Boorger Keeng

The other night was Mario's 21st birthday. Not only does this have no significance in Italy in terms of legality, it also involves different traditions. Mario took Mark and I and ten of his other closest friends out to a really nice restaurant in town. It was typical Sienese fare, of course, because that's all the restaurants have here.

Mario started ordering drinks and antipasti for the table, and meanwhile Mark and I were marveling at the prices, wondering how much the bill was going to come to. Also, there was the menu to struggle with. We ordered our "primi piatti" (first plate, which is always a pasta dish) and then our "secondi piatti", which is more stressful than it sounds. It took a little while to relax and to be able to understand what everyone was saying; and eventually we too joined in on conversation. We found out, for example, that Italians, or at least these Italians, believed that Americans have never eaten pasta, do not cook at home, and eat out at fast food joints every night: "Meek Donalds, Boorger Keeng e forse KFC". Their reasoning, of course, was the percentage of obesity in America, which we had no answer for.

Each plate was better than the next: prociutto e salame e bruschetta per il antipasto, un risotto, and meat is always the "secondo piatto". For dessert, we were served coffee and liquor, not for the caffeine or for the alcohol they contained, but to help with digestion. I have never felt so full, and yet so complete.

The Italians got up in between every piatto for a smoke break- it was so relaxed and everyone was extremely nice. We made about a million toasts to Mario's health. At the end, people were getting up and leaving. I asked one of Mario's friends, "Chi paga per questo?" ("Who pays for this?") and he replied that duh, of course, Mario does, it's his birthday, isn't it?

I couldn't believe that this was the tradition. Mark's mix CD present, therefore, was an out-of-the-ordinary surprise, which Mario appreciated very much.