Italian Intermezzo: August 30th, 2008

Scenes from my daily life in Verona.

Friday, August 29th – 11 am, private lesson with Luca.
English, homework and review.
Luca asks me whether he should say “Have you got any brothers?” or “Do you have any brothers?”.
I force myself not to smile while I help him with an English that I don’t use. Pointless to point out that have got is never used in the US, and rarely in any part of the world except UK.
There is this dangerous fascination with proper British English, in Italy.

Then, to the city centre, on my bike.
I love riding my bike in Verona – pretty views, soft noises, enjoyable weather… and a calm, laid back atmosphere. It feels like I have so much time for myself.

Evening, dinner with my family: my mother clears her throat and announces we are going to do something as a family on the following morning. That catches our attention and we ask for more information.
Smiling, triumphant, mom tells us we are going to clean the house – all together, 4 floors of delight.
My brother attempts a complaint but is brutally reduced to silence. I prefer to let go… so does dad.
Therefore, Saturday morning is dedicated to general cleaning, with mom jumping here and there, giving joyful pieces of advices to sleepy workers.

I decide then to go to the swimming pool and dad joins me: we swim a lot, then rest a bit in the sun…
Lazy, lazy afternoon…

… ruined by a group of teenagers commenting loudly about their classmates.
What a wasted youth.

I get home for dinner, eat and go upstairs.
Nice chat with Fabian on msn, while I review my Norwegian with Andrè and I chat with Sna and Sebastian.

In bed around 3 am

Tomorrow Borghetto!!

Italian Intermezzo: August 28th, 2008

Back in Italy – until September 10th at least.

The German Fugue has finished, and I loved seeing München again. My memories had started to fade and this trip made them vivid – I was also more conscious, and took more pictures.
Subway was not an issue, either, after dealing with Barcelona, New York and especially Tokyo.

As with Barcelona, I felt like I could live in Munich. The city is gorgeous, huge but perfectly organized: everything is on time, and one is offered several options as far as public means of transportation are involved. Tram, subway, train and bus: a paradise.
One thing that surprised me: the controllers do not wear any uniform. On Tuesday, on the bus to the center, a nice young guy approached me and asked: “Ihre Karte, bitte”. It took me a while to get that he wanted to check my ticket, and I do understand German quite well. I just couldn’t convince myself that he was a controller – he just didn’t look like it. Scary.

Then, Dachau.
I am not sure I want to write anything about visiting a Concentration Camp Memorial, I guess everything would sound corny. It was quiet, big and desolate. I walked around by myself, taking pictures, reading inscriptions, thinking.
One monument that struck me was in the middle of the main square (the old Appellplatz) and it said: “Never Again“. We ought to remember. Forgive, but don’t forget was another one: we are Christians, we forgive, but we can’t forget what happened (and occasionally we will blame the Germans…).
Although many people were around, silence could be heard everywhere – amazing how a sort of respect arouses from old barracks and big severe buildings, and takes the form of silence.

This morning, on my way to the hospital to do some analysis.
Talking to my grandfather, he asks me how it went in Dachau, and that gets him started on his experience in the KZ Camp again. He tells me about his “job” there, at the train station near Dachau, about his punishment after accidentally chopping off his Russian colleague’s finger (punishment: a month at the ‘pole’, getting whipped…), about Russian women that worked like men and smelled like garlic – they would eat it to keep bacteria away. It still amazes me how he perfectly remembers the word Krieggefänger (war prisoner)in German. My grandfather doesn’t speak German at all, and never has: yet, some words are vividly present in his head, words used by guards of that concentration camp, where he has been for 19 months. Bröt, Kartoffeln, Aus… the only pieces of the language he ever got, bound to terrible memories.

I sometimes wonder, how it must be, 19 months of hell.

He continues, telling me about his escape from Dachau, just a few days before the liberation. They left the camp in 25, on April 25th, 1945, headed to Verona.
Munich – Verona, 700 kilometers, through the Alps.
On foot.
They arrived home in 2, on May 10th, 1945. On the way home, they had to steal food from fields, clothes from shops, etc. When my grandfather finally got home, it was only to find his old house bombed to ruins and everything destroyed. He left for the war wealthy, he came home after 6 years of service in the army and 2 in the camp (he was then 26) to a complete misery. With part of his family yet still alive, he rebuilt everything from scratch and eventually got wealthy again.
Yet, when he talks about the KZ camp, terror fills hie eyes through his smile, and his irony becomes grotesque.

To think that a man so tough, at 92 years old, can be so terrified, one wonders how terrible of an experience it must have been.

Forgive, but don’t forget.

Music: Enjoy the Silence, Depeche Mode

Crazy River Surfers on the Isar River in München

One of the greatest ‘unofficial’ attractions in München, according to Sebastian!

Enjoy

Engaged? Wtf.

Now, once for all: engaged means that you are going to marry soon. It implies a promise of marriage, and a ring being exchanged. I am SICK of seeing my Italian friends putting engaged as their relationship status on various profiles (MySpace, Facebook and the like), and when I congratulate them they answer with: “Huh?”

Learn the difference between dating, being in a (serious) relationship and engaged (not to mention married, that you add after the ceremony has being held)!!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Una volta per tutte: engaged significa ‘fidanzato’ nel senso più serio del termine. Significa che ci si sposerà a breve, e implica la proposta di matrimonio, l’accettazione e lo scambio di un anello. Sono STUFA di vedere i miei amici italiani mettere il loro relationship status come engaged sui vari profili come MySpace e Facebook, e quando io mi congratulo vederli brancolare nel buio.

Impariamo la differenza tra dating = frequentarsi (saltuariamente o non), being in a relationship = stare insieme più o meno seriamente, comunque ufficiale e  being engaged = fidanzamento con promessa di matrimonio. Inoltre: married si usa dopo che ci si è sposati.

Uff =.=

Musica: Tom Petty, Last Dance with Mary Jane + Honey Bee

German Fugue: München, August 23rd to 26th, 2008.

Monday morning.
Grey sky, cold cold weather.
Long sweat pants, a huge sweater, a blanket: I am sitting in front of my Mac thinking how stupid I am.

I was supposed to be in Dachau, right now. I planned this whole damn trip to visit Dachau, a concentration camp that I wanted to see for my master Thesis. I forgot just one, essential detail: Dachau is closed on Monday.

So I left Verona on Saturday at 6 am (after a great night out at Mascara – I came home at 4.30 am after dancing a lot), slept in the train for 6 hours, suffered the intense cold on Saturday in München – rainy with 12 degrees C -, and visited around the city on Sunday all for… nothing.

I am extremely pissed at myself.
A solution has already been found, of course, I don’t like to give up. I am staying another day – I will leave here on Wednesday instead of Tuesday -, but that means it will cost me money. 65 euro, which right now is a lot of money.

Again, I am pissed, mostly because I put fun before duty.

This being said, Sunday was enjoyable. München is a great city, somptuous and proud. I like the tall, huge buildings, the wide streets and the cleanness. Moreover, a supreme order and reliability reign here with trains, buses and subways always on time, the food is good and the beer is great. In addition to all that, people are usually nice though not very talkative. People from Bavaria are happy to live here, extremely proud of their origins and don’t really like tourists: but if you are nice and well mannered, they will accept you in no time.

What hit me the most in this short trip, after Spain, was the cold, cold, damn cold weather.
It felt like winter already and I didn’t particularly like it. However, I could live in this city too: it is big though accessible, enjoyable on sunny days and perfectly organized with tram, bus, subway and train public service.

I loved Olympia Park and Marien Platz, as always when I come here. Also, I really appreciate the tradition of the Biergartens and the great food that one can eat there, along with the wonderful beer.

München made me want to see Berlin, which could be a good place to go next summer.
A special thanks to Sebastian, who is letting me stay at his place, showing me around the town and is a great conversation partner overall

One more day here, and tomorrow – hopefully – Dachau.

Spanish Parenthesis: 16th to 21st August, 2008

The short Spanish holiday is over, and I loved every minute of it.

Barcelona was a dream. Gaudì’s dream.
Casa Battlò made me want to have a home, a place where I can really feel happy and relaxed. The UkiyoE exposition at Casa Milà made me want to study some Japanese art and literature again. The “Sagrada Familia” made me feel uncomfortable – the tall, slender structure seems to desperately seek for the sky, representing more an obsession than a dream. Like four fingers, try to catch the invisibile, ephemeral essence of the divine.
Then Park Güell – a convoluted, complicated, magnificent fantasy. A place for artists, day dreamers and people who love to wander and think. And La Rambla, wonderful street full of performers, little shops and cafés, where to rest and enjoy the breeze coming from the sea.
Moreover, Mont Jüic: a hill in the city, with great parks, the Olympic facilities and many many museums, including the MNAC where an exhibition of Avantgarde art was being held. Man Ray, Duchamp and Picabia’s art works and movies – Man Ray’s masterpieces in particular made me happy.

Barcelona made me think a lot – I could live in a city like that. And – why not – I could spend some years living in different European countries, like Spain, France and Germany. Instead of a PhD in the US, I could improve and perfect my knowledge of Spanish, French and German while teaching my language in these countries.

I ate great food, too – Tapas above all. Tapas are a sort of small sized appetizers that one can order at the counter or at a table
Usually people order them together and then share food and price: it’s a great way to eat well and have soem good chatting. Needless to say, dinner is around 10.30 / 11 pm around here. Then clubs open around 1.30 am…

On Monday, we left for Valencia.
A brief meeting with Olivier, my French friend, and his juggler companion Martino. Then, on the train around 6 pm. Now, trains in Spain surprised me for their quality: huge, comfy seats, beautiful and clean wagons, a movie played during the trip. Really outstanding, compared to ny train in my country.

Valencia: cute little town that one can visit in a day. It took a while for me to appreciate it after Barcelona but I truly enjoyed the time spent in Valencia. Plaça del Ayuntamiento, Plaça de la Reina, Plaça Redonda and their monuments were all pretty, though not as magnificent as the wonderful houses in Barcelona.

On the last day of our vacation, we went to the beach and sun tanned a bit: it was a bad idea to forget the sun screen and we got burned, but the weather was gorgeous and I liked the sea overall.

Spain is a place where I definitely want to go back, and maybe live for a while: laid back, relaxed and friendly people, nice places, good weather.
Next summer I will try to go to Madrid and maybe Andalusia – everyone that I know speak of Andalusia as a wonderful place to be.

A particular thanks to Marta, that came with me and was there to share this experience

Synchronized Swimming – Russia

Simply unbelievable.

I love this sport, and the Russia Fed. team just set a new standard for group performances.

I will post soon about Spain – and Germany too, since I am in München right now!
First impression about Germany – it is freaking cold!!

Spanish Parenthesis: August 15th and 16th – Barcelona

Last week was quiet – I had a french friend over, Mael, and it was enjoyable taking him around my beloved Verona. As Antonio mentioned in the last email he sent me, it is always exciting to show a place you know very well to someone new, you get some of their enthusiasm!

Mael left on Friday morning, and in the early afternoon I left with Marta, heading to Orio al Serio airport.
Our Ryanair flight (European low cost company, a sort of SKybus that works) was scheduled at 4.35 pm, but was delayed. We left at 5, got to Barcelona around 6.30 pm.

Now, i am in love with Barcelona.
The city is a big dream, Gaudì’s dream: every palace, every street corner has a magic feeling to it. Some houses are simply unbelievable – like Casa Batllò or La Pedrera (I will post pics as soon as I am back home, I forgot the cable to download them on my Mac >_> ), some others are “just” beautiful, very beautiful. Even street lights in Passeig de Graciàs were designed by Gaudì – and they are gorgeous.

What a genius, this Gaudì. The shape, the colors, the architecture of his works gives me a great vibe. It feels so… cozy. It makes me wanna live there.
I bought plenty of souvenirs, postcards and even some Tshirts and magnets, things I usually don’t buy – everything is so pretty.

Last night we pretty much stayed in the area around our hostel (great place! Plenty of young nice people, clean and cheap) and ate at a nice Mexican restaurant.

Today, we woke up kinda early, jumped on the subway and headed to Passeig de Gracià, a wonderful street full of marvelous buildings. We visited Casa Battlò, probably the most beautiful house I have ever seen – i fell in love so hard with it… -, Casa Milà or La Pedrera, where we could see a Ukiyo-e exposition and then walked along the street, just enjoying the breeze and the amazing weather.
We turned right on Avinguda Diagonal that took us to the great Sagrada Familia church; wonderful view, topped only by the wondrous Park Güel. No words can describe the park.

If you have money to spend, go to Barcelona and spend the day at Park Güel: it is breathtaking, every inch of it. Marta and I met Sebastian, a Colombian guy that was selling handmade bracelets and necklaces: we bought some items and chatted with him – great person.

After the park, we took the subway to see the Arena de Toros, where the Corrida de Toros is held. Then we ate some good Tapas and went home – had a shower and went donstairs to relax a bit in the pleasant hostel atmosphere.

If I hadn’t received the BAD news that the girl supposedly moving in with me decided she has friends to take care of and help financially by standing me up and going to live with them, this would be Heaven on Earth.
I guess it’s just a great city on Earth. So far, I could easily live here and be happy – Barcelona is a particular blend of many aspects that I like in different countries – pretty unique.

More soon – and pics!

Italian Intermezzo: Gli Scacchi e Maurensig.

Ho finito “La Variante di Lünemburg” di Paolo Maurensig.
Le ultime pagine sono atroci, di un’intensità struggente. L’autore ha una capacità descrittiva eccezionale, e sa creare diversi narratori che giostra con un’abilità non comune, creando molte voci ‘principali’ che affascinano e convincono il lettore della loro causa, rendendo multipla e quindi impossibile l’immedesimazione.

Un libro notevole, una perla.
“… come una perla è chi sa apprezzarlo davvero…”

Frase sibillina, quasi enigmatica.
Un grazie speciale a Daniele, che mi ha regalato un piccolo capolavoro.

Questa sera ho studiato la basi degli scacchi – che conoscevo, ma per sicurezza – e ho giocato con e contro mio padre. Esperienza splendida, da ripetere. Adoro come le infinite possibilità di movimento si dispieghino nella mia mente, mentre cerco di prevedere ogni possibile contromossa e i successivi sviluppi. Gioco complesso e sfuggente, mi piace come gli scacchi solletichino la parte creativa, obliqua del cervello, inducendomi a lunghe riflessioni.

Temo gli scacchi abbiano le carte in regola per diventare una mia grande passione.

Italian Intermezzo: August 11th, 2008.

“A pearl is something precious that one doesn’t want to lose.”

(“Una perla è qualcosa di prezioso che non si vuol perdere.”)

I am more and more confused.
I went out with Marianna today – Marianna is my dearest childhood friend, a person that I have known since I was born. She has just come back from Australia, and she will leave for Germany soon (her mother is German) – we are both quite the globetrotters.
We went to the town centre today; between a quiet shopping session and an ice cream, we talked for long about living abroad and traveling. We both agreed on a fact: for some weird reason, we love our hometown, and the more we stay abroad the more we appreciate it. Even with all its flaws and problems, there is no place like Verona for us.

(That reminds me of some British writer that maintained “…there is no world outside Verona’s walls..”)

So I asked Marianna if she would live in another country, and she said no; even though there are very few possibilities for a good job in Italy, abroad she said she would miss “something”. It is precisely that ’something’ that I am investigating, since I feel the same. It is related to the way Italians “live” their towns and the land, the traditions we have, the different daily little rituals that make us what we are.
Those small things give me such a serenity, and a great calm. They make me want to live here.
Also, the people: as much as I love American people, their open and friendly attitude, their great hospitality and kindness, I will never be American. I was born and raised here, and here is where I belong to – and I cannot forget that.

I do feel the need to travel – often. But instead of living abroad for good, I feel more the need to “evade” and visit some place new once or twice a year.
Do I have opportunities here? Yes, I do.
Are these opportunities as good as those in the US? No, not even close.
Is it worth to accept a job that is not as good as what I could have in order to live where I can be happy, with the people I love? Probably.

It’s a tough decision, especially after experiencing what I would be missing if I come back.
But alas, I am a strong person and I would probably be abe to deal with that.
Only time will tell, for now I will just reserve the flight back in December.

Nice weekend in Cervia, at the beach, with Marta.
After a nice salsa night on Thursday (on the Lake of Iseo), we stayed home on Friday to rest and left on Saturday morning around 10 am. We found  bad traffic and then got lost several times, and it took us 4 hours instead of 2 to get to the coast; however, the trip was a lot of fun, and we passed small towns with funny names – like Porto Fuori, which will remain in our memories for a while. It gave us something to laugh about, and our jokes did the rest!

We arrived in Cervia, went to the beach, suntanned a bit, went to our hotel in Cesena, prepared and went out at night – dinner and salsa night at a place called “Bar Rumba”! I met great new people, some good dancers, lots of fun guys and girls – Marta’s friends. I danced a lot, had fun and enjoyed the cool weather.
Sunday, we spent the day at the beach, had a great pizza for dinner and then came home – no traffic this time!
I love going out with Marta because of her energy and happiness, it makes me smile constantly. Also, she is a spontaneous person, and I love that – her honesty too, since I hate hypocrisy.

But last week wasn’t only salsa.
Daniele, as a special person, deserves special words. Daniele, in a word, is class. And here I will switch to Italian because it’s still hard for me to use English in a beautiful and appropriate way.
Daniele, dicevo, è classe declinata al maschile, che tanto si accorda con la mia costante ricerca di eleganza e grazia al femminile. Uscire con lui lascia in me le stesse sensazioni che si provano sentendo un profumo inebriante ma delicato, o bevendo un vino dal gusto solido ma ricercato.
Amo la sua capacità di organizzazione e la sua affidabilità – e amo le sue preferenze in materia di letteratura, musica, cinema. Persona su cui poter contare sotto numerosi aspetti, partner piacevolissimo per un ampio spettro di attività, e uno dei miei interlocutori preferiti, discreto ma colto e fermo nelle proprie posizioni.

On Wednesday, Daniele and I talked a lot – lovely evening at my place, looking at pictures from our recent trips. Then on Friday mom invited him for dinner, and we ended up having card tournaments (Canasta again!) and nice chatting. We stayed on my stairs (outside the main door) talking quietly until 6 am – precious memory to keep.

I am not sure I can renounce to people like Marianna, Marta, Daniele.

Tomorrow Maël is arriving at the train station, at 7.27 am. He will stay for 3 days. I am not too happy to have a guest in this period, when I need to do some soul searching and experience my country and the people I love as much as I can – but it will be nice nevertheless.
Then on Friday, leaving for Spain with Marta!

Barcelona and Valencia should make a great trip, and many more pictures to upload

Musica: Carmen Consoli, Eva contro Eva
Amy Winehouse, Back to Black