Diana Crespi, Co-organizer of Washington, DC Festive Italiano
Y: 各位听众好。欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。
J: Hello and welcome to American Cafe. I’m Jody.
Y: Jody你终于回来了。这次去意大利玩得怎么样？
J: I had a fabulous time in Italy!
Y: 哎呀，好□慕你啊。那是什么给你的印象最深呢？
J: All of it, Yang Chen. I loved all of it. The culture, the scenery, the people … everything was simply fabulous!
Y: 吃得怎么样？
J: The food was amazing. I think I’m five pounds heavier and I was only there a week.
Y: 一个星期增加了五磅，一天还不到一磅，还不算太严重。
J: Maybe to you.
Y: 很多人都喜欢意大利菜。不过说到品尝意大利食品，其实你根本不用去意大利就可以做到。你记不记得你去意大利之前我们去过一个华盛顿意大利文化节Festive Italiana。哇，当时有那么多好吃的，还有人表演意大利音乐和舞蹈。
J: The food and music that was really a lot of fun! During the summertime there are street festivals like Festive Italiana all over the United States. Let’s meet one of the coordinators of the Festive Italiana, Diana Crespi.
Diana Crespi: My name is Diane Crespi, I am the coordinator – one of the coordinators of Festive Italiana. Um, my involvement is basically just helping to organize this festival that’s been going on for six years now.
Y: Diana说这个活动已经进行了六年。我们可以想象，这么大型的活动组织工作一定很不容易。
J: I’m sure that organizing Festive Italiana takes a lot of work.
Y: 当时那条街上有一个教堂当时正在作礼拜，教堂传来的悦耳的钟声给文化节增添了一非常特别的气氛。
J: Yes, it added so much to the atmosphere of the street festival.
Y: 下面就让Diana给我们来介绍一下文化节的丰富内容。
Diana Crespi: They can expect to see everything Italian! Food, entertainment, dancing, you know, songs, culture. And that’s why people come down – they really want to be Italian for a day. Every year this is where you can truly be Italian for a day and learn the beautiful language and learn about the food and the history as well.
Y: Diana说得多好，做一天真正的意大利人，我当时还真有这种感觉呢。
J: So did I!
Y: 可是你本来就是意大利人啊。
J: Yes I am. But it made me feel more Italian. You know, in the U.S. sometimes it’s hard to preserve your culture and your heritage.
Y: 你说的没错。不过这种街头文化节就是一种传播文化的好方法。
J: That is right. In this next quote, Diana explains how a street festival can help to preserve your culture and heritage.
Diana Crespi: Italian-Americans aren’t looked on as a separate minority in this country; it becomes harder and harder to preserve your culture and heritage. So Festive Italiana really gives the active Italian-American population something to cling onto and a way to preserve their heritage, to promote the culture, the positive part of their culture.
Y: 她刚才说的cling onto是什么意思？
J: To cling onto something means to hold tightly, either with your hands like clinging onto to a rope or with your mind like clinging onto an idea or your heritage.
Y: 就是抓住什么东西不放的意思，比如用手抓住绳子，或者说对一个想法不愿意放弃。 说到继承文化遗产，对于美国这个多民族的国家， 维护各民族的文化有什么重要意义呢？
J:Now let’s hear again from Diana.
Diana: And it’s important to the fabric of the United States It’s important for all cultures to do that not just Italian-Americans.
Y：Fabric of the United State，我好喜欢这个说法。
J：So do I. Because fabric of the United States really describes the diversity of the American culture.
Y：对，用fabric来形容美国是由不同文化组成的国家，真的很形像。你知道我现在在想什么？
J：What’s that?
Y：作一天的意大利人是很有意思。不过做一天意大利人还不够。我恨不得明天就飞到意大利去。和我一起去好吗？
J：That’s a great idea. But I think we have to wait a little bit. I just came back. But we can play some Italian music in the meantime.