Italian culture month

Since our arrival in March, we were going on an Italian language course and were discovering our new home here in Italy, so it was just logical that first the culture we explore will be the culture of our hosts – lovely italians. We enjoyed the colorful and exciting Italian culture, by preparing traditional foods ourselves and by trying out their local music instruments and way of dancing.  

The first evening we made a local dish “Gnocchi alla sorrentina”. It was very fun because as we made the pasta for the “gnocchi” we got our hands dirty with flour, mashed potatoes and eggs. After the dinner was ready, we ate our homemade masterpiece. It was so simple and yet, so delicious. With full stomachs, we listened brief overview of Italian history and tried to remember it with a fun game. In addition, we prepared our homemade “limoncello” and started to countdown 30 days until it will be ready to drink. An awesome start don’t you think?

The second Italian night we went to the house of our boss Domenico and learned how to play traditional musical instruments of south Italy and their history. Like “Tammora” for example. Since there is no party without food on the Italian table, we prepared – guess what? “Pasta e patate” – a traditional Napolitan dish.

As we already had learned about their music, on the third evening it was time to try our dancing skills with the folk music of the south Italy and passionate Neapolitan dance called “Tammurriata”. It was perfect beginning for the night. So while the odor from the kitchen was tickling our noses, we gathered on our terrace, played percussions and tried Italian dance steps. After the dinner was served, we spent a nice evening with our guests.

On the final culture evening we prepared traditional italian sweet “Tiramisù”. While we were waiting for the Tiramisu to be nice, cold and ready to eat, we watched a Movie “Chasing Corrals”. Did you know that there is massive coral bleaching all around the world? Coralls are underwater “city” builders. They are making homes for different species of fishes, molluscs, crustaceans and many other creatures. It is our duty to protected them. If they will be gone, we will also suffer as well. Why? Watch the movie – a warm recommendation.

So, the April is gone and May is knocking on the door. Guess which culture we will try know better next? Let say that there will be a lot of fiestas with homemade sangria and “tortillas”. Bravi! Our Spanish girl Laura is taking us to a journey across beautiful Spain with a little help from the Spanish volunteer of last year – Dani.

What will they make for us? Follow us in the next month and find out :)