Bunnies, Pig Legs, and Singsongs

I have been invited to join a choir after the holidays when I'm back in Bologna. Very few people really know the horrors of my singing voice (Rosa!) but I'm thinking of joining anyway. It's a huge group, and they sing international songs (when I visited the practice on Tuesday, they were singing in German, Bulgarian, and Bolognese dialect). And the girl I sat next to - an amazing soprano who's from Sardinia and studies Farsi in Bologna - told me very frankly that there are lots of bad singers in the choir and the conductor has encouraged them to work hard and improve. We'll see!

I wasn't actually there to observe the choir, per se. I've been trying to find some sort of volunteer work; after a search, I was directed to Centro Zonarelli, which acts as a sort of base for a bunch of different organizations that assist immigrants. I've been semi-adopted by Alessandra, who runs an organization that works with immigrant women - giving classes, helping with childcare, stuff like that - and they also started the choir, which is open to anyone who wants to join.

Alessandra studied English literature at university, and knows enough English to tell me that she's going to take advantage of my volunteering services. Unfortunately, she also offered my services to a friend of hers, who teaches Arabic to the children of Arabic-speaking immigrants. In other words, it's an Arabic class run in Italian. How I would manage to teach a language I don't know, at all, in a language I barely know, is a mystery. I don't think that will work out. Alessandra also told me very touchingly about the banquets that the center holds, in which there are people from "every country". She said (in a mixture of English and Italian) that when she's around lots of different people, she just "feels good", which is why she has this job. It seems strange, but I think that sometimes this language barrier - which I struggle with, sometimes miserably, every day - actually helps get a conversation down to its essence. When you have no choice but to get to the point, you're able to say things much more simply and clearly. So, I replied, "I feel good here too". Easy!

Just to keep up the food stories, last night I went to a traditional Bolognese restaurant with a big group, and we ordered the set menu. It included a bunch of things - pasta, lasagna, pork chops, chicken, potatoes (seriously, all of these things were placed in front of me) - and an entire pig leg. Well, sort of. The entire, long, white bone, with some meat on it. I am NOT a vegetarian, but even I was sort of taken aback when that thing landed on the table. Anyway, I was too full by then, so I just looked at it. It seems that there are two things that are present in every Bolognese meal: meat, and cream. This is not a place to eat healthily.

And a question: I was told by a British linguistics student that "strategize" isn't a real verb. Is that true?

Mom, for you. Guess who!