Tongues, Chapels, and SPAL

Yesterday I went to my first sporting event ever outside the USA. It was a game of the Ferrara soccer team, SPAL, against Ravenna. SPAL is ranked pretty highly in our league and beat Ravenna 3-1 last time they played before yesterday. As we were walking in, Riccardo (our CIEE housing director who also is a rabid SPAL fan) bought us all blue and white SPAL soccer scarves so that we would have the right colors on.

We had to bring our passports to confirm our identities as we went into the stadium. They checked our purses and patted us down, and then we were free to go into tour section. The rowdy fans (among whom we put ourselves) are put into a locked kind of cage, complete with a chain link fence with razor-sharp triangles on top of it and a net to prevent fans from chucking things onto the field. They had also blocked off a huge section of the stadium seats to make the opposing fans at least a hundred yards away. All of this to keep us from starting a riot! Also the opposing fans do not have a cover over their heads and so have to stand in the rain.

This is the rowdy-fan cage. There weren't this many people there but this is what it looks like!

As we were walking in, the girls began to realize that we were at about a 50 to one ratio with all the men everywhere, and I joked that I should’ve put a bag over my head to prevent everyone from staring at the blondeness. We went into the bleachers and stayed standing up, because of course, true fans don’t sit to watch their team.

Because two SPAL fans were arrested in another city last weekend for fighting with the fans of the opposite team, there was a 15-minute cheering/singing “strike” during which no one was allowed to cheer or sing the team songs to show the authorities that we were supporting the guys who got put in jail.

After the cheering strike, three guys started leading the crowd in cheers and songs. They were hilarious!! And really vulgar. I will put some of them below, but I’m not going to translate them just in case someone doesn’t want to know. You can all go to google translate and find out for yourselves or ask me in an email! Keep in mind these are just the ones I remember…
“Forza SPAL! Forza SPAL!”
“Ravenna, Ravenna, vaffanculo! Ravenna, Ravenna, vaffanculo!”
“Alle, alle, Ferrara, alle alle!”
“Tu sei la merda…quando ti penso, voglio cacare…”

And then when we were down three goals to none:

“Che sara, sara…”

It was really fun even though they ended up losing terribly in a shut out. Afterwards there was the only traffic jam I have yet seen in Ferrara, with everyone trying to get home. Today, on Tuesday, Riccardo sent us all an email that goes like this:

" La presente per ringraziarVi di cuore a titolo personale ed a nome della Curva Ovest Ferrara con la viva Speranza che la sconfitta di ieri non sia un deterrente al Vostro avvicinamento al cuore pulsante della città......Grazie Ragazzi !! Sempre FORZA SPAL !!

Riccardo

I would like to thank you personally, and on behalf of the CURVA OVEST , for coming to support SPAL. I hope that the defeat will not act as a deterrent for your involment with the beating heart of the town.... Thank you guys!!

FORZA SPAL FOREVER!!

Riccardo"

On Saturday we went to Padova (Padua), and we had a tour of the city. We went inside the Bascillica di San Antonio, and saw his tomb and all the letters people from all over the world had written to him. I have never seen so many letters to a saint, or so many candles and offerings to one. We walked through the church and arrived in the reliquary room, where they have an absolutely huge golden case that holds Saint Antonio’s jaw, and his tongue and vocal cords.

This is San Antonio's Jawbone!

Because Saint Antonio was a preacher, he spoke the Gospels to many people. The Church exhumed his body a few years after his death, they found his tongue and vocal cords were incorrupt (not decayed). They took them out and put them into the reliquary that you can see today. It was a little weird to be honest, staring at a 780-year old tongue.

After that we went to the Cappella degli Scrovegni, which is covered in frescos by Giotto. The works in the chapel are about 150 years before their time in terms of art history. Giotto painted the people with expressions rarely seen in art even of later periods. It was absolutely breathtaking. The frescos were finished in 1305, a good 100 years before even the first works of the Renaissance.

Everything was changing in these frescoes. There is perspective, and the sky is actually blue! The people are interacting and look frighteningly lifelike. I want to post pictures of the chapel, but I couldn’t bring in my camera. So here is a link to the website of the chapel, and you can see the frescos here:

http://www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it/eng/index_e.htm

We had free time, and I went with Laura to go back to the Bascillica. We got there just in time for the end of Mass, which was great timing! I had bought a little tiny Saint Anthony picture and I went around asking the friars that were standing around if they could bless it for me. I got sent from one to the other, until I asked one tall priest and he told me to wait by the door (he was talking to the Vatican Guards that looked slightly annoyed since I had kind of been following them around).

He brought me off to a small room in the cloisters adjacent to the church and asked me, "Where are you from?" I was flustered that he was speaking English, and I forgot how to answer for a second. But eventually I told him that I was American, and he said, "Ok, I will first bless you, and then bless the little object."

In Italian, he said, "Oh God the Father Almighty, watch over and protect you faithful daughter, and also send your spirit over this medallion. And I bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." I said "Amen." and he gave me a hug and said, "God Bless you," in English. He was a wonderful and nice priest, and young too! There is hope yet for the Catholic preisthood lol!

When we came out of the church, the sky was aflame with the sunset and the clouds were moving quickly, like people running late for an appointment. It was gorgeous.

Overall, another great weekend! Send me emails and Let me know if you guys want something from a specific place!