Dinner with old classmates in the Gardens of Fiesole

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Last semester we enjoyed the vivacious teaching of Grazia, and 4 months later we have ended up on different paths, in different classes even. It was time to get together, and I organized with Grazia a dinner under the stars.

She graciously hosted, to the brim with energy and a wide, sincere smile as usual. Our crew of Japanese, Chinese (Bonnie) and American (me) was added with a Spaniard and Swede. Massimo, the owner of a long-time Florentine resturant, accompanied Bonnie, Akio our Japanese opera singer accompanied Ayako, and Klajd accompanied me. Grazia's two children graced our presence, and Yuka's pet rabbit named Pippo became the star of the evening.

In her gardens, a cool breeze and candles burning away the mosquitoes, we talked and finally gathered around the food, trays of the usual-sushi, raw salmon and octopus, egg rolls, pappa pomodoro (a tuscan dish of thick tomato soup with soaked bread), crostati (with olive and pepper spreads), farro salad with olive, pecorino, prosciutto, curry and rice, potatoe and onion pancakes...and later on in the evening sweet sparkling wines, Yuka's famous Tiramisu, my peach and raspberry pie, Gerda's chocolate torte and watermelon (cocomero).

We pet Pippo, chat with our old teacher and marvel at our luck in learning such a great deal from such an enthusiastic teacher, Klajd plays soccer with Grazia's son Giovanni, others talk to her daughter doing her math homework (students have school on Saturday), we munch, Akio and Massimo smoke cigarettes after a tough game of Ping Pong. I join the game with Giovanni and I against Klajd, and Pippo gets lost in the bushes.

The evening moves on, and mosquito bites forgotten, we finish much of the food available, continually nibble on the desserts and sip wine as we sit in the candle light and chat. We ban Japanese, in promotion of only practicing Italian, only to end up curious as ever at the Japanese language itself and spend a good half hour laughing about it all.

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