Cesca
[INTRO MUSIC]
CESCA:Hello and welcome to today’s edition of Chatterbox Cesca. I’m your host, Cesca Cavalli. [Music changes or gets quieter] Today I am joined by a very special guest: Cesca Cavalli. It’s an honor to have you on today.
FRANCESCA: I’m happy to be here, Cesca. I’m a huge fan.
CESCA:Touché. As some of you may know, Cesca is currently a senior at Susquehanna University. You’re a creative writing major, is that right?
FRAN:It is.
CESCA:And you’re an Italian minor as well, correct?
FRAN:Correct.
CESCA:Cesca is here today to talk about their life and what they went through to get to where they are now, as well as some fun facts about them. Let’s get this ball rolling. So, Cesca, where did you grow up?
FRAN:I grew up all over the place. I was born in Miami and lived there for about 4 years before my family moved to Connecticut. I lived there for almost 10 years; shortly after I turned 13, my family moved.
CESCA:Oh, where’d you move to?
FRAN:Switzerland.
CESCA:Switzerland! How the hell did you go from Connecticut to Switzerland?
FRAN:If I had a quarter for every time someone reacted like that *laugh* the reaction never gets old. The brief summary is this: my father grew up in northern Italy, in the region of Lombardy, and his sister lives in Switzerland. At the time, she was working at a high school that was hiring. So, my aunt passed that information along, my mom had an interview, and was hired. She worked at my high school, Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz.
CESCAThat’s so fascinating; I’m not even going to attempt to pronounce that. What kind of school was it?
FRAN:A typical international boarding school, only I was a day student.
CESCA:Sounds like there’s nothing typical about it. High school in Switzerland, so how did you end up going to college in rural Pennsylvania? Why not Europe, Canada, the UK?
FRAN:I wanted to go back to the States. As for how I picked Susquehanna, my mom’s a college counselor. She knows me, she knows East Coast schools, so I toured 13 schools in 2 weeks one summer. I only applied to 4, and Susquehanna offered me a scholarship, so…
CESCA:That’s a pretty valid reason. Now, you said your dad is Italian, does that mean you speak Italian? Well, I guess you do now, since it’s your minor.
FRAN:Italian is actually my first language. He came to the States knowing no English, and he was a stay-at-home dad. I decided to study the language in college so I didn’t lose it. I’m also an Italian citizen, passport and all.
CESCA:That’s really cool. You’ve certainly had an exciting upbringing. On the topic of languages, do you know any others? And can you say something in Italian?
FRAN(1):Every time someone asks me to say something in Italian, I completely blank. I’ll stick to the languages one: I’m fluent in English—clearly—and Italian, I’m conversational in Spanish, I’ve studied German and Latin, I’ve studied and want to continue studying Japanese. Oh, and I only know one phrase in French that I can use as a pickup line (Qu’est-ce tu fait dans le weekend), or something like that. [Maybe French-y music]
CESCA:Oulala, what does that mean?
FRAN:“What are you doing on the weekend,” I think. It’s been a while.
CESCA:You certainly are a linguist. Before we wrap up, it’s time for a lightning round. You have a piece of paper in front of you with the questions, but I’ll read them out for the listeners [either keep numbers or add a BING]: 1) How old are you? 2) How many pets do you have? 3) Where would you like to go back to? 4) What’s your alignment and D&D class? 5) Do you play any instruments? 6) Favorite color? 7) What’s your favorite podcast? 8) What’s your soda of choice? 9) Do you have a favorite book series? 10) What’s the weirdest thing you currently own?
FRAN:Oh jeez, OK I won’t think I’ll just answer. *breath* [BING for every question answered] 21 years, 4 pets, Tokyo, uh my friend’s say I’m Chaotic Neutral and I have to say fighter, I play 3 instruments but Guitar the best, purple, The Adventure Zone, Dr. Pepper, the Percy Jackson series, and I think my foam replica of the Master Sword is pretty weird. *pant*
CESCA:Give it up for Cesca, who somehow managed to get through the lightning round in one breath. That’s all the time we have for today, but let’s pry another fun fact out of Cesca. No prompt, just any fun fact
FRAN:(Uhh…) Fun fact about me? My last name, Cavalli, is the literal Italian word for “horses,” so that’s pretty fun.
CESCA:There you have it, folks. I’d like to thank our guest, Cesca “horses” Cavalli for being here today; this has been Chatterbox Cesca!
[OUTRO MUSIC]