The Carnival in the Marche

The Carnival has been a folk tradition in Italy since 1700. During Carnival, people dress up in masks and dance and parade around the center of city. In the Marche, everybody celebrates the carnival. The most famous Carnival celebrations are in: Fano, Ascoli Piceno and Offida.

In Fano, the main event is the Carnival parade. During it the people in costume throw sweets and choccolate, so they start a "sweet battle".

In Ascoli Piceno the Carnival is held in the main square of the city-- "Piazza del Popolo"--where people in costume do satiric performances about political and daily life.

In Offida, there is the famous Corsa del Bove Finto or "running of the fake bull." It is a traditional event, where the people dress in traditional clothes and run after a person in a bull costume. The people drink a lot of wine during the day and are all very drunk!!

For your sweet tooth!!!!!!

LIMONCINI

350 GR. FLOUR
150 GR SUGAR
3 EGGS
1 GRATED LEMON RIND
1 GRATED ORANGE RIND
1 YEAST
1 VANILLA
MISTRA' (It's a typical anise-flavoured drink from le Marche)



Mix eggs with sugar then add on top flour and a shot of mistrà.
Mix it all together and add yeast and vanilla.
Take a little ball of dough and roll it out with a rolling pin.
Then on the dough sprinkle sugar and grated lemon-orange rind and roll it up.
Slice it into rounds and fry for a few minutes.
At the end...

ENJOY YOUR COOKIES!!!!!!

pictures soon--we are going to make these cookies on Monday morning!

Say Cheese!

Some photos of us: aren't we cute?


The Breakfast Club: Laura, Gianni, Francesca, Samuela


Morena, Ruben, Nicola, and Maria try out speed-dating (sorry, inside joke!)


Michela and Ilaria, working hard, or hardly working?


David pretends not to be asleep, while Laura write a dialogue

Wanna see more of us? Not to worry, more photos to come (we're a rather large group)!

Monday morning

hellooo? good morning! it's monday! we had long weekends! more soon...

-Almost Mother Tongue

Rules to Live By

As a class, we put together a list of rules. These are no ordinary rules, though: they are rules to live by. This is a MEME, so we'd love to see you add your own rules (in the comments section) or else write your own list of rules to live by on your blog! (Let us know if you make your own list, and we'll link back to you!)

Rules to Live By (in no particular order)
by Almost Mother Tongue students

1. You must take it easy.
2. You must listen and be a good friend.
3. You have to help people in trouble.
4. You mustn't spend EVEN ONE DAY without laughter.
5. You must get gasoline when you take the car on a long trip.
6. You must respect nature and animals.
7. You have to be a humble person.
8. You have to see the positive side in ALL THINGS!
9. You mustn't ever stop searching for what life's meaning is for you.
10. YOU MUST LOVE.
11. You mustn't drive your car if you don't really know how to drive it well.
12. You must be tolerant.

That's our list--take it or leave it, but we like it as it is. Write your own list (or add your additions in our comments section)!

-Almost Mother Tongue

Around the World by way of Rivers

After a serious competition over the best way to visit the world (two teams were disqualified early on!! Talk about competitive!), the winner of the "Around the World" trip went to the group that wrote about a tour of world famous rivers. Students had to develop a trip around the world where they would visit each continent once (and only once), and spend less than a year travelling.


The Amazon

Here is the winning itinerary:

1. First of all we are going to fly to Louisiana in USA. We are going to stay in New Orleans for one month and while we are there, we are going to explore the French Quarter, listen to jazz music in historic jazz clubs, and we are going to take a tour of the Mississippi River.

2. Next we are going to spend two months in Brazil to attend Carnevale and dance the Samba, and visit beaches of Rio de Janiero. We are also going to surf on the Amazon River and visit the Amazon rain forest.

3. The third country we are going to visit is Egypt in Africa. We are going to follow the Nile up from Lake Victoria. We want to visit the Nile River because it's the longest river in the world. We are going to see the pyramids, the Sphinx, and Cairo, too. We are definitely going to need about 2 months there!

4. Then we are going to New South Wales in Australia to see the Murray River and go rafting and rock climbing. We are going to be there for 1 month.

5. We are going to take a plane to India, to travel the Ganges River and bathe there. We are also going to see the sights and spend some time touring. We are going to stay in India for about 1 month.

6. Finally, our trip is going to end in Budapest, in Hungary. We are going to cross the Danube river, take a river boat cruise, and spend time in the Pest part of Budapest. We are going to stay in beautiful Budapest for 1 month, and finally, there, our trip will come to an end.

Happy Travels!

- the winning team from
Almost Mother Tongue

Visit Macerata! A Tourism Brochure

Want to know about where we are from? We've got it covered. Here's a basic guide to beautiful Macerata (Devid wanted to talk about Civitanova too, but we wouldn't let him).

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Nature

Macerata is situated in a good position. It's on the hill between the Chienti river and Potenza river. From the top of the city you can see a beautiful view as Sibillini mountains and Adriatic sea. It isn't very far from the sea and the mountain. There are many parts where you can see different kinds of trees and flower so you can breathe fresh air.

There is a great garden in the city called "Giardini Diaz" when you can do a lot of activities: jogging, reading, studying, sunbathing in the summer and taking contact with nature and people.


Historical


Macerata is a little city in the center of Marche. It's a little jewel between mountains and sea.
It's mall but rich in history; it was founded by Romans infact there is famous archeologycal site call HELVIA RECINA.

In the middle ages were build the Macerata's walls. In XIII the University was born, it is the best in Italy.

In the Reinassence became part of Papa's State until 1861, when Kingdom of Italy was born.

Now Macerata is a quiet city ready to be discovered....

Come find us!!!!!!!

Cultural

If you visit us in Macerata, you will discover one of Italy 's most important outdoor opera houses: the Sferisterio. Here in summer many musical events take place, like the opera season, Musicultura and life concerts.

Macerata's lyric season is one of the most famous in Europe and it populars with both older and younger people.

For young people there is also Musicultura, where emerging singers play as well as live concerts with important artists, such as Goran Bregovitch, Deep Purple and Vinicio Capossela.