Cristian’s Birthday

Another night that turned out to be one of the highlights of my stay in Ischia was Cristian’s birthday. Cristian had been inviting me to eat with his family at least once a week, but with his busy work schedule and my full itinerary of special events to attend we couldn’t seem to coordinate it. I did promise to come to his house for his birthday with family, and frankly I didn’t have a choice because he very seriously said he would cut off my head if I didn’t come. For the record, there is no way I would’ve missed it. We started the day off down at the beach at San Montano, just relaxing for a bit before renting a kayak and cruising around. After returning the kayak we relaxed in the sun with Carmela and Carmelina before making our way back to the house. Cristian dropped me off and told me he would return around eight to take me to his uncle’s house for dinner. As usual with island time he picked me up at eight thirty and we made our way up to the house. Walking in I was once again greeted as if I was part of the family and showed my place at the table. I don’t really know how to put into words what these experiences are like, I can only try to explain that though it seems like such a big deal to me, it is just the way the people of the island live. When you come to share a meal with them, you are no longer a stranger, or a guest, you are part of the family. I think there was a total of fourteen of us that sat on the patio for the dinner which started out with a trio of bruschetta and grilled eggplant, followed by fresh made pasta and sauce, then perfectly fried cutlets, salad, fruit, and finally finished off with cake, gelato, and coffee. As we finished eating I recall sitting there listening to everyone talking and all I could think was how fortunate I was to have had another amazing meal, another amazing experience, with yet another amazing family. I don’t know if all of these stories of the meals and parties are starting to sound the same to you, and I’m not sure I really know the words to truly explain how they are all so different, but they are. As I sit here writing this entry I am feeling a bit sad and wishing I was back on the island with my friends, with my family, and enjoying the warmth and hospitality that is naturally just a part of the culture, and something I can’t wait to experience again. A perfect example of this is that as Cristian and I were getting ready to leave, after all of the hugs and kisses, I said thank you. One would think the normal response would be, “you’re welcome” or “come again” but instead the response I got was, “there is nothing to thank us for… thank you for being a part of our evening.” And with that I made my way to the car with a smile not only on my face, but in my heart as well.