Una piccola storia per voi

For the better part of 20 years, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of traveling to Bologna, Italy, for the Children’s Book Fair. And while my colleagues and I actually do spend the better part of our trip inside the BolognaFiere, we usually manage to find a little time to poke around the city. The book fair was last week, but I’m only now getting around to a ginnygram because I pretty much landed, repacked, and went to Kentucky for Easter.

This is a photo from inside the tiny salumeria around the corner from our hotel. I do not think it is a tourist trap, because there are always locals crushed inside, ordering their carne di maiale e salsiccia e formaggi e funghi. The shop lady wears a costume, and invites you to taste or purchase by saying “ees posseeble?” She’s pretty cute, right? In this photo, she is inviting my colleague to taste aceto balsamico by placing a drop on her wrist with an eye dropper. Once you have found the balsamico that you wish to purchase, you receive a lesson and a mimeograph page about how to enjoy it — on salad, strawberries, ice cream, or other. You leave feeling as if you’ve signed a contract promising NOT to use your balsamico inappropriately on fruit, when yours is ONLY for salad. Hmm, maybe her costume is actually the uniform of the Polizia di Balsamico.

All this said, my real intent is to share this funny memory with you…

During one of my first trips to Bologna, I wished to order a panini for lunch, in a shop similar to this salumeria. I pointed to a sandwich behind the glass labeled “Speck,” and asked, “Speck?” I shrugged my shoulders and held my hands palms up, the international language for “what is this?”

The shop girl said, “ees em.”

“Em?”

“Si. Em.”

I gave her my most bewildered look and shook my head. “Em?”

“Si. [oink oink!] Em!”

Ham.