When running gets you places

I am a runner. I am a runner now. Three years ago? Not so much.

I started running because Fernando runs. I kept on running because I was turning 40 and it made me feel stronger than ever before. I keep running because it gives me more than it takes. Really.

When we moved to Italy, the thing I wanted more than anything else was to start a running group. I had a fabulous group of running friends back in California and I missed them. I missed their energy and support, as well as their incredible strength. Running on my own was fine, but running with friends? There is just no comparison.

I started a so called running club among the expat community members, but lets just say that it was more a name than anything else. My friend and neighbor Pien was my only companion during the first year. Then she got a dog, and after that, three more awesome ladies joined. Running with dogs, it was.

A couple of us decided to train for a Marathon. I got injured during training, at about kilometer 29, and  I did not run a marathon, but my friend Heidi did! Her first! She is a strong lady, she just keeps on going! Other friends run shorter races, or no races. Everybody's favorite is our weekly Thursday's meet when we get to talk and run to our hearts content.

This fall our group has grown exponentially. It might be that I am not a newcomer anymore and I know more people in the area, or it might be the natural evolution of things. Whatever the reason, I am so lucky to have the opportunity to hang out with a very diverse and interesting group of women. We come from all corners of the globe to find our best friends on the sneaker wearing lady running next to us. Life is just great!

Countdown

I truly do not want to think about it, but I know that every day that goes by brings me closer to the moment when we'll have to leave Italy. Well, that is if everything goes according to plan... What plan?
I am talking about the three year contract that brought us here in the first place! We are starting our third year and I can't help myself but to think of all the things that I am not going to see or enjoy in a year's time.

We have a fig tree, having a fig tree in your property just screams ITALIAN, doesn't it? This has been a great year for figs, sweet and plump but not too watery. This is my last fig season in Italy. I am eating a lot of them... I want to remember their texture and flavor, their milky traces on my fingers, their wonderful color.

We have several chestnut trees in the yard. The chestnuts are all ready to star falling fast from their little cocoons and into our (by now) expert hands. I am ready to spend many a night by the fire roasting, peeling, and enjoying the little sweets. Chestnuts and Vino Novello, I am ready for you. Then again, I am not ready to let go. This would be my last chestnut season in Italy.

I am living the moment, enjoying the flavors, breathing the crisp air. Love is a funny thing, it sneaks into your heart when you are not looking... I love my Italy (winters and all.)

But my Italy is not only a place, it is also the wonderful people we know. I love my friends here, I love the way they think, I love their humor and knowledge, their kindness and generosity. I want to keep them close... I am not ready to say goodbye. Not today, nor tomorrow, nor in a year.


A glimpse of my Italy. Dinner with dear friends at Pien's.

Love has kept me away

I come to you with a full heart and a smile on my face. Not only did I see my wonderful friends in Barcelona, but we were lucky to have my mom and mother in law visit for three weeks. They left on Wednesday, and I am a little saddened by their absence.

The ever present dichotomy of the expat. I find myself broken into little pieces, some have been left behind across the ocean, some are taking roots here in the fertile grounds of Italy. But every so often, the pieces come together and mend themselves into a new whole. These moments of looking at my past and my present together in my friends and family bring such happiness that I find myself without words.

What are we but the sum of such moments? My heart is a malleable mass, shaped by the love of those close and far.

Reconnecting with friends

My cyber life has taken a backseat to my real life. I am leaving in a few hours to Barcelona, where I will meet with FOUR childhood friends. We are coming from different corners of the world to see each other. I expect to have many a story to tell when I come back. There are so many things I want to write about, but where does the time go?

I am posting at 1:30 in the wee hours of the morning. Just a quick note to say good bye, and see you soon.

Photo of Gaudí's Sagrada Familia by the talented Wolfgang Staudt

What a great weekend!

Sometimes images are just better than words.

Passover Dinner at Marcelo and Debbie's house. Wonderful sharing of friendship, traditions and food.




Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Zona Tortona, Milano (Milan's International Furniture Fair)




My intention was to give you many more pictures, but I encountered never ending problems uploading my pictures to Blogger. I am tired and I am off to bed... good night!

La cucina di Nicola: Cooking 201 with DeeAnn

Welcome back to "La Cucina di Nicola" with our guest cook DeeAnn!!! As I have mentioned before, my good friend Dee taught Nicolas how to make cinnamon rolls while she was here with us. Nicolas was very motivated by her visit because he loves Dee's cooking, he was ready to learn ALL of her cooking secrets.
This is something that I have never made myself (you know the story, Colombians are not bakers for the most part,) but I do love a good cinnamon roll! I was more than happy to learn the recipe myself, so I took note of the ingredients and the process, for me and for you. I am giving you all ingredients the Italian way (grams and milliliters instead of cups.) If you want to convert the quantities, there is a handy chart here.

CINNAMON ROLLS WITH CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING

The basic recipe for the rolls is based on Paula Deen's recipe as a consequence of DeeAnn not having her own recipe at hand. She says it is basically the same. The frosting is all DeeAnn's.

For the rolls:

1 Package Yeast
120 ml warm water
120 ml warm milk
55 gr. sugar
75 gr. butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
380 to 440 gr. of flour

For the filling:

115 gr. butter, melted
170 gr. sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Dissolve yeast in warm water, set aside. In another bowl mix melted butter, egg, milk, sugar, and salt. Add half of the flour and mix well. Add the yeast mixture. Add the remaining flour a little at a time until dough can be handled easily. knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. Grease a large bowl and place the dough in it. Cover and let it rise for 1.1/2 hours. It should double its size.

Punch down and roll out onto floured surface. Roll into a rectangle of about 38 x 22 cm (15 x 9 in.) Now for the filling: spread melted butter over the dough, leaving a clean border all around of about 1.1/2 cm (1/2 in.) Mix sugar and cinnamon and spread evenly on top, (you could also add raisins or nuts at this point.) Roll the dough from the longer side, seal edges. Cut into slices (about 15.)

Grease a bakin pan or dish with butter. Place the rolls close together. Grease the top side of the rolls and cover again. Let them rise until double, about 45 minutes. Dee placed a container with water in the microwave and heated it, then she placed the covered dough/rolls inside the microwave along with the steaming water. DO NOT microwave them, the purpose is to keep the dough in an enclosed, humid, and warm environment. It works!

Bake for 30 minutes at 175 C (350 F) until golden.

For the frosting:

80 gr. cream-cheese
80 gr. butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250 gr. powdered sugar

Mix cream-cheese and butter. Add the salt, vanilla extract, and sugar, mix well. If the consistency of the frosting is to hard add 1/2 tablespoon of water at a time until you get the consistency of your liking. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Buon appetito!

A good friend

Wishing every one of you a belated happy women's day! I have been without my daily computer fix for a week and it has been good! I have missed writing on my blog, visiting my virtual friends, and keeping up with the news, but I have been enjoying my friend DeeAnn's company. She arrived 12 days ago from California and left today; we visited Tuscany, Milan, the lakes, Switzerland and my little home town of Varese. Mind you we still have only one car in our household, so it meant that we left my husband without a car for a long weekend. We managed to squeeze our visits after driving Fernando to his office and during school hours (thankfully Nicolas has 3 long days a week, when he gets home at 4:45). Of course we did not count on Nicolas getting sick and staying home from school, but those days gave us an excuse to take a break, and focus on other things. DeeAnn taught Nicolas to bake cinnamon rolls -I will publish the recipe this week. My son loves Dee's cooking from our days as neighbors in California, he would eat anything she cooks... Note to self: I should just serve him my food and claim that she left it for him...
It was very good to see my good friend again, and to try to talk about every single possible thing that we have not talked about in seven months! I should mention that we are unlikely friends as we think so differently in matters of religion and politics. We have different personalities too, Dee is a planner and I am an improviser; she is ready for everything and I just go about unprepared, hoping that she will be there when I need to be ready. We are friends in spite of our differences, and I have to give credit to Dee for taking the first steps to find our common ground.
I am so thankful to have someone like DeeAnn as a friend, as she is generous, smart, gracious, funny, and sincere. I needed her advice, and her attention, I missed our little debates and great conversations. I wish I was as good a friend to her as she is to me, as I sometimes behave a little like "Jekyll and Hyde" when stress takes over the best of me.
I love my friend, and I will remember her visit for a long time. Thanks for coming Dee!

Busy!

I have been busy! My former neighbor in California and one of my best friends, DeeAnn, is visiting. She arrived last Wednesday and we are talking, traveling, laughing, eating, talking some more, and enjoying each others company. I have been without a computer while traveling and I have not had time to post. I am falling asleep at the keyboard while writing this!!! I will try and do my regular Sunday Scribblings tomorrow... I do not want to leave for dreamland without giving you -my readers- something to make it worth your visit (or so I think!)

I was visiting my friend Anno at her place, when I saw this intriguing test:

You Are a Comma

You are open minded and extremely optimistic. You enjoy almost all facets of life. You can find the good in almost anything. You keep yourself busy with tons of friends, activities, and interests. You find it hard to turn down an opportunity, even if you are pressed for time. Your friends find you fascinating, charming, and easy to talk to. (But with so many competing interests, you friends do feel like you hardly have time for them.) You excel in: Inspiring people. You get along best with: The Question Mark.

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Open minded, yes. Fascinating? I don't know...

Sweet Surprise

Sweet, just writing the word makes my mouth water and my stomach growl. Add a nice adjective to the word, let's say: American, and what do you get? American sweet or in Nicolas's dictionary: Wonka!
Well, today the Posta Italiana (Italian post) has delivered, after a couple of MONTHS, a box on our doorstep. This unasuming box was addressed to Nicolas, and it was meant to be a Christmas present (technically, it still IS a Christmas present.) Inside the box he unearthed a rich sampler of his favorite candy: nerds, sweet-tarts, gobstopers, and my personal favorite: chewy sweet-tarts. He was surprised and oh, so happy! What we liked best about our special care package was the note that came with it, which read:

To our dear friend, Nicolas,
Who's miles away,
Sending best wishes to you,
For a happy holiday.
We searched the stores for your favorite sweets
Hope you enjoy these "American" treats.

It was signed by our dear friends and neighbors in California: the Martinos and the Muertters.

Nicolas sat down at the computer to write a thank you note to our friends. He called me before he sent his e-mail and read it to me. (Have I ever mentioned before how sweet this boy is?) He wrote the following:

Dear friends,
I know we're far away,
but I've got to say,
that candy was good,
and I think I should,
say thank you,
and shout,"WOOHOO!!"
and when i come back,
I'll bring back a sack,
filled with Italian food.

No editing on my part. Have a sweet weekend!

France, food and fun.

I am back! I missed writing on my blog so much! I tried, but truly, we were either cooking, eating, drinking or cleaning up after ourselves. With 13 of us in the house it was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. We had a great time... if only for my emergency trip to the dentist!!!
It all started a looooong time ago... when I noticed some sensitivity to cold drinks. I did not worry, and I almost forgot about it -in Italy ICE is a rare commodity, and it is almost impossible to get iced drinks at restaurants. Lately, the pain had become more than a little bother, and I kept on delaying my trip to the dentist. My reasoning behind all this waiting was that I thought I would have to go back to the States soon, and my dental insurance covers me there but not here. All financial worries went out the window when I found myself hurting nonstop in France; I was not able to enjoy any of the great food Adriana was cooking. My friend Maria Teresa called the emergency room, and they gave her the number of the emergency dentist on call. So on December 30th we headed to the dreaded dentist (Could anyone explain to me why I am so afraid of the dentist that I would rather endure pain on my own, than a little bit of pain when getting the anesthetic?) Maria Teresa translated and the dentist took some x-rays -Are they still called x-rays? He did it all with a really small camera placed inside my mouth, then all the digital images appeared on his computer. Amazing! He found the troublesome nerve and took care of it in what seemed to me like a minute! I have been to many dentists in my life (I blame my DNA, since I take good care of my teeth) and I have never been off the chair in such a record time! Root canal with filling: 100 Euro; not having a toothache: priceless!!!
Coming back home pain-free was such a relief! From that moment on, I was able to enjoy all the delicious food that Adriana made. She lives in the north of Spain, in Santander, and she brought with her all kinds of seafood: squid, mollusks, prawns, as well as all kinds of charcuterie: Serrano ham, cecina, and chorizo. In addition to all the Spanish goodies which included a lot of wine, we had the French specialties: Pâté de foie gras, galette de rois, and champagne. We knew that there was going to be a lot of food, but we couldn't stop ourselves from bringing some Italian panettone with mascarpone sauce, and a bottle of limoncello for everyone. But wait, there is more, remember we are Colombian and we had to have some of our food too! We did not have anything traditional, but we had a great sancocho, also arepas and mazamorra with bocadillo.
The kids were together ALL the time, as the four boys were sharing a room. We would heard them talking and laughing late into the night. They also played their electric guitars together, and when their hands were free of instruments or game controls (you know, your typical playstation or game console of choice) they would get busy eating! Some helping around too.
When we were not eating, we took little trips to nearby towns. We were near Valence, in southeast France, where the landscape is beautiful and the wine is great.There are little towns worth a visit like Crest with its tower dating from the 12th century, or Etoile-sur-Rhône with its little streets aligned with stone structures. I particularly loved all the ceramic work for sale on the stores. I bought a nice big cup for my coffee and I would have bought many more if they were not a little pricey. It was money well spent though, as I am now a proud owner of an original, unique and useful piece of art.



New year's eve was the highlight of our visit, as we were able to talk to our relatives and friends via skype and thanks to technology we were able to see everybody and be seen! We got all dressed up, we set a long table with holiday decorations, and we had great food. Have you noticed how many times I have written the word food? I am so happy we were able to visit with our dear friends, and I am so thankful for all the great moments we all shared together. Happy New Year everybody!

Three friends about Paris

Remember my post about friends? I mentioned on that post my friends from my hometown Popayán, and the fact that I feel as close to them as I did when we used to play together as kids. Childhood friends are easy friends. No need to explain who we are, or where we come from. We know each other from the inside out. Of course people change, and some take paths that lead them to places we don't recognize or understand, and we mourn their loss.
I left Popayán after high school. I went to California as an exchange student, and came back to Colombia to study in Bogotá. I went home for holidays and vacations, and I stayed in touch with my friends via "the mom net" (back then, there was nothing like the Internet). Moms would let us know about our friends, who was getting married, who was living overseas, who was staying close to home. We would see friends sporadically, always in a hurry, a lunch in between other appointments. It didn't matter how much time went by, or how short the meetings were; we would pick up the conversation as if we had been together just the day before.
I left Colombia as many others did. My generation went every which way, and we all found a future in far away places. We keep on coming back to the town, we keep in touch, the mom net still does its job well, but the internet has made it really easy to be "close". When I moved to Italy, I found myself physically closer to a group of special friends: My best friend from childhood, Ana María lives in Israel, our friend Catalina lives in France and our other friend Claudia lives in Spain. We e-mailed each other often, planning a big get-together with all the families - we had to find a big enough space, close to everyone, and additionally we needed to find a time slot when all the children would be in vacation. Needless to say, we were a little overwhelmed by all of it, until Cata's husband suggested that we could meet by ourselves (what a wise man!) It took us very little time to find a date and a place: Paris, December 14, 15 and 16.
We were ready, and very excited until our friend Claudia, who is pregnant, was diagnosed with placenta previa... we were saddened by the news, but we knew there was nothing else to do other than planning another reunion to meet the baby! With this in mind, we went ahead with our plan and met in Paris.

I wouldn't dare to try and transcript all that we talked, suffice to say that my friend Cata's sister, who lives in Paris, said that we were going to "run out of words". We had such a great time! We talked until the wee hours of the morning, we walked to beautiful places, and eat fabulous food. We walked a lot, without a plan, just making sure that we were enjoying each other's company. We told each other all the little details that make our life special. We talked about our husbands and our children, and we laughed! We laughed so hard! It was everything that I remembered and more! I love my friends.

I am alive and well!

You would think that a big hole opened in the northwest of Italy and swallowed me, or my computer... but no. Everything is fine, just a little hectic at the moment. I am a year older and I guess my brain started to deteriorate! No, seriously, I had some internet problems (a 1,200 euro kind of problem), but it has been fixed, or so they say. I had to limit my access to the Internet until everything was streightened out. Of course my e-mail piled up, and I am still trying to catch up.
Additionally, I was out of town. I went to Paris for the weekend to meet with childhood friends from my hometown: Popayan. It was a lot of fun, and I wil give you all the details tomorrow. I am tired, cold and out of practice. Please be patient. I will be back tomorrow, I promise.

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!

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,

People we know.

You may or may not have noticed my absence from the blogging world, but it has been more than a week from the last time I sat down to write about our life in Italy. I blame all those people we now know!!! Yes, my real life is keeping me away from this virtual place of sorts. My cell phone directory is growing everyday, and I do make and receive phone calls meant for ME! I meet people in the street that actually know my name AND last name! I am starting to belong! What about that? Everything began when Nicolas started school. The first day that we walked down the hill to the bus stop was the beginning of our social life. Nico goes to the European School in Varese, which (for obvious reasons) attracts all the expats in the area. There are some Italian families that send their children there, but mostly it is a real Babel of a school. So, that first day I met all the English speaking parents in town. Well, Pien and Debbie have become my good friends. We have coffee together every morning, we run together, we pick up each other's kids from the bus stop, and we even do things on our own (without children!!!) Last Wednesday we went to the "movies in original language" weekly show; my friends do not need to do this since both of them have been in Italy for a decade or more, and they are both fluent in Italian, but they are nice enough to come with me. We call ourselves the "Bus Stop Club" as a reference to my belonging to the "Benvenutto Varese Club", which both of them find hilarious. They make fun of my activities with the BVC, as neither one of them finds them attractive or useful.
I have to say that the BVC has been a great help for me, and I have met many wonderful people there. It is true that they have a lot of rules and regulations, and it is true that the meeting can be a little disorganized, but this is Italy, and this is how things work. I have met other newcomers at activities organized by the club and I am organizing my own club inside the club: a running group. A group of one so far... I have gone walking with another group, and both Mocha and I enjoyed it. We get to visit beautiful places nearby, talk with interesting people and the dogs get to run and play. I am also interested in joining the Spanish speaking group, not that I need to practice, but it sounds like an opportunity to meet people like me.
As a family we are trying hard to belong to our little town. I think we have had some success. Nicolas plays soccer with the local team, and we have met some parents this way. We patronize all the local business that we can, like the bakery, the gelateria, the coffee shop, etc. They know we are stranieri, or they call us Americani, but they know who we are. Last Sunday we went for the first time to mass at our local church. I am not a practicing catholic anymore, but Fernando and Nicolas are, so we try and go to church now and then. I loved going to mass at this little church: we knew a lot of the people there, and Nicolas went and sat down with his "friends". I loved the feeling of community and the recognition of the whole experience. We "discover" everyday that Italy and Colombia are very similar in many ways. We like it here, and we seem to fit all right.