Post date: May 01, 2014 11:18:51 PM
Week 2: Day 4
This morning the bus to school was filled with a group of 10 second graders. On the bus, being the bus, we ended up standing next to these two girls and a boy. Speaking to each other in English, they instantly started listening and asking us questions. All with big smiles on their faces, they asked us, in almost perfect english, where we were from. They couldn’t believe that we spoke Italian and we couldn’t believe that they spoke such good English. America is extremely lacking in its teaching and appreciation of Foreign Languages. Whereas other places are learning English in addition to their native languages, Americans do not go beyond the basics because there is no pertinent need for foreign languages in our every day life.
This afternoon we went to a famous cemetery called Staglieno. The cemetery is hidden in the rolling hills behind Genova. To get to it we had to take a very small (and very hot) bus. Once we arrived we all gathered in front of the opening to a large marble wall. The
cemetery is huge and historical. Originally built in a square, it has been extended to comply with the mass demand for people who want to be buried there. However, since there is simply not enough room, they have started to turn the dirt, and graves, of those who have already decomposed and burying newly dead people in the same ground (yuck!). The perimiter of the square is made up of a wall of tombs and beautifully unique sculptures. What’s unique about these tombs and sculptures is that they are made to depict real people. They define who the person was, what they did, or their state at death. The sculptures are realistic and symbols of the individuals wealth and status, these dead are eternal in marble unlike those who are soon forgotten when the soil is turned. Being buried and remembered here is a big deal for the locals and their ancestors.
For Dinner, a big group of us did a pot luck. We all went to the grocery store and bought salami, bread, cheeses and wine. At the Marcelline we got a big blanket and headed up for the roof! Spreading our feast out we had a picnic and watched the sun slowly move. From the roof you can see everything. You can see out over the large spacious lawn infront of the Marcelline with all of the children and soccer players. You can see past the gate and all the way down Via Zara to corso Italia and the water. You can see the salty water twinkling in the sunlight as boats pass by. We sat there on the roof, drinking wine and watching the stars and the boats pass by until the sun crept steadily out of the Italian sky.