Thanks to everyone who wrote birthday wishes up here. Meglio che lo scrivo in italiano: grazie a tutti che mi hanno fatto auguri! (Considerando che eravate quasi tutti italiani.) I actually spent my birthday in Sicily, on the first leg of a Wine Tour (sponsored by work) for which I was the translator/guide. In this case, obviously, I was a co-guide - because what do I know about the indigenous grapes of Southern Italy? But I learned an incredible amount of information. Simultaneous interpreting will do that to your brain - you're forced to absorb the info so that you can regurgitate it properly.
The tour was a massive challenge for me personally, emotionally, mentally - in every which way. I've only been back home for about 18 hours, so I haven't really processed it yet. However, I wanted to list a couple things I learned. Did you know that . . .
- A certain kind of grape native to Puglia grows in heat resistant soil?
- That in Calabria you can drink wine made from the same grapes that Ancient Greeks used for the celebratory wine at the Olympics?
- That the pressure created by fermenting wine can break a sheet of glass three inches thick?
- That you can put a train on a ferry boat? (Between Sicily and the mainland.)
- That there are cities in Southern Italy where you can see old cave dwellings that are 10,000 years old?
And most importantly . . . that in the south, you can find a level of warmth and hospitality that, in my cynical American brain, I had never even imagined? The people I met on this tour, especially in the vineyards we visited, made me grateful to live in Italy, and even a little bit proud.
I also learned that I'm stronger than I thought. I hope that I can hold on to that.
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