Poolside Observations

As you can see from the photo below, we have been going to the swimming pool recently. I don’t know if the male “I don’t need sunscreen” gene is related to the male “I don’t need directions” gene but both can have disastrous consequences. Luckily it’s August and the sun’s ray have mellowed compared to July. I think Deme forgets that he is Caucasian, maybe he thinks he’s some kind of olive skinned Greek god. In fact he is adorably freckled all over and sports a Seattle fluorescent tan during most of the year. Yesterday planned to work on our tans and spend a couple of hours lying out, reading and people watching.

The pools in Italy require all patrons to wear swim caps. Usually if you don’t have one, they’ll sell one to you for 1 Euro. As with most places in Italy there is a bar at the swimming pool. In the U.S. the most you get are ice cream vending machines; here you can buy chips, ice cream, popsicles, coffee and water. We usually bring a snack or two and buy water at the pool.

As I lie on the pool deck or on the grass if all the lounge chairs are taken, I am stuck by all the super tanned bodies around me. In Italy being too tanned is never a problem, they use the word “bronzata” here and you get the feeling that being bronzed is a good thing, a very good thing. In the U.S. skin cancer is talked about all the time. I have a dear friend who was diagnosed with malignant melanoma when she was only 12 or 13, it was removed and she lived a fine life until it came back and she died from it at 23. When I look at all the “super leathery” skin around me I worry, mostly for myself, hoping that I don’t fall into the “super bronzata” trap. I say “super leathery” because almost all the “super tanners” are smokers too; a double whammy.

Of the 200-250 people at the pool yesterday about 70% of the adults had tattoos and piercings. I have to add that I have tattoos also. Many moms had bellybutton piercings, a few granny’s had them too (this was a bit gruesome to look at). I read somewhere that Italy is a terribly visual culture. Body art, hair color, tans, clothes, pedicures, shoes, bags, hair cuts and manicures are all enormously important. There was even a 6 year old boy with a Mohawk haircut and genuine tattoos. Tan lines are bad, very bad, and so women lie around topless or with the straps to their bathing suits tucked away. Men wear the smallest Speedos they can fit into and little girls don’t wear tops until they actually have something to cover up. I sure am not in Kansas anymore.