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Published: January 2nd 2010
It has been a dreadfully long time since I last wrote, I find it is getting harder and harder to find time to write, and it has been literally impossible for the last two weeks since I have been on vacation without a computer. The result of this lack of blogging is that I have a TON to write about and am afraid some things wil get left out, but thats life I suppose.
The night before our last day of school it absolutely dumped snow making the following day devoid of school for all of Bergamo. It was amazing, I was outside all day, either walking or snow ball fighting with Tommy, my old host brother. It was absolutely awesome.
The next day it was down to the Marche region of Italy, in the center on the east coast, in a little town near Fermo called Porto San Giorgio where the sister of my host mom lives. It was the first time since I have been here that I saw anything resembling the ocean, though the coast of the Adriatic sea more closely resembles the great lakes than it does the cost of the Pacific ocean. They sea shells and rocks strewn over the ecru colored sand were lovely in varying shades of beige, from a sort of pink tone to a more orange one. It was mildly amusing to think even the Italian beaches were color coordinated.
The family was really nice, the two cousins were both absolutely hilarious and the food was amazing. The older brother tried to explain to me the two different ways to pronounce "pesca", the natural way for an american to say it meaning peach, and the other way meaning fishing... not something you really want to mix up. In return, I tried to teach him the correct pronunciation of "sword" which is apparently an extremely difficult word for italians to say, probably because of the nature of the R. From the younger brother, who is mine and Giulia's age, I learned a wide range of new and colorful swear words.
This particular family was in the habit of opening gifts the night before Christmas, or rather, early Christmas day. It was a small family affair, much like Christmas in America, only without the stockings. The day after Christmas we had one of those amazing 4 course traditional Italian lunches in an "agriturismo" which is a ranch that has turned some buildings into lodging and a reastaurant and you can stay, or just come for the restaurant as we did. My host moms sister had chosen the dishes they would serve to us all before, and she did a dang good job of it too. First there was the classic prosciuto with cantaloe and pineapple, then different types of salame with deliciously crispy bread. Next was a steaming pot with lentils and melted cheese. There was also a plate with a sort of gormet cracker and a smooth spread or riccota and honey. between courses there were three different types of cheeses, served with jars of honey and plumb jam to put on them, I personaly loved the assaggio cheese with the honey. There was then raviolli, and then tagliatelle, but unfortunately I have forgotten the details of those dishes. Next came those fries olives stuffed with meat that are so amazing, along with home made potato chips. Next came a large plate of meats, omong wich was lamb ribs and some sort of deliciously tender meat on a stick. Lastly there was a cream filled cake for dessert. How lucky am I?
After that I caught a train from Bologna to Florence, where I met my mom for a few days of sight-seeing and catching-up. I saw the famous baptistery doors by Ghiberti, and of couse the duomo with its famous dome by Filippo Brunelleschi. These types of sights are things that just sort of knock the mental breath out of you, you just stare sort of stupidly, slack jawed and uncomprehending, and yet somehow appreciative. I also saw both coppies of Michelangelo's david, and copies of quite a number of other extremely famous sculptures, like Michelangelo's most famous Pietà . I might have mentioned that I saw the last sculpture Michelangelo ever did, the real one that may or may not be finished? It was similarly mind blowing.) Seeing these things, and also now, recounting what I saw, I am struck with how incredibely lucky I am to be able to see and do these things, it is truly the experience of a lifetime, and I am loving practically every second of it.
For New Years Eve I went from Florence to Lago di Garda to meet up with my host sister, old host brother, and other friends at the summer house of one of these other friends. Everyone dressed up in heels dresses or nice shirts and I chuckled as I sat comparing it to the past New Years Eve events I have attended.
I am terribly sorry for how long it has been since my last blog, and am sorry for the state of this one, its not in the style I wanted for this blog and I know its a bit week in general, I promise the next one will be better.
P.S. I am writing this on an Italian computer, and thus there is no spell check and my level of spelling skill, while already not very high when I left America, has taken a nose dive since I have been here, my apologies.
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Patti Tauscher
non-member comment
thank you for sharing
Thank you so much for the update. How marvelous everything sounds. That's Italy! And you are the perfect person to appreciate every minute of it. I'm so glad you got to see Florence. And both your host families have been so great in sharing their families and traditions with you. (And you have been so great to share them with us.) Well, I just got back from three nights on the farm to recuperate from working. You know how much I love the sound of geese migrating overhead. It's such a wonderful time of year to be up there. And a friend from school came to help me plant 5 more fig trees and one more palm. We'll see if they make it. Now I have a few days off in Oakland before I start working again. I'm gardening, of course! Pruning. Digging up stuff. And lots of dreaming and planning and going through seed catalogues. Good fun. Love you bunches, Patti