This was sort of a let-down week, after Jan, Ginger and Brian left. We greatly enjoyed having them here. We had lots of catch-up work in the office to do this week. We did, however, go to Novara on Thursday morning to take a washing machine to the elders there. Theirs stopped working and they had a member come and check it out, the electronics were fried. A couple of weeks ago the electric gate opener here at the mission office also stopped working, and the electricians actually found a fried lizard within the electronics, but I don't know what happened in Novara. It only took an hour to drive there. Their apartment was pretty clean and used to house 4 missionaries, so it is also fairly large. We were able to get our car parked in their entryway, with some difficulty, and the two relatively small missionaries got the washing machine up their elevator into the apartment (on the 3rd floor). At first we couldn't get the water shut off because the valve in the bathroom, where the washing machine lives, wouldn't completely stop the water, and we got water all over the floor. They called a woman who lives in the apartment building and she came up and showed them that the water shut off for the entire apartment is under the kitchen sink, and it worked fine. (Always good to know where to turn off your water.) The only other problem with this apartment is the muffo, or mold, on the ceiling in the bathroom. We instructed them how to clean it off, and we hope they will. This is a real problem in this mission. Then we walked over to the duomo, which is very close by (like 5 minutes). It was pretty typical, but did not have a piazza at the front door. It did have a nice large pipe organ (no electronic), as well as a grand piano, which is rare in Italy. There was a sign on the front door that said there is a free music concert tonight at 5 pm. If we didn't have anything else then, I would want to go, although it is raining today. As we walked from the car, Myrna remarked that the rain is like it was in Oregon, sort of a mist.
Duomo of Novara, from the side, showing the bell tower (left) and dome (right), both are pretty tall.
Duomo of Novara from the side of the front, the road is to the right, no piazza.
Pipe organ and grand piano in the duomo of Novara. There are also pipes on the other side. It is uncommon to have a grand piano, or any kind of piano, in an Italian Catholic church.
I suspect this large statue of Jesus was on the outside of the church, perhaps on the top spire, sort of like the Angel Moroni.
Pictures over a side altar in the duomo of Novara.
A nativity, quite nice, but I don't know about the angels holding the baby. It brightens up well in Picasa and perhaps I may use it in a Christmas card or something. I am looking for the "right" image.
Father Time, I presume.
From the front door of the church looking toward the high altar.
Father (right), Son (left) and Holy Ghost (dove in center), on the ceiling above a side altar. This is an old fresco.
Yesterday, our P-day, we worked on the apartment a bit and then went to the Saturday market. I bought an avocado and some cilantro, for our Mexican dinner tonight, and Myrna bought oranges. I am now trying to lose weight by not eating carbs or sugars, so I didn't taste an orange, but Myrna said it was good, and it smelled good.
Our (Opera) Saturday market, pretty typical, with boys kicking soccer ball, leaves turning red and yellow, and food, veggie, fruit and clothes booths. Ahead is a booth that was roasting whole chickens, they smelled good.
Yesterday at the big grocery store (we went to three of them to get things for the dinner), I found some veal (calf) liver on sale for 40% off. It is usually more expensive than beef, so I bought a little bit. I cooked it with onions for my dinner last evening, and again for lunch today, although Myrna does not like it. She had filled pasta in broth for dinner, and for lunch she had a tuna sandwich.
The classic Italian way to make liver, called Fegato alla Veneziana, or liver from Venice, is easy to make. Thinly slice a lot of salted and peppered onions and saute them in olive oil, over a low flame. The liver should be thinly sliced (which what I bought was), put a very small amount of flour, salt, pepper and sage (not too much, but this is the classic spice for liver) on the liver and then lay it in the bottom of the frying pan, with the onions on the sides (use a big frying pan). Also throw in some finely diced fresh tomato with the onion toward the end, just to give it some color. The liver cooks quickly, turn it over when one side is done, and then put the onions over the top to finish it. If you use white wine (which we don't) you finish by pouring a small amount in to deglaze. I poured a small amount of bullion flavored water in, just to make a little sauce for the onions, which will thicken with the flour from the liver. When the sauce is made, serve it while it is still hot. It would also be good with rice and veggies. I brought a taste down to the two office elders (one is a vegeterian, so he would not eat the meat), and they said it was okay, definitely an acquired taste, which apparently I acquired somewhere in my past, although I never had sage as a spice with it. My dad used to enjoy eating fresh liver from freshly killed animals, including deer.
Yesterday afternoon I was able to play an organ in the Catholic church in nearby Locate for about an hour, and enjoyed that. The new priest, he has been on a mission to Paraguay, was very friendly.
The Locate church in the middle of town.
The console of the organ, two manual tracker action, with full straight pedal board. Made in Milano in 1909, In pretty bad shape, but playable. If you zoom in you can see that the keys on the bottom manual are not level, and they play that way, and some of the pipes, including many in the pedal, don't play. I told the sacristan, who took me up and stayed and listened for a while, that the organ needs to be played more often, to blow out the dust from the pipes, etc. I suspect they don't have anyone who can play it. There is an electronic keyboard up there on the balcony, and when I attended part of a mass there, they used a guitar. I went through all the music in my standard book, and found that the older Italian pieces, like Frescobaldi, played better, so I will take more of that next time I go.
On Saturday evening we went to stake conference, taking Sorella Allen, our mission president's wife (he attended the leadership meeting earlier). Our GPS got us messed up, which is common, but we got there on time, and the meeting was great. The presiding authority was Anziano Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza, who is an area authority 70 from Spain. He spoke in English, and had a translator. His English is wonderful, because he is a professor of language at a university in Spain, but his accent is British and he does not speak very loudly or distinctly, so I actually understood more from the Italian translator who stood beside him. We went to the Sunday morning session today, and the talks were also good, including a testimony by Allison Friolo, whom we home teach and is waiting for her mission call. The Allens gave good talks, he translated for her. Elder Mendoza's talk ended with telling us about the Book of Mormon, from his standpoint of being a language expert, that no one could have written it, especially Joseph Smith. The language, even though it is in English, has very ancient and unique word structure to it, etc. I have read these things before but not heard them from an expert like him (I actually Googled him to learn more about his work.)
At 5 pm today I was asked to go to the church to help the Primary practice for their program. I drove by myself, the fist time I have done that, got there 15 minutes early and at 5 after 5 I called the ward music leader (because I don't know the number of the Primary president or music leader.), because no one came. She called the president who said that no one could come, so they canceled it, so I came home, wasting an hour when I could have gone home teaching. Last week I got new assignments. Myrna is not my companion, I have an American Chris Dansie, from Texas, who does not speak Italian, who was just made the ward mission leader. He works full time and has a family and does not have good cell coverage at home, so home teaching may be more challenging.
This evening at 7 we are having a surprise birthday dinner, at the Mission Home, for Elder Alexis Barragon, one of the APs, who is from West Valley City. Myrna is making Cafe Riò's sweet pork (thanks to Kevin and Tess' recipe) and everything that goes with it. It is a surprise. I am sitting here in the office typing this listening to them (in Italian, his companion is Italian), while Myrna is working on dinner upstairs. We will take it to the Mission home. The Allens had to go to the other stake's conference this afternoon and won't be home until almost seven. (The above was written before the dinner.)
So this is supposed to be a surprise dinner and we are careful to not let Anziano Barragon know about it, although every one else does. Myrna made everything in our apartment, because the president was gone to another stake conference, and we took it over about 6:50, ready to eat. Sister Allen already has the table set for the 8 people we are expecting. President and Sorella Allen arrive but the APs call to tell us about an Italian they are teaching who is on his way over. So at about 45 minutes after dinner was to start, everyone is there, but five Italians show up, bringing a couple of desserts (which were really pretty good) and a tiny cake for Anziano Baragon. Myrna quickly added a couple of cans of beans to the beans she had prepared and we prayed to be able to feed the 5,000. In the end, we all had enough to eat and had a good time.
Anziano Barragon, who is 21, with the cake Myrna made. The Italians brought a tiny cake, which they decorated with whipped cream. He ate some of it, but they put a lot of chili in it, intentionally as a gag.
Our guests at dinner.
The Italians brought a flan-like dessert (right), which had coconut on the bottom and was really good, and a strawberry mousse, which was also good. Myrna's cake and gelato, and the sorelle in Lodi made a little dessert for him too.
This morning I made sausage and eggs for my breakfast, while Myrna was making muffins for our office meeting today and for other missionaries. It would be interesting to know just how many muffins she has and will make on our mission.
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