(not necessarily in that order)
…without leaving Ananda Village!
A group of us gathered to sing Swamiji’s Italian songs, eat bruschetta and other Italian-themed goodies, and listen to stories about time spent in Italia–at Ananda Assisi itself or as part of small or large singing groups over the years.
Ten or so of us shared our living-in-Italy experiences and it made me rather nostalgic.
“Buon Ferragosto!” is what I’m seeing everywhere I look on Facebook today.
It brings back memories of Ananda Assisi’s busiest season, as well as of monumental traffic jams when we (occasionally) forgot and made the mistake of traveling on the actual day. Not a good idea.
Fortunately, the memories are mostly very sweet.
But what exactly is Ferragosto? It’s a public holiday that originated back in 18 BC (that’s a really long time ago!) and is still celebrated throughout Italy on August 15th.
The name translates to Feriae (Festival) Augusti (for Augustus, the Roman emperor). Emperor Augustus made August 1st a day of rest after laborers had spent weeks working hard on the farms and in the fields.
The custom was for the workers to wish their employers “Buon Ferragosto” and receive a monetary bonus in return. This became law during the Renaissance throughout the papal states.
Then, starting around the 5th century, the Catholic Church moved the observance of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to the same date. For observant Catholics in countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, Mexico, etc., August 15 is right up there with Easter and Christmas.
August 15 also just happens to be the birthday of one of my favorite humans: our friend and colleague in the music ministry, Jeannie! 💖
It was raining really hard as we drove up the A-1 on Tuesday, but we had no idea just how much rain the region was getting until reading about the flooding, evacuations, and deaths this morning.
I’m extremely grateful that we decided to stick to our departure date, rather than delaying by even a day.
Our guardian angels were definitely looking out for us.
We’ve really enjoyed our stay here at the Utoring complex in Aldesago, but it’s time to say goodbye — to this little apartment and to the expansive view of Lugano and the distant mountains.
Day after tomorrow we’ll say goodbye to Lugano itself for a little over a week while we visit Italy; first Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, then Ananda Assisi.
Feeling extremely grateful right now.
For our Friday date night this week, we rather randomly watched a light romcom movie that was set in Rome.
The movie itself was nothing exceptional, but…! Not only was it in Italy, much of the dialogue was spoken in Italian (real Italian) with subtitles.
It’s amazing how homesick I feel for Europe in general and Lugano in particular, especially not having been there in almost four years.
Adding to my growing the anticipation is the fact that we’ll be visiting Cinque Terre, for my first time!
My involvement with Ananda accelerated and deepened throughout 1999. I received Kriya initiation at Ananda Village in May; returned for the Kriya retreat in June; and moved into the Ananda Palo Alto community in August.
Early that fall I learned that there would be an Ananda choir performing Swami Kriyananda’s Oratorio in Italy in May 2000. Although I was not a singer (my only choir experience had been in Mrs. Hall’s fourth grade class!) and had never heard the Oratorio, I absolutely knew that I had to be part of that tour.
However, since there was already a flutist, I had to sing. And although I had more of a low voice, the alto spots were filled, so I was going to have to sing soprano.
And to top it all off, I was hearing about it rather late in the game, with a good portion of the $5000 cost already due as a deposit. I hadn’t even had a chance to meet the tour organizer, but I sent her a check for $125 with the assurance that more would follow (there’ll be further details about this when I write about the creation of my Illuminating Grace CD).
Indeed, the pace of life was speeding up as a result of my increasing commitment to Ananda. And it was at this point that I received two more opportunities to deepen my inner connection with Swami Kriyananda.
These great souls, Nayaswami Jyotish and Nayaswami Devi (who are also dear friends) have been traveling in Italy and India since early August.
It feels like forever since we’ve seen them but — thanks to the internet — tonight we’re listening to the beautiful talks they gave at an event in Pune.
And now I’m even more eager for their return to the Village in just a couple of weeks!
Last week Nayaswami Devi wrote a beautiful blog post titled “What Changes.”
The blog is full of insights and wisdom, but there was one particular sentence that stood out for me. Devi wrote: Time and space—they really don’t exist as we usually perceive them. We may be dreaming them, but our souls aren’t bound by them.
In fact, that sentence brought to mind an experience I had when I was living at Ananda Assisi. I’m not sure whether I can successfully put it into words, but I’ll try.
Before I found Ananda in 1998 I had been involved with an Irishman from Galway. I developed deep connections with the Irish-Irish (as opposed to Irish-American) community in San Francisco and felt a deep affinity for Irish music and culture. I even visited Ireland briefly in 1997.
Then, several years after coming to Ananda, I moved to Italy — another European country for which I immediately felt a deep affinity.
At one point I met two Irish women — I believe they were sisters — who were guests at the retreat in Assisi. We enjoyed a nice connection; no big deal.
But then there was one afternoon when they were approaching and as I went to greet them I suddenly was aware of feeling a strange kind of disorientation.
I caught myself thinking — although “thinking” isn’t really the right word; it was more that there was an awareness — that we were in Ireland and the two women were returning from visiting Galway. But with a figurative shake of the head, I reminded myself that, no, we were in Italy and they had been to Gualdo Tadino (a nearby city).
It was so strange! As though for just a few moments I had lost track of where I was in the dream.
Although it was a fleeting experience, it left me with the briefest sensation of the truth that none of this is really real.
Today we got to visit with Jyotish and Devi poolside at Crystal Hermitage gardens, just a few days before they travel to Italy and then India for three and a half months.
We feel so honored to be able to call these great souls our friends. And our gratitude for their wisdom, clarity, humor, and love knows no bounds.
The blessing of divine friendship, indeed!
I use Momentum Dash for my new tabs. I love the photos and the quotes, and the daily message often hits home.
Sometimes — like today — the photo and message combine to really get my attention.
I wasn’t the least surprised to read, “Campagna (countryside), Italy” as this photo caption; I instantly recognized it as Italy.
And I interpreted the message as meaning to never stop dreaming about returning to my other “home” — Europe — namely Switzerland and Italy.
I miss our friends and family in both places so very, very much. But the time will come!