Buone Feste a Tutti!!!  I spent my first Christmas Eve in Italia with my friends and students at Poliziano.  It was exciting to experience my first traditional Italian Christmas Eve.  It was all of Anna’s family so I was particularly honored to be included.   I got a chance to get to know Anna’s mom and dad who own their own winery and Anna’s sister, who just had a new baby.  The evening was filled with laughter, wine, food and of course gifts.  Dinner was a traditional menu of fish courses from a starter of smoked salmon to a main course of Baccalà in Umido.  There was also a delicious pumpkin soup and a cart filled with every conceivable holiday dessert from chocolates and dates to the traditional Christmas breads, Pandoro and Panettone.  I sampled way too much wine throughout the evening and while the family opened all of their gifts, I got to hold baby Paolo who slept through most of the excitement of his first Christmas, oblivious to the many gifts being opened in his honor. The tree was surrounded by tons of presents and Anna’s mom, Simona, did the honors of handing out each one.  Anna explained to me that they always open their gifts on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning so they can relax on Christmas day.  From my other friends here, it seems pretty split as to which day presents are opened; Christmas Day wins out for all those with children waiting for Babbo Natale to make an appearance.

I gave Mariastella and Francesco books (unfortunately not in English, since my bookstore steadfastly refuses to stock them), and I received a beautiful scarf from Anna who said it was going to bring me good fortune in the new year.  Speriamo!

My actual Christmas day was quiet and spent with Cinder watching holiday movies in Italian.  I had a lovely surprise yesterday when I went into town to buy a few things from Antonella’s store.  I had brought around banana bread to my new friends on Thursday as a small token of holiday cheer.  When I got to Antonella’s my friends here presented me with a gift that had contributions from their stores:  Salami from Silvano the butcher, a journal from Gabriella, wine from Caterina, and my favorite biscotti from Antonella.  I was quite touched by the gesture.

Cinder and I are continuing our holiday weekend with more holiday films and chats with friends, and she is waiting impatiently for me to break open the salami.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday and that next year brings good things for all.  Buon Anno!!

a roaring fire and beautiful tree bring holiday cheer

A Christmas Eve aperitivo while waiting for Anna's family

holiday table for ten...

This week brought the first snow.  First a dusting on Thursday and then a couple of inches over the weekend.  Nothing makes me happier than the first snow of the season.  And I realize for those of my friends who live on the East Coast, you got a whole lot more “happiness” than I did, but still Cinder and I enjoyed playing in the snow.  Not to mention that we didn’t have to contend with the over-salting that they did in New York with all sorts of toxic chemicals.  Here people will sprinkle a little table salt outside their stores, but otherwise you are pretty much on your own.  When we went to the market in the falling snow on Thursday, Cinder was quite admired in her pink coat that was oh so fashionable in New York…okay she wasn’t so much admired as pitied that I was subjecting her to wearing clothing.  But if people knew how much she shakes and carries on when she is cold, they’d realize she is happy to be sporting it.

The temperatures got very cold after the snow came so now it’s all kind of icy and crispy, but still pretty.  I had yet another of my idiotic Americana experiences yesterday when I hung my laundry outside.  Granted it did seem a trifle cold for hanging laundry, but I saw Marinella put hers out so I decided better to at least try.  Then I forgot about it.  When I went to retrieve it last night, it was frozen solid.  To the point where it sounded like the cracking of a falling tree when I tried to pull it off the line.  At first I debated leaving it, but then I just tugged and tugged until the sheets broke free of the line.  I’m not exaggerating when I say they actually stood on end.  I wish I’d photographed the moment for posterity, but it was documented because Pippo stopped by and just shook his head sadly when he saw what I was up to.  I live to amuse.

I received my first Christmas card today.  It’s only about the third piece of mail I’ve gotten here in eight months so I was pretty excited.  Especially to see the 30 euro tucked inside.  THANK YOU, DARYL.   I also received a fedex from my parents with my along awaited document for my citizenship application.  My first Christmas miracle and I can now FINALLY get my application in progress.  Hopefully work will follow soon.  I am sad to report I didn’t get the dish washing job in Pienza because the manager wanted someone to work nights and there is no bus at night.  So I have no way of getting there.  Needless to say finding out that you can’t get hired to wash dishes is fairly depressing!

I’m doing a little baking, having decided to live on tuna and eggs for a week so I can bake my usual banana bread loaves for my new friends.  This has definitely elevated my Christmas spirits.  My neighbor Carlotta who is in the same boat that I am with work (except that she has a husband with a good job) brought me a homemade apple tart yesterday and we had a nice chat.  I’m going to dinner on Christmas Eve at the home of my students at Poliziano.  The mom, Anna, told me that I’m part of the family now and I thought that was really sweet.  I’m heading there this afternoon for our lesson and for dinner with the gang.  But first, Cinder and I have a date in the snow.  Seeing her act like a puppy as she runs around is enough to make me forget that’s it’s twenty degrees.

First snow falls on the walk to the market

Snowy park

The falling snow blankets Montepulciano

The view from my window

More snow falls in the afternoon

My spirits of late have been more on par with Ebeneezer Scrooge than my usual over-the-top frothy joy of the holiday season.  Not only have I been missing my friends in New York, the reality of my evaporating funds and consequent panic have all contributed to extinguishing a festive frame of mind.   The clincher came when I realized I didn’t even have enough money to splurge on a Christmas tree this year.  Those of you who know me well and have experienced how much I love the holidays will understand why I was starting to wallow in a wreath of self pity.   But after a “Snap out of it!” email from my friend Carol and a glimmer of hope on the job front, my spirits began to lift.  Sure, I’m probably going to be washing dishes from someone else’s holiday meal, but it’s work, and more importantly money for survival!  Cinder who has not enjoyed the half rations we’ve been on lately is joyful as well.

This morning I found a tiny Christmas tree for three euro at the mercato and this small piece of greenery put the ho ho ho back in my ho-liday.  By the time I reached my house and dug out my Christmas ornaments, I was feeling quite cheery.  I began to look around and to appreciate what I have.  I also noticed how pretty my town looks.  Everything is decked out in its holiday finery, houses have wreaths and lights, and vendors are busy selling poinsettias and holiday greenery.  It all feels quite old fashioned and…well, like Christmas.

I still miss my friends and am sad not to be able to do much baking this year, but I’m here, I’m living my dream and I just have to appreciate what I’ve accomplished over these last eight months.  And if you think about old Scrooge, he too turned out okay in the end…God Bless Us, Everyone!

Antonella's store gets a Christmas makeover

Montepulciano puts up it's holiday lights

Christmas decorating on a budget...

First Christmas tree in Italia

I’ve always gotten very excited about eating foods right from the earth.  I regularly ate sweet peas from my dad’s garden in Virginia when I was supposed to be gathering them, I delighted in the avocados and bananas in my yard in Miami, and here when someone gives me something freshly picked or plucked from a tree, I get giddy.  When I have dinner with my students at Poliziano each week, there is inevitably something that they’ve grown on the property (in addition to their exceptional wine and olive oil).  One week we’ll be eating figs (fichi), or jujube (giuggiolo) from their trees, or sampling their walnuts (noci) and the next week it will be chestnuts (castagne) that have been freshly roasted.  Their appreciation of what the earth produces is inspiring.

My neighbor Marinella shares this passion as well.  From her garden all summer came loads of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce and onions, as well as fichi and plums.  Somehow everything tastes better when you know it’s just been dug from the earth, or harvested from the trees.  I’ve been watching one of the beautiful trees in her yard for weeks, knowing that whatever the fruit was that was ripening that I would soon be a recipient.  And sure enough yesterday, it was time.  The tree from a distance looks like it has oranges but on closer examination, the orangey globes were revealed to be persimmons, or as they call them here, cachi.  She brought me a bunch yesterday and they are ripening on my counter as I write.  I can’t even recall ever eating a persimmon, but of course now that I have loads, I’ve already founds some recipes for them because I’m sure I won’t be able to consume them all.

I also took a walk with Marinella this week and discovered another earthly delight in the form of mushrooms.  It was a beautiful sunny day on Thursday and so we decided to walk over to the cathedral at San Biagio and back.  Along the road the grape vines were preparing for their winter hibernation, the vines now orange and brown, spent after delivering all of their fruit for the harvest.  A few people were still harvesting olives as we walked along and called hellos to Marinella.  She knows everyone.

As we retraced our steps back to the town, Marinella spied a brownish lump in the overgrowth on the side of the road.  It turned out to be a cluster of mushrooms.  Not porcini, but some other funghi variety that she got very excited about.  I was slightly suspicious after years of being warned of poisonous mushrooms in the wild, but she assured me that they were “buono.” I wasn’t convinced enough to take one, telling her that someone needed to be alive to talk to the press in case she killed off her entire family when she cooked them.

I saw her yesterday, still hale and hearty, and asked if she had cooked the mushrooms.  She assured me that she had and that they were now part of a ragu.  She’s bringing me some today, along with her homemade tagliatelle.  It’s hard to argue with the deliciousness that comes from something made by hand, and even harder to resist something that has sprung from the earth.  I’ll have my persimmon for dolce!

Marinella's persimmon tree

My persimmons runneth over...

Olive trees along the road to San Biagio

The wintering grape vines

A pause to soak up some sunshine at San Biagio

Marinella spies mushrooms along the road

The bounty

My neighbor, Marinella, has been talking about the fog here since I arrived.  Or maybe warning me about the fog would be more accurate.  Her fog-related prognostications were always told with a certain foreboding usually not heard outside of a horror movie.  I, of course, dismissed her rantings about the damp, dark days of winter as exaggeration.  Then about two weeks ago, the fog ARRIVED.  I use arrive because it is definitely an entity unto itself.  It’s a little like being slowly suffocated by the arms of a giant octopus.  When Cinder and I take our morning walks, I can barely see beyond her head pulling on the leash.  It’s a heavy mist that envelops everything and makes you feel like you’ve just stepped out of your house into Victorian London.  It’s disconcerting to look out your window and only be able to make out a few shapes in the parking area instead of the gorgeous rolling hills that usually greet you.  And forget trying to hang the laundry out on a foggy day.  I’ve taken to regular checks of the weather online so I can see when sun is forecast.  (The other thing I’ve discovered while trying to do the laundry now that it’s cold out is that if I forget to bring it in before dinner time, everything smells like woodsmoke from the huffing chimneys nearby.  Kind of like being on a permanent camping trip.  On the plus side, now that the heat is on inside, I can hang the now always-damp clothes over radiators for the final drying.)

The fog has certainly inspired hibernating.  The town has shut down and shopkeepers now have their doors closed against the cold.  Cigarette breaks are brief affairs and you rarely see anyone having a long chat on the street.  I’ve been dealing with some stress in my life this past week so I’ve been more than content to hibernate as well.  It’s certainly conducive to staying home and writing which I’ve been doing in abundance.  That, some dates with my fruit guy, and babysitting have been pretty much the highlights.  The other benefit to hibernating is that you can avoid all of the sick people.  I swear half the town has the flu or a cold.  Bonnie’s whole house was down last week and so I’ve been downing vitamin C and trying not to cringe too much when the kids cough and breathe their pestilence on me!

This week may bring a new student so fingers are crossed for that.  I like having time to do my own thing, but seriously, I’d like to have some more work!!!  In the mean time, I’m drinking rose hip tea to stay healthy and absorbing the changes that are seeping into my life like the fog of Montepulciano.

The fog slowly begins to lift, but still the nearby mountains are obscured

Sadly, my basil was drowned by the November rain so I replaced it with some winter flowers

When you date a fruit vendor...