The Feast of Saint Francis

This past Saturday was the feast of St. Francis. To commemorate the occasion of my favorite saint I decided it would be a good time to make my pilgrimage to Assisi and see all the spots that I have come to know about through books and such. Being the lone traveler that I am, I went by myself. But have no fear, I was I good hands. For the 2 days and nights that I was there, I stayed with a very hospitable host family who has taken in RISD students in previous years when the students would do a week of organized home-stay time as part of the EHP program. The hard part for me though was that my host parents didn't speak any English, so I could only speak in Italian for the entire weekend, which in retrospect is a really good thing because it forced me to use what I have learned in Italian class thus far, and quickly learn what I didn't know yet.

On the feast day, I went into Assisi around 11:30am and found that it was quite crowded. I could barely get into the Church of San Francesco because there were so many people streaming in and out! So instead I decided it would be a better plan to walk around outside and do some exploring around the area before confining myself within any particular space. Though I had a map with me, I didn't bother taking it out because even if I had known where I was, I wouldn't have known where I was going, except for as far away from the crowds as possible.

On the rural roads climbing up Mount Subasio, I saw a pen with a family of donkeys in it, including a tiny little baby donkey.
I named her "burrito" which in Italian means little butter. hahaha

Shortly thereafter the wind picked up and it started raining/hailing, luckily I had brought my umbrella, as small as it is, but I was not prepared for the cold that followed the hail, so I didn't stay as long as I had planned. When I got back to the house, I found that my host mother had baked dozens and dozens of cookies while I was away! For dinner (my first truly Italian meal!), she made pasta shells in tomato sauce, and then we got slices of tomatoes, prociutto cotto (cured ham), fresh mozzerella, and bread, and then for the last course we just had some lettuce with vinaigrette, which is meant as a sort of palette cleanser.

After getting my bearings around the town, I went back the next day with a bit more of a plan, as well as my sketchbook and drawing materials, which I had left behind the day before. After attending Sunday church with my host parents, I went back up to Assisi and went to the church of Santa Chiara (St. Clair).

Later, on a trek to the church of San Damiano, I passed by a beautiful olive grove and couldn't resist sitting down in the middle of it for a while to sketch the landscape.

San Damiano, which is where the Franciscan Sisters lived almost from the very beginning of the order, was such a quint little place. Situated down the hill from Assisi, the Sisters who lived here were in peaceful solitude, and the area has remained as such. The only other being I saw with a house close by the convent was a goat, who lived in a rather small house under a tree.

By the time I got back to the house at the end of the day, I was well worn out. I was again treated to a wonderful dinner of stuffed tortellini in a chicken soup broth, followed by baked tomatoes with bread crumbs and beef, followed by a plate of green grapes. Even though I only stayed with this family for 2 days, I still feel it was a very insightful experience into the lives and culture of a typical Italian family, which ended up reinforcing some known stereotypes, as well as disproving others.

I'm so glad that I took this journey and I look forward to coming back again sometime and seeing more of Assisi. I am also glad that I discovered this method of staying with a host family, and I now want to find other families in other places that I want to go.

Peace and Good,

~Rachael