I have never been in Italy during Easter before and it was quite surprising for me to discover that we almost use the same word for Easter, Πάσχα (Pascha)! Maybe Easter holidays came earlier for me this year, as in my country we will celebrate it in the 2nd of May, but i have to admit i made the most of this week even though we are still under the red zone here in Lecce. Hello everyone, my name is Kiriaki and i come from Greece! I arrived here three weeks ago in order to volunteer in a new project held by Vulcanicamente under the title: Connecting the community. Our aim is simple still challenging, to come up with creative ideas concerning the empowerment of the local community in San Cesario! As you may know, Lecce and the whole area of Puglia where we are located, is being under zona rossa for quite a while, which means there are many restrictions regarding group gatherings and movement around the city. Nevertheless, the last week we managed to go few times to San Cesario by bike through the countryside road and enjoy the sunshine. During our meetings there we finalized the idea of our main project that will soon be published and started planning our next steps! I was very excited about the process but also very curious at the same time on how things will turn out. Thanks to Sara, Ilenia and Filomena we managed to create a structure and prepare ourselves for what is to come! As a result, these days i am feeling very productive and full of energy! What would you think if i told you that we spent Easter Sunday making pasta? Our fellow volunteers and neighbors, Anaïs and Carlos, invited us to their house (literally next door) for a pasta workshop and lunch, in which we were meant to learn the traditional way of making fresh pasta called Orecchiette from Puglia! The whole process took us more time than we thought, mainly because of small talks in the between, only to realize it when we eventually got very hungry! Carlos made some delicious tomato sauce with garlic and onions and Carlotta, a volunteer from Ciclofficina, contributed with red wine and chocolate eggs! It was such a fulfilling afternoon! Grazie mille! The next day i met my mentor Alessio at his countryside house near Lecce Me, Anaïs and Ilenia left the city of Lecce in order to reach Alessio’s village, but in the meantime we decided to make few stops so they could introduce me to a couple of fascinating places such as the ‘’Ritorn alla Terra’’ food market, full of organic fruits and vegetables, second hand clothes and a massive sleepy pig! We also visited the house of Antonio Rizzo, a local craftsman who is making electric lamps out of terracotta in many different animal shapes! While Alessio was showing me around his family fields, we suddenly discovered a really old and abandoned church with colourful frescos, probably dated more than four centuries ago! We literally couldn’t believe our eyes how well preserved the colours of the frescos were, although the church itself as a construction was so fragile and ready to collapse. Later that evening, Ilenia tried to teach me how to dance the traditional Salentinian dance of Pizzica, which felt very liberating and cheerful, especially when reimagining the story of Tarantismo, a cultural-bound syndrome that took place in these lands (rumours spread that it is of Greek origin)....check it out! Last but not least, no matter my fatigue, i managed to visit the graffiti area of the city with my bicycle, where i discovered that one of the most interesting and beautiful murals covering the left side of a social housing building was made by a Greek street artist named Taxis in 2018! His work is called Victoria and it represents a woman carrying a basket full of grapes while she is working in the fields amongst other women. This depiction made me wonder if his work is actually related to the old stories of the Salentinian women and their oppression, so i decided to contact him and find out. But i think i will keep you in suspense for now... We can’t wait to share with you more of our experiences here in Lecce so stay tuned for the next stories to come soon! Make sure you’ve already read the previous article from my ''emotion intolerant’’ flatmate Kevin and keep up all the amazing support! Arrivederci!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
November 2021
|