This week, I suddenly felt a huge pang of homesickness for Italia. It didn't help that Alessandro miraculously replied to my email saying he has not received my Christmas card (merda! turned out he gave me an incomplete address) and has also text me to say he and his friends often spoke fondly of me. The skeptic in me (who also read 'He's Not That Into You') replied saying if he really wants to be with me, he can very well fly down here asap! Don't say only mah, fly here lah if you really want. Corright?
Marco and Anita, fresh from a five-week vacation in India, also emailed to say they've received my article on Barbialla Nuova and asked when I will be back to visit them. I almost sobbed out of frustration, saying soon, I hope. It'd be tricky this year as I have commited to a three-week June holiday spending some precious time with my old pal Brian and the 'gang'. But I'm setting my sights on a three-month 'borsa di studio' (scholarship) to polish la lingua italiana further at either Siena or Perugia next year, and have already 'warned' my business partners who think I'll probably stay in Italia for good this time!
For now, I could only devour updates from mates such as Lorenzo who sent me some pictures of Ciro and the estate which was covered in a thick icy blanket of snow. Oh my, I think I'd freeze my t*ts off if I were to live there! Lori will be going home to Sardinia for the splendid carnivals of Mamoiada (Mammuthones) and Oristano (Sartiglia) from 20 February to 1 March, where there is a horse competition and a procession of old masks. Benissima!
Elena had also been such a sweetheart by helping me find some information on 'appartamenti affitti' for my colleague's brother, who's going to spend 6 glorious months studying in Milano. Barely into their first honeymoon year, she and her husband Alberto are expecting a baby in Settembre! Congratulazioni, bella!
Anyway as a tribute to Italia, I cooked up a feast of my favourite dishes over the weekend to whet my appetito and here are some recipes and pictures for you to salivate over:
Classic Italian Caprese Insalata
Ingredients
1 packet of fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced
1 large ripe tomato, sliced
1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves
Salt & fresh black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Method
1. Overlap slices of tomato with slices of mozzarella and basil leaves.
2. Sprinkle with fine salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Perfetto!
Notes: Don't mess too much with this classic recipe; if you want, add some rocket leaves on the side and a twist of lemon. You can also use cherry tomatoes and chopped mozzarella for a modern presentation.
Spaghetti con granchio, pomodoro e capperi
1 cup fresh cooked crabmeat
1 large fresh peeled tomato, chopped
25g sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon capers di sicilia
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano, dried or fresh
1 fresh red chilli, chopped or 1 teaspoon chill flakes
Salt n black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
Spaghetti (cook pasta in boiling salted water for 8 mins or til al dente)
Method
1. Heat olive oil over moderate heat in pan and fry garlic till fragrant.
2. Add fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and capers, and fry for about 5 minutes.
3. Add oregano, chilli, crabmeat, salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Add the cooked spaghetti to the pan and mix well with the sauce, e mangia adesso!
Fate worked in mysterious ways and last week, by some freak twist, it helped me to gain a new friend from Chile! Jessica Paola Benavides Arroyo (which means means "daughter of good") had replied to my email with a tentative 'Hi, how did you get my email?' and I replied 'Ciao, er, you're not Eka?' Apparently all this while, our emails have not reached my classmate Eka in our Italian class as the email address was wrong. So this poor girl in Chile was probably wondering what the hell was going on! In her own words, she admitted 'I was quite angry because my mail was always full of those messages but now I´m so happy.' Happy to know this 'ragazza' all the way from Singapore! 
Jessica is 27, works at the bank as a cashier and lives with her 9 year-old son Benjamin, 20 year-old brother Victor, mum Ana and dad Hernan on a little Island Calbuco in southern Chile. She had studied at the British Institute of Culture in Santiago for two years so could speak very good English - which was a relief as my Spanish was limited to 'lo siente' (I'm sorry), la cuenta' (the bill), 'estupendo!' (wonderful!) and my favourite - 'donde estas la servicios?' (where is the toilet?).
Over the past few days, we exchanged info and pictures about our countries and she got me excited about the idea of backpcking in South America. There are three active volcanoes in southern Chile where she was staying - Calbuco, Villarica and Lonquimay - similar to the Aeolian islands off Sicily. Just over Saturday at Curanto, they had a cookout by stuffing a mixture of seafood and meats with hot rocks inside a hole in the ground. That reminded me of the time when we were young and my dad - ever the skilful fisherman - cooked the freshly-caught crabs by slathering them in red mud and left them to bake in a woodfire by the beach. To this day, we are still dining daily on his fresh catch! Anyway I think it was such a hoot that Jessica and I are email pals now - thousand of miles away from each other but linked by a mere mistake!
