Snow in Molfetta

We had quite a snowstorm this morning in Molfetta. Rather a surprise in this strangely temperate winter. 

I wonder if the oranges on that poor tree turned into frozen orange juice?

Italy 1 - Paraguay 1

This photo (taken on my husband's cellphone) is of poor quality, but I couldn't resist showing you some of the wacky World Cup fever that has grabbed all of Italy by the...shoulders and is taking the nation by storm. You can't go anywhere without hearing, seeing or being immersed in World Cup-ness! My older son, who is a big soccer fan and remembers the last "Mondiali" quite well, is amazed at how much more commercial and omnipresent the whole event has become this year. He is tickled by all the dancing of the South African fans but rather annoyed by those horns they blow on constantly!

Nerium Oleander

The Oleander is another flowering tree in my front yard. I love its delicate pink petals and had no idea until looking it up online that it is one of the most poisonous plants in the world and contains numerous toxic compounds, many of which are deadly to people, especially young children. (Despite this fact, it is often grown in school yards.) The toxicity of Oleander is considered extremely high, and it has been reported that in some cases only a small amount had lethal or near-lethal effects. Who knew?

Coastline

Punica Granatum

These are the buds and flowers on the ornamental pomegranate tree growing in my front yard. I love the delicate and variegated color of the petals. These trees do not make edible fruit, but are pretty and create some shade. They are carefree and drought resistant, and don't mind the southern Italian heat. Which, by the way, has arrived with a vengeance!

Gesticulation

This is not a particularly great photo (I just happened to take it accidentally while playing with my camera), but I wanted to share it because it somehow captures a bit of the Italian spirit.

These two men are fathers at the end-of-school celebration at my younger son's elementary school. The fifth-graders have completed their first school cycle in the Italian system after having spent 5 years with the same classmates and the same teachers. Next year they will go to junior high and have to start all over, with a new school, new classmates and new professors.

But, back to the "Italian-ness" of the guys in the photo...they are both quite attractive, casually well-dressed and making grand gestures. Why the gestures? Because the children were marching toward them, waving little colored handkerchiefs.

Italians are famous for their gesturing, most cannot talk without moving their hands because Italian gestures have specific meanings and add content to a discussion. They are not just flailing their hands about willy-nilly, no they are saying something with each gesture. That's why they even gesture when talking on the telephone!

Jannis Kounellis Exhibit

The Teatro Margherita in Bari is the site of an exhibit of installations by Jannis Kounellis, the "patriarch" of Italy's 1960s arte povera movement. Arte povera was a movement meant to shake up the art world and redefine the very concept of art. Kounellis introduced "found" objects in his paintings, among them live animals, but also fire, earth, burlap sacks, gold. He replaced the canvas with bed frames, doorways, windows or simply the gallery itself.
The Teatro Margherita has been rennovated externally, but has been an empty shell for the 20 years that I have lived in Apulia, and perhaps longer. Kounellis designed these installations specifically to use the large unfinished spaces inside the theater.

His artwork has been called "Kafkaesque" and, personally, I find it a bit dark and depressing. I felt weighed down and flattened by his work...but perhaps that is exactly the effect he is trying to achieve!

For more information on Kounellis, you can read this review in English of another exhibit of his.

The exhibit in Bari is running until September 20.