How Studying Abroad Changed the Way I Travel

by Melinda Cebula Harris  (current student at School Amici)

For three or four years I was a tourist. I would pack my bags and jet set to all the “must-see” locations of the world. Soon, I found my place of choice, Italy. I would go every summer and sightsee. It was wonderful, but on the crowded streets of Rome or Venice with my camera in one hand and my city map in the other, it was impossible to become acquainted with the true culture of the country. This is when I decided to learn the Italian language.

Melinda in Todi

My studies began close to home in Cincinnati, Ohio at School AMICI. I immediately felt at ease with my patient and gentle teacher from Calabria, Gerardo. Gerardo would entertain the class with stories of his Italian childhood, while teaching us the Italian ABCs, numbers, and basic grammar. School AMICI created a solid foundation, which for me was the key to my success in my subsequent studies abroad.

In 2012 I chose Todi, a tiny town perched upon a tall two-crested hill in central Italy, as my place of study. Experience had taught me that the smaller towns offered the most authentic experience. For three weeks I studied both privately and in whole group at La Lingua La Vita. My confidence and ability to speak Italian improved daily with the guidance of my teachers. What I loved most about La Lingua La Vita was the opportunities they created to interact with the local community. Through the school, I attended weekly cooking lessons hosted in the countryside home of Rita, a local Italian famed for her cooking. Rita spoke no English, so even when I was in doubt or my Italian confidence wavered; I had to rely on my language skills. This created many laughable moments as hand gestures and air drawings appeared to be games of charades rather than a group of girls learning the simple secrets of delicious Italian cuisine. 

Cooking with Rita

My mother, Linda, also a School AMICI student, had traveled with me to Todi. At first she was going to take the lazy lifestyle, taking a late morning espresso or a passeggiata (stroll) to the market… but something about La Lingua La Vita caught her attention and she enrolled on the very first day of classes. To my mother’s delight, her daily private lessons were held at a charming local café specializing in delicious fresh fruit gelato and strong Italian coffee. Her teacher, Antonella, quickly became a dear friend to both my mother and me inviting us to see the home she and her husband were building and to the church she so passionately loved. Our friendship with Antonella and her family continues to this day.

Melinda and her mother, with Antonella and daughter

Studying abroad changed my passion for traveling. I was no longer excited to see the sights but to know the Italian people and their way of life. These moments, these connections, these invitations into the lives of the Italian locals are exactly what had been missing in all my years of traveling as a tourist. It was the commonality of the Italian language that made these connections possible, and for this I will always be thankful for School AMICI and La Lingua La Vita.

 

A few notes of interest:

Todi has, by far, some of the most beautiful views I have seen in all of Italy. If possible, choose an apartment with a view of the countryside. As an added bonus if you travel in July, when Todi hosts an international ballooning competition, the sky is especially beautiful as colorful hot air balloons paint the sky.

If Italian cuisine temps your palate, you will not be disappointed. For such a small town I was delighted by the quality of all my dining experiences. Antica Osteria della Valle was my favorite.

And finally, I found Todi very friendly for people who might have trouble walking long distances. The school, small grocery, restaurants, and shops are within close proximity of each other, making this an ideal location for people of all ages.

Flashcards: 21 Century Style

In a few minutes I'm leaving to catch the bus for the airport.   But before I go I thought I'd point out the intersection of modern technology and my best intentions for reviewing Italian while I'm away - without the books or the big dictionary.

 I have an Ipod Touch.  Most everybody else I know has one of those fancy Blackberry phones or an Ipad.  Yesterday I downloaded the 24/7 Tutor for free.  It's got quizzes and games and an audio component for words that are hard to pronounce.

Italian Wine of the Month by Marty Piazza

The Wines of Le Marche

One of the most beautiful regions of Italy is Le Marche. Located to the east of Umbria, it is as beautiful as Tuscany but with fewer tourists and lower prices. These lower prices also apply to the wonderful wines of this little known region.

The whites are produced from the grapes Verdicchio, Pecorino, Passarina, and Trebbiano, and they are most appreciated for their refreshing simplicity. The reds are dominated by the two grapes San Giovese and Montepulciano (which has nothing to do with the Tuscan town of the same name). The blends of these two grapes vary by name around the region, but the most famous and impressive is known as Rosso Piceno. This is a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine that comes from the southeastern half of the region with the blending requirements of 35%-70% Montepulciano, 30%-50% San Giovese, and up to 15% of other local red varietals.  The word Piceno must come from the town of Ascoli Piceno, which is the capital of the province, my favorite in all of Italy. And Rosso, of course, means “red”.

Tenuto Rio Maggio

One of the most enjoyable winery visits I made in Italy last month was to the property of Simone and Tiziana Santucci that is named Tenute Rio Maggio. What gracious hosts they were, and we spent a few hours together trying their wines and touring the estate. In true Italian fashion a few of their local friends stopped by to join us, and the conversation widened to life in general.

Rio Maggio is located in the new province of Fermo, north of Ascoli Piceno but still within the DOC. They make many fine wines, but only two are available in Ohio: a white blend called Telusiano, and their very special Rosso Piceno Vigneto Contrada Vallone. It is the 2007 of this red that I am recommending to you. It is a blend of 70% Montepulciano and 30% San Giovese from the Contrada Vallone vineyard. Relatively low in acidity by Italian standards, this is a soft rich red with deep notes of dark cherry and a long finish. It pairs well with most Italian meats and tomato based pasta sauces, and is particularly good with rabbit, a local specialty. And all of this for around $20 a bottle. Enjoy!


Marty Piazza is recognized as one of the foremost experts on Italian wines in southwestern Ohio.  Last spring he captivated a sold-out crowd at School Amici's Salute! class, a three-part series on Italian wine at the Mercantile Library.  Feel free to call on Marty's expertise anytime through-out the year at Piazza Discepoli, the Madiera location.

Consider Yourself Invited

After the inaugural post about Kathy and Michele (The Business Manager and The Academic Director), several readers asked, "Who wrote the article? Where's the by-line?"

Anybody curious enough to scroll down to the two prior practice entries (a video of Michele's mom making coffee and a recipe for pastiera) probably figured out that Kathy is the mysterious ghost writer of the new Amici blog/newsletter and it took a few false starts before it clicked.

Last week I finally figured out that our get-togethers shouldn't be about me and my personal experiences in Napoli and it couldn't be about Michele in America. La Piazza has to be about all of us, students and teachers, natives and travelers of all sorts. We need to reach out and invite everybody who loves Italy to join into the conversation and share their ideas. So I wrote in the third person and turned our husband-wife mash-up into a symbol of the bigger Amici melting pot.

Here's what we hope will happen on La Piazza:

We'll invite people to share their expertise on Italian products, food, books and music. Marty Piazza, co-owner of Piazza Discepoli and instructor for last spring's popular Salute! wine class, has graciously offered to start us off with his favorite Italian wine of the month. Look for his first recommendation next Monday.

Of course all of us want to know about the real Italy, beyond the traditional tourist spots. Sul Luogo will feature different destinations seen through the eyes of someone who knows the kind of things you only figure out after you've spent a lot of time in one place and come to love it. Karen Smith and her husband Paul Demarco are co-owners of a charming house in Umbria and we've challenged her to tell us about her five favorite features of her "paese."

These days there are an incredible number of resources on the internet and I also plan to feature tips on the best apps and web sites.

So consider yourself formally invited. Bring your ideas and enthusiasm. Don't be shy. It's casual, the kind of chance encounters that are the best surprises. Tell us about your favorite musician or a great book by an Italian author, a poem you just can't forget, a recipe your grandmother brought from the Old Country. There's a warm, gentle breeze coming from the east and the sliver of a new moon just beyond the bell tower. The dinner dishes are all put away and it's a beautiful night. Come on. We're waiting for you. Out on the piazza.

Email suggestions or something you want to write about to kathy@schoolamici.com.

Pastiera, from my side of the kitchen

Michele's mom came to America to meet me for the first time just before our wedding.  She doesn't speak any English.  I didn't know much Italian then.  Everyday my husband went to work and left me to entertain his parents as best I could.

One day my new mother-in-law and I decided to bake.  Maria brought the ingredients in her suitcase for Pastiera, an Italian version of cheesecake usually prepared for Easter.  On my side of the island, I decided to make cookies and lined-up my electric mixer, 2 mixing bowls, liquid measuring cups, dry measuring cups, measuring spoons, a sifter, a spatula, a wooden spoon, 2 baking sheets and a wire rack for cooling.  All Maria asked for was a spring form pan.

As I handed it to her and waited for further instructions, she proceeded to dump several large handfuls of flour directly on the counter.  I must have looked puzzled, because she reassured me over and over, "Non e sporca," which means, "It's not dirty."   She meant my counter-top.  Then she cracked 3 eggs into the middle of the pile and started to knead.

I'm still not sure how she did it, with the crust on the bottom and a fancy lattice work on top of the filling, but Maria made the whole cake with just that one pan.  Maybe a knife or a spoon got involved somewhere along the line, but nothing more.  I was still washing dishes long after she'd gone upstairs to take her afternoon nap.

Maria's arthritis has been bothering her a lot lately and it's hard for her to stand on her feet too long.   So it's been a while since she last made a Pastiera for her oldest son.  This year I'm finally going to give it a try.  But even though I've been crossing the great cultural divide for over ten years now, I doubt I'm brave enough yet to do it bowl-less.

Here's the recipe from the back of the can:

For 12 servings:

Pour the Grano Cotto into a frying pan, adding 3 1/2 oz of milk, 1 oz. butter, and the grated skin of a lemon.  Warm it up for about 10 minutes while mixing until it becomes a cream.

In another pot whisk 1 1/2 lbs. of cottage cheese, 1 1/4 lbs. of sugar, 5 whole eggs and 2 yolks, 1 small envelope of vanilla.  (If you want to add 1 T. orange-flower water and a pinch of cinnamon).  Work this mixture until you make it very fine.  Then add some more grated lemon peel. 1/2 oz. of citron, cut into small pieces.  Mix the mixture with the Grano cream.

Prepare a puff pastry with 1 lb. of flour, 3 whole eggs, 7 oz. of sugar, and 7 oz. of lard.  Make a dough without working it for too long.  Extend it to cover the bottom of the spring form pan and then pour in the cottage cheese mixture.  Decorate the Pastiera with strips of puff pastry.  Put in a 350 degree oven and bake for about an hour.  Switch off the oven and let the Pastiera cool down.  Dust with vanilla-flavored sugar.

Good luck!  I'll add the grano cotto, orange-flower water, and kitchen scale to Maria's Kitchen in the Mercatino at School Amici, just in case your mother-in-law forgot to bring you any in her suitcase.