end of spring term

This term flew by! On Friday, the students planned this surprise party, and I was delighted, and very honored. They bought delicious goodies, including a "Thanks Bob" cake that was like the very best wedding cake I have had back home! Maybe they are buttering me up because their final exams are this Friday!

Vesuvio

It would be remiss of me if I did not include a couple of pics of the famous (infamous) Mt. Vesuvius, which is an active volcano near Napoli that last erupted in 1944. People here say Vesuvio is ready to erupt again, because less than 10 km below the cone lies a huge 400 square km chamber of molten magma. Evacuation plans have been made, but carrying them out would pose huge problems, not only because 3 million people live within 12 km of the cone, but also because many communities are hemmed in by the Mediterranean Sea (see picture of Vesuvio I took in the seaside community of Torre del Greco). The Italian government has offered to buy out the homes of residents who lie in the path of danger, but the plan has not so far been successful. (I was told that once people vacate, another family simply moves in to occupy the vacant home.)
On our way to visit the famous volcano, sheep in Carpineto blocked the road, and rocked our car as they walked past us! (Thank goodness Vesuvio did not choose that moment to blow--we were going nowhere!)

teacher workshop at Avellino

Teachers are teachers, wherever they are. I enjoyed co-presenting with my wife Emily at the Avellino School last week. What a lovely group of hard-working, and warm teachers. I spoke to many of their concerns, and answered questions on a variety of educational topics. At the end, Emily and I realized that teachers we have met in Finland, Italy, Russia, Canada, and the U.S. have just about the same concerns and joys connected with teaching children. Here are a few pictures.

Duomo di San Matteo
One of the differences an American sees in Italian culture is the value of what is old. In America, so much is new, mostly originating in the 19th-21st centuries. Thus, when you see a duomo (cathedral) that dates back to 900-1100 AD, it is something to behold. San Matteo's remains were transported to Salerno around 1000 AD, and this duomo (many times rebuilt, but the original "layers" are still very visible) holds his crypt. There is a rich beauty to Italian architecture, not only in its age, but its design, color, use of materials, and incredible attention to detail. Mosaics, for example, are stunning, using little bits of stone and glass.
The Duomo is in perhaps the oldest part of Salerno, an area that has recently been renovated, from a run down area to a place now where families passegiata on Sundays, and there are shops open. Perhaps most interesting, the Duomo di San Matteo is still used today, for masses, for festa celebrations, and for weddings. In fact, the day I visited (Sunday, 13 Aprile, 2008), there was a wedding taking place.
When I hear the four main New Testament writers ("Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John")," I always thought of them as existing only in the Bible. I would not have guessed that the remains of at least one of these saints is known, and, as we would say in America, "accessible." The details of much of St. Matthew's life is unknown, but in addition to his role in spreading Christianity, he worked as a publican, and died as a martyr shortly after the death of Christ. In Hebrew, the name "Matthew" is ancient, meaning "gift from God."

miei studenti

I took four pictures last week of my delightful students and interpreter Pina at the University of Salerno. The "guys" wanted their own special photo with "il professore", so I obliged them (I was feeling quite happy, although in the picture I look like I swallowed a bug). The students are a great group, and a pleasure to teach. (In the top picture is Pina, who is a godsend as interpreter.) My colleagues are all wonderful teachers, for the students and for myself!

Nearby bella Salerno

I took a few pics in Salerno, which is about 25 minutes from the universita. It is quite an historic area, both ancient history (it was an ancient Greek colony), and was the site of the world's first medical school in the middle ages. More recently, there was the allied troop invasion of 1944 (which my Dad was part of), which led to the northward move toward Rome, and eventual liberation of the Italian peninsula. Today, it is a cosmopolitan, smart city with shopping like I have seen in Paris and New York. The food in Salerno, however, is better....

Where I live--Tenuta Galdieri in Carpineto

Here are a couple of pictures of where I am staying during my work at the University. It is a beautiful agri-turismo, situated on the hillside in Carpineto, directly across the valley from the University. In the distance are communities of Nocera Inferiore, as well as vesuvio (Mr. Vesuvius, which was hidden by clouds when I took the picture). Also, the bocce court down below--I am itching to play a game--have not played bocce since the 1960's when I was a kid in Brooklyn, and you had to wait for the old men to be finished.