immersione

giovedi, 15 settembre

This is what take out coffee looks like in Viterbo. Neil ordered these in the bar next to our apartment and we enjoyed them in our kitchen. Not exactly an immersion experience, but a necessary escape. In all of this, it is becoming clear that too much immersion can be overwhelming.

This is where I jump in and discuss my issues with learning Italian. Undoubtedly, Neil's knowledge of Italian has been a crutch for all of us; now Eleni, Alex and I have to face our fears and learn it for ourselves. I'm not sure how honest I should be about this linguistic shortcoming of mine, but it's one of the main reasons I'm behind on posting, so it's worth a mention at least.

Strategies:

1. I have two language partners. Both want more confidence in speaking English and I want to feel more comfortable speaking Italian. Mostly these conversations disintegrate into English because I'm more interested in hearing other people's stories and my own story wouldn't go very far with my limited Italian vocabulary. This works for one of my partners, but the other one is on to my game and refuses to speak to me unless I try in Italian. Fair enough. That is the point, after all.

2. babbel.com

3. I'm taking an Italian class. Because I already took a beginner's course before I left and I've got six years of Latin somewhere in the recesses of my cerebellum, taking Italian II made sense. I started taking classes at Neil's school with his students and overall, things were going well. Even when our teacher stopped speaking English, I was ok. I understand much of what people say.

It was the test.

I did all the homework. I took the practice test. I studied. But, it has been over twenty years since I've taken a language test, and the algebra of remembering what agrees with what mixed with conjugating irregular verbs without my cheat sheet really threw me.

For the next 23 hours I dreaded going back to the class and learning what my grade was. After all, of course she would have graded the tests by now, right? It was ridiculous how anxious I was about this even though, as my classmate told me, "you don't need this grade for college, why do you care?"

She didn't pass the tests back!

I suppose I should have been grateful for the opportunity to remember how it feels to be a student. But, I was fuming! What does she do with her spare time? (How many students have I blown up at for asking for the tests back the next day?!). Getting the test back after the weekend was actually better because I had forgotten about it and had more of a sense of humor about the whole thing. Which is good because...

I failed the test!

This immersion story is not a glamorous one at all. But, it might help explain my absence on this blog. Much of my free time has gone into muttering over flashcards and pouring over an Italian-English dictionary. I figure, if I don't give it my best now, when will I ever? It's a worthy challenge. And, the stakes just got higher.

Neil just joined the class, too.

Existential R' Us

Let's get the grammar out the way: Existential are we. We are existential.

Actually, I'm not even sure we're that. But, my thoughts are partially on a toy store by the second half of that title anyway. Eleni has seen a Barbie doll at the local toy store and she's having a hard time letting go of the image. Her six-year-old need for instantaneous gratification is strikingly different from her ten-year-old brother's philosophical questions.

And those started with a sand castle.

But first, our day today. Sunday, September 11.

We rented a car again this weekend and so we had plans to get up an go on Sunday morning. We managed to get up and go, but we couldn't get out as soon as we would have liked. Viterbo honored the September 11th with a race through the city. This limited the traffic movement a bit.

We broke through and visited a town east of us named Bagnaia. Founded in or around the 10th century, it became a summer residence for high-ranking bishops in the 13th century.

The Renaissance caught up with it in the 16th century. Here are some stairs leading to the famous villa in Bagnaia.

The Villa Lante was built then by Cardinal Gambara. Today, we just visited the gardens. The free gardens. The villa and proper gardens that you have to pay for deserve more time. Another day.

The big attraction was the Pegasus fountain with all of its quirks.

Gardens complete with two of my favorite trees: Umbrella Pine and Cyprus.

On to the next activity. Here is how you know you are leaving a place in Italy.

Back to Viterbo for a quick stop. This is the gate near our home called Porto Romano. You'll notice that the scaffolding is gone! Santa Rosa is truly over...you can still see her statue over the gate though.

We went to a park near Lake Vico for the afternoon and Alex and Eleni played with some other faculty children. Alex lovingly made this sand castle (in its early on moments here) and fortifying it occupied an hour of his time.

However, public parks are not private property and ultimately, when the sandbox was full of children, the castle fell to ruins before his eyes.

He was not pleased.

A faculty member suggested some famous advice, "all things pass" and perhaps he could use this as a metaphor for the rise and fall of civilizations.

Right.

We provided distractions by heading home and getting ready for our next week of school. In the same line as "don't mention the war," no one mentioned Barbie and no one mentioned the sandcastle until 8:30 PM. If you are six or ten and looking to procrastinate from sleeping, the witching hour of bedtime is understandably the best time to try your parents' patience. Lamentations abound. For Eleni, it was a desire for possessing the tangible. For Alex, it was a need for understanding the intangible.

"If all things pass...?" That question led to "why make change when it hurts?" and "why do we die?" and "what is the point of living then?" We've been lingering on all three questions for a few days now.

Any thoughts?

Leonardo love

Saturday, 10 September 2011

Today is the first day of an exhibition we've been waiting for called "L'automobile di Leonardo". Alex has been pouring over the pamphlet that shows Leonardo da Vinci's plans for a car in 1478. Someone has gone along and made his 15th century dream a reality.

But, what is wonderful about today is that getting to the exhibition was not the goal. Just taking a walk in Viterbo was our intent, and happily we happened upon Leonardo and other gems whilst Eleni and Neil were at Eleni's classmate's birthday party.

Basically, jaunts with Alex are simple. You leave the apartment and just walk. If you need the map, you use it. Mostly, you don't; he's got a great sense of direction. Something he has not inherited from me.

So, we meandered.

Alex wanted me to take this photo of him in a medieval alleyway in the oldest part of the city, San Pellegrino. One of the things I love looking for in these passageways are the doors with cobwebs. If you stand very close to the door you can even smell the damp. What happened to their owners? How long have the apartments been abandoned? Do pigeons live in there as they do in the deserted building next to us?

We found our way to this church, the Church of Santa Maria Nuova, from the 11th century. Perhaps the oldest church in Viterbo even. Inside are some remnants of years past, both Etruscan and Roman ruins. Some sources mention that this church, like much in Viterbo including where our apartment is located, was bombed in WWII and so what we see here is the reconstruction.

Some gorgeous frescoes line the walls. The sign next to this one indicates that it is St. Jerome between Saint John the Baptist and Lawrence the donor from the 16th century. It is ascribed to Antonio del Massaro, il Pastura.

The photo doesn't do it justice, as it's hard to see the cave like features that suggest some sort of Stonehenge look. But, it was my favorite piece in the church. I didn't know much about St. Jerome when I took this photo, but when we got home I looked him up a book that was here in our apartment when we arrived called Saints Preserve Us: Everything You'll Need to Know about Every Saint You'll Ever Need. I'm not entirely sure how accurate this is (in fact, in this book much of Santa Rosa's story differs from the Viterbo version), but it works for a start and I cross referenced enough reliable sources to find some information that I'm sure I must have known in my earlier student of religious history days.

First off, I'm immediately drawn to the fact that he is named the patron saint of Librarians and Students! St. Jerome (4th century) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. This honor makes him highly controversial in his own right, never mind some of the stories alluded to him in his day. But, the main reason he is here in Viterbo (and thanks to Lawrence the donor) is because he is also famous for removing a thorn from a lion's paw and therefore winning the lion's adoration. Since this city claims it's creation to Hercules (wearing his lion hide), then St. Jerome would probably be a comfortable saint to have by your side.

Here is the facade of the church, with a close up of an unknown individual over the doorway.

In 1266, the story is that St. Thomas Aquinas spoke from this pulpit on the exterior.

A few more twists and turns accompanied with expresso and gelato and we were at the main Piazza, Piazza del Plebiscito. We found the Leonardo exhibit by chance. We went into the one of the surrounding palazzos. Here is a photo I took of Via Cavour. The Santa Maria machine came down this road (the window I watched it from was about midway).

One of the wonderfully decorated rooms in this building which is now used as a public space. You can see Leonardo's exhibit here.

You may find me ridiculous, but let me indulge myself a bit further. I didn't plan this, but it actually comes together quite beautifully. Leonardo means "strong as the lion" and, of course, Leonardo da Vinci is not only famous for his inventions. He was also a gifted artist and one of his famous unfinished paintings is of St. Jerome!

Mario and Luigi

9 September 2011

We walk to school and the tune from Super Mario Bros takes over my brain.

Goombas: We're dodging four-inch high-heeled women connected to small dogs crossing streets, muffler-less motorcycles driven by helmet-less drivers, gangly roots, and random cement blocks. The simple act of walking without tripping or getting sucked into the street after a bus blows past is a challenge.

Coins: We make it to the next corner safely. We see a lizard on the fence. We smile at each other in the arcade, "we made it this far!" One thing is for certain: we are never bored and this is a reward in itself.

Alex and Eleni constantly find worthy coins on our walk, but I'm a Goomba in their way, "it's dirty (Eleni loves pretty gum, cigarette, candy, you-name-it wrappers)!" or "we can't take a _____ (bamboo tree was the most recent request) home with us!" or "keep your wits about you!"

"Mom, what is a wit?"

Twenty minutes and we've made it to school. Goodbye Mario and Luigi. They are on to their next level and for me, without them, the song in my head ends. We'll play the video game some more when I retrieve them eight hours later and then we'll return home and Princess Peach will be safe.

Our first week of school was far better than our first day. Here they are on their first day (in the AM). I did not take a photo when they were in the fetal position later...

Neil chalked our ups and downs to post Santa Rosa depression - if only it were that simple! But really, I think the whole going back to school AND starting a new school concepts are hard for any child in any country. We'll get through it. Every day gets better.

After all, every day we are more masterful at stomping on the Goombas...

Miracles that passed us by

Here she is!

September 6

I'm belated in sharing the events of Saturday evening into Sunday because the events of Monday overshadowed all. No worries, but I'll get to that later.

Back to Saturday afternoon and the Miracle of Santa Rosa. The crowded streets looked like this all day (save the parades which I included in my last post).

And then, at 8 PM, the police cleared the streets and every piece of trash was picked up by street cleaners.

Another parade followed, but this time it was really just the Santa Rosa carriers who were preparing themselves for the big event. I was in a second story window (Neil's school) taking these photos.

I took this photo to show how close people got to each other. That little ally was filled with people and was exactly the position we were in on Thursday night, watching the little machine go by. A bit claustrophobic...

9:15. The lights went out as the machine approached. You can just see the statue over the rooftops, turning the corner here. In many respects, it was like a Godzilla movie.

And then, the machine stopped and the carriers changed places. Here she is at the top.

These are real candles on here. Seriously? It's not enough to carry this five ton pedestal over a mile. Add some major fire hazard to the mix.

She passed by our window all too quickly.

Unlike most of the crowd who followed Santa Rosa, we went home around 10 PM. The streets were trashed.

I had hopes of sleeping, but that was a rather far fetched concept. The bar near our apartment showed the televised newscast of the rest of the path. At 11:44, almost 2 and 1/2 hours later, Santa Rosa made it her resting place. We watched the final push where they actually RUN the statue to the church. I don't know what adjectives to use to explain how powerful this was. Then we heard at least half an hour worth of fireworks which sounded more like cannon fire because we couldn't see them. Followed by...yes, they showed the movie Grease (in Italian) on the wall across from us. A true cult following?

The next day, the center of Viterbo was a market square. Miles of stalls filled the roads; definitely a medieval feeling, as there were no cars.

Marzapan!

We walked to the church so we could see the Santa Rosa machine up close. The church, square and her house were filled with people listening to the church service on the loud speakers. Alex got into the spirit of it, "She must have powers. It rained today." Indeed, it did rain. Our first rain in Italy! We were hoping that the miracle for us would be uplifted spirits though...

We wandered through the streets. This was an odd sight?

And of course, after all of this walking, celebration, and hoping for miracles, we needed some gelato! We got this smile in before the rain started.

All good. But, the miracle that we were really hoping for didn't really happen.

Monday was the first day of school for the kids and we were hoping this would solve the intense homesickness phase they are in right now. All right, I never thought it would completely change their minds, but I was hoping for a positive distraction. The 20 minute walk to school in the morning was great: they were beside themselves and bursting with joy. They ran in the school and never even looked back to say goodbye.

But, when we picked them up in the afternoon, one was delighted and the other one in full depression mode. Five minutes out the door Alex said, "I hate this place. We have to go home now." Ugh. Naturally, this rubbed off on the delighted one, too. So, ten minutes later Eleni shared her tales of woe, "We had to go to Italian class and she wanted me to speak Italian. It was horrifying."

Really?

Walking to school this morning, Tuesday, was not as exciting, more of a forced march with lots of "come on - keep moving" from me.

I know it will get better; we don't really need a miracle. This is just part of the process. It's hard for them to make this adjustment when they were so content back home and they know their schools at home are beginning without them there. It will take some time.

We've got that.