A few of us had the opportunity to go to a dinner with the Oca contrada.
Oca is goose, as you can see by my lovely bread crumb creation. Hansel and Gretel would be proud.
A lady in our branch is a member of Oca. Oca is the contrada that won the palio last month, and Sorella Ferri has seen thirteen wins in her life. THIRTEEN. Folks, this is a lot. Some contrade haven't won once in the past... fifty years. Every time they win the palio, they have a dinner for every palio they've ever won. Sixty-four, for Oca. Some dinners are more fancy, some less so. Ours was tiny. It was fascinating watching the people interact. The men were gentlemen, bringing us our food. We had pasta with tomatoes, bread and this delightful piece of meat.
That one bite never ended up in my stomach. If I knew what this was called I'd add it to my list of first-timers in Italy. Alas, it's a mystery to me.
There were, at one point, some coveted zucchini. However, they met their demise when they cascaded onto the floor. It was a sad moment in the night. I recovered quickly, however, when I discovered the tiramisu. There were little pieces of heaven inside, aka peaches. Who would've thought?
I'm so lucky that I'm getting to witness a field study project in action. It's been incredibly insightful for me, and I've learned so much, both about doing a field study and about people in general.
While talking about the significance of the contrade, Sorella Felli said, "secondo me, le contrade sono la salvezza per i giovani". According to me, the contrade are the salvation for the young generation.
Beautiful, isn't it?
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