Umarells and Sdauras

In my neighborhood in Bologna I live surrounded by old people. I often feel like living in a retirement place, one without boundaries or nurses. I don't think there's something special about my neighborhood; it is simply a bit outside of the city center, so I guess other places in Italy and Europe also have a similar proportion of old people. I find it both overwhelming and weird. Very weird. When I leave my building in the morning, I found them everywhere, wandering around in the streets, without an evident purpose.

In the dialect of Bologna, old guys are called umarells and old ladies are called sdauras. Not too many in Bologna know and use these words; it seems it's an old, unused dialect. Umarells in my neighborhood spend their days getting drunk at one of the several bars next to the main entrance of my building. One of such bars is ironically called Bar dei Ragazzi. At night, the combination of umarells and alcohol makes the street in front of my building an unpleasant place for women to pass by. As for sdauras, you can easily find lots of them at the supermarket on Saturdays. They usually dress up very elegantly, even to go to the supermarket or to simply walk around the neighborhood. I appreciate that demonstration of dignity and self-respect; too bad sometimes their make up and clothes are too evident in revealing the decade in which they were young.

All of this is in sharp contrast with Colombia, a place full of youth and kids --perhaps too many kids. Seeing a baby or a kid in my neighborhood it's quite an unusual event. There's something in old Italians that's very different from old Colombians. It's hard to explain: somehow old Italians look more active and alert; I wonder if seeing a war and living the postwar gave them a different sense of appreciation of life. In Colombia, when people arrive to retirement age, most of them enter into a 'hibernation mode' and become way less active, and more dependent of others, or at least that's my impression. Here old people seem more active and responsible and independent than most youngsters; it's so cool to see them riding their bikes all around. Their dignity is both evident and admirable. In these times of crisis and unemployment, I am sure their low ---but guaranteed--- incomes are essential to support and lead their families.

[You might like to have a look at the (photo) blog devoted to Umarells in Bologna (in Italian).]