We are starting to get the drift of the Italian youngster birthday party. They all seem to follow the same format. Invite your guests, aged 7 and under, with their parents or caregivers for at least 3 hours. The party will undoubtedly be held over a mealtime, but only token finger sandwiches will be served --- alongside heaps of chocolate filled croissants, profiteroles, cookies, candies, and chocolates. Hire an entertainer that will use a headset microphone to address (loudly) an audience of 15 children and play very loud music. Also, you must have someone painting the little ones’ faces. Then, when you’ve tortured the adults sufficiently and the children have had it with the loud entertainer, serve cake! Napolean style.
We attended a party at AquAniene tonight for one of Avery’s classmates. The whole family was invited and of course Charlotte had swim practice there anyway so it was very convenient. Perhaps it’s only our children that go crazy at a sweet table, and by the time Avery and Olivia grabbed their third profiterole I tried to put a stop to it. Later, Olivia would crawl in to bed with us and complain of an upset stomach. Needless to say, they were not too hungry for dinner at 8pm when we got home.
The most unfortunate part of our visit to AquAniene this evening occurred when, on our way out, Josh stopped to get an update on the swim meet schedule for Charlotte ie. Did they have one yet? It was then that director approached Josh and informed him that he was very sorry but the Italian Swimming Federation would not grant Charlotte, as a non-resident, a swimming license to compete in Italy. Our jaws dropped. A long discourse followed. The “Federation” does grant some 70 licenses to non-residents each year. But, we were told, all of those had already been granted to water polo players. Much more discussion in Italian where all I kept hearing was “the Federation” “the Federation” “the Federation.” It’s the old Italian “pass the buck” it’s not our fault refrain.
Could Charlotte possibly spend a year training in Italy and not be allowed to swim in a single meet? That would be devastating for her… and her parents too. The recommendation was that we make a personal appeal. Perhaps we’d have better luck. They’d get back to us with the best person to contact at “the Federation.”
A few minutes later, at home, and still in disbelief. I had found the name of the President of FIN (Federacion Italiana de Nuoatacion) Paolo Berelli. Also, I found the names of the members of FINA (The International Swimming Federation) including the U.S.A representative, Dale Neuberger. A few minutes later, I had both Mr. Neuburger’s home and business telephone numbers in Indianapolis and Josh was dialing. Mr. Neuburger was returning from a business trip but would be back in Indianpolis next week.
To be continued, but this could be our Italian saga. We could be staging rallies in front of the Federation’s headquarters at the Stadio Olympico with posters of Charlotte (as a childish eight year old) with the caption “let the 12 year old race.” Or “Italy, are you afraid of a 12-year old?” Or, “let the kid compete.”
Or, maybe we just offer a bribe. That should work.
No comments:
Post a Comment