La festa di San Costanzo

(This is a little outdated now, but this is what was going on last week!)

So I just finished my third week in Perugia, and I’m still learning new things everyday.  I can’t believe how much walking I do on a daily basis!  Whenever I walk around the city, I seem to stumble upon something new.  For example, last Monday I walked to a different grocery store on the other side of our block, and on my way I passed a street (Corso Bersaglieri) that was entirely blocked off.  The road was closed to celebrate the Feast of St. Anthony, and people were standing in the street, drinking and eating, somewhat like a block party.  All of the apartment buildings still had beautiful Christmas wreaths hanging on the doors, and ribbons and streamers were hung from building to building.  

Italian difference #3- Perugia is very into recycling, and although we haven’t received our specific garbage bags yet (it’s Italy, it seems that everything works on Andrew time), I’m very impressed by their sanitation system.  You put your garbage on the sidewalk between 8pm and 10pm, and then these cute little garbage trucks begin picking everything up.  You never see a garbage truck during the day; you only see its little orange light as it drives around late at night.   What surprises me even more is that there are hundreds upon hundreds of people that hang out in the square at night.  If you walk through at 10pm, there’s only a handful, but if you’re there at 1 or later, it is packed with students.  There are three main colleges in Perugia, the Università di Perugia, the Università di Stranieri (University for Foreigners), and the Umbra Institute (the American college).  People come to Perugia from all over the world to study Italian, and I think that’s part of the reason why the people have been so welcoming to us.   So when you walk home at night, there are still plenty of people out sitting on the steps, and the town looks like a mess.  Yet when you wake up in the morning, it’s clean (except for all of the dog poop- that never seems to go away)!  All of the litter from the night before has magically disappeared, because these men go around and sweep everything up.  I can’t imagine that this would work in a bigger city, but considering the masses of people that are out at night, Perugia feels like a much bigger city than it appears. 

Thursday night we went out to dinner to a small pizzeria called Pizza e Musica- I think its one of Perugia’s hidden places.  It didn’t even have a sign on the door, so I know I never would have found it if my friends didn’t already know how to get there.  After dinner, we went to the Università per Stranieri (University for Foreigners) for a Jazz concert.  This was one of the things on my bucket list (along with touring the Perugina chocolate factory) since Perugia is so well known for its Jazz. The room that it was held in has a controversial painting on the wall, and there’s a screen that is usually pulled down to cover it.  The University was founded in the 1920’s and at this time of fascism, it was meant to “spread the superior Italian culture around the world.”  And the painting depicts just that.  It’s been really interesting to learn about World War II outside of the American perspective.  (And I really enjoyed the concert!)

Aula Magna in the Universita` per Stranieri

Friday morning I took the train with a couple of friends and went to Assisi.  It was only a twenty-thirty minute train ride from Perugia, and it was absolutely beautiful.  That was the day my cold began so I stopped at a small café for a tea, and the owner was so nice.  We talked for a while, and he told me about his friends that live in Jessup, PA, which is surprisingly close to Scranton.  He even gave me a map, and highlighted his favorite places in Assisi.  If I go back, I’ll definitely have to see him again.  St. Francis’ basilica was absolutely beautiful.  It was built on the edge of a hill, and is actually comprised of two churches, one on the lower level and one on the upper level, and there is a crypt underneath where St. Francis is buried.  Until St. Francis was buried here, his body was on guard twenty four hours a day, seven days a week in fear that it would be stolen- at this time, grave digging was a way to find money, especially for the bones of a saint.  It is interesting that the hill used to be called the “Hill of Hell,” since it was the place where criminals were put to death in Assisi.  Now that the Basilica is there, it is now know as the “Hill of Paradise.”

The Basilica

Assisi

View from the top level of the Basilica

We walked along a brick pathway that had thousands of names, including several Capasso's!

This weekend was the Festa di San Costanzo, and it’s a big deal here since San Costanzo is the patron saint of Perugia.  There is a special mass in the Cathedral, followed by a fiera, which is an open market in town.  Il torcollo di San Costanzo is a special type of bread made specifically for this holiday, consisting of pine nuts, raisins, and candied fruits.  I went with Nicki at noon to the center, and they had a tent set up where different bakeries from all over the city gave out samples of torcollo.  After, we walked to the giant market that was open for the holiday- they truly sold everything.  At night I went to Lindsay’s apartment.  She cooked dinner with her apartment mates and we played cards with our new Italian friends. 

Another beautiful day in Perugia

Just one of the countless stands that lined the streets to celebrate the festival of San Costanzo

Inside the tent, the samples didn't last long but they sure tasted good!

Sunday morning I finally woke up in time to go to mass (last Sunday the doors were locked because I had messed up the schedule).  Barbara gave me directions to the church that she goes to, so I woke up early and walked down a large set of winding steps into this tiny church.  Barbara described it as piccola e carina, but I didn’t realize how small it was going to be- and yet when you looked up and saw all of the detail in the paintings and the gold bearings on the arches, it seemed enormous! I didn’t know any of the responses, and I think I understood the homily for the most part.  I’m very excited to see what Easter will be like here in Italy! Highlight of Sunday: Someone stopped and asked me for directions!! Granted, there is a possibility that I told her the wrong way because I’ve never given directions in Italian, but just the fact that someone thought I looked like I knew where I was going was very comforting.  

I finally found the firehouse when we walked around on Saturday, now I know where to bring Dad in a week!

The stairs up Via Bartolo
I could only fit half of the steps in the picture, but I walk up this street every day to get to class and into the center of town. Needless to say, my legs are getting in good shape.