OUT AND ABOUT AT CHRISTMAS

I hope you all like the new header because it took me from 5pm till midnight to get it on as it just wouldn't centre! In the end I had to crop it in order to increase the width but you can see the whole effect above. It is, of course, a light projection of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola and, along with the stars, it is a lovely sight, lighting up the Duomo di San Pietro for Christmas.

Outside the Bar Edicolè there are these pretty arrangements:





And round at Mr T's deli, his daughter has set up this clever tree:



I hope you're all beginning to feel festive!

THANK YOU, SICILY GUIDE & CIAO, AMALFI!

I was delighted to be mentioned by Maria over at Sicily Guide last week as it's one of the best sources of information about this fascinating island. Thank you, Maria and Buon Natale!

And today Simi and I are thrilled to be the subject of Laura's Sunday Shoutout on Ciao Amalfi. Do take a look at this beautiful blog. Thank you, Laura and Buon Natale to you, too!

WHEN IT PAYS TO HAVE 2 HAIRDRESSERS

When I got to Raffaele's at about 1.15 pm today the trouble was not so much the number of people waiting - there were about six of us - but what the women already being "done" were having done! Saturdays seem to bring out the luscious long locks brigade and everything takes ages with them. Anyway, I sat there with my book and talked to a few people, including a charming chihuahua, until 3.30, when I asked Raffaele how much longer the wait would be.

"Oh, in 45 minutes, you'll be servita and out", said he confidently.

But by 3.50 I had still not been shampooed and I had students due at home at 4.30, so off I dashed, with apologies.

Nothing for it but to throw myself upon the mercy of Orazio - yes, he could do it at 5.30. Sprint home, teach students, back to Orazio's and at last servita and feeling human by 6.30.

There was panettone at Raffaele's, though!

SABATO MUSICALE

A Christmas song to put things in perspective:

Irene Grandi - O è Natale tutti i giorni...



Lyrics

E' quasi Natale
e a Firenze
che freddo che fa
Io parto da Milano
per passarlo
con mamma e papà

Il mondo
forse no, non è cambiato mai
e pace in terra
no non c'è
e non ci sarà
perché noi non siamo uomini
di buona volontà

Non so perché
questo lusso di cartone
se razzismo guerra e fame
ancora uccidon le persone.

Lo sai cos'è,
dovremmo stringerci le mani
... O é Natale tutti i giorni
o non é Natale mai...

E intanto i negozi
brillano e brilla la TV
e le offerte speciali
e i nostri dischi si vendono di più

Il mondo
forse no, non é cambiato mai
e pace in terra
forse un giorno ci sarà
perché il mondo ha molto tempo,
ha tempo
molto più di noi

E intanto noi
ci facciamo i regali
il giorno che è nato Cristo
arricchiamo gl'industriali
e intanto noi
ci mangiamo i panettoni
il giorno che è nato Cristo
diventiamo più ciccioni

Lo sai cos'è,
dovremmo stringerci le mani
... O é Natale tutti i giorni
o non é Natale maaaai...

... O é Natale tutti i giorni
o non é Natale maaaai...

It's nearly Xmas
and how cold it is
in Florence
I'm leaving Milan
to spend it
with Mum and Dad

The world
has perhaps never changed
and there isn't
and there won't be
peace on earth
because we are not men
of good will

I don't know why
we allow ourselves the luxury of cards
if racism, war and hunger
are still killing people

You know how it is,
we should shake hands
... Either it's Xmas every day
or it's never Xmas...

Meanwhile the shops
and the TV are glittering
and they sell more of their special offers
and our CDs

The world
has perhaps never changed
and maybe one day
there'll be peace on earth
because the world has a lot of time,
it has much more time
than we do

Meanwhile we
give each other gifts
on the day Christ was born
we make manufacturers rich
and meanwhile
we eat panettone
on the day Christ was born
we become fatter

You know how it is,
we should shake hands
... Either it's Xmas every day
or it's never Xmas...

... Either it's Xmas every day
or it's never Xmas...

[My translation]

FRUITY FANCIES

If clementines and oranges with their leaves still on are lovely, lemons with the leaves attached are heavenly and always seem exotic to me:

These little apples from Etna are a delight. They are an old variety called mele cola and are full of flavour:

But I had to ask a friend to send me a seasonal cranberry supply from Britain:



Hey! I can make cranberry sauce so it really is Christmas!

The apples reminded me of an old song. Take it away, Francis Albert...

Frank Sinatra - Little Green Apples

PRESENTING THE ENGLISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL CHOIR...

Much fun was had by this group singing along to "Last Christmas". Cathy and I are in the centre of the last picture.

TORNADO IN CATANIA

Take a look at this video of a tornado which struck Catania between 3.30 and 4 pm yesterday. Two people were injured in the city and tragically, four naval officers were seriously injured when the tornado struck their helicopter hangar at the Maristaeli Base. One of them has since died. At Motta Sant'Anastasia, 15 kilometres away, roofs were blown off houses and trees were felled.

Tornado a Catania - 14.12.09


Here in Modica a Scirocco wind and lightning caused an electricity blackout just before 7pm and it lasted about half an hour. Cathy and I were just about to send our students home when the power came back on.

SOME UNWELCOME VISITORS

Sicily has had some unwelcome visitors in the form of the punteruolo rosso, or red palm weevil, for two years now. This insect is destroying many of the island's lovely date palms and last night I was very sorry to learn that the two palm trees in front of the Sacro Cuore Church, under which I have so often sheltered from the sun, are affected. A student of mine who is an agronomist says that the weevil arrived from Egypt and that the only treatment is to cut affected palms down so that is the fate in store for the Church trees.

Image: Wikimedia

In Italy the red palm weevil has also reached Campania, Lazio, Puglia, Sardinia and Tuscany.

SANTA LUCIA

Today [of which five minutes remain as I write] is the festa of Santa Lucia,who was martyred in Siracusa in 304 AD during the Persecution of Diocletian. She is one of my favourite saints, along with St Martin and St Francis, because a feminist reading of her story would bring one to conclude that she was partially condemned for her unconventionality [though I suppose all saints were unconventional].

Lucia consecrated her virginity to God and expressed a wish to give all her worldly goods to the poor. She refused to marry a pagan, but her spurned fiancé had his revenge after Lucia and her mother, Eutychia [or Eutychiaea], visited Catania in the hope that the martyred Sant'Agata of that city would cure Eutychia of a haemorrage. Eutychia was cured and Lucia distributed some of her wealth to the poor, thus incurring the further wrath of her would-be husband, who denounced her to Paschasius, the Governor of Sicily.

First condemned to become a prostitute, Lucia literally could not be moved, so then her persecutors unsuccessfully tried to burn her. Finally she was decapitated with a sword and the story goes that her eyes were gouged out first. One legend has it that only her eyes remained of her, but there is also a story that her body lay undisturbed in Sicily for 400 years before other relics were dispersed. In art, Santa Lucia is often represented with her eyes on a plate and church-goers in Italy are given tiny pieces of pasta representing her eyes on 13th December.

Other symbols of Santa Lucia are the sword and the palm and she is the protector of electricians, eye specialists and the blind.

Andrea Bocelli - Santa Lucia

TV TEARJERKERS

Here in Italy we don't do things by halves and I was so moved by this performance on Italia's Got Talent last night that I found myself crying along with one of the judges...



... and again at this one...



... but this one brought me some Christmas cheer!

SABATO MUSICALE

Sigh.

Andrea Bocelli - Blue Christmas

IN THE PAPERS

First of all, two more images - which I have stolen from Antonio's blog - from last Saturday night's presentation of the poetry book: in the first, Antonio [right] is examining his Caffè Letterario Salvatore Quasimodo award. Prof. Domenico Pisana, the President of the literary association, is on the left. In the second photo Prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino accompanies the young soprano Chiara Notarnicola, who sang beautifully for us. I'm sure that we will all be hearing more of Chiara, for she is surely an opera star in the making.

Below is the best reproduction I could manage of an article which appeared in Il Giornale di Sicilia yesterday, along with my translation:

Last week's "Literary Saturday" at the Palazzo della Cultura was devoted to the Modican poet Antonio Lonardo. Il Profumo del Pensiero, his third collection, was presented in its Italian-English edition. The event was chaired by the President of the Caffè Letterario, Domenico Pisana, with an introduction to the poetry by Prof. Uccio Di Maggio, a teacher of English Language and Literature at Modica's Liceo Scientifico "Galileo". Di Maggio, in addition to emphasising the profound nature of Lonardo's poetry, which embraces various themes in a learned linguistic style, spoke about the contribution of Prof.ssa Susan Clarke, who wrote the Preface and, importantly, about Patricia Eggleton, who had brilliantly translated the 23 poems in the collection. In pointing out the difficulties of translation in general, Di Maggio showed how Patricia Eggleton's translation had overcome all the obstacles, whilst respecting Lonardo's strong idiom and remaining faithful to the conceptuality of his thought and poetic nature of the text.

As Antonio Daniele comments on the dust jacket,

"The explosive charge of creation continues in Lonardo's work. It is the poetry of a builder of words, as he likes to define himself - a scholar's words which have been sought, then refined and made holy by exalting them in garments now from the Renaissance, now Baroque in the richness of the soul and the optimism expressed in his thought."

During the course of the evening, the poems were read in English by Patricia Eggleton and in Italian by the Modican actor Giorgio Sparacino. Ausilia Pluchino provided piano accompaniment and the young soprano Chiara Notarnicola sang.

Below is a copy of an article which appeared in La Sicilia yesterday, also with my translation:

«Il profumo del pensiero» di Lonardo
Al Palacultura la presentazione dell’ultima
fatica letteraria che racchiude le liriche
già pubblicate

"Il profumo del pensiero". È l’ultima fatica
letteraria di Antonio Lonardo, già
docente dell’Itc ’Archimede’, presentata
durante lo scorso Sabato letterario al
Palazzo della Cultura. L’opera, che racchiude
le liriche già pubblicate dal poeta
originario di Taurasi, in provincia di
Avellino, e modicano d’adozione, contiene
una poesia inedita dedicata al fratello
Celestino e si presenta al pubblico
in una nuova veste poliglotta. Grazie
infatti alla collaborazione con la prof.ssa
Patrice Egleton, madrelingua inglese, le
poesie sono state tradotte in inglese, e
l’opera presenta una doppia prefazione
nelle due lingue a cura della prof.ssa
Susan Clark, anch’ella madrelingua inglese.
Fedele alla mission del ’poeta’,
che per Lonardo è essere "costruttore di
parole", nella sua lirica "le parole non
trasmettono esclusivamente il proprio
valore semantico - ha sottolineato il
prof. Uccio di Maggio, docente di lingua
inglese al Liceo Scientifico ’Galilei’ di
Modica, che ha curato la presentazione
del libro durante l’incontro culturale -
bensì quello sonoro. E l’equilibrio sonoro/
fonico viene ricercato anche nella
traduzione, che pondera e ricerca i sinonimi
più giusti, per dare al lettore la
reale dimensione emotiva dell’opera".
Della poesia di Lonardo, Domenico Pisana,
presidente del Caffè letterario Quasimodo
di Modica, esalta la forza emotiva.
"Le parole si arricchiscono di immagini,
simboli, accostamenti analogici,
con la risultanza di una poesia che è
sublime gioco/effetto fonico della parola
ricercata ma non barocca". "La poesia
di Lonardo - ha proseguito Di Maggio -
risulta essere classica, ma anche moderna
al contempo, in quanto presenta le figure
retoriche note alla tradizione, e
pure dei neologismi, precisamente degli
anglicismi". La serata dedicata a Lonardo,
che di recente si è aggiudicato il
terzo posto al concorso nazionale di
poesia "Premio Axa 2009" con la lirica
inedita "Luoghi", è proseguita con la
lettura delle liriche da parte dell’attore
Giorgio Sparacino, e della prof.ssa Egleton,
sullo sfondo delle note del pianoforte
della prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino.

- VALENTINA RAFFA

Il Profumo del Pensiero by Lonardo
Launch of his latest work,
a selection of previously published poems,
at the Palazzo della Cultura

Il Profumo del Pensiero is the latest work by Antonio Lonardo, formerly a teacher at the ITC Archimede. The book was launched last Saturday at the Palazzo della Cultura. The polyglot edition contains a selection of previously published poems by Lonardo, who was born in Taurasi [Avellino] and is Modican by adoption, as well as a previously unpublished poem dedicated to his brother Celestino.

Thanks to the collaboration of Prof.ssa Patricia Eggleton, whose mother tongue is English, the poems have been translated into English and the edition contains a "double preface" in both languages by Prof.ssa Susan Clarke, who is also a native English speaker.

Lonardo is faithful to the poet's mission, which is, for him, to be a "builder of words"; in his poetry "words do not just communicate their semantic import, but also their resonant impact", said Prof Uccio Di Maggio, an English teacher at the Liceo Scientifico "Galilei" in Modica, who introduced the book. " This balance between sound and semantics has also been sought in the translation, in which the translator has considered and found the most appropriate synonyms, in order to communicate to the reader the true emotional dimension of the work."

Domenico Pisana, President of Modica's Caffè Letterario Quasimodo, praised the emotional impact of Lonardo's poetry:

"The carefully chosen words are rich in images, symbols and analogy, resulting in poetry which has a sublime playful / phonic effect, though it is not baroque in nature."

"Lonardo's poetry", continued Di Maggio, "is classical, yet, at the same time, modern, with figures of speech which draw upon tradition as well as neologisms and anglicisms".

The evening devoted to Lonardo, who has recently been awarded third prize in the national poetry competition, "Axa Prize 2009" for his unpublished poem Luoghi , continued with the reading of some of the poems by the actor Giorgio Sparacino and Prof.ssa Eggleton . Prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino provided piano accompaniment.

Translation note; the paragraphing is mine as Italian does not go in for it!

LET'S HEAR IT FOR TOBIA!

English Mastiff image: Wikipedia


Simi insists I publish my article for today's Italy Magazine here! She is so sorry for Tobia and even thought about inviting him to live with us - only she, of course, would frighten him.....

A CLEAR CASE OF DISCRIMINATION

Looking forward to Christmas but secretly worried that you may put on a few pounds? Take comfort in the fact that you are unlikely, if you do, to be treated like young Tobia, a 15-month-old English mastiff who lives in Milan. Tobia, who currently weighs in at around 87 kilos [13 st.9lbs or 191.8 lbs] has been banned from using the lift by the administrator of his Milan condominium because he is “too heavy”. As Tobia lives with his owners on the fifth floor, this is hard for him indeed.

Tobia’s owners have complained to Aidaa, the Italian Association for the Defence of Animals and the Environment, which, having examined the case in its “Tribunal”, has confirmed that Tobia is a good dog who greets children enthusiastically and has never bothered any of the other residents in the apartment block. He is, however, a little lazy and five flights of stairs are a bit much for him.

As the maximum weight allowed in the condominium’s lift is 250 kilos and Tobia and his owners together weigh less than 220 kilos, Aidaa has ruled that the administrator must revoke the ban. Otherwise, says the organisation’s President, Lorenzo Croce, the Tribunal will accuse him of cruelty to animals and demand compensation of an amount sufficient to buy Tobia’s food for the next ten years. “Given his size”, he adds, “ this will not be a light economic undertaking”.

CHRISTMAS STARS

This is an article of mine which was published in Italy Magazine today. I hope you like the poinsettia legends:

CHRISTMAS STARS

The poinsettia plant is as much a symbol of Christmas in Italy as the presepe [crib] that is found in almost every home. With their bright red colour and leaves in the form of star points, the plants are loved, carefully tended and are often kept from one year to the next. In Italy they are known as Stelle di Natale [Christmas stars] a name which the Italians adopted from Spanish missionaries in Mexico, where the plant originated. A group of Spanish Franciscan monks working in Mexico used the plants in a Christmas procession for the first time in the seventeenth century and after that the Mexicans started using them in Nativity scenes. It was one Joel Robert Poinsett, US Ambassador to Mexico from 1825 – 1829, who gave the plant its English name and took it to the United States. At Christmas 1899 poinsettia plants were placed in St Peter’s Basilica, drawing admiration from all who saw them.

Now Coldiretti, the Italian farming union, has issued some advice for the care of the 20 million “Christmas stars” that Italians are expected to buy this Christmas: The plants should be kept in light, well heated rooms and in winter can withstand direct sunlight. It is important to water them only when the soil surrounding them is completely dry. Coldiretti also urges consumers to buy plants grown in Italy, thus ensuring quality and helping the agricultural sector. The capital of the poinsettia in Italy is without doubt the Versilia [Tuscan Riviera] and in particular the town of Viareggio, where it is estimated that 5 million plants will be produced for sale this year. Small plants should cost around 2.50 euros, larger ones up to 30 euros and the largest around 70 – 80 euros.

There are two legends about the poinsettia that you may like to know about. Neither is Italian but – hey- it’s Christmas! The first and most famous concerns a little Mexican girl called Pepita or, in some versions, Lola, or maybe a boy called Pablo. Pepita, on her way to see the annual Nativity scene in her village, suddenly realised she had no offering to take with her that would show her love for the Baby Jesus and she started to cry. At that point, an angel spoke to her and advised her to gather some greens from the roadside, for Jesus would know that they were given with love. Pepita did so but the other children laughed at her gift. Then, all of a sudden, the greens turned into a beautiful, red poinsettia plant.

The other legend is more universal: When God created Nature, he asked all the flowers to give to the humans who chose and tended them the very best of themselves – beauty, love, harmony and wisdom. But there was one plant that nobody wanted, although it tried hard to be chosen, for it had tiny flowers and its leaves were too big. The plant became very sad and in December God saw this. He said, “I know you want to give men beauty, love, harmony and wisdom and, as men need these things, I am going to help you. I will give you my blood and put it on your leaves, which will turn deep red and make you the most beautiful flower on earth in this most important season for man.” And so the plant with the tiny flowers and big leaves became the lovely stella di Natale and ever since, it has brought men beauty, love, harmony and wisdom.

Take care of your “Christmas stars” this year.

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DAILY DOINGS - 26

A day off today for the Immacolata and it's been nice just to be at home and relax. Now it's beginning to seem like Christmas, though I don't think there's much seasonal cheer at the Water Office, as the service is "sospeso" yet again. So once again we pay for a private delivery and are thus charged twice for our water.

The Post Office, meanwhile, chose last week to change its "ticket" system: regular readers may remember that, as you enter [with the phrase "Abandon all hope" in mind] you take a numbered ticket for the service you want to use - bill-paying, other financial services,postal, business and so on - and then wait till your number comes up on a screen. Only now someone has had the brainwave of lumping all the financial services together, so that if you just want to pay a bill - which doesn't usually take long once you actually get to the counter - your ticket has the same letter on it as that of someone who is there to draw their pension, a process for which every document in Christendom appears to be required, plus laborious signing of slowly printed papers and the noisy stamping thereof. I suppose this system might work but for one problem - the fact that there is only ever one "financial" counter open. Pazienza.

Never mind: it is certainly Christmas over at Bar Edicolè [the one with the bookshop behind it] and the staff have worked hard at this tempting display:

Meanwhile, this is how to buy citrus fruit, I've decided. It is so deliciously fresh that no half measures will be permitted in this house!

Oh, before I go, Simi wants to show you "how to make a bed":




Quite right, Simi!

LONZA CON UVA

Tomorrow is the Immacolata holiday and the true start of Christmas festivities in Italy. I wanted to cook something new and rather festive tonight and found this recipe in a pretty little book of Christmas anecdotes, pictures and recipes. I cannot reproduce the copyright recipe here but can tell you that it consists of pork loin wrapped in pancetta and roasted with fresh herbs including bay plus shallots, red grapes and rosé wine. To look at it cheered me up, the aroma was Christmassy and it tasted good, too!

A POETIC EVENING

"My poet", Antonio Lonardo, and I presented Il Profumo del Pensiero, the collection of poetry which he wrote and I translated, to a full conference room at Modica's Palazzo della Cultura last night. Prof. Domenico Pisana, President of the Caffè Letterario Salvatore Quasimodo, chaired the occasion, whilst prof. Uccio Di Maggio introduced the poems and commented on the translations. The poems were read in Italian by the actor-director Giorgio Sparacino of Ragusa's Teatro Utopia, and in English by myself. Prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino played classical piano music in the intervals between poetry cycles and the young soprano Chiara Notarnicola sang for us.

Left to right: Prof. Uccio Di Maggio, prof. Domenico Pisana, prof. Antonio Lonardo.

Giorgio Sparacino reading the poems.

Me being presented with the Caffè Letterario Salvatore Quasimodo medal.

The medal means more to me than I can say, for it denotes acceptance into the cultural life of Modica.

SABATO MUSICALE

Enjoy.

Antonello Venditti - Regali di Natale

NATALE DA RAFFAELE

Raffaele the hairdresser's Christmas decorations always cheer me up and this year is no exception:

MOUNTAINGIRL'S PHOTO CHALLENGE - "FOOD"

It's Friday night and time for my friend mountaingirl's Photo Challenge. This week's theme is "food" and that's a gift to someone like me! On a cold, rainy night in Sicily it's hard to walk past a local café where they are cooking arancini and focacce, so I didn't. They do one of my favourite focaccia fillings, tomato and aubergine: