So my sister graduated from college on Sunday. This is simultaneously mind blowing and not a big deal (for me that is, I'm sure it's a very big deal for her). She's not that much younger than me, and now that she can legally drink all over the world and has a BA, there is literally nothing that draws attention to our age difference. In fact, most of her friends either asked who was older or specifically if I was younger. Because of this age-equivalence I feel, it seems so obvious that she should be done with college simply because I am. But several times during the ceremony (which was very long and very boring), upon hearing voracious applause for other graduates, I was suddenly struck by intense nostalgia for my own time in college and the days when I thought of her as my baby sister, and it made my heart ache for her that it was over. But that was more of a fleeting sensation - honestly, I spent the majority of the ceremony wondering when it would be over. I can only assume (and hope) that it was more meaningful to those actually graduating.
On Saturday morning, the whole family took a little trip to Italy (nbd) to a market in Ponte Tresa. Everything from the new JLo CD to red leather jackets to cured meats were on sale at this market. The pizza was absolutely delicious, and I averted a minor crisis when I dropped my scalding hot slice, tried unsuccessfully to catch it with my other hand but burned it instead on the hot cheese, and then in an amazingly lucky and determined effort caught it before it hit the ground. So, I pretty much dropped it twice then caught it. I only lost a few drops of marinara sauce! In this lovely little border town we also got some fantastic hazelnut gelatto (my all-time favorite flavor), which has led me to the conviction that it's simply not worth it to settle for ice cream when something as delightful as gelatto exists.
On the single sunny day that I enjoyed in Lugano, I walked around the lake and took in an art exhibit at a museum in the park. The artist was Tony Cragg, and his stuff seriously impressed me. The museum was practically empty and the Swiss attendants were very insistent that one follow the order of the exhibit exactly, so I was alone to enjoy the pieces in silence (apart from the very loud creaking of the floors on the upper level). There were examples of his work with many different media, but my favorite were some watercolors of landscapes, but the effect of a landscape was achieved using only 0s and 1s, like binary code. The exhibit seemed to be centered around several ideas, one of which was the creation of wholly different and very fluid things from geometric, small building blocks. The more I see of modern art, the more I "get it".
We did an awful lot of walking in Lugano, which was great. It's very hilly, so I'm considering it training for when I move to San Francisco (whenever that happens). However, some people can't (or don't want to) handle the hills, so they have a lovely little contraption called a funicular that goes between the train station and downtown/the lake. We rode it once just for fun - I probably could have walked up the hill faster, but that just wouldn't have been touristy enough for that particular moment.
There were a lot of multi-family dinners that included a lot of wine, a lot of coffee, and a LOT of pasta. Also the most deliciously light, cloud-like gnocchi I have ever tasted in my life. It was agreed that while the sauce was lacking in flavor, the delicate little potato dumplings were the pinnacle of perfection, quite literally the most apt usage of the term "melt-in-your-mouth" that I have ever experienced. These gnocchi are what little sprouting potatoes should someday aspire to be.
A lot of the celebratory activities in the week centered around food, wine, and friendly company. I met a lot of wonderful people, I wholeheartedly approve of my sister's choice of college companions. And, hopefully, friends for a lot longer than that. The hard part about going to school in another country is that when you leave, you LEAVE. Everyone goes back whence they came, and to stay in touch with everyone becomes that much harder. But these are people who love to travel, and goodness knows where they will all end up in their lives, so we can only hope for the best.
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