So we’re in the middle of winter – the Christmas/New Year season is over and now we have to get through the bleak cold months
without the Christmas lights to give us a bit of cheer. (Although with Carnevale starting we can
cheer ourselves up with frittelle.) Being
the coldest part of the year and the time when it seems everyone has a sniffle,
cough, chill, flu or plain old hangover.
I’ve been musing on the Italians and their attitude to health and well
being.
Now every nation has their own particular health beliefs
that may or may not have a basis in sound medical fact – ones I remember from
my childhood include not swimming for at least an hour after eating (with my
mother this also included taking a bath) lest you get a stitch and another my
mum was particularly fond of was not leaving the house with wet hair a piece of
advice I have ignored to this day without suffering any consequences. The Italians have their own peculiar set of
beliefs when it comes to their health and from what I and my fellow expat colleges
have noticed it all comes down to wind.
The Italians live in fear of “colpo d’aria” – a hit of air which can
cause my Italian friends any number of aches and pains. To avoid the life threatening consequences of
an air hit it’s important for every Italian to wear their maglia della salute
(or shirt of health) from the first signs of autumn to ridiculously late into
the summer. I always wondered about the
Italian penchant for the sleeveless woollen tank so I was relieved to find that
there was a health benefit to such a hideous piece of clothing. The Italians also believe that letting your
stomach get a chill with result in a serious case of diarrhoea (no seriously.) The neck is also prone to hits of air meaning
that driving with the window open is a life hazard and those of us hardy non
Italian souls will always find a table in a crowded bar being that we are happy
to sit near the door. Neck protection is
a year round concern and I remember thinking it bizarre and more than just a
little prattish seeing Italians (males especially) in the height of summer
wearing shorts, t-shirts but then wrapping a scarf around their necks.
When talking about maladies I’ve been caught out by the very
different ways Anglos and Italians react to the question – how are you? For us Anglos the answer to the question is
fine/good not bad – which may or may not be the truth let’s face it the asker
isn’t really after a proper answer it’s just a ritual. If you really are at deaths door “Oh a bit
under the weather” is the usual phrase.
I was therefore unprepared when asking this of an Italian and get a
graphic description of the current cold, stiff neck, cystitis and yes even
thrush. Last week while on a train, I
couldn’t help but listen in to a woman recounting her fever – giving a rundown of
the hourly temperature only for her friend to remember the stats of one of her
fevers – six years ago. I’m not sure the
Italians ever just take and aspirin and go to bed.
Given how concerned the Italians are with their health I’m
surprised and even a little outraged at how expensive basic drugs are in this
country. A small pack of usual over the
counter pain relief will set you back nearly 10 Euro and there’s no picking up
a packet while buying groceries. No you
have to go to the pharmacy and speak to the pharmacist before you can get your
hands on those goodies. Unsurprisingly
whenever any of us head to the UK it’s usually with requests to bring back a
small pharmacy. Luckily I’ve not as yet
had to visit a doctor and that is despite not under taking a preventative
regime which from what I can gather involves regular temperature checks, annual
blood tests and some bizarre thing which involves wearing a mask and shoving
things up your nose – and no I don’t know what’s with that.
Now generally I like to keep an open mind about cultural
differences but at the moment I am getting a slightly cruel joy at putting on
my best Aussie accents and telling my friends to “just harden
the fuck up!”
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