Sagra della Varola-Melfi, Italy

October 20th was the Sagra della Varola (Festival of Chestnuts) in Melfi, a town about 1.5 hours from Matera. Irsina, Matera and Melfi all sit in the same region of Basilicata.  Basilicata is well-known for their chestnut trees. Chesnut in Italian is "castagna," however, the particular chestnuts from Melfi are called "varola" which is also the name of the pan in which they're roasted.

Rosting the chestnuts

The festival has been going on in Melfi since 1960. The entire city is taken over with stands of locally produced products, many made with chestnuts as well as vendors selling various trinkets. There are bands that play in different parts of the city. For 5euros, you can get a bag of roasted chestnuts and a glass of wine; very economical!

There were people...everywhere

We wanted to visit the castle, but it was just closing as we arrived. It is one of the most significant castles in southern Italy and dates back to the 11th century. We did get to try on the hats of the people who work at the castle as you can see in this picture:

Gianluca, me and Alberto (a cousin)

Grotte di Castellana

One Sunday, I went to Grotte di Castellana in Puglia, Italy with the family minus Salvatore, the second son.  There are only five spaces in the car so one person is always forced to stay back in Matera. Fortunately, unfortunately, that person is never me. This particular day was a fortunate one.  I've seen a few caves in my day especially considering that I took a caving class in college and went on a few excursions, but I can say that this one was the most impressive and beautiful i've ever seen! I'm not sure i'll ever see another cave as beautiful.

The Main Cave 

They say that the Grotte di Castellana are the most impressive caves in Italy; I have to agree. One part that I particularly enjoyed was what they call the "white cave."

White Cave

Me and Gianluca, the youngest son

Matera

Wow, I just realized  that I haven't even posted about Matera yet and i've been here for 1.5 months!

Well, I was originally told that I would have the first floor apartment to live in, but the family changed their mind and decided that they wanted me to stay upstairs with them. It's definitely a full-immersion Italian experience and often chaotic with the three sons. The house is large by Italian standards, but definitely much smaller than 90% of american homes. The mother is OCD about being clean/germs while the father works long hours as an Orthodontic Technician. The two older sons, 18 and 13 share a room together while the five-year old still sleeps in the same bed as his parents. I have my own bedroom, but it's also the office/study/homework room for the 13-year old.

Me, Vittoria (Mother) and Pino (Father)

I teach English every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday night and on Saturday mornings. I go to a free italian lesson offered by the city of Matera every Monday and Wednesday evening. I also take a hour italian lesson twice per week from the lady who lives downstairs and in return, I teach her husband english twice per week. Every Sunday is a day spent with the family either touring a town nearby or going to their hometown of Irsina to visit with the extended family. I worked for two weeks in October for a dentist who had me read a real-estate book in english, form a summary and translate it into Italian; talk about a hard job! Translating from Italian to english is one thing, but translating from english to Italian is a different category. When I don't work in the morning, i'm busy running around town with the mother shopping for groceries or this and that.  The father and oldest son come home for lunch and we eat at 2pm everyday. Mind you, there must be pasta at every single lunch. It's a crazy life, but it's my life until mid-December when I finally return to the states for good....there is NO changing my mind this time!!

Me and Vittoria

I'm grateful for my experience here, but I will be even more grateful when I am back in the US and have my independence back. I realize how wonderful my family is and I wouldn't trade them for the world!!

Me and Pino