Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Va a Scuola

The third in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what Gibbs thinks of having gone back to school this year.

A little background info for you: In October we discovered my study visa wasn't enough to get us both a permesso di soggiorno and Gibbs' original idea of getting a digital nomad visa wasn't workable either.  Gibbs chose to head home for about 5-6 weeks and request a study visa, like mine. This requires that you study Italian (or another subject in an Italian University program) full-time, which is 20 hours a week.  

If you know Gibbs, you know that he loves learning, but that he does not love going to school.  Going to Italian school at ARCA, however, turned out to be a positive experience for him.

Here are a few pictures of Gibbs learning to play Briscola, and Italian card game that our teacher, Sara, said is probably more valuable for connecting with Italians than mastering the congiuntivo (a piece of Italian grammar that is notoriously tricky for English speakers)

Last night we were out with friends from school celebrating our year.  We each shared a little about our first impressions of school and favorite memories.  Gibbs shared the following in Italian.  I will do my best to translate what he said:

I didn't really want to go to school.  It's not really my thing.  But I'm glad I did.  My Italian improved a lot and I learned so much about Italian culture and history.

One of our friends pointed out that he hadn't mentioned the people.  Gibbs said,  That's because for me that's a different thing.  The people, they're even more important.

Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Ammira l'Arte di Strada

The second in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what kind of art Gibbs has been appreciating in Bologna.

A little over a month ago on my last day of teaching at Liceo Copernico, I came home to find Gibbs waiting for me.  He told me we had important homework for class: to document some street art in Bologna.  And then he asked, "If you had to pick three things to photograph and share, what would they be?"  I replied, "I'm not sure, but I'd definitely add Don't happy, be worry."  He said that had been his first thought, too.  This piece caught our attention very early on in our stay.  It's across the street and we see it whenever we walk home from one of our favorite grocery stores.

We took off on our homework mission.  Gibbs wanted to share the gist of the article they read with Annalisa in class while I was teaching.  He also wanted me to see that he had discovered some interesting graffiti and other pieces by the Don't happy, be worry artist (learn more about them here)

We proceeded to snake our way through the streets of Bologna, run into a colleague from Coperinco, and snap more than three photos each to share in class.  Here are a few of them.

When I asked Gibbs what he would like you all to know about street art in Bologna, he shared these three gems:

1. If you slow down and pay attention, there is some pretty interesting stuff happening (running themes, cultural references, artists with a body of work to share, history, social critique...)
2. Some of what is one the walls of Bologna is just tagging or bathroom wall scribbles
3. The murals that some shop owners commission for their roll-down security shutters are pretty cool, and they appear to work well to discourage vandalism

Reportage Speciale: Gibbs Legge in Italiano Ogni Giorno

The first in a three-part series on our man of few words, Gibbs.  In this special report we will learn what he's been reading.

Gibbs reads every day here in his apartment in via Marconi, Bologna.  In the morning, he reads the news.  Sources close to Gibbs report that he reads NPR and MPR news in English and Il Post in Italian.  He has been observed sharing about the day's news first thing in the morning, giving summaries in Italian.

In the evening and occasionally all day on a holiday or weekend, Gibbs reads books. He started with some familiar translations from English into Italian, and has moved on to reading local Bolognese author Filippo Venturi who has written a series of gialli, or mystery novels.  The move into local fiction is reportedly the result of a recommendation from friend and classmate, Blake.  

While Gibbs reads his gialli, he can been seen with a thick hardcover Italian dictionary and book of Sinonimi e Contrari (thesaurus) nearby, which he consults regularly.  

Gibbs was recently overheard marvelling that in just the first few pages of his latest novel, he encountered three Italian idiomatic expressions he had learned only that week.  He also reportedly loves catching the local author using poetic license when describing Bolognese sites.  This can sound like, "There's no way that street was empty on the day Venturi describes, there's a pop-up market there for the Madonna of San Luca that week of the year, impossible!"

Filippo Venturi isn't just a local writer, he's also a local restaurateur (as is the protagonist of his mystery series).  Sources close to Gibbs say to keep an eye out for photos on social media of dining at La Montanara coming soon.