April, 2005

Here’s the view from my window–well, a partial view anyways. I haven’t quite figured out what this little building is. Outwardly, it seems to be a church, but I haven’t actually seen it being used as such yet. I think people gather there for pranzo (lunch) once a week. And I think they have meetings there some nights. It’s also the spot at which local dirt bike riders rendezvous on occassion. So perhaps it’s like an American Legion or Moose Club of sorts. I’ll have to do some more investigation and let you know… That big gaudy sign out front is plastered with political ads because the vote for the new president of the province was this week. (The left side won).

This is Sinio’s circolo (club). It’s not like any establishment we have in the United States. This complex houses a school (on the second floor), the post office, a grocery store that’s sometimes open once a week (and sometimes not at all), and the circolo, which is kind of like a cafe, but more like a place for people to go (during the hours it feels like being open) to have a coffee, play cards, schlirp a grappa, etc. Carmela, the woman in charge of it, also serves lunch after mass on Sundays. It’s very cool and probably the most interesting part of this whole town. Everybody goes there at least once a week to catch up on local gossip and spend time with friends.

I keep hoping to meet someone my age there, but haven’t as yet. That’s okay though, because I’ve made pretty good friends with Enza (short for Vincenza), who is Gigi the furniture maker’s wife. Previously in the blog, I referred to her as Giga, but I found out a couple of days ago that people were calling her that because they couldn’t remember her real name (Giga is the feminine version of Gigi–her husband’s name). I would have to say that Enza and Gigi, Carmela (of the circolo) and her kids Beatrice (5) and Giuseppe (13), along with Armando (76), and this couple who own a chicken farm (and whose names I don’t actually know), are my best (okay…and only) friends here so far. But these people are so wonderful, I wouldn’t even mind if I didn’t make friends with anyone else! I love it here, and can’t remember a time when I was happier than I am now.

I’ve got the dependance to myself this afternoon–wooopie!!! I put on Pink Martini and discovered that these stone walls make for some seriously sweet acoustics. Ding! I wish you could all meet Bepe, the 76 year old mason who does five times the work of everyone else put together (well, excepting Gigi the furniture guy and his wife Giga, who do an awful lot of work as well). Bepe, who retired 15 years ago but still works full-time, speaks only Piemontese (well, as far as I can tell. If he does speak Italian it’s with such an accent that I can’t understand a thing he says). But, I’m glad he doesn’t speak Italian. More people need to learn Piemontese. I mean, how many people do you know who speak that language?

Exactly.

If any of you run across Berlitz: Learn Piemontese The Fast and Easy Way, please send it my way!! There aren’t exactly an abundance of resources in this area for Americans. Or for Italians. Convenience is not a part of life here like it is in the States. In fact, I’m not even sure if there’s an Italian word that translates to “convenient”.

There certainly aren’t convenient stores. That’s part of the charm of Italian food–you have to go to six different stores to get the ingredients for one meal. The macelleria has only meat. The pasticceria has only bread and sweets, and on and on. Denise and I have concluded that this is because of the strong family connection most Italians have. I would say at least 85% of the people in Piemonte live with their extended families–sisters, brothers, Nonnas, Papas…when they run out of room in one house they build another one adjacent to the first, and then another when it becomes necessary. In America, there are houses; In Italy there are compounds. Everyone has a garden and most people have at least a few chickens and a dog.

This is why there aren’t convenient stores–they have most of the raw ingredients in their own cortille (courtyard in the center of the family compound). If there’s no butcher in their family maybe they’ll go to the macelleria for some salumi, or if they’re having company for dinner they’ll stop by the pasticceria for a cake (probably a dry nut cake with only a trace of sugar).

I’m not saying that the Piemontese don’t go grocery shopping, I’m just saying they do it in a very different way than Americans. From my first day here I noticed how active the older generations are in this society. You ALWAYS see 80 and 90 year olds walking around downtown, or pedaling their bicycle through the hills. I think this may be because the grandparents are usually in charge of meals; they’re retired and have all day to get things ready. They’re the ones doing the grocery shopping.

This is Armando del Castello–one of the few people born in the castle I’m living in now. If you can believe it, he still lives in Sinio today! An amazing storyteller with a fascinating family history, read more about him in La Vita Vera‘s newsletter this month (coming soon!).

Life in Italy is great (though I feel it would be even more enjoyable if I could understand more than 30% of what people are saying)! I have a cute little
bedroom–actually it’s not so little–in the dependance (smaller building of the castle–more pictures coming).
Oh dear, and I have to go now, so more later…