Christmas in Italy
Part 3: My own language guide
By Sydney Kornegay
skornegay@hotmail.com

Christmas began and ended with food. The Christmas day meal was so extensive that a menu was necessary to describe all the courses.

My Italian phrasebook claimed to be the "complete language guide," - everything I needed to know to understand the language. My Italian phrasebook lied.

While the book had most of the words necessary for basic communication, it omitted several key phrases, especially related to Christmas. Over the course of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I encountered some words and phrases I felt were essential for any Italian phrasebook.

During a trip to the Monument Cemetery on Christmas Eve, dinner that night with the Cuomo's extended family, Christmas dinner, and numerous experiences of feeling "lost in translation," I developed a mental list of words necessary for surviving the holidays in Italy. These, I believe, are the necessary terms for surviving a Christmas in Italy.

Molto bello! - An exclamation meaning "how beautiful!" and used to describe the Monument Cemetery in Milan. We visited it on Christmas Eve, and I was stunned by the beauty and size of the monuments and sculptures that filled the cemetery. It was 250,000 square feet of tranquil beauty, with works by artists from the 20 and 21st centuries. It was one of the many beautiful aspects of the Italian Christmas.

Christmas Eve started with a trip to the Monument Cemetery where sculptures such as these memorialized citizens of Milan.

Buon Natale - It's the Italian equivalent to "Merry Christmas." It is meant to be shouted, not said. When the first of Cuomo's extended family arrived later that evening for Christmas Eve dinner, I offered members a meek little Ciao. They, in turn, grabbed me for a hug, kissed me on both cheeks, and shouted the Christmas greeting. As more and more family members arrived, the quiet house was filled with a sea of enthusiastic greetings, and I found myself smiling awkwardly amidst a flood of rapid Italian and boisterous Buon Natales . I soon learned another useful Italian phrase: No parlo Italiano. (I don't speak Italian.)

Che é questa cosa? - The Italian phrase for "What is this?" - a useful expression when trying to identify foreign food and one I used often during dinner that night. Luckily, I had a patient translator in Francesco's dad. He described, in full detail, every ingredient, cooking process, and tradition behind the food. Some items were best left unidentified, like the foie gras , or "fattened goose liver." Other items were easy to identify but hard to eat. The whole family laughed as I attempted to mimic their spaghetti eating style by twirling the noodles around my fork. It took me ten minutes to capture one strand.

Un umbra de vino - Literally translated into "A shadow of wine," it's an expression I used to indicate I just wanted a little to drink. By the time the four- hour dinner ended around 11 pm, several bottles of red and white wine had been passed around. I thought we were done at that point - that is until 20 or so of Francesco's friends entered bearing champagne, gifts, and a whole new round of Buon Natales . I spent the next several hours repeating my request for just an umbra de vino , and attempting to understand the conversations.

Sono stanco - "I'm tired." While I never actually used this phrase, it crossed my mind several times before the second party left around 2 am. As I fell into bed exhausted, I was informed we only had several hours to sleep. We needed to wake up early for the next family gathering.