Our Second Welcome to Ferrara

Last night was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, although I’m not sure I can find the right words to paint the picture so you can see it…

There’s a beautiful park near the hotel, where we’ve been spending a lot of our evenings. About a week ago, the Linguist struck up a conversation with a woman from Colombia after she overheard him speaking Spanish to the kids. A few days later, she was at the park again and invited our family over for dinner. I was more than surprised when The Linguist told me about the invitation (I had been other places both times he spoke with her) – I mean, we have 5 children. That’s a lot of short people to take on in a dinner invitation, especially when it’s extended to someone you hardly know!

We picked up gelato across the street and then walked through the city to her house. I’m kind of mourning the loss of this convenience with our upcoming move to the country. The night was beautiful and clear, and we could see the moon and the stars. We arrived at a little wire gate, diagonally placed at the end of a block and rang the bell. Again, it’s the magic of what’s behind all of the walls and gates that intrigues me about the city! Patricia (Pu tree’ see uh) and her husband came down the stairs to meet us and ushered us into their home with many smiles, handshakes and expressions of welcome. Her husband is Italian, and speaks both Italian and Spanish, as does Patricia. They were both very nicely dressed and had obviously spent a lot of time preparing for our evening together. There was soft music playing and a formal table was all ready.

We gathered in their small living room and she brought drinks in delicate wine glasses. The Linguist had explained to her that we don’t drink alcohol, coffee, tea, etc., and so she had thoughtfully prepared fruit smoothies that were some of the best I’ve ever tasted! Strawberry, lemon, sugar and milk, she told me. Next came several trays of appetizers – a long, twisted breadstick with ham wrapped around one end and baked ham and cheese squares that were served in little cupcake wrappers on a glass stand. Very elegant. The boys were totally enamored with the giant goldfish swimming in the fish tank in the corner, while Rosa immediately took up with their young son. All of this is happening amidst a lot of animated conversation that was all in Spanish! After understanding so little of everything being said around me since arriving here, it was a beautiful thing to be able to follow the conversation, and since she doesn’t speak English, we were forced to at least attempt Spanish. (My brain is all mushy today, though…I’m thinking in Spanish with certain Italian words creeping in, and I’m having a hard time spelling in English. Weird.)

They took us out into their back yard and the kids played on the toys, and she told us how her husband had wanted to convert their patio area into a garage. Her husband’s work is something to do with organic fruits and veggies and chemical pollutants. I couldn’t follow any more specifically than that. After a lot of screaming over a bug net (Rosa and their 2-year-old son, Manual), we decided to take the kids in for dinner, and after getting them settled, ate another appetizer – sliced parmesan drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. Simple, but so delicious!

We were waiting for the arrival of another couple -- Mari is from the Dominican Republic and her husband is Italian. They live in the countryside of Ferrara, further out than our house will be. Turns out Mari knows all of the Americans in town because she teaches Physical Education at the International School. She also speaks several languages (including English, Spanish and Italian) and is an extreme runner (50 miles up hills and mountains, etc.) After everyone had more drinks – I think at this point Patricia’s 15-year-old son had presented us all with some kind of pomegranate soda, we sat down for the first course.

This was by far the best food we’ve eaten in Italy! I can’t wait to try and recreate it! The first dish was pasta that had been cooked with thin-sliced zucchini and onions. Before serving it, she fried it in a little oil in a skillet. Fresh Parmesan was sprinkled on top. We ate and talked and talked…some in English, mostly in Spanish. My brain was starting to get overload from thinking so hard to follow the conversation and respond appropriately.

When everyone was finished, Mari and Patricia cleared all of the dishes and disappeared in the kitchen for a while. They came out with a salad, a platter of meat, and a bowl of the creamiest mashed potatoes I’ve ever eaten. The meat was incredible! I quizzed Mari carefully on how she made it – since I could ask in English and get details! It was cooked with celery, garlic, carrots and onion and then cooled completely and sliced. The vegetables were at some point chopped finely (not sure if this was before or after initial cooking). The meat then goes in a baking dish and the chopped vegetables go on top. The next ingredient was surprising to me – skim milk. She said you pour the milk until it covers the meat halfway and add a chicken bouillon cube and return it to the oven. The end result is what looks like a bread crumb topping over the meat, but tastes better than any bread crumbs I’ve ever eaten, and the gravy was to die for!

Arrosto al latte

Songbird and The Net (and the rest of us) gobbled up the delectable meat 

After the meat and potatoes, came the salad. It was regular lettuce, cubed feta and sweet grape tomatoes sliced in half. I asked about the dressing, and was told it was oil, a bit of balsamic vinaigrette and salt. The contrast between the sour of the goat cheese, the salt of the dressing and the sweet of the tomatoes was wonderful.

After that course had been cleared away, she brought out dessert – something akin to lemon squares and a homemade cheesecake. Both were wonderful! Now to hear this described, one might picture Patricia as a very formal person. She is wonderfully warm and down to earth. At one point, she confessed she had turned all of the ham and cheese appetizers upside down because she felt they were too ugly to serve after baking. When she brought out the cheesecake, Mari jokingly asked her if it was upside down, too? The whole evening was punctuated with laughter and joking and interesting conversation –most of which I understood. At one point there was some debate as to exactly what a certain picture on the wall was supposed to be. Some said glacier, others said eyeball. When Patricia’s husband took it off the wall, you could see the mark it left on the wall behind it, and she rolled her eyes and made a funny comment about housekeeping.

They were so gracious to the kids, as well, asking them questions about their interests and goals. At some point, Mari asked Pianogurl what she liked to do, and she explained that she like to play the piano. So after dessert, they insisted that she play. I know she was dying to, since she hasn’t had a piano for several weeks, but I know she was a little reluctant to play with an audience. She sat down and played what she could from memory of a piece she wrote, Moonlight Sonata, Phantom of the Opera and a couple of others to clapping and cheers of “Bravo!” Then they asked Songbird if she would sing for them. She immediately wrapped herself in the curtain by the window. We coaxed her out and said we’d sing with her, so the Linguist, Pianogurl, Songbird and I sang the first verse of “Dearest Children in harmony.” It sounded pretty good – even if I do say so myself! We were proclaimed quite a musical family and given a round of applause. I suppose that was our first public performance!

It took another half hour so to say our goodbyes -- handshaking and besos (the near kisses on either cheek) and many compliments on beautiful families, etc. Patricia explained that when she came to Ferrara 18 years ago, it was hard because the Ferrarese (fur are ay zay) are such a closed people. She vowed that she would take people of other cultures in whenever she had the opportunity because she knew what it was like not to understand the language and to feel isolated and alone, and she didn’t want anyone else to experience that.

I confess I am just in awe. How often do we turn away from people we can’t understand, with the excuse that we can’t communicate with them anyway? Telling ourselves there’s nothing we can do? And here’s a woman we met at the park, who has invited us into her home and her circle of friends, simply because she knows we are far from home. I find it overwhelming...and beautiful.