Muse: Stella Cerioni

 Stella is one of the first people we met when we moved to Pesaro. Through her, a whole different side of Italy opened up for me. She and her folk musician friends played at Gradara that beautiful night - a testament to the spiritedness of Italians (lucky that I get to see it intimately, ashamed I used to think that this heightened sense of communion and community was exclusive to where I am from).

Compared to most Italian women I've met, Stella holds conversations looking at you in the eye. Warm, open, a bit shy, curious, starry-eyed (Stella means star in Italian), I can tell her life is full of interesting stories and adventures waiting ahead of her. Here she spends some time sharing her music. I've only managed to capture some of our conversations because shes camera-shy but the little I took (with a baby in one arm. haha) tells the story of how she started playing the Organetto. Take a look at the video below.

Circus Mechanicus, Street Artists and Buskers

Have a look into the tiny world of Circus Mechanicus! One of the the many attractions of the recent Pennabilli Street Artists and Busker's Festival, perhaps my favorite because of the whimsy, the lovely details and work put into it (the Hungarian lady, one of two who made this, told me it took 3 years to complete. Afterall, its a tiny circus - mechanicus! The characters inside MOVE.) Their group is called Tintalo. They do such wonderful projects and are completely inspired by the circus.

Its the first time I witness an event in the interior of central Italy (as countryside as it can get!) that was so big with crowds and performers from all over the world. There were performances ever hour, everywhere, until 2am for days and many quirky little shops and food stands, fun games for both young and young at heart like stilts (Claire was damn good at it!), wooden balancing things and objects that made me nostalgic about growing up before technological inventions like gameboy or pc gaming. Nothing beats 3d real-time interactive games!

She was so nice and happy to be taken a shot of. Looking out into rolling hills and greens, you too can imagine how anything is possible.

Parcels and Kitchen Offices

 Settling in quite nicely in this new space. The kitchen is now my other "office" with the new addition to our family, Claire, and the new friends and guests that come by that enjoy my asian fusion experiments. Of the many surprises I've had this first month, one of them is this package from Jillian, another blogger from north of Italy, another expat, a new friend I still have to meet. I love receiving mail and though I haven't been sending much out there since the move, I was more than happy to see this blue paper washi-taped parcel.

There were some funny treats from their recent trip to Japan, the coolest jacket for Adamo (thankfully still big enough for him to grow into. that boy is BIG!), and most surprising of all, one of her vintage aprons. Wow, I wasn't expecting that and YAY my first apron! Take a look at the full set here.

I really liked the tape she used with this saying, "Become who you are" or "Diventa quello che sei" from Nietsche. I think I've been doing that, surprising myself with what I find to be me.

Thank you for this Jill. un abbraccio :)

Clandestine Mazurka at Gradara

One word: home. That night outside the castle walls of Gradara, we met with a mix of folk musicians, creatives, friends of a friend we made recently when we moved to Pesaro. I know its been eons since I last wrote on this blog and hardly mentioned anything at all about, well, anything at all. Its been a great big move and a hell of a month. But something about it, something about all this just feels a lot like home.

Some bits:

1. Pesaro is awesome. In a month's time I've made more friends and connections than the two years I spent everywhere else (mostly between Ancona and Macerata - which I thought seemed worlds apart. I guess Pesaro is a whole leap outside the galaxy)
2. Earthquakes. The first big earthquake hit the area of Ferrara and made quite a mess. That area has never been considered a "seismic" zone but then just around the same day the first solar eclipse of year occured, there was the earthquake and a big nightmare woke me in the middle of the night only to be followed by another disturbing dream. An energy dive that came rising back up in the following days. Oh, and two more earthquakes followed. One early this morning near Rimini.
3. Claire. An English woman traveller is spending the summer with us to learn Italian and help watch over the little one - such luck and wow, big thank you Claire for coming to join our family even for just a short time.
4. Travelling alone with Adamo. I did it! It can be done! I've had some hesitation before due to the language and the sheer difficulty of Italian public transportation but will-power and shamelessness can really get the work done.
5. Growing pile of things to do. Slowly getting back my rhythm.

Thats all for now. Home and family - two things that go hand in hand. Both tracing its roots all the way back in time and space, finding at the very core that we're all deeply connected.