Starting the third year of our "year in Italy:" favorite slang, Halloween, and more school

A day trip to Perugia, Seattle's sister city, to see
our friend Germano (center) one of the Seattle delegates

October marked the second anniversary of our temporary move to Italy, so we are now a month into our third year.  We just had our third Halloween in Italy, not that Halloween is a big day here, although today is a holiday for working folk because it is All Souls Day.  That always reminds  me of spending our day off school running in and out of the church to save souls from purgatory. The rule was that you could say a prescribed prayer and release a poor soul from suffering, but only one per visit, so we would sit in the pew closest to the side exit, rush through the prayer, then run out and come back in the front entrance (for some reason we thought it wouldn't count if we came back in the same door).  I saved thousands of souls during my 8 years in catholic grade school so my bets are hedged.  If it turns out that I am wrong and there is a heaven/purgatory/hell, there should be a lot of folks on my side since I saved them untold years of suffering.

But back to Halloween in Italy.  Even though it isn't really celebrated much here, there were decorations in some of the shops along Corso Italia, even a few jack o'lanterns in some windows on our block.  We saw 20 somethings in costume heading to a bar for appertivo and heard a lot of them returning from their celebrations around 3 a.m.  Some things are universal.

There are a couple of towns in Italy that make a bigger deal of Halloween. Cornaldo, a medieval walled town near Ancona in the le Marches area, calls itself the Italian capital of Halloween.  There is a festa di Halloween, also called the festa delle streghe (festival of witches) the last week of Halloween. According to their website:

Giochi e scherzi per bambini di tutte le età, virtual orror experiences, ritratti fotografici deliranti, torri delle trasformazioni, alchimie, taverne, dolcetti e scherzetti, notti di follia e delirio. C’è un granello di verità che si nasconde in ogni delirio. La Strega lo sa!

(games and tricks for children of all ages, a virtual horror experience, delusional portraits (not sure what those are), transformed towers, alchemy, taverns, sweets and tricks, nights of madness and delirium. There is a grain of truth hidden in every madness.  The witch knows!)

Triora in Liguria also claims to be the Halloween capital of Italy, with perhaps slightly more basis as it is famous for its witch trials during the inquisition. Triora features concerts "even lasting past midnight" along with decorations and games.

Stylish Italian trick or treaters

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grocery stores and magazines
getting into the act with recipe ideas

We spent October taking Italian classes at a local Italian language school because we seem to have trouble retaining the rules of grammar and wanted a refresher.   I did realize that I have finally  mastered some common Italian expressions, not discussed at our Dante Alighieri classes, which was nice to discover.  These include: 

Che palle!  (what balls!)  Can't find a parking place?  Che palle!  The people behind you at the cinema keep talking?  Che palle!  Burned the toast.....

Che figata!  Che figo!(literally what a fig!  but means Cool!).  Don't swap an a for the o at the end or you will be making a vulgar reference to female anatomy.

Piove catinelle (it's raining sinks) is the equivalent of our 'raining cats and dogs'

Fa un freddo cane (it's dog cold) for 'it is really cold.'

Vestirsi a cipolla (to dress like an onion) means to wear layers because it is cold

Che schifo! (how icky or disgusting) and Mi fa cagare!  (literally, it makes me poop) Disgusting!

Fa senso!  really disgusting!  He cut his hand off and bled all over the floor!  Fa senso!  But, "There is dog do on my shoe? "  That is 'Che schifo!'

Magari!  means almost anything, but most often used for a sarcastic 'yeah, right' or a more hopeful, "I wish!"  "I hope" or "if only..."

Figurati!  Don't worry about it!  Can be sincere or a bit sarcastic.  "You broke my favorite dish, figurati!"

Dai!  The second person singular for "dare" (to give) but used constantly in the sense of "come on" or "tell me."  can also mean "stop it" as in,your husband is snitching your last bit of gelato?  "Dai!"

Meno male.  Literally, "less bad" but used in the sense of "thank god!"  Your son recovered from his accident?  "Meno male!"

Vai via!  "Go away" but not an especially polite way to say it--often used on the ubiquitous street vendors who want to sell you fazzoletti (kleenex) or umbrellas. And along the same lines, basta!  (enough), although basta isn't necessarily rude. At the bar, for example, you might say, '2 beers and a pizza, basta,' so they know you are done with your order.  But "basta!" shouted out the window at noisy neighbors means, shut up!

and finally, "E successo un 48" (a 48 happened), which I haven't heard much, but I like it because it is so odd.  It means, chaos ensued, or "un casino vero" as in this context casino means confusion, disorder.  Casino also means brothel, so this is another word to be careful with.

 Pictures from optional class trip to nearby Poppi, on the piazza with castle in back (above) and inside the castle (right)

class photo, last class of the month.  left to right:  Vera, (Brasil),  Nashia,(Kuwait)
( Bernadetta (student teacher) Claudio (teacher--even cuter in real life),
Hannah (California), Nancy, Tom, Thomas (Switzerland), and Manuela (Portugal)

Four hours of class and a couple of hours of studying everyday did improve our language skills but by the end of the month we were more than ready for our trip to Puglia.  We leave tomorrow for a 3 week tour starting in Bari, then to Matera, Cesternino,  Alberobello (trulli country),and  many small towns along the way, ending up in Brindisi for the flight back.  Four days later, home to Seattle for the holidays, beginning with il giorno di ringraziamento.  Arrividerci Arezzo, salute Seattle!