After falling from the ladder in October while collecting the olives I have been relegated to the role of “official photographer” for the start of the olive pruning season. Last year we did a superficial prune but this year Bill is going to prune hard. He has bought a long handled saw and a flat cap to ensure he does a good job.
We normally meet Federica (telephone sales) and Roberta (English teacher) on Friday at 6.00 for an hour’s English conversation. They both use English at work and had wanted an opportunity to talk with native speakers. What started out as an “English Conversation Class” has become a very pleasant way to wile away an hour or so over a cup of tea, a slice of cake and a chat.
This week Friday wasn’t possible so we met on Saturday afternoon and they took us for afternoon tea in the Caffe del Pasticciere in Fano. It is just outside the centre of Fano in the middle of a small group of shops. The area is a bit unprepossessing but the cafe itself is very elegant and it is famous in Fano for its cakes. We ordered our coffees and teas and then went to select our pastries and biscuits. When we returned the drinks had arrived but also plates of biscuits, which, unknown to us, are given out with the drinks. Two minutes later the pastries and biscuits we had ordered also arrived at the table. It seemed a lot of food and we didn’t think we would be able to eat them all. But somehow we managed most of them.
Having managed to avoid the horrible weather in the north and south of Italy the snow finally arrived. It’s just a sprinkling of snow and so no need to call out the snow ploughs.
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Saturday night was Diploma night in San Giorgio. All those who had attended the cookery course were awarded a diploma with the mayor, Federico, receiving an honory diploma. Family and friends came along to enjoy the event. All the diploma holders had brought food and so after the presentation dinner was served to about 80 hungry Italians. Most of the food was cold with various types of pizzas and sandwiches with lots of desserts but at the mention of hot crepes being served there was a defininte buzz in the place. After dinner drinks took the form of an interesting liquor made from gin, lemon and celerey. |
The evening English class starts at 8.30. and finishes at 10.00. It is the “younger” group ranging from 21 to 67. This group has just finished Dracula and as with the previous group want to move away from the horror theme. So we are moving up a reading level and trying “Chemical Secret”, and environmental thriller.
Here they are (left to right):
Silvio: “not currently in work” Silvio passes the time reading, playing tennis. The only Italian I know who belongs to a library.
Germana: originally from San Giorgio she now lives in Fano and runs a “rental property agency”. Her work means she has put the English she has learned to practical use.
Anna-Lisa: former first lady of San Giorgio as her husband was a former mayor. Elections this June may mean that she will be first lady again.
Sauro: a geologist who works in the mountains. Leaves work at 7.00, gets home at 8.00 and despite this manages to arrive in the class with a smile on his face.
Kenny: real name Daniele but for reasons lost in time known as Danny. Lives and works in Fano.
Luanna (standing): owns and manages a local grocery store which is open from 7.45am to 8.00pm 6 days a weeks and is a god-send when you’ve forgotten to buy something for lunch or dinner. In any spare time she has she enjoys photography.
Terry (standing): the teacher.
Raje: designs jewellery for a shop in Mondavio. Speaks French, Arabic, Italian and now English. She even understands local dialect.
Nicholas: an interloper from Piagge (our nearest town). Has lived and worked for a short perioid in Galway and decided that learning English in San Giorgio is more interesting than learning Irish.
Every Wednesday I give two English classes. The classes are now in their 3rd year and even if little English is learned everyone has a good time.
The afternoon class meets at 3.00 pm. This is the “pensioners group” as only one member works. In the class we are currently reading “Dracula” from the Oxford Bookworms series. Last year it was the horror story “The Monkey’s Paw”. They want the next book not to be a horror story.
And here they are:
Front row left to right:
Juliana: could retire but enjoys work so much she continues to teach primary school – including some English.
Anne (special guest for the day, 4th Feb.): has come to live in Mondavio, a nearby town, and agreed to come to answer questions about why anyone would want to retire to Italy. Everybody liked her and she may be asked back.
Lory: worked in the Post Office. Now she is San Giorgio’s local branch of the NSPCA. She has or looks after 4 dogs and 12 cats. She is also deputy looker-after of our cat when we go on holiday.
Rina, Alfredo: the only husband and wife team in the group. They have moved from Bologna to live in San Giorgio (for the quality of the air). They enjoy gardening, inviting people to lunch and giving them far too much food.
Back row:
Anna: was a teacher in Rimini but now spends her time gardening and sorting out simple issues for family members living abroad e.g. project managing the restoration of her sister’s house in Orciano.
Rinaldo: a former accountant. Lives with his sisters and brother (the local priest) and still manages to keep cheerful. Enjoys cooking and talking in dialect instead of proper Italian. Rinaldo is the chief looker-after of our cat when we go on holiday.
The Province of Pesaro and Urbino have organised a series of conferences around the Jewish Day of Remembraance and on Sunday afternoon there was a conference in San Giorgio on the theme of The years of the Anti-semetic Laws in the Province.
There were four talks: Anti-semitism: blessing and curse of the Jewish people; The birth of the jewish stereotype in Italy: from Abyssinia to the passing of the race laws (1935-1938); The application of the anti Jewish laws in the Province after 1938; personal testimony of the persecution. (more…)
A medieval tradition is alive and well in Urbania (town about 50 kms inland from us). The weather for the coming year is indicated by an onion. On the night of the 24th January (Eve of the “conversion of St Paul) an onion is cut into 12 parts (one for each month) and sprinkled with salt. They are left outside and the following morning any changes to the salt on the onion pieces are noted and a forecast made for the coming year e.g. if the salt has dissolved it means rain. (Emmanuela Forlini is the expert forecaster. She learnt from her father who learnt from his father a farmer). Fortunately another expert in Jesi (about 50 kms south of us) does his onion reading on January 1 and for this year provides a more promising view of the year ahead at least for the Summer. (more…)
Pascucci coffee is a common brand of coffee in the cafes and restaurants in this area. In fact the company headquarters is in a small town (pop. 700) called Monte cerignone about 50 kms west of Pesaro. The company was founded in 1883 as a small food distributor but only in the 1950s did they begin to concentrate and produce roasted coffee and in the 1970s decided to concentrate completely on expresso coffee and have patented a drying/roasting process which gives their coffee its flavour.
I like the coffee as it isn’t too bitter. Normally I buy Lilly coffee for home but have wanted to buy some Pascucci coffee for home. However, the coffee isn’t sold in local supermarkets. Asked one cafe in Fano if they sold it but their tins were close to its end date. Finally I got round to searching on the net and discovered that the Pascucci brand is going international as it has coffee shops in various countries including the UK (London – on Picadilly). More importantly for me is that they also have a cafe/shop in Fano. Can’t believe that after 3 years here and going into Fano quite often I have never seen the shop. So next time in Fano!
p.s. worth looking at web site for the company’s values e.g. Always work with passion, especially when dealing with quality, customers, colleagues and partners. Since retiring I had forgotten how awful “mission statements and values” could be.
In San Giorgio local residents are able to follow courses on basic computing, decoupage, English and now Cooking.
Three lads from the village who are involved in the catering business offered an 8 week course in cooking. Expecting a class of 20 they ended up with a class of 40. Each week has a different theme – fish, game, leftovers, desserts etc. All for a cost of 15 euros.
Every week the class makes about 5 dishes and so sometimes it is hard to follow what is happening as we are grouped into teams of 3 and each team does a different dish. The classes begin at 9.00 pm and I never managed to taste the food as the classes never finished before mid-night and sometimes later. I always left about 11.00 but have been assured the food is delicious. All the students will have a chance to display their talents when, in two weeks time, there is an evening for family and friends.
