Sun and Moon over Monteluco

The region of Umbria is filled with sites that were important to Francis of Assisi and his brothers. Francis, it seemed, was always on the lookout for places of solitude and spectacular natural beauty. And one of the great rewards of living here is to discover them – especially with friends and students. Of course, places of solitude are by necessity hard to reach, and by the same token, places of spectacular beauty are worth the effort. One such place is Monteluco and we’ve been there twice already. (I got this picture of the moon zooming over Monteluco on a bright sunny February afternoon! On the right is a hazy shot of the Spoleto valley seen from Monteluco. If you look closely you can see a small white strip on the hillside at the center of the picture. That's Assisi, about 23 miles away, a view I am sure that Francis himself once enjoyed.

The first was organized by our colleague and ex-pat extraordinaire, Cindy Clough. “Cinzia” had emailed the entire Umbra community with an invitation to a communal hike. Knowing that this was an important Franciscan spot I encouraged my students to join us on the trek. Sure enough, that Saturday about three of them spilled into the last early train to Spoleto seconds before it left the station. Arriving at Spoleto, a wonderful town that merits a blog post of its own, we walked from the station to the Piazza della Liberta, where our plucky gang of pilgrims had gathered and we begain the hike proper. The weather was wonderful – one of those spring-like February days that often happen in the Italian February -- but I am sorry to report that the hike itself gave new poignancy to the question, “are we there yet?” as we walked switchback to switchback up to the 2,700 foot summit. Awaiting us were the spectacular views of the Spoleto Valley, the Sacred Grove, forbidden to woodcutters by an ancient Roman law, and the Primitivo Convento, established by Francis who visited in 1218. But our primary objective was Ferretti’s trattoria and its famed porcini-stuffed ravioli in lemon sauce. (On the left above is a shot that helps explain why this grove has been considered sacred for thousands of years; on the right is the graffitti fresco over the door to Francis's cell in the Convento Primitivo; the door is about a meter high, mattress a plank, and his pillow a log as you can see on the lower left.)

Sadly, our slow climb (and ravioli) plus our concern about making the last train back to Perugia did not allow us to linger at the peak. I was able to break away from our pranzo long enough to walk through the convento and the sacred grove, but not long enough to take in the view which was just beyond the woods and convent. Meanwhile, back at Ferretti's gli studenti await their secondi piatti. (That's Andrea, second from bottom, followed by Heather in center.)

The following week we returned with our friend Gilberto, for a more leisurely – but much colder – experience of this most remarkable place. To the left is a picture of a triumphant Gilberto, having conquered Monteluco in his Fiat Panda and trusty GPS. Bravo Gilberto!

The Franciscan Heritage Program

The Franciscan Heritage Program is a study abroad program sponsored by St. Bonaventure University at The Umbra Institute, Perugia, Italy. The program is open to all students at Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities member schools. FHP courses are offered at the Umbra Institute, a broad-based study abroad center in Perugia, and its courses are normally available to all other Umbra students. Shown on the right are students in RSFT 351 at San Damiano, Assisi.Students: Clockwise: Maggie, Andrea, Brit, Heather, Anthony, Teresa, Charlie, Steve, Mrs.C, Amber, Adam, Alex and Philip at San Damianio, 1/25/08. Missing: Dwight.

This year FHP is offering two courses: RSFT 351. Contemporary Global Issues: The Franciscan World View, taught by Dr. Chiariello. The class is open to FHP and non-FHP students. Mrs. Chiariello is offering SPED 230, Special Education: A Comparative Approach for education majors in the program, Heather and Teresa, from Neumann College.

New Opportunities for Business and Education Majors
Two new elements of the program this year are practical experience for students in preprofessional programs.

Education Heather McDermott and Teresa Marino are two students in Professor Judy Chiariello's Introduction to Special Education class. Teresa and Heather have been part of an exciting educational opportunity--they have been tutoring Italian students at the Liceo Scientifico. What subject are they tutoring? English, of course. The Italian students have a two hour block of English language every day and they must speak only English during this block. In her reflection journal Teresa noted: "The best part of this whole experience has been giving these students a chance to learn about American culture while improving their English. Making learning my language easier for them made me feel so good because I am in the same boat with learning Italian. I know how hard it is when Stefania (the teacher) says they can only speak English and all they want to do is speak Italian."
(Shown below: Teresa, Mrs. C, and Heather at the Liceo.)
Heather noted that there are some differences between the Liceo and an American high school. One major differene is that the students stay in the same room all day and the teachers rotate from class to class. Heather and Teresa both found that the students were very interested in American culture and asked many questions about American schools, music, movies and TV shows. One of the lessons taught was based on the words of the song “Time of Your Life” by Green Day, a group popular with Italian teens. As the Italian students read and comprehended the words, a discussion developed around the comparative significance in Italy and the U.S. of such life milestones as high school graduation and moving out of your parents’ home.On Teresa's last day at the Liceo her students presented her with flowers and a card. But it turns out that the experience has been so positive for Heather and Teresa that their "last day" will not be their last day -- they have volunteered to continue with their tutoring.

Business. Another exciting opportunity introduced this year is the International Business program. The Umbra institute has courses in International Business, including marketing, management, comparative bus ethics, global economics and the economics/politics of the European Union and Italian language. Students may use the semester to satisfy almost all the minor requirements in International Business. The most exciting development here is the the work we're doing with a Bona grad, John Burke, '73, who spent 5 years in Rome directing Colgate- Palmolive, Italy and who has extensive business contacts here. We are grateful to John for contributing his time and expertise to his alma mater and its students. As he says, "among the best years of my life are the four years spent at Bona's and the five years spent in Italy. This program allows me to bring the two together." John and his wife Patsy will be here at the end of the regular semester to set up and supervise our first internships and mentor our international business students. From a practical standpoint, doing a semester program here will put our students miles ahead of students who have no international living/study experience. Shown on the right are Charlie, Alex, Brit, Maggie, and "Dodger" at our apartment last month planning for John's visit and the internships to come. (Not shown is Andrea.)

Future semesters will see the introduction of opportunities for our new Art History major and a proposed Italian Studies minor. If you are interested in these opportunities, please visit our website, where you can find more information and application forms.

ITALY HAS CALLED!

On Saturday, February 16, we attended a convocation at the Universita degli Studii de Perugia, or the University of Perugia. The ceremony marked the beginning of the 700th year of the university’s history. St. Bonaventure University is planning its 150th anniversary – will we be around for another five and a half centuries? It’s almost impossible to relate to this kind of historical time, but Italians are surrounded by their past. In Perugia, it’s impossible to walk down the street without encountering the remains of Etruscan, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance periods – and as the minimetro shows the future is here as well. Our house is about 1000 years old and stands guard over the Porta Eburnea in the medieval wall. In the garage below our place is a trap door that covers a walk in Etruscan well – very spooky. The Etruscans were here about 2500-3000 years ago – or were they the Umbrii? Italians even have a verb tense to express this kind of time – the well-named passato remoto.

The convocation was very interesting. The president of the student body spoke. He opened with a reference to the death of English exchange student Meredith Kerchner who was viciously murdered back in November. I was touched by this sincere expression of generational solidarity. This death, almost unprecedented in recent Perugian history, underscored the fragility of life for the young.

He also mentioned a recent row involving Pope Benedict, who cancelled a visit to Rome's University di Sapienzia in the face of protests. It seems that in 1990, when he was still Ratzinger, the future Pope had opined that Galileo had been given a fair trial four centuries earlier. (The physics faculty was particularly incensed. See what I mean about historical time consciousness?) The student referred to this lack of academic hospitality as ironic given the role of Pope Clement V who established the University in 1308. Whistles of derision greeted these remarks. That's Clement -------------->

But most courageously he spoke about the need to overcome the “gerontocracy” that governs the professions. This is a term I have heard several times. Professional opportunities in Italy – and the privileges they bring – are monopolized by old leftist boomers, the so-called generation of ’68. One of them, Bettoni a very popular Communist leader, whose position is comparable to our Speaker of the House gave a speech that was well received – 8 applause interruptions.

But without a doubt, my favorite part of the program was the singingof the Italian national anthem. Italians call it Inno di Mameli (Mameli's Hymn) after the then 20-year-old student and patriot, Goffredo Mameli who wrote the words in the autumn of 1847 in Genoa. Another Genoese, Michele Novaro set the words to music two months later.

Usually, Italians sing the last verse and one chorus.
The chorus is translated as follows:

Let us join in legions!
We are ready to die!
We are ready to die!
Italy has called!
Let us join in cohort,
We are ready to die!
We are ready to die!
Italy has called!

You can listen to the chorus as sung by the university choir.

Notice the rousing “Si!” that traditionally concludes the song.

Riding the Minimetro

I mentioned the minimetro in a previous post. Well, in the past week, Judy and I have become regular riders. The minimetro stop -- Cupa -- is about a block and a half from our door and for a mere Euro quickly delivers us to the stazione or the big downtown Coop -- at Fontivegge. Along the route, Perugini have hung protest signs in the form of bed sheets with messages that read:

"Troppo rumore. Basta!"

(Too much noise. Enough!)

This is hard to understand: Italians regularly shout at each other, or more usually yell into their cell phones as they walk, drive or weigh melanzane in the supermarket.

Check out this little video I made of a ride on the minimetro.

You'll note that the background conversation easily drowns out all other sounds. Notice the protest sheet hanging from the building on the right and catch a glimpse of the old historic center rising high in the distance. Enjoy the ride!

Remembering Don Aldo

Last Sunday, Judy and I returned to Assisi to attend a memorial mass for Don Aldo Brunnaci. In case you didn’t know, Don Aldo was the canon of Chiesa San Rufino and the host of the pilgrimage house Casa Papa Giovanni xxxiii, where I stayed during my first visit to Assisi. San Rufino is the church where St, Francis, St. Clare and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II were baptised.
The baptismal font is still there at the back of the church as your enter, and to the right is a painting by I-don’t –know-who, maybe Dono Doni of a baptism. Guess whose. Most importantly, Don Aldo was a great man, a hero, quite possibly a saint, who was protected dozens of Jewish refugees who came to Assisi seeking refuge during the Holocaust.I was at his funeral last year at this time and glad I was here for the memorial. At the church, we were greeted by Rita, Don Aldo’s assistant, the cook – whose name I couldn’t recall – and Sorella Johanna, a pilgrimage Sister. Johanna had served Don Aldo as Eucharistic Minister during his last days. I was introduced to Vescovo Sorrentino, the Bishop of Assisi, who was saying the Mass. He greeted us warmly in Italian: “Molto piacere!” and beamed as Rita told him that we represented St. Bonaventure University. Don Aldo had a great affection for our university and pride in the honorary degree it had bestowed upon him in 2002.

Il Teatro Morlacchi

Last Saturday, we took our friend John out for dinner at Bellini’s – our current favorite restaurant -- Sicilian fare: octopus and cannoli. Afterwards we repaired to the Teatro Morlocchi for an evening of classical music: Webern, Schubert and Chopin. The performers were a young peoples’ orchestra from Prato, accompanied by an extraordinary pianist. Judy ran into one of her aerobics amici, Leah, who turned out to be sitting in front of us. Perugia gets to be more of a small town every time we step out. The music was played with great enthusiasm and talent, of course, but equally beautiful was the theater itself, named after Francesco Morlacchi, a relatively obscure 19th Century Perugian composer who had the ill-fortune of writing and producing his own version of The Barber of Seville the very same year as Rossini. The theater was built in the 19th Century and designed, I am told, by the same master who designed La Scala in Milano!

San Costanzo and the Mini-Metro

Tuesday was the feast of San Costanzo, the first Bishop of Perugia in the first or second century. Legend has it that he was martyred by the Romans but it took a bit of effort. First, he was scourged, and then plunged into boiling water, only to emerge unscathed. The Perugini celebrate this feast on 29 January eating a kind of bread called "torcollo di san costanza" which appears to be fruitcake in the shape of a large donut. I think it has something to do with single girls seeking fidanzati.

The highlight of the day is a candle light procession from the duomo, the church of San Lorenzo, through the center of the city and down the steps of San Ercolano (another patron of Perugia) and thence to the cheisa San Pietro -- my very favorite church. The few blocks before San Pietro is set up as a street fair with vendors selling everything from hardware items of indeterminable purpose to clothinfg, and thence to different regional foods. I bought a flashlight, socks and a wool scarf. All very necessary.

Whatever your feelings about San Costanzo, there was no doubt that the Perugini were in a festive mood. It was giorno festivo
Schools were closed, as were businesses, and families gathered in their Sunday best to stroll the Corso Vanucci. And there were street vendors, stilt walkers, a brass band at one end of the street near the big fountain, but the best scene was down the street in front of the Teatro di Pavone (theatre of the Peacock). There was assembled a street band of old timers: two drums, a jawbone-- what a rhythm section! -- accordian and sax. What were they playing? Give a listen: That' right: When the saints go marchin'in. What else?!

Judy and I went across the way to find something to eat, and sure enough the only place open was the WORST pizza in town -- the dreaded harbinger of the decline of Italian culture: The Happy Pizza Shop! Funny thing though -- the crowd was filing into the alley next door -- following the crowd we were soon to discover the meaning of it all: the long-awaited premier of Perugia's own minimetro
There were hundreds of people lining up to ride Perugia's controversial leap into the future for free! A great day: St. Minimetro, Auguri!