Christmas Time in Calabria

In Calabria the party starts on 8th December with the “Immacolata”, a day that commemorates the conception of Mary. In this day Calabrian women cook “crespelle”, a typical food made up of flour, salt, water and yeast and stuffed with salted anchovies, ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes or sugar coated. The main meal here is the “cenone”, on Christmas Eve: it consists of seafood salad, pasta with clams or mussels, cheese, olives, wine and grilled fish. Also, “no Christmas Eve dinner is complete without sauteed broccoli rape.” After all that, there’s still seasonal fruit and sweet “petrali” and “torrone” to come!

crespelle

torroni

petrali

   On Christmas Day, Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) brings presents for the children and then everyone meet to Grandma’s for another five or six course meal. We always eat on Christmas time! 

 By Clara Condello

Nelson Mandela's Heritage

NELSON MANDELA’S HERITAGE

Nelson Mandela died.. But even after he left us Mandela will always be with us and with the History.  He’s a strong inspiration for all the free men around the world.

Because he fought for the freedom of the blacks but not only for them, when South Africa was applying a brutal racial segregation. He never gave up  and he was in prison for 27 years,  instead of accepting the compromises that were offered to him. And when liberty arrived, when  in 1994 in South Africa,  democratic and interracial elections were held , do you know what Madiba did? He entrusted to special committees  the task or better the duty, to promote reconciliation, to punish who had to be punished but without revenge,  with a new national brotherhood.

How can we measure such a great man? How can we forget him? All the world has a debt with him, with this man that before dying had a great satisfaction:  seeing a Black man as a  President of the  USA.

Mark Joseph Vallejo