finding an ancient rose to add to her garden. To the average eye the cemetery looks as though there could be nothing worth finding. Broken headstones and decaying structures scatter the ground, but Borchia knows exactly what she is looking for. Despite the discouraging look of the place, under a chaos of overgrown grass she points to the remnants of an ancient rose. “Right there you would have found the root of an ancient rose. I would take note of these during the blooming season and come back in the winter to dig it out so that I wouldn’t have to deal with this,” she says as she points in the direction of a snake slithering by.

Cemeteries such as these down bumpy back roads hold the treasures that Borchia cherishes. Throughout her search she remained dedicated, following wherever her research took her. “I would search from sunrise to sunset around Le Marche, Tuscany, Pesaro, and Rimini,” she says.

These heirloom roses are not the type of roses you will find at the cashier of your local supermarket. Ancient heirloom roses are from before the 18th century, making each individual flower a unique experience for your eyes to observe. Each flower is made of layers of intricately designed petals. Some speckled, some streaked, the roses combine to create a mosaic of rich hues throughout the garden.

Borchia stands among her flowers under one of the many trellises she has gradually added to her expansive garden overlooking the town of Urbino.

Although the green foliage and vine covered trellises can be seen throughout the year, the true spectacle begins in May when the roses begin to bloom. Heirloom roses bloom only once per year during the month of May, unlike modern roses which can be purchased at any time of year. This month holds a depth of possibility for nature to come alive and radiate a spectacle of pinks, purples, reds, and whites. The true awe in Borchia’s garden is not found in the upkeep of the garden, as it requires little to none—but in the attention to detail. Each rose contrasts the next, making the garden flow rhythmically from path to path.

Hidden behind thick purple glasses, Borchia’s dark hazel eyes glow with the intensity of her passion for the roses. She walks through the garden, confidently explaining each rose, subconsciously pulling out weeds as she goes. She stops and subtly scans the garden, amazed at her own accomplishment. “Sometimes I stop and look around and I can’t believe the garden has made it to this point,” she says. She created the garden she holds so dearly to her heart all on her own.

The sweet lingering scents and rainbow of pigments from milky white to scarlet red hold much history. “I didn’t know anything about these roses when I first started. I had to learn everything I could so that I would know what I was talking about when people asked questions,” Borchia says. Many of the ancient roses in her garden are painted in historical artworks including “The Madonna di Senigallia” by Piero della Francesca.

One of the most unique roses amongst the garden is one that she has not been able to find anywhere else. After coming across it years ago at a farm in Borgo Pace, 60 kilometres southwest of Pesaro, she took a root of the rose home for her garden. The dark magenta petals of the mystery flower highlight the bright yellow anther, the inner part of the rose. She does not have a name for this rose as she has never been able to find it throughout her years of researching both books and landscapes of Italy. She says that it is originally from a small village near Borgo Pace where, during the feast of Sant’ Eurosia, a Catholic saint whose feast day was celebrated on June 25, all women would walk to the top of the hill to take petals from this particular rose. “Maybe I will give the name to Sant’ Eurosia,” she says.

Borchia shows off one of her most unusual roses, a nameless variety that she discovered in the town of Borgo Pace and has not been able to find elsewhere.

Today Borchia is no longer on the hunt for ancient roses because she feels her garden is complete.“But if I came across a new one,” she says, “I wouldn’t think twice about taking it.”

Although the blooming season is short for these mysterious ancient roses, she has found a way to enjoy the flowers all year round. After the month of May, she uses the leftover petals to create her secret signature rose water. She boils water and sugar, adds lemon and rose petals to the pot, and lets it sit for two days. After bottling the sweet substance she simply adds sparkling water to create a tingling sensation for the taste buds.

Over the years Borchia has opened the garden up to the public, but is now keeping it private for friends and her family. She loves to share her artistic treasure, but she says it is too much work to have people visiting all the time.

Sitting at an antique white chair set, sipping on the bubbling pink water, Borchia looks over the masterpiece she has created as if she can’t believe that it is hers. “I don’t know if I will ever go to paradise” she says, “but I think I am already here.”

This article also appears in Urbino Now magazine’s Urbino Focus section. You can read all the magazine articles in print by ordering a copy from MagCloud.

Two peacocks stare down from their cage as the group gets out of the car at Cafe Molena. Gabrielle Arruzzo sits at the head of the table wearing a yellow shirt that reads PacificUV, a synthpop band from Northern Georgia. His students gather around the sides. One gets up to take orders while another sets the tablecloth. Arruzzo leans back to stretch, his long thin fingers grasping at the air. Without taking off his sunglasses he asserts that art in Urbino is dead.

At 38, Arruzzo is one of the youngest professors at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino. He has been teaching art in Urbino for seven years but is still waiting to receive a permanent position. Much like the rest of the city, there seems to be no space in the Accademia for change.

In the place of Raphael’s birth it is difficult for many to look beyond their rich history. And yet, Arruzzo and his peers continue to embrace a new Italy. Artists are showing work in cities around the country, attempting to make a name for their generation. According to Arruzzo, the movement is based on frustration and irony. They have grown up looking to separate their voices from the engraved history Italy has written for them. Arruzzo travels and works as a teacher to fund his art, with studios in Milan and Pesaro. It is difficult to say if his pieces will ever be able to go much further.

“To study modern art in Urbino is somewhat of a contradiction,” Arruzzo says just as the food arrives. While the university is well respected, he explained, very little effort has been put into creating a new art scene within the city. Most students come here and leave as soon as they graduate. Because it is smaller than other art academies, they are able to have a closer relationship with the faculty than if they had attended a different school. While this is helpful in the development stages of their work, eventually school is not enough. Arruzzo tells his students to travel outside of the city to visit museums and gallery openings in Rome and Milan.

The remains of Raphael are everywhere in this Renaissance town. His house preserves his memory, but also encourages you to look beyond him and his era.

Arruzzo was born in Rome, and then moved when he was six to Pesaro, his mother’s oceanside home town. “I need the sea, but my ambitions are not to be just a Pesaro painter.”

He sniffs, coughs. The season has been hard on him. As a chronic asthmatic, he spent much of his youth indoors looking at books. Every year the banks his father worked for gave them dozens including illustrated encyclopedias, history books on the Italian Renaissance, and religious texts. On top of that his father also had a large comic collection that strayed from the typical mickey mouse type of cartooning. Arruzzo started his career doing graffiti around cities he traveled to, and became friends with the street artist Blue. The culture surrounding this kind of art emphasizes politics and an unwillingness to create art for fame and money. “I understood my background after I started to paint, it was not a conscious thing.”

His paintings tend to resemble screen prints, especially in photographs. They are characterized by thick black outlines and details, but in real life there is a subtle depth to them caused by many layers. Bright colors clash against the iconography. He uses old images and symbols to discuss current issues that still face Italian society and artists’ lives. One in particular that jumps out: Hitler staring at a blank canvas, his foot in Duchamp’s infamous found urinal. Goats and flowers crowd the background. Arruzzo is creating something for the viewer to interpret, and is unwilling to spoon feed his message.

“I don’t create. I redo, and I remix things.”

Rap and electronic music speak especially to him. These mediums are comprised of a repeated found sample and layers of original material on top. In a similar vein, his work is attempting to say something new using familiar words. As he stands up from the table and stretches, the noon sun casts harsh shadows across his face. “After Shakespeare talking about love what could be new? [It is the same for art.] I am friends with an old lady called painting.”

Arruzzo loves comics, and incorporates similar graphics in his paintings. He wears bright colors, at times matching his work.

And the omnipresence of the past is especially present here in Urbino. You cannot escape the Renaissance or the men associated with it. The city’s walls clearly define the limits of what used to be. One of the reasons why Urbino has not been hit as hard during the economic crash has been the tourism. Urbino is in the running for the European Capital of Culture for 2019, and so there is even less reason to push for modernity.

“Teaching was always plan B.” When he was rejected from the Higher Institute for Artistic Industries, an extremely competitive graphic design school in Urbino, Arruzzo instead attended the Accademia. After graduation he applied to the government for a teaching position in order to fund his work. That was in 2003. After five years of waiting it was finally granted to him, but because the retirement age has been pushed back, there are currently no permanent jobs available. He has been to Milan, China, and Brazil to show and work on art.

Raphael did not influence Arruzzo, but the old masters’ mere existence is necessary for all Italian art work. “I did not need to know them to meet them.” Even more than Raphael, Arruzzo said, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood has made the meeting of old artists possible. The group, formed in 1848, valued the abundant detail, intense colors, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art. They preserved old buildings and paintings and valued detailed colorful work.

One of the spaces that they worked hard to save was Raphael’s birth house. Oddly enough, it now includes the only gallery in Urbino that shows modern art. The house is on a hill right up from the piazza, two small flags resting above the door. The gift shop on the right contains postcards and history books, and the house above has copies of Raphael’s work and remodels of his modest birthplace. The gallery on the bottom half opposite the gift shop is free to enter and hosts different artists that are usually alumni of the Academia or professors. The spiral staircase reflects the neon green paintings on display. The gallery doesn’t have its own name.

Raphael’s paintings explore mortality, religion, and the urge to maintain appearances. At the root of it, he strived to encompass Italian society, just as modern artists must do.

Walking down the hallway of the Accademia, student Miriam Pascale explains the different sections of the building. She is studying to be what roughly translates as “decoration – contemporary visual arts.” Miriam is one of Arruzzo’s students, but she does not plan on practicing art in Urbino after she graduates. There is nothing for her here. Hopefully, she will get a gallery job curating in a city. If not she can always teach. But, she says, “there is a difference between studying art and being an artist.” The exams here are difficult, spanning hours and including oral and practicum.

But Arruzzo feels that to know specifics that are being tested and to feel the urge to create are two separate things. Students say he is a tough grader, expecting them to understand this and to be just as passionate as he is.

The peacocks rustle their feathers, and it echos across the empty tables. Arruzzo begins a tangent that slowly comes around to the unhappiness in art. Even so, he says, there is a drive to create. Even in towns like Urbino that do not have a community. The statement ‘art is dead’ lingers in the thick air. Arruzzo sips his beer “When we see successful artists, famous artists, we are only seeing a reflection of who they are. We don’t see how they suffer.” Suffering will come, he explains, in the big cities or in the small towns. Urbino may make it difficult to spread your ideas through modern art, but it is no worse off than most other places.

This article also appears in Urbino Now magazine’s Arte e Cultura section. You can read all the magazine articles in print by ordering a copy from MagCloud.

PESARO, Italy – The motto “Dixi, Suasi, Vici” (I Said, I Persuaded, I Conquered) is a far cry from Roman Emperor Julius Caesar’s “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (I Came, I Saw, I Conquered).  But for Italy’s 28ºReggimento “Pavia” (28^th Army Regiment “Pavia”), named after a town in Northern Italy, “I Said, I Persuaded, I Conquered” is their motto, and persuasion through tactical communications is becoming their NATO-based mission in Afghanistan.

American US Army Captain Damon Hart speaks to Colonel Giovanni Gagliano and other Italian soldiers who together work in Afghanistan.

 “There’s no way we can end wars and prevent conflicts with guns,” says Captain Damon Hart, one of ten U.S. Special Operations officers training alongside the Italian soldiers at the “Pavia” headquarters in the Adriatic coastal city of Pesaro.  The American officers have come from the army base in Fort Bragg, N.C., to train with their Italian counterparts, to assist them in obtaining NATO Special Operations status by July 1, 2014.  With NATO certification the regiment will be deployed to Afghanistan to utilize high technology communications systems in a peace-making role in that war-torn nation. Many NATO countries, including the United States, are involved in similar training and activities.

Colonel Giovanni Gagliano of the “Pavia” Regiment says their mission is “to bring peace, build a new society”.  When asked about working with the Italian unit, Captain Hart replies, “You have to love what you do”.  He has worked previously with Italian troops in Germany and believes it is important to reduce the learning curve among NATO countries, so they can easily cooperate on missions in Afghanistan. 

The American officers are training with the Italian officers for two weeks. Their base at Fort Bragg has similar print, radio, and television capabilities, only on a larger scale.  Their goal is to understand, “the place where they are, what the right message is, and what means to use in order to communicate,” explains Colonel Gagliano.

An Italian soldier manages the audio board for the base’s television deployable news container.

The communication methods that the soldiers of the “Pavia” will use include:

• Distribution of leaflets by soldiers while they are parachuting to the ground from 25,000 feet
• Messages broadcast through loudspeakers that have a land-based range of 1.5 kilometers
• Face-to-face conversations with the Afghan people
• Television and radio broadcasts 

The regiment’s television and radio deployable containers look like professional studios transformed to fit into various camouflage boxes. In these tiny workspaces the soldiers can host interviews and produce news pieces that are either prerecorded or live.  The radio container has two rooms, a sound booth and an editing area that can be used to transmit commercial radio programs with popular songs provided to the soldiers.

These fliers, destined for towns and villages in afghanistan, contain warnings about nearby IEDs in Pashto and Dari. They contain mostly pictures for those in rural areas who are illiterate.

A typical leaflet might contain information about Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), homemade bombs that were not constructed or deployed by the military. The leaflets contain mostly pictures in order to be understood by literate and illiterate Afghans alike, with the goal of ensuring each resident’s safety. Most of the “Pavia” regiment’s flyers are printed in a facility on the base in Pesaro and at the rate of 15,000 flyers per hour. The soldiers also have a smaller, deployable printing container that they can use in the field.  

But the messages conveyed through TV, radio,  loudspeakers, or  flyers are not always understood.  According to Major Antonio Caragnano,  one difficulty is an  information gap between young Afghans attending school in the cities and elderly mostly illiterate Afghans living in the rural mountain areas. The educated urban citizenry can understand complex messages about the ongoing conflict and are targeted with detailed video and print information.

By contrast, Lt. Colonel Cartini recounts meeting an elderly man in the mountain regions who thought Cartini was a Russian soldier returning to the area after many years. The elderly man did not realize that the Russians had pulled out of Afghanistan and NATO forces were involved instead. In cases such as these, interpersonal communication is often needed. “Pavia” participates in role-play exercises to develop ways to respectfully and effectively speak with people of differing ages, genders and cultures.

Other NATO countries with communications bases such as Germany, France and Great Britain, want to use their technology to reassure the Afghan citizenry that they are there to help them.  NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen insists the coalition “won’t fall off a cliff at the end of 2014.”  U.S. President Barack Obama has set that date as the formal end of the combat mission in Afghanistan.

In the meantime and, according to Rasmussen, NATO allies are taking advantage of the fact that “the Taliban are on the defensive in the information space.”

Communication-based missions are “becoming much more important than before,” claims 2^nd Lieutenant Grifa of the Italian regiment.

President Obama  announced on May 27, 2014, that he plans to withdraw the last American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.  Italian Defense Minister Mario Mauro says 500 to 700 Italian troops will remain after other NATO troops withdraw. There are currently about 3,000 Italian troops in Afghanistan.

Mauro reasons that, “We can’t turn our backs on this country, if we don’t want the atrocious dictatorship of the past to return.” The soldiers from “Pavia”will attempt to fend off “the atrocious dictatorship” to which Mauro refers, by using their communication skills and technology.  Major Caragnano hopes, in the end, “with a word you can reach more than with a bullet.”

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URBINO, Italy – It’s a sunny, lazy day in this famous Renaissance town of soaring towers and cobblestone streets as college students Martina Russano and Giulia Ivanges socialize in the Piazza Repubblica.

Between sips of cappuccino the friends exchange glances and giggle like schoolgirls as two boys stroll past. Life is fun.

But when the conversation turns to their futures after college, the mood changes abruptly. The giggles disappear. A cloud moves over the sunny day.

“I am not optimistic about my future at all,” admits Giulia, a pharmacy student. “Present day Italy is in a complete crisis.”

Martina, a foreign language major, agrees. “I try hard to stay optimistic, but it’s difficult since our generation has it so much harder,” she says.

 This is the reality of life for Italy’s younger generation. Just below a sunny, carefree surface lies a current of deep anxiety and fear caused by the economic crisis that has gripped Italy and much of Europe for almost 10 years.

Students Giulia Ivanges and Martina Russano enjoy some free time between classes, listening along as a friend strums the guitar. The two will face a high Italian unemployment rate when they graduate.

As of April 2014, Italy’s unemployment rate was 12.60 percent, it’s highest level since record keeping began in 1977. More than half a million industrial jobs have been lost since 2007, and more than eight million Italians already live below the poverty line, including many who have been employed for years. The nation is now 2 trillion euros in debt.  

No Italian group has suffered more than the young.

Youth unemployment is a staggering 43.30 percent.  By comparison America’s youth unemployment rate, a major concern in Washington, was 16.1 percent in April 2014 for those between the ages of 16 and 24, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Getting a job in Italy let alone Urbino has proven  difficult  even for the college educated. Many recent university graduates are living at home remaining financially dependent on their parents well into there twenties.

Alice Bocconelli, 28, knows that story line all too well.  After 10 years at Urbino University she has two diplomas including a degree in economics, but has no job to show for it. Living at home and jobless as she nears 30 was far from the life she spent her childhood dreaming of.

Many students like Giulia are financially dependent on their parents, well into there twenties. Without receiving any help from the government, Giulia’s parents are responsible for covering the costs of her college education.

“I hoped to have a career and family by now, I’m not getting any younger, but the crisis started 4 years ago and it’s difficult to see a future here because of it,” sighs Alice.  “I see myself going backwards.”

College students like Giulia and Martina live in fear of sharing that journey, so they dream of lives in different countries where job prospects are brighter, especially in the U.S.

“I want to teach Italian abroad, in America hopefully” said Martina. 

“We all have an American dream,” finishes Martina.

That dream can be  seen on the many t-shirts showing the Stars and Stripes, or handbags bags displaying the New York skyline. Urbino shops are filled with clothing and accessories representing American culture. 

What was the blame for Italy’s crisis and how to fix it is a matter of debate among Italians. But few students here disagree about what their immediate future holds

“Italy’s situation is the worst in the world,” said Giulia.  “And nothing scares me more.”

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URBINO, Italy – Tucked away on Via Federico Veterans, one of the cobblestone streets  that wind through this hilltop city,  lies a charming, one-room theater with the optimistic name Cinema Nuova Luce – Cinema New Light. It is open only on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings when Marco Lazzari’s projector lights the single screen with Italian and European-made artistic and cultural films. A  “good turnout”  is any time 11 of the 104 seats a filled, he says.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Cinema Ducale can seat about 800 people on its two screens showing the latest Hollywood blockbusters featuring American actors speaking in dubbed Italian voices.

This movie-going scene is the same across Italy.

“In my opinion, the real beauty of a movie lies in the simplicity and in the message,” he said. “I think Italian cinema has lost that a little bit.”

Once considered a world capitol of influential cinema thanks to groundbreaking works from legends such as Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni,  Italian films  now largely mimic Hollywood movie-making, critics such as Lazzari contend. Italian move-goers, like their American counterparts, are no longer interested in the hard-hitting issues facing their country, he says, but prefer to be distracted by 3-D explosions, romantic comedies or fast-paced narratives.

Italian box office receipts support his case.

Owner Marco Lazzari opens the doors to his theater every Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

In 2013 the highest grossing Italian-made film here was Sole a Cantinelle, a light-hearted comedy by Gennaro Nunziane that collected $69.3 million. That same year, independent Italian filmmaker Gianni Amelio released L’Intrepido , a story exploring the despair ceated by in Italy’s economic crisis,  generated only $1.5 million at the box offices.

That trend got world attention at this year’s Oscar Awards.

Marco Lazzari stands proudly during a demonstration of the highest quality digital film he owns, a far cry from what once lit up the screen when he was a boy watching his father run the theater.

La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), the internationally acclaimed art film by Paolo Sorrentino, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Italy was apparently not as excited about Sorrentino’s release as the Oscar judges. La Grande Belleza grossed just $9.5 million locally, far out-paced here by a number of American films including The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($11.1 million), Django Unchained ($16.2 million), and Frozen, the Disney animation, which raked in a whopping $26.4 million.

But Lazzari isn’t ready to join that new wave.  He’s fighting with Cinema Nuova Luce to keep independent Italian cultural cinema alive in Urbino. Recent showings included Incompresa, by Asia Argento, and Le Meraviglieby Alice Rohrwacher.

Lazzari’s fight is actually a family tradition begun in 1950 when his fatheropened Cinema Nuova Luce and established the programming model featuring Italian and European artistic film. Marco inherited the theater at his father’s death in 2008 and feels no need to stray from that mission, despite the move by the majority of Italian moviegoers to contemporary cinema.

“From the beginning, the cinema only shows cultural films,” he stated with pride.  “Nowadays [Italian filmmakers] tend to use a lot of special effects like in American movies. The young Italian filmmakers of today try to imitate American filmmakers like [Steven] Spielberg or Spike Lee. I don’t like that very much.”

 Italian cinema dates back to 1896 with the release of Umberto e Margherita di Savoia a Passeggio per il Parco – “Umberto and Margherita of Savoy Walking in the Park by Filoteo Alberini.” But film historians say the golden age of Italian film was the first decades after World War II when Italian directors were leaders in the genre known as Neorealism, which exposed the ravages left by the war using largely nonprofessional actors on location. The stories often revolved around the working class picking up the pieces of  lives shattered by the violence of war. Filmmakers were interested in documenting life as it really was as opposed to how they wished it to be.

Critics still rave about  such Neorealism classics as La Terra Trema, Rome, Open City, and Bicycle Thieves.

Lazzari said one of his cinema’s missions is to show those cinematic styles to today’s audiences, especially the young.  And he considers cinema to still be an active mode of cultural change. 

“Teenagers love special effects and the 3D movies,” said Lazzari. “There are young people out there that prefer cultural cinema, but I would say 90 percent prefer the American movies.”

Leda Bartolucci, Federico Scaglioni, and Anais Piccoli are some of those teenagers that like art films – so much so they participated in a film program here at the University of Urbino. They consider most of today’s Italian productions “Saturday events,” and, like Lazzari, long for the days of Neorealism.

Photographs of Marco’s father that are kept at the front desk for Marco to glance at from time to time.

“I think cinema was something shared by everyone in Italy because we had some great directors and every work of theirs was a change in culture because it represented Italy as it was,” said Bartolucci, a petite and bright-eyed film enthusiast.

“The Italian directors that are popular now tend to show only what the young generation wants to see. It’s consumerism as opposed to an art form.”

Scaglioni said popular Italian filmmakers now try to emulate American cinema, a move which he says signals a loss of Italian identity in the field.

 “Most Italian movies are comedies,” he said “Italians think a comedy is something like American Pie -something with a lot of sex and bad words. A lot of these films can be very fun, but there is no reference to real life.” 

He said popular Italian cinema is repetitive, “Same stories, same actors, just a different place. With more tits every time.”

This shift in interest among the public has created many hurdles for independent filmmakers struggling to make a difference with their work, an issue Urbino filmmaker Andrea Laquidara understands firsthand. With productions fueled by passion but little financial support, the independent filmmaking industry  can’t compete with the big-budget Hollywood films making their way to Italy, said Laquidara

“This is not a very happy period for our culture and cultural projects,” he said. “You have two options: to choose a commercial way or to direct documentaries or movies with particular meaning and language.”

Even then, Laquidara said, Italian filmmakers creating contemporary art pieces that will make a difference in the culture have a hard time getting their work shown.

This is where Cinema Nuova Luce comes to the rescue.

For inspiration, Lazzari keeps photographs of his father proudly posing with a new projector stowed in his ticket desk.  He says he will continue to show the films both he and his father agreed are the most important – Italian-produced cinema rich in culture and artistic value.

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FERMIGNANO, Italy – It’s a cloudless Saturday morning, wet dew still covering the grass. Organizers are quickly setting up various sports equipment within the Sports Center of Ca’Vanzino to get ready for a daylong event called Fermignano in Gioco. About 600 boys and girls from the local schools of the town eagerly line up and are chattering outside the gate.

At exactly 8 o’clock the gates open and children flood in. Divided into age groups ranging from 6 to 12, they separate and head to their designated stations to start the day.

Dario Surano explains a rugby drill to the first rotation of kids participating in the Fermignano in Gioco.

Each station has something different to offer and, as the youth rotate through, they get to experience something new at each turn: dancing, karate, or gymnastics are just a few of the available activities. But it’s the mini rugby station that is filled with nonstop action.

With soccer being the number one sport in Italy, most of these students have never played rugby. It’s not offered as a school sport. But after a few drills they quickly catch on and begin to enjoy the game. Running and tackling, catching and throwing, laughing and crying, and before you know it their time is up and they’re off to the next station.

Many leave with a few bumps and bruises, which will eventually fade away, but what remains vivid is the new exciting game they’ve just tackled.

Some of these students will want to experience that rowdy game they call rugby again, and Giuseppe Faustini, the president of the Titans rugby team in nearby Urbino is counting on it.

Faustini founded the men’s rugby team in 2010 and just recently expanded its program to add Urbino’s first youth team, called the mini Titans. The new team is the next step in the evolution of the Titans and is designed to create the next generation of athletes.

“I regret I didn’t have the possibility to learn when I was their age; I could have been a way better player” says Federico, the captain of the men’s team.

Italy has 31,604 boys and girls under the age of 13 who play rugby compared to the United States, which has 329,086 players – about 10 times as many – participating in the sport.

The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), a national association founded in 1928, has adopted a policy aimed at promoting youth rugby. FIR understands the importance of fostering a breeding-ground for new players, so the policy requires every adult rugby team to have its own mini team or face a penalty. 

In order to avoid being penalized 4 points during championship games, almost every adult team is trying their best to promote youth rugby and schools have become the target for recruitment. Alessandro Guerra, now a mini Titan himself, was introduced to the sport when the men’s rugby team visited his school. “He brought home a flier from school with information about the rugby team,” says his mother Noemi Saltarelli. “This was the first time he was actually interested in a sport, so I got excited and signed him up.”

So far 14 of the 20 adult teams in the region of Marche, including the Titans, have succeeded at starting their own mini teams.

The mini Titans are coached by two of the players from the men’s team, Alberto Bottari and Federico Ambrosini. During the past four months they have held practice every week at the Varea field in Urbino, passing on their rugby skills to the next generation of athletes.

The minis program is for players as young as six and is open to both boys and girls. Though it is a co-ed sport, no girls have yet to join. “Unfortunately it is quite difficult to gain girls because their parents are not familiar with rugby and they see it as a ‘men only’ sport,” says Federico.

Rugby may have a reputation as a rough sport, but safety is stressed. “Yes, I worry about my son getting hurt because there is risk involved in all sports,” says Noemi Saltarelli, “but at this age the contact isn’t as severe and the trainers do a good job at teaching them how to play safely.” The program also aims to help the players build confidence and stay fit. “Rugby has helped me become stronger, lose weight, and stay in shape,” says 10-year old Matieo Dorelli.

The two Titans, the men’s team and the mini team, get together to play a game of touch rugby.

 Thus far the mini Titans have played in two games against the teams of Fano and Montecchio: victory in one game, a loss in the other. Coach Federico is excited about their progress: “I feel amazed! They learn so fast and they improve after every game. I feel like I’m building the future of rugby in Urbino and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Both the men’s team and the mini team celebrated their successful seasons with a barbeque before breaking for summer vacation. The parents grilled the meat and prepared the food, while the two teams played a game of touch rugby, the boys against the men. 

The mini Titans resume formal practice in September to start their first full season. They have a summer full of optimism to kick around: “It is hard to make predictions about the future because we are still a very new team. But I hope that the youth team will bring more attention to our program,” says team president Faustini, “I hope that it will grow as a passion, because rugby is a beautiful sport.”

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