La Sagra

Last weekend, from Friday afternoon until Monday evening, the neighboring town of Corte Madama celebrated their "Sagra," a bi-annual feast/fundraiser for the local church. Not wanting to put to waste the skills I learned working as a waiter and dishwasher for Middlebury College Dining Services, I decided to help out as one of the servers.

Here are my stats:

People served: 37
Food-related words and expressions learned: 62
Mothers who demanded that I speak with their daughters in English: 4
Grandmothers who insisted that I speak with their daughters (who were mothers) in English: 1
Angry Italian men who swore at me because I was too slow of a waiter: 2

All in all, I'd say I did well.



Some photos:


Marta (host sister) in the middle, with her friends, Paolo and Chiara.



Torta fritta -- essentially fried dough, but with meat instead of brown sugar/cinnamon.


Me and some of the cooks.


From left to right, Anna and Loretta -- host sister and host mother, respectively.


Gianluigi (host father) and his prized chair.


Street performers outside the Sagra.



Yesterday, I went to Mantova and Cremona, two of the bigger cities in Lombardia, so expect more photos of that trip to come soon.




Nate


p.s. I decided there was no good way to take a picture of myself in the shower without getting kicked off of Google for publishing illicit photographs, so for now, you'll have to use your imagination.