(Read in Italian) In Italia right now it is already 2012! Here by the San Francisco bay we must wait a few more hours before we can welcome in the New Year. At this point, 2011 is fast becoming a beautiful memory while we wait for 2012, anticipating already everything that it holds for us. Last year there were difficult moments as well as beautiful ones; I lost my dear dad, but gained a new family in Puglia. Life continues to surprise me and I can’t wait to find out what will happen in 2012. So, this evening, at our house we will celebrate the past and the future with dear friends. We will prepare a lovely dinner of lentils and at midnight there will make a big noise; we will pour the prosecco and don silly hats and make a big noisy scene in the garden while we launch firecrackers and noisemakers. There will be hugs and kisses for everyone. A new year means that we can take on new things with new conviction and resolution. We can begin again and everything is fresh and new.

An Italian friend told me that the people with whom you spend New Year’s eve with are the people that will remain close to you throughout the New Year. Therefore I wanted to write this last blog of 2011 for all of you who read my blog. In this way I can share New Years Eve with you and we are sure to stay close during the coming year. I hope that the following year is full of wonderful things and new adventures for everyone and that we can find the good life and continue to enjoy the Italian language together!

I wish you all a Happy New Year! What are your resolutions for the New Year??

Photos: Rossella Rebonato Balestrini

(Read in Italian) Take a look at these glasses! Look at them carefully. They weren’t always drinking glasses, originally they were jars of Nutella! After the Nutella was all gone, the packaging took on a second life. As if we needed another reason to love Nutella, the delicious spread made from hazlenuts and chocolate. Since 1990 these little 200g jars of Nutella have been decorated with images from Looney Tunes, Justice League and other famous cartoon characters. It is always a sad thing to take the last drop of Nutella, but now we can find happiness beyond breakfast with a collection of Nutella glasses that decorate our table long after the jar is empty! Better than recycling…this is genius – reusing! You will never need to buy another drinking glass for the rest of your natural life!

In fact, how many Italian families have cupboards full of these glasses? As a case in point, let’s consider the Balestrini family. When we spent a couple of days at their home in Garda we drank from these delightful glasses every day. I can tell you that were never at a loss for a clean glass! To demonstrate just how big is their collection and how many designs there are, I asked my friend Rossella to take some pictures of the assortment of glasses that can be found inside her kitchen cabinets. There are designs from Disney, Coccodritti, i Puffi, Charlie Brown, Barbapapà, Flintstones, Kung Fu Panda and The Incredibiles, to name just a few, and it seems that the collection is never ending. Can you imagine just how much Nutella they had to consume to have such a fantastic collection? But I am sure it really was a difficult thing to collect all these glasses seing as Nutella is very addictive and it is hard to eat just a little bit! Before you can say “Nutella” it seems that the small jar has been emptied and it is time to open another. So, in short order it is easy to have a very fine collection of glasses, perfect for small tykes to drink their morning fruit juices, but also suitable for the adults to drink their wine in, and with which to make a toast, after the kids are in bed!

So, if eating more Nutella is one of your New Year’s resolutions, now you know that you can also save the planet with the re-usable glasses! Cin Cin! Eat and drink up!

If you are interested in seeing all the Nutella collections follow this link:

S. Stefano : Ghiotto

(To read in Italian) Christmas is hardly over and in Italy they are already celebrating another holiday…the holiday of San Stefano! Everyone in Italy has another day off and the mail won’t be delivered until Tuesday. This is a real shame because at the beginning of the month I sent out packages destined for various points in Italy and they haven’t yet arrived. With this extra day of vacation I have to wait another day to track them…and the suspense and the waiting to see if they will be delivered is driving me crazy!

If only I had the patience of Saint Stefano! Who was Saint Stefano you ask? He was named by St. Peter as one of the first seven
deacons of the newly formed church. (34AD) He had a bit of success preaching to his Jewish counterparts and bringing them into the fold and accepting Christ as the Messiah. But after a dispute with members of the synagogue, he was denounced for blasphemy against God and Moses. He was condemned to be stoned to death by an wild and crazy crowd. (Interesting side note: the crowd was whipped up into a heated frenzy by Saulo di Tarso, later called Saint Paul the Apostle).

In art Saint Stefano is depicted wearing a deacons robe and with rocks attached to his head. Take for instance Giotto’s noteworthy painting of the saint (above), in the Museo Horne in Florence, which shows the poor saint with stones still stuck in head. There is another bronze statue of Saint Stefano by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1427) that is a part of the cycle of 14 statues of the protectors of the arts of Florence in the niches on the outside of the Orsanmichele. (Today the orignal can be found inside the museum). This version of Saint Stefano is more humanistic with his contrapposto pose and appears with out the stones appended to his head.

Saint Stefano is famous for being the first Christian martyr. Unlike others that followed in his foot steps, the welcome that Saint Stefano received in heaven was special and unique; when he arrived, Jesus rose. It seems this is noteworthy because for all the other saints, he remained seated. Saint Stefano was the first and only saint to receive a “standing ovation”! I don’t exactly know how we can corroborate this fact, seeing as none of us has ever gon to heaven and returned to verify this…but it makes for a great story. Hmmm. Well, whether you celebrate the holiday of S. Stefano or not…it is a perfect day to relax after Christmas and eat all the left overs from the day before.

Christmas is over. S. Stefano is almost over. But don’t worry…the holidays continue…we still have New Years eve that waits for us!

(To read in Italian) If it were possible to put a big red bow on the Colosseum and give it to each and everyone of my readers, I would do it in a heart beat. For anyone who is passionate about Italy, there would be no finer gift. I consider all my blog readers friends and you wouldn’t be here reading this blog if you didn’t love Italy and the language as I do! So with this virtual Christmas card I send you all special holiday greetings. I have chosen a photo that best represents our family this past year and send you a brief summary of what we were up to in 2011.

Dear friends, It has been another eventful year for the Muldoon family. In 2011 we hosted Francesca Mirabile a student from Puglia through the AFS study abroad exchange program. While spending the year with us Francesca attended Irvington High School with Michael & they both graduated in June. We wanted to show Francesca all of our favorite places in California, so we visited San Francisco frequently as well as, Yosemite, Pismo Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey & Half Moon Bay. We went to Disneyland & rode the “Tower of Terror” & we visited the Warner Bros. Studio & stepped foot onto the set of the “Big Bang Theory”. We saw the “Live Glee Concert” in San Jose & rode the boat out to Alcatraz Island.

During the year we celebrated a lot! There were parties for birthdays, Christmas, New Years, Academy
Awards, Gators Swim Club, Baseball, Easter, graduation, senior balls, mother’s day, father’s day, 4th of July, Halloween & Thanksgiving! Michael successfully completed his Boyscout Eagle Project and received the highest honor a boy can receive in Scouting. During the summer everyone was gainfully employed; Kyle sold water to hikers on Mission Peak; Mike was a swim teacher & Ryan worked at CVS Pharmacy. Francesca returned to Italy in June, but we were not far behind her. In August the entire family made a trip to Italy to visit Rome, Tuscany, Umbria, & Puglia. In Puglia we lived in a Trullo and we participated in the festivies of S. Rocco In Locorotondo during Ferragosto. We saw got to know Francesca’s family and ate very well!

In the fall of 2011 Kyle became an 8th grader, Michael left home to start his freshman year at UC Riverside and Ryan
began his 4th year at Chico. Although Francesca graduated from an American High School she must finish her fifth year at the Liceo Classico in Italy. Everyone is following their passions and doing what they love best; Kyle has plans to build his own computer, Michael has taught himself to play the guitar, Ryan studies debate & philosophy, Francesca wants to return next year to the US to attend college; Melissa designs & blogs in Italian, Pat successfully leads his company & plays golf; and Sinbad continues to be the world’s best Hoover vacuum clearner dog & nap taker.

So dear friends… I hope this letter finds you all well. From my family to yours, best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Viva la famiglia, viva gli amici, viva l’italiano!

(To read in Italian) I am happy to present Lucia Dezuani, an Italian teacher that lives in Borgomanero in the north east region of Italy. Lucia offers home stay and personalized Italian lessons to students of any age. Lucia can host a single student or a couple. The students are welcome to get involved in the family’s activities to experience life in Italy and have a pleasant immersion in the language. Lessons, sightseeing, meeting friends, ongoing language support…all in a friendly environment – doesn’t that sound fantastic! I think that it would be a perfect vacation for someone who wants to learn the language and live like an Italian!

Here is a guest blog by Lucia, in which she explains what a “typical day” with her would be like:

A typical day

I always say that if I were an animal I would be a salamander!!! When I have a guest I immediately adapt to their routines. So, if my guest loves to get up early, I get up early too and when I have a guest who loves sleeping late in the morning (and this often happens with teenagers!), I sleep longer too. This is to say that there are no rules in my house but the one to make my guest at easy! In any case, we usually have a big breakfast and then we have one/two-hour lesson practicing grammar in a relaxing way. Then we have a light lunch and leave, or we leave and have a snack somewhere by one of the lakes nearby. There are so many beautiful places to see! After a full day of language lessons and sightseeing we return for dinner at my home.

Twice a week we have a day-long trip and once a week I offer my guest a pizza!

I have always fun with my guests. One of the best moments I remember is when we went on top of a near mountain (don’t worry, we drove up there!) at night. It was August, the night of the shooting stars. We were with some friends of mine, had a picnic (salami, bread, local cheese, cakes and good wine), and then we laid down on our blankets to admire, in a total darkness, the shooting stars, shouting one after another: I’ve seen one!!! I’ve seen one! It was really funny! We were all over 50 but we looked like children, and I think that when you forget your age and become a child again, your holiday is very relaxing and restful.

If you would like more information about Lucia and to read the glowing testimonials that she has received, take a look at the page on the blog “Learning/Schools” : Homestay in Italy & Personalized Italian Tuition with Lucia Dezuani. There is a description of Borgomanero, the city in which she lives and the what the city offers. If you would like to book a stay with Lucia send me an email and I will put you in touch with her. Buona vacana e buoni studi!

To Learn more or book a home stay/language vacation with Lucia contact Melissa for prices and more details about Lucia’s program.