Ceriana's Home Movies. . .

Before Rich and I left San Francisco, mom and I had 57 three-minute 8mm films converted to DVDs and distributed them to our family. The "films" played in the background during our going-away party. Prior to this DVD reincarnation, these films were played only during very special family evenings. Dad would set-up a screen and take out each film from a little yellow box and thread it into our Revere projector. The films were silent but I can still hear their "soundtrack":  the  "Gr.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r.r." of the projector; our laughter; the occasional teary sniffs; the protests, "not that one dad!"; the applause! These evenings were enjoyed by all, or so we thought. Once in awhile there'd be a guest who would have to sit through "Reno's Reels" and feign interest. That's the thing about family films; unless you're in them, or, at least, recognize all the players, they are very long three-minute experiences!

The other night in the square, Ceriana celebrated a special anniversary of "e garsune de Seriana," a girls chorus which sings in the local dialect. The spettacolo began with selections sung by the current group of garsune and ended with an alumnae group of adult women singing songs they'd sung on the same stage many years ago. Between these sets, the crowd, mostly all Cerianasci (individuals born in Ceriana), was shown videos (with sound) of Garsune performances taken from each decade since its formation. On-screen, we're the cherubic faces of singers from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and their conductor, Angela, who was "there" from the start! These vintage performances featured the same songs, the same conductor and many of the same faces, just "older" as the years progressed. After each recorded selection the crowd cheered as if hearing the song for the first time. Proper names and nicknames were shouted to the screen as individual faces appeared in "close-up". There was laughter; occasional teary sniffs. From time to time "ma dai!" could be heard from an embarrassed teenager as her "junior face" came into the crowd's view. Live singing joined the recorded voices and everyone knew the words. . . even the noisy little boys behind us would occasionally stop playing with their toy-cars and sing along! 

That night, as we made our way down the carrugio to our home, Rich and I spoke about how Ceriana is really one big loud and loving family. Rich said, "they clearly love each other so much they don't need tourists here to survive!" He then added, "it's amazing that we've been accepted [adopted?] here."

We will never be Serianasci, we're just happy being, a bit, Cerianese!