Ghosties

In the past weeks I've visited a haunted castle and an abandoned village. Apparently it's a good time for spooky adventures. And especially after the visit to Azzurrina's castle, I'm becoming convinced that this stuff is real! The castle provides scientific recordings of chanting and singing, which were taken during the night when no one was there. I wonder why ghosts feel more believable in Italy; possibly because the country itself is so full of ancient buildings and memories? (To be fair, the US is too; it's just that the people who could've taught us about the country's history pre-400-years-ago have been silenced and/or decimated.) Everything here seems to have a whole set of different meanings according to each century. It's good and philosophical, because it leaves lots of room for interpretation.

Well, bring on the ghosts. There are still 6 weeks left of summer; there's lots of time left.

Sweat, Corn and Babies

My last choir rehearsal took place here, in the beautiful countryside outside Bologna.

Though this farmhouse is surrounded by greenery and plants, which naturally make you think of health, the food we ate after our final rehearsal was anything but. Pasta with sausage, various meats and cheeses, and fried bread. But of course only Americans eat fatty foods!

Until the second half of August I'll be in Bologna and I have to brace myself for the heat and the emptiness of the city. People keep encouraging me to take a trip alone, but I don't know if I want to; any suggestions?


On a brighter note, I recently went to visit an ex-coworker, Massimo, to meet his new baby girl. Luckily he was at his vacation house on the seaside, so we were able to combine baby viewing with beach time, watermelon, sunshine . . .

. . . fried and grilled seafood, naptime . . . Basically, a day of relaxation.

I did learn from a removed perspective, however, that having a baby is hard work. New parents cannot relax the way other people (i.e., layabouts such as myself) can. Instead, they have to adhere to an extremely busy schedule of feeding, burping, pooping, bathing, crying, laughing, sleeping, and other such behaviors. Matilde even had her own ideas when it came to posing for photos.

This being said, there's a lot of evidence that it's all worth it - as Massimo explained it, in a single moment a real person with needs and a personality appears in your life. It's pretty amazing to see a friend transformed by parenthood.

Something borrowed, something blue . . .

How did a month pass since I last posted here? Now that I'm 25, I'm prone to lose sense of time and forget things. Problem of old age, clearly. Plus, I've had a super-full month. Two weddings!



First there was the wedding in Lecce, in Southern Italy, of two beloved choir friends. It was sunny and there were emotional moments and good food and pretty dresses. Perfect!



It didn't hurt that it was also my birthday, and I actually had my own cake. Only the best bride and groom in the world would put a surprise birthday cake next to their wedding cake.



The next wedding was in Bologna, in the same beautiful municipal building where Massimo (my ex-roommate/landlord) had his wedding in April. This wedding featured more choir friends, lots of thrown rice (the bride, who had an elegant upswept hairdo, couldn't get the rice out of her hair for the rest of the day), and tons of family and friends.



The two different weddings were ideal complements - one with a traditional church mass, the other a bit more laid back - and it was especially touching to see my friends so happy and (strangely) relaxed on their wedding days.



And now it's really summer . . . I can tell by the 200 degrees present in my apartment. I will probably have to start putting bowls of ice cubes in front of the fan to simulate air conditioning.