Fiat Then and Now

How many of you were surprised this past year when General Motors was purchased or at least merged with Fiat or Italy. Yeah, that Fiat. Well, Fiat dominated the market back then with the Fiat 500. Now you walk around in Italy and see all kinds of Fiats, but the one you see most often, the new updated Fiat 500. Check them out, the old and new.

Fiat 500 then from the side.

Fiat 500 then from the front.

Fiat 500 now from the side.

Fiat 500 now from the front.

The Host Family Matching Ceremony

Many of you wonder what kind of school I'm teaching at. It is called School Year Abroad and it takes about 60 American High School Juniors and Seniors and sends them to campuses in China, Spain, France and Italy. There was a campus in India last year, but it was moved to Vietnam and is a semester program for post-graduates. I am the Math teacher here in Italy.

The students flew into Rome and were bussed here to Viterbo and had a quick orientation here and then were paired with their host families. This will be the first of many school/work oriented postings this year, I think. There are 42 girls and 15 boys in the program in Viterbo this year.

SYA Italy 2009-2010

On one side, the students

On the other, the families

A family is called and their student is called and they meet for the first time. There are families in Viterbo that have hosted each of the 8 years the program has been in existence.

Most students will be housed in families with kids. Younger families were the cutest as the small children were so excited to get older brothers and sisters. One Italian man with a wife and 4 girls logically was assigned an American girl. I think I'll invite him to my apartment occasionally to get away from it all.

Festival of Santa Rosa

Each town/city/village in Italy apparently has a patron saint or religious figure to whom they are beholden. This figure is celebrated once a year by each town on a certain day. For Viterbo, their saint is Santa Rosa, a young woman who in the 10th century yearned to join a religious order, but perished at the age of 18. When they buried her, her body didn't fully decompose and her heart still maintains some kind of form that indicates her worthiness of being celebrated. The day Santa Rosa is celebrated in Viterbo is always September 3rd. However, the festivities start a week or so in advance.

Students arrived this past Sunday and were paired with their host families (pictures and posting to come) and on Monday and Tuesday were given placement exams. On Wednesday the 2nd they did chose their classes. So, during the first week of their being here, they are witness to the craziness that is Santa Rosa and have a four day weekend. Classes begin on Monday the 7th.

The climax of the events is the transport of the "Macchina", which translates to "machine." 150 or so "facchini", which essentially means porter, move a 200 foot tall tower of wood and styrofoam through the streets of Viterbo. These "facchini" are gods in this town. By the way, "facchini" are always men.

AUGUST 26TH, 2009

This is the official flag of the facchini. During the last week of August they held fundraisers. This one was for what is essentially the Red Cross of Italy

Each night is a different menu

The whole town turns out to dine in the evening light and to be amongst each other. FYI, in Italian there are separate verbs for eating lunch "pranzare" versus dinner "chinsare." That's how important food is to this culture.

The evenings entertainment! Apparently this was a cover band for a well-known Italian soft rock group.

The "MACCHINA" which is what the facchini put on their backs and carry through town.

Now, a word about the macchina. Every 5 or 6 years, a new macchina is designed and created. This year, 2009, was the debut of a new macchina, therefore anticipation of the big night is heightened. I keep making the analogy to when they debut a new ball to drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve. The transport of the macchina itself, I have yet to really understand why they do it but I gather it's a tribute to the sacrifice that Santa Rosa made?

SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2009
On the 2nd, a "corteo" (parade) occurs. This is the most religious part of the festival. Citizens of Viterbo dress up in what was worn from the 1200's to the present. They march in chronological order. They start from one side of town and go to a piazza at the other. On their return they come down Via Annio, which is the street on the side of the school. Many of us gathered on the porch to watch. It gave us a birds eye view.

Just like my love of ferry boats, I love marching bands. And there are marching bands every day during the festival. These drummers are leading off the parade.

The mini-facchini. These boys, who are dressed in traditional facchini wear, are the future facchini.

The "Rosine". These young girls are dressed in the habits of the order that Santa Rosa wanted to join before her death.

According to my program (which I cannot yet read), these are "Notai" from the 1200's.

"Chiarine" from the 1300's.

Skipping to the 1700's, these are "Magistrati Pontifici".

Modern Day Knights of the Templar

The heart of Santa Rosa being carried by the facchini.

SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2009

At each of the 4 piazzas where the facchini set down the macchina, stands are erected.

They city puts down sand to smooth out the streets and also to provide traction for the facchini to transport the macchina up the final hill. They load extra facchini in the back to keep it level and they RUN it up this hill in their final push.

The front of the Church of Santa Rosa.

I walked in at around 11AM and found myself in the midst of services. The organ music and the singing (I think on tape) was moving. I see myself going to services every once in a while just for the music which is so moving.

The dome of the Church of Santa Rosa.

I have 5 windows of my apartment which open onto Via Cavour, one of the streets that the facchini transport the macchina. Here's a time lapse series of what it looked like out my window. Here it is at 8AM.

Noon

4PM

6PM as the facchini take one last march through town. They are given the biggest applause.

The band plays the song that is the song of the Festival. It's kind of catchy.

With everyone hanging out their windows, I got to meet a lot of my neighbors. Doesn't mean I can communicate with them, but I now wave when I see them during the day.

Part of my contract states that because I live in the school apartment that has the 5 windows on Via Cavour, I am highly encouraged to open up my apartment to let other faculty, staff and their kids view from my windows. Here we are watching the beginning of the festivities (my street is the second of 5 legs of the transport). We are watching the facchini take last rites as there's always the chance of a bad accident and perhaps, death.

September 3rd, 2009 and a full moon.

Here's the macchina at "Piazza Grande" which is a block up the street from my apartment. The facchini get a fifteen minute rest at each stop.

The macchina moving down Via Cavour. See how the facchini on the edges have rails which they carry on their shoulders. The facchini underneath wear these leather soft helmets that have padding on the head and carry it on their heads.

The macchina is disassembled and put into storage for the year until September 3rd, 2010.

Tinos and The Greek Wedding

One of the great benefits of my job as a teacher is watching many of my favorite students graduate and become adults. Once they graduate from college, I consider them my peers and do everything in my power to dissuade them from calling me "Mr. Chen." Some of them find this the hardest part of maintaining a friendship and I settle for being called "Chen." The reason I mention this is because the main purpose of my trip to Greece was to attend the wedding of two students who I taught back at Lville. They both graduated in 1998, the year I left, however they didn't really know each other and become a couple when both were living in London these past few years.

The father of the bride was born and raised in a small village on the Greek Island of Tinos in the Cyclades group. Tinos is a mere 6km from its more famous neighbor, Mykonos, but it has not sold out to commercialism and the party scene. It has retained its agricultural and rural flavor. It is particularly known for its marble work.

Speaking of the father of the bride, he truly is an amazing testament to the American dream. As you'll see in the pictures, his town was tiny and remote. He joins the military, is in Athens, meets a girl from New Jersey and after two weeks they are engaged. He moves to the United States not knowing any English. Learns the language, establishes himself as a successful painting contractor and earns enough to put his two kids through an expensive private school and is now throwing a wedding for his daughter in his home village. So, all of you who criticize America and its values, it still is the ultimate land of opportunity.

So here, as you all have been waiting for, pictures of my three days on Tinos.

The rocky Greek isle of Tinos

The village of Isternia (the one on the hillside) at the northern end of Tinos. This photo was taken from the boat.

Many companies run boats, I choose the slow boat. It was the right call as many of those who took the high speed hydrofoil found themselves quite seasick. Boats that sail to the Cyclades now leave from the newer port of Rafina, which cuts down the trip by two hours (my trip was four and a half) if you were to leave from the main port of Pireus.

Many of you know I have a thing for ferries (just like Dr. McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy). I had to take this picture because of the TOTAL CHAOS that is embarking and disembarking passengers and cars onto Greek boats. You would think that after all these years they would figure out how to make it more efficient, and safe.

The largest "urban" area of the island of Tinos is, Tinos Town.

The second day on the island, we were treated to a bus tour of the island. Here's a view of Tinos Town from up high on the island.

All the little villages are charming and the great thing is that there are no dead ends. You can be sure that you walk down a path and that you'll have some option at what looks to be the end of the road.

These structures are called "dovecotes." I believe that the doves fly into them and then are trapped and eventually eaten by locals. Tinos is famous for the ornate dovecotes, of which there are over 700 on the island.

The highest point on the island is called Xoburgo, which translates to "out of town." Makes sense if you go back and read the name letter by letter.

When we got to Xoburgo, it was in the clouds and windy.

Five of us make the 20 minute climb anyway. On the left, Wylie C. (the groom) and on the right Alana K. (Lville '96).

The area surrounding the town of Volax looks to be a sea of rocks. Because of this, people just incorporated the boulders into the structures of the houses.

The wedding itself took place at the church in the town of Isternia. Greek Orthodox of course.

The view of the water and the beach from the church plaza.

As a signal that the events of the evening are to commence, the bride and groom who were housed in different locations in the town started shooting off rifles. Back and forth they went and things began.

A violinist and guitar player escorted the groom to the church. In tow were all the male friends, family members and any other male who wanted to join. The bride did the same thing with females.

We all follow the couple into the church.

We stood around in the church and witnessed the ceremony. It was all in Greek.

The parents of the bride.

The priest who conducted the ceremony which took about 45 minutes.

The most important moment of the ceremony is when the wreaths are put on the heads of the couple as shown here. Then they do a dance (or just walk) around a table three times as we in the audience threw rice.

The bride's family name as inscribed in a pillar to indicate they gave money for some restoration project in a former time.

Two cool people I met at the wedding. On the left, is a woman who I found out is the manager of "The Travel Bookshop" featured in the moving "Notting Hill". On the right, Isaac, who married an Lville grad who further confirmed for me that people who go to Harvard ARE smarter than the rest of us. The quality of conversation I had with him and the insights and ability to connect things was amazing.

The groom, his older brother (who I was a housemaster for at Lville) and myself.

The reception was held in the Isternia town plaza. The entire town was invited (and many of them showed).

Greek dancing. They apparently know one step and do it in a circle, but do it for hours on end. Yes, I learned it and participated.

The requisite picture of all those associated with Lawrenceville. Do I look to be a decade older than the rest of them?

On the day I left the island, my boat was one of the last to leave and I ran into the couple and we got to chat for a half hour. It was the first and only time I got to talk with them together. I thanked them for inviting me and wished them the best of luck. And like every good Greek, I wished them that their first offspring be masculine!