One Big Happy Family - Contrada Style!!!!

This week in Cross Cultural Studies we learned about Siena’s Palio. My, what a tradition for such a small city to have! Before I learned about it I had no idea how big/meaningful it really was.

The Palio is a horse race event that takes place twice every summer in Siena. It is a race from the 16 C, i think, very old! It is known worldwide and draws thousands and thousands of people to Siena every summer. There is the Piazza del Campo, the main town square. The people lucky enough to find a spot and don’t mind being packed in 90 + summer heat stand in the center of the piazza. Around the piazza, gravel is laid down, making a race track. Once all the horses and jockeys are lined up, the race begins, only lasting no more than a minute and a half.

The Sienese work months and months on the planning which goes into the Palio.

Each Contrada has its own “Prio", like a mayor. The Prio is the leader of the Contrada.

Our, prof, a Sienese herself, tried to explain how close to the heart the Palio really is for the Sienese. The Sienese are born into their Contrada. You can never change Contrada allegiance, it’s “in your blood,” as our Prof explained. To change your Contrada would be like changing the name you were born with.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Siena is divided into 17 contradas – funny b/c it is only a town of 50,000 people. Each Contrada is represented by a coat of arms (usually animal symbol) sitting on the side of the districts building, indicating which one you are currently located in. Here are all 17: Aquila (Eagle), Bruco (Caterpillar), Chiocciola (Snail), Civetta (Little Owl), Drago (Dragon), Giraffa (Giraffe), Istrice (Crested porcupine), Leocorno (Unicorn), Lupa (Female Wolf), Nicchio (Seashell), Oca (Goose), Onda (Wave), Pantera (Black Panther), Selva (Forest), Tartuca (Tortoise), Torre (Tower) and Valdimontone (literally, "Valley of the Ram" - often shortened to Montone).

I live in the Del Nicchio contrada. *REPRESENT, yo!* Anyways……

Ok so I intially thought “ooo that’s soooo cute. That little plaque on the building, how pretty.” Didn’t think much of the design really or significance. But mio Dio, what I found out!

The Sienese take there contradas super seriously. Your Contrada is like your family. Some are bigger than others. And richer than others b/c of this. The yearly tithe is 50 euros to the Contrada when you live in Siena. This money goes to all the events for Palio, costumes, food, music rehearsals, care of the horse selected for the race and to pay the jockey. Jockey’s can get paid up to 300,000 dollars or more if the Contrada wishes to do so!!!!! There is a famous jockey named Aceto (vinegar in italian), He has won 14 Palio races. He is an older man now and his son actually owns a high end clothing store in town I’ve been to. Think bedazzled shoes, fur and silk. Also, some contradas even have their own historical museum than they pay to keep up. We visited the Ram’s today.

So how do they determine who races every summer?
Out of 17, 3 are drawn out of a hat. The 7 who did not race the previous summer are automatically added to the race. Only 10 districts race.

We watched clips of races in class. It is sooo crazy. The horses run like mad and even if the jockey falls off, but the horse is the first to the finish line, that contrada can win the whole thing. Each jockey also has a sort of riding whip to hit not only their horses, but each other w/ while the race is going.


There are two races, one on July 2nd, the other on Aug. 16. Both are equally important. In May, participating contradas are chosen.
So again I’m thinking “Wow. this shit is a BIG deal here!” I had only touched the tip of the iceberg.



Here is the drama of the contradas our Prof told us about,which make you realize how HARDCORE this whole thing really is:
1. A couple of years ago, a little boy from one of the contradas was very ill. His family could not pay for the expensive surgery he needed, so his contrada banned together and made it happen.
2. Women are not allowed to participate as jockeys. There is a legend that in the 40s or something some woman concealed her sex and won a Palio race, they found out she was a chick afterwards. In each contrada, they elect Prios. In the Goose contrada, woman are not allowed to vote for their prior. Goose is the only contrada that doesn’t let woman vote. Last year, the women went on strike and did not make any of the food or help organize anything for Palio. They finally had a vote on the subject to resolve the drama and you know what they did? They voted to keep it with only male votes. Crazy people.
3. In years past the She-wolf and Porpucine districts have had some bitchy smack downs. One year, the Porcupine jockey took a bribe (supposedly this happens at times) from the Arch enemy contrada, the She-wolf jockey. The Porcupines lost the race and they could tell their jockey did a shitty job. Well there was a big uproar and the She-wolf jockey ended up in the hospital for 60 days!!!!!!!! The Porcupines were suspended from competing in the Palio for 5 years.
4. If you marry a person not from your contrada, you cannot see them for the 4 days leading up to the race. Mostly, b/c there are so many Contrada festivities going on, that your spouse is gone at his/her parents house partying.
5. Whenever a new baby is born, they are baptized in a ceremony by the Contrada Prio in front of the contrada members.
6. From the time you get a horse for your jockey, a person is in charge of the horse 24/7. In the past, other contradas have poisoned each other’s horses the day before the race. FAIL.

FLORENCE VIRGIN.

Yesterday, was my first time ever in Florence. Me and 9 other girls from the program decided to make a day trip out there. The bus ride is only an hour away from Siena! There was a Chocolate Festival going on so we hit that up first. This was sooooo overwhelming. There were 20 choclatiers with all their amazingness set up. First I bought some hot chocolate. And when I say hot chocolate I mean, boiled down pure chocolate in a cup w/ whipped cream topping. OMG. There was anything you could imagine – chocolate covered fruit, espresso beans, cherries, nuts, liquor flavored chocolates, and chocolate fountains! Yum.

My favorite designs were, the Simpsons, the complete collection of the 101 Dalmatians in chocolate form, chocolates that were in the shapes of rusted objects – like horseshoes and locks, and last but not least, Chocolate Penises. Quite amusing.

After our sugar overdose, lunch and shopping were needed. I splurged! My only splurge that will not be travel cost related. My mission was to find an amazing pair of genuine Florentine tall leather brown boots. And I found them! The store lady was so sweet. She helped me find my size, even though I didn’t know what it was in Europe – I am a size 40 btw. Plus right now in Italy from January – February, there are huge “saldi” sales going on! So they were expensive but I got 40 euros off.

We almost did not make our bus ride home! Holy shit. 10 girls running around Florence...we got to the station w/ just 5 minutes left to board! We had to beg the bus driver to wait for us to get tickets. GRAZIE!

The ride home was bad news bears! Some highways from Rome are smooth, but others are straight up countryside. Up & down and windy. Yeesh. But don’t worry, I made it ok. I just walked really slow for several minutes after we got off the bus.

MONT’OLIVIETO & PIENZA

This past Friday, the entire program went on an excursion deeper into Tuscany, to Mont’Olivieto & nearby Pienza.

Mont’Olivieto was home to the first order of Benedictine Monks. Now they have orders all over the world to this day. Also, the Monastery still active. Saw a couple monks walking around in fact! We also saw their dining room. Two long tables along the side of the room. On the table were waterbottles, plates and an orange for every one. Obviously they hadn’t had lunch yet. The tour guide said that during lunch they are not allowed to speak. During this time monks pray silently or if they feel moved they can go up to a podium in the back of the room and read holy scripture aloud during lunch to everyone.

We went to the Library. Which was sweet. It was super old with these faded browned books all locked behind thin wired doors. If you touched the books I am sure they would fall apart.

After our tour we boarded the bus to Pienza. Pienza is a charming Tuscan town of 1,300 people. Our tour guide Andrea was great. Very comical! He is from Pienza and in the middle of the tour her would see someone he knew walking by and shout out “Caio!” The time it takes to get from the city gates to the end is 5 minutes. Ya, pretty small. Pienza was planned by some architect named Rosselini for Pope Pious. I don’t know which Pious though…lol. One of them. The Pope who ordered Pienza to be rebuilt to be “the perfect city” only visited the city 3 times in his lifetime.

While on the tour, Andrea pointed out the cinematic sets Pienza has offered to Hollywood. The two main things Pienza is famous for are 1. Tourism & 2. Piccolomini Cheese. Of course, before tourists found this little village, they really only made money from farming and cheese. Now they really benefit from all the tourism and movies that are shot there.

Some of the movies shot in Pienza were, the Romeo & Juliet from the 1960s, parts of Gladiator and the English Patient. Ok, so I should’ve written that “Tuscany movie” section after I visited Pienza. After the tour we went to a nice local restaurant and had another four course meal. On the walls were pictures of some of the actors that had eaten there in the past, while there for shooting. There was cast members of the English Patient pictured w/ the owners.

Then we had some free time. I wandered around the city taking some very nice pictures. It is so easy to feel like a skilled photographer in Tuscany, because every shot you take looks like a painting. You can’t screw it up! The hillside shots are so beautiful. Before I came here I thought paintings or pictures had probably been idealized or messed with because they looked to enchanting to believe. But really, they truly are that awe-inspiring in reality.

Early evening we headed off to the Piccolomini Cheese Factory Tour. We had to wear some super dorky garb into the factory. Ricardo, our tour guide showed us the entire process and all the different ways to make cheese. The whole experience was interesting but phew! Damn, did some of that cheese assault my senses! Strong smell fo sho. We had a cheese sampling at the end of the tour. The cheeses at their different aging processes, and a bunch of different flavors – chili, walnut, truffles.

At night I went out w/ my roommates for a couple drinks. In the bar they played European MTV. The videos were all circa ‘90s. I particularly enjoyed watching “Get in Jiggy w/ It” by Will Smith, while sipping my Corona.

Movies from Siena!

So in the past week, I have realized that two good movies have been filmed in Siena. The most recent 007 James Bond movie - Quantum of Solace was filmed on my freakin street or rather, my roof!
I found this out in a round about way. Turns out one of my roomies, Carol, her friend did the Siena program a few months ago. She lived in our apartment! above is a picture she took while the film was going on:





also, one of my favorite movies - Stealing Beauty was filmed here. It was filmed in and around the Siena, Chianti and Tuscany in general. Me and Carol walked to the train station this past weekend and i was seeing all the scenes in front of my face. Lovely. The top picture is part of the train station.

Tuscan Kitchens, Fromaggio, Cioccolato & Bailey's Creme...

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a class offered once a week thru the program. It is a traditional Tuscan cooking class. The class is taught by a 40 something Tuscan native, Elisabetta. After Italian Language class she walked us to her cooking studio. In this place we begin to absorb all her knowledge. She cooks from a simple recipe book from the 18^th century, by Artusi. Tonight we made gnocchi from scratch! And ragu. Also we made a Florentine meatloaf, with boiled eggs in the center. For dessert we made almond Biscottis served w/ dessert wine! And she showed us how to dip the biscotti in the wine. O god it was good. One of the best meals yet. I get really relaxed whenever I watch the Food Network and this was kinda like that only times a hundred. She gave us a recipe book from the class, all in Italian so I will have to translate it’s words and measurements when I get back so I can try these recipes. Mmmmmm.

And while we are on the subject of food, this weekend is one of gastronomic divinity. Tomorrow we have a program excursion to nearby Pienza. Battista demolished the small village and rebuilt what he attempted to make the “perfect town” on earth, ever created. He did this in the late 15^th Century. We are going to get a tour of the small Tuscan village along with a cheese tasting at some farm. Moo.

This weekend me & my room mates and some other kids in the program are going to Florence for a Chocolate Festival! Heaven. This will be my first trip to Florence. Everyone raves about it who has been there before so I am intrigued.

I bought a purple peacoat at the Wednesday market this past week. I went with one of my room mates. After speaking w/ the vendor, he asked her –

You're American?

Yes.

Are you felice?

Per che?

He yelled, "Obama!", fist pumping in the air.

Then she laughed and nodded and it was a fun conversation to witness. The Italian vendor described Bush’s second term as “incredible!” and you know, not in the good way. LoL.

This Saturday, the Walkabout Pub opens – so excited. There are two kids in the program w/ birthdays, so I think pretty much all 24 of us are attending the seasonal re-opening of this Australian Pub. I think they close from November to January.

They have Bailey’s Crème and Fosters!!!!

And the name, I mean come on, it’s a match made in heaven for a fun time.

I talked to my friend Megan on skype the other night. It was weird, because we both decided we were chatting like we always do, but this time in Italy. Crazy…

Francesci!

Yesterday for lunch we went outside the city walls and had pizza. We each got our own huge pizza. I had one w/ mushrooms, ham and mozzarella. We talked to the waiter after dinner and he said he wants to visit America. He actuallyt has an uncle in Detroit! He said he was excited to go now b/c of the "change, Obama."

Last night we went to some bars. We tried to pick the local ones where no one spoke “inglese”. We went to Ristorante Guido. At the next bar we went to, I sat at a table w/ friends, me on the outside. Then three Italian guys came up to me and started talking in what limited english/ Italian we shared. They were three Italian men all named Francesco. We started talking about Siena, where they were from, what I was doing here etc. Asked where i was from and i said MidWest. I then held up the palm of my hand and pointed to where Detroit would be. For some reason, I have no idea why, they started talking about a movie in Pennsylvania they knew about. They said, it is about an animal and "dis animal is a weather forecaster."

What?

Me & my roomate asked if this animal made a sound. We told them to make a sound of the animal. They then said the animal had no sound, no noise. After a thrillin game of pictionary and me and Carol making oinks and woofs, one of the Francescos said
Feb. 2nd, this animal is Feb.2nd.....
Groundhog Day!

Yes, they were trying to talk about Groundhog Day. Now, I think I know why they were saying it. I had said I was happy to be in Siena, b/c Detroit was cold and I wanted to have - as Francesco said - "my grand tour". Maybe they were trying to relate the monotony I was feeling in the States to Groundhog Day?


Anyways, I have a picture here of the groundhog pictionary game, i'll add it later to the blog. It's quite detailed...
Once i said "Bill Murray", they all smiled and nodded and laughed. Honestly, although communication is easy when your all know the same language it is sometimes much more amusing when you have to work for the answers.

At the end of the night i left w/ a "Piacere, Francescos" one of them looked back and said "Francesci" b/c that is the correct form of many.

Piacere Francseci. Nice meeting you Francescos.

At Italian language class on Thursday, my Insegnante (teacher) Luccia Rossi hooked me up w/ churches to visit for mass while i'm here. She doesn't know any english so it was interesting when she was giving me directions. She wrote down an entire list for me of mass times and where to go. One of the churches she said, was where St. Catherine of Siena, the patron St. of Doctors, recieved her stigmata. On and in the Cathedral of San Dimenico last weekend, we saw St. Catherine's "preserved head". Yes, her head is "preserved" along w/ the relic of her right thumb. Another is were a miracle happened w/ St. Francis of Assissi. So i will try to get my butt outta bed on Sunday and check it out.