Griffith, Italians at their best

By Alessandro Carosi

Griffith, New South Wales, Australia 2008

GRIFFITH, A SMALL TOWN NEAR SYDNEY (8 HOURS BY BUS, IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, NOT A MAN, NOT AN ANIMAL, JUST NATURE AND NOTHING ELSE, THIS IS TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND THE DISTANCES HERE IN AUSTRALIA) NOTES CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOWN, BOREDOM, DEPRESSION, AND THE SUBSEQUENT DESIRE TO COMMIT SUICIDE, THE ONLY REASON WHY I DID NOT KILL MYSELF AND ‘WAS ONLY BECAUSE THE BRIDGES WERE TOO LOW, AS DANTE ALIGHIERI SAID WHEN HE CAME TO GRIFFITH ON HOLIDAY, “LASCIATE OGNI SPERANZA VOI CHE ENTRATE” (LEAVE ALL HOPE YOU WHO ENTER), AND I SWEAR I HAD ABANDONED HOPE FOR A MONTH, A TYPICAL DAY IN THIS VERY COLD VILLAGE (ON THE COLDEST DAY IT WAS 45 DEGREES), WE STARTED WORK AT 5am IN THE MORNING BECAUSE AFTER 10am THERE WERE ALREADY 40 DEGREES, WE CAME HOME AROUND NOON, IN THE AFTERNOON WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE FOR THE HEAT AND SPENT THE DAY WATCHING TELEVISION WITH ONLY 4 CHANNELS OR PLAYING ON THE COMPUTER WITH THE FANTASTIC PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER MAKING MEGA TOURNAMENTS, THE REASON WHY I DID NOT RUN AWAY AFTER 2 DAYS WAS BECAUSE I MET REALLY NICE PEOPLE WITH WHOM I HAD A GREAT TIME, 2 BEAUTIFUL CANADIAN THAT I WANTED TO FUCK BADLY AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT, I NEEDED MOMEY AFTER I SPENT ALL IN MY FIRST 2 MONTHS IN SYDNEY, HOWEVER, RETURNING TO GRIFFITH 80% OF THE POPULATION WAS OF ITALIAN ORIGIN, IN FACT, THIS IS ONE OF THE TOWNS IN AUSTRALIA WHERE YOU CAN WORK CASH IN HAND WITHOUT GOVERNMENT OR POLICE WOULD SAY ANYTHING (WHO KNOWS ‘WHY’? ) EVERYWHERE THEY SPOKE ITALIAN AND THERE WERE PRACTICALLY ONLY ITALIAN SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS, THE YOUNG PEOPLE CAME OUT OF FAST AND FURIOUS WITH MEGA MADE-UP CARS AND ACCHITATE SPACE SHUTTLE TYPE THAT COMPARED, PEOPLE FROM TERAMO IN ITALY LOOK LIKE ROYALS BUT ALL IN ALL VERY NICE AND KIND, HOWEVER, IN THIS INSANITY I MANAGED TO FIND SOMETHING POSITIVE THAT WAS TRANQUILITY AND RELAXATION OF WHICH I NEEDED, THE PROBLEM WAS THAT IN A MONTH I FOUND TOO MUCH OF IT, NOW I PROBABLY HAVE A SUPPLY FOR AT LEAST A DECADE, AT THE TIME OF WRITING I RETURNED TO SYDNEY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN DAY, AROUND A BROTHEL LIKE CRAZY BUT STILL NOTHING COMPARED TO OUR “BOVE FINTO (BOVE HOW MUCH I MISS YOU), OK, THIS IS ALL, DON’T FUCK WITH ME IF YOU SHOULD FIND SPELLING MISTAKES OR COMMAS OR DOTS IN THE WRONG PLACE IF I KNEW HOW TO WRITE I WOULD WRITE A BOOK, GOODBYE.