Part 3 of Bologna

I think I have the problem figured out....

I couldn't get my Bologna report to post. I think the reason is that the video of the meridian line was too long. So this is the 3rd of 3 posts about our trip to Bologna. It will make the most sense if you scroll down 3 posts, read that one, then read up.

The church is probably best known, however, for "La Meridiana," the astronomical clock. A hole in the ceiling allows light to come in twice a year, on the equinoxes, and it lights a meridian line along the floor. It's quite fascinating and I encourage you to read the link provided. Perhaps because of the mathematical/scientific implication of the meridian, in recent years the church has put Foucault's Pendulum in one of the side chapels, thus further demonstrating the rotation of the Earth.

One of the interesting facts Cetta told us was about the statue of Neptune in the square. Lots of Italian cities have Neptune. This picture is not very detailed, but Maserati actually based their logo on the trident of this particular Neptune. The statue caused a little controversy a few hundred years ago due to his nudity. Some wanted to put bronze underwear on him. Unmentioned by any of the links provided is the fact that, from this particular angle, the statue's left hand actually appears to be his "maleness," making him look quite well endowed indeed.

We made an afternoon trip up the hill to San Luca, the church that sits on a hill above Bologna. The city has the longest continuous portico in the world (over 5 miles, I believe), and you can walk up to San Luca from the center of town. A lot of students do it after a successful exam score. We hadn't taken a test so we drove up. In any event, it was a cloudy day so panorama shots weren't very good. Here's a shot of us Cetta took, including another cousin, Maria Nina, who we met up with at the church.


After we came down the hill, we went to visit my aunt and uncle, Cetta's parents. Zio Nini is a retired head of the police.

In Italy, there are two police forces: "polizia," the locals, and carabinieri, the military police. My uncle was the latter, and achieved quite a high post. With only a fifth grade formal education, he surpassed most of the members of his class and finished 13th of 180. He is now a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic. He has certificates from three different heads of state on his wall. His question to me was, "do you know who I used to be?" I do, and he had quite an impressive career. He is largely responsible for the fact that so many members of my family are in Bologna rather than Sicily - he personally found them work and got them relocated.

He is married to my Zia Maria - my mom's younger sister. She and my mom are two peas in a pod. After having breakfast at Cetta's, we went to their house. My aunt asked what I wanted and I told her nothing, that we had already had breakfast. She asked again and again until I said I'd have coffee. Zio and Zia are in their 80s and have had some health problems, so they don't get out as much as they used to. On our first visit to Italy in 1995, Nicole was with my uncle constantly, sitting in his lap, holding his hand, etc.

I absolutely had to include this picture, even if you can't see the details. I'll explain. I took this picture just outside the Bologna train station. The sign says "Do not park bicycles here."

Jack walked us back to the train station, where we bought tickets to come back on the 3:29 p.m. train. Most trains really do run on time, but it happens ours was running about 40 minuted behind. We had lots of time to sit in the train station. The waiting room has a memorial to the dozens of victims of a 1980 terrorist bombing at the station, complete with a piece of wall and floor that still show the damage.

Kim and Jack just saw this side road and thought it looked characteristic, so I took a picture - nothing more to say about it, really.

Part2 of Bologna post



The piazza is packed in nicer weather (it was about 40 degrees and overcast) day and night. The square is dominated by the church of San Petronio, the fifth largest church in the world, according to Cetta (digression - before we came, she did a bunch of research and had printed out notes to be able to serve as a knowledgeable guide). The church was to be in the shape of a cross, but the construction of the two "arms" extending out was stopped by Rome, because it would have made the church larger than St. Peter's.

I'm having trouble getting my post about Bologna to publish. I got it to publish text, so now I'll publish "chunks"


Kim and I made a two-day excursion to Bologna. We left Macerata on the 6:29 a.m. train to Civitanova, where we had to wait 43 minutes for our connection. Our train got into Bologna just after 10:30 a.m. (what would be a 2 1/2 hour drive ends up 4 hours by train). A digression about the cost: we paid 19 Euros each to go to Bologna and 22 to return. There was a promotion to get people through Civitanova, I guess, and so that was discounted. You know, I just pay what they tell me.
In Bologna we met up with family. The picture shows my cousin Nico (who I haven't seen since 1972), Kim, my cousin Cetta and my brother Jack.
Bologna is well-known, among Italians and Americans, as a real city for foodies. I'm standing in front of Tamburini, a well-known and oft-visited shop with fresh pastas, meats and cheeses. Several US public TV cooking shows have visited, as well as Lynn Rosetto Kaspar, host of "The Splendid Table" on public radio and author of the definitive Emiglia Romagna regional cookbook of the same name. As you might expect we ate in Bologna. For lunch, Cetta took us to lunch at Trattoria del Rosso, a good place with traditional regional foods. For appetizer we got crescentine, a sort of fried bread that is served with all sorts of accompaniments. We had mortadella, sausage, cheese (if you get it for dessert, you can get it with Nutella). For dinner, Cetta and her husband Stefano took us to Ristorante Merlo, more upscale than where we went for lunch but also a good restaurant with an excellent offering of authentic regional food. As always, I wanted authentic local food, so I opted for the tortellini in a butter and sage sauce.

Don't you think Stefano looks like the old actor James Coco (he died in '87 - you younger readers won't remember him)? Cetta and Stefano are the ones I referred to in an earlier post, who visited the US and commented on the lack of gates/outer doors. She told me when she read my blog, she knew I was talking about them and told Stefano "he's talking about us!" Cetta walked us around the center of Bologna, dominated by Piazza Maggiore.

Yesterday's weather was fantastic. After church we just walked around for a while enjoying it. Later in the afternoon I just sat in a piazza, smoked a cigar and watched people for about an hour.

We decided to go to church at Santa Maria delle Vergini, the church 2 kilometers from town that we visited but it was closed last time we walked out there. The church is from the 16th century, but that's not what struck me most. We've seen plenty of centuries-old churches. What I noticed was how contemporary mass was. I could've been back at my home parish. Before mass, a woman came up to us asking if we'd help with readings. Back home, Kim is often mass coordinator and has to recruit volunteers to assist with the service (although lectors are predetermined). Second, there was a youth choir, accompanied by guitars. Third, the priest took his hand-held wireless mic and came out to the congregation to deliver the homily. The parish supports a mission in the Congo. Finally, when mass ended people hung around in the church talking.

This might be a good opportunity to make some observations about churches and religion. Standard disclaimer applies: these are based on my limited experiences.

• Inside the walls in Macerata, there are at least a half-dozen churches. A couple are not open. One is still undergoing reconstruction due to major earthquake damage more than a decade ago. Another I'm not sure about. Outside the walls there are more churches of varying sizes. Interesting that some are located so close to each other.
  
• I am told regular church attendance is down but most people still claim to be Catholic. You will often see people make the sign of the cross as they walk past a church.
  
• There is also no shortage of crucifixes, religious artwork or other outward signs. You'll not only find them in people's homes, but also in shops and restaurants.
  
• The confluence of religion and politics is no less complicated here than in the US. Some politicians are vocally pro-church, but just as many are anti. The majority try to remain silent. History here is much more complicated. Many parts of the country were once part of the State of the Church and only were secularized when Napoleon conquered most of the country. The story of the ups and downs of the church/state relationship of the last 200 years are far too complicated to recount here (and I know I wouldn't do it justice), but let it suffice to say that it has swung from all church property confiscated to declaration of Catholicism as the official state religion in 1929, and all gradations in between.
  
• Not sure how churches here survive. As I see the collection basket passed, many people put nothing in, and the majority of those who do put in only coins - no paper. Kim and I wonder if they make larger contributions more directly.
• A TV news story last night speculated on the prospects of sainthood for Padre Pio. Interestingly, just today the NY Times has an op ed piece on the procedure, and how the Vatican needs to be cautious and purposeful. A note to my non-Catholic friends: we do NOT pray TO saints (or are not supposed to). Their lives are examples for us, and we may ask for them to intercede on our behalf, just as a child might ask a sibling to help convince a parent to do something the child wants.
  
• There's a pretty neat video produced for fallen-away Catholics. The church has taken a lot of hits for all the bad things. A nice reminder of some of the good.
  

The Sanremo Music Festival concluded Saturday night. The favorite came in second. The winners were Gio di Tonno and Lola Ponce. One more word about the runner-up, Anna Tatangelo. She's only 21 and has made 5 appearances at Sanremo. She also said that she will make guest appearances at Michael Bolton concerts (he sang a duet with her at Sanremo).

• We are now on break. One student has remained in Macerata for the week. The rest have taken off all over Europe: Ireland, Belgium, France, Greece...oh, yeah - one or two are traveling around Italy, too. Kim and I are just taking a one-day trip to Bologna next week.
  
• Tonight is the final night of the Sanremo Music Festival. Last night on national TV they crowned the "youth" competition winners. Youth includes acts with up to 32 year olds, new to the festival. The winner was Sonohra, a 25 and 21-year-old brother duo.
  
• They have the video of international guest Leona Lewis from last night, but not the duet by Ben Harper and Italian Jovanotti. Want to see the group I think is the most "distinctive"? Frank Head is their name.
  
• While we're on TV, a note about a daytime show on Rai 1, the main state channel. I generally eat lunch at home (across a courtyard). At noon 6 days a week is La Prova Del Cuoco, a cooking show that Kim and I watch. I think the host looks like Sarah Jessica Parker. Those of you inclined to watch cooking shows can watch segments by clicking. Lots of different segments, including a contest between the Red Team (Tomato) and the Green Team (Pepper).
  
• Kim made burek. She copied Dragana's recipe but made meat filling rather than cheese. A great first effort. She'll be an expert soon.
• The Euro exceeded $1.50 for the first time ever on Tuesday. When we were here in 2002 it was dead even. In 2005 it was $1.23 per Euro. I'll refrain from making a political comment.
• In an unscientific survey by the local paper, 93 percent of the respondents favored chemical castration for pedophiles. (not exactly sure why I included that story after one about the exchange rate - maybe I am making a political comment)
  
• Weather report: it has been very dry - almost drought conditions. Today there is an unbelievably strong wind.
  
• Top 3-rated TV shows in Italy the week of Feb. 8:
• Third: I Cesaroni, a kind of comedy about an extended family. The husband and wife had been engaged, separated, then refound each other and married. Their five grown kids and their loves make up the series. Based on a Spanish show, the program airs on Canale 5, Berlusconi's main channel.
  
• Second: L'Eredita, a game show I commented on earlier. It airs six nights per week on Rai 1, the main state channel.
• And in first, as mentioned before, Stricia la Notizia, the news spoof/parody/Daily Show type program, also on Canale 5.
  

This is my fifth trip to Italy (fourth as an adult), yet I made my first visit to an authentic Italian classroom yesterday.

I want to preface my remarks by stating that I know that a single visit to a single class is not necessarily a reflection on all courses in that department, that university or (heaven forbid) does not provide a comprehensive view of all Italian higher education. I would hate for someone to visit one class session at Ball State and assume that all Ball State classes are like that, or that all American universities operate that way. With that disclaimer, I want to report on what I observed.

I attended a class on the Sociology of Communication, taught by Lucia D'Ambrosi. She's a young faculty member (30s, I'm guessing) who has co-authored a book and has chapters included in another. She lives in Rome and commutes to Macerata via public transit each week to spend Tue-Thu teaching. The class I sat in on meets twice/week, 8:30-11 a.m. Actually, they started about six minutes late and quit at about 10:45, which I take to be the actual ending time, not just getting out early. When she started class there were probably only about 35 students in the lecture hall (seats 105 in 15 rows of 7) but by the time she took a break halfway through, the number had doubled. Students trickled in and at the break she commented. She said she certainly understood some tardiness, especially with such an early class, but that if students were going to be more than 30 minutes late they ought to just wait for the break so as to be less disruptive to others. Every student who walked in did in fact disrupt, as the door latch was quite loud and room acoustics were poor (Lucia used a mic). With one or two exceptions, all the students who arrived on time were concentrated in the front rows. Late arrivers filled in the back of the hall. There was one obviously older student (gray hair), but I forgot to ask about the non-traditional student population.

The subject matter was quite familiar to me. She continued her lecture from the previous day, discussing communication models. She first reviewed some of the previous lesson and then moved on to new material. For the most part it was a PowerPoint lecture, with Lucia elaborating on each slide as she progressed through her presentation. After a very long time (perhaps an hour) she asked a question of the class, and it took some cajoling on her part to get anyone to respond. At the break, a couple of students went up to the prof's desk, I assume to ask questions. No questions were asked during the lecture. The introductory mass communication class is a prerequisite to this one so the students must be at least in their second year, but Lucia told me later they're so timid because they're still "so young."

After the break, Lucia continued with her PowerPoint for a while, the topic moving to communication effects. She finished her lecture by using four film clips to illustrate different communication settings. She used the check-out scene from You've Got Mail where Tom gets the cashier to take Meg's credit card, a scene on a bus from Stranger than Fiction, the uncomfortable restaurant scene from Lost in Translation and a clip from an Italian film, Il Medico Della Mutua, where famous actor Alberto Sordi communicates matter-of-factly with nurse and patients until one woman he has an interest in enters. She tried to engage the students by asking them about what they had seen after each clip, about what was going on in the communicative act, but only a few students spoke up.

In this particular class, the entire grade is tied to a single exam. I know that is not the case for all courses, but it was the tradition and is still followed in many cases (that's the way it was for many classes in Slovenia in 1995). When I asked if she had considered short quizzes at the start of each class she commented that she had so many students it was too hard to manage. She passed a roll sheet around (not quite sure why if all the grade is attached to the exam) and it probably had about 100 names. She also teaches another class.

Lucia is obviously comfortable with the technology, moving easily between her PowerPoint and the film clips. The laptop/projector were already in the classroom ready for her. She attached her thumb drive and external hard drive with God knows how many video clips on it.

The idea of full-time faculty who live far from town appears to be a bone of contention among some people. The local economy benefits little from people who live in town only a few days per week and use their income to support their lives in remote locations. I met a political science professor this morning who commented that she chooses to live here (though she is not from the area) because she feels it is the right thing to do.

I neglected to post pictures of the last two groups of students we hosted for dinner at our apartment. I wouldn't want anyone to feel left out ;) From left, Steve (Northern Michigan), John (BSU), Kim, Allea (Oregon) and Evan (BSU). I feel very confident saying that all of the students have enjoyed every meal, and they have also enjoyed learning to play euchre. In six weeks, I think Kim's team has won every week (meaning I have lost every time). The second photo shows Mike, Jason, Chris and Matt, affectionately referred to by everyone here as "the Jersey Boys." All

four are students at Rider U. They assumed they would eat us out of house and home. They left stuffed and there was still food left. Kim always makes an extra effort to cater to each specific group's tastes and food allergies. These guys commented on how they missed their Buffalo chicken. Kim made 3 pizzas: a barbecue, a spicy Buffalo chicken and her renowned garlic chicken (her brother's recipe). Jason actually ate so much he felt poorly but was still happy.

I wanted to tell you some other stuff:

• Our little section of Italy is very excited about the Oscars. The statue for Art Direction on Sweeney Todd went to Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo - LOCALS! He's in Boston working on a film with Scorcese, who he worked with when he won his last Oscar for Aviator in 2005. The local paper had an interview with him (in Italian, obviously).
• Last night, the 58th annual Sanremo Festival began, a six-night extravaganza. It's a competition, but it's much more. The contestants are only part of the evening - there are also guest performances by Italians and International artists (last night, Lenny Kravitz performed). The festival is live on TV each night. There's so much I can say about this festival. The main host, Pippo Baudo (71 years old), is hosting for his 13th time. The other three are first-timers. Only one of the two women hosts appeared last night, Andrea Osvalt. Andrea is a 28-year-old Hungarian immigrant. Last night she got emotional explaining what a thrill it was for her to make it to this point. Her immigration papers still list her occupation as "domestic" because to get entry as an entertainer is not easy to do. She said she was an example of what an immigrant could achieve.
• Lots of other TV and radio shows talk about what's going on at Sanremo.
• The TV listings this week said that you can even place bets on the winners, and listed the odds for each contestant. This contestant was the odds-on favorite. Not sure if any of these videos will play for you. Here in Italy we can't watch US network videos because of licensing issues. Not sure whether you'll be able to see these.
• Fifty years ago at Sanremo, a performer named Domenico Modugno introduced the song "Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu," known in the US as "Volare." They're making lots of allusions to it and him. This video on YouTube is not his Sanremo performance, but Eurosong (a pan-Euro music festival) from the same year, 1958. A current "legend" Gianni Morandi opened the festival with his version.
• You may know there's going to be an election in Italy April 13 and 14. All performers were required to sign a form stating that they would NOT make political statements. The festival adamantly wants to be apolitical. Piero (the other male host) cracked several jokes about that last night.
• The other media phenomenon to mention is a young man (47) named Rosario Fiorello. He's a multi-talented guy who has recorded more than a dozen CDs, does impressions, tells jokes, etc. In 2002 he teamed up with Marco Baldini and started hosting a radio show, Viva Radio Due. People thought he was nuts because radio is a dying medium. His show's numbers have pushed the radio ratings through the roof - people are listening in droves (live and to the delayed rebroadcast), and the show is available as a podcast, getting even more listeners. I guess I want to believe that great talent on a personality-driven program is a real growth possibility for radio, not just in Italy.
  

We took the students on a three-day excursion to Florence. I'm took fewer pictures this trip than previous years. Maybe I have the been there, done that attitude. Maybe I just figured there are much better pictures online that I can link to. I have a few of mine, but mostly links.

There has been a lot of controversy in higher education circles about study abroad lately. One issue has been "kickbacks" to schools from for-profit programs. That's not an issue with Ball State or AHA. The other controversy has been the "quantity versus quality" debate. Schools tout how many students they send overseas but not the quality of the experience. I need to do everything I can to get the word out about the outstanding quality of this AHA - Macerata program. Allow me an example. In summer 2005 I taught for 5 weeks with another consortium. We spent 25 days in Florence. The students then did not see and do all the Macerata students did in just three days. In addition, I picked up a brochure in the hotel for guided walking tours. One promoted a 3 hour tour of the "secrets" of Florence and included a visit to Michelangelo's David. The price was $63. A two hour tour of the Uffizi Gallery was priced the same. Our students did both. Forget the discussion about expense: the amount of teaching Fliberto did over three days was phenomenal. Indulge me while I go into detail about the schedule:

Wed., 5:30 a.m. - board the charter bus for Florence. After the initial excitement, most students slept.
We stopped around 8 a.m. for a coffee break. For the final hour as we approached Florence, Filiberto intermittently spoke on the mic about what we saw.
9:30: Visit San Mineato al Monte, an ancient church that sits above the main city. We then walked down to Piazzale Michelangelo, best known because of the view of Florence.
10:45: The bus drove us down to Hotel Unicorno, our home for the next couple of days.
11:15 - The students had free time. Kim and I took a few of them to the San Lorenzo market area, where we had had amazing sandwiches from a place in 2005. Unfortunately, Mr. Perini himself (whose picture appears in the front of the Williams-Sonoma Florence book) was on vacation, but we still got our wonderful sandwiches.
13:00 - One major improvement over 2002 is the rental of guide mic/headset system that allows all of us to hear Filiberto. We had them for the afternoon and it made it SO much better. Our tour of the main town began with the Baptistry. To show the exterior, doors and interior requires that I link to several sites. We left there and went just a few yards to visit the Cathedral itself, the subject of the documentary my class produced when we were in Florence in 2005. We walked around the interior and exterior, including Giotto's bell tower.
At 15:15, we walked to the Chiesa di Santa Croce (Holy Cross Church) which is a museum more than a church. In it are the tombs of many famous Italians including Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. The three sad figures you see at the foot of Mike's tomb are the arts (painting, sculpture and architecture) depressed at his passing. I took a picture inside the refectory. We made a stop for gelato - Filiberto claims Vivoli is the best. At 16:45 we walked to Orsanmichele, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio. We finished up at 17:45 so they could have a coupe of hours to shop before dinner.
I couldn't believe the coincidence. Our dinner (at 20:30) was at Tira Barala, the place where we ate for 25 straight nights in 2005. Nothing wrong with the place - we just got tired of it. Anyway, this meal was better than the economic menu they served us under the other program. Dinner ended around 10:30, putting an end to our 17 hour day. Of course, some of the students still went out afterward.

Thursday, Filiberto had wake up calls for all at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast was 8:15 - 9, an American-style breakfast complete with scrambled eggs, breakfast cereal and coffee that was a cross between Italian and American. The students were very excited.
At 9 we walked back to the Cathedral to walk up to the top of the dome. I'm including a picture to prove I did it, but the reason I'm in the shadow is because I was too afraid to go to the edge and lean on the railing. The walk up was quite a workout but once we got up there we had a lot of time to just walk around and admire the view. There were even a few benches.
At 10:15 it was off to the church of San Lorenzo (St. Laurence). I don't know how Wikipedia got interior shots - pictures are not allowed. At 11:15 it was off to Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Piazza dell'Annunziata and the Ospedale degli Innocenti. At noon they got a short break. At 12:15, we were on to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see lots of things, but Michelangelo's David is the reason for the museum. No pictures are allowed in the museum, although hundreds of people each day (thousands?) take them. A Google image search will yield about 145K hits. I really have mixed feelings about this. The ban is ridiculous: are they afraid a photo will hurt the marble? No, clearly they want to sell books, prints, postcards, etc. But, it's the rule. If I want a picture of Dave, I can just go online and get one without surreptitiously taking one. We broke for lunch at 13:15. This would be a good time to mention we had 3 guests visiting from the Midwest Consortium: one from Concordia University Ann Arbor and two from Saginaw Valley State University. Those three, Filiberto, Kim and I went to a place for lunch Filiberto knew. The owner wasn't there, so a waitress called and Filiberto talked with him. A few minutes later we were getting a full meal at a reduced price. At 15:00 it was time to tour Santa Maria Novella. We finished at 16:45 when the students got a long break before dinner. At 20:00 we went to dinner. Another footnote: the hotel was going to make the arrangements for the second night's dinner. When Filiberto asked at the hotel on Wednesday, the desk staff acted as if they didn't know anything about what he was talking about. He walked over to the place and they were oblivious. He left, went to another person he knew, and arranged for Thursday's dinner, then went back and told the other restaurant we didn't need them to make room for us. It may not seem like much, but arranging a discount meal for a group of 30 usually requires quite a bit of arranging. He lost about an hour of time on Wednesday but everything turned out great. No one else could direct this program like he does.

Friday's wake up calls came at 7 a.m. because we had to have breakfast and our bags packed and in the lobby by 9:05. We walked around a little over an hour examining the architecture of significant buildings like Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza della Republica and Piazza della Signoria (there's a link above). At 10:35 we had our appointment to visit the Uffizi Gallery. I'm including this Wikipedia Link, but I can't believe they don't include Leonardo's Annunciation in the list of famous paintings. This tour gives some idea of how big the collection is. Click on a room or two (room 15 has the Annunciation I mentioned). Again, no pictures allowed.
The formal program ended at 13:15. Students had almost 3 hours before we got our bags and hopped a public bus for Macerata. Because so many students elected to stay behind and head elsewhere for the weekend, the charter was not economical. It wasn't bad - we just had to change buses once in Perugia.

Once again, another example of Filiberto's skills. He asked students on Monday to commit to coming home with us or not so he could reserve our seats. Well, some people changed their minds and we ended up with more wanting to come home than we reserved. As a mater of fact, there was really no room on the second bus for all of us. No matter - Filiberto talked with a friend, and all of us had seats. Filiberto had to sit in the "jump seat" for part of the trip, but he made it work for everyone.

We had a fabulous time. Now, let me tell you a few gripes. This is all said after telling you how wonderful everything was.

• A few of the students left the Uffizi early because they were catching trains to other points. One group left just as we were entering Room 15 (with The Annunciation). The painting must be valued at tens of millions of dollars. They never saw it, or masterpieces by Vasari, El Greco or Flemish masters.
• We almost left a bag at the hotel. One of the students believed she had arranged for another student to take it back while she traveled elsewhere, but that student was taking TWO other students' bags back. If it hadn't been for Kim we would have left it. This morning (Saturday) at 8:15, she buzzed at our door wanting to pick it up. I'm thinking I will be sure to call her at 8:15 on a Saturday morning if she thinks that time is OK to call on people.
• Our excursions are definitely long and involve lots of walking, but some of our students act as if they're dying. Filiberto is 52 (he probably didn't want me to say that) and he not only does all the walking, too, but he's the one doing all the teaching, talking almost the whole time and rarely sitting. Whenever we get to a location, some students look to find a place to sit as quickly as possible.
  

OK, I shouldn't end on a negative note. It was a fabulous three days. How about ending with an unrelated bit of fun? The night before leaving Macerata, there was a dance performance at the local theatre. Here's a portion I thought you might enjoy.

This is probably the only post until this weekend. We leave at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday to take the students to Florence and return very late on Friday night. Exciting but also demanding. I thought I'd talk about groceries today.

• Kim and I shop at several places. We tend to buy most of our produce on Wednesday from two guys in the market. Their prices are actually a little higher than another vendor, but the product is fresher, you choose your own (rather than the vendor sticking items in your bag for you) and they always add a little something to the bag - garlic, celery, carrots - just a little something as a thank you for your business. They also play by the rules - we always get a reciept, which is the law in Italy. The place that was cheaper didn't give us one.
• We also have one bakery that we tend to frequent more than others for bread. Grocery stores carry both bread and produce, and we do buy from them, but we more often get them (as do many Italians) at the places that specialize. We end up having to shop more often, but that's not just due to "specialized shops." When you have no car, and you have to carry whatever you buy, and you have an apartment-sized refrigerator, that's just the way it is.
• For other day in/day out groceries, we have a small grocery store inside the walls that we frequent. Tigre is a chain store with store brands, but ours is smaller than bigger stores in the suburbs. Still, they have a deli counter where we can get fresh meats/cheeses. Hours are 8-8 Mon - Sat, but they close 2-4 p.m. for midday.
• We make occasional bus trips to the mall, where Cityper is located. It is a large store, much like a Super Wal-Mart or Super Target, complete with all the clothes, household items etc. They are also open SOME Sundays. Busses run on an abbreviated schedule Sundays, so those trips have to be carefully planed.
• Inflation is a real problem here. Forget the fact that the exchange rate is killing us Americans - even Italians feel the pinch at the grocery store. There was a story in today's paper that 75 items will have price controls inposed for 6 months beginning March 1.
• In spite of this, there are still some items cheaper here than in the U.S. Most notably, wine prices make me smile. I have not paid more than $7.50 for a bottle of wine in the grocery store, and it's all been good. Kim's actually bought stuff for $1.50 (for a standard 750 ml bottle), but the lowest I've gone has been about $2.40. I tend to drink Montepulciano most. We do drink it in the US as well, but that has come to be what I've been drinking most here. Other less expensive items are local produce. We were getting artichokes for less than $1 each, and blood oranges from Sicily run less than $1/pound - Clementine tangerines even less. Believe it or not, dry pasta prices are just about the same as what we see in the U.S. (and a lot of the same brands). The good stuff runs about $1.60 for 500 grams (just over a pound) while the cheap stuff can go on sale for about 60 cents.
• Conversely, the more foreign something is, the more expensive it is likely to be. Peanut butter runs about $3.60 for a small (10-12 oz) and boxed tortilla shells are about $5 for 10.
• In spite of this (or maybe because it's so profitable) many stores have a lot more imported stuff than I recall. It used to be students wanting ketchup or Mexican salsa or breakfast cereals would have to jump on the bus for Cityper to find it. Now even our small stores inside the walls carry most of these.
• Standard operating procedure is to bring bags with you. Most grocery stores charge 5 cents per bag for the plastic ones they provide. Our Tigre has small flimsy bags available for you to use free, but if you want the larger more durable bags, the cashier sells those to you.
• Even small grocery stores note the country of origin of the fish and produce. I could be exaggerating but I think they're more attentive to the way products are raised. We bought some chicken/pork sausage in the "regular" meat counter (not some organic stuff) and the package mentioned the fact that the chickens were not caged and that the animals were humanely treated. The company makes a big deal about it. They are also VERY big on not using any form of growth hormone.

OK, again I'll finish with some local statistics:

• 7.4 percent of the Macerata population is foreign. The largest portion is Morrocan, followed by Indians and Albanians. There are 90 different ethnic origins represented.
• There are 1.2 percent more cars registered than a year ago. Registered drivers and traffic citations are also up.

Yesterday we took the students on an excursion. We left at 7:15 a.m. and headed for Loreto, about 45 minutes away. Once again, my pictures are all exteriors because interior pictures are not permitted, but this slide show contains 14 pictures of the interior that are better than anything I could take.
The reason Loreto is special is because it contains the remains of what is believed to be the home of the Virgin Mary at the moment of the Annunciation. I know, you might wonder how the remains came to be in Italy, since Mary was from the middle east. During The Crusades, the remains were "rescued" to keep them from being destroyed. Legend was "the angels" brought the house to Loreto. Documents show the Angelli
family brought the home up. In this slide show, only the brick is from Mary's home. The floor, barrel vaulted ceiling and the marble encasement for the house are added features (as is the lighting, but I bet you knew that).
The other feature that makes the church unique from a structural perspective is that the central church is part church and part fortress. The church is near the Adriatic and the precious contents needed to be protected from pirates (they didn't want anyone taking what they had rescued).
In Loreto we had a coffee break, visited the Basilica (including, of course, the gift shop), and had some time to just "hang out," both in the piazza in front of the Basilica and behind it, where we could look out at the Adriatic.
We got back on the bus and headed just a short way north on the coast to the small town of Sirolo. In February it's a pretty sleepy town but come summer it will be a real hopping joint. There is a very nice photo gallery of Sirolo online. We had a little more than an hour to explore, sit in the sun and relax or whatever. The students all made the steep walk down to the waterfront (Clark, a BSU student, actually slipped and fell in). The major promontory is Mount Conero, which can actually be seen from parts of Macerata on a clear day. It also gives its name to a well-known red wine from this region, Rosso Conero.

I really like this picture of Kim and Filiberto that I took in Sirolo, with Monte Conero (or at least a portion of it) in the background.


When we left Sirolo, we drove inland to the town of Genja, the entrance to the Frassasi Caves. But first, we stopped for lunch. A word about the meals on excursions. Filiberto arranges for optional lunches. Usually for 10 Euros he gets them a meal that is worth much more. Most students opt to join us for lunch. Because Genga is such a small town, and it's off season, options were limited so they all joined us. Good decision. If you're ever in Genga, Italy, I highly recommend Francesco Ristorante. Our pasta course was a pappardelle pasta with a wild boar sauce. We didn't tel the students it was boar until after they finished it, but they all loved it. Boar (cinghiale, in Italian) is a Marche specialty. The quality AND quantity were great. There was also bread, water, wine (both white and red), roast pork and chicken with french fries, salad, dessert and coffee, but the pasta course alone made the price worth it.
Believe it or not, even the Frasassi Caves don't allow pictures inside, so once again I took pictures of the exterior of the cave, and you'll have to look online to see the interior. The cave's own website doesn't have a comprehensive photo collection (they sell CDs and DVDs). I recommend you go to images.google.com and just enter "Frasassi" and you'll see individual pictures from all over the web. We walked to the cave entrance from the restaurant, all of us feeling rather stuffed, for our guided tour. Frasassi was discovered recently (1971), so the limestone formations haven't all been darkened by smoke from torches and candles, as is the case with so many caves discovered a century ago.

Once again we boarded the bus to head to our final stop of the day, which was the Belisario winery. Due to Filiberto's connections we were able to have our own private tour of the winery, followed by our very own tasting. Belisaro has many wines, but it is located in the town of Metalica, and is best known for a special white wine known as Verdicchio. Verdicchio comes from two areas in the Marche: the hills around Jesi and the hills around Matelica. Most enophiles know the valley around Matelica to be the better of the two. The valley runs North/South, which makes the temperatures more extreme, because they are not moderated by the sea breeze. The hotter warm weather and the colder cold weather evidently results in a better grape (at least that's what we were told). Belisario is a cooperative, and the growers own the winery and the product, so it handles more than just Verdicchio. These storage tanks are quite high tech: they control the fermentation process. During fermentation, temperatures rise, which accelerates the process even more. The thermometers monitor the temperature, and if it starts getting too warm, they circulate cold water through the thicker bands on the outer shell of the stainless steel vats. Ideally they want the fermentation process to take just about 25 days. Verdiccho is a white wine, so barriques are not a normal part of the fermentation process, but they do get used for the "reserve" wine. The wine is kept in oak barrels (from France) for a year to give it a distinctive flavor. Wine aficionados know that while red wine is often aged, white wine is not and should be consumed shortly after bottling. We did our best to assist. Lest anyone think we were encouraging debauchery by the students, each got a small glass, specifically to learn how one tastes wine.
There are dozens of websites that teach wine tasting techniques so I won't bother explaining here. Let it suffice to say that for some of the students, it was the first time they held a glass of wine for 10-15 minutes before they even took a sip. Our host (Luca, which will be my grandson's name) was very helpful and pleasant.

OK, more quick statistics from the newspaper:

• In 2007, 39 percent of the deaths in Macerata were due to probems of the circulatory system and 32 percent tumors.
  
• Married adults are 50 percent of the adult population, 39 percent single, 9 percent widowed, 2 percent divorced.
  
• University of Macerata has 13,659 students, up 850 from the previous year. Eighty-one percent of the sudent population lives outside the city center (where the university is located).
  

Yesterday we took the students to the Marangoni Chocolate factory. It was a short bus ride outside the walls. The students were excited at the prospect of some free chocolate, which they got, but it was a very detailed explanation of the process before they got to that point. We began by understanding the plant itself, which grows only in the tropics. A single plant produces a very small amount of fruit/nuts, each of which only produces a very small amount of cacao. Plantations have to be massive to collect enough to be usable. As most of us already knew, the cacao itself is rather bitter. On the right is the unsweetend chocolate after the beans have been crushed and processed. There are three or four different varieties of cacao plants in the world, associated with the different regions. Chocolate connoisseurs can distinguish between the different varieties (Madagascaran versus Venezuelan, for example).


The pale yellow stuff on the table is the cacao butter that is extracted. Some of this is used in the production of chocolate bars, chips, etc - everything except the powder. It's the butter that holds the product together - at least in the higher quality stuff. Lecithen, soy and other stuff gets introduced into cheaper chocolate. The butter can be used in foods or cosmetics, so there's a market for it - which is why cheap chocolate uses less. Of course it's high quality fat - no cholesterol, so it has even more of a market.
We were also taught that chocolate should be examined by all the senses. Look at it to be sure it is a uniform color. Obviously you smell it. When you break a bar, it should make a crisp snapping sound (and you should further see that the break is a clean line, not jagged). As for the feel, there's a feel in the mouth of course, but you should also be able to take a small piece and rub it between your fingers until it melts, and the butter ought to coat the fingers. As for taste we were taught that if you do a tasting involving several chocolates, you should NOT use water or wine in between chocolates. Water won't cleanse the palate, and wine is too strong a flavor so it will mask the chocolate. Instead some hard liquor should be used, followed by a small sip of water to remove the alcohol taste.
Alfredo Marangoni then poured out some chocolate with toasted rice to make what was a chunchy chocolate bar. He explained that the chocolate takes about 10-15 minutes to cool but that to get the best flavor, it ought to be allowed to sit 5-8 hours before being eaten. He asked the students if they wanted to wait, and they all said "no," so he cut it into pieces for us. Here you see Ball Staters Audrey and John demonstrating the proper technique for eating the chocolate.

The paper published 2007 statistics that had been compiled locally. A couple of quick bits of info.

• Population has grown from 41,000 in 2001 to 43,000.
• There were 125 more deaths than births in 2007. Population growth can be accounted for by the 9 percent increase in immigrants.
• Seven percent of the population is 80 or older. Wow. I wonder how that compares to the rest of Italy, or to the US. I could do some research but won't.

More statistics next time.

Random thoughts:

• I've enabled comments on the blog. I hadn't done that before, but since looking at Kim's nephew Tim's blog, I decided to go ahead. Please feel free to post comments, but be gentle - I'm extremely sensitive :)
• Kim has a case of the winter crud. She's coughing, lots of drainage, etc. Several of the students here have had it, so we assume one of them probably caused it (tongue planted firmly in cheek).
• Last week Kim and I went to Ash Wednesday mass with a couple of BSU students, John and Jackie. The ashes were placed on our heads rather than on our foreheads. Filiberto later told me both systems are used here.
• Another church comment: in the US, where we say "forever and ever," Italians say "for centuries of centuries" (in Italian, of course). It's more poetic - is that why?
• A very interesting daily TV program is Blob, which is a 10-minute collection of video clips edited together. Most often they come from the previous day or two, but sometmes they throw in an older clip. The way they edit the clips can sometimes be commentary in itself.
• BUT, Blob doesn't hold a candle to Stricia la Noticia, which is a humorous news review. I'd compare it to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show but there are several differences. Many weeks, Stricia is the number one rated program. It's been on the air for 20 years with different hosts over time. You can't watch the show straight through online, but you can watch the pre-produced video segments.
• Students in the program have the option of participating in a Tandem program, where they are paired with an Italian student learning English. They're then supposed to meet and have conversations in both languages so each can learn. Kim is now participating. A middle school teacher is her Tandem partner. He happens to be one of the clients my 2002 students worked with when they made a video for the local hiking club.
• I heard on a game show recently that the median length of an Italian marriage was 14 years. I know what median means, but what I dn't know is whether that statistic is based only on marriages that have ended either through death or divorce (in which case the number seems frighteningly low) or includes all marriages, which I hope is the case. I also don't know how that compares to the US.
• Last week, one of the students commented that whenever people she meets find she's an American the first thing she is asked is whether she thinks Clinton or Obama will win the nomination. She was also astonished at how much they know about US politics.
• That leads to my next comment: Kim pointed out to the student that every bar or cafe here has at least a couple of daily papers, and that patrons from teenagers up flip through them. I don't know newspaper circulation statistics but I venture that a larger percentage of the Italian population peruses a newspaper daily than Americans.
• The Mafia may not be what it used to be in its heydey, but it's still alive and kicking. There was a major arrest last weekend in the New York-Palermo connection.

Yesterday was the trip to Assisi. I had been there once before in 2002, but Kim was there several times in 2002 (when she took guests), and she and Nicole made a return visit in 2005 while we were staying in Florence.

Our chartered bus left just after 7 a.m. It's only about a 70 mile trip, but it takes almost 2 hours because you have to drive through the mountains to get there. I hope this link will show you. You may have to click the terrain button on the page - I'm not sure how it will load. I felt perfectly safe but it's no trip for someone who gets motion sick easily.

After a brief coffee break when we arrived (I included the picture of Filiberto's cappuccino for everyone to see, but mostly Nicole - those are chocolate flakes used to make the cup outline around the cream) , it was on to the Basilica of St. Francis. Even most non-Catholics know the story of Francis and how he gave up his wealth to live a simple life and follow God. In preparation for their visit, the students watched the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon, which provides a lot of historical background (a Zeffirelli film). The Basilica is massive consisting of Francis's tomb (and his four first followers) on the lowest level, a lower church and an upper church. The structure attached to the left was the rectory. When Napoleon took over all church property in the early 19th century he turned that area into stables and destroyed some priceless works of art. Some of the interior of the church is also damaged due to an earthquake back in 1997. You'll have to be satisfied with these exterior pictures I took of the Basilica. No pictures are allowed inside. Of course, that doesn't mean people didn't take pictures, it just means I didn't take any. There were all kinds of people snapping pictures. I guess I'm just a deontologist: even I think the rule is a little silly, but I still follow it because it's the rule. I can understand that people need to be respectful of people in prayer (like not using their flash or stepping in front of someone kneeling before an altar) but it seems some compromise would be possible. Nonetheless you should see the inside, which has spectacular frescoes. If you're really interested, here's the church's history, dating back to the 13th century.
Equally impressive in Assisi is the surrounding natural beauty. There is rolling terrain with mountans in the distance. Note all the green. Recognize that I took this picture on Feb. 9, and the air temperature on this day was about 40 degrees F. The artwork is certainly impressive to see, but one could easily spend a day just strolling around the countryside. Here's an olive grove on the walk from town down to San Damiano (St. Damian), the church Francis rebuilt.
No, this isn't how people in Assisi normally dress. We just happened upon an event with people dress in medieval costumes. Jason from Rider U (far right) and John from BSU (far left) couldn't resist getting in the picture.

I'm falling a little behind in updating all that goes on.

When Ilija and Dragana were here last weekend, one of the things Dragana did was to make burek. It's one of my favorites. As you can see from this Wikipedia explanation, there are many forms made throughout the former Ottoman Empire. Dragana's heritage is Bosnian, so of course she makes that version. Here's some video of her stretching the dough.


After that, it needs to be spread out on the table.

Of course, I was too stupid to get a shot of the final product. No, I'm being too harsh. I was too hungry to get a shot of the final product, so this is the picture from the Wikipedia site. Trust me - ours looked quite like it.

I've mentioned that each week we have a different group of students over for dinner. Kim usually prepares something special. It's a real challenge, though, because she has t contend with the different students' food allergies, likes and dislikes. She also has to contend with things not being quite the same here. For example, here's last night's dinner bunch:

From the left, Katrina's from Northern Mich, Caroline's from Oregon, Kim of course, and Clark and Adam from Ball State. Adam has been pining for American food (his mouth waters and the mention of a Big Mac), so Kim prepared barbeque, complete with homemade buns. Couldn't have her "standard" salad because two people had nut allergies that precluded the toasted almonds, so she had to make a different one.

The week prior, we had Callie(Oregon), Audrey (Ball State), Andrew (Oregon) and Whitney (Ball State). We've made it to the end of the meal, where Kim had made Coke cake with real whipped cream (courtesy of the beater she bought). We've been having a lot of artichoke appetizer - it must be in season because it's reasonably priced and fresh.

The faculty member gets hired not the spouse, but these overseas programs should not overlook the value of a spouse who wants to be involved. Kim commits an awful lot of time (and expense) to preparing these meals. She makes an appetizer, first course, second course, salad and dessert. Others probably don't put in as much effort as she does, but they still spend time easing the transition for students in other ways.

Class today, then Assisi tomorrow.