Bouna Pasqua! That's 'Happy Easter' here in Italy. I used it at the cash register, and the lady was really impressed and happy. After two months, I think they are finally accepting me instead of looking at me like, 'Great, an American...' Well, they are always helpful, just their eyes...
My Easter was definitely not what I had wanted to do. I was unable to attend the Holy Thursday service because my chat pal met with me. For Good Friday, I could not figure out what to do, so I just said a rosary. The church in our area did a cool procession, though, from Santa Felicita to Santo Spirito. I recognized the tune of the song they sung in Italian: 'Pan de Vida.' Yeah!
On Saturday, we had Jackie's Italian family over for Columbian food. Our friend John has Columbian ancestry, and Jackie had the idea to share some other cultures' food with the Palazzini's. It was good fun making it, though I tried to just stay out of the way. Both kitchens were in use, and I would have just been in the way. So I volunteered to take care of the dishes afterwards. Good deal, I think.
Well, it was a good night. The Palazzini's brought two traditional Easter gifts: a cake in the shape of a cross and a huge (really, huge!) chocolate egg! The egg was hollow inside and a plastic toy had been set in there. It is a basket with a ball. You press the button, then the ball goes up. You try to catch the ball as it comes back down. Of course the darn thing does not go straight up. In fact, it goes almost directly angular it seems. I failed completely then excused myself to get a head on the dishes.
My Italian apparently has gotten better, even if I do not feel confident in it. Jackie said she was impressed and the Palazzini's noticed it also. I'll take their word for it because I feel like I have 'FAIL' written all over my forehead whenever I speak!
Reading the interwebs, it was not easy to figure out when the mass for Easter at the Duomo was going to happen. I only recalled 10:15am from Don Mario, so I was shooting for that. It was threatening to rain, but that was not going to stop us!
So, Sunday, we left around 9:30am to get to the Duomo. Generally a 15 minute walk if you are taking no side-trips. Our trek takes us through Piazza della Signora (where the faux David is). A procession was going about. People dressed up in medieval clothing, horns blasting, and drums keeping time. The procession was headed towards the Duomo, but first it went to Piazza Republica. We went straight to the Duomo to get some spots to see the Scoppio Del Carro ("Explosion of the cart").
Now, Scoppio Del Carro is this really cool tradition where Florentines literally blow up a cart. Well, some fancy cart. And it is only fireworks, so they can reuse the cart each year. It is actually cool looking.Well, we arrived at the Duomo, and a crowd had already formed. I had expected this, which is why I had wanted to leave earlier, but there was a miscommunication... Anyhow, for a short person like myself, it was a bit frustrating to be there because I literally could not see anything. Everyone with a camera or phone was reaching above the crowd to try to get a shot of the parade that had settled in the front of the cathedral. I did not want to be 'one of those people,' but I did not have a choice. So I did get a few pictures of the line up. A guy with a bald head kept on getting in the way and other people's cameras kept on making it into the shot. All part of the experience? I really was not impressed.
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| Lined up in front of Santa Maria del Fiore. |
With the help of some kind friends and strangers, I did manage to get smashed within 10 feet of the blockage. Smashed is not being over-exagerating. Literally, we described it as a mosh pit. I was not happy. At all. Maybe because I was close to my time of month, or because I have never been that close to everyone in the universe at the same time, but I wanted to leave. Now. I wanted mass. I wanted to get on with Easter. I love Easter, and nothing had managed to go right for it so far.
Then it rained.
Just before they were going to set the cart on fire, and my temperament getting more sour by the second, I felt the first drops. Expecting this, I brought out my hot pink umbrella. Soon there was a ceiling all around us of umbrellas. No water was going to get in today! Anyhow, along with myself, my roommates Leah and Makena took safety under it. An older man with his granddaughter also sought refuge.
Strangely, I was relieved and happy for this predicament. I love rain, and the situation was so funny and odd that I could not help but feel lightened by it. I had fun with my imagination, dreaming of dancing on the walk beside the river and flipping my umbrella around (which was not possible at the moment due to the close courters).
That did not last for long. The rain went on about a half hour, and there is only so long you can keep yourself busy. My feet were hurting a bit because I wore my heels that went with my Easter dress. And the man who shared my umbrella was getting way too close to me. I could feel something close to my butt, as though he was contemplating a grope. My mood dive-bombed very fast.
So I left. I could not stand it. To heck with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, I needed to get out. Now. Too close. Too long. I closed my umbrella to find it had stopped raining hard. Once it was wrapped up, I began my escape. I repeated, "Scusa" so many times I felt like a broken record. An angry broken record. The crowd had grown far beyond the 20 feet I had known. it went down the streets now, also. Luckily, it was not as congested, so I made my way just fine once I got to a certain point.Of course, the cart began to explode after I had almost made it out. I was not going back in. Not that I think anyone would have let me. So I headed to the side entrance of the Duomo where I would normally go through for mass. I was not sure how or when they were doing mass, but even if I came in late, I was going to make it.
The main doors, which are never open, were opened today for the people inside to see the exploding cart. It was really cool, though after only a minute, the only thing impressive about it was the smoke.
Mass started. The second reading was in English, so that was nice of them. I stood the whole time and knelt on the marble floor when required. It was just like any other mass. Though I think that was the Cardinal of Florence who did the mass. There were so many priests up there, and from my stop in the back, they all looked alike. I had not brought my stalker lens, so I only have little images of them.
After mass, I was feeling a little better. I walked around some back ways to burn off some steam. When I arrived back at the apartment, I found Jackie and our friend Kerry reheating the meal from the night before. They were listening to hymns on YouTube, getting in the Easter mood. Unfortunately, I was not in the mood, and did not want to be in the mood. I made my own leftovers because they seemed to have picked and choose the last of last nights and neither offered to share. Maybe it was my attitude towards the day that amplified this as annoying, but I did not say anything and ate everything chocolate in sight.
Nothing more to say about the day. I did some homework at a certain point and drew. Eventually, the music-picking on YouTube brightened my spirit a bit as I shared some of my favorite hymns and Christian rock songs.
Conclusion: I don't like being smooshed in with a lot of people. Give me mass or give me death. And chocolate cures everything.
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