This last weekend I went to Bologna and Rimini, Italy with Roots of Peace. I volunteer for Roots of Peace, an organization based out of San Rafael, California who removes land mines from war torn countries and also do sustainable agricultural development in countries like Angola, Africa, Cambodia, Croatia and Iraq and Afghanistan. I started volunteering about a year ago and fell in love with the organization and everyone who works there and just kept going after my social justice volunteering program was over through USF. Anyways, RoP was asked to be a part of an annual event called Squisito, at the largest drug rehabilitation center in Europe called San Patrignano. The event had all humanitarian organizations dealing with food and somehow related to drugs there. For example, there were saffron products from Afghanistan there, that organization grew saffron instead of opium, and people from Myanmar selling their goods to support their economy, etc.
So I basically showed off the products RoP products from Afghanistan and explained what the organization is about, working my best Italian phrases. After the three days, I perfected my Italian vocab for fruits and nuts. I was working with another volunteer from the states, but who lives in Croatia now. Her name is Kathleen and she is so interesting, she just picked up from the bay area, after growing up in Colorado and moved to Croatia in part, protesting our government, globalization and identity loss. Her family is Croatian so she has deep roots there. I really enjoyed talking to her all weekend and she speak like 5 languages, which seems to be the common theme in Europe!
I was also with a woman who works for CNN as an independent journalist, named Flavia Taggiasco. She is American and Italian, and lives in Rome- but loves New York and is fluent in both languages. She was wonderful this weekend. She got Heidi Kuhn, the CEO/founder of RoP, a meeting with the Pope through her connections at the Vatican. I admire her so much, she has two kids, works at all hours for CNN and volunteers all the rest of her time for RoP. It is funny, in the last six months I have met up with Flavia three times even though we live on opposite ends of the world!
So everyone I met this weekend was extremely nice, a lot of people spoke English and I picked up some Italian too. I met Monica Luppi who graduated the three year drug rehab program and has the biggest heart. She actually went to Menlo High school, a mile away from mine, but we met in Rimini, Italy. How strange is that? Then there is this woman, Francesca from Santa Barbara who is amazing as well. I can’t imagine what it is like to have two homes in two different countries and to know them so differently at different stages in your life.
So the event was huge, I cannot tell you how much cheese and meat and wine there was, and how much more I ate! San Patrignano produces all these goods and supports themselves by selling their products and through private donations. About 800 people are in the program, I believe. So events were going on all weekend until 11pm. That is definitely something I can get used to in Europe- that everything ends later, I feel like there is more time in the day.
So we set up the booth, put up pictures of former mine fields and information in Italian and little trays with nuts and dried fruit on them. Across from our area were young guys volunteering from Fifteen, a restaurant in London that teaches reformed or, oh I don’t know, bad boys how to be excellent chefs and is a non profit as well, they donate to all humanitarian organizations. So those guys were hilarious and brought over little desserts and special plates for us over at our RoP booth. All I can say is it was amazing food and the head chef invited me back to eat with him when I am in London in two weeks! I am also staying in touch with some of the other guys who are very ridiculous and fun!
Monica had an extra ticket for a wine tasting on Friday, so I went with Paul, the Australian head wine guy at the restaurant Fifteen in London. So we walked over to another building and sat down at a nice white cloth table with about 8 huge red wine glasses and a black bucket. I look around the room, noticing I was the youngest there by 20 years, but even more exciting right?! So two intense wine people sit down in front of all the tables and the cameras, oh and yes we are being filmed. There was press everwhere and live filming going on. This was so much more intense than I thought. So I asked Paul what the black buckets were for and then found out when I saw people spitting into them after their fourth and fifth glass of wine. But this is not just a tasting, it is a mouth swishing, smelling and swirling I would say. People are very into their wine. The theme of this tasting, since I guess there are themes, was the same wine throughout the years. It is very interesting by the end how well I could tell the differences, also thanks to Paul, who has an adorable accent, and who explained just about everything to me. By the eighth glass and much spitting, and 2 hours later, I am going to wait a little while before my next wine “tasting.”
We also all went to a concert / wine tasting that was very interesting on Saturday night. There was a group of people in the program who sang beautiful songs, like Oh Happy Day and other English and Italian songs, and in between them we would taste a particular wine. Quite an interesting combination and very creative! The singers seemed so happy, like their lives have turned around and now they are so grateful, it was really beautiful to watch. That night I ended up going out with the British boys and the head chef…they are all very funny is all I can say!
So on Sunday, the princess of Afghanistan came to the event to see the Afghan products and meet with the RoP CEO/founder, Heidi Kuhn and other people. She is the granddaughter of the King of Afghanistan. When I first met her, I didn’t believe it because she looked afghani but spoke English and Italian perfectly and wore such normal cloths she blended right in. She was very down to earth and friendly. So then Heidi (CEO/founder of RoP) gave a speech to a bunch of people and I got to sit in on my first press conference with Heidi and the founder of San Patrignano and I got to take some pictures of course which was fun. Kyleigh, Heidi’s daughter who is my age and who goes to Berkeley, came with Heidi and we got to hang out on Sunday. So it was nice to be with someone my own age besides the British boys.
I am so happy I spent time getting to know more people from RoP, San Patrignano and from Italy. It was so much more rewarding than taking a weekend trip somewhere to be a tourist, which is although very important sometimes, I just enjoyed being around people with such a positive outlook on life. I am also so glad to have been the youngest one there working, since it gives me a chance to learn from others and their life experiences.
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