Day 58 and Day 59

Now that I have found out the calculation base for pasta making, an excel sheet has now been produced. With the help of Hasse, I now have a fairly comprehensive planning tool. That in itself is indispensable for the coming days, and could have been the only reason for me to go back to Bologna this past week.

But I have, in fact, mostly continued to work on and tried to increase the pace. When you think it can’t be faster you can be surprised to be super faster than ever. This is not so interesting to anyone but to one’s self, but on the other hand extremely funny to one’s self.

Both yesterday and today I have been alone here in Bologna, but came home quite late both days after really wandering around town. The day before yesterday I met a woman who had completed the same education (though ”only” one month) five years ago. She and her husband came here then and would only stay a year. Now the very cute nine-year-old goes to school here and speaks Italian fluently. Just stop! I forgot to ask how it was going (due to being ragged-tired after school day) but imagine looking at each other a regular breakfast or dinner and saying; ”A little to what, honey? One more year?” Now they seem to have moved for good. I can’t imagine what it would be like. It has not moved me since I absolutely wanted a home on Korcula and somehow reconnect to childhood. That time went by when I began to realize how rarely the children would come and visit, how jerky tax policy it was in the country, etc. But to start again in a completely strange place…

I’ve just started watching, is it called ”Everything for Sweden”? and is struck by how strong the ties are to a country’s ancestors even left a hundred or fifty years ago. In the same way, I have seen participants in various past education that have an ancestor or two coming from Italy, how they have a strong desire to understand Italy, for example through the food. How will it be for all the refugees who have flowed around the world? How is it for their children and grandchildren. Probably the same thing.

For me, my pastoral interest is really about some more simple things; It is sickly good with pasta in different forms and it is so wonderfully fun to start mastering the structure of the pasta dough.

Then to be in a country and a city with traditions regarding the food that is so strong that you do not thumb on the quality. That in itself is a gift.