the family

Wow. My family is from Italy. Today I was able to visit the town that my grandmother grew up in. I saw the houses she lived in and walked down some of the same streets she walked in her youth. I was amazed at how much I felt going there. Savingano is a beautiful town. It reminded me a bit of the small town I grew up in, only there were a lot more people out and about, enjoying the town than where I grew up. Ther weather was pretty stormy which is quite unusual for this time of year. Bruno and Ada keep telling me that there are mountains, but I'm finding it hard to belive them because I haven't seen any yet. They showed me a photo but it could've been doctored, photoshop is an amazing program!!! After we toured aroung the town we went back to Corrado's house, another distant cousin of mine. He looks an awful lot like my dad and my Nonnie and it was very special getting to meet him. He tooks us to an fabulous resturant in the next town over and we had the lunch to top all lunches!! It was a parade of all of my favorite foods from Italy. The reason they were all my favorites is that my Nonnie cooked food from the reigon of Piedmont and Corrado told the cook to feed us only food from the region. We ate so much that I went into a food coma in the car and passed out on they way to Damanhur, the next stop on my journey. It was hard saying goodbye to the fam. Who knows if and when I'll ever see them again. It was a really great feeling connecting to my roots. I love community so much and family is the start of community. I am so grateful for this chance to connect and to meet the people who have the same ancestors as me.

quick note

I really have had a wonderful time here in Torino. Its been really great getting to know Ada and Bruno. They are so dear. They have traveled all over the world and have amazing photos of all of the places that they have visited. I spent the last three nights at there home for dinner and then after dinner we watch these cool slidshows that Bruno has put together on his computer. They don’t speak any English so we have been communicating in Italian. I must sound like a retard, but somehow we are having great conversations with my 100 word vocabulary. Tommorow morning we head down to Savignano the small town that my Nonna was from. I can’t wait to meet my cousin Corado. He sounds like a hoot!!!
After lunch Ada and Bruno are driving me to the mountains to go to the next part of my journey. I will be spending one week at a spiritual alternative community called Damanhur. (www.damanhur.org) I am doing a work/study exchange. I have no idea what to expect, but I have a really positive feeling about it. I can’t wait to share my story with you. I’m not sure that I will have internet next week, but I will write as soon as I can. Much love, light, and laughter-drea

and were off

Today I woke up ate as much breakfast as I could, and headed out to the cinema museum. Ada and Bruna recommended it and they were right, it was amazing!! They start the museum with shadow puppets and move slowly through all of the oldest forms of moving pictures and photography ending with the Movies of today. The museum is in the building that has come to be a symbol for Torino. Photo above. My faviorite screening room was the red bed with the screen at the top showing romance films. Another super cool feture was the glass elevator that goes up throught the center of the main room all the way thru the ceiling. It was totally something out of Charlie and the Chocolate factory. On the roof you can see 360 degree views of Torino. Hey did you know that Turin is Torno? I just put two and two together. And that the shroud of Turin is here in Torino?? Anyways, after I met up with Ada and Bruno we headed on a car tour of some of the beautiful parks around the city and ended up at this replical of a Medieval city that was built at the turn of the last century for a fair and kept because it was so authentic and beautiful. It was one of the worlds first theme parks. It was like walking back in time.We were lucky because it was a weekday and there weren't any other visitors. After our whirlwind tour we had a wonderful dinner and for dessert we had these little yummie pastries that are typical to the piedmont region. It is great getting to experience some of the things that are local to my family. Its been a great experience so far!!

torino baby

Today I left town. I left my safe cozy existence in Venice, for the big world, where people drive cars on streets instead of riding in boats in canals. I took the train from Venice to Milan and then I changed trains and caught one to Torino. I had a couple of really great conversations on the ride. First I met a cadet from Westpoint Academy who is from Roseville California, a mere two hours from San Francisco. Next it was a lovely girl from Kansas City, who was on her way to Leon to study french literature, and finally a fire dancer from Chechslovakia on his way to Paris to take a workshop from one of the Masters of fire juggling, a wide cross section of the global community. My train arrived on time which was pretty crazy for Italy and Bruno and Ada were right there at the platform to grab me.
Ada is my second cousin and Bruno is her husband. The last time I saw them I was 6 years old and we did a grand tour of San Diego. I was quite surprised when they recognized me, but I was glad that they did, cause I hadn’t thought that part out. Bruno helped me with my things and the three of us walked to my Albergo. For the next three nights I am staying in a lovely hotel called Hotel Italia on the Corso di Stati Uniti. I have a huge bed and my own bathroom. I’ve pretty much died and gone to heaven. Torino seems like a beautiful city, and I can’t wait to explore it tommorow. Buono Notte!! Sono Stanca.