Suitcase contents

Literally! What makes it in and what doesn't? What to bring back and what to leave behind? These are some of the questions my husband must be asking himself as he readies his luggage for the trip back to Italy. He is in the States as I write this post; and he has the not too easy job of getting everything in the list I gave him before he left.

Here I should take a moment to write about the global economy, the dollar versus the euro, the euro versus the lire, and so on and so forth... but I am not an expert, and all I can tell you is that we get paid in dollars, and that the dollar is going down, down, down... hence our predicament: Should Fernando buy another suitcase and pay for the extra luggage? Do I really need the cornbread mix from Trader Joe's? Or should an additional book take its place? The Wonka candy for Nick is coming no matter what, but what about all the other "stuff" like the kid's Tylenol, or the baking powder I so desperately need?

By now you must be thinking that I am a little crazy to ask for all this. I don't know if I am still too "new" to the Italian economy, but I check the prices and I do the math, and I can not bring myself to buy much more than the absolutely necessary here. Italy is known all over the world for its fashion industry, and here I am buying all my clothes on sale in the States. The price difference is extraordinary! Furthermore, some of the clothes that are popular here, all come from the US! I am talking about 10 year old's fashion here: O'Neill, Quicksilver, Converse, Nike, Gap, North Face, Timberland... You get the drill. Nicolas loves the fact that all things American are so popular amongst his friends, he takes some pride in pointing out that some of these companies started in California, his birthplace.

To further complicate this matter, we arrived to Italy ill prepared. We lived in Southern California for more than a decade, and we owned a couple sweaters, and a jacket or so. Our "winters" there are mild, not much rain, no wind. Well, now we are living in the north of Italy, in the mountains, near Switzerland and the Alps, and yes, I would not call our weather "mild". I know it could be worse, but this is cold enough for me, thank you very much! I am Colombian!!!

Fernando is buying coats, and scarfs, and gloves, and hats... I sound like Dr. Seuss... and how will he manage to get it all in two suitcases? Well, he is an engineer, I think he will be fine! We are ready for our early Christmas, sans gift wrap. I am still setting up the Christmas tree though.

Italian Thanksgiving

I have done it! I baked an apple pie! It only took me 13 years and moving half a world away from California to do it!

A little background:

First, I am Colombian. Colombians for the most part don't bake. We enjoy all kinds of desserts, but we are not bakers. We have birthday cakes is true, but that is about it... I might be exaggerating a little... not, really... we don't bake!

Second, I was an exchange student in the States in 1983-84, and from that fabulous experience I ended up with another family, my "American" family. We have kept in touch throughout the years, and when we moved to California we visited often. For twelve years we celebrated our Thanksgiving with the Regalias. All I know about thanksgiving comes from Maña and Paca's house.

Third, Maña makes the best apple pie! THE BEST.

Fourth, my favorite American food is apple pie.

When my friend Debbie invited us over to her house to celebrate Thanksgiving, I knew that I had to bake Maña's apple pie. It was my way to bring a little bit of home to our Italian Thanksgiving. I immediately e-mailed Maña, and she gave me her recipe. I think she would be really proud of me, because I made a FANTASTIC apple pie -it doesn't hurt that Italian apples are simply delicious.

We celebrated today, Saturday, since Thursday is not a holiday in Italy. Debbie and Marcelo did an amazing job with the meal even though Debbie had to threaten her butcher with taking her business elsewhere if he didn't find her a turkey -He said it would have been much easier to get if she had waited until December! The turkey was great, as were as all the trimmings: stuffing, sweet potatoes (they are white here), mashed potatoes, green beans, the works! We even had cranberry sauce! For dessert we had FANTASTIC apple pie (no bragging here), pumpkin pie, and tiramisu! We had plenty of wine to accompany our feast, from a gentle vino novello (just out), to a moscato with dessert, and everything in between.

We miss the Regalias, and we wish that we could celebrate with them, but at the same time, we feel them close to us, and for this we are thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Art around us

Last Friday we had SIX ten year olds at our house, they played, they went on a walk (they told me that they saw the Italian version of BIG FOOT!), they ate, they ate, and they played some more. Finally, after much popcorn, chocolate, pizza, and a movie, they fell asleep. Just to wake up next day and do it all over again. Nicolas had a blast, and I think his friends had fun too. Parents started to show up to pick up the boys at about 11, and by 12, they were all gone!!!
What is a family to do, on a Saturday afternoon, after much play and not much sleep? Well, in my book, you can't just stay home! So I told my two men, about this beautiful villa in Varese. A villa like no other -I said- where there is art, and history, and architecture... The two of them were not convinced that this was a good idea, but I was able to change their minds... If only by using a little bit of pressure.
Well, I have heard that Villa Panza had a temporary exhibition by the fabulous Joseph Kosuth and I just had to see it. I have studied his work in college: conceptual art at its finest. Kosuth uses language as THE element of art, making you recontextualize your own notions of things. The word as a thing, or the word as a representation of a thing? His installations in this show (thirteen of them) are some of his finest. I have to confess that I did not know much more about the Villa, just the feeling that it had to be a wonderful place if they were showing the work of Joseph Kosuth. See, we live in the outskirts of Milan-we are a little blindsighted by it- and even though Varese is a city with history and culture, we did not know about this beautiful jewel amidst the old regular houses in town. We were looking elsewhere to find art, and all this time the Villa was just siting in the middle of its beautiful Italian garden, waiting for us.
Our first impresion of the place was one of awe. Here we were, in this beautiful historic house, where all the rooms remain furnished with antiques, and where the walls are covered with powerful works of minimalist art, collected over the years by Giuseppe Panza di Biumo. Today the villa belongs to the FAI (Fondo per l'ambiente Italiano) -proud members here- and it is a must see if you ever come this way!
The Panza collection is not limited to what you see in the Villa, most of it has been donated to major museums around the world, including our very own MOCA in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and others. What you see on the Villa includes works by Hubert Kiecol, Ruth Fredenthal, Robert Therrien, Phil Sims, David Simpson, Max Cole, Ettore Spalletti, Stuart Arends, Winston Roeth, Ford Beckman, and Julia Mangold. All of these minimalist artists work mainly with color (monochromatic), and the contrast between the rich architectural setting, the beautifuly crafted furniture and the works is stunning.
But the best part of our tour was yet to come, after visiting the villa, we headed towards the old stables and the carriage house where all the site specific works have been installed. Here we saw light art works by James Turrel, Maria Nordman and Robert Irwin as well as the largest collection of Dan Flavin's works outside the US. It is dificult to explain with words such a visual experience! We walked along a corridor leading to a series of rooms, each room a different exhibition, and the merging of them all into the corridor becoming another installation. I am talking about light, light flowing from fluorescent tubes installed inside the rooms, light in different colors, all merging and changing. I guess you have to be there to appreciate it! Nicolas loved the different installations, but his favorites were Turrel's skyspace -the very first skyspace that Turrell ever built for any collector or museum- and Maria nordman' room. The skyspace is a cubic room with a square opening on the ceiling, where you can see a patch of sky. The light coming into the room from above is enhanced by a fluorescent light inbeded at the base of the wall. When daylight is replaced by the night sky, the room changes and our perception of space is challenged. Nordman's room is a dark room cut by two slivers of vertical light filtering from two narrow and deep openings on the wall. When you walk inside this space, the light becomes an object in space, and your perception of it is very surprising.
Well, you can tell by now that I had fun. I know for a fact that Fernando and Nicolas enjoyed the visit too. We will be back soon.

Friends, amigos, amici.

I have been thinking a lot about friendship lately -nothing like leaving everybody you know behind to understand what friendship really means- and I find that my friends are everywhere.
For starters I have recently discovered facebook, and I am traveling down history lane with it! I have "found" friends that I have not seen or heard from in ages! (Well, years is more like it) and even though we live far away from each other, it is like we are together again. Most of these friends are friends from my hometown: Popayan (never heard of it? NOW you have!)They are childhood friends: they are like brothers and sisters, they know me (who I am, who my parents are, where I come from, what my dreams were) and they will always see the child inside me. These friends don't need to find something in common with me, because our "belly button" is the same. My good friend Angela used to say that "Popayan has no end" because anywhere you go, if you find someone from Popayan, you immediately find yourself at home. If you are from a small town you know what I am talking about, right?
I also keep a lifeline with my friends in California through e-mail. I find myself writing and receiving long, personal messages, which in some cases are even more frequent and sincere than those of the "live" relationship we had. Maybe it is the fact that I am so far away, that I am considered safe. It is like I am one step removed from their everyday life, and with that I have perspective. I am very happy with this arrangement as it brings me closer to my friends than ever before. What did people do before they had the internet???
I have new friends too. People that I have met recently but whose interest and particular attitudes towards life are similar to my own. I am an expat, I am here without being from here, I do not belong but I do. My friends are expats too. In a particular way we are the same because we are not Italian. It is good to find that you are part of something, even if it means that you are part of the difference.
Another source of friendship is my blog... Yes the one and only "suitcase contents". If you are reading this, then I am talking about you. The people that I have met because of my little trips into the blogging world. I appreciate all the people that give me feedback, and all the writers out there. I am not a writer, but I want to follow in your footsteps.
Last but not least, I can't forget the most faithful of all my friends: my dog Mocha. She is my permanent companion, my shadow, my friend. I am so glad that she made the trip with us; she is such great company.
I miss you all. Keep those e-mails coming my way. I am posting Mocha's picture in lieu of everybody else's. Love,

Auguri, tanti auguri.

Today is my husband's birthday. He is 41. We have been together for 18 years and I am still in love with him, let me tell you just 10 reasons why:
1) He is a good person. True good, "not talking bad about anyone" good, "looking for the best in people" good. That kind of good!
2) He is a great dad. He loves our Nicolas with all his heart.
3) He is very good at what he does. He works hard and likes his job, and the same can be said about his running, or biking, or cooking.
4) He is my harshest critic and my most fervent supporter.
5) He has a smart sense of humor. After all this time he still makes me laugh -often.
6) He eats everything I cook, from a simple soup to a fancy multiple course meal (and any disasters in between)
7) He has beautiful eyes: intense, bright, and full of life. Beautiful hands too.
8) He is grounded, while I am a dreamer. Good combo ah?
9) He whistles while he gets ready in the morning, and he smiles while he sleeps.
10) He doesn't stress out, for any reason. I don't know how he does it! I, on the other hand...

Our trip to Tuscany.