This past week was eventful. After a long weekend in Venice I was exhausted, and had to face an English paper, an eight page art history final, Italian test, and an Italian oral exam. To say the least I was both mentally and physically exhausted. By the time Friday arrived I was relieved, excited, and ready to kick up my heels and leave the palazzo for the first time in days! What looked like an ordinary weekend in Sansepolcro turned into a full blown experience of Italian hospitality and kindness. I have experienced many injuries in my lifetime, most of them due to my own stupidity, mainly not paying attention to what I am doing (walking down the stairs, or occasionally up them). These I do remember with a good chuckle, but they pale in comparison to my memories of kindness I have experienced in my life. This past weekend in Sansepolcro was my culminating experience of kindness in Italy so far, and I only hope that I can pay it forward!
Turning in my art history research paper on Friday afternoon was the relief I needed to end the week. I decided to walk to my art history professor’s house, Mr. and Mrs. Professor Bankers’ in order to deliver the final papers. We students fondly refer to them as “the Bankers”.
I know the inside of the walls and am familiar with a half circle outside the wall that extends from the Pam grocery store to the Buitoni casa to the Coop grocery store. I have explored the area outside the Porta Fiorentina but never outside Porta Romana. For the first time on Friday I walked out of Porta Romana and kept going. Friday was a beautiful blustery day with blue skies and small wisps of clouds peaking over the tree tops. The walk to the Banker’s house through the Italian campagna was extremely pleasant, and I had the company of three other girls. When we arrived at the Bankers’ adorable house they welcomed us with open arms. The landscape surrounding their house looked straight out of a movie and the clouds looks so perfect that they almost seemed fake. The terraced garden behind their house was like every other Italian garden I have seen, teeming with produce. The gardens here are nothing like my attempts at home that wilt and wither under the July sun. They were the perfect mixture of neatness but with nature’s touch. The tomato plants still had tomatoes ripening, eggplants were on their way to maturity, and the lavender had just finished flowering. I picked a few sprigs of lavender that now sit next to my bed and provide a lovely relaxing perfume as I fall asleep.
After a tour of their small orchard, garden, and herbs and an introduction to the neighboring donkey, they took us on a tour of their home. Since I cannot think of any way to describe the homey warm feeling that radiated from every timber, the best I can come up with is molto carino, very cute, (said with my best Italian accent of course). Their house was completely Italian from the large sink outside for washing clothes to the open windows that allowed a breeze to stream through. After the tour (mainly astonishment of all the amazing things Mrs. Professor Banker had made) everyone sat around the kitchen table where they offered us scrumptious treats. First was dough baked with sweet grapes, sugar, and rosemary on top, homemade fig newtons (from figs grown right outside no doubt) and walnuts just picked from the tree behind their house. I was able to ask the Bankers more about their life in Sansepolcro, their explorations in Italian Art History, and their numerous adventures. The warm welcome that I received (not surprising, they are wonderful people) and the delicious food was the perfect end to the week’s hard work. The walk back into Sansepolcro had me thinking about the wonderful afternoon I had talking to Mr. and Mrs. Banker, their hospitality, and how it was the perfect time of day to see Sansepolcro spread out veiled in a sunset of reds and oranges.
My favorite native Italian in Sansepolcro by far is Fabrizio, the owner of Gerasmo’s Café. I could go on and on about how much I love Fabrizio because he is honestly one of the nicest men I have ever met. From my very first day in Sansepolcro when he helped me pick out a juice, and proudly showed me his North Carolina License plate (I still need to ask him where he got it from), Fabrizio has been nothing less that kind and generous. One of my favorite things to do in Sansepolcro is grab a few things to read, and go down to the café for a coffee to soak up the beautiful afternoon sunshine. Fabrizio sometimes brings out a small plate of cookies and with a smile says “for you”. He told me one day that he puts hearts and smiles on top of the lattes and cappuccinos because he doesn’t want to be just another café; he wants me to remember him, and his coffee. The café is the perfect place to practice my Italian; Fabrizio has informed me that I am not allowed to speak in anything but Italian, but I still lapse into English sometimes (which I hope helps him learn some new English words).
On the way home from the local grocery story, The Coop, I passed a sign that was advertising for Calcio, or soccer in Italian. Since I had watched some of the World Cup games back home I was curious and excited to get into the frenzy that soccer is everywhere around the world. I thought I had missed the game but after reading the sign, which was all in Italian, I was able to interpret that it was on Sunday afternoon at three. At that time the location of the stadio was a mystery. After consulting Fabrizio (an expert on events in Sansepolcro) he informed me that he could drive me and my two friends, Emma and Katy, to the soccer game. So at two thirty on Sunday we waited outside Porta Fiorentina hoping we had communicated correctly with Fabrizio. Sure enough a few minutes later he pulled up with his wife and son. The Buitoni Stadio, is named after the family Buitoni which is well known in the world of pasta. When walking around the hills of Sansepolcro I have passed the bright yellow Buitoni Casa, and when it is dark the factory can be seen lit up in the distance. The stadio is located close to the Coop grocery store and consists of the field, concrete seating, and a small concessions stand. While waiting in line to purchase a ticket Fabrizio came over, and from what I vaguely understood during the rapid exchange between the man in the ticket booth, he was able for us to purchase the less expensive tickets. The game, Sansepolcro verses Scandici, was similar to the soccer matches I have witnessed, but the crowd was almost entirely male and everyone was watching the game with rapt attention. You could almost see the crowd’s eyeballs following the ball from one side of the field to the other. Every call by the referee was challenged by the crowd and the young man next to me, Federico from the bell tower, translated some of what the crowd was yelling. My favorite insult was calling the referee a “pumpkin head”. After winning two to one we were ushered back into Fabrizio’s car and driven back into the city, even after we offered to walk back (he insisted on driving).This weekend was the type of relaxing fun I needed after a stressful week. The kindness of both the Bankers and Fabrizio will most likely stay with me for the rest of my life. Both have had such a positive influence on my time here in Sansepolcro teaching me art, helping me with my Italian, and welcoming me to the town. I know I am extremely lucky to be living in Italy, and am so grateful that I can meet such wonderful people. I wish there was more I could do to express my gratitude, but I hope that my simple grazie, grazie will do. I am still searching for the perfect way to repay the kindness forward, and hope that I will be able to find it.
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