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You don’t have to understand a word of Italian to know the language of “cibo” and “vino.” Food and wine are their own universal language, and it has long been said that there is nothing like a fine meal and a nice bottle of wine to make a perfect evening.
Sharing a meal also is a fun, colorful way to practice and bring alive a foreign language and culture. That’s at least what the Penobscot School has found. The Rockland language school hosts a cena italiana (Italian dinner) the first Friday of every month, as well as other potluck suppers revolving around a foreign language and culture throughout the month.
“It’s just people who are interested in these languages bringing their own potluck dinner or brown-bag lunch and shooting the bull,” Penobscot’s executive director David Clough said. “It’s wide open to anyone who wants to come.”
Besides hosting the Italian dinner, Penobscot offers Spanish dinners the second Friday of each month, followed by French and Russian. Language lunches are also held each week, with French on Monday, Spanish on Tuesday, German on Wednesday and Italian on Thursday.
Penobscot School was founded in 1986 as a nonprofit language school and center for international exchange. Italian, Japanese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish are taught. English immersion classes are available, too.
Over the years, hundreds of Americans and people from around the world have sharpened their foreign language skills at the school and learned more about the world in the process. And those old school ties are hard to shake, especially for those who can speak another language and cook well enough to warm the hearts of their companions.
That is why on a recent Friday the school’s dining room was filled with the aroma of maiale arrosto con aceto balsimico (roasted pork with balsamic vinegar), the clinking of wine glasses and the lilting tones of Italian.
Among the group were former Penobscot School students, a businessman who discovered a knack for foreign languages while serving in the Army in Germany more than 40 years ago, an accountant who was an exchange student in Italy, a writer who “fell in love” while researching a book in Italy, a helicopter pilot with a love of all things Italian, a retired couple from Pennsylvania and a native of Italy who came to Maine to apprentice as a boatbuilder.
“Buona sera, Roberto,” was how teacher Genevra Geraci greeted Camden accountant Bob Baldwin, who entered carrying the pork roast. Baldwin greeted her in kind then turned and wished the others in the room good evening before heading straight for the stove.
Baldwin first encountered Italian in high school when he went to Modena, Italy, as an exchange student in 1961. He remained close friends with his host family, to the point that he still visits his Italian “brother.” In fact, Baldwin’s son Brian lived with the host family’s son Andrea’s family when he was an exchange student.
“We’ve been doing this for two generations,” he said.
Baldwin said he enjoys the dinners because “we never know who is going to bring what. We never know if we’re going to have all wine or all dessert, but it usually works out.”
Language teacher Geraci said she was overwhelmed to find there were so many devoted Italian speakers in the Rockland area. She noted that unlike other languages, such as Spanish or French, which are spoken in many countries, Italian is only spoken in Italy. So it came as a surprise to Geraci to encounter people in coastal Maine who love her native language. When she finishes teaching here in June, Geraci will return to Rome, where she is an English teacher.
“I’m really enjoying my stay,” she said. “The people are very nice and they’ve done everything to make me comfortable. They are really motivated to learn Italian. They love the culture and art of Italy and they make me feel wonderful.”
Another native Italian who attends many of the dinners is Marco Bunometti, of Lincolnville. Bunometti came to Maine in 1998 to study boatbuilding at the Atlantic Challenge Foundation in Rockland. While there he met an American woman, fell in love and married. He said he attends to potluck dinners to get a touch of home and speak his native tongue.
“Another winter like this and maybe I’ll go back to Italy,” Bunometti joked. “I come here so when I talk on the phone with my mother she’ll still be able to understand me. The other important thing is there is a lot of wine here.”
With that, Bunometti circled the table to fill his friends’ glasses with red wine. All who attend the meal converse in Italian and only use English when questioned by a guest. Multiple conversations take place at the same time, with many of the speakers gesturing with their hands to make their point.
For Barbara Piel, of Rockport, her experience was the opposite of Bunometti’s. Piel went to Italy to research on marine mammals and wound up “falling in love with an Argentinean.” The romance didn’t last, but her love affair with Italian continues.
“I just love improving my language skills and having fun with all these wonderful people,” said Piel.
Charlie Graham of Camden picked up his language skills in the military. Graham took an Italian course at the school and “got so involved that I went on the board of trustees and now I’m hooked.”
Besides providing people with the gift of a foreign language, the Penobscot School also provides a vital service to the business community, said Graham.
“Whenever a local business gets a letter in a foreign language, they know enough to come over here and get it translated,” he said.
As plates of roast pork, meatballs, pastas, vegetables and salads were passed around, Ben Magro, owner of Coastal Helicopters of Belfast, surprised his friends with a platter of homemade cannelloni with venison. “Maine Italiano,” exclaimed Magro.
“Grazie [thank you],” replied a guest.
Georgio and Nina Fabbri couldn’t believe their good fortune when they retired to Tenants Harbor and learned there were people who spoke Italian getting together in Rockland. Georgio was raised in Florence, Italy, and lost touch with his native tongue during his many years working in the States.
“We came here one time with the intention to help and we met all these beautiful people and can’t stay away,” said Georgio. “People love Italy a lot and we love them.”
Added Nina, “When you get a group of 10 to 12 people around the table, you can’t all have the same conversation so you need a few fluent Italians to keep it rolling. It’s great. We’ve met some of the most interesting people. Very nice, very friendly.”
The meal was an overwhelming success when suddenly a “crise” (crisis) occurred after hours of harmony and conversation.
“Wine, we need more wine,” announced Marco. A brief rustling ensued. Diners instituted a search and suddenly two bottles appeared from out of nowhere. Glasses were filled, dessert was served and all at the table broke out in song. Ah, the good life (La dolce vita!).
For more information about Penobscot School, call 594-1084 or visit penobscot@language learning.org.
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