Art, Love, and Family

Well it is Friday morning, and I am looking at train times to depart for Florence for two days this weekend to see my cousins. I am trying to think of something small I can bring for my little cousin, Lorenzo.

Yesterday was relaxing after a packed 3 days of teaching and commute, and I ordered my life a bit in the morning. I walked to my university, and it was a lovely autumn day outside with a chilly breeze. The weather has changed, seemingly overnight, here in MIlan, and it is very cold in the morning and at night. I am back to wearing my warm and fuzzy robe when I wake up, and my roommates turned on the heating for the first time yesterday. I decided to go to my university to paint yesterday, and I also took some art magazines out from the library to check out "whats new" in the art world. At the end of my painting session, I met up with my friend, Ishraq.

She is Jordanian, and I think that she is an awesome person. She is studying at Naba, Materials and Textile Designs, and she was literally the first really nice person that I met during the opening orientation in January. It took us until the end of Spring to see one another in the Secretary's office and to decide to hang out beyond the Naba confines. She has a killer fashion sense, and I always love her outfits, shoes, jewelry, her style, everything. She speaks perfect english, and we communicate in English rather than Italian. She lived in New York for several years, working as a freelance architect and for a Jordanian fashion magazine, picking out clothing ensembles for fashion photo shoots from designer showrooms. I loved hearing her explain how all of that functions in the world of fashion, magazine, and documentation.

When she came to my studio yesterday, she explained that she got engaged this summer to her American boyfriend, a photographer in New York. Engaged in her culture literally means married, and they threw a large party in honor of the announcement. There are also many traditional practices that accompany even the engagement, and she tried to make it as easy as possible for her fiance who was trying to learn, understand and embrace these rituals and traditions of a new culture. Ishraq is very level-headed, kind, understanding, and worldly, and she explained how she played "mediator" between her fiance and her family during the crazy whirl-wind engagement (that was decided upon this summer). The best part of the union is that the American's mother is a Christian minister who is a "bit" uncomfortable with her son marrying a Muslim woman.

Her mother did most of the planning based on Ishraq's guidance and wishes, and she recounted how she picked out her dress for the engagement party (which sounds absolutely stunning!) She found a "fabulous" dress in New York with a fantastic cut and unique fit; however, it was black. Therefore, they went to their elderly trusted seamstress, and they presented her with the black dress as a design; they set out on a search for the fabric. Ishraq had this rare and lovely fushia purple in mind (as well as a specific fabric weight to adhere to), and the search turned out to be fruitless in Jordan. Her father is a pilot, and her mother decided to fly cheaply to Bangkok to find the purply material--because "If you can't find material anywhere, you will find it in Bangkok." Ha, Okay! Her mother ended up finding the perfect fabric for the dress. Ishraq picked out a diamond ring that was an emerald surrounded by diamonds. It is very beautiful, and I can tell that she would not settle for the traditional and classical ring based on her tastes. Her idea was to have a dark red/lavendar with her emerald jewelry--I like it!

Matteo came into Milan on a whim on Thursday night because he wanted to see me before my trip to Florence. He finished his exam in Genova, and he raced on the next train to Milan. I was excited when I found out that he was coming to see me. I put away my paints, and Israq and I went to see an art show that I'd been itching to see that was closing the day after. I was originally going to skip out on the opportunity, but I opened my first art magazine and the advertisement for the show was blaring on the first page. I was determined to go. It was a photography show highlighting Letizia Battaglia, one of the most famous women Italian photojournalists from the years of the 70s, 80s and 90s. She was from Palermo and focused he subject matter mostly on the activities of the Sicilian mafia. The other two artists highlighted were a Mexican photojournalist and a Swiss policeman that regularly took pictures of road incidents, or "sculptures of human error." It was a fabulous show at Cardi Black Box.

Italian Fact of the Day:

Most of the biggest galleries in Milan are invisible. What does this mean? Well it is not visible to the street, there is no window advertising, and you wouldn't know that it existed if you were not deliberately searching, address in hand. They are all in the courtyards of buildings in different parts of town. You must know the address, and look on the door bells. Written minutely on the doorbell is the name of the gallery--you buzz. They give you instructions on how to proceed, and they open he door. "Left, cross the courtyard, and straight in the back." You then spot the gallery, and you buzz again to gain entrance. It is quite funny, in my opinion. Of course this is not the case for all of the galleries in Milan by any means; however, those very important galleries or foundations are a bit hard to find, and you must know your "stuff" or play clue in order to discover them.

I was completely impressed with the whole show, and I was disappointed that I missed a lecture given last week by the photojournalist, Letizia Battaglia, and one of my favorite Italian-American journalists, Alexander Stille. I have mentioned him in my blogs before because I read his book, "The Sack of Rome," which talks about Berlusconi's ascension into power. He has also written many books about the Italian "Cosa Nostra," and worked closely with Battaglia in researching and composing his Mafia literature. Stille, from his home in New York, writes articles for the Italian newspaper, "La Reppublica." His writing style is very clear and schematic, and often times in his bipartisan and clear-cut representation of different "truths," the reader is left with a blatant and humorous irony and revelation.

Anyways, Matteo met us at the art show, and he was obviously very intrigued and interested. I thought that he would enjoy the show; he doesn't know anything about art, but he is very passionate about history and journalism. Therefore, I thought this would be a good show to have him see. I am slowly introducing him to the world of art. The important idea in this show was to combine the aesthetic impression mixed with his passion, history and story-telling (journalism, politics, etc). Anyways, he loved it, and he wants a print of his favorite photo. He sent me a message the next day saying, "I was looking at the photos from yesterday, and I think that without you I would not have been able to appreciate all of this beauty." Aw!

Later on, Israq left on her bike, and Matteo and I went to get a pizza. We watched "Grande Torino" by Clint Eastwood (fabulous).

After the movie, he revealed to me that he believes to be in love with me. "Credo di essere innamorato di te." It was very sweet, and I know that he is completely genuine. Although I care for him very much, I have not reached the point where I am in love with him. I explained that he has to be cautious when evaluating his feelings for me and that love has many different levels. He agreed, but he reiterated his deep feelings, telling me how special he thought I was.

Anyways, today I find myself in Chiesina Uzzanese, near Florence. I arrived last night and I spent time with my cousins. It is so great to be back in Tuscany, in this small town. I love it! I am about to go for a walk.

Last night, I relaxed talking with my relatives as we ate a delicious dinner. Before dinnner, Liliana and I stopped to watch a community basketball game where teenagers of Chiesina were playing against a neighboring town. My cousin, Giocondo, was the scorekeeper. He is very involved with the basketball league because he initiated it back in the 80s with some friends, and he coached the teams for many years. I absolutely loved this pit-stop because I felt right at home; I felt as if I was at my high school watching my friends dribble the ball around the court. The only ironic part was that I was so far away from my "home court," from those friends, from that time. It was fun! After dinner, called my cousin Matteo (the son of the couple with which I am staying), who lives in London; it was great to catch up with him! By now, we are like old best friends when we talk. I will be planning a trip to visit him before Christmas, and I can't wait!

If you don't know, I am trying to put together documents to obtain an Italian citizenship through my "blood rights". This requires a TON of work, documents in order, translations, etc....I cant get into it now. However, my cousin, Giocondo, did some research for me in this area, and he found the birth certificates of my great-grandmother, great-grandfather, her parents, and the marriage certificate of her parents. He presented them to me last night, and we read them together. It was amazing to see those documents! We now know the names of my great-great-great grandparents. How cool is that??

Okay, I really want to take a walk before lunch around the town, go visit the church, and get a coffee. Bye bye!