Thanksgiving in Milan

Arrived in Milan yesterday afternoon! Here with Becca and her friend Angela who's studying at Universita Catocolica ...something.  She took us on a mini tour of her school yesterday and then took us out for coffee in an adorable Italian cafe.  We had marocchinos (expresso with a little bit of milk and chocolate...so delicious!)  and met a model.  For Thanksgiving dinner we had three fabulous pizzas made from a local shop near Angela's apartment.  The guys who own the pizzeria are Arabic and made our pizzas right in front of us! It was really neat. Not exactly Thanksgiving dinner, but sorry fam, perfect thin-crust pesto, speck, and vegetable covered pizzas sort of replaced stuffing, turkey, and mashed potatoes.  (And I definitely did NOT miss the canned cranberry sauce).

First Two Days in Barcelona!

Highest peak in Parc Guell...just a wee bit windy!

First two days in Barcelona have flown by.  Gina and I arrived Monday afternoon; we were met with sunny skies and a warmish breeze.  Barcelona weather in November is pleasantly cool, low-60s, which, (coming from Derry) is practically tropical.  We're staying in the most impressive hostel.  The Garden House Hostel is about a 20-25 min metro ride into the center of the city.  It's in a quiet suburb and is equipped with a modern furnishings, free Wifi, lots of outdoor patios, and a beautiful rooftop terrace! It's so cheap and so wonderful; we are truly lucky gals.  On Monday we did a bit of shopping and exploring along La Rambla (named for the Arabic word ramla which means dried up river).  We really enjoyed watching the street performers who get dressed up in the most amazing costumes and stand perfectly still...that is, unless you approach them, then they're suddenly animated!  We had a fabulous dinner at a small tapas restaurant near La Rambla, and I ended up drinking an entire bottle of a really nice tempranillo.  Whoops.  Ended the night on the Garden House's outdoor patio talking about American politics with two boys: one from Texas, one from Germany.

Tuesday: Today was fabulous.  Gina and I went to the huge food market (La Boqueria) on La Rambla to grab breakfast and lunch for later.  It's impossibly colorful and tantalizing in there.  Everything is fresh (some of the sea creatures were still alive) and relatively inexpensive.  It's no good being indecisive in that market; you could spend your whole day there!  We caught a bus to La Pedrera, one of Gaudi's last residential designs (and one of his most fabulous efforts).  I have to admit...I didn't know much about Gaudi before arriving.  But now I can tell you he was a serious genius.  His work is so whimsical and fanciful...I can't imagine what people thought in the early 20th century!  We learned all about inverted catenary arches (genius) and his impressive use of wrought iron (twisted).  The rooftop of La Pedrera was other-worldly.  The strange geometric-monolith chimneys were my favorite.  The pathways are undulating, the arches are abundant, the mosaic decorations were delicious.  This dude was great.

So naturally we headed to Parc Guell to see some more of Gaudi's work.  I was blown away by this park...it was so fabulous!

...uh oh roommate is giving me the evil-eye whammy...more later.

Gaudi's serpentine benches on the terrace of Parc Guell

Reflection: I Once Knew a Girl...Unheard Stories of Women

In late October I went to a production at The Playhouse in town.  It was called "I Once Knew a Girl...Unheard Stories of Women."  The play was directed by Teya Sepinuck, the creator of Theatre of Witness, a form of performance that is meant to bring audiences together "to bear witness to the true personal and collective life stories of those who have been marginalized."  The participants involved have experienced the issues explored and presented; performers include refugees and immigrants, survivors and perpetrators of war and violence, and witnesses to significant societal issues.  It's a brilliant medium to allow for individual storytelling and healing, as well as collective understanding and appreciation.

Six women who lived through the Troubles told their stories.  They were all of different backgrounds, conflicting backgrounds with histories that joined in violence, sorrow, and loss.  One woman was an active member of the Provisional IRA in her teenage and early adulthood years.  Two women were raised in staunch Protestant, British households.  Another woman was burnt out of her childhood home more than once, living a troubled nomadic life.  Another woman was widowed 20 years previously, and works with ex-paramilitaries in a peace and conflict resolution organization.  The final participant could not perform live because she is an active police officer, and appeared in film instead.  Half of the women in the performance suffered some form of sexual and domestic violence and all of them were affected by the Troubles.

As an audience member, I was completely consumed by the stories of the women.  Part of me felt uncomfortable listening to them relay their experiences, not because of how upsetting they were, I realized, but because they were being told in a public sphere.  But I think that's the point of Theatre of Witness, to challenge the audience (and the actors) to listen to very personal stories in a context in which it cannot be ignored.  It is especially effective I think, because people in both the north and south of Ireland often keep secret their personal problems.

For the most part, the performance left me speechless.  How do you respond when you find out a woman's husband was made into a human bomb by the IRA 20 years ago?  How can you begin to understand her ability to work with ex-paramilitaries five years later?  If anything, I left with the knowledge that story-telling is a powerful and brilliant way of initiating or advancing the healing process.