Saluta dalla citta' Eterna

Cara famiglia,
I am writing from an Internet point in the center of Rome (between Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori for those who have been here). I took the night train last night from Monasterace and arrived here this morning around 7:00 AM. Other than the fact that I didn't sleep in the train I am considerably well-rested and well-fed. I am currently waiting for two of my high school friends to get in from Paris so I thought I would write a quick letter explaining a little bit of what I have done. It looks as though you received my last letter (pardon any errors - it was written hastily) and that has a lot of what I did in Calabria. More importantly, though, than what I did was how I perceived life down there. For those of you who don't know, southern Italy (mostly Sicily and Calabria) are often considered different countries for very good reason. While the Northern provinces try to modernize and capitalize on their cultural and artistic heritage, the South has noticeably stayed away from this road. In my opinion, and I think others would agree, it is not just a lack of desire or inability to change, but rather a way of thinking that lends itself to tradition and (more importantly) distrust in anything outside of the family.
Fortunately, I am inside the family.
Living with the Chieras for a week was honestly like spending a week at Fern with all of you guys. We stayed up late and played cards and chatted for hours, the Uncles came over every night or we went to one of their houses. Not only did the things that we did remind me of Fern but also the PEOPLE. There were Uncle's that reminded me of specific people in our family back home in their mannerisms and how they looked. The southern dialect was at times difficult for me to understand but that was part of the experience. I learned a few words of dialect myself. They want us all to know that we are welcome anytime to come to Guardavalle or in Calabria and experience life the way it was meant to be: With good food and family.
With everything we did it's tough for me to remember the little things but last night two car loads of people came to see me off at the station.... the best part was that we weren't the only family to do that. There were probably 4 or 5 other families at Monasterace alone who brought the entire clan to say goodbye to someone who was leaving. They said that I was Calabresan because I had my backpack plus plastic bags full of food and stuff leftover for the trip. The scene was priceless. All throughout Calabria at different stops you could hear the families saying their "ciao"s and "arrivederci"s until at least the next August rolls around. I totally could picture all of us doing that. It was little things like that all week that let me feel at home even though it was a very foreign land. Packing a gazillion things to go picnicing in the mountains. Uncle's arguing about things they can't change just for the sake of arguing and the mothers taking care of the kids and the food. It was really tough to leave. Yesterday I was able to go to another cousin's house (Taverniti) and managed to snap a photo with several of some of your first cousins. Almost all of them live in Torino and carry the name Taverniti. When I get home I will upload the pictures and try to explain who everyone is - the names might be difficult to remember but I wrote them down so I will try. I can't explain how many times they invited us and whoever wanted to come to Calabria. They are very hospitable but they don't speak a lick of English. They mentioned a hundred times that their parents often talked about a brother who went to America and some of them remember when he came back in the 1950s. They also said they remembered that he had a son that came to Italy during WWII and was stationed in Italy (Uncle Sam or Uncle Tony?).

I hope this e-mail stirs up a memory or two. If nothing else, it is nice to know that we have FAMILY in Italy and that we are still in contact. Tanti baci ed abbracci dalla Roma.
Steve

PS - Being abroad during the Olympics really helps to increase your patriotism. To make you all a little more jealous, Michael Phelps bought me and my friends some beers last year at the Brown Jug in Ann Arbor because he wanted our table. Him and Braylon Edwards. It's crazy to think he has more medals than Mexico. Alright I hope to hear from you guys, Ciao-Ciao!

Cara famiglia

- Guardavalle -

Cara famiglia,
I am writing from Guardavalle, Calabria in a room given to me by our distant cousins the Chieras. I am currently staying about two stone throws from the sea and enjoying it thoroughly. I arrived here last Tuesday the 12th and will be staying here until this Tuesday the 19th. Already I know that it is not enough time.

The is so much to recount that I don't know where to begin!I guess the best place to start is with the food - I think we can all agree on that. I arrived tuesday to a lunchtime pasta with sausage and eggplant as side dishes, from there the meals have just gotten better: Lasagna, pasta al forno (made in the oven), another dish that I forget what its called but it was like a lasagna but made with zucchini, prosciutto (ham), mozzarella... heavenly. Parmigiana - that's it.

Yesterday I went with Salvatore (my grandma's first cousin) to visit the grave of her grandfather Salvatore Taverniti whom which, we found out, is non longer buried there. Just the same we went to the city where Domenico Taverniti was born and lived for 19 years. The city Placanica is situated in the mountains a good 30km from the sea. It is strategically located on a mountain top that overlooks the water which historically served as a lookout for invaders coming from the african seas just aszio Salvatore will tell you that they still are (in recent years there has been an increase in foriegners or ex-patriots that vend trinkets in many touristy cities).We continued our trip to a beautiful grotto where a church had been built to honor the virgin Mary. Legend has it that Mary came in from the sea to this grotto where she drove out a demon that was hiding there.

As soon as I get a chance I will try and post some pictures but they can't do justice to how beautiful it was in that place. As we continued our journey someone somewhere had to be smiling to see the two of us together. Despite our drastic differences in age, language and origins we managed to find commonality in the little things that we could both appreciate: a beautiful view, fresh air, and a long sip of water from a fresh spring - we stopped at 4 different places that he has known of for years. We passed by the church of saint rocco as well.

I was just interrupted by Zio Tonino (who I am staying with) who reminded me to write that HE cooked last night and that it was good. haha we had hot dogs and french fries and onions and peppers which he made. Most of the food that they eat here comes from the compagna that they own and where they grow their food. Zio Tonino works in the local communal office and takes care of his fields as well.Life here in Calabria is very different and it would take pages to explain it and unfortunately I don't have the time or the patience (I am writing from an itouch and it is kind of a pain) but when I get back or when I get to Rome I will try to write some more. Suffice it to say that one of the main reasons that Calabria is as beautiful and undeveloped as it is is due to the heavy presence of a very real mafia. I am learning a lot down here and I hope I get a chance to tell you in person buy for now it is time to eat. ciao chow.
Steve

Baia di Gombero

10:05 AM Thursday, August 7, 2008 – Sicily
A couple of stomach aches and a couple of drinks later, here I am sitting on the patio looking out at the water and writing. This is the point where my computer died. I didn’t get very far.

11:07 AM Saturday, August 9, 2008 – Baia di Gambero

Hello again, I’m back on the patio here at Giuseppe’s house for another try at writing. This morning I got up around 10:00 and made French toast, bacon, and eggs for Beppe, Marco and Beppe’s mom. It didn’t come out very well, the bacon was only OK and I didn’t make enough eggs but in the end it could’ve been worse.

Today we are going to the beach again and then mass around 7. These are basically the goals for today. Come bella è questa vita? I’m excited to go around here because I think it will be a lot different than up north. I’ll get back on that though.

Yesterday Beppe, Simone, Marco, Cristina, and I went to visit Mount Etna, the volcano from earlier. We climbed all over the rocks and took some pictures – hopefully I can get them up ASAP. Again, internet here is hard to find. After Etna the five of us went to a little touristy town called Taormina. It was beautiful with small streets and fancy little shops. It reminded me a lot of a vacation town up north except with 2 thousand year old arenas and a blue sea that can’t possibly be described.

The past two nights we have gone to friends’ houses to eat dinner. The first night (Thursday) we ate over Carmela’s house and we had a barbeque: sausage, steak, bruschetta, and fried pizza. At the end I taught them how to play a couple of refined American drinking games: Beer pong, flip cup and “Never have I ever”. We said goodbye late to Mary (from Napoli) and Carmela who left for Napoli and Messina the following day.

Last night it was over Rita’s house where the girls made a huge pasta (really good) and we hung out in the backyard. We tried to play soccer for a little before dinner but that didn’t end up working out. I’m kind of happy it didn’t because I didn’t have shoes and I am: A. Out of shape and B. Horrible at that sport. It’s times like these where I know someone upstairs loves me. I’ll go thank whoever it is later today.

Beppe and Marco just left to go to the beach. I am going to meet up with them later – I am still pretty burnt from before and I wanted to write a little more and do some laundry (here it’s all done by hand of course). I am excited to have today to do what I want.

Contorni:
As I sit here again and just contemplate how beautiful it is, it’s very easy to see why there are so many cultural differences between Sicily and both the US and the rest of Italy. When there are so many beautiful things to be appreciated and you always have your friends around, what more could you ask for? For other people (myself included) it can become very trying being around people like this so much. For instance, making breakfast this morning there were 4 people around me asking a million questions and wanting me to explain things to them. It was very difficult because I just wanted to make the darn meal and serve it but they were always there asking “Well why did you put the bread in the egg?” or “That egg broke let me get you another one” (No, it doesn’t matter I am going to beat it anyways) or simply commenting “I don’t understand how you can eat such heavy things in the morning”.

Being in a different cultural atmosphere there are things that you are expected to do that you aren’t normally used to. Seeing as I rarely do things like fold my clothes and organize my stuff like normal people, they are always asking me if I want help with that stuff and I’m just like “No, really. It’s fine the way it is”. It’s nice now because I am being asked if I want help. In a couple of years when people stop asking me these questions I am going to want them to. Vabbe. That’s the way it is.

Here I am noticing I am getting older and older. The group of friends that I have been hanging out with are basically all in their twenties from 20-29. But most of them are not in school or in the military or doing something else. A major difference is that they don’t let their work define who they are. I haven’t really had one discussion about what someone does for a living. I have been asked what I studied and what I am going to do with it, but that’s as far as I have gotten. Here it doesn’t really matter just as long as you enjoy yourself it seems. Well shoot, I can do that.

At the same time I feel the need for myself to return to the states and try to plant my foot somewhere I know. There is a saying here Donne e buoi dei paesi tuoi. Basically what it says is “Women and cows from your own town”. Though I have never seen so many naturally beautiful looking people in my entire life and the food here is unbelievably good - it’s becoming more and more apparent to me that things would be much easier if I established myself somewhere and tried to live for a while. By no means am I saying that I want to do this or that I will do this when I get home, but I understand that it would be a heck of a lot easier. Here I am making friends from all over and I know that I want to come back here but the more friends I make the more difficult it is to keep in touch with all of them. As it is now I have a difficult time keeping contact with all my friends from St. Joan, GPN and now even UofM.

I am really excited to be able to go home this fall and hang out with some of the guys from GP. Even though we have all gone and done our separate things (and I know we have all changed a bit) there is a loyalty there that can’t be forgotten. Thinking about who I am, I know I have a tendency to detach myself a little from a group of people before they start to rely on me to be there. I don’t see this as a bad thing, just who I am. I don’t consider myself unreliable I just try to avoid situations where I am counted on in case things don’t work out. Alright, enough of this discourse. I should go wash my clothes.
TWO MORE THINGS: The music here is awesome and I need a haircut.

Sicily (cont.)

8:19 PM Wednesday, August 6, 2008 Sicilia

Hello again,


Here in Sicily things are going quite nice. Yesterday we had a really nice dinner with Giuseppe’s family… they made pastefritte which are basically like the bread for elephant ears and we put salt or sugar or honey on them. Good stuff. We stayed at the table for a long time discussing many different things from the differences between the US and Italy as well as the differences between Sicily and the rest of Italy. I learned a lot last night and its very interesting the situation here. For instance, the Sicilians (most importantly the Mafiosi) subscribe to a code of conduct called the “Omertá”. Basically what it consists of minding your own business. Despite all of the criminal activities that “may or may not” go on around here, everybody knows about them and keeps their mouth shut because if they were to speak, they won’t have a mouth to speak from much longer.  

I found out that the mafia here is very well organized and they basically have their “mani in pasta” (literally: hands in pasta; symbolically: some type of influences) in basically every operation down here. I asked if it would be possible to live here and still remain honest and out of the mafia’s eye and I was told yes, but if I were to start a business or any type of work, sooner or later someone will come knocking on my door.

We talked about how different the people are in the US and those here in Italy. A prime example – one that has come to mind before but never this potent – was the simple fact that in the US people agree with the statement: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Putting this in a political context, it makes much more sense to me now when Italians ask me “If Bush has done all of these bad things, why don’t you get rid of him?” and my only response before this was “It’s not that easy”. Here in Italy, things are the complete opposite. Over here they elect representatives that have switched parties multiple times even from the Left and Right. Can you imagine a candidate running in the US that has gone from the Democrats to the Republicans to the Libertarians and STILL won the seat?

Perhaps we are more stubborn in our ways, but what I see also stems from the fact that we take our political gestures and thoughts personally. Here if you talk politics it is not as if you are offending someone by disagreeing with them – in fact it is oftentimes welcomed because then it makes for a heated discussion (if you’ve ever met an Italian you might have noticed they get excited quickly). Instead, we DON’T talk politics at all because if someone disagrees with us and or one party doesn’t know how to defend their belief we think of it as a personal attack on who we are and what we believe. Here it’s assumed that both parties are right from the start and they litigate just to litigate, if someone changes their mind – it happens, if not both go away satisfied with a good argument under their belt.

This I like, but it also means that very little actually gets done here in Italy because people are always changing their mind. How can you build a bridge from Sicily to Calabria with 7 different plans (I’m making this up) for bridges – each from a different party, each with it’s own pros and cons? At the end, who gets to decide this? On top of that, what if the land where you want to build on is under the hands of the mafia? (That part is true from what I understand – I hope I don’t get a knock on my door anytime soon.)

As you can see Italy is a beautiful place with many problems, though the problems are different from ours back home. It doesn’t take away, either, from the fact that no matter where you go here in Italy you are bound to find an absolutely beautiful view.
Speaking of beautiful views, I went to a waterpark today called Etnaland where you could see a beautiful view of the smoking mountain (Etna). I went with Giuseppe’s friends while Beppe and Marco slept. Haha I was the “American Boy” all day long. Giuseppe’s friends were basically all from Sicily and there was one girl from Napoli. They could not have been nicer to me. They really took care of me and thought to include me in everything they did. OK it’s time for dinner.

Ciao Bedda

Ciao a tutti,

I made it to Sicily for my first time and I could not be happier.  Things here are about what I expected – different, but not as much as everyone says.  At least so far.  I do feel a little out of place here because everyone talks a lot faster and in a different dialect (especially when talking to each other) but in the end I feel a lot more welcomed then I did in northern Italy.  Whereas here being an American is still somewhat of a novelty, in the north Americans are sometimes considered a nuisance.  I’m going to try and recount a little of my trip so far.   

Saturday I left the villa around 10 o’clock to go into Florence.  I had sent my big suitcase with my professor (Giorgio) to Le Marche where he lives.  I am eventually going to go there and pick it up – his family owns a restaurant and I am excited to go there and eat some grub!  So I left the villa, said goodbye to Helen and Blake and the rest of the crew and headed to the train station where I had a 12:38 train to Padova with Sarah (from Michigan) and her friend Natasha (from the UK).   Though I was a little tired from the past week, they kept me entertained during the ride telling me about their crazy encounters with the Dutch and Italians in Florence and elsewhere.  Funny stuff. 

Finally we arrived in Padova, they checked their bags and we took the tram to the Piazza del Santo where St. Anthony’s Basilica is.  This was Natasha’s first time seeing the city so we hit the Saint, another church (San Giustina), Prato delle Valle, via Roma, then up to Piazza Signore, and Piazza del Duomo (right next to where I lived last year).  We drank a spritz of course and then went back to the train station to find both Courtney (from the villa program) and Marco who came to pick us up.

When we arrived at Marco’s house there were already his friends there helping to make dinner with his mom and dad.  Meat was on the wood stove grill and wine was to be drunk.  Right about dinner time his parents took off to a dinner themselves and left the house to the ten 20-some year olds that we just sitting down to eat…

About 7 courses and countless bottles of wine, spritz, etc. later his parents came home and we sat around and talked with them for a while – finally the Americans taught the rest of the kids how to play “Never have I ever” and we ended up going to bed around 2:00 –ish.  The following morning I didn’t wake up until around noon because there was absolutely NO light entering my room (I stayed in Marco’s sister’s room because she was in Poland).  We left around 1:30 to go to the beach (Jesolo) where DJ was going to be later.   We were supposed to get there around 2:00, but in the end didn’t get there until 4:30 after stopping here and there for various reasons (the most important getting food and drinks).  Courtney and I picked up material for PB&J’s thinking it was going to be a hit – in actuality it was just us who ended up eating them. 

We spent a beautiful 4 hours on the beach playing card games (I taught Marco’s friends Andrea and Mozzo a.k.a, Wolverine how to play “screw the dealer”) and with the soccer ball.  In the end we had some drinks and headed to the concert around 7:30, 8:00 and waited to hear Tiesto who came on around 8:30.

As soon as we got in Courtney and I lost the group – it was a mess trying to find everyone and so we decided to just go in and look for a place.  We made it comfortably close to the stage and jammed out with the DJs.  I had never been to a trance concert like this before and I absolutely loved it.  Despite the fact that all I could think about was the political and artistic implications of a concert like this (It would take me a whole different post to explain that) I really enjoyed the people and the atmosphere.   I will try to upload a video or some photos as soon as I’m able. 

With about a half hour left for Tiesto to spin, Courtney and I took off to go for a swim and listen to the music (really cool) and then we went and met Checca and Nick (my roommate from last year and her boyfriend) who came from Treviso just for the a little while to see me.   We hung out with them for a little bit and then met up with Sarah, Natasha, Marco and his friends after the show.  We went swimming again then made it to back to the cars and eventually back to Marco’s place around 2 or 3.

We got up around 10 the next morning and the three girls and I went to Padova in the bus while Marco stayed and had a lesson back in his area.  From Padova, Sarah and Natasha took off for Florence while Courtney and I headed to Venice where we met up with Kate and her mom (Sandy) and Janice (the interpreter from the program) for lunch.  We ate at Brek and then walked around for a gelato and I shopped for a Murano watch for my mother (I think you’ll like it, Mom).

Around 3:30 I said goodbye to them all – Courtney was on her way to Greece while the rest of them were sticking around Venice for the night – and I started looking for trains back to Padova.  Marco and his dad picked me up from the train station and we headed directly to Verona where we had an 8:30 flight to Catania, Sicily.  By 10:30 we had touched down in the land of the lost and then Giuseppe and his sister Chiara took us to the city center where we met their friends and walked around for a little.  As soon as we got there to park there was a man that came up to us and offered us “protection” for the car for a small price. It was amazing to me to think that I was in Venice just 6 hours ago.   Completely different world.  Beppe’s place is about an hour away from Catania so we didn’t get home till around 3:00AM.

This morning we woke up rather late (around 11) and went to the beach which you can see from Beppe’s house.  The view here is unbelievable.  Right next to his house outside is a bunker made by the Americans during WWII.  Now its no longer useful but it’s crazy because it overlooks the sea and there are holes in it where fighter plans had shot at it.  I took pictures of that as well. 

We went to the beach and spent a couple of hours in the water and laid out.  I’ve already gotten quite a bit of sun and I’ve barely been out there!  We came back and ate dinner with Beppe’s family who are extremely nice fed us a seafood pasta with a second of Italian Sausage (buonissimo) and vegetables.  We finished it off with fruit and figs which they picked from the trees right here.  The colors you could see where we ate were unbelievable:  The bluest sea contrasted by the white of the terrace with the green palm trees and the dark purple of the wine complimenting it all.  It was awesome.   In the distance you can see the volcano Etna which is actually erupting right now as I type.  It has been erupting for a while and sometimes when it’s clear out Giuseppe said you can see red of the lava at night.  Right now I can see the smoke. 

What I am living right now is something out of a work of art: a poem, a painting, a book, movie, etc.   The vistas and the landscapes like this that the Italians know how to enjoy with their food and wine make it that much easier to understand why this is a country of poets, artists, chefs and family. 

 

 

Contorno (side dish): Some thoughts and observations so far…

 

Here in Sicily it is easy to take the time to think about what is going on around me so I am going to.  Read if you’d like. 

I wanted to hash over a little bit in my head what I had felt about the concert from the other night.  This was no 60’s or 70’s Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix Woodstock concert.  This was a new millennium, shirts off, trance party where the music was loud and continuous, while the beats and the atmosphere cycled from high to low.  Despite the fact that we were in Italy and it’s important to comport yourself in a fashionable manner, people danced their own style while they followed the stages of ups and downs.  At the time I found it very interesting the implications of a concert like that – thousands of people dancing to a beat put out by one DJ.  Everyone subscribing to the same channel and wave of music.   Not only that but the visuals of lights and screen behind the DJ made for a very contemporary expression of artistic capacities.  New technologies are embraced and exploited to serve the cause – in this case the concert. 

Don’t worry Mom, despite what this post may portray I didn’t take any drugs.  I guess it’s just what happens after you follow the political science and Italian courses that I did.   It’s a shame though I haven’t written down everything I thought of because I have had some great thoughts the past couple of days and I don’t remember them all. 

Time to go to the beach.