Funerals are fairly frequent in our little town of Petritoli.  This doesn’t seem to be unusual in the hill top villages around here, perhaps because many young people have moved away so the majority of the population are over seventy…(I’m just guessing) although having said that the primary school and the middle school seem to be well stocked and thriving.

The way funerals happen here is the way I remember them happening when I was a child in Ruislip, Middlesex, back in the late1950’s and early 60’s.  If a funeral procession passed by then people would stand still and take their hats off as a mark of respect and not move on until the tale of the funeral cortege had gone. The hearse and all the following cars would move very slowly and no other car would dream of overtaking, they just drove patiently behind. Well, that is exactly what it is like here. The hearse waits at the bottom of the town and then drives at a snails pace up through the old cobbled streets to the church in the centre. Behind the hearse the mourners follow on foot with close family members leading the way. It is quite something to see and when we first came to live here I was quite taken aback but found it easy to conform and noticed that in the short time of waiting and watching I had time to reflect on close family and friends that I had lost; a moment to remember.

When someone dies in Italy, posters are put up in the town announcing the date of the death and the day and time of the funeral, which is normally within two days.  It is quite common for a photograph of the deceased to be on the poster, which is actually rather helpful to us outsiders, because often a person can be recognised by sight but not by name. The Italians also put photographs on the graves in the cemeteries; I think both ideas are rather lovely.

What I have noticed is that in Italy and particularly in the rural areas death is totally accepted as a natural thing to happen, especially to an older person. The funeral is well attended and the departed person is given a respectful farewell and most importantly people take the time and care to show their feelings and support the bereaved family.  Everything slows down; people are open with their comfort and with their grieving, but it doesn’t last long, it doesn’t feel depressing.

Having said all that, what prompted me to write this blog was an incident in town today. I had left the house early and then had to park outside and walk up as it was market day and on these days the traffic is stopped from driving through the old centre as the stalls are spread across the road and there is no room. Particularly at the moment while the Water Board are doing major repairs it isn’t possible to drive into town one way and out the other but the vehicles have to turn around in the middle. As I was walking up I saw quite a number of people walking down together, I thought it was strange that the Petritoli Market was so popular and why was everyone leaving at the same time? Imagine my surprise when I realised a funeral was taking place…the chaos was unimaginable with our local police woman trying to direct everyone. But of course, everyone just paused for a while and let the funeral continue as if it were the most natural thing to be happening.  The market and the shopping carried on once again after the hearse and followers had left the town and made their way to the cemetery. Imagine this happening in London or anywhere in the UK in fact.

Market Stall Opposite the Church

I have just returned from a visit to the hospital in Petritoli, I had to have my ears “seen to”.  It was a typical Italian experience.
My appointment was for 08.00 so I arrived in good time and paid for the treatment first at the machine and then went to find the department. It was 07.55 and there were a few people already waiting. The ear specialist arrived but was unable to open the door so he had to go and find someone to open it for him. Eventually he found a nurse who brought a key. It’s now 08.10. So, as soon as the door is open a man pushes his way in for his ‘appointment’. Ah,  I wonder what the score is here so I ask a couple of people in my not very good Italian, “does everyone have an appointment for 8 o’clock?” They mumble something in dialect so I don’t fully understand, but something like, “first people here first in”. An old lady asks me if the doctor is going to call people and I say that it doesn’t look like it.   Some of us are standing and others sitting and we all stare at each other smiling, pulling faces, communicating visually with grimaces and raised eyebrows. I notice that some patients move strategically into position closer to the door and I do the same. So we are all waiting about. Again I mention the time of the appointments and notice that on my sheet of paper its says, ‘Presentazione 1’ which I assume means first. This time I’m ready when the door opens but a man beats me to it by swiftly maneuvering his wife ahead of him and deftly sweeping her in front of me!
Eventually I get my turn and in I go, the time is now 08.43. I hand over my paperwork and on the desk I see the list for this morning with my name at the top at 08.00! The next one at 08.10 so I ask him why it is that I had to wait and why didn’t he call people in order. He’s a rather nice, good looking doctor and I like a man in a white coat, but, typical Italian he just shrugs his shoulders and says, “that’s the way it is”. So we get on with the job of clearing the ears and when he goes to run the tap there’s no hot water so he goes out of the room, kidney bowl in hand to search elsewhere in the hospital for some warm water. When he comes back, five minutes later at the least, another patient tries to get into the door and he has to try and forcefully shut him out, the patient’s hand is waving a piece of paper through a tiny gap in the door but thankfully the nurse is here now and she deals with him. There is no privacy in an Italian consulting room by the way!
Ears finished I shake hands with the lovely calm doctor in his white coat, no stethoscope though, pity I could have had a proper fantasy. Such a shame the morning was spoiled by the selfishness of some Italians who simply couldn’t possibly wait their turn for anything.

If you can’t beat them join them. Next time I’ll be there at 07.30 for my 08.00 appointment.
Oh and its cost me €26.50 for all this.

I don’t make New Year resolutions every year but for 2013 I did. Firstly, I decided that after a break of some 20 years I would try getting on a horse again. This resolution I managed to to within the first week of January quite an achievement I think! In fact I managed to ride twice, the first time was for a lesson which took place in an outside menage. This was intended to build my confidence but in fact I was not a bit nervous. The horse was quite large and I had a bit of trouble getting on, well, actually I had to take the horse over to a mounting block so that i was practically level with his back and all I had to do was climb over. I know you thought I was going to say “get my leg over” but I resisted the temptation! For my second ride I went with a friend and we actually went out on a hack! The countryside was beautiful, we were lucky because it was a lovely morning. We rode out away from the riding stables, through a river then up through some woods and around a lake. The whole thing took more than an hour and surprisingly I was able to walk afterwards. It was the next day that I suffered.

Second resolution was to write more and having joined an online writing competition writing short stories on a Saturday night I have managed to win two weeks running! So pat on the back for that! Last resolution was to get back into blogging as this can only help with the writing. So watch this space for exciting news of Le Marche and Italy.

I teach English as a foreign language and each year I have taken a short intensive course of lessons for some students in the last year of their middle school (Scuola Media), they are all thirteen and fourteen years old.  I enjoy it, for the most part, but as in all teaching some students are trying, exhausting, frustrating and generally difficult.  Others are enthusiastic, interested, interesting and hardworking. I do reading, singing, game playing with them,  anything as long as its in English, albeit not very fluent English! The reason I get to do the work is because I am Madre Lingua, Mother Tongue and the idea is that the pronunciation of the students improves. It’s all about speaking, hardly any written work!  For the last lesson of the course I invite the students to bring in an item of their choice that has some meaning for them, some small thing that they can speak about and answer questions on from the other students. It’s meant to bring them all together and try and get some proper conversation going….. not as easy at it sounds! I had two lessons back to back today and some interesting items were brought in during both classes: A Bob Marley CD, Guns and Roses CD,  a Ski Pass for the Gran Sasso, an earring, a guide book for Pompeii, a football shirt, a teddy bear…I’m beginning to sound like that TV programme with Bruce Forsyth what was it called?

Anyway, in the second and very last class, all the students brought in with them their items, photos etc, except for two girls who said that their item was too large and could they bring it in at the end.  I loved this class, they were a teacher’s dream and so rewarding.  So, we did the chat about the football shirt, the cd’s the teddy bear, oh and a splendid piece of  Dr Who merchandise, a screwdriver with a laser beam and a secret pen that wrote in invisible ink! Amazing to find this in the middle of Le Marche in Italy! Wow! It had be bought from the UK on Ebay! Eventually I had to ask the last two students to bring in their item. Remember, this had to be something important that meant something to them. There was a great deal of whispering and excitement and I waited to see what they brought in. They entered, looking very pleased with themselves and carrying a chocolate cake decorated with the words, “Thank You” …

One other girl carried a large card which said “to Miss Ninette, thank you for teaching us so many new things” ….all the students’ names were on the back of this card and I was quite overcome! Not enough to stop the lesson though, so the two students still had to speak about their “item” then at the end of the lesson we were all able to sample it! They had brought plates, a knife, spoons, plastic cups and coca cola…what a treat. I can’t remember the last time I drank coke!

I may not see these students ever again. Next year they’ll be in High School and if I do see them I expect I will find it hard to remember their names. I have met so many students during the last four years. Perhaps a few of them will remember me which is gratifying. I hope that I have brought something into their lives and that they will occasionally think about the English teacher they had in the late Spring of 2012. I will certainly not forget the cake!

So…I’m blogging..after all everyone’s blogging and if I don’t jump on the bandwagon soon I’ll be left behind and I think I’ve got plenty to say. At least I thought I had plenty to say but now realise I don’t know where to start and as the title of this post is “Getting Started” I’d better sort myself out quickly!

Let me first tell you that I am living in Italy, in Le Marche we have a townhouse in the town (obviously!) and farmhouse in the countryside. We have just moved back down to the farm for the summer and at the moment we live on the first floor in a large bed sitting room. The rest of the house is rough…there is a new shower room on the ground floor which is adequate and the water is hot and running, it’s fine but going between the habitable room and the shower room is an experience. But I’ll concentrate on the internal side of things another time, today I want to focus on the outside.

Only a few weeks ago all the blossoms were out on trees, peach, apricot, plum, almond, apple and pear they all looked fabulous and to see all the different colours and catch the variety of scents on the breeze was exhilarating, refreshing and a proper “feel good” factor. Ah Spring…wonderful!

Apricot Blossom

Peach Blossom

Apple and Pear Blossom

This year looks as though it will be a bumper harvest of apricots and other fruits but not too sure yet about the olives which are recovering from a heavy and prolonged snow fall in February the like of which had not been seen for many years. It was the source of conversation for well over two and a half weeks which is how long the snow hung around for.   Some olive trees are still looking a little colourless and sad but with rain last week and now warm sunny days well into the 20’s they should begin to perk up.We have around 110 olive trees.

I am determined this year to really get the “orto” (vegetable garden) producing as much as possible so over the next few weeks I will have to work in it everyday. To date I have planted, french beans, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, fava beans….

Gonna stop blogging for tonight as my bed is calling…Also haven’t quite worked out what I’m doing so perhaps I can edit it all tomorrow!!!

Buona Notte  (goodnight)