NATALE SEMPRE
Rome: December 9, 2014
Felice martedì!
Today’s Tuesday feels like a Monday for me because yesterday was a national holiday (a holy day on the Catholic calendar) and thus a long weekend for our students and their teachers! December 8th is considered the Immaculate Conception, celebrating the day Mary found out she was pregnant (!!!) and a very special day for Italians. Everyone was out and about and almost everything was closed with the exception of the major retails stores (Zara). Italians and tourists alike packed the streets to begin their Christmas shopping, eat, drink and be merry. It felt a lot like Italy’s equivalent to Black Friday/Cyber Monday in the states, or at least it did near the entrance of H&M, where I was nearly pummeled by a pack of nonnas and their grand kids.
Now that Thanksgiving is over- a very different one from the year prior as a Baby Clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (a visual below for those of you who’ve forgotten). I think Italians are relieved that they can now go back to preparing for Christmas without expats insisting on cooking and celebrating foreign fowl.
Only sixteen giorni until NATALE or Christmas and I am not exaggerating when I say the countdown for this holiday literally begins as soon as the 25th is over in Italia. Everyday I walk by at least five different ‘Natale Sempre’ stores (Christmas Always) filled with ornaments, different versions of the traditional and not so traditional nativity scenes, stockings, stocking stuffers and of course good old St. Nick figurines. With Christmas creeping up on us, or more like running full force ahead, you bet our students’ attention spans are sitting in Santa’s lap somewhere if last week’s lessons were any indication.
This will be my first Christmas holiday away from my family (I know, I know- insert audience ‘awww’ track here now), but with so many Christmas parties, Christmas tree decorating invitations, the Nutcracker ballet, camping out to be front row for Papa Francesco’s Natale blessing, and other stereotypical events for Jesus’ compleanno, I think I will have little time to be sad.
One thing I definitely will have time to miss is the smell of REAL x-mas firs- the smell that basically defines the holiday for me in one whiff. One of my students, who spent his Junior year abroad of high school in the States, warned me when I was complimenting his mother’s holiday decorations that all the Christmas trees I’ll see (and smell) in Rome will be the fake tinsel-trees. While this may sound upsetting, it makes sense for the Italians. Because like I said, it always feels like Christmas here and to go find a Christmas tree retailer, lug the tree back to your home, water it, decorate it, sweep up the fir’s ferns, and then have to do it all over again once the tree dies can get tiring, not to mention expensive. And let us not forget the average size car on the road here is barely big enough to fit a potted plant. Smart Cars are just not suited for timber transportation.
That being said, there is a REAL tree in Piazza Venezia right in the center of town
Ellie and I secured tickets for Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet for Christmas Eve at Roma’s Teatro dell’ Opera, which premieres in a few days! It wasn’t very difficult to get tickets to be honest since the ballet will run everyday except Christmas and then weeks AFTER Christmas (like I said ‘natale’ always over here). This past Saturday, our friend Anna Maria threw the first XMAS party of the season, ‘Christmas Drinks’ she called it on the Facebook invite. And without fail, the Italian/English Teacher/Ex-Pat mixer was an all-night FESTA filled with fine wines, strong (but delicious) cocktails, Christmas pandoro (the perfect late night/early morning delicacy), and the best Italian/Spanish/English and even German mix of conversation I’ve ever experienced. Not to mention, we were introduced to an Italian named Patrick, who happens to own a restaurant right in our neighborhood and who we convinced should provide us with free meals weekly in exchange for English conversation.
Sharon (the redhead in the 3rd photo above) is a vocalist for the Two Man Big Band - We've had the pleasure to see her live at Black Market in Monti and she has quite the voice.
Other then another Superbowl win for the New Orleans Saints, ALL I want for Christmas is unlimited wifi internet. Apparently, Ellie and I have used up ALL of our wifi internet for the month in a mere two weeks (thank you NETFLIX) and for some reason or another, the internet provider cannot give us more until the 17th of December. So I am currently sitting in an old-school internet cafe that looks like it hasn't been updated since the late 90's with my new friend Ale (short for Alessandro). He just told me that he hopes I come here more often to ‘blog’ so he can get a sneak peak of what I have to say before I click the ‘publish’ button.
Missing everyone very much this holiday season (AND SEMPRE!)
arrivederci until next time!
Mallory
