Ferragosto

Today is Ferragosto.

Since I don't know enough about it to comment myself, here's what Wiki has to say:

"Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15. Originally, it was related to a celebration of the middle of the summer and the end of the hard labour in the fields. In time, Roman Catholicism adopted this date as a Holy Day of Obligation to commemorate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—the real physical elevation of her sinless soul and incorrupt body into Heaven.

Before the Roman Catholic Church came into existence, however, this holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honor the gods—in particularDiana—and the cycle of fertility and ripening. In fact, the present Italian name of the holiday derives from its original Latin name, Feriae Augusti("Festivals [Holidays] of the Emperor Augustus") ^[1].

Almost the entire month of August was taken as a holiday and leisure time in Italy in honor of this feast day.

In present days, Ferragosto is mainly a short holiday when Italians take brief vacations. The holiday often coincides with peak activity of the Perseid meteor shower leaving Italians at a particular advantage to view the astronomical event seen best at pre-dawn hours."

Though this seems like a holiday with great potential, to be honest I'm feeling confused and lonely. This isn't the first holiday we haven't really grasped or felt a part of, and it may not be the last. But I guess that is just how it goes when you are living in a new country. When we asked around about what people do on Ferragosto, the common response was "go to the beach." We actually just came back from the beach yesterday -- we went to Cinque Terre with Paul's cousin Beth who was visiting from California and left just a few hours ago. More to come on Cinque Terre and Beth's visit soon. It was fantastic, and along the lines with the Wiki comment on the meteor showers, we did see shooting stars! But I guess maybe our timing was a little off...

It was strange coming back to Bologna yesterday because it is overall a bit of a lonely place in August. A huge percent of the city goes away for the whole month for vacation and it seems like at least half (or even more) of the stores, restaurants, and bars have signs that say "chiuso per ferie" and they reopen in September. Even the library where we study is closed for 2 weeks.

The dynamic of the city has definitely changed now that the students from the University are gone and those that have the means to go on vacation are gone. What is left are some tourists here and there, those who have to work in the vital services (which of course also includes the gelaterias), and many of the straneri, or foreigners, like us and the Pakistani families that own (and keep open) the little grocery stores in our neighborhood.

So today has been quiet. After church we walked through Piazza Maggiore, the main square, and saw that a charity was holding a lunch for the homeless, which seems like a perfect idea because we have definitely been noticing more people on the streets here this month than usual. Perhaps it is just because more people are gone and it is easier to notice who remains. Having a nice lunch for Ferragosto seems to be the norm. In fact we recently saw a great film called Pranzo di Ferragosto (Ferragosto Lunch), which I would highly recommend.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1277728/

We did have lunch with Beth-- not fancy but still good -- leftover pizza, a caprese salad with burrata, a green salad, and white nectarines. Since she left we've just been hanging around the house. Anna's parents and family friends Sina and Michele called from Sicily to see how we are doing and how we are spending Ferragosto, which made my day and made me feel lonelier all at the same time, because they had all just had lunch at an agriturismo and I wish we were there with them.

But who knows, maybe our Ferragosto will be getting better in a few minutes. Paul just poured me a glass of Nero d'Avola so I can pretend I am in Sicily, and he is having a beer. We'll probably go see the free operetta in the park put on by the Archdiocese of Bologna. May not be a party at the beach, but it sounds like a good cultural experience that might make us feel a part of Ferragosto...