Last Day in Perugia

Panettone and Perugina
Monday 28th was our last lesson with our ‘’grammar exercise’’ teacher Maria. We were hardly in the mood. She had wanted to let us listen to a passage from the tape but seeing us so restless, decided to skip it and do a shorter exercise on colours and idioms instead.

She brought us a panettone to try during our break. Sylvester had to leave class early but she insisted on opening it before break time and ‘’made’’ him eat a slice while we watched.

Maria is such a mother hen. She had reminded us so many times about our appointment time at the bus stop at Piazza Italia for the trip she has organised for us - our trip to Perugina chocolate factory.

The story of the famous and Italy’s beloved Baci is charming. As early as back in 1922, the founder already knew that ‘’naming’’ is important for marketing and changed the name from pugno (punch) to baci (kiss). Pugno came about by accident when the confectioner created a chocolate in a round shape topped with a nut and it looked like a fist and hence people started calling it ‘’punch’’.

And back then they too knew the importance of advertising – and created such memorable and popular TV commercials. And yes, who can avoid globalisation? The Swiss conglomerate Nestle bought over the financially-ailing business in 1988. Thank goodness they did not lose their romance and creativity in the pursuit for ‘’segmentation’’ and ‘’targeting’’ and created marketing campaigns with such clever play of Italian verbs like ‘’tubare’’ (to coo – like lovers and doves) and hence came up with a cute jingle ‘’tu-bi-amo’’ (tubiamo – we coo) to market their chocolates packaged into small tubes – just nice for the youths to carry around as snacks.

While at Perugina, Maria was her usual bubbly self and continued to be like a school m’am looking after her brood of excursion-going kids and pointing out monuments along the way. In the bus Kayoko seems to have a similar urge of mine to ‘’piece jigsaw puzzles together before we leave’’ and asked her so many questions. Where was she from – Venezuela? After that which part of Italy did she move to? How many languages does she speak? How about Marina our other teacher?

At the end of the whole trip Maria gave those of us who would be leaving Perugia and not continue our studies hugs and kisses and lots of good wishes.

Canzione (song)
For our first language lab class we had a love song with Cristina. Yesterday at our last lesson we requested for songs again – it was fun listening and trying to understand songs and TV commercials. But it was a sad love song about a love that has just ended.

Last Grammar Class
Marina was griping about having to move house twice – her own and her mum in law’s. But she still wanted to be with us for our last three hours to ‘’give us good wishes’’. Few of us were in the mood for more grammar and she decided to let us ask her all sorts of questions instead – on the language or on the culture. Maybe she felt compelled to teach us more stuff and at the last hour, decided to explain about relative pronouns and gave us a ‘’piccolo piccolo’’ (real small) exercise and referred us to a page in the text book. She co-authored the book and could remember the pages by heart. She co-authored a dictionary she frequently referred to as well – isn’t she brava!

Finally, it was more photos, more thank you’s and good wishes and we actually broke into loud applause for her as we dashed to the bus stop to look for Maria who would lead us to Perugina.

Just Once
Mirlan the gallant young chap again offered to carry my bag as we heaved up the slope with my laptop and schoolbag. ‘’Ok lah, let him help once, since it’s the second time he’s asked and there will be no more next time’’ I thought. So I gladly handed him my bag. Kayoko just laughed and I whispered – should have given him my laptop instead – it’s heavier.

Email Addiction Not Eliminated
Give me another year in Italy and it will still not be eliminated. Even after a tiring thunderstorm-trip to Todi, on my way back in the dark evening, I had to drop by the internet café near my house to check something. The chap by now recognised me as he stood at his door smoking and gave me a big smile and ‘’buona sera’’!

Last evening I dropped by again after Perugina and was trying to google ‘’angiogram’’ when Santo, who lives nearby, dropped by too and squeezed my arm by way of a surprise ‘’hello’’ for me.

I finished what I had to check and went over to his cubicle to say a final goodbye. He wanted to say something but forgot what. Then he remembered – ‘’so I won’t get to see you again?’’ No, I shook my head. And we gave each other a long big hug, and promised we will keep working on our Italian and keep in touch.

Franca and Friends
Adele and Giselle visited in the early evening as usual two days ago. Adele had knitted two bonnets and brought them to let Franca and Giselle try. I think they were for them. We chatted and I persuaded them to let me take a photo of them. Giselle mentioned she had been to Singapore and it was lovely. She used to visit her sister (who has since died – Franca told me afterwards) who lived in Australia and that’s when she decided to stop over in Singapore.

As they left Franca, they gave me long big hugs when Franca told them I was leaving soon and said, ‘’but you will be still be here for two more days – we will still see you right?’’

Discussing Illness in Italian
I had not learnt many medical terms in Italian – at classes here or in Singapore. But when the need comes, you manage – with gestures, guesses, dictionary, alternative words, a lot of stutters and perhaps a lot of compassion from an old lady.

I was trying to explain to Franca that my dad has had a heart attack two days ago, and that my brother had told me I need not rush back. He would be going for angioplasty today, and had been in intensive care for the past two days.

Today I tried to update her, after speaking to my brother, that previous visits to the doctors had not detected or suspected anything grave, despite my dad’s bad headaches.

Strange, many French words started coming in, when we talked about my flight back home, how to get to Rome from here, how long it takes and when I would finally get to see my dad on Saturday. And yet when talking to “il francese” (Roland) about my job and life in Singapore, Italian words got in the way instead. When he finally said he was going home to ‘’la padrona’’ I didn’t understand him. Did he mean ‘’the landlady’’ in Italian or was he mixing it up and saying the boss - le patron - in French? Franca had to translate – ‘’sua moglie’’ (his wife - the boss)

Tomorrow at this hour as I write this, I will still be on the plane, anxious to get home. Italian, French, Spanish, English… heck! I have not spoken Singlish for a long while, and look forward to that with my family members.