this is what I know about the mafia

Last week I had a little history lesson in Italian, after attempting to delineate the various characteristics of the North and South of Italy. I actually did well enough, earning points for important dates (1861) and names (Garibaldi)—but lost everything when it came to the Mafia.

“You don’t know anything about the Mafia?!” Muzzi exclaimed.

I half-laughed. Of all Italy’s attractions, this wasn’t of any particular importance to me. Caravaggio, or Cosa Nostra? Pontormo or Palermo? Easy enough—but Muzzi was looking horrified. “Erm. . .no,” I stammered under her gaze. “Not really. I mean, what there is in movies and television, sure. But it doesn’t really interest me.”

Wrong answer.

“Doesn’t interest you?! Elizabetta. This is Italian history. This is a very major problem for Italy today. This is a stereotype that must be eradicated. How does this not interest you?”

By this point she was practically banging her fists on the table. Which is how I came to write a one-page report on Italy’s most infamous men of organized crime. And now I know that

:: the original Sicilian Cosa Nostra is now made up of about one hundred families, or cosche, who each rule and defend their own territories in all sorts of violent and illegal ways.

:: no one actually knows where the term “mafia” comes from, though the most fun (and most widely discredited) tells a tale of Sicilian rebels attacking with the cry Morta alla Francia, Italia anela and then adopting the acronym ever after.

and

::once retired or having earned senior status, Mafiosi are called Capo di Capi Re, which literally translated means King Boss of Bosses. I find this a lot more funny than it probably actually is.

At any rate, Muzzi and I had a nice little chat this morning about her southern neighbors, after which we took a good while discussing What Should Be Done. And while we never came to any solid sort of conclusion, I did learn that numero verde means it's a toll-free number. Ten years from now, that is what I will remember from this exercise.