The I.C.B.I.E. Blog

Yesterday afternoon, the ICBIE  crew (Pietro, Marlene, Roy, Julio, Val, Giovanna and Bogus) got together for an intense brainstorming session, ironing out the calendar of events for the coming semester.   Such advance planning is particularly important, as we often have to contact people on different continents and make travel arrangements, as well as the ordinary administration duties.

Here is a list of the major events that we have planned:

• The third ICBIE Cineforum, to be held every Wednesday starting August 6th.  The first six films will be international classics, while the rest of the cycle (running until December) will feature Italian cinema, as a supplement for our Italian courses.
• A Workshop for the Elaboration of Cultural Projects, an initiative of the Bahia State Government under the supervision of the Cultural Foundation of the State of Bahia, with eighteen sessions held in fifteen different locations around the state.  The ICBIE will host the final workshop on August 30 and 31.
• The first annual International Meeting of Graffiti Artists, to be held from 13-20 September, with the patronage of the Italian Institute of Culture in Rio, The Italian Consulate in Salvador and various private sponsors, with foreign artists from France, Spain, Switzerland, and Chile, as well as Brazilians from Rio, Sao Paulo and Salvador.
• The first annual ICBIE Photography Competition, open to local shutterbugs. (Date to be announced)
• An event to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Italian Constitution. (Date to be announced)
• An exposition of the works of Italian artist Guido Daniele. (Date to be announced)

In addition, we will be persuing the following fundraising initiatives:

• A Pianoforte for the Favela, a subscription drive to buy a concert grand piano.
• The ICBIE Theater Project, to raise money for the construction of our theater.
• Promotion of D’Artagnan Exhibitions in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, scheduled for May and June, 2009.

Finally, here is a full list of the official ICBIE course offerings for the second semester, beginning August 23rd.

Computer Science

• Beginning Course in Information Technology
• Computer Maintenance and Configuration
• Computer Graphics
• 3D Modeling

Italian Language - Italian I, II, III and IV

Basic English Language

Art Courses

• Drawing and Design
• Serigraphy (silkscreening, for making T-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.)

Hapkido (different levels for different ages)

The unprecedented richness of this calendar of events and courses will offer a wonderful range of opportunities for the local community—and will keep everyone at the ICBIE very busy!

Cosa c’è di nuovo all’ICBIE? É tornato Julio… dall’Europa, ed é tornato senza capelli!!! Sembra non essere piú quello di prima, ma allo stesso tempo …é sempre lo stesso!! È  cresciuto, dice lui stesso, ha imparato cose incredibili, e si sente in ogni parola…ha imparato persino il gusto di mettersi ai fornelli e preparare cenette per i suoi amici. Lo vedete nelle foto a preparare un tipico piatto bahiano per me, Marcos e Louise.

Ha riportato nell’ICBIE la confusione che mancava….e subito si é messo all’opera, con tante buone idee, per i suoi lavori futuri e per cosa fare per la sua amata Bahia, e la sua amata Ribeira. Le vie di Ribeira hanno giá un nuovo graffito, di cui vedete le foto, organizzato espressamente dai suoi amici per celebrare il suo ritorno. D’altronde, quando era partito ci eravamo salutati con un graffito, e tutta la festa e la simpatia che intorno alla realizzazione di un graffito girano…e cosí ci siamo salutati al ritorno.  Allora un ben tornato a Julio, e, come direbbe lui… W IL BRASILE, W BAHIA, W RIBEIRA!

What’s new at the ICBIE?  Julio has returned… from Europe, and he came back with a really short haircut!!!  He looks like a different person, but he’s also… just the same!!  He has grown, he says so himself, and has learned incredible things that you can sense in every word he speaks… he even learned how to cook, to prepare meals for his friends.  You can see him in the photos, making a typical Bahian dish for Marcos, Louise and me.  He has brought a necessary dash of craziness to the ICBIE… and he got right to work, full of new ideas regarding projects to help his beloved Bahia and Ribeira.  The streets of Ribeira already have a new mural, as you can see in the photos, and it was specially designed by his friends to celebrate his return.  Just as we saluted him with a mural before his departure, which became the focal point for all the celebration and comraderie that revolved around it, this work marked his return.  So welcome back, Julio, and, as he would say, up with Brazil, up with Bahia and up with Ribeira!

Giovanna

Today’s gorgeous sunny weather was a perfect backdrop for the third tap of the 2008 Bahia Rowing Championship and once again, the Rowing Federation of Bahia used the ICBIE as the site for its luncheon party, seeing as we are located across the street from the judges’ box.  Sponsored by the Bahia State Government, the City of Salvador and various private organizations, this  is the largest nautical sporting event in Bahia, and by offering our hospitality, we will receive in return their support for other ICBIE cultural initiatives.

Not only did the ICBIE host the Rowing Federation’s party, but our back courtyard provided the Brazilian Mounted Police horses a quiet and shady place to relax!

When it came time to award the prizes for the winning teams, Roy Zimmerman was called to present the medals, and to our surprise, one of the trophies bore the name of ICBIE President Pietro Gallina!

Yesterday, after more than ten months of intense collaboration, conducted exclusively by means of emails and telephone calls, the directors of the ICBIE and Rhythm of Hope were finally able to meet face to face.  Phillip Wagner had just come to Salvador from Indiana, and one of his first priorities was to meet with Pietro Gallina, to discuss the many projects that the two organizations have developed during the past year.  Phillip was accompanied by his wonderful assistant Puneet Rau, while Pietro was able to rely upon the support of his wife Marlene and ICBIE Honorary President Roy Zimmerman (who also recently arrived from Rome, Italy).

Keeping with the venerable ICBIE tradition, the heart of the discussion took place over a sumptuous banquet of pasta and fish (prepared by Pietro and our wonderful Lu while Roy took Phillip and Puneet on a tour of the ICBIE facilities).  Among the many issues that were raised, we talked about the status of our joint application to Engineers Without Boarders for the construction of our theater, and also the plans for opening a Rhythm of Hope office within the ICBIE compound.

Of course, direct personal contact permitted us to hash out all the details of these complex projects, and the meeting was viewed as a complete success, and we are looking forward to many future get togethers during the coming weeks, as long as Phillip and Roy remain in Brazil.

Phillip Wagner

All´ICBIE si pensa proprio a tutti!!!! E stamattina (sabato 12 luglio) il nostro mitico Augusto istruttore di Hapkido ha deliziato i nostri simpatici ospiti, gli allegri e romanissimi parenti di Pietro, con una divertente lezione di ginnastica!!!!

Alla lezione hanno partecipato, inoltre,  la mitica ed instancabile Marlene, la nostra fantastica professoressa di inglese ed i genitori di Augusto.

Guardare per credere cosa riesce a fare l´ICBIE!!!

Un caro saluto a tutti

Marcella

———-

At the ICBIE, Activities for All Ages

At the ICBIE, they really think of everyone.  So this morning (Saturday, July 12) our legendary Hapkido instructor Augusto delighted our jolly guests, Pietro’s cheerful and oh-so-Roman relatives, with a lively session of gymnastics.

In addition, the fabled and unflagging Marlene, our fantastic English teacher and Augusto’s parents also took part.

Look at the pictures to see what the ICBIE manages to do!!!

Warm greetings to all,

Marcella

Enthusiastic new teachers add a big jolt of precious energy that keeps the ICBIE community motivated.  Educators who come from affluent countries get swept into the simple pleasures of the happy Ribeira locals, and they cannot fathom the delight of our Bahians, when they gather for a new course with them.   The arrival of Louise Audette has set off an explosion of excitement that has infected everyone; even Marlene says “Louise è fantastica!”  And to prove her point, she sent some more pictures of this week’s English lessons.

OK - This is the first time that I have been to Brazil and I have the greatest classes of people - so very diverse, young 14 and old 61. Students and teachers, mothers and fathers, all together speaking English. There are about 10 to 15 students in each of my two basic classes each night - Monday thru Thursday 5:30-7 and 7:30-9 but we never finish on time - we keep going and going, losing track of the time, and most are not shy and shout when I shout and ask so many questions! I have told them that when they enter my room only the English language is spoken and then I bounce in the other room and tell them that that is the place that they can speak Portuguese! They laugh with me! They chant with me and they are trying so very hard. In a way I envy them and give them so much credit, I never learned another language out of school. My third class is Friday and Saturday for conversation - It was fun the first night I read and they read a story about murder and they had to figure out from many interviews by the inspector, who was the murderer? There was a lot of discussion and questions and opinions, and mixed into the story were the past tenses of many irregular verbs! It was a good beginning and a great time. I have about 8 - 10 in that class.

Pietro arrived at JFK at dawn on Tuesday, July 1st. On Wednesday afternoon, he met Toby and me in the lobby at MOMA to view the beautiful work of D’Artagnan in the group show called “Glossolalia.” On entering the third-floor gallery, Pietro had the face of a delighted child. He was so moved at the triumph of his friend. Ele D’Artagnan is identified on the wall label as Michele Lombardi-Toscanini. Eviva!!! If ever an occasion called for prosecco, this was it! So we indulged.

Today is the last day of the exhibit at MOMA, and Kate, Toby’s sister, arrives in New York from Chicago, just in time. It was Kate who first encouraged Pietro to bring D’Artagnan to New York and find a gallery. So it is her triumph, too. Pietro is now working toward a show in Venice in 2011 to mark D’Artagnan’s hundredth birthday, in the city of his birth.

It’s that time of year; schools are out in the northern hemisphere, and it seems like everyone is flying all over the world, despite the economic pinch and stratospheric fuel costs.  Just to keep track of everyone is quite a task!

ICBIE President Pietro Gallina, after his brief stay in Salvador in the wake of his long European tour, is flying to New York today, for a two week stay.  Right off the bat, he will certainly go to the Museum of Modern Art to see the D’Artagnan painting hanging on its walls; he will also be seeing Kerry at KS Art in Tribeca, to collect some hefty sums from the sale of the maestro’s works; and he will be able to reconnect with Toby and Mary, our faithful supporters in the Big Apple.

Marlene returned to Salvador last night, after her well-deserved month long vacation in Rome, Paris and Barcelona.  She will immediately take up the reins while Pietro is away, and all her Italian students will undoubtedly be happy to get back to their lessons.

A wonderful new ICBIE volunteer, Louise Audette, arrived last week, and today she will begin her English courses.  Louise is a teacher at the American Overseas School of Rome, which has already provided us with three other teachers, Rosa de Bellis, Michelle Falcinelli and Daniele Dattilo, as part of its Bridge to Bahia project.  Louise’s enthusiasm and charming smiles will certainly inspire our students and help them to build useful language skills, and we thank her in advance for her expertise.

ICBIE artist Julio Costa is still in Spain, staying with Celeste and Veronique.  They all spent the weekend on the Costa Brava, enjoying the hospitality of our volunteer Lorena, who allowed them to use her family’s beach house.  After months of rain and cool temperatures, warm sunshine allowed him to fully enjoy the pleasures of Catalunya. Julio has another couple weeks to enjoy his European adventures, before flying back to Ribeira.

Our faithful Bogus (who can rightly claim to be our finest Italian student) is also preparing to embark on his second trip to Italy.  With the precious help of Sandro, a retired Alitalia pilot, he was able to get a big discount on his plane ticket, which will take him to Rome on July 17th.  He will stay with Sandro and his wife Yvonne, and will try to enroll in a technical school, to keep him busy during an extended stay.  Although we will miss his smiles and his many services around the ICBIE, we wish him a lot of luck for his new adventures.

Tonight’s evening news on the Italian National Television’s Third Channel showed a very positive story about a Roman gypsy camp, and, given the tensions in Italy’s political discourse about law and order (which have led to random incendiary attacks and severe police repression of the Roma communities), that would be, in itself, a welcome novelty.  But even more extraordinarily, the service opened with the image shown above, which was painted by Julio last month, when he visited the same camp for an entire day, during their feast of Saint George!

Here is the photo Julio took of his own work, freshly painted:

The next sequence showed young girls dancing in front of the mural:

The story recounted how this Roma community had opened its doors to their Roman neighbors, offering a banquet and showing their traditional dances, with positive images of gypsy culture.

Bravo, Julio!!!