This last posting was actually quite appropriate for this day, two years ago (wow), as I think the first time we all got together in Colorno at The Pub was on St Paddy's Day 2010!  And everyone knows friendships are made over a couple Guinness, teaching others how to properly chug Irish Car Bombs, funny Italian bartenders, and free French Oysters. 

What I Miss #8

This Post is for UNISGers...

I've been meaning to post recently about a recent anniversary – I’m about a week late - the one-year mark of our graduation from UNISG. This time last year we were finishing our thesis papers, returning from our internships, reuniting in The Pub of itsy-bitsy Colorno, and preparing to say our tearful goodbye’s. Mum had arrived and we traveled, ate, and drank our way around Milan, Verona, Bologna, Modena, Osteria Francescana, and Colorno. Then all of a sudden we were in Ireland. I think, sometimes more than other things, it marks a time when I have to stop saying, "I recently graduated from..." Not so recently. It's kinda like wanting to say I'm 26, two years too late.

The year of UNISG was over and Real Life began.

Well.

A lot has happened since then. I lived in Ireland. I worked in a pub. I witnessed and participated in lambing and ewe culling. I went to Holland. My brother got married. I got a new sister in-law. We celebrated our Bucknell 5-year reunion back in the cornfields of Lewisburg, PA. I was in a considerable yet injury-free car crash. I decided to stay in America. My dad turned sixty. I worked for a farm. My friends got engaged. My friends got married. Mum and I went on a road trip. It snowed in October. I decided to move to Australia. Made the most expensive purchase of my life. Smoked hookah with my family. Moved back to Ireland. Celebrated Christmas and New Years as well as charades, pub music, and intense wind in Ireland.  I turned 28. Went to Dublin. Went to London. Cheers-ed life, friendship, and old age with Arina. Ate at adored Ottolenghi. Visited Singapore for 13 hours. Moved to Australia. Spent a month in summery Perth. Moved to the middle of nowhere 5 hours south.

Cried. Laughed. Anticipated. Realized. Expected. Lived. Repeat. My, how time passes. 

As March imminently approached, I thought back to the year in Italy, as I often do, often as in on a daily basis, and where we all are now, one year later. Many of us are back in our countries of home; many of us are making new homes in new countries. Some of us have figured out what to do with our lives with a relevant or not-so-relevant Masters degree; some of us have an idea or two thousand; and some of us are still trying to figure it all out. No matter what though, I know that we are all continuing our paths toward greatness. And I know I, and we, regardless of how caught up with it we may get, have no doubt about that greatness.

Coincidental or not given the relative time frame, I have received many inspiring emails, quotes, and texts that deepen my love and appreciation for the year abroad at UNISG in Italy. When people ask me about the course academically, I have to rationalize the "Italian" way of things and decipher the expansive level of education we had, given the length of a year and varieties of visiting worldly professors. But when I express the other side of it, once we realized how to take advantage of this so-frustrating-it’s laughable learning system, but also how beneficial it was to master life from each other outside of the classroom, that's when my face starts to glow and I could go on and on, telling story upon story.

Despite our “amusement” over the frustration we initially felt, we learned a lot within the year; looking back, it is more than we probably can comprehend. Regardless of the nutritional facts we could rattle off, the debates we could argue about today's food systems, what a wine wheel is, the descriptions that cheese ob-lig-ator-iall-y smells, the obvious facts of the existence of terroir against NYU protestations, the way the leaves of olive trees glistening in the sun, the slow-painful-ways of food technology, the adorable enjoyments of cocktail class, how to smell tinned asparagus in white wine even if you’ve never eaten such a thing, the quick identification of wafting cured meat in the air, the warmth of that-morning-milked sheep’s milk, what mussel farming looks like, describing the palate of Illy coffee, the long history of pasta, the taste of just-made cheese, the difficulties of organics and food policies, how the body feels after tasting a 3-hour-class-worth of cured meats/cheese/chocolates/wines/honeys/beers/olive oils, how to make cured meat/cheese/coffee/balsamic vinegar/sherry/olive oil/beer/butcher meat/Spanish cookies/corks/champagne/jarred red peppers/pasta, the right way to “tap that” wheel of Parmigiano, how to style and photograph food correctly, the absurd amounts of out-of-season and far-away food from ALMA, or even the way dancing on the tables at the pub is supposed to be done while serving American-Thanskgiving turkey.....despite all that, the real lessons we learned, the real memories we will keep, are from each other, like: how to properly sing karaoke on a bus, the real meaning of banana tsunami, how to dumpster dive before going on a stage, that wine isn’t made from California grapes, the fact that you won’t die or get sick from sharing a spoonful with 26 other people, the smug satisfaction of seeing 25 other cameras pointing at food on a table, how to breath without an inhaler when having an asthma attack, the importance of cooking as a class and celebrating Fourth of July and Canada Day abroad, how to determine who you’re going to marry by sticking seeds on your face, how to speak Spanish in Italy and Italian in Spain, how to win over professors by inviting them to dinner, how to survive intense Italian summer heat, and even the way dancing on the tables at the pub is supposed to be done on a Thursday afternoon. And that’s just SOME of what we learned, in and out of the UNISG classroom.

One of the first times I realized that I was too genuinely happy to take pictures (and everyone knows I love to capture moments and take laborious notes) was in Friuli, in the mountains, as we walked down the hills of the little cheese-making farm through the wild flowers. Flowers necklaced my head like a Christmas tree. Our heads in a circle trying to fit everyone in the picture as the warm northern sun squinted our eyes as we smiled. It could not be captured enough, except in our memories.

A year was enough. A year was not enough. 

Even as we (luckily) meet up post-graduation, we continue to have the same-themed talks and conversations we had when we were studying together. (studying? hmmm, that needs to be re-phrased). We had high hopes and endless aspirations, we were unstoppable, we dreamt the impossible. But for us, at those moments, it was not a dream, the world was ours, and we were going to save it. Then we part, and we go on, with the same optimistic goals, the same knowledge, the same perseverance, but without the same in-person encouragement, same I’m-with-you confidence, same unbaiting ability without each other.

“It may not seem to you this way, yet, but these steps are leading you to greatness. Just have faith in yourself. Each day is one step closer to that. You are taking big risks to live and enjoy an unconventional life; big risks = big gains. "

I have received a couple quotes from UNISG friends that I have posted, and other emails that I have forwarded to share with my family to show them that I am not the only one who has graduated with a Masters degree, spent a year in Italy hoping that it will lead me in some direction, but yet still feels a bit lost even though I am living with conviction that I will find my way. I may be a bit odd, but I am sure of myself. Sometimes, my UNISG classmates (re: friends) have similar thoughts about life and about ourselves and these lead us to follow similar paths and actions. It's absolute SYNCRONICITY. But I think, even after just one year, this shows where we came from, what we were looking for, what UNISG offered us, where it took us, where it left us, and where we are now. From these relationships made over a year and post-graduation reassurances that we are not alone, I think that UNISG left us all with a special bond, connection, and spirit that we understand in each other.  We often feel as though we have to validate this feeling to ourselves and/or to others, whether it is just thinking out-loud to prove or verify it to ourselves, or actually trying to rationalize and describe it to others. But, for us, we just get it. We get each other. There’s no attesting or justification. Regardless of how much I learned, regardless of how much it cost, regardless of the lack of textbooks, regardless of what we left behind at home to try to figure it out abroad, what makes the year in Italy so worthwhile is the friendships that I have in my life right now from that experience. It's nice to know that I am not the only one feeling as I do: post-graduation, one year later. It's nice to know that even though we may be on different paths of sorts, despite our geographical locations and mind-boggling time zones of communication, that we have each other. We get it. And when we are reunited in person, these inspirational chitchats will resume, the laughter and familiarity will fill the room, and that one year, or however long it will be next, will feel as though we are back in Colorno – in the freezing classroom of the Napolean's Maria Louisa's Reggia or drinking prosecco outside on a bench at The Pub.  

And really, let's be honest. The truth of the matter is, no matter how much we really love to really talk about food, we * sometimes * talk about other things too. Feelings. Life. Reality. Gossip.

Because when it comes down to it, it’s all about the Top Ten Quality Control.

So, what everyone needs to do, a forceful recommendation from one of the best and not just to me, but wiseful advice to everyone is: stand in the middle of an open, peaceful spot, close your eyes and just listen to your surroundings. Send a heartfelt message up to the sky, and then start running as fast as you can for a moment and jump as high as you can. It is sure to leave you smiling :) – RR

I miss you guys, and I thank you, and I love you, and I wish you all the greatness in the world. Until next time…    

“Follow your heart, minute by minute and day by day. Let the course of the river run as it will, instead of tying yourself up in fears that you may never realize”  R.A Salvatore


Thanks Catherine!
Cheers Spritz ;)

"Envision, create, and believe in the universe, and your universe will form around you."


...thank you Reena :)

"No life is complete without a touch of madness"...and then, "I had the sense of being confronted with a vast jigsaw puzzle, the pieces of which only just beginning to be revealed."- Paolo Coehlo, Aleph


Thanks Britt :)

My. So. Called. Real. Life.

So, "wedding season," or so coined for this summer, is officially over. Well, at least the first wave of weddings - I've heard they go in waves. This summer was packed with showers, festivities, get aways, ceremonies, and parties. As much as I absolutely loved the opportunities to get together with everyone - especially especially after being away in Europe for 15 months - I am ready for fall to settle in and have a little break from all the gift-buying, new dresses (or borrowing really, in my case, thanks Jess), the travel expenses, and the sore dancing feet. The first wedding in May and the last wedding in October were pretty much the reasons why I stayed in America for the summer and put off my post-graduate "Real Life." It certainly wasn't financially possible for me to fly back and forth for each event, nor could I imagine missing any of them. Furthermore, no company was going to hire me and then let me have two separate months off to spend in America. So, originally, the plan was that I was supposed to come back in May and stay for month until my Bucknell 5-year reunion weekend, then spend the summer in Donegal, fly back in September for a month to attend a bachelorette party and then stay for the wedding 3 weeks later. Real Life was pushed back until October 2nd (today is October 12th). I loved being back with my family and seeing my friends again, both in NYC and Portsmouth - especially especially after 15 months apart in Europe - and my sister pretty much convinced me to stay for the summer. A car accident 2 days before I was supposed to get back on a plane to go back to Ireland sealed the deal. Portsmouth eventually won over NYC and I changed my flight back to Ireland to December 1. Real Life would start then. Or, after Christmas when the family goes back to America. Ok, January 2nd. I'll be a day older than 28 and ready to start Real Life. 

I don't regret staying here for the summer. Summer in Donegal would've been filled with a lot of montanaiety (monotonousness?) and alone time. Maybe I would have a lamb for a pet and chickens for eggs every morning and bees making me honey and would have planted a full vegetable garden - but unlikely. Maybe I would've worked up the courage to learn how to surf and not be scared of further-ruining my knees - or was it actually the intimidatingly cute surf instructors that kept me away? Maybe I would've learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness - oh wait, I already learned how to do that from living there and working there in the spring. 

Staying in Portsmouth and working for a local farm this summer has been a terrific learning experience. Despite the fact that my friends don't understand what I do at all and my sister thinks that I'm a hillbilly, I don't regret it one bit. I have learned so much not only from the farmers but reading up on the produce so that I can answer questions for customers and write for the farm's newsletter as well as keep up with my own blog. I have a deeper confused-understanding of the pros and cons of organic and conventional farming as well as the reality of it all. Maybe the "confused-understanding" means I don't actually get the reality of it all, but then that blurriness of right and wrong is pretty much the reality of it today. There's so much more that goes into running a successful farm, the politics of farmers markets, and grasping the difficulties of what people eat and what they actually know about where their food comes from is alarming. So much of it people take for granted. Even after this entire summer I have a hard time knowing what to eat or what not to eat: pesticide-ridden but local, morally-righteously but  restaurant-available, eating for the sake of not wasting, or even just having a craving for something when I know I am being hypocritical. 

But all of this has not lead to me to Real Life. The last farmers market ends November 5th. One month in America. Portsmouth? NYC? Then a flight December 1st. One month in Ireland. Can I get a job at Fallon & Byrne again and afford to live in Dublin? Are there even any people in Dunfanaghy in December to possibly find a job? Too many questions, too many unknowns. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed as summer comes to an end. 

Rather spontaneously on a Friday night, I applied for a working-holiday visa to Australia.  Sunday, I was approved. (!!!!!!!!!!!!) The economy in Ireland is too shitty to look for a job. I need to move out of my parents place and be a real 27 year old. I've had my fair share of Portsmouth - love it, but it's time to move on, again. I don't want a corporate job in NYC and any other sort of job will be unaffordable to live there. So, why not Australia? I've wanted to go there since 3rd grade when we learned all about penguins, I fell in love, and learned that there were warm-weathered penguins, the Little Blue Fairy Penguins, living and causing a raucous in Australia. I always thought that a semester abroad would bring me the opportunity to go there, however, a double-major in Spanish taught me that they don't speak Spanish in Australia. 

Lewisburg 4 years. CT 8 months. New York 2 years. Portsmouth 13 months. Italy 1 year. Ireland 3 months. what's next? Australia? why not? my travel lust is calling my name. 

"Why not" probably isn't an acceptable answer. Especially for those who have stable jobs, steady relationships, some sort of career path or even a goal. But for me, I don't. I like taking what life has given me and using it as a learning experience, creating my own stages along the way, and hopefully, it will lead me to where I'm supposed to be. I don't think I'm supposed to know what I'm supposed to do, but I do know that a corporate life is not well suited for mel, and I'm perfectly happy taking what I can get, adjusting and/or improving along the way. I don't have a plan in Australia, yet, just an approved visa. Maybe there was another reason for going to Australia, maybe I lost it. Is it an escape from Real Life going half way around the world or will I find it there? What do I do if I don't go to Australia? Maybe I will miss the next wave of wedding showers, festivities, luncheons, parties, ceremonies, and sore feet from dancing, but I've learned that I can't stick around for those - as much as I may not want to selfishly miss them. I can't put off my Real Life for any one. This is my (so called) Real Life. I've enjoyed this intermediate-pause-on-real-life-but-huge-learning-experience-and-friend-and-family-filled-summer, but I'm ready for "Real Life." Whatever that may be, even if it's half way around the world. 

*I miss you already, but what better excuse than come to visit me?! 

BEST Welcome Home Gift EVER.

My year in Italy at UNISG. Every picture, every blog post are included. every lower case letter and spelling mitsake are also included. My sister, somehow, formatted my blog amazingly into this hard cover book. All my efforts to capture each moment, to record memories, and to tell the stories we experienced seem secondary to the hard work and time my sister put into this. Tears and words could not express how much it meant to me; the thoughtfulness of it all as my family not only told me how much they enjoyed reading my blog over the year and how upset they were when there wasn't a new posting to start their day, but to know that they liked it as much as I loved living there. They realized how much it  meant to me that now I have all those memories in my hand to relive again with just a flip of the page. I just cannot love it or my family enough. Enough that I carried it out with me for the first couple days and people would ask me why I brought my yearbook to the bar. Then I would show it to them and gush about my sister and they too became obsessed. 

As I flipped through the book, memories jumped out of the pages with more stories to tell:

I'm published!! 

Created by Jessica Ryan. Produced by John Ryan. Written by Shauna Ryan.

UNISG memories.

Summers in Zso-ugly.

when mum and dad came to visit, trip to piemonte. (upside down)

enthusiastic!! pickerlicker!

i thought this picture deserves its own post, jess thought then it should deserve it's own page.

upside down, UNISG memories.

ciao ciao bene. i love you.

jess's favourite post.

amazed.

"Grass Fed: A Few Beefs"

Even though it was written a couple months ago, at the end of last year, I recently came upon this article and really enjoyed it. I thought it, in the three different episodes shared by the author, summed up a lot of the thoughts that I have. Thoughts that stemmed from before I went to UNISG, while at  UNISG, even more so while at UNISG, and still continue after UNISG despite all the answers I was looking to find while there. As I tried to explain in my thesis, I don't think these questions have answers. But....interesting enough to consider and to think about...thoughts?

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/grass-fed-a-few-beefs/?src=tmcolum

Hogget. 

Graduation Day.

 "Here’s to all the places we went. And all the places we’ll go. And here’s to me, whispering again and again and again and again: iloveyou." - John Green.


BRAVO UNISG.

Mum Comes to Italy: Modena (aka Osteria Francescana)

Massimo explained to us how UNISG appreciates food and likes to teach us whereas if he taught at ALMA, he would take their money from teaching the class, but they wouldn't get anything out of it. Teaching and living should be two-sided, giving and taking - learning together. 

By the time we arrived in Modena, everything was closed for lunch. We wandered and wandered until we headed back to the main piazza. I don't know if it was because it was Monday and everything was closed, but I didn't like Modena as much as the other cities of Emilia Romagna. It is much smaller and definitely does not cater to as many visitors as Verona or Bologna. The main reason we went there, ok the only reason we went there, was to have dinner at Osteria Francescana - rated #6 in the world and #1 in Italy - my UNISG graduation gift. Chef Mossimo Bottura came to teach us one afternoon and inspired many of us with not only his food, but his philosophy towards cooking and life.

After ringing the doorbell to enter, we stood in the front room until we were brought to our table. Each of our coats were taken and the two girls stood there with them, in silence, until we sat down. Awkward. Massimo came out and talked to every tables and would come to explain what each of the dishes were. Servers would bring the dishes to the tables out together, so that everyone was served at the same time. Glasses of water were never empty, never even half full, as they were constantly refilled as though the servers couldn't walk by without pouring some water. The wine list was incredibly heavy, with mostly Italian wines but ranging in an enormous stretch of prices. 

11,500 euros for a bottle of wine. no big deal. happy graduation.  jk.

Mum had the traditional tasting menu and I had the classic. I thought everything was perfect. It was a lot of food although I wasn't completely stuffed by the end of it. It was very meat heavy though and would have been nice to have another vegetable dish in between, but that's not very typical Italian. Everything was "typical" but reinvented very creatively. 

Massimo's take on spuma di mortadella - served with fluffy, salty focaccia, pistachio and I think mayo?

top 10 dishes that changed cuisine: foie gras popsicle covered in hazelnuts and almonds with aged balsamic in the middle

my non-nut foie gras served with aged balsamic, freshly ground black pepper, course salt and greens

my leeks with black truffles - can actually smell the truffles when they were placed on the table. and they tasted like truffles. take that ristorante diana. and your armpit.

my parmigiano reggiano 5 ways.

mum's tortellini en brodo

my "soup" - Massimo's take on pasta e fagioli - foie gras, rosemary foam, parmigiano crisp that tastes like the "pasta"....amazing. maybe my favourite. 

mum's bolognese

my ravioli - Massimo's take on cotecchino e lentiche - typical italian dish served on New Years Eve, but now in pasta. 

mum's short ribs served with truffled jerusalem artichoke and creamy potato

my bollito misto...non bollito - head, tongue, cheek, belly, tail, and cotechino. 

"orange salad" shot with Massimo in the background

vanilla ice cream with warm cherry sauce.

chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a fruity film. 

another dessert tray. profiteroles, fruity gel, chocolate truffles, cream cake, and chocolate with pop rocks!

Delicious and perfect. We even got a book of the restaurants in "Les Grandes Tables du Monde."I think this was once in a lifetime though. I loved it. 

Oh, it is wonderful to wake up in the morning with things to look forward to! - Dodie Smith

my thesis was sent last night. celebrations ensued which included too quickly drunk gin & tonics and some coffee shot at the pub. three suitcases are already packed. and i mean stuffed. probably already over the airplane weight limit yet my room still looks full. mum arrives on friday and we're meeting in milan to see the last supper. then verona, bologna and modena. plans tbd but reservation is booked for osteria francescana! back in colorno, the thesis defense presentation is on tuesday afternoon. wednesday night we have a group dinner at pallavicina. graduation is on thursday morning. party at the pub afterwards. early morning (!) flight to ireland the following day. then a week's vacation with mum & dad in donegal! then....post-UNISG life starts. 

UNISG Internships

"you can develop taste, but passion is certainly a genetic thing, like a good ear for music." Judith Jones

Not only have I loved my experience during my stage so far, I love being in Colorno with my friends/other students who are doing their own independent studies and get to learn what they are experiencing. 

Arina for example, is studying the "obscure" left-over/less popular meats like brain, liver, tripe, and pork skin for example. Not only has she been cooking and eating with nonnas and Italians all over the boot, she made a delicious chicken liver pate the other day. (liver is apparently, according to Massimo Bottura, very good for the health of women). and yes, it was very good. 

 Brittany is exploring birra artigianale -  artisinal Italian breweries and brought over a P.i.L.S beer from Pausa Cafe in Torino. I believe it is a brewery inside a jail where prisoners can learn a course on brewing beer. Not only is it a good cause, it's full of floral hops and bright gold in colour. deliciously sinful.

Poppi also went with Brittany to Piemonte to discover the legal world of Robiola di Roccaverano. She brought back cheese that was made 4 days earlier (four days!) as well as an aged Robiola. The fresh cheese was moist and melted in your mouth, not too sticky like some goat cheeses. The mature cheese was full of flavour and relentlessly irresistible to eat. 

"I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food"
— Erma Bombeck

A Multinational Thanksgiving in Colorno, Italy

196 photos. 100 italians. 37 fist pumps. 30 alma kids. 26 unisg students. 21 drinks spilled. 16 different countries. 9 Nh-ers. 7 hours of dancing on tables. 6 creepers. 5 tutors. 4 tables full of food. 3 turkeys. 3 bottles of Prosecco. 2 professors. 2 "bomb-diggity" dj's. 1 secret ingredient. 1 crowd surfer. 1 allergic reaction. 1 american holiday. 1 tiny town pub in italy. unlimited tear-inducing laughs.


For all the Americans who felt homesick, I think this holiday in Italy really lived up to some serious expectations and surpassed any judgements foreigners have about what Thanksgiving is all about. Usually, you eat so much that you can only slouch on the couch and daze at the football on the TV. However, this year, after gorging on delicious recreations of everyone's family's favourites, the turkey-fest was filled with dancing on wooden picnic tables to infamous pop music on repeat. What a way to burn off all those calories! I had a blast. 


I'm not sure if I can include any photographs in this post or if they are too incriminating. There are fantastic videos on youtube though, if you can find them...

paper plates and plastic utensils.

Tuscany: our LAST stage.

Tuscany was our third Italian study trip and the last of the year's stages. What better way to end it than with a bus ride that didn't correspond to the schedule's timeline, an artisinal pasta maker, an upscale olive oil producer, lunch of cured meat and cheese, a free night to roam the city to find wine and typical regional food, a visit to a family-run large scale winery, a too-many-to-count-course dinner in a quiet cobblestone village, a visit to a family-run small scale winery, a multi-course lunch filled with laughter and wine, a crammed ride in a white van - just like crete, just like friuli, the distinctive-wafty room of hanging homemade cured meats with a cured meat sampling dish to follow, a visit to a luxurious winery with a tour of its village-like compounds - just like crete, followed by a visit to another winery, free time in a small town where we scatter but all end up at the same bar, a visit to a butcher, a visit to a cow farm, numerous olive oil tastings, hundreds and hundreds of oak barrels, multitudes of steel fermentations vats, hours of bus rides for sleeping, reading, laughing and singing karaoke*, an album of food-photos, tear-induced belly-aching laughter, unanswered questions to definitions of vocabulary that have haunted us this entire year, and of course lots of nerdy note taking. oh, aaand a week's worth of unforgettable memories. 

a great way to complete our last UNISG stage together, but hopefully not our last trip together. 

* i have video recordings. 

Terra Madre & Salone del Gusto: Opening Ceremony

I don't know if I realized how lucky I was to attend UNISG this year until we arrived in Torino for Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto. Sure, next year the students may be able to go to Slow Cheese or Slow Fish, but Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto are by far the biggest and most important for Slow Food and it only happens every two years.

We left early Thursday morning to arrive in time for the Opening Ceremony. I felt a little overwhelmed for not having any idea what to expect from the weekend. Despite our lecture on Salone del Gusto, which really just explained the outline of the event's floor plan, fascinating, there was no way for me to be prepared. I think I am still trying to process the immenseness of the events experienced throughout the weekend.

"I don't need a pass, I'm a pecorino." - J

With passes hung around UNISG lanyards, we walked into the giant arena, Palasport Olimpico, which was originally built for the Olympics. We filled the seats as we watched people from all over the world, wearing their traditional outfits - often shoes and underpants excluded - walking around with suitcases having just arrived, chatting and introducing each other. A rainbow of coloured clothes and skins trickled in as there were kimonos with high heels, headdresses that could easily block the person sitting behind, Middle Eastern robes with Nikes, and we curiously eyed the UNISG students from Pollenzo identifiable by our new school-labeled t-shirts. Whether they were farmers, producers, musicians, educators, fishermen, chefs, students, or supportive guests, everyone was there for the same reason: as Sergio Chiampanino the Mayor of Turin said, to come together to exchange goods and ideas in order to reach a resepct that doesn't only enrich a few people. If we rearrange the hierarchy of values, not material values, we can change the world through how we relate to each other and use Terra Madre as an engine to promote these relations amongst each other. 

The fourth edition of Terra Madre kicked off with 300 school children, "Pequenas Huellas" from all over the world singing with the Orchestra Internazionale Per La Pace. They sang in various languages and played while representatives from Afria, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceana walked in proudly waving colourful country flags.  From each of the five continents was a representative speaker addressing the audience in their native languages.

the choir and orchestra.

Malebo Mancha Maze, a Gamo from a mountain area in Ethiopia spoke to us, loud and clear. He animatedly shared an anecdote about 5 bulls and a hyaena: 5 bulls went to the low land where the grass was nice and tasty, spending the whole day grazing. They joined their rears together in a circle with their horns facing out ready to attack. The hyaena came and said to get rid of the white bull and they would be safe forever. So, the white bull was sacrificed. One by one the pack got lighter and it was easier for the hyaena to wipe out the bulls. The lesson is, if all of us, brought together from 150 countries, embrace each other and work together, we can survive.

Africa represents.

Adolfo Timotio from Brazil didn't look up once during his speech. He heavily stressed the process of colonization that the Guarani went through from the Spanish, Portuguese, English and Dutch who brought borders, diseases, slavery and genocide. He implored us to recognize the indigenous people and to guarantee the application of the law to them as we all are the custodians of the world - we need to look after it and make sure that all differences are respected. He was so bitter, I wonder what it was like for him to be in Italy - the colonizer.

Americas. North, Central and South.

Albina Morilova, dressed in a traditional Kamchadal headdress, was from the extreme western part of Russia where for 7-8 months of the winter the temperatures are below 40C. Through describing her culture, she discussed the importance of conveying knowledge to new generations. Her indigenous  culture has had to adopt the Russian culture and their traditional language is in danger of extinction as teachers nor youth are interested in learning or preserving it. 

Asia.

Ol-Johan Sikku is a Sami, an indigenous group from the area of Northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Penninsula of Russia. He too talked of the exploited land that divided his people but hoped for a rivival of language, culture and land through community development. As we have borrowed from Mother Nature, he said, we can no longer live in the same nature, but we have the knowledge to work together to advise the rest of the world on how to protect it. 

Europe. Yay Ireland.

Aunty Beryl Van Oploo from SW New South Wales in Australia also talked about her indigenous culture and about a college of aboriginal culture and cuisine. 

I swear the translator called this part of the world "Oceana"

 Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food International President, supported what each of these indigenous speakers had to say, agreeing that the defense of traditional knowledge gives us the tools to not only create good practices and respect nature, but we can start a dialogue to support those least considered by politics and media: natives, farmers, women, and the elderly. These humble, modest people need to show us the right way towards the future as they are the ones who preserve the earth and give the world common sense. Petrini also strongly addressed the youth in the audience who he believes have a great opportunity to match and combine modern science that we know with the traditional knowledge from our ancestors. To connect these is an extrodinary challenge, the best challenge ahead of us and the best struggle to fight for. Since we (I will consider myself part of the youth) are the subjects and creators of the transformation need, we need to grow and decrease at the same time - not only increase the development of material goods, efficiencies and profits, but to develop the love, friendship and understanding amongst people. His main three points to come away from were to enhance diversity, strengthen reciprocity, and to encourage dialogues and meetings.  For Petrini, and what he wanted us all to understand and feel, was that being here, getting together for the weekend, would prove to be more valuable than all the money in the world as we open each other up to new experiences, beliefs, and languages. It will force us to go home stronger, to not only defend and expand our networks, but to live intensely. 

Carlo Petrini: the man behind it all.

It was empowering and encouraging and Petrini's energy could be felt throughout the entire arena. I left feeling like I had every capability to make a change in the world. I also left thinking that it wasn't anything new that I hadn't already read in his book, Terra Madre. Slow Food is a powerful movement but not without its problems and I understand that Petrini's speech was reinforcing the basic foundation and principles of the movement but a slight change in approach could strengthen it - if something isn't working, something can always be altered. I left unsure if I wanted to return again in two years, but the Opening Ceremony still had not prepared me for the weekend to come.

afterwards, the Greeks started dancing and Popi joined in.

(This was all from my notes and observations from the presetation, but more information and Carlo Petrini's translated speech can be found here.)

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around." - Hugh Grant as Prime Minister in Love Actually.

never trust a skinny chef - james beard

The benefits of going to a university in the same building as a prestigious culinary school is not only getting to meet these up and coming chefs but to have class with their professors. And we were oh-so lucky to have a lecture one day with Chef Tiziano Rossetti (also the head chef of the ALMA gala dinner...) ps - he is skinny. not fat at all. but i trust him. he was fantastic.

he made for us: 

shrimp with caw-we-flahwer poached in water

risotto with sweet pumpkin, aromatic rosemary and acitdic balsamic in chicken stock 

steamed fished with chopped herbs

fried fish 

-> demonstrations of heat transfers through different mediums. 

Sweet n' Sour Sauce: 500mL, white vinegar, 200g white sugar - whisk together. easy-peasy. add ginger, radish, hotness...whatever. whatever your heart desires.

just a little bit. piccolo. 

just don't show Jules how to add salt to a dish...at least not in our apt....

it's like a rain shower.