Notte di Stelle, Notte di Vino

There were a lot of kite surfers at the beach.

The water was clear, warm, and very salty.

Tuesday night, after a relaxing day at the beach, we cooked dinner as a house (salad and pasta with pesto and tomatoes) and then went to the town center for a wine tasting event.  The entire old city was taken over by dancers, musicians, and representatives from vineyards throughout Puglia.  For £10, you received a wine glass and a bag of crackers, which gave you access to unlimited tastings.  We arrived around 9, and there were already a lot of people there; by 11 the city was packed with tourists (mostly, it seemed, from other parts of Italy).  After the first few samples, it became a lot easier to socialize in Italian.  I've noticed that people really seem to appreciate it when we tell them that we've come to Italy to learn the language and that they're very patient with us. It's a different attitude than in America, where we tend to be annoyed by people who can't speak English well. 

Our first house dinner, where we learned that you can only drink alcohol here if you can figure out how to open the bottle.  We take turns buying ingredients and cook together every night.

Everybody came out for the wine tasting.

There really is no drinking age.  I guess there aren't any babysitters in Italy, because the kids were out all night with everyone else.

Me, Jenny, Liz (Now Eli) and Chiara.  It was difficult to find someone who could hold the camera steady.

The beautiful old city.

Yesterday, after taking our placement exams, we ate lunch in the city and checked out some of the shops.  In the afternoon, we sat for a lecture about Italian pop music from the 50s to today, featuring some hilarious music videos. By dinnertime we were all starving, since it's difficult to get used to eating after 8, but the huge feast-- with pizza, pasta, and more wine--that our trip leaders provided for us was worth it.  While we ate, we watched a performance of the Tarantella, which is the traditional dance of this region.  Today in class we learned that the tradition started as a way of treating those bitten by tarantulas--the frenzied dancing helped the inflicted to sweat out the poison from the venom. I was pretty freaked out by this, but our teacher, Antonella, assured us that we're not likely to see any giant spiders around here. 

Right now I'm finding it difficult to write in English--this post took me forever to write, and I keep second-guessing my grammar.  I guess that means that the immersion process is working!