Emilia Romagna

Hello everybody

It has been a while since my last post! I returned home on Monday night at two in the morning. Totally exhausted. Didn't sleep that much in Romagna. It was an alright trip, I definitely saw that I don't like traveling in huge groups. We were a group of around 100, and I quickly saw that maybe I was one of the only ones who wanted to eat local food or explore the cities! Tragically, we ate at McDonald's when we had the chance to eat (debatably) the best food in the world. I felt like I was letting my Uncle Lenny down by not eating spaghetti bolognese ONCE! We went to some beautiful cities, which are listed in my last post. My personal favorites were Bologna, Urbino, and Ravenna, but to be fair to Ferarra and San Marino, the weather wasn't very good when we got there. 

Something about the trip was making me very homesick, and I figured that it was probably thinking how much I love traveling with my family, especially to Greece. I was thinking so much about our family trips, and how much I love our "mode" of travel. I missed going to museums, eating local food, playing cards together, and often just being united by the common understanding that we all simply want to read our books! I guess I was feeling a little lonely. Anyways, it was great to see another part of Italy, as always.

I'd say the highlights for me were:

-the ferry ride from Palermo to Civitavechia (Rome's port)

-walking around Ravenna, seeing all of the mosaics and old churches

-seeing the main square of Bologna, with all of the people just sitting around at café's, being Italian, etc.

-listening to my new music

I am back in Favara. School started up, kind of. Tomorrow we have off because it is the first of May, which is pretty hilarious to me, then Saturday no one goes, because it is the day after the first of May. This Sicilian school system is a fascinating thing. I have been focusing a lot on writing, which has been great. I know my Mama is as well, back home, so it is a great connection.

I am about to post a bunch of pictures from the trip, enjoy!

Zander

P.S. Be sure to wash your hands and stay safe from the swine flu!

Going to Emilia Romagna / Photographs from a Sunday Walk

I realized that I didn't mention this on the blog, but I am going on a school trip to region in the north of Italy called "Emilia Romagna," which is famed for having (arguably) the best food in the world, some of the most beautiful cities in Italy, and the reason my classmates are going: some discotecs. 

We will be seeing:

-Civitavecchia

-Bologna

-Rimini

-Urbino

-San Marino

-Mirabilandia

-Ravenna

-Ferrara

-Sede

One of the things I am most excited about is that we are taking a ship from Palermo to Rome, an overnight trip. Should be really fun. 

Ciao!

Zander

La Campagna

The day after Easter we went to the Scibetta's country house. It rained basically all day, then the sun broke finally, and the light was wonderful.

Do the Arancini

Arancini are a classic Sicilian fried treat and one of my favorite after school snacks. Yesterday, at the Scibetta’s country house I learned how to cook them. Very easy, fun to make, and delicious. I thought I would share the recipe for all you at home. I know I will be making them this summer a bunch. There are some different variations, including making them with spinach and ragu, but I really just like the simple classic prosciutto and mozzarella.

You will need:

-About 10 eggs

-Parmaggian cheese (grated)

-Mozzarella

-A box of rice

-Saffron

-Prosciutto

-Farina

-Grated bread (almost powdery)

First thing you do is cook the rice. While that is happening you chop the prosciutto into little bits, then fry them up, but not too much that it is like bacon. Prepare 5 plates: prosciutto, mozzarella (should be cut up into tiny cubes), grated bread, whipped eggs, and farina. When the rice is done you add the saffron until it all the rice is bright yellow. Dump the rice onto a cloth, and lay it out so it can dry out a bit. You want the rice to be able to be molded into a ball, so it should be pretty dry and sticky. When the rice is moldable, you make a small bowl of it in your hand, and in the concavity you put a little mozzarella and a little prosciutto. A good tip is to keep your hands wet while you do this, it makes the rice a lot easier to handle. Then take some more rice and complete the ball, packing it tight, and making sure that there are no holes or imperfections, because if there are they will come apart in the oil when you are frying them. Once the ball is complete, roll it first in the egg, then in the farina so it is totally covered, then again in the egg, then in the bread so it is powdery and completely covered, then put it into a pot of oil. They should be pretty much totally submerged, and you can eyeball when they are done. Should look nice and crispy. When they are done, put them on paper towels to dry them out, then enjoy. Be careful, they will be pretty hot. Keep making ‘em until the rice is used up. Enjoy! 

 Note: I have been asked type of oil: Vegetable Oil or Corn Oil works well. And Farina, that one I can only explain through this.

Beach

Dipped in the ocean for the first time. It was really, really cold and I only was in for a second, but it was beautiful. I am really happy that it is finally getting warm, but I am being hesitant to get to excited because the weather has been so inconsistent. Yesterday there was one of the biggest storms I have ever seen in my life, I actually saw lightning strike no more than 50 ft. away from me- unbelievable. I could see the little ripples of electricity in the bolt, and the smoke surrounding it. Totally insane. Trying desperately to not get bored- but I have nothing really to do. Reading a ton, drawing, walking, etc. Want to get down to the ocean again.

A Few New Drawings

Settimana Santa

It is Settimana Santa. In Sicily that is a really big deal, probably in all of Italy, and as I have been told, each town has its very distinct traditions and rituals. It has been fascinating to see it all, to see these rituals, the same rituals and traditions that Favara has had for hundreds of years. Here are two of the most interesting things I have witnessed:

1. Processione dell’Addolorata: Maria, my host mother, and I went to the high plaza, where the procession was just beginning. The priest was speaking in his low, solemn tone, and a group of helpers, mostly older men who wore maroon ribbons around their necks were holding up a statue of the Madonna, all dressed in black, with the face lit up by neon lights. There was very slow, very solemn tone to everything- the way the priest spoke, the pace of the procession, the response by those walking in the parade, the marching band, playing slow, beautiful Sicilian procession music. A very interesting note on the music: I started recognizing some of the songs, and was scanning my brain to where I would have heard them, then it hit me: It is all music from the Godfather. I was really confused, and asked Maria where this music was from, and she replied that the Godfather used basically only traditional Sicilian procession songs. It was really interesting to find out. Great music, reminded me a lot of the kind of stuff that Beirut does at the music’s simplest form. We walked for about fifteen minutes up the hill to a concrete formation with a big white metal cross, where all of the older priests were waiting, standing in the florescent light, which the whole scene have a very strangely modern mood. The priest spoke for a while, a crowd of the marchers forming around the base of the formation, until he stopped, paused, and said: “banda.” The band began to play another slow tune, and the Madonna was brought to the top of the podium. It was amazing- very ritualistic and dark. Then we turned back, and the whole procession returned to another church, the biggest in Favara, Chiesa Madre. We returned home.

2. Messa di Pasqua: This morning I woke up early to go with my school to church for an Easter Mass. Gerlando didn’t want to come, so slept in. They were taking attendance, but lots of kids would get their name down and bolt. We stood around the front of the church for a while, talking, doing what Italians love to do, standing, talking and smoking cigarettes. No one wanted to be the first to enter, then slowly the groups filed in and sat. It is a pretty modern church, but there is a massive, beautiful mosaic of Jesus surrounded by children above the pulpit. Lots of people were confused why I was there, being non-Christian and all. I explained a few times that I was just interested to see. Interested to see what? they implored. Too difficult to explain, it’s an experience I said. The priest’s helper carried around a beer bottle filled with water to water the plants. I thought that was really funny, and wished I had a camera. Very Favara. The priest spoke for a while, the music teacher from the school sang a bunch of songs, trying to get others to sing, usually to no avail. It lasted about an hour and a half, and when it finished, and I turned around, almost everyone had already left. The church was nearly empty!

Thursday I am going to Grotte, a town nearby, to see another traditional event of some sort with Intercultura. Should be interesting.

Now I am going to the country to cook some food with Sergio, Ditte, and Sergio’s cousin Marco. Then after we are going to the beach, just to walk, eat gelato’s, etc. It is a good way to start of the Easter vacation. Hope all is well. Feeling very excited that it is finally starting to get nice out. My family is in Anguilla, talked to them last night really late, which was nice. Miss everyone, but all is well.

Ciao! Zander

This Was My Week (In Photographs)

Verona.

Ahh. Well. Here I sit, in my room in Favara, Sicily. Exhausted from the intense mental, emotional, physical stimulation of a week of amazing sights, tastes, feelings. As I watch the blue bar slowly move on my desktop, uploading the pictures from the week, and watch the little thumbnails of my photographs, it is so odd to think that I am back in Favara, sitting where I sat 8 days ago looking ahead excitedly to the week ahead. I feel pretty sad.

Verona is a magnificent city. The first time I walked into the main piazza, surrounded on one side by an ancient Roman arena, a massive “comune” building (government), beautiful apartment buildings, and outdoor café’s, I thought to myself: this must be Italy! The people are so fashionably dressed, many riding old bicycles, sitting outside café’s drinking espressos or wine. I instantly fell in love with the city, and throughout the week, this fascination grew and expanded, making it really difficult to leave this morning to return to Sicily.

I really, really, really lucked out with my host family for the week. Parents were Fabio and Roberta, kids were Leo, 4, (eerily similar to Simon, to the point where I got chills seeing a picture of him on the wall, thinking it was my real little brother), and Alessandro, 17, who I instantly made friends with, finding a ton in common. They live about 15 minutes outside of the city of Verona, in a town called Bussolengo, which looks like a normal, Californian, suburban town with a lot more Vespa’s and Fiats. Fabio has a Nuova 500 Fiat 66’, a classic Italian car which is really popular in Sicily, but I had never had the pleasure to take a ride in. Very sweet, very historical car. Upon entering the house, I immediately noticed the collection of cd’s and dvd’s. Some of my favorites: The Essential Bruce Springsteen, Fugees, Pearl Jam, and for movies: Seven, Apocalypse Now, some Begnini films. I felt instantly at home!

Our AFS group was as usual an amazingly diverse: Australia, Turkey, Thailand, Germany, Finland, U.S., Honduras, Brazil, Paraguay, and China. Pretty fascinating, as usual, to see the interactions was very interesting. We had a good time together.

So, what we saw. We spent a lot of time in Verona, exploring the old streets, churches, visiting “La Casa di Giuliette,” the Arena, and visiting the political center, where we met the mayor. We did a day in Milan, saw il Duomo, the actual “The Last Supper,” which is unbelievable, and affected me much more than I ever expected it to, and had a chance to walk around the city a bit. It reminded me at times of Paris. The weather wasn’t being cooperative, but we were all “troopers,” in Abranowicz / Raisfeld terms. Maybe the best day for me was the long anticipated trip to Venezia. I was truly blown away. It is so fun just to walk around the city, which is like nothing I have ever seen in my entire life. We did the touristy but fun gondola ride, and my favorite thing, seeing the Grand Canal, which I have always seen in photographs, Kevin Burger’s paintings, and the movie Casino Royale. So beautiful and overwhelming. I witnessed a strange thing that day as well: I was sitting in a café with some friends, with a view of one of the bridges, when I saw a woman throw her phone into the canal, totally emotionless. I thought, “that’s kind of weird,” and then watched as she threw her umbrella in. She then went on to have a full blown epileptic seizure, which I had never seen before. Very sad and scary. I visited Lago di Garda twice, once with the group, and once with my host family. The second time I went, with the family, we took a ferry across to the other side with the car, to a town infamous for being one of the final Fascist strongholds in WWII. Fabio knows an amazing amount of history, and it was so great to go around with him, because he was such a fountain of knowledge on everything we saw. Dates, history, legends, etc.

That day I ate three gelatos.

So back in Favara. A little (maybe more than a little) sad to have left Verona. I really fell in love with the city, the family, my host brother’s friends, etc. I had a package with tea, a lift ticket from my birthday (!!!) and a twizzler waiting on my desk, as well as a letter from Nana and Poppy, which was wonderful to return to. Feeling tired, as I said before, and am planning on watching a movie later tonight, just relaxing.

Miss everyone so much, and am amazed that it has almost been halfway. It was an amazing week, but every amazing week has to end. It is nice to think that soon I will depart for Romagna for a trip with the school!

Ciao! Zander in Italy

Listening: “The Hazards of Love” by the Decemberists, and “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” by Yo La Tengo

Reading: L’Uomo Vogue (bought in Milano!)

Watching: “It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia”