Children's Theater Festival

Every summer a local theater group, Teatrermitage, sponsors a week-long children's theater festival called Ti Fiabo e Ti Racconto (difficult to translate, but something like "I'll Tell You a Fairy Tale"). We have been faithful attenders for the past eight years. The first three days of the program, called Le Strade Che Ridono (The Laughing Streets) features free shows held in the streets and piazzas around town. Then there are seven days of nightly performances held in an amphitheater. 

In the Laughing Streets part of the event, my younger son participated in a "dinner theater" where cooks prepared various dishes related to stories read aloud by an actor, and the children got to sample everything!

Of the main events we have seen Jack and the Beanstalk, La Freccia Azzurra (The Blue Arrow) and Sleeping Beauty. At the end of the week awards will be given to the best show and best actor or actress. 

Last night we saw a gorgeous production of Sleeping Beauty. The stage set was unique and versatile and the costumes were breathtaking. We all had a hard time following the dialogue (extremely fast bordering on incomprehensible), but decided that it was meant to be primarily a visual show. Here are a few rather out-of-focus photos taken on my smart phone . . .

This was our favorite so far, but with two more shows to go - who knows what surprises are in store for us?

Beach Banquet

Sunday in the summertime means meeting up with friends at the local beach club for a day of sun, sea . . . and food. Well, this is Italy, right? Food is always at the center of any gathering, get used to it!

This particular group of friends has a weekly tradition of enjoying raw mussels accompanied by a few bottles of prosecco. In the photo above you can see the guys opening the mussels, while the women stand by ready to dive in, squeeze on a few drops of fresh lemon juice and devour.

That's just the appetizer, however. The real meal is yet to come. Everyone brings something they have cooked  at home to share and you had better be quick if you see something you like, it won't last long!

Unfortunately for gluten and lactose intolerant me, I have to pass on most of these yummy delights. I did enjoy some delicious baked onions and some truly divine grilled eggplant. Mouthwatering!

And, of course, there was the prosecco!

You know it's summer when . . .

. . . the field across the country lane from our house catches on fire. It happens every year. It might be due to hot weather, dry grass and some sort of magical spontaneous combustion. Or more likely it's just an annual repeat of the time I saw a guy drive by and throw his cigarette out the window. Five minutes later there was a giant blaze underway. 

We have been lucky so far, in that the flames have never jumped the road and headed towards our house. The "field of love" (click here for the whole story) next to us is notoriously uncared for and at this time of year is usually filled with six-foot high dry weeds. My husband just recently called the "guardia campestre" (yet another specialized Italian police force . . . there are so many here it's hard to keep track of them all) and complained about the fire hazard. Two days later the weeds were gone. Now, that was amazing! Quick response is not usually a strong point of local officials.

And yet another miracle accompanied this fire . . . we called the fire department . . . and a fire truck actually came and put out the fire! Now, the amazing-ness of this event may not be immediately clear to all. Let me just say that this same field catches fire every blessed year and we always call the fire department . . . but this is the first time they have actually sent out a truck. Wow!

I thanked one of the firemen for coming and he said "sure" in a puzzled sort of way, as if he was thinking, "Of course we came." Ha! In the defense of the local FD I will say that in the past they didn't come because they were busy with several other fires that were all burning at the same time. But still, that's not a lot of comfort when you're watching the progress of a giant wall of flame just a stone's throw from your house . . .

Let's just hope that this was our yearly fire and now we're done with it, no harm done.

Is it Summer Yet?

I have ignored this blog for way too long, but during the academic year, I just do not have the time to keep up with posting...on top of teaching at the university, doing translations, responsibilities related to home and family...but summer vacation is almost here!

In the meantime, I'd like to share this video of one of the students in my second year English course this year. Her name is Irene di Trani, she's 21 and, who knows, one day we may be listening to her on the radio.

She won a national competition with her interpretation of Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All."

Summer Style

Have you seen the new sandal boots that everyone is wearing this year? Well, I think they are rather strange and probably would never have bought myself a pair but for a happy set of circumstances.

I went out for a coffee with a friend at the local mall. After a shot of caffeine and a chat we took a walk around the mall and ended up looking at shoes. I spotted this pair by Dive & Co. for only €42 and was so curious about them that my friend talked me into trying them on. Once they were on my feet, I was sold. They are the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. I don't know how, but they don't rub on any part of my feet, they are fantastic.

Of course, my sons thought it was a riot that I bought shoes when out with my friend Anna Scarpa (scarpa means "shoe" in Italian)...

The next problem was trying to figure out how to wear them. They are kind of tricky because visually they cut off the line of your legs and make them look shorter. One way to go is with skinny jeans, but it is too hot these days to even think about jeans.

What do you think, does the look above work?

Or are they better with a shorter skirt? My husband took this picture and missed the whole idea that the focus of the photo was supposed to be on the shoes...

There you go, now you can see the shoes!

No shoes here, but I wanted to show off another one of my bargain purchases. I found this cute summer dress at H&M for only €10. That was full price, not sale price! If I look a little exhausted in this photo, that's because I was. And hot, too.

My photographer of choice is my 10-year-old son. Not because he has talent or the desire to take pictures of his wacky mamma, but because he is a good kid and will actually do it when I beg him to.

This last photo shows my true nature. Gabri was not into the picture-taking and here I'm saying, "well, are you gonna take the picture or what?!" Bad Mamma!

Summer Hair

Today was my last day of work for this academic year. Yeah! I am officially on vacation! For the next two months that means no riding the dirty, stinky, crowded train into Bari. No more office politics. No more brain strain from reading my students' compositions and trying to correct them in the most effective and useful way so that they can improve their written expression and organisation in the English language...well, actually, I like doing that. I like my job. I like teaching and I like my students, too. A lot.

But, for now, it's time to take a break. Summer means I don't work at the university, but it is a busy time for me anyway. I still have to take care of the house, the kids, the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning and all that. But, when I'm not working I can do all of that stuff at my own pace. I can slow down. And that's wonderful.

I'm kind of a sloth by nature. Don't call me lazy. I mean...I get things done. No, really, I do. I just get them done...eventually. One of my least favorite things in life is having someone tell me to hurry up. My husband is quite different, he's a hyperactive speed-demon who never sits down to relax. And when I say never, I mean never. Being together has affected both of us...I move quite a bit faster than I did before I met him. And he has...well, no, he hasn't...no, he's still the same maniacal overachiever as ever. I just ignore him when his frenzy of activity starts to get on my nerves...

So here's Step One in my slowing-down, doing-things-at-my-pace summer lifestyle: my new simplified hair routine. Keep in mind that I have straight hair, completely straight hair. The thin, limp kind. What you see in this photo can only be defined as a minor miracle...Saretta has waves!

You want waves, too? It's easy, just follow my example. First, go swimming in the Adriatic Sea. Next, go home, take a shower, but convince yourself that no, you do not have time to wash your hair now, you'll do that later. Then, spend 4 to 5 hours ironing in a room without air-conditioning on a hot afternoon (you may have to be living in Italy and married to an Italian to understand this phase completely!). Next, so as not to faint from the heat, roll your hair up and clip it to the top of your head. Finally, forget that you meant to wash your hair, go to bed, wake up late the next morning so that you once again do not have time to wash that hair...and presto, bingo...my wavy hair look can be yours!

Gotta warn you, though, it's kind of crunchy from sea-salt.

On Being 12

Sometimes, when you are 12, those long, hot summer days seem to stretch on interminably. You and your friend have played basketball, soccer and swum in the neighbor's pool for countless hours. You watched a little TV, but there was nothing good on, so the two of you decide to just sit around out in the yard.


As with little kids, it's those overly quiet moments that a mother needs to worry about...


Out of sheer boredom, my son decided it would be a good idea to stick his foot down into the little hole we had drilled in the yard to search for drinking water in the underlying ground water. As you can see, it's really a little hole. Compare the size of the kid's shoe with the size of the hole and maybe you know what's coming next in this story...

F., my son's friend came running into the house, "Sara, Sara, Danny's foot is stuck in the waterhole!" Yes, he got his foot into the hole, up to his knee, but then could not get it back out.

We spent the next half hour and more trying every possible technique I could think of to get his foot out. We tried to pull him straight up and out, but he said it hurt. I lay face down in the dirt and stuck my whole arm into the hole to try to pull his shoe off, but it was on too tight. I tried to untie his shoe so he could slip his foot out, but, besides the fact that he had made double knots in his laces, there was just not enough room for me to move my hand around.

The next stage involved tools...
I thought maybe I could cut the shoelaces, but there was just not enough room to manouver down in that hole and I was afraid I might cut my son. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to widen the sides of the hole, but as anyone who knows Apulia can tell you, we have a very rocky terrain here. I was able to move a tiny bit of dirt and a few little pebbles, but not much more.

In the end, the combination of my digging and the help of Danny's friend, F., who is a very big and strong 12-year-old, did the trick. We tried our original "pulling him straight up and out while he pushed with his other leg" technique....and succeeded!

Never a dull moment around here, I'm telling you...

The Last Time Down the Slide

On the last day at the beach club, both of my boys left crying.

"Goodbye, beach club! Goodbye, swimming pool! Goodbye, high dive! Goodbye, water slide! See you next summer!"

The summer is so long when you are a child, but the school year is even longer!

Funky Bahia

Thought I'd let you listen to Sergio Mendes in one of this summer's biggest hits as the summer fades away...



Makes you want to dance in the sand one more time, doesn't it?

Ferragosto

Today is August 15, an Italian national holiday which I've never understood... It has Roman agrarian origins, on this day the main agricultural chores had been completed and it was a day of rest. Nowadays it's an excuse for mega dance parties on the beach for the young (do they need an excuse?) or yet another occasion to get together with friends and families and eat too much (do we need another occasion?).

For me it represents the beginning of the end of summer. Back to school time is just two weeks off for me - though my boys have another month of vacation! It seems like time is flying by...just like the train in the photo. The very train I'll be taking to work not too long from now...