A Short Respite

I know everyone has been very disappointed at my lack of postings lately, but let’s say I have been on a “creative rejuvenate holiday.” Really what I mean is I’ve been too busy drinking wine, watching my kids play in the back yard and enjoying the company of my friends to think about topics to blog about. Additionally, as we approach the one year in Italy mark, I was beginning to find it increasingly difficult to find things that truly stand out. Part of that is probably because I have acclimatized to the Italian modus operandi.
The only note worthy exception is the ongoing construction on the road I drive to work. It seems that the goal of the construction is to turn a narrow, bumpy curvy country road into the worst paved road in Italy; which will of course qualify it for the world champion of worst paved roads. In order to accomplish this feat they must first tear up random sections of the road, second, alternately fill in the sections with huge truck loads of gravel or shovels of asphalt, third, leave the piles of gravel loose on the road to be thrown up by passing cars to hit your windshield or “securely pack” the asphalt down with a thick soled boot (with the same results as the gravel). Finally they must begin and end work on sections of the road at random, alternately leaving the equipment to block parts of the road or at a randomly designated interval remove all equipment for an undetermined number of days. The work then begins again, regardless of the state of the previous section, in a new spot.
Have no fear, the last few weeks have been providing me a wealth of topics. As such the blogging will resume in earnest…after I locate my glass.

Viva Holland!

It was glorious! I have been suffering from a severe withdraw of Tex-Mex food since our arrival in Italy, but my wife and a few of our friends remedied that problem expertly. Our friend Paul and Jen threw a Cinco de Mayo party with homemade hot sauce, margaritas, tacos with the works and spicy cheesy things for dipping chips in. Thanks to John and Margarita, I was even able to channel my inner little old Mexican lady and turned out 3 dozen homemade flour tortillas. Again, GLORIOUS! I ate so much I nearly exploded. It turns out that really what we were celebrating was Dutch Liberation Day. A friend from work, who is Dutch, also attended the party and said that we can now have twice the reason to vieren (Dutch for celebrate). Who knew? After a description of what kinds of things you eat ate a Dutch party, I decided I think I’ll stick with the fajitas…Glorious.

I've Never Been Over Qualified Before

It seems I have more chances to play or watch American football here in Italy than I ever did in North Carolina. This past Sunday, I went to the local bicycle velodrom to watch the Ferrara Aquile (Eagles) put a sound whippin’ on the Ravenna Chiefs. Although I was initially recruited for the flag football team, one of our players coaches on the Aquile. He asked if I was interested in playing for them…tackle football…in Italy…I haven’t done that (get hit in a football game) since, well in a long time. Unfortunately, although Lauren doesn’t think it’s unfortunate considering my advanced age, I am disqualified to play in this league do to my previous football experience. No kidding, because I played high school football about fifteen years ago I am disqualified at a very out of shape 34 to play tackle football with a group of mostly college age and mid-twenty year olds.

All in all the game was enjoyable. Although played with only nine per team on the field and very little passing game, both teams were well coached and gave good effort. A few guys were even pretty good. All in all it resembled a small town West Texas football game.

To see more check out: http://www.aquileferrara.it

Smoking or Non-Smoking

It was a success as far I can tell. Everyone that attended our recent party said they had a good time and the amount of food and beverages consumed seems to back up their hypothesis. We had around thirty guests and in her typical fashion Lauren was able to put on a party that was simultaneously elegant and fun. The only disaster to speak of involved my grilling skills.

Since our garden is shared and very enclosed Lauren…ehhum…we, decided that this should be the charcoal grill’s last appearance since it tends to waft that ever so pleasant smoky aroma into others’ windows. It went out with a bang; or more appropriately with a huge cloud of vengeful smoke. It seems that the sheer number of burgers put on the grill, plus the fact that I neglected to open the vents sufficiently, snuffed the cooking fire quickly. Thinking quickly I prepared the charcoal starting chimney with another load while opening the grill lid to allow maximum air to the dying fire. The slowly smoldering grill and just starting charcoal chimney billowed smoke and hamburger fumes all across the garden, and the trapped swirling wind only managed to exasperate the problem. Fortunately the non-smoking quest were able to huddle in the relative clear air around the drinks while those who smoked stood close by and inhaled deeply…saving about $30 on a carton of cigarettes. After about 10 mins and apparently a few bottles of wine, nobody seemed to notice the intense smell of smoke in their clothes and hair and enjoyed their well cooked and very authentically flavored burgers.

Yep, it’s Still Italy

From time to time, this is hard to believe I know, I kind of forget I live in Italy. Well obviously I can’t carry on conversations with people and the driving is still a bit scary and the buildings are really old; I think we have really settled in. Then days like yesterday happen. We took the mail run in order to prepare for an upcoming party. Just stepping onto the base is being transported to a small piece of America, even if the girl serving your burger at Burger King or the lady checking you out at the grocery store speak with an Italian accent, it’s really strange to be back in the USA…and frankly exhausting. Trips up there are usually packed full of stops and errands and this one was not an exception. Additionally the consuming of a “Value Meal”, large Coke and all, leaves a huge ball of ugg in my stomach that makes me wonder how I ever ate that to begin with.

Additionally there are little reminders all around Ferrara, besides all the Italians and old buildings…I know! First of all as we exited the Autostrada there was a wizard walking out of the toll tag office. That’s right a wizard! Dressed head to toe in black with a long black robe and a high collar…or if you're Catholic you call those guys a priest. I shouted out "hey look that guys is dressed up like a wizzard, you don't see that everyday!" No sooner had the words come out of my mouth did I realize my idiocy. But the coupe de grae was the unloading of the huge amount of American food from our car. Besides the fact that we drive the Caddy, we had a HUGE white cooler, the kind you take fishing, which we borrowed from a friend to haul our frozen goods. About 6 cases of American beer, we also brought some back for our friends, a whole bushel of Potato chips and Cokes. It was such a scene and took me so long to unload the parking lot guys across the street actually got out of their chairs, out of the shade and walked over to get a better view…I guess they don’t see much Budweiser around here.

A Good Bird Dog

Despite the semi-rural and very agricultural area that we live in I have seen very few animals around. Aside from a few goats, sheep, horses and the very rare cow there are few farm type animals; and I have seen very few wild critters. In fact my friend’s father noticed that there was never any road kill around here. There is one exception, wild pheasants.

There are literally herds of them, as flocks are not adequate to describe the number of them around work. Additionally the ring necks are huge, and look like turkeys from a distance…no kidding. Every morning it is not unusual to see at least five and I have counted more than twenty. The pheasants also taunt us, hiding in the tall grass around the perimeter fence and calling when we get too close. They are so populace and come up so close that we have begun to plot ways to put a few on our dinner plates. The two biggest problems are no shot guns and Italian jail. But we have begun to consider alternate means; including throwing rocks, booby traps and the best idea is a sling shot. I don’t think anyone would be to bothered if I were able to bag a few while I was out for a run…I just have to figure out the best way to cook one.

Everybody has a Story

Normally I do not text, particularly while walking, biking or especially driving. I have recently made exceptions, particularly since we have become the proud owners of the wondrous gadget that is an I-phone. My first outing with the phone was biking to meet some friends for drinks and dinner. It was a complex plan involving several guys and their wives who where all in different places, on different schedules and a few needing directions…luckily I had the I-phone. Unfortunately my biking/texting/google-maping/emailing/phone calling multitasking nearly resulted in my plowing over an elderly gentleman biking through an intersection. After my perfuse apology, which I have learned in Italian, we went on our way sans the I-phone multitasking. A few minutes later, while greeting my friends in the main square in town, I hear a bike bell frantically ringing and the screeching of bike brakes followed by some angry Italian shouting…turns out it is the same guy from earlier.

It seems he was going the same way as me and apparently recognized the fact that I “ain’t from around here.” Turns out he is retired from more than 30 years in the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) and is a wealth of information about our city. He told us the story of the catherdral and castle construction; as well as a juicy tidbit involving a statue of a monk on the front of the cathedral. It seems he wasn’t a monk/prest at all, but the illigetimate son of one of the Estes. A healthy donation to the Pope kept both out of trouble and got the son accepted into the “priesthood”.