Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy Saint Patrick's day!

Happy Irish day everyone!
Dinner is still cooking and while I wait for my pollo con pancetta to be ready, I want to share something on this Saint Patrick's day.
It's not my first year overseas and I should be used to this celebration by now.
But somehow, Saint Patrick's day is hard to understand for me: in my opinion, the fact that this day is related to a Saint is even contradictory. No one knows (among the majority of people I know) who Saint Patrick was and what it did. On the other hand, everybody has very clear the main purpose of this festivity:  get wasted and drink as much as your body can possibly stand (and even a little more). I know, there are many other Saints-related celebrations whose original meaning is ignored by most of the people (Valentine's Day #1 example). But they didn't become an alcoholic day!!!
Well, I was out last night and I had tons of fun...I'm not "against Saint Patrick". I just don't get it.  Maybe it's because in my entire life March 17th was something else: it' s my mom's "name day".
Her name is Patrizia (Italian feminine version of Patrizio - Patrick) and she used to tell me how important this day was for her when she was little.
In post-war Italy, religion was still a huge deal for everybody (much more than what it is today) and children didn't get to celebrate their birthday. Their special day throughout the year was their "onomastico" (name day) and it was always related to a Saint. In our calendar every day has one, or more than one, designated Saint. The idea of my mom at 12 all excited while getting ready for her party and my grandma (nonna Maria) baking and cooking, as she always did for special occasions, warms my heart and gives me a more familiar connotation for this crazy Saint Patrick's day and I like this one better!
Buon onomastico mammina!


Sunday, March 11, 2012

Japan: 1 year later

Has an entire year really gone by from that March 11th, 2011?
In terms of events it feels even more than one year considering how much my life has changed:
I got married (one day I want to write a post on that and it'll be happier than this), I moved to a different country, got a new job and things and people around me have evolved deeply.
On the other hand, the memory of that day in Tokyo is still vivid in my head, heart and in my subconscious.
I cannot compare my experience to the one of thousands of Japanese whose life has been irreparably devastated in a few hours by the earthquake and tsunami of that Friday afternoon.
I had a look at my iPad today and read something I wrote a couple of days after the jishin* stroke, when, with a small suitcase, I was on my way to the airport, to catch a flight to Italy, leaving behind me an entire life without knowing when or whether I would have come back. A decision taken in a snap without even realizing that I was putting thousands of miles between me and the man I loved, my home, many friends and the city that had taken me under its wing for 4 beautiful years.
Today I could fall in the prosiness of talking about how great Japanese people are, what a great reconstruction was achieved in these months, but I won't.
Watch this BBC video and through the eyes of its children you will understand the essence of Japan!  



* jishin = Japanese for earthquake

Friday, March 2, 2012

Musica maestro!


Ciao! 
This morning I woke up feeling like doing nothing.
In a few hours Thomas will be back from his WWW Thailand trip and I figured I could use this time to play the guitar and practice some new songs. You've got to know that when he's around I'm not allowed to play much. In our division of "family roles" HE is the guitarist and I am the singer. No interferences of roles are permitted.
Honestly speaking, there is no doubt that he's way better than me at the guitar, but I miss being able to learn new songs and play them for hours on my own. Back home, many years ago now, I used to annoy my family playing the piano and singing (loudly) almost every day! 
This is our family jewel and this on the side is the room where I spent most of my high school afternoons, instead of doing my homework, as I was supposed to.

I had a song in mind these days: "Runaway Train" by Asylum. A few weeks ago Jake and Ramon came over for a few drinks and Jake ended up playing that song that I haven't heard in ages... I loved it! Here is my attempt:



 Sorry for the ending C chord. It's very hesitant, but I didn't want to start over for that one last note!!! 

After singing Runaway Train, I kept playing changing my repertoire completely.
Last song for today (and probably for a long  time...) : "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson. Simple and lovely. Happy lyrics, this is my favorite phrase "...maybe I wanna do what bunnies do, with you, if you know what I mean". LOL! Do you know what I mean?



Now that I've annoyed you enough with my songs, I'm done for today! You all have a great weekend and I go get ready to pick Thomas up at the airport!!!