Grazie

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom

I noticed that my last two chapter titles begin with "gra" from graffiti and gratitude. I went in search of another gra word and found grazie. I thought would it not be cool to have three chapters in a row with gra starting titles. Grazie is the most common way to say thank you in Italian. I learnt that to pronounce grazie you have to put emphasis on the e so that it is said like graht-see-eh. I love Italy but what do I know about Italy? I am a casual supporter of the Italian football team. I used to be a supporter of Inter Milan before switching allegiance to Manchester City. Everybody loves pizza and pizza is from Italy. One of the best pizzas I have eaten came from Ciao Cafe in Tobago when they were still in business. Their gelato is also perfecto! Wait. That is Spanish. It is perfetto! Pizza from La Cantina is also awesome. Delizioso! The words gotta end with o it seems to give it that Italian emphasis and attitude. Instead of grazie I could say grato for thankful or grateful. An Italian phrase that can be said with emphasis and attitude using words that end in o is "molto bello" which means very beautiful. I read that the Italians say bello for everything. Bello is like the Italian version of hello, I wonder. I am thankful to the Italians for food and football. Both words start with foo. Interestingly there are no words starting with foo in Italian or any words with double o for that matter. Am I a fool for knowing so little about something I love so much? Well this chapter should change that a little.

The origin of the name Italy is disputed and there are several theories. Some are even referred to as legends. I found myself in a reddit thread looking for answers and even found this question, "but why is writing in slanty letters called italics?" I asked my friend Gemini if it is because the Italians invented it? He tells me that Italics get their name from Italy. They were inspired by the cursive handwriting of Italian scholars and popularized by Venetian printer Aldus Manutius around 1500. While the style existed before, the term "italics" was coined to honor its Italian origins, making it a unique connection between typography and culture. The more you live, the more you learn. There is an Italian proverb that says the same thing. "Sin che si vive, s'impara sempre" that translates to "As long as you live, you always learn". How about this quote from the famous Italian, Galileo, "Non puoi insegnare niente a un uomo. Puoi solo aiutarlo a scoprire ciò che ha dentro di sé." This translates to, "You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help find it within himself." And what about love? They say that Italian is the love language. I read an article where Dr Patti Adank says that Italian is attractive to the ear because of its melody with its very high number of words that end in vowels and few words with many consonants in a row. This makes it perfect for singing with its open sound.

Since we love pizza and the theme of this book freedom I thought it would be useful to explore the link between pizza and freedom if any? There are a few ways to actually answer this question but instead I found a tangent. A story I found about a polar bear named Pizza. The article described the polar bear as the saddest bear in the world as he was being held in a small enclosure and displayed in a mall in China. That was in 2016. In 2018 the National Geographic published an updated story saying that Pizza was no longer sad. He was reunited with his mom in an aquarium. I am glad that this story took a good turn thanks to the efforts of animal rights activists. I was curious about the name Pizza but could not get any word on this. I also was not sure of the gender as some articles said he and some articles said she. Now I am wondering if polar bears like pizza. Their natural diet is seals, other marine animals and birds. I suppose the pizza would have to be specially constructed for them. How do I end this chapter now that I have gone off-topic it seems. Sometimes our journey takes unexpected turns. As the Italians would say, "La vita è un viaggio imprevedibile." Whatever the path taken, we are thankful. In ogni caso, siamo grati.