DLaM and the Deathly Tobacco
(image by Whisperwolf on Flickr) Learning Italian is a bit of a hit and miss affair with me. I have neither the time nor the inclination to sit down with books and learn by rote, so I tend to pick up...
View ArticleSaturday night’s all right for dancing
It’s Saturday night and there’s a wine festival going on. We teachers don’t need asking twice. Roping in Liv and Meg’s (perpetually far more sober) Italian boyfriends to drive us there, Olivia, Megan,...
View ArticleOn food and friendships
Hey. You want to help me research my family near Palermo? It’s a casual request from my American friend Maryann via Facebook, and I say yes without thinking twice. It sounds like it should be fun, but...
View ArticleThe Pasquetta barbecue
Pasquetta – or Easter Monday – is the day when young Italians shake off the shackles of their family duties. Having spent Sunday with their parents, aunts, uncles, little sisters and brothers, and all...
View ArticleOn weddings and (too much) wine
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that it’s been a bit quiet around here recently. There’s a reason for that – Davide and I got married on 20 August! It’s therefore been a busy few months, but...
View ArticleMy favourite festival: Harvest
I could happily live on this Harvest, to me as a child in a farming community, meant wheat stubble burning and the throat-clutching excitement (terror?) of seeing the fire and smoke licking across the...
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