A Host Mom

thumbs up: 'espaguete' with anchovies

Vinicius, a young man from Sao Paola Brazil who had never seen snow stayed with us for a month in January. Vinicius is not a typical name anywhere, not even in Brazil.  It means “vine,” mostly likely referring to a grape vine and wine, and victory. A sunny name. A warm name.  A long name;  I asked if I could call him Vinny.  He laughed “Vinny?” he repeated, obviously not to happy to hear my request. It wasn’t a nickname he wanted, and I later found out that absolutely no one called him Vinny.  His mother called him V. “Just V,” he told me. “Is the short name  I prefer.” I  called him Vinicius.

His mother was of Italian descent . He ‘skyped’ her every day. According to the Italian government Brazil is home to the largest number of Italians outside of Italy itself–25 million. Unlike here in the States, the Italians merged and mingled seamlessly into Brazilian society, a country characterized by lack of xenophobia and a warm, spontaneous and sensual population.

“Oh my god!” were the first English words Vinicius said to us when he stepped into our entry hall. His shoulders were heavily dusted with an inch of snow.  He had had to drag his suitcase from the street up  our unshoveled sidewalk.  There there was nothing gentile about the blizzard that accompanied his arrival.

But , I though, how odd!  Vinicius was wearing serious  snow boots, a down jacket , a flap-ear knit cap and insulated gloves. Did he buy all that gear in Sao Paolo, where the average mean temperature is 75 degrees?  ( I found out days later that his mother had a brother in Chicago who had sent the clothing in a box to Brazil: so he could be prepared.)

In January, it snowed and snowed again. Vinicius was a handsome boy who wore expensive rimless glasses. He had small ears and his left eye was slightly larger than his right.  Each morning he piled on layers of insulated outer garments and trudged like a stuffed animal out the door.  At first the white stuff mesmerized him, but he soon got tired of being cold. In Brazil he liked to surf and play volleyball on the beach. Wear t-shirts. Visit old people in their home and perform skits to make them happy. A nice boy for sure.

Since he was good at surfing, we figured he’d like snowboarding and one Sunday sent him off with a group of young people to a mountain in Maine. He returned without his knit cap and his arm in a sling.

“Oh, no.” I said.

After dusting snow from his coat, he proceeded to peel off his gloves, boots, coat, and kept going. Removing his sweater, t-shirt, stripping down to his bare cream-with coffee colored skin skin to stand next to the brightest light in the living room and show us how us how his shoulder blade had separated from his arm.

Bare skin. Vulnerability. Trust. This boy felt safe in our home.  We put together an ice bag, fed him and and gave him OTC pain pills.  The next morning I dropped him at the emergency room so he could get an x-ray.

The evening before he left ( going to Chicago to be even more cold than he was in Boston;  to visit the uncle who had sent him the coat), we made Vinicius a special farewell dinner, a simple and tasty pasta, which is also one of my husband’s favorite pasta.

SPAGHETTINI WITH ANCHOVIES

• 1 lb. spaghettini (spaghetti or linguine will also work)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1  cup fresh bread crumbs
• 4 anchovy fillets in oil or brine, drained
• Salt and pepper
• 1 T finely chopped parsley

1. Bring a large pan of water to boil.  Add salt and the spaghettini and cook until al dente.
2. Meanwhile. heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic; cook a few minutes.  Add the anchovies; cook and mash.  Add the breadcrumbs and stir until the breadcrumbs start to change color.
3. Drain the spaghettini and add to the pan with a little of the cooking water.
4. Toss over high heat for a few minutes.  Check for salt. In most cases you will not need to add salt. Add fresh ground pepper to taste.
5. Transfer to a warmed serving platter–unless your frying pan is a good looking one like mine.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, very hot.

Serves 4