What a small world. After commenting on Carnevale here in Macerata, my friend Jim in Muncie sent me a link to a story and pictures about it from the Macerata newspaper. Isn't the internet wonderful?



Tuesdays are normally regular classroom days, but Filiberto rearranged the schedule to enable students to experience Carnevale in Ascoli Piceno, which is really quite impressive. We spent the morning touring the town as we usually do, learning about history, architecture and art. When we arrived just after 9 a.m., things in the town were still pretty quiet. Ascoli Piceno sits in the valley rather than on a mountaintop, and has a history that dates back to the Roman times - much older than Macerata. The crypt below the cathedral has the remains of St. Emidio (for whom the church is named), and also contains columns (not visible here) that were made of material from construction centuries prior, much like the Abbey we visited earlier. The prominent marble statue is "much newer," added only a few hundred years ago. The frescoed ceiling dates back to somewhere around the 13th Century. Please forgive any inaccuracies: Filiberto provides us with a lot of information on these tours, and try as I might, I only retain a small amount.



Back up on the main floor, this is the main dome of the cathedral as seen from below (obviously).

We had lunch about 1:15. On day trips, meals are not included. Filiberto will make arrangements for a group lunch as an option for those who want to take advantage of it. We had a wonderful meal beginning with the famous Ascoli olives.

There was a pasta with a sauce like carbonara, but not. I'll be sure to find out the name (I was told but forgot). Then cutlets with spinach for the main course, followed by special Carnevale dessert cookies. Unfortunately, the one Kim took had chestnut filling. She ate about half of it when I tried to stop her. We discovered in 2002 that Kim's highly allergic to chestnuts. Kim, Angelica and one of the students took off to find a pharmacy so Kim could get some antihistamines. They ended up taking a cab to find one open at 3 p.m. (another hour and one closer by would've opened, but who knew?). She and Angelica spent an hour or more just sitting in a cafe having tea while the antihistamine kicked in.

Lots of people like all the kids in costume (pictures below) but what I like most is the political satire and commentary. Here was a troupe traveling around. The guy with the red beanie represents he cardinal, the guy in the suit who is being held up represents the mayor and the pope-like guy is St. Emidio. It seems a few months ago there was a music performance in the square right outside the cathedral, right when mass was being celebrated, and it created a little controversy and some ill feelings between the local church and community leaders. The performers (all volunteers) really got into their roles and had great fun, and the crowd loved it.

This was one of MANY troupes that addressed the issue of trash. As I explained in an earlier post, Campagna (the state where Naples is located) has a problem finding a place for all its trash. There were groups wearing trash bags, there were others carrying bags looking for places to "hide" their trash - lots of satire about the trash problem.







These two pictures are from the same troupe. Roughly translated, the sign says, "What labor crisis? If you need a job just go back to doing things the old way." The display had al kinds of medieval laborers at work (a commentary on employment issues).