From Food to Photography

Adrienne Hamm--CIEE Language and Culture, Ferrara, Italy

Greetings again from Ferrara!  For those who suffered through my last post, I'm sorry for the horrendous layout.  We've tried to fix it, but nothing has worked.  Hopefully, this entry will look much prettier.

Buon Appetito!

On Monday, I began an Italian cooking class offered through CIEE.  It's an 8-week course, and we meet every Monday evening at a local (and very delicious) restaurant, Balebuste.  There, one of the chefs teaches us how to make an Italian dish.  In the style of a cooking show, he demonstrates the recipe and then we students give it a shot.  The best part comes at the end when we get to eat our lesson.  In fact, we have a full meal after each class, including the recipe plus two other courses (one of which is a dessert).  I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed Monday's class.  We learned how to cook Cappellacci di Zucca, a Ferraran speciality.  Cappellacci are triangle-shaped stuffed pasta, and in this case, the pasta is stuffed with pumpkin.  Delicious!!  We learned how to make the pasta completely from scratch.  I most enjoyed folding the pasta into triangles.  We had to be very careful and seal the triangles completely or the pumpkin would escape during the boil.  I have deemed the night a great success because I actually felt like I could cook (even though I can't...at all...it's quite sad, really), but I didn't burn down the restaurant, and as far as I know, the pumpkin stayed inside all of my triangles.

The Flat Tire Fiasco

I had my very first bike issue this week.  On the way to class on Tuesday, my bike ride seemed a little more bumpy than usual.  "Hmm," I said to myself, "It feels like I have a flat tire. Nah, that can't be case."  So I continued my bike ride.  Somehow, I made it all the way to the CIEE building where I had my class.  I locked up my bike and inspected the tires.  Lo and behold, my front tire was completely flat, so flat in fact that it was falling off.  Well, Tuesdays are quite hectic for me so I knew that I wouldn't get the bike repaired that day so it spent the night in the building's courtyard until I could take it for repairs Wednesday afternoon.  It was a long walk home that Tuesday evening--quite a sad walk.  I've had that bike for about a month now and it saves me tons of travel time.  In fact, I have to walk for 30 minutes to get to my language class from my apartment, but on my bike, it only takes 15!  Fortunately, the nice bike man from whom I rent my bike, repaired the tire for free and even improved the brakes (apparently, I need to work on smoothing my bike-riding skills).  He didn't even have the bike for 24 hours--now that's what I call service!  So, once again, I have my bike and once again, I can sleep in for 15 extra minutes in the morning :)

Thought-Provoking Photography

Over the weekend, Ferrara held an event on journalism.  I don't know all the details because I was traveling the whole time, but from what I heard, there were tons of journalists and a lot of lectures on different aspects of journalism.  Part of the event included a showcase of photography by Francesco Zizola.  The showcase is still in the center of town where wandering pedestrians can pause and take in his art.  This particular portofolio came from Zizola's time in Iraq during 2003.  Wednesday, while I didn't have my bike, I had time to thoroughly peruse his exhibit.  Before even looking at the photos, I assumed that they would be anti-American, but that wasn't necessarily the case.  They were, however, quite thought-provoking.  Though many pictures included American soldiers, I think Zizola focused more on the horror of warfare in general.  It made the war much more real for me, and I appreciated seeing the conflict in Iraq through the eyes of someone living outside the United States.  If you're interested in viewing Zizola's photography, check out his website at www.zizola.com. 

Talking Politics

Before coming to Italy, many people warned me that locals would ask me about the United States and politics.  For the first few weeks, I didn't encounter this issue, but as my Italian improves and I meet more Italians my age, the topic arises more and more.  Most of the people ask me how I feel about Bush and proceed to give me their opinion of him, but none have openly judged my character based upon my nationality.  They're just interested in my perspective.  I've enjoyed discussing politics with them, and I've even gotten to talk Italian politics with some of them.  I came to Italy thinking that Italians would openly state their disgust with me because I'm American but as of yet, no one has accosted me in such a manner.  On the contrary, one Italian from Naples frankly stated, "You're lucky."  I must agree.  I am blessed, not only to be American, but to be an American in Italy, where I have the opportunity to broaden my perspective as locals respectfully challenge my beliefs and I gradually begin to understand theirs.

Cinque Terre

This past weekend, I and 3 other CIEE girls took a trip to Cinque Terre, 5 small towns along the west coast in Italy.  They're connected by a 5 1/2 mile hiking trail.  The trip was absolutely beautiful and though parts of the hike were extremely tough, it was definitely worth all the amazing views.  To give you an idea, I've included some pictures below.

I think that's all for now...Ciao :)

Comments

[Kyle]

I love the pictures! Gorgeous!