Here's the sitch:
Benn here for 3 months, and still in disbelief. I love it here and cannot believe I have to leave in 16 days!! I may just stay here and bring the people I love to Italy. I think this is a good plan, but is no longer do-able.
Here's the story that I am tired of telling and still upset about:
Yesterday I found out that someone hacked my card and has been buying stuff online with my money. After a small, ok let's not lie, a big freak out, several phone calls to the states, and lots of Italian bank conversations it's done. The card is dead, so that jerk can't get anymore, will contest charges when I'm back in the states. Had my own odyssey trying to run arround Florence speaking with people in banks, IN ITALIAN, trying to explain the sitch and get help with getting as much money as possible in cash. Thanks to my awsome Italian and Ameer we made it. And by made it I mean I got a bit of euro out of an atm and will just deal and borrow if I need to. It's a really shitty thing to have to deal with on top of end of the semester work and trying to enjoy myself.
This week I have been going mad with writing paper and italian oral presentations. It's almost over and I'm in good shape. Just finished my Italian deal about the history of Italian soccer and camanilismo. It went ok, I'm just glad it's over. And I will have all that info stuck in my head for a long time. I've begun writing final papers and will continue doing so and studying for exams soon.
But I can see the light at the end of the finals tunnel. It will be over soon and will all be worth it. Part of me doesn't want it to be over and would like to stay longer. But I know I will come back and as of now I'm really missing my family and friends. I'll be seeing you all sooner than I can believe.
That's all for now. Have a class to run to. Alla prossima.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A California Girl in Paris
This weekend was the long anticipated trip to Paris organized by my school and well there is no one word to sum it all up in. I’d have to say it was a very mixed bag full of great fun but also horrible luck. Let me start off by saying that the French and me have never gotten along well. But I decided to give them a chance and see what all the fuss was about: i.e. go to Paris. Well I don’t know if you have all heard back in the states, but the French transit workers chose this past weekend to go on strike. And not an Italian strike (which lasts for a day), but an indefinite French strike of all major modes of transportation (that is still going on as I write this). So we were going to take a sleeper train Thursday night and arrive Friday morning, but transportation from Italy to Paris was “quasi nill!” Instead our amazing TAs (Carrie and Paola) did their best to fix it all. Mode of transportation: 15 hour bus ride with aprox 50 college kids. Um it was not very pleasant at all. I have just now regained feeling in my but and the crick in my neck is less painful. Oh how I wish I could have pulled what they guys of “Entourage” did and hopped onto Kanye’s private jet! Actually he was in Paris at the same time as us, so it wouldn’t have been totally unbelievable. His lyrics were the theme for the trip, “That don’t kill me, can only make me stronger.” Keep that in mind, or better yet just play the song while looking at the photos on facebook. Kanye dance party!
Well once we arrived in Paris on Friday morning, we checking into our hotel. Let’s just say it was not in a savory neighborhood, and there were some exposed wires. I’m sure my parents would have had a cow, mainly my dad, if they saw where we stayed. But they had great water pressure for the shower, so that’s a plus. Also we were dead tired so all I cared about was being able to shower and sleep. Once we relaxed a bit, it was off to the LOUVRE! Time to play some DaVinci Code! Well there were no deaths, but there was brisk walking and French people, so close enough. But my version was way more historically accurate. So Carrie took us around the Louvre and I was in art heaven. So many amazing things to see. I can’t recount everything I saw (and there are photos on facebook) but my favorites were the sculpture of “Cupid and Psyche” and the painting “The Raft of Medusa.” Everything was breath taking and I wish I had more time to look around (it’s like the British Museum, I could live there). Afterwards, Katie and me decided to walk around the city. Why walk you might ask? There are two answers: one we wanted to enjoy the night beauty of the city and two-the massive transit strike that only got worse as time passed. I’m glad that I went this past weekend, because all transportation had halted now and there have been cases of arson and violence on the tracks. Nice job on timing. Main point: we walked around Paris at night and it was beautiful! I felt very much like Andrea in “The Devil Wears Prada” when she is looking around Paris (and U2’s “In The City of Blinding Light” is playing in the background- as it was in my head). We hit up the Eiffel Tower and took some lovely shots, but there was no way I was going to climb that sucker. After we walked by the Lafayette windows (giant mall thingy) and saw their Christmas window displays. They so put the ones in the states to shame. Very cute animals singing and then expensive gowns, what more could you want? And as it got later, my body decided to spazz out. See my inner California self and its inability to handle weather after a certain temperature kicked in and I stated to freeze under my layers. It was -8C there, meaning it was 18F and that is below freezing!! Very cold but very pretty outside.
On Saturday we were supposed to go to Charts and Versailles but because of the transit strike we weren’t able to go. I was really bummed out about it, but then I realized I was in France and I would still have fun no matter what. Professor Hatfield, Carrie, and Paola altered that plans but we still ended up seeing some amazing sites. First we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is a church that was build in 1248 by Louis the 9th to house important relics. Basically it’s one of the most beautiful gothic churches with its stained glass windows. I absolutely love gothic architecture; it’s def a fave. After we went to Notre Dame, another great and more famous gothic church. It was begun in 1163 and took 170 years to finish being built. Not going to lie, I did have “The Bells of Notre Dame” from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame playing in my head while I was playing. I am a nerd, what can I say? The gargoyles were also very entertaining. Inside is just so vast and awe inspiring. A cool thing happened while we were inside; the organist was playing this famous song on the massive organ. After looking around a bit and just being silenced by the massiveness of the church, WE CLIMBED IT! We didn’t go all the way to the top because it was closed, but we still went pretty far up. Oh Medieval staircases, you and me have spent way too much time together. Despite the curving climb in the stairwell, the view made it all worth it. By the way, Paris has smog and it reminded me of LA. After marveling at the beauty of Norte Dame and the view of the Paris, and trying not to get freaked out when I looked down, it was lunchtime. Katie, Kate, and I went to a little restaurant and had delish onion soup (French onion soup, but since we were in France they just call it onion soup). But we didn’t have much time so we had to eat said yummy soup really fast and then run to meet the group, hot but worth it. Then the massive group of us tried to maneuver the metro system in the middle of the strike; yes it was that fun (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?). We saw a group of French Jewish musicians playing songs in the station. They were quite good but they got “Hava Nagila” stuck in my head for days. Once out of the sardine can that we will call the metro, we arrived at the Musee d’Orsay. It was originally a railway station that was converted into a museum and it holds works of art from 1848-1914, done by people such as Degas, Monet, Manet, Pissarro, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec. I loved it all, but one of my fave works of art was here so I was really excited: Van Gogh’s “Le Nuit Etoilee, Arles.” And the ballet series by Degas was great to see also. But then I was art-ed out, so Kate and I went to walk around the city. We decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and take some day shots, because you need shots from day and night time, obvi. It was really funny because while taking photos I had a trilingual moment in France, and none of the languages were French. There was this couple taking photos and they asked me to take a photo and I said “si” and then they asked me in Spanish if I was Spanish, Mexican, or Italian. Then I explained in a combo of Spanish and Italian about myself and we all laughed. It was so funny and my brain hurt a bit, but we all got our photos taken in our respective languages. Walking around made me quite hungry and therefore it was only fitting that Kate and me eat some crepes! Neutella crepes are HEAVENLY! They were made warm and fresh right in front of us by this street vendor and made us incredibly happy. I want more. Now warm and delish inside, we walked to l’Arc du Triomphe. It was conceived by Napoleon in 1809 (and finished in 1836 under Louis Philippe) to celebrate the imperial armies and is the world’s largest triumphal arch. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located here and we were able to see the eternal flame ceremony that night. It is a very impressive arch, and very obvi conceived by someone who has competency issues. Yummy dinner with better deserts of chocolate mousse and crème brule. Sadly there was no going out after because we were way too cold and tired.
Sunday involved one more failed attempt to go to Versailles. And when that didn’t work out Katie and I decided to wander around Paris some more. So we spent some time trying to find the Latin Quarter, which was ok. It wasn’t that impressive, and not much was open because it was a Sunday morning. I think it’s one of those places that would have been better to see at night, who knows? I was also freezing so it didn’t help me enjoy walking around much. Then we walked down the Champs Elysees and saw the super classy and expensive stores there, such as the Louis Vuitton Building! As in it was a whole building! Oh and a nice French car place, took some photos of the cars I’d like, I’m sure my dad liked those. And I had to go into the Disney store, which was so nice I might add. They even had xmas tress up and a beautiful staircase. More walking and fighting our way through the metro mobs, which resulted in us finally getting back to our hotel and not getting lost. And then we got back on the bus for 18 hours and made our way back to Florence.
Every time I leave Florence I realize how much I love it here. Today is marks the countdown: ONLY ONE MONTH LEFT IN ITALY!! I really can’t believe this. NON CI CREDO. Time has gone by so fast and I don’t want by abroad time to end, even though I miss you all dearly. I’m def going to live it up this last month, despite all of the work that I have to do. Speaking of which, I should stop blogging and actually do some work, so this will be the end of this entry. Alla prosssima.
Well once we arrived in Paris on Friday morning, we checking into our hotel. Let’s just say it was not in a savory neighborhood, and there were some exposed wires. I’m sure my parents would have had a cow, mainly my dad, if they saw where we stayed. But they had great water pressure for the shower, so that’s a plus. Also we were dead tired so all I cared about was being able to shower and sleep. Once we relaxed a bit, it was off to the LOUVRE! Time to play some DaVinci Code! Well there were no deaths, but there was brisk walking and French people, so close enough. But my version was way more historically accurate. So Carrie took us around the Louvre and I was in art heaven. So many amazing things to see. I can’t recount everything I saw (and there are photos on facebook) but my favorites were the sculpture of “Cupid and Psyche” and the painting “The Raft of Medusa.” Everything was breath taking and I wish I had more time to look around (it’s like the British Museum, I could live there). Afterwards, Katie and me decided to walk around the city. Why walk you might ask? There are two answers: one we wanted to enjoy the night beauty of the city and two-the massive transit strike that only got worse as time passed. I’m glad that I went this past weekend, because all transportation had halted now and there have been cases of arson and violence on the tracks. Nice job on timing. Main point: we walked around Paris at night and it was beautiful! I felt very much like Andrea in “The Devil Wears Prada” when she is looking around Paris (and U2’s “In The City of Blinding Light” is playing in the background- as it was in my head). We hit up the Eiffel Tower and took some lovely shots, but there was no way I was going to climb that sucker. After we walked by the Lafayette windows (giant mall thingy) and saw their Christmas window displays. They so put the ones in the states to shame. Very cute animals singing and then expensive gowns, what more could you want? And as it got later, my body decided to spazz out. See my inner California self and its inability to handle weather after a certain temperature kicked in and I stated to freeze under my layers. It was -8C there, meaning it was 18F and that is below freezing!! Very cold but very pretty outside.
On Saturday we were supposed to go to Charts and Versailles but because of the transit strike we weren’t able to go. I was really bummed out about it, but then I realized I was in France and I would still have fun no matter what. Professor Hatfield, Carrie, and Paola altered that plans but we still ended up seeing some amazing sites. First we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is a church that was build in 1248 by Louis the 9th to house important relics. Basically it’s one of the most beautiful gothic churches with its stained glass windows. I absolutely love gothic architecture; it’s def a fave. After we went to Notre Dame, another great and more famous gothic church. It was begun in 1163 and took 170 years to finish being built. Not going to lie, I did have “The Bells of Notre Dame” from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame playing in my head while I was playing. I am a nerd, what can I say? The gargoyles were also very entertaining. Inside is just so vast and awe inspiring. A cool thing happened while we were inside; the organist was playing this famous song on the massive organ. After looking around a bit and just being silenced by the massiveness of the church, WE CLIMBED IT! We didn’t go all the way to the top because it was closed, but we still went pretty far up. Oh Medieval staircases, you and me have spent way too much time together. Despite the curving climb in the stairwell, the view made it all worth it. By the way, Paris has smog and it reminded me of LA. After marveling at the beauty of Norte Dame and the view of the Paris, and trying not to get freaked out when I looked down, it was lunchtime. Katie, Kate, and I went to a little restaurant and had delish onion soup (French onion soup, but since we were in France they just call it onion soup). But we didn’t have much time so we had to eat said yummy soup really fast and then run to meet the group, hot but worth it. Then the massive group of us tried to maneuver the metro system in the middle of the strike; yes it was that fun (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?). We saw a group of French Jewish musicians playing songs in the station. They were quite good but they got “Hava Nagila” stuck in my head for days. Once out of the sardine can that we will call the metro, we arrived at the Musee d’Orsay. It was originally a railway station that was converted into a museum and it holds works of art from 1848-1914, done by people such as Degas, Monet, Manet, Pissarro, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec. I loved it all, but one of my fave works of art was here so I was really excited: Van Gogh’s “Le Nuit Etoilee, Arles.” And the ballet series by Degas was great to see also. But then I was art-ed out, so Kate and I went to walk around the city. We decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and take some day shots, because you need shots from day and night time, obvi. It was really funny because while taking photos I had a trilingual moment in France, and none of the languages were French. There was this couple taking photos and they asked me to take a photo and I said “si” and then they asked me in Spanish if I was Spanish, Mexican, or Italian. Then I explained in a combo of Spanish and Italian about myself and we all laughed. It was so funny and my brain hurt a bit, but we all got our photos taken in our respective languages. Walking around made me quite hungry and therefore it was only fitting that Kate and me eat some crepes! Neutella crepes are HEAVENLY! They were made warm and fresh right in front of us by this street vendor and made us incredibly happy. I want more. Now warm and delish inside, we walked to l’Arc du Triomphe. It was conceived by Napoleon in 1809 (and finished in 1836 under Louis Philippe) to celebrate the imperial armies and is the world’s largest triumphal arch. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located here and we were able to see the eternal flame ceremony that night. It is a very impressive arch, and very obvi conceived by someone who has competency issues. Yummy dinner with better deserts of chocolate mousse and crème brule. Sadly there was no going out after because we were way too cold and tired.
Sunday involved one more failed attempt to go to Versailles. And when that didn’t work out Katie and I decided to wander around Paris some more. So we spent some time trying to find the Latin Quarter, which was ok. It wasn’t that impressive, and not much was open because it was a Sunday morning. I think it’s one of those places that would have been better to see at night, who knows? I was also freezing so it didn’t help me enjoy walking around much. Then we walked down the Champs Elysees and saw the super classy and expensive stores there, such as the Louis Vuitton Building! As in it was a whole building! Oh and a nice French car place, took some photos of the cars I’d like, I’m sure my dad liked those. And I had to go into the Disney store, which was so nice I might add. They even had xmas tress up and a beautiful staircase. More walking and fighting our way through the metro mobs, which resulted in us finally getting back to our hotel and not getting lost. And then we got back on the bus for 18 hours and made our way back to Florence.
Every time I leave Florence I realize how much I love it here. Today is marks the countdown: ONLY ONE MONTH LEFT IN ITALY!! I really can’t believe this. NON CI CREDO. Time has gone by so fast and I don’t want by abroad time to end, even though I miss you all dearly. I’m def going to live it up this last month, despite all of the work that I have to do. Speaking of which, I should stop blogging and actually do some work, so this will be the end of this entry. Alla prosssima.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Holy Week
So the first week of being back at school after break has come and gone, and I have to say it’s great to be back in Florence and even in class! I know I am a nerd, we all know this, so it shouldn’t be that surprising that I was happy to be back. Also I came back to a lot of happiness. On Monday and Tuesday we got back out midterms and I did really well! I mean I feel I deserved it after all of the studying I did. Basically I got all A- on my midterms except for my art history, which was a solid A. Then I found out that I was nominated for the Coluccio Salutati Award. It’s an award that Syracuse Abroad gives to 5 students at the end of the term. Each teacher can nominate up to 3 students, and then all of the nominated students have to write a paper on our experience abroad and integration into Italian culture. So I have a little less than 2 weeks to figure out what to write about and turn it in. Then they’ll announce the winners and there will be an award dealy and such. I’m still trying to figure out what to write about, it’s me, so you know it’s stressing me out a bit. This experience really has affected me, just trying to figure out how and put it into words. I’m also really excited to be nominated, hurray for being smart. I’ll get back to you on how the essay and the contest are going.
I signed up to be a part of the student volunteer program where we go into Italian elementary schools and read stories to the kids in English. Me and my friend Evie ended up being partnered together for our first reading to the kids on Wednesday. It was so much fun! We read “Because A Little Bug Went Ka-Choo” by Rosetta Stone (really a book written by Dr. Seuss but because he didn’t do the illustrations it’s not under his real name) to 12 third-graders. It was really funny acting it out and teaching them English, and their English is so good for just starting-it’s because they’re freaking sponges! Also they were so cute - when they found out I was from California they thought I was a celebrity. This reading was seriously one of the most fun times I’ve had here. I can’t wait to go again.
This week for art history we had some really cool site visits. On Tuesday we went to the Baptistery in front of the Duomo. It is seriously one of the most important Medieval sites in Florence. And the mosaics on the ceilings! So great! It also holds a relic of St. John the Baptist inside, so I guess that makes it important as well. But I also had a looking assignment about this site, which meant I had to spend a lot of time staring at the mosaics on the ceiling, not like it was torture or anything. Haha, other than a bit of a crick in my neck, it was well worth it to stair at it for hours. Then on Thursday we went to the Church of Santa Croce, but I sadly forgot my camera, which means I will need to go back for photos. Let’s just put it this way, this church is like the who’s who of art. You have frescos by Giotto, Michelangelo is buried there (because the Florentines stole his body in the middle of the night, which is still cause for some tension in italy, but oh well), and so much more! Don’t worry, I’ll go back and get lots of photos.
And the highlight of the week was the weekend: 2 whole days in La Città Eterna, also know as Rome. Yes, this was my second trip to Rome, but my first one was only for 8 hours with Art History. Both trips were definitely necessary because you can’t see it all in just one trip. On Friday we headed out from Florence on the train to Rome. Funny story: there was a general strike in the transportation department in Italy on Friday. So there was only one train we could take because the strike started at 9am and we just made it. But when we got off the train in Rome and onto our private bus (thankfully they were not on strike) we ran into a mass demonstration and traffic congestion. Oh what a way to start the day. Once we made it through the congestion in the main part of the city, we headed to The Vatican! I cannot even express how excited I was to visit! First off gorgeous art and architecture, um lots of history, and I’m Catholic, need I say more? It was like everything I love all in one place. Another great aspect of the weekend, I had the two best tour guides leading us around! Not exaggerating they were the best I have lead me and I don’t think they can be topped. Our first guide was a rather young prof who used to work with Syracuse but now teaches at another university, let me just quote him and you will understand why I thought he was great: “Stick with me guys, and by the end of this trip, you’ll never loose another game of trivial pursuit again.” Exactly. The guy was baller. So he took us around the Vatican Museums talking about the different Ninja Turtles, I mean painters of history. Leonardo was an old man, Michelangelo was pissy and had the hormones of a women, and Rafael was a pimp. It makes more sense in context of the lecture. Then we saw the original marble Loacoon (the original bronze which it was based off of was destroyed) and it was just amazing!! I love this piece and it was also on my art history midterm, so I know a bit about it. Lots of frescos, more sculpture, and finally the Sistine Chapel! It was different that what I expected but still breath-taking. I saw the most famous ceiling in the world! It takes a while to sink in. Also, for those of you who ever wondered why the Sistine Chapel is shaped so funny, it’s actually an exact replica, pulled from the dimensions in the Bible, of the Temple of King Solomon. Then the trip got even better and more surreal: St. Peter’s Basilica!! This would be the grandest Christian church in the entire world, and while I believed this, I still wondered how could they make this statement. Granted St. Peter is buried under, and religiously this claim is true, but how can you back that up architecturally and with art? Um go inside and you’ll see that this claim holds true for a reason. I couldn’t even speak inside, so I have no idea how to describe it in words right now. I am just really happy that I was able to go for so many reasons. It is beautiful with so much history and it one of the two most important sites of Christians in the world, the other would be the old site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcure in Jerusalem (which is still on my to see list). Inside there is Michelangelo’s most famous Pietà and Bernini’s alter piece. The whole church is beautiful and I still can’t believe I was there. I definitely felt at piece and got some nice soul cleaning/pilgrim-aging done, thanks Catholicism. Afterwards we went to one more church, St. Peter in Chains. At this church is the famous statue of Moses with horns by Michelangelo, also the relic of the chains. Not quite sure of the real story of the chains, but I’ll look into it. Then we were free for the night. Checked into the hotel and went to dinner. Obvi since I was in Rome I had to have pasta carbonara, which is a traditional Roman dish. After dinner Ashley, Becca, Allie, Evan, and I did some exploring of the eternal city. Rome is so gorgeous all the time. We ended up at the Trevi Fountain, thinking that since it was nighttime that the tourists wouldn’t be there. Well we forgot that Friday night is a date night and that the Trevi Fountain at night it kind of romantic. So the answer was yes, lots of tourists, but less than there would have been if it were daytime. It was a great idea to go at night though because the lighting around the fountain was so beautiful, and quite understandable why there were so many couples there. I really liked the older couples, one of whom I took their photo in front of the fountain. They were just so cute and in love after so many years of marriage, that it gave me hope that marriage can last a lifetime. L’amore non capisco ma la vorrei. Then we threw coins into the fountain and made our wishes. Not going to say, or type, what they were because then it won’t come true. Then we decided that the night and day for that matter had been way too profound and deep, so we took silly pictures of us pretending to fall into the fountain. There was going to be gladiator photos, but it was way too cold to risk actually falling into the water and having to walk back to the hotel.
Then on Saturday was the ancient part of the trip. Today we were lead by Rocky who was the other half of the amazing tour guide team. I seriously want a job like his when I’m in grad school: research, ta, lead walking tours and talk about history in Italy. Seriously, I am considering this. Well we went to the Colosseum and he explained how the movie Gladiator has made his job so much easier. The history of ancient Rome and the parallelisms to modern USA is really scary, so when the exotic animals start arriving I’m getting out of there. Oh America, why must you be ignorant of history? Then we walked through the Roman Forum and got some more history fun facts, namely how the current problems in the middle east, specifically relating to Israel, all began with the Romans. Great, thanks guys, thanks for starting all of these problems back in the first century AD! Stupid men with swords! There were lots of triumphal arches, the remains of the Basilica of Constantine (which apparently the only time when it is appropriate now to use the word ‘awesome’), and the history of the founding of Rome. My favorite part was the lecture on Cesar and the general ridiculousness of his empire expansion. Then we walked down Capitoline Hill and saw a wedding getting started. After was the Pantheon again, except this time there was no rain. So I have now seen it in both weathers, but I have to say outside is better in the sun, and inside is better in the rain. I mean how many people can say they saw it rain in the Pantheon (there is a giant hole in the ceiling, called an oculus, and it does rain inside-really pretty)? Once we were done at the Pantheon, the guided part of the trip was over and we were free to go out on our own. So lunch and then back to Della Palma (the great gelato place with over 100 flavors that I promised to go back to). Then we just walked around the city, and visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which dwarfs the one in Arlington, Virginia. Afterwards we got back on a train and headed home to Florence. This weekend was amazing and I am looking forward to next weekend = PARIS, FRANCE! But now I have a bit of homework that needs to be taken care of. Alla prossima.
I signed up to be a part of the student volunteer program where we go into Italian elementary schools and read stories to the kids in English. Me and my friend Evie ended up being partnered together for our first reading to the kids on Wednesday. It was so much fun! We read “Because A Little Bug Went Ka-Choo” by Rosetta Stone (really a book written by Dr. Seuss but because he didn’t do the illustrations it’s not under his real name) to 12 third-graders. It was really funny acting it out and teaching them English, and their English is so good for just starting-it’s because they’re freaking sponges! Also they were so cute - when they found out I was from California they thought I was a celebrity. This reading was seriously one of the most fun times I’ve had here. I can’t wait to go again.
This week for art history we had some really cool site visits. On Tuesday we went to the Baptistery in front of the Duomo. It is seriously one of the most important Medieval sites in Florence. And the mosaics on the ceilings! So great! It also holds a relic of St. John the Baptist inside, so I guess that makes it important as well. But I also had a looking assignment about this site, which meant I had to spend a lot of time staring at the mosaics on the ceiling, not like it was torture or anything. Haha, other than a bit of a crick in my neck, it was well worth it to stair at it for hours. Then on Thursday we went to the Church of Santa Croce, but I sadly forgot my camera, which means I will need to go back for photos. Let’s just put it this way, this church is like the who’s who of art. You have frescos by Giotto, Michelangelo is buried there (because the Florentines stole his body in the middle of the night, which is still cause for some tension in italy, but oh well), and so much more! Don’t worry, I’ll go back and get lots of photos.
And the highlight of the week was the weekend: 2 whole days in La Città Eterna, also know as Rome. Yes, this was my second trip to Rome, but my first one was only for 8 hours with Art History. Both trips were definitely necessary because you can’t see it all in just one trip. On Friday we headed out from Florence on the train to Rome. Funny story: there was a general strike in the transportation department in Italy on Friday. So there was only one train we could take because the strike started at 9am and we just made it. But when we got off the train in Rome and onto our private bus (thankfully they were not on strike) we ran into a mass demonstration and traffic congestion. Oh what a way to start the day. Once we made it through the congestion in the main part of the city, we headed to The Vatican! I cannot even express how excited I was to visit! First off gorgeous art and architecture, um lots of history, and I’m Catholic, need I say more? It was like everything I love all in one place. Another great aspect of the weekend, I had the two best tour guides leading us around! Not exaggerating they were the best I have lead me and I don’t think they can be topped. Our first guide was a rather young prof who used to work with Syracuse but now teaches at another university, let me just quote him and you will understand why I thought he was great: “Stick with me guys, and by the end of this trip, you’ll never loose another game of trivial pursuit again.” Exactly. The guy was baller. So he took us around the Vatican Museums talking about the different Ninja Turtles, I mean painters of history. Leonardo was an old man, Michelangelo was pissy and had the hormones of a women, and Rafael was a pimp. It makes more sense in context of the lecture. Then we saw the original marble Loacoon (the original bronze which it was based off of was destroyed) and it was just amazing!! I love this piece and it was also on my art history midterm, so I know a bit about it. Lots of frescos, more sculpture, and finally the Sistine Chapel! It was different that what I expected but still breath-taking. I saw the most famous ceiling in the world! It takes a while to sink in. Also, for those of you who ever wondered why the Sistine Chapel is shaped so funny, it’s actually an exact replica, pulled from the dimensions in the Bible, of the Temple of King Solomon. Then the trip got even better and more surreal: St. Peter’s Basilica!! This would be the grandest Christian church in the entire world, and while I believed this, I still wondered how could they make this statement. Granted St. Peter is buried under, and religiously this claim is true, but how can you back that up architecturally and with art? Um go inside and you’ll see that this claim holds true for a reason. I couldn’t even speak inside, so I have no idea how to describe it in words right now. I am just really happy that I was able to go for so many reasons. It is beautiful with so much history and it one of the two most important sites of Christians in the world, the other would be the old site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcure in Jerusalem (which is still on my to see list). Inside there is Michelangelo’s most famous Pietà and Bernini’s alter piece. The whole church is beautiful and I still can’t believe I was there. I definitely felt at piece and got some nice soul cleaning/pilgrim-aging done, thanks Catholicism. Afterwards we went to one more church, St. Peter in Chains. At this church is the famous statue of Moses with horns by Michelangelo, also the relic of the chains. Not quite sure of the real story of the chains, but I’ll look into it. Then we were free for the night. Checked into the hotel and went to dinner. Obvi since I was in Rome I had to have pasta carbonara, which is a traditional Roman dish. After dinner Ashley, Becca, Allie, Evan, and I did some exploring of the eternal city. Rome is so gorgeous all the time. We ended up at the Trevi Fountain, thinking that since it was nighttime that the tourists wouldn’t be there. Well we forgot that Friday night is a date night and that the Trevi Fountain at night it kind of romantic. So the answer was yes, lots of tourists, but less than there would have been if it were daytime. It was a great idea to go at night though because the lighting around the fountain was so beautiful, and quite understandable why there were so many couples there. I really liked the older couples, one of whom I took their photo in front of the fountain. They were just so cute and in love after so many years of marriage, that it gave me hope that marriage can last a lifetime. L’amore non capisco ma la vorrei. Then we threw coins into the fountain and made our wishes. Not going to say, or type, what they were because then it won’t come true. Then we decided that the night and day for that matter had been way too profound and deep, so we took silly pictures of us pretending to fall into the fountain. There was going to be gladiator photos, but it was way too cold to risk actually falling into the water and having to walk back to the hotel.
Then on Saturday was the ancient part of the trip. Today we were lead by Rocky who was the other half of the amazing tour guide team. I seriously want a job like his when I’m in grad school: research, ta, lead walking tours and talk about history in Italy. Seriously, I am considering this. Well we went to the Colosseum and he explained how the movie Gladiator has made his job so much easier. The history of ancient Rome and the parallelisms to modern USA is really scary, so when the exotic animals start arriving I’m getting out of there. Oh America, why must you be ignorant of history? Then we walked through the Roman Forum and got some more history fun facts, namely how the current problems in the middle east, specifically relating to Israel, all began with the Romans. Great, thanks guys, thanks for starting all of these problems back in the first century AD! Stupid men with swords! There were lots of triumphal arches, the remains of the Basilica of Constantine (which apparently the only time when it is appropriate now to use the word ‘awesome’), and the history of the founding of Rome. My favorite part was the lecture on Cesar and the general ridiculousness of his empire expansion. Then we walked down Capitoline Hill and saw a wedding getting started. After was the Pantheon again, except this time there was no rain. So I have now seen it in both weathers, but I have to say outside is better in the sun, and inside is better in the rain. I mean how many people can say they saw it rain in the Pantheon (there is a giant hole in the ceiling, called an oculus, and it does rain inside-really pretty)? Once we were done at the Pantheon, the guided part of the trip was over and we were free to go out on our own. So lunch and then back to Della Palma (the great gelato place with over 100 flavors that I promised to go back to). Then we just walked around the city, and visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which dwarfs the one in Arlington, Virginia. Afterwards we got back on a train and headed home to Florence. This weekend was amazing and I am looking forward to next weekend = PARIS, FRANCE! But now I have a bit of homework that needs to be taken care of. Alla prossima.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Fall Break
I apologize for not updating the blog in a while, so I shall now write the longest one yet to make up for it. Midterms consumed a large part of my life up until break. They were killer, not for being uber hard, but for just being so time consuming. I mean all of the studying and for a test that takes less than 2 hours? Cruel isn’t it. But as a reward for getting through the first half of the semester and memorizing the titles and dates of papal bulls in Latin and way too much art I got fall break.
Friday, October 26th
Well it all started with a 445 am taxi ride from my house to the train station because no buses run at that time, lame. So I get to the train station to catch a special bus that will take me to the Florence Airport, and chill outside the gate and eat breakfast. I think I would have looked super sketchy if I did not look so nerdy (I was reading some of the Iliad while I waited for the place to open up). Then involved some running around in my kitten-heeled boots, which just resulted in me winding up in the same spot, I was earlier. So the bus depot finally opened and they said the bus I needed wasn’t going to get there in time for me to get on my plane. Right, not good. They flyers totally lied to me. So small bit of a panic because the airport is unwalkable, and I have only been there once, ie the day we flew in. But then as luck would have it there were two other students at he depot with the same problem as me. One was this younger girl who was from Santa Cruz and studying in London, and the other was this cute guy who’s in the NYU program in Florence. Me being the crafty one that I am took charge and decided that we should spit a cab. Thus we all made it to the airport in time to make all of our flights.
I arrived in Gatwick Airport and after a long time is customs and passport checking I made my way to the train station and rode to Brighton where I met Norm! Despite the muggy, semi-rainy ride, the English countryside looked amazing! I was also watching Pride and Prejudice on my computer and pretending I was in the movie as I traveled in England. So Norm and me went to Lewis and played in a castle that reminded me of one from Lord of the Rings. And because we’re basically 7 we lucked out and found a dress up room, meant for children but whatev. Which meant medieval photo shoot. Then her, her friend Mark, and I ate yummy traditional cornwall pasties and milkshakes.
I stayed at her flat while I was in Brighton/Sussex and met her flat mates. One of them was an American student named Christine who is really cool and she helped show me around England.
Saturday, October 27th
Norm, Christine, and I went with their school on a tour of the Sussex countryside. First we saw the chalk cliffs, which is wear they filmed a few scenes from the recent Pride and Prejudice with Kira Knightly. Then we went to another town that was a beach resort, very different yet similar to Coronado by San Diego. It reminded me of that quote from Austin Powers, “It’s remarkable how much the English countryside looks in no way like southern California.” Then we went to Pevensey Castle, which sis oh only 1,500 years old. And to honor this very old and historical site it was only fitting that we did cartwheels and unexpected piggyback rides. To class it up, afterwards we went to tea. It was a really cute place in a very nice garden. But I felt bad because I am just not a fan of tea. I did try a cup but I was more a fan of the scones. Scones with clotted cream and jam made my day. You think oh those things are jus tiny muffins, so prob. Yeah 2 scones equals a meal that makes you full for days. But they were so worth it.
Sunday, October 28th
Girls in any city and no school means one thing, shopping! So we headed to the local mall (which I miss because we do not have malls in Florence, or really in Italy at all). There were antics and fun to be had in the toy store and the Virgin Mega store. If I had any doubt to where I was, the toy store made sure I knew. Oh England, only you would have soccer team versions of Monopoly! Then the three of us went to a pub for fish and chips. Well they had fish and chips, but since I do not eat much fish, I had a potpie and chips (still very traditional). Then we tried Banofie pie! Seriously, if you ever have a chance to try it you should. It’s the pie that Kira Knightly is eating in Love Actually when she goes to the guy’s apartment to get the wedding tape. Yes we are nerds but it made us try it and it was so worth it.
Monday, October 29th
School was in session for them today, so it was a chill at the flat day. Catch up on sleep and movie trailers on apple.com. But there was a lovely bonding time over Wayne’s World (crazy Americanz).
Tuesday, October 30th
I left Brighton and headed off to Oxford. It was actually really simple, because I ended up taking a different train than I had planned on taking, and it went straight without any changing of trains. Hurray no connecting! So I met up with my friend Hilary and stayed with her in her flat. We then walked around Oxford’s center and saw some of the many colleges, and we were able to go in and see Exeter. Then we decided to climb Oxford’s Oldest Building-the Saxon Tower of St. Michael at North Gate. From outside it seriously didn’t look that bad. But to climb the sucker you have to go up this creaky wrapping stairs inside the tower and once I got higher than the bells I started to freak out a bit. But I did it! And the view at the top was great. We could see around the entire city and got to see the sun setting.
Later I met up with Maxwell and we went out for pub food. Let’s just say that my bread was the best part of my dinner. But after we explored some more of Oxford. I got to see the Pomona room and where they all were going to school. Then Maxwell and I tried to get into Christ’s Church but it was closed. So then we pretended to be juvenile delinquents and break into the gates. For those of you who do not know, the campus of Christ’s Church is where they film parts of the Harry Potter movies and have some nice rugby fields as well.
Wednesday, October 31st
Hilary and me took a day trip and went into London. It was weird to be back in the city so soon. I had traveled there about 4 years ago and I didn’t think I would be back to London so soon. We walked around and I took photos of all the theaters and went into musical theater heaven. So we decided to see a show, thank you discount ticket booth! We got tickets to see We Will Rock You (a musical set to the music of Queen). It was seriously great. On Halloween I saw a musical about rock and roll with a bunch of people in crazy costumes. Plus I knew most of the songs and rocked out in my seat. And the lead guy, named Galileo Figaro (haha Bohemian Rhapsody), was such a good singer and very cute. I also saw London’s replica of the Cheers bar (based on the tv show) but we didn’t have time to go in, so I just took a quick photo. When the show was over, Hil and I decided that no trip to London was complete without a stop at Harrods’s. Plus she had never been there before. I know it’s super touristy, but when I went before it was blast. So we walked around the huge store and got lost trying to find the ice cream place. But once we did I laughed because I didn’t remember it was a gelateria. I felt like I was home with all the workers there speaking Italian. Our server was hitting on Hilary and it was just like I was back in Italy. A great dinner, she had a malted milkshake and I had a banana split. Our server made fun of us and called us Americans, and then I sassed him in Italian. It was a very good Halloween. Plus we saw little kids in costumes around the store – super cute.
Thursday, November 1st
So this is the story you all have been waiting for you, and you were all right. I mean come on, it’s me and my life. Of course I have to have a ridiculous travel story-everything was going way too well for my won luck. So I got up really early and caught this special bus that took me from Oxford to Gatwick airport. So I get on the bus and try to pay my 18 pound like it said on the website. But the driver says it’s more and I didn’t have enough money. Well he drove one stop and then told me to get off and get some money from the atm., which I was glad about because I thought he was going to just kick me off the bus. So once that was all settles a slept because that’s what I like to do at 5 am. Then we arrived at Gatwick and I made my way to the terminal, only to discover there are 2 really big ones and I didn’t know which one I was supposed to be at. Upon realizing this I flagged down the first official looking person I saw and asked him where I was supposed to be. And of course it was the other terminal, which required me to get on a train to get to it. Now in the correct terminal, I make my way to the check in desk of my airline only to find out that my flight has been delayed, oh until…they were not sure yet. What?! Yes. They told me to check back in a few hours, which brought about a small panic attack. But then I decided why bother freaking out, and to just enjoy the time I had. So I treated myself to a nice sit down breakfast in the airport, and tried slow food. But it was breakfast and you really can’t drag that meal out too long without multiple coffees, which I don’t drink. Afterwards, I walked around the terminal for a few hours. Did the usual stuff, window shopped at the nine west shoe store, contemplated buying some duty free Hugo Boss fragrance, really just cause Jonathan Rice Myers was advertising it. Then came post card writing time and then book reading time. Honestly I just wanted to sleep but I was too afraid to cause I was alone. After more time had passed, I tried again and was finally able to check in. But that took forever, as well as security, because it’s London, and I was going to Spain, which apparently means I need extra screening? Seriously people, how threatening do I really look? I’m a sleep deprived college kid on vacation, just let me get on the plane. And at this point marks the beginning of my brain hurting due to the use of 3 languages.
After I do not want to think about how many hours I got on the plane and I was ready to just get out of there. And then my heart broke when I heard that due to heavy congestion, we’re just going to have to chill in the plane for another 30 to 45 minutes before we can actually take off. Thankfully, I bought the latest COSMO and distracted myself in the glory that is COSMO (which I truly appreciate now that I have been without it, Calli you win). But on a bright note, I now know the safety measures for plane travel in three languages. Well we finally land in Spain and I think, great. My ridic story is over. And as if on cue, God goes, OH NO, NOT SO FAST.
Well I get off the plane and into the terminal where I almost gag. Apparently there are smoking sections of the Madrid Airport and I came out right into it. So gross. Next up, find the metro to get to Iris. Seems simple enough. I mean, I can read the signs in Spanish, I understand what people are saying, and am only fumbling my words a bit, speaking Spaniano (Spanish and Italian). I’m trying to find an atm to get euro to get a ticket so I can get on the metro. But the atm that accepts my visa and non-Spain card, is broken. So I have to go to another terminal and once again, huge airports. Finally find atm and get cash, but am so turned around that I don’t know where I am. Which begets me having to find information people and ask where I am and how to get to the metro. Well I finally get to the metro, and get all my ticket stuff taken care of and get on the train. I do a pretty good job of getting to Avenida de America without getting turned around too much, and then set out to find Iris at the station. Well the station is multi leveled and I wasn’t quite sure where to meet her. The main problem was I had her wrong number and she didn’t get the message that my flight was delayed, so we’re quite off on our meeting times. Needless to say, I’m freaking out cause I have no idea where I am or she is and I wander around the station for about an hour and a half. To make a long story short, we eventually get in touch with each other and I make my way to her apartment. This was seriously the most ridiculous travel day of my life! From there we chill at her apartment and rest until Kayla comes in later that night.
Friday, November 2nd
The three of us head out to get some culture, so we decided to go to the Reina Sofia. The lines to get into the museum were so long because it was discounted at some and free at others. And as we are waiting in line this news crew comes up and starts interviewing these ladies in front of us. They were visiting from Portugal and he was just asking them questions, and then guess what? He asks if he can interview us! So Iris mainly talks in Spanish about what the painting Guernica is about, and she sounded awesome for the record. Then he asked me how I liked Madrid, and I said how it was very different from Italy and what I liked about it. I think I spoke mostly in Spanish, I know I did fumble a bit in my prepositions, but oh well. It was really cool to be on the news, but we didn’t get to see it on air cause we missed it. I enjoyed seeing the museum thought. Lots of cool works like Picasso’s Gernica, La Bouteille d’Anis by Juan Gris, and Dali’s El Gran Masturbador. So much art and so little time. We had some delicious Cuban food for lunch. I know Cuban food in Spain? But it was worth it and it inspired us for something we did tomorrow. Then we went to the Royal Palace of Madrid and wished we were rich and lived there. I’d have to say the best part was naming the rooms that we went though. They were so lavish and over the top it was ridiculous.
For dinner that night it was tapa night. So all of us students from all over the globe, made lots of tapas. I swear I felt like I was in the movie L’Auberge Espagnole. We had so many different people there and so many languages going on, like Spanish, French, Italian, German, on and a bit of English as well, lol. Well making tapas was so fun, even though me and one of the guys were chopping potatoes while on our knees in the entry room (yeah Iris I brought it up again). Then all of us ate and watched youtube. Amazing and mature of us. Despues, we went to a club/bar thing. Yes, my first club/bar thingy!! But it was crowded and kind of a bust, but now I can say I have gone.
Saturday, November 3rd
So because the lines were so long, we didn’t make it to all of the museums we wanted to go to the other day. We woke up early and made a big old picnic lunch, and went to the Prado to stand in line. It was seriously a smart idea because we were in a huge line and having our food kept us from buying from those savvy venders. The Prado had so many exhibits that I was just overwhelmed. We saw the famous works from Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, and so many more. I won’t bother to name all the works I saw, but they were great and I’m glad we had a trusty handheld guide. Some shopping, which brought about me finally getting my very own Spanish National Team Soccer Jersey, personalized with Torres’ name and number on it. Goal met!
And then, heaven. We made fried plantains! Thank you Cuban restaurant. But then we rolled ours in cinnamon and sugar, and had some gelato and nutella as well. Oh so fat and so much eating of our feelings, but so worth it. Then we did the other thing I knew I had to do before I left Spain, SNAGRIA. It was good, but sad to say had not actual fruit pieces in it and wasn’t really that that good. But hey I did it, and that’s all that counts. After we went to some clubs, but I was a bit of a downer cause I just can’t function with all of that smoke and in hot non-ventilated rooms. I just hate smoke and I reeked of it. We caught the partita on the tv: Real Madrid v. Sevilla. It was cool to be around all the fans, but sadly Madrid lost.
Sunday, November 4th
Last day of break, and so tired. We went to a huge outdoor market and walked around for a while. We ended up buying the soccer scarves for our teams. Iris and Kayla bought Atletico Madrid ones because they went to the game Sunday night. Sadly I had already booked my flight and I wasn’t able to go. Instead I bought myself a Spanish National Team scarf to match my jersey, so I’m set for games from now on. I still need to get them for Italy as well, it’s all on my to do list. After the market I headed out on the train and made my way to the airport. I was quite proud that I made it from the apartment to the airport without getting lost. Hey it was a big accomplishment for me. Then it was just getting on a plane and getting back home to Italy.
I truly enjoyed traveling around and thanks to all of you who hosted me and let me stay with you. I am truly thankful for you showing me around and I had a blast! This break really taught me that I am fine on my own, and despite certain setbacks, things work out in the end: this is my new life motto. Yes it’s worrisome and stressful or scary at times, but the memories made make it all worth it.
I also learned that I made the right choice in studying in Italy. As great as all the other places have been, Italy has become my second home. I began to miss it while I was visiting other places, and just the way of life here. It was very nice to hear Italian being spoken when I got off the last plane, like that relief you get when you hear familiar voices.
Also, now know that my brain can function in 3 languages, and am ready to go back to school and take Italian and Spanish at the same time. It was frustrating to know the word in one language and not the other, so I really just want to get better at both of them. Plus they both came in really handy while I was traveling.
School is back in session and that means, more school trips! This weekend is the longer trip to Rome. We’re going to the more famous sites this time, like the Coliseum, and wait for it…The Vatican! You know I am excited for this trip. Well I would be more excited if I was going into the Vatican Archives (which is my life’s goal), but I’m saving that for another trip. Alla Prossima.
Friday, October 26th
Well it all started with a 445 am taxi ride from my house to the train station because no buses run at that time, lame. So I get to the train station to catch a special bus that will take me to the Florence Airport, and chill outside the gate and eat breakfast. I think I would have looked super sketchy if I did not look so nerdy (I was reading some of the Iliad while I waited for the place to open up). Then involved some running around in my kitten-heeled boots, which just resulted in me winding up in the same spot, I was earlier. So the bus depot finally opened and they said the bus I needed wasn’t going to get there in time for me to get on my plane. Right, not good. They flyers totally lied to me. So small bit of a panic because the airport is unwalkable, and I have only been there once, ie the day we flew in. But then as luck would have it there were two other students at he depot with the same problem as me. One was this younger girl who was from Santa Cruz and studying in London, and the other was this cute guy who’s in the NYU program in Florence. Me being the crafty one that I am took charge and decided that we should spit a cab. Thus we all made it to the airport in time to make all of our flights.
I arrived in Gatwick Airport and after a long time is customs and passport checking I made my way to the train station and rode to Brighton where I met Norm! Despite the muggy, semi-rainy ride, the English countryside looked amazing! I was also watching Pride and Prejudice on my computer and pretending I was in the movie as I traveled in England. So Norm and me went to Lewis and played in a castle that reminded me of one from Lord of the Rings. And because we’re basically 7 we lucked out and found a dress up room, meant for children but whatev. Which meant medieval photo shoot. Then her, her friend Mark, and I ate yummy traditional cornwall pasties and milkshakes.
I stayed at her flat while I was in Brighton/Sussex and met her flat mates. One of them was an American student named Christine who is really cool and she helped show me around England.
Saturday, October 27th
Norm, Christine, and I went with their school on a tour of the Sussex countryside. First we saw the chalk cliffs, which is wear they filmed a few scenes from the recent Pride and Prejudice with Kira Knightly. Then we went to another town that was a beach resort, very different yet similar to Coronado by San Diego. It reminded me of that quote from Austin Powers, “It’s remarkable how much the English countryside looks in no way like southern California.” Then we went to Pevensey Castle, which sis oh only 1,500 years old. And to honor this very old and historical site it was only fitting that we did cartwheels and unexpected piggyback rides. To class it up, afterwards we went to tea. It was a really cute place in a very nice garden. But I felt bad because I am just not a fan of tea. I did try a cup but I was more a fan of the scones. Scones with clotted cream and jam made my day. You think oh those things are jus tiny muffins, so prob. Yeah 2 scones equals a meal that makes you full for days. But they were so worth it.
Sunday, October 28th
Girls in any city and no school means one thing, shopping! So we headed to the local mall (which I miss because we do not have malls in Florence, or really in Italy at all). There were antics and fun to be had in the toy store and the Virgin Mega store. If I had any doubt to where I was, the toy store made sure I knew. Oh England, only you would have soccer team versions of Monopoly! Then the three of us went to a pub for fish and chips. Well they had fish and chips, but since I do not eat much fish, I had a potpie and chips (still very traditional). Then we tried Banofie pie! Seriously, if you ever have a chance to try it you should. It’s the pie that Kira Knightly is eating in Love Actually when she goes to the guy’s apartment to get the wedding tape. Yes we are nerds but it made us try it and it was so worth it.
Monday, October 29th
School was in session for them today, so it was a chill at the flat day. Catch up on sleep and movie trailers on apple.com. But there was a lovely bonding time over Wayne’s World (crazy Americanz).
Tuesday, October 30th
I left Brighton and headed off to Oxford. It was actually really simple, because I ended up taking a different train than I had planned on taking, and it went straight without any changing of trains. Hurray no connecting! So I met up with my friend Hilary and stayed with her in her flat. We then walked around Oxford’s center and saw some of the many colleges, and we were able to go in and see Exeter. Then we decided to climb Oxford’s Oldest Building-the Saxon Tower of St. Michael at North Gate. From outside it seriously didn’t look that bad. But to climb the sucker you have to go up this creaky wrapping stairs inside the tower and once I got higher than the bells I started to freak out a bit. But I did it! And the view at the top was great. We could see around the entire city and got to see the sun setting.
Later I met up with Maxwell and we went out for pub food. Let’s just say that my bread was the best part of my dinner. But after we explored some more of Oxford. I got to see the Pomona room and where they all were going to school. Then Maxwell and I tried to get into Christ’s Church but it was closed. So then we pretended to be juvenile delinquents and break into the gates. For those of you who do not know, the campus of Christ’s Church is where they film parts of the Harry Potter movies and have some nice rugby fields as well.
Wednesday, October 31st
Hilary and me took a day trip and went into London. It was weird to be back in the city so soon. I had traveled there about 4 years ago and I didn’t think I would be back to London so soon. We walked around and I took photos of all the theaters and went into musical theater heaven. So we decided to see a show, thank you discount ticket booth! We got tickets to see We Will Rock You (a musical set to the music of Queen). It was seriously great. On Halloween I saw a musical about rock and roll with a bunch of people in crazy costumes. Plus I knew most of the songs and rocked out in my seat. And the lead guy, named Galileo Figaro (haha Bohemian Rhapsody), was such a good singer and very cute. I also saw London’s replica of the Cheers bar (based on the tv show) but we didn’t have time to go in, so I just took a quick photo. When the show was over, Hil and I decided that no trip to London was complete without a stop at Harrods’s. Plus she had never been there before. I know it’s super touristy, but when I went before it was blast. So we walked around the huge store and got lost trying to find the ice cream place. But once we did I laughed because I didn’t remember it was a gelateria. I felt like I was home with all the workers there speaking Italian. Our server was hitting on Hilary and it was just like I was back in Italy. A great dinner, she had a malted milkshake and I had a banana split. Our server made fun of us and called us Americans, and then I sassed him in Italian. It was a very good Halloween. Plus we saw little kids in costumes around the store – super cute.
Thursday, November 1st
So this is the story you all have been waiting for you, and you were all right. I mean come on, it’s me and my life. Of course I have to have a ridiculous travel story-everything was going way too well for my won luck. So I got up really early and caught this special bus that took me from Oxford to Gatwick airport. So I get on the bus and try to pay my 18 pound like it said on the website. But the driver says it’s more and I didn’t have enough money. Well he drove one stop and then told me to get off and get some money from the atm., which I was glad about because I thought he was going to just kick me off the bus. So once that was all settles a slept because that’s what I like to do at 5 am. Then we arrived at Gatwick and I made my way to the terminal, only to discover there are 2 really big ones and I didn’t know which one I was supposed to be at. Upon realizing this I flagged down the first official looking person I saw and asked him where I was supposed to be. And of course it was the other terminal, which required me to get on a train to get to it. Now in the correct terminal, I make my way to the check in desk of my airline only to find out that my flight has been delayed, oh until…they were not sure yet. What?! Yes. They told me to check back in a few hours, which brought about a small panic attack. But then I decided why bother freaking out, and to just enjoy the time I had. So I treated myself to a nice sit down breakfast in the airport, and tried slow food. But it was breakfast and you really can’t drag that meal out too long without multiple coffees, which I don’t drink. Afterwards, I walked around the terminal for a few hours. Did the usual stuff, window shopped at the nine west shoe store, contemplated buying some duty free Hugo Boss fragrance, really just cause Jonathan Rice Myers was advertising it. Then came post card writing time and then book reading time. Honestly I just wanted to sleep but I was too afraid to cause I was alone. After more time had passed, I tried again and was finally able to check in. But that took forever, as well as security, because it’s London, and I was going to Spain, which apparently means I need extra screening? Seriously people, how threatening do I really look? I’m a sleep deprived college kid on vacation, just let me get on the plane. And at this point marks the beginning of my brain hurting due to the use of 3 languages.
After I do not want to think about how many hours I got on the plane and I was ready to just get out of there. And then my heart broke when I heard that due to heavy congestion, we’re just going to have to chill in the plane for another 30 to 45 minutes before we can actually take off. Thankfully, I bought the latest COSMO and distracted myself in the glory that is COSMO (which I truly appreciate now that I have been without it, Calli you win). But on a bright note, I now know the safety measures for plane travel in three languages. Well we finally land in Spain and I think, great. My ridic story is over. And as if on cue, God goes, OH NO, NOT SO FAST.
Well I get off the plane and into the terminal where I almost gag. Apparently there are smoking sections of the Madrid Airport and I came out right into it. So gross. Next up, find the metro to get to Iris. Seems simple enough. I mean, I can read the signs in Spanish, I understand what people are saying, and am only fumbling my words a bit, speaking Spaniano (Spanish and Italian). I’m trying to find an atm to get euro to get a ticket so I can get on the metro. But the atm that accepts my visa and non-Spain card, is broken. So I have to go to another terminal and once again, huge airports. Finally find atm and get cash, but am so turned around that I don’t know where I am. Which begets me having to find information people and ask where I am and how to get to the metro. Well I finally get to the metro, and get all my ticket stuff taken care of and get on the train. I do a pretty good job of getting to Avenida de America without getting turned around too much, and then set out to find Iris at the station. Well the station is multi leveled and I wasn’t quite sure where to meet her. The main problem was I had her wrong number and she didn’t get the message that my flight was delayed, so we’re quite off on our meeting times. Needless to say, I’m freaking out cause I have no idea where I am or she is and I wander around the station for about an hour and a half. To make a long story short, we eventually get in touch with each other and I make my way to her apartment. This was seriously the most ridiculous travel day of my life! From there we chill at her apartment and rest until Kayla comes in later that night.
Friday, November 2nd
The three of us head out to get some culture, so we decided to go to the Reina Sofia. The lines to get into the museum were so long because it was discounted at some and free at others. And as we are waiting in line this news crew comes up and starts interviewing these ladies in front of us. They were visiting from Portugal and he was just asking them questions, and then guess what? He asks if he can interview us! So Iris mainly talks in Spanish about what the painting Guernica is about, and she sounded awesome for the record. Then he asked me how I liked Madrid, and I said how it was very different from Italy and what I liked about it. I think I spoke mostly in Spanish, I know I did fumble a bit in my prepositions, but oh well. It was really cool to be on the news, but we didn’t get to see it on air cause we missed it. I enjoyed seeing the museum thought. Lots of cool works like Picasso’s Gernica, La Bouteille d’Anis by Juan Gris, and Dali’s El Gran Masturbador. So much art and so little time. We had some delicious Cuban food for lunch. I know Cuban food in Spain? But it was worth it and it inspired us for something we did tomorrow. Then we went to the Royal Palace of Madrid and wished we were rich and lived there. I’d have to say the best part was naming the rooms that we went though. They were so lavish and over the top it was ridiculous.
For dinner that night it was tapa night. So all of us students from all over the globe, made lots of tapas. I swear I felt like I was in the movie L’Auberge Espagnole. We had so many different people there and so many languages going on, like Spanish, French, Italian, German, on and a bit of English as well, lol. Well making tapas was so fun, even though me and one of the guys were chopping potatoes while on our knees in the entry room (yeah Iris I brought it up again). Then all of us ate and watched youtube. Amazing and mature of us. Despues, we went to a club/bar thing. Yes, my first club/bar thingy!! But it was crowded and kind of a bust, but now I can say I have gone.
Saturday, November 3rd
So because the lines were so long, we didn’t make it to all of the museums we wanted to go to the other day. We woke up early and made a big old picnic lunch, and went to the Prado to stand in line. It was seriously a smart idea because we were in a huge line and having our food kept us from buying from those savvy venders. The Prado had so many exhibits that I was just overwhelmed. We saw the famous works from Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, and so many more. I won’t bother to name all the works I saw, but they were great and I’m glad we had a trusty handheld guide. Some shopping, which brought about me finally getting my very own Spanish National Team Soccer Jersey, personalized with Torres’ name and number on it. Goal met!
And then, heaven. We made fried plantains! Thank you Cuban restaurant. But then we rolled ours in cinnamon and sugar, and had some gelato and nutella as well. Oh so fat and so much eating of our feelings, but so worth it. Then we did the other thing I knew I had to do before I left Spain, SNAGRIA. It was good, but sad to say had not actual fruit pieces in it and wasn’t really that that good. But hey I did it, and that’s all that counts. After we went to some clubs, but I was a bit of a downer cause I just can’t function with all of that smoke and in hot non-ventilated rooms. I just hate smoke and I reeked of it. We caught the partita on the tv: Real Madrid v. Sevilla. It was cool to be around all the fans, but sadly Madrid lost.
Sunday, November 4th
Last day of break, and so tired. We went to a huge outdoor market and walked around for a while. We ended up buying the soccer scarves for our teams. Iris and Kayla bought Atletico Madrid ones because they went to the game Sunday night. Sadly I had already booked my flight and I wasn’t able to go. Instead I bought myself a Spanish National Team scarf to match my jersey, so I’m set for games from now on. I still need to get them for Italy as well, it’s all on my to do list. After the market I headed out on the train and made my way to the airport. I was quite proud that I made it from the apartment to the airport without getting lost. Hey it was a big accomplishment for me. Then it was just getting on a plane and getting back home to Italy.
I truly enjoyed traveling around and thanks to all of you who hosted me and let me stay with you. I am truly thankful for you showing me around and I had a blast! This break really taught me that I am fine on my own, and despite certain setbacks, things work out in the end: this is my new life motto. Yes it’s worrisome and stressful or scary at times, but the memories made make it all worth it.
I also learned that I made the right choice in studying in Italy. As great as all the other places have been, Italy has become my second home. I began to miss it while I was visiting other places, and just the way of life here. It was very nice to hear Italian being spoken when I got off the last plane, like that relief you get when you hear familiar voices.
Also, now know that my brain can function in 3 languages, and am ready to go back to school and take Italian and Spanish at the same time. It was frustrating to know the word in one language and not the other, so I really just want to get better at both of them. Plus they both came in really handy while I was traveling.
School is back in session and that means, more school trips! This weekend is the longer trip to Rome. We’re going to the more famous sites this time, like the Coliseum, and wait for it…The Vatican! You know I am excited for this trip. Well I would be more excited if I was going into the Vatican Archives (which is my life’s goal), but I’m saving that for another trip. Alla Prossima.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
It's Been A While
Sorry for the lapse in time, life has just been crazy here. But it is all about to get a lot better. I just finished my last midterm, 5 in two days is no fun. Ironically the easiest ones were in Italian. I've been studying like mad for all of them and I think it paid off. All of them went well and I was more than prepaired. It feels so good to be done with all of them. And now FALL BREAK BEGINS!! I have no work over the break, and will be playing in England and Spain for 10 days!!!!
I leave tomarrow morning on my adventure. 5 am heading to the bus shuttle thing and make my way to the airport. Then a flight and some trains, taking me to Brighton/Sussex, England and Melissa. I'm gonna spend time with her for 4 days arround Sussex and London. Then I'm heading to Oxoford for 2 days to hangout with Hilary and Maxwell. And see how they celebrate Halloween in England. My favorite part is comming up next, flying into Spain and figuring out how to get from the Madrid airport to Iri's apartment. Personally I think it will be fine, but it may also turn into a hillarious scene from a girly comedy, where I get lost in Madrid. But hopefully I'll meet Fernando Torres and live a happy spanish life. In reality I'll get to Iri fine, and spend 4 days with her and Kayla. This is going to be the best brake ever!!
I'll be taking lots of photos and make a huge blog entry after it is all over. I hope all is well with you all back in the states, and that all my california kids are safe from the fire. Yeah it made the news over here. You can immagine my reaction, having to hear about it on the Italian news. Rough but still accuarate translation, "California is in flames!" The news is sensational everywhere. Ridic.
Alla prossima.
I leave tomarrow morning on my adventure. 5 am heading to the bus shuttle thing and make my way to the airport. Then a flight and some trains, taking me to Brighton/Sussex, England and Melissa. I'm gonna spend time with her for 4 days arround Sussex and London. Then I'm heading to Oxoford for 2 days to hangout with Hilary and Maxwell. And see how they celebrate Halloween in England. My favorite part is comming up next, flying into Spain and figuring out how to get from the Madrid airport to Iri's apartment. Personally I think it will be fine, but it may also turn into a hillarious scene from a girly comedy, where I get lost in Madrid. But hopefully I'll meet Fernando Torres and live a happy spanish life. In reality I'll get to Iri fine, and spend 4 days with her and Kayla. This is going to be the best brake ever!!
I'll be taking lots of photos and make a huge blog entry after it is all over. I hope all is well with you all back in the states, and that all my california kids are safe from the fire. Yeah it made the news over here. You can immagine my reaction, having to hear about it on the Italian news. Rough but still accuarate translation, "California is in flames!" The news is sensational everywhere. Ridic.
Alla prossima.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Carnia Campania
So this week was quite a doozie full of a lot of firsts for a lot of us.
The previous week, leading up to this past Wednesday was spent preparing for my oral history presentation. Sounds ordinary but it was far from it. First off, I was feeling a bit of pressure because this is really the only class that matters/counts for my major and I want to do really well in it. Secondly, I was in the first group to present. Luckily, I had two amazing partners (Kelsey and Kate) who made this project far better. Most importantly, this presentation was worth 25% of my final grade in the class. And it’s me, so we all know I was just ridiculous about it. Main point of the story is that it went amazing! We rocked ‘The Diabolical Sect’ and our proff gave us lots of positive feed back, which is always a good sign. I really loved standing up in front of the class, lecturing about the week’s reading and leading discussion. It was a good sign that I would enjoy being a university professor, but I’d prefer a much smaller class (got to love those small liberal arts colleges, lol). It went well and I am glad it’s over with.
This entry is mainly about the weekend and all of the spontaneous/semi-adventurous things I did. So on Friday, Evie, Sarah, and I headed out for Campania. The trip started out quite nice, seeing as how our train was a Eurostar (you don’t get much better than that, well other than first class seating on said train). The ride down was really relaxing and we arrive in Napoli before we knew it. And here begins the interesting parts of the trip. So we really didn’t know where to go once we got off the train. The plan was to go to Pompeii, but we were not entirely sure how to get there from our platform. Time to put my “intermediate Italian” to the test. So I went up to the info desk and had a chat with the lady there and she gave us a great deal on a weekend pass and told us what line to take to get to Pompeii. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, speaking or trying to speak the native language of a country gets you so much farther than not trying at all. From the train station we caught the right line and headed out to Pompeii on the intercity train. I’m just going to come out and say it: Napoli (Naples) is the ugliest, most sketchy place I have been to yet. All of the trains/metro have graffiti on them and it’s just not the best place to be if your female, don’t speak Italian, or are a tourist. That being said, we sucked it up and got on the sketchy train towards Pompeii, while making our best ‘we’re hardcore, we speak Italian, so don’t try anything on us’ faces. But honestly, there were three of us, my Italian is getting really good, and we’re not stupid people/we are aware of our surroundings so there really weren’t any problems. Plus I was wearing my trusty Rick Steves hidden money pouch, so they didn’t have a chance at getting anything from me.
We arrived at Pompeii, had delicious thick crust pizza for lunch, and then went in to explore the city. It was amazing!! My inner (who am I kidding?), My Outer History Nerd was in heaven!! The experience is still so surreal to me. First of all, it’s a lot bigger than you would expect, and once you start walking around you find it hard to believe you’re there. It took me a good amount of time to realize I was not on a movie set, and that I was walking around a city that was bustling all the way back when (well up until 79 AD when the eruption happened). I saw their Temple of Apollo, the Basilica, the Forum, the Forum Baths, their Temple of Jupiter, the Villa of Mysteries, the Great Theater, the Small Theater, the House with Venus in the Shell, and the Amphitheater. It was just crazy awesome. While walking around you would just look up and see Mt. Vesuvius just chilling in the background. I saw this a wondered what the inhabitants of Pompeii saw when they lived here. The mood would grow somber whenever we would come upon one of the preserved bodies, and it made you remember what had to happen here for this site to be so well preserved and subsequently famous. But then to liven the mood, we pretended to be gladiators in the big amphitheater and took funny photos. After our long day of walking around and marveling at Pompeii we got back on the sketchy metro and headed out for our hotel, which was in Sorrento.
Sorrento is a beautiful little seaside town that is so welcoming. We also had the best luck in the world, in that we got off the metro and walked into the nearest hotel to ask for direction to our hotel. And then we realized that the hotel we had chosen to ask for directions was really the hotel we were looking for. Great luck! It had a great view of the water and Mt. Vesuvius was framed perfectly by it. Once we had settled in, we went out into the town and had dinner at a great little place overlooking the sea. The food was so yummy, and we got to try the world famous Limoncello. I was super excited to try it, and let me just tell you it’s so gross! Granted I am not a fan of alcohol, but other agrees with me that it tastes like a combo of to sweet lemon drops and rubbing alcohol. But now I can say I have tried it (and for free I might add).
On Saturday we headed out with a fairly open agenda, main point was to explore the Amalfi Cost. I can now say that I have seen the most beautiful coastline and I appreciate it because of the trials it took to get there. Our original plan was to go to Capri, but we decided that we were too cheep to pay the overpriced tickets for the boat ride out there. So we walked around the main part of Sorrento and then decided to use our passes and take the bus along the Amalfi Cost. Here’s something I didn’t know about the cost: it’s super windy, and steep along the cliffs, and you get from place to place on these giant tour buses that sway back and forth. Needless to say, it took a lot of effort for me to take some of the photos that I did, so do look at them and enjoy them. The first city that we visited was Positano. It was really great to walk up and down the streets, and to get off of that nauseating/frightening bus. It’s definitely a beautiful place, with cute little shops that you can drop into. I loved this one little dress shop, and all they had were these lightweight, white stitched dresses and skirts. I wished I looked good in white, and had more euros to spend.
From Positano, we headed back on the buses towards Amalfi. There was a great church with a lot of gold lief and that we walked around, and more cute little shops, a lot of which sold little bottles of Limoncello (eew). We bought some delish gelato and headed out to the pier to sit along the ocean and eat it. I know, this is the life. Right after we finished our gelato, the weather decided to get a bit harsh and start raining. So we caught the bus and headed on a long ride back to Sorrento. As we were driving the rain just got harder and then the thunder and lightening started. Guys it was seriously frightening: the lightening almost lit up the whole sky meanwhile were on a big bus on a small windy road below which is the ocean! Yeah, that’s what I thought. But we made it back to Sorrento and headed to this restaurant for dinner. We decided to go there cause they had two huge tvs and we wanted to watch the big game on tv with the locals: Napoli v. Inter. So we start eating and watching the game, but it’s storming so bad outside that the power goes out. Needless to say there are some pretty upset people in the restaurant. After a short while the power comes on, but the tv is not working. So the owner puts the radio on so we can listen to the game. Some more time passes and then the tv finally works, so we can finally watch the game. I’m going to be honest, I could barely tell what was going on while listening to the game on the radio. Napoli ended up loosing 1-2 to Inter. It was exciting to see, and I now know what a dangerous team Inter is. You should seriously never take your eyes off of them, I did for a second and they made a goal. Even though they lost, it was a good experience to sit around with the locals and cheer on their team (we were definitely the only Americans in the place and 3 of the 6 girls there).
Sunday was very restful. We checked out of the hotel and made our way back to Napoli. The good thing about the rain was that it cleared out the sky, giving us great views of the bay in the morning. Once we made it back to Napoli we decided to visit the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (I’m sure you can figure it out from the title). In the museum they had such a huge range of works that it was hard to see everything. I was happy with what we were able to see in the few hours that we were there. My two favorites would have to be the mosaic of Alexander’s troops fighting Darius’s troops. It was epic huge and it just took my breath away. I also liked the copy of the Doryphorus (only copies remain, the real was has long been destroyed) who just makes every other statues and person look so out of shape. Seriously, no one looks like him, but that’s why the style he’s in is called Idealized. The rest of the exhibits were also fascinating, but we did have a train to catch to get back to Florence, so there wasn’t much more time to see the rest. We then headed back to the station and made our way back onto what I hope is the last of my sketchy train rides. But it wouldn’t have been a true trip to Napoli if someone did not try to jack our stuff. Basically there was this guy behind me (and his friend apparently tried to do the same thing to Sarah) and I felt my backpack get tugged/moved a bit. And I instantly went oh no, he is not trying to get my stuff! Well first off all he’s an idiot and all he would get would be my dirty clothes and the most expensive thing in my backpack is my history course reader (cause as I said earlier all my valuables were in the front of me). So I recognize what he’s trying to do and I swing myself around and he subsequently gets hit with my backpack rather hard and he then proceeds to run away. My only regret is that I did not hit him harder! Needless to say we were even more cautious after that. But the ride to the train station was fine, and then Eurostar ride home from there couldn’t have been more relaxing. It was a very memorable and exciting weekend. These next few weeks will be more low key, seeing as how I have to start studying for midterms (boo). But as soon as those are over: FALL BREAK = ENGLAND AND SPAIN!! I’m not going to be having many more big weekend trips until then. I’m going off to Rome for a daylong site visit with my art history which should be fun and educational. Alla prossima.
The previous week, leading up to this past Wednesday was spent preparing for my oral history presentation. Sounds ordinary but it was far from it. First off, I was feeling a bit of pressure because this is really the only class that matters/counts for my major and I want to do really well in it. Secondly, I was in the first group to present. Luckily, I had two amazing partners (Kelsey and Kate) who made this project far better. Most importantly, this presentation was worth 25% of my final grade in the class. And it’s me, so we all know I was just ridiculous about it. Main point of the story is that it went amazing! We rocked ‘The Diabolical Sect’ and our proff gave us lots of positive feed back, which is always a good sign. I really loved standing up in front of the class, lecturing about the week’s reading and leading discussion. It was a good sign that I would enjoy being a university professor, but I’d prefer a much smaller class (got to love those small liberal arts colleges, lol). It went well and I am glad it’s over with.
This entry is mainly about the weekend and all of the spontaneous/semi-adventurous things I did. So on Friday, Evie, Sarah, and I headed out for Campania. The trip started out quite nice, seeing as how our train was a Eurostar (you don’t get much better than that, well other than first class seating on said train). The ride down was really relaxing and we arrive in Napoli before we knew it. And here begins the interesting parts of the trip. So we really didn’t know where to go once we got off the train. The plan was to go to Pompeii, but we were not entirely sure how to get there from our platform. Time to put my “intermediate Italian” to the test. So I went up to the info desk and had a chat with the lady there and she gave us a great deal on a weekend pass and told us what line to take to get to Pompeii. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, speaking or trying to speak the native language of a country gets you so much farther than not trying at all. From the train station we caught the right line and headed out to Pompeii on the intercity train. I’m just going to come out and say it: Napoli (Naples) is the ugliest, most sketchy place I have been to yet. All of the trains/metro have graffiti on them and it’s just not the best place to be if your female, don’t speak Italian, or are a tourist. That being said, we sucked it up and got on the sketchy train towards Pompeii, while making our best ‘we’re hardcore, we speak Italian, so don’t try anything on us’ faces. But honestly, there were three of us, my Italian is getting really good, and we’re not stupid people/we are aware of our surroundings so there really weren’t any problems. Plus I was wearing my trusty Rick Steves hidden money pouch, so they didn’t have a chance at getting anything from me.
We arrived at Pompeii, had delicious thick crust pizza for lunch, and then went in to explore the city. It was amazing!! My inner (who am I kidding?), My Outer History Nerd was in heaven!! The experience is still so surreal to me. First of all, it’s a lot bigger than you would expect, and once you start walking around you find it hard to believe you’re there. It took me a good amount of time to realize I was not on a movie set, and that I was walking around a city that was bustling all the way back when (well up until 79 AD when the eruption happened). I saw their Temple of Apollo, the Basilica, the Forum, the Forum Baths, their Temple of Jupiter, the Villa of Mysteries, the Great Theater, the Small Theater, the House with Venus in the Shell, and the Amphitheater. It was just crazy awesome. While walking around you would just look up and see Mt. Vesuvius just chilling in the background. I saw this a wondered what the inhabitants of Pompeii saw when they lived here. The mood would grow somber whenever we would come upon one of the preserved bodies, and it made you remember what had to happen here for this site to be so well preserved and subsequently famous. But then to liven the mood, we pretended to be gladiators in the big amphitheater and took funny photos. After our long day of walking around and marveling at Pompeii we got back on the sketchy metro and headed out for our hotel, which was in Sorrento.
Sorrento is a beautiful little seaside town that is so welcoming. We also had the best luck in the world, in that we got off the metro and walked into the nearest hotel to ask for direction to our hotel. And then we realized that the hotel we had chosen to ask for directions was really the hotel we were looking for. Great luck! It had a great view of the water and Mt. Vesuvius was framed perfectly by it. Once we had settled in, we went out into the town and had dinner at a great little place overlooking the sea. The food was so yummy, and we got to try the world famous Limoncello. I was super excited to try it, and let me just tell you it’s so gross! Granted I am not a fan of alcohol, but other agrees with me that it tastes like a combo of to sweet lemon drops and rubbing alcohol. But now I can say I have tried it (and for free I might add).
On Saturday we headed out with a fairly open agenda, main point was to explore the Amalfi Cost. I can now say that I have seen the most beautiful coastline and I appreciate it because of the trials it took to get there. Our original plan was to go to Capri, but we decided that we were too cheep to pay the overpriced tickets for the boat ride out there. So we walked around the main part of Sorrento and then decided to use our passes and take the bus along the Amalfi Cost. Here’s something I didn’t know about the cost: it’s super windy, and steep along the cliffs, and you get from place to place on these giant tour buses that sway back and forth. Needless to say, it took a lot of effort for me to take some of the photos that I did, so do look at them and enjoy them. The first city that we visited was Positano. It was really great to walk up and down the streets, and to get off of that nauseating/frightening bus. It’s definitely a beautiful place, with cute little shops that you can drop into. I loved this one little dress shop, and all they had were these lightweight, white stitched dresses and skirts. I wished I looked good in white, and had more euros to spend.
From Positano, we headed back on the buses towards Amalfi. There was a great church with a lot of gold lief and that we walked around, and more cute little shops, a lot of which sold little bottles of Limoncello (eew). We bought some delish gelato and headed out to the pier to sit along the ocean and eat it. I know, this is the life. Right after we finished our gelato, the weather decided to get a bit harsh and start raining. So we caught the bus and headed on a long ride back to Sorrento. As we were driving the rain just got harder and then the thunder and lightening started. Guys it was seriously frightening: the lightening almost lit up the whole sky meanwhile were on a big bus on a small windy road below which is the ocean! Yeah, that’s what I thought. But we made it back to Sorrento and headed to this restaurant for dinner. We decided to go there cause they had two huge tvs and we wanted to watch the big game on tv with the locals: Napoli v. Inter. So we start eating and watching the game, but it’s storming so bad outside that the power goes out. Needless to say there are some pretty upset people in the restaurant. After a short while the power comes on, but the tv is not working. So the owner puts the radio on so we can listen to the game. Some more time passes and then the tv finally works, so we can finally watch the game. I’m going to be honest, I could barely tell what was going on while listening to the game on the radio. Napoli ended up loosing 1-2 to Inter. It was exciting to see, and I now know what a dangerous team Inter is. You should seriously never take your eyes off of them, I did for a second and they made a goal. Even though they lost, it was a good experience to sit around with the locals and cheer on their team (we were definitely the only Americans in the place and 3 of the 6 girls there).
Sunday was very restful. We checked out of the hotel and made our way back to Napoli. The good thing about the rain was that it cleared out the sky, giving us great views of the bay in the morning. Once we made it back to Napoli we decided to visit the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (I’m sure you can figure it out from the title). In the museum they had such a huge range of works that it was hard to see everything. I was happy with what we were able to see in the few hours that we were there. My two favorites would have to be the mosaic of Alexander’s troops fighting Darius’s troops. It was epic huge and it just took my breath away. I also liked the copy of the Doryphorus (only copies remain, the real was has long been destroyed) who just makes every other statues and person look so out of shape. Seriously, no one looks like him, but that’s why the style he’s in is called Idealized. The rest of the exhibits were also fascinating, but we did have a train to catch to get back to Florence, so there wasn’t much more time to see the rest. We then headed back to the station and made our way back onto what I hope is the last of my sketchy train rides. But it wouldn’t have been a true trip to Napoli if someone did not try to jack our stuff. Basically there was this guy behind me (and his friend apparently tried to do the same thing to Sarah) and I felt my backpack get tugged/moved a bit. And I instantly went oh no, he is not trying to get my stuff! Well first off all he’s an idiot and all he would get would be my dirty clothes and the most expensive thing in my backpack is my history course reader (cause as I said earlier all my valuables were in the front of me). So I recognize what he’s trying to do and I swing myself around and he subsequently gets hit with my backpack rather hard and he then proceeds to run away. My only regret is that I did not hit him harder! Needless to say we were even more cautious after that. But the ride to the train station was fine, and then Eurostar ride home from there couldn’t have been more relaxing. It was a very memorable and exciting weekend. These next few weeks will be more low key, seeing as how I have to start studying for midterms (boo). But as soon as those are over: FALL BREAK = ENGLAND AND SPAIN!! I’m not going to be having many more big weekend trips until then. I’m going off to Rome for a daylong site visit with my art history which should be fun and educational. Alla prossima.
Monday, October 1, 2007
A Week of Not Quite What I Expected
It’s funny how things turn out sometimes. After weeks of amazing-ness, I finally had a week that was not what I expected it to be. I’m not saying it was bad, it was in it’s own way a good week. It just didn’t turn out quite as I had planned: and we know how I do love my plans ;)
So, first of all I was caught off guard on how quickly the weather can change around here. It went from being super hot, to nice and cool to drenched in rain, to cold, to pleasant again all in seven days! Needless to say, I was not quite as prepared as I thought I was. Being the naïve Californian I am, I thought some jackets, tennis shoes, and an umbrella would suffice. Oh no. I have now learned that you must hike up the bottoms of your pants because jeans absorb water like no other, and that the older stone roads here are deceiving in that you think the water on top of them is shallow and then you end up with a lake in your shoes. Well I asked my host mom where I could so some shopping for this kind of ridiculous weather clothes, and I have subsequently bought a cute ‘sportivo’ brown jacket (with soft and warm goose down inside) and the water just rolls right off of it. I also got a cute pair of black suede scrunch boots, which I have waterproofed, and am quite sure will hold up in the rain (they passed the cold test). I still need to do some more shopping for more sweaters and jackets, which is really making me miss California.
But before I was able to purchase these lovely new clothes, I learned the hard way that I was in need of them. But the experience that I went through to figure it out was well worth it. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Marisa went to her first professional European soccer game. We call it calcio in Italy and it is a way of life over here! On Wednesday night, the night the weather decided to change, I and half of the kids studying abroad here, went to the Fiorentina v. Roma game. Well we were all sitting, and by sitting I mean standing cause you don’t sit at the games here (apparently you can’t insult the other teams as well when you’re sitting, funny I know), in the curva with all the crazy guys (and I do mean loud soccer loving Italians men waving scarves and shouting obscenities at the Roma fans). Also, the opposing team’s fans have to sit in this caged off seating, so as to avoid riots. There actually was a riot that broke out the week before our game, but I think it was up in Milan (not surprising). We had pretty good seats and could see all of the action. I was able to follow along with most of the game, seeing as how I don’t know what the ref’s signals mean I usually wait for the announcement, but they said it in Italian, and my Italian sports vocabulary is not that great. But one can figure it out based on the crowd’s reactions, so I ‘booed’ when they did and cheered in the same fashion. It was a crazy intense game, back and forth between the two sides. Rome scored first, but then we scored, and I have never seen so many people jump and scream at once. Oh and did I mention amongst all of this excitement, it’s switching between moments of light drizzle and POURING RAIN?!! Yeah, throw that into the mix. But back to the game, so we’re now mocking the Rome team (I have never cursed so much in my life) and their songs are like half swears. I did learn one of the main Fiorentina songs, and my favorite jeer of the night would have to be the one that sounded like it came from a White Stripes song (dun-dun-dun-dun, etc.) and went “Giallo Rosso Bastardo.” And that was one of the tamer songs. There was another one that had some gestures that was sung after Rome made their second goal, and I don’t think I can write the lyrics on here. So we’re now down one-two and we’re getting close to the end of the game. And the closer we get the more scared I am of a riot breaking out. But then the rain lightens up, and the GOAL!! Mutu gets the equalizer and the entire stadium goes crazy!!!! There was jumping, screaming, hugging of strangers. Oh Mutu, how we love you! (Plus the guy’s pretty attractive, in addition to being one of their best scorers. But he’s got nothing on Torres.) The game finally ends, in a tie of two-two and people are good. There was a small incident after the final goal by the Rome cage but it was broken up quite quickly, so no worries. Despite, the rain, it was such a great experience to be united with so many people and cheering on your team. Soccer really needs to get more popular in the US. I really would like to go to another game before this semester is over. Moral of the story: mi piace calcio, non mi piace la pioggia.
The weather lightened up later in the week, after I bought my new cold weather clothes. On Saturday, I went with my school on a trip to Ravenna. Ravenna is the place to go to see Byzantine art and their lovely mosaics. So we saw a lot of churches, with a lot of mosaics, depicting a mix between Roman and Christina traditions. Their churches are decorated to the detail! Then we saw Dante’s tomb (a point of tension between the Florence and Ravenna because Florence wanted Dante’s body because he’s from Florence, but because Florence drove him out for a while and he wrote some of his most famous work in Ravenna, Ravenna decided to keep him. The Pope had to get involved and now there are two tombs to Dante, but Dante is buried in Ravenna. End of ridic story).
Then on Sunday, I participated in Corri La Vita. It’s a 12K competitive run and a 6K noncompetitive walk to raise money and find a cure for breast cancer. This is a huge event in Florence and literally thousands of people participate in it. The shirts are designed each year by a certain high fashion designer (meaning the just sign their name on a generic shirt) and this year it was all about Ferragamo. Well, I finally got there and started the 6K, planning on walking and running it, off and on, but I wasn’t able to, seeing as all of those thousands of people were walking the 6K in front of me. It started out very slow, trying to get some space and there really wasn’t any place to run. We went in and out of private residences and gardens, all throughout the city on both sides of the Arno. It was a nice walk, but it just took way too much time to do it in. I would have much rather run the 12K at slow pace than have shuffled along the 6K like I did. But I did get to see some great views from climbing up the hills outside the city. It was good, but just not what I expected it to be.
School is moving along nicely. I have some presentations coming up this week in Italian and History of Witchcraft (the history one is 25% of my final grade-no pressure). But I really don’t foresee the work getting too difficult. I’m really more excited about the upcoming trips: this coming weekend I’m going to Pompeii and the following weekend is a day trip to Rome. But I’ll be going back to Rome for another two-day trip after midterms. Plus they’re also Fall Break trip to England and Spain to look forward to!!
I just realized that I have been in Italy for a month now. I hadn’t really registered that fact but it does not surprise me. I feel like I have adjusted nicely and am fitting in here: I can go back and forth between Italian and English with less trouble, I’m using public transportation and walking a lot, I now own boots, and tourists annoy me but I am excited when they ask me in their horrible Italian if I know how to get somewhere and then I help them out in English (it feels great). Personally I don’t think I look Italian at all nor does my full name sound it, but I have been asked many times if I am an international student from Spain because I can speak Italian but I don’t look it. Ah romance languages. I guess that’s all for now. Alla prossima.
So, first of all I was caught off guard on how quickly the weather can change around here. It went from being super hot, to nice and cool to drenched in rain, to cold, to pleasant again all in seven days! Needless to say, I was not quite as prepared as I thought I was. Being the naïve Californian I am, I thought some jackets, tennis shoes, and an umbrella would suffice. Oh no. I have now learned that you must hike up the bottoms of your pants because jeans absorb water like no other, and that the older stone roads here are deceiving in that you think the water on top of them is shallow and then you end up with a lake in your shoes. Well I asked my host mom where I could so some shopping for this kind of ridiculous weather clothes, and I have subsequently bought a cute ‘sportivo’ brown jacket (with soft and warm goose down inside) and the water just rolls right off of it. I also got a cute pair of black suede scrunch boots, which I have waterproofed, and am quite sure will hold up in the rain (they passed the cold test). I still need to do some more shopping for more sweaters and jackets, which is really making me miss California.
But before I was able to purchase these lovely new clothes, I learned the hard way that I was in need of them. But the experience that I went through to figure it out was well worth it. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Marisa went to her first professional European soccer game. We call it calcio in Italy and it is a way of life over here! On Wednesday night, the night the weather decided to change, I and half of the kids studying abroad here, went to the Fiorentina v. Roma game. Well we were all sitting, and by sitting I mean standing cause you don’t sit at the games here (apparently you can’t insult the other teams as well when you’re sitting, funny I know), in the curva with all the crazy guys (and I do mean loud soccer loving Italians men waving scarves and shouting obscenities at the Roma fans). Also, the opposing team’s fans have to sit in this caged off seating, so as to avoid riots. There actually was a riot that broke out the week before our game, but I think it was up in Milan (not surprising). We had pretty good seats and could see all of the action. I was able to follow along with most of the game, seeing as how I don’t know what the ref’s signals mean I usually wait for the announcement, but they said it in Italian, and my Italian sports vocabulary is not that great. But one can figure it out based on the crowd’s reactions, so I ‘booed’ when they did and cheered in the same fashion. It was a crazy intense game, back and forth between the two sides. Rome scored first, but then we scored, and I have never seen so many people jump and scream at once. Oh and did I mention amongst all of this excitement, it’s switching between moments of light drizzle and POURING RAIN?!! Yeah, throw that into the mix. But back to the game, so we’re now mocking the Rome team (I have never cursed so much in my life) and their songs are like half swears. I did learn one of the main Fiorentina songs, and my favorite jeer of the night would have to be the one that sounded like it came from a White Stripes song (dun-dun-dun-dun, etc.) and went “Giallo Rosso Bastardo.” And that was one of the tamer songs. There was another one that had some gestures that was sung after Rome made their second goal, and I don’t think I can write the lyrics on here. So we’re now down one-two and we’re getting close to the end of the game. And the closer we get the more scared I am of a riot breaking out. But then the rain lightens up, and the GOAL!! Mutu gets the equalizer and the entire stadium goes crazy!!!! There was jumping, screaming, hugging of strangers. Oh Mutu, how we love you! (Plus the guy’s pretty attractive, in addition to being one of their best scorers. But he’s got nothing on Torres.) The game finally ends, in a tie of two-two and people are good. There was a small incident after the final goal by the Rome cage but it was broken up quite quickly, so no worries. Despite, the rain, it was such a great experience to be united with so many people and cheering on your team. Soccer really needs to get more popular in the US. I really would like to go to another game before this semester is over. Moral of the story: mi piace calcio, non mi piace la pioggia.
The weather lightened up later in the week, after I bought my new cold weather clothes. On Saturday, I went with my school on a trip to Ravenna. Ravenna is the place to go to see Byzantine art and their lovely mosaics. So we saw a lot of churches, with a lot of mosaics, depicting a mix between Roman and Christina traditions. Their churches are decorated to the detail! Then we saw Dante’s tomb (a point of tension between the Florence and Ravenna because Florence wanted Dante’s body because he’s from Florence, but because Florence drove him out for a while and he wrote some of his most famous work in Ravenna, Ravenna decided to keep him. The Pope had to get involved and now there are two tombs to Dante, but Dante is buried in Ravenna. End of ridic story).
Then on Sunday, I participated in Corri La Vita. It’s a 12K competitive run and a 6K noncompetitive walk to raise money and find a cure for breast cancer. This is a huge event in Florence and literally thousands of people participate in it. The shirts are designed each year by a certain high fashion designer (meaning the just sign their name on a generic shirt) and this year it was all about Ferragamo. Well, I finally got there and started the 6K, planning on walking and running it, off and on, but I wasn’t able to, seeing as all of those thousands of people were walking the 6K in front of me. It started out very slow, trying to get some space and there really wasn’t any place to run. We went in and out of private residences and gardens, all throughout the city on both sides of the Arno. It was a nice walk, but it just took way too much time to do it in. I would have much rather run the 12K at slow pace than have shuffled along the 6K like I did. But I did get to see some great views from climbing up the hills outside the city. It was good, but just not what I expected it to be.
School is moving along nicely. I have some presentations coming up this week in Italian and History of Witchcraft (the history one is 25% of my final grade-no pressure). But I really don’t foresee the work getting too difficult. I’m really more excited about the upcoming trips: this coming weekend I’m going to Pompeii and the following weekend is a day trip to Rome. But I’ll be going back to Rome for another two-day trip after midterms. Plus they’re also Fall Break trip to England and Spain to look forward to!!
I just realized that I have been in Italy for a month now. I hadn’t really registered that fact but it does not surprise me. I feel like I have adjusted nicely and am fitting in here: I can go back and forth between Italian and English with less trouble, I’m using public transportation and walking a lot, I now own boots, and tourists annoy me but I am excited when they ask me in their horrible Italian if I know how to get somewhere and then I help them out in English (it feels great). Personally I don’t think I look Italian at all nor does my full name sound it, but I have been asked many times if I am an international student from Spain because I can speak Italian but I don’t look it. Ah romance languages. I guess that’s all for now. Alla prossima.
Monday, September 24, 2007
La Dolce Vita
I know that this is the least original title, but when you hear about this past week, you will have to agree that it is true. By the way, the translation is “The Sweet Life.”
On Tuesday I went to the first Spazio Conversione of the semester. Basically every Tuesday the school organizes this social for the students in my program to meet and talk with members of the Florence community, ranging in age and occupation. The point is for us to practice out Italian and for them to practice their English-it’s a lovely bilingual time. I went in with a good attitude and ready to speak Italian, and ended up speaking Italian, English and Spanish. Needless to say my brain was working overtime-crazy at least trilingual Italians. I actually lucked out and ending up at the table with four university students, two of which were in Law School and very cute. Niccolo and Giovani (the guys in Law School) were really great to talk with: when we couldn’t figure out the worlds, we’d just use wild hand gestures and sometimes Spanish (a good compromise between Italian and English). I have to go to these for the oral component of my Italian class, but I’d keep going even if I weren’t required to.
Wednesday was the day that a big group of us finally got out tickets and will be attending the Fiorentina v. Roma game this coming Wednesday. Yes, I am so excited and there will be a blog entry and lots of photos just about this game! More to come about said game very soon.
I’ve signed up to read books to elementary school students and we had our first training on Thursday. Basically, depending on the grade we get, we go to the school and teach the kids some words in English and then read a story to them, and then read it again with them helping us act it out. This semester the book is called, “Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo” written by Rosetta Stone. It’s really written by Dr. Seuss but he didn’t do the illustrations, so he used a nom de plum. I’m excited to get into the classroom and start reading with the kids. Earlier on Thursday, I went to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo with my Art History class. We learned about the fundamentals of sculpture by seeing the process first hand, ie seeing how the sculpture has evolved through time. The best thing about the Museo dell’Opera is that it’s where all the original works of art are held. Many of the works in the Duomo are actually copies, and the more valuable and delicate originals are in the Museo dell’Opera. We saw Michelangelo’s “Pietà”, Donnatello’s “Maddalena”, and some of Ghiberti’s bronze panels for the doors of the Baptistery. I have to say that if had to choose a favorite it would be Ghiberti’s panels. After classes got out I took a cooking class, and it was fabulous! We learned how to make three different types of pasta: spinach ravioli (the best by far), taglatelle, and a sudo-angel hair; three sauces: butter-rosemary, red pepper (which was really sweet and not spicy like I thought it would be), and traditional tomato; and Tiramisu. I was on team Tiramisu which was so fun. I am going to admit it now, I was never a big fan of Tiramisu, but after making it the right way I am now in luv with it! It was really great to eat fresh, hand-made pasta, and the best part (aside from eating it) was getting all the recopies!! So now I can make this yummy food when I get back to the states.
And then the weekend began! On Friday, I set out early in the morning on the train to CINQUE TERRE with my friends Katie, Sarah, and Evi. We met up at the train station, and after figuring out which one was ours and where we were supposed to validate our ticket, we finally set out on our way. It was a nice ride there in a cabin that felt very Hogwarts Express-esque. But there were no chocolate frogs on the snack cart and we didn’t have any Slytherines trying to stuff us into our suitcases. We were all pleased to arrive at the station and find out that our hotel was right across the street (something that we really appreciated later on in this story). The first thing I learned is do not judge a building by it’s exterior. From the outside, the Hotel Mary looks super sketch, but once we got in it was actually quite nice. The hotel manager was very accommodating and even let us check in early. A good rule of thumb when traveling in a foreign country is to always start out speaking in their language and communicate as much as possible. People are much more willing to help you out once they have seen that you’re willing to speak their language and aren’t a stereotypical rude American. I am not fluent in Italian, but I did my best to speak with the locals, and ask our questions in Italian. Without fail, we were met with positive responses and got some great help, like when ordering food and trying to find transportation. So once we dropped off our bags and got situated we left La Spazia (where we were staying) and set out for Riomaggiore (the first city). The walk started out quite nice with amazing views from the Via dell’Amore. The Via dell’Amore is a weird tunnel, with arches that frame great views, but it also has all of these poems and drawings on the inner-walls of, what else?, love. It was kinda cute yet kinda lame. But there was a guy playing an accordion at the end, which really just put it over onto the cheesy side. Up next was Manarola, which was also lovely and picture-esque. We walked around the shops and marveled at the ocean. And then things got interesting on the way to Corniglia. Let’s just say, our path stopped being a path and became rocks in dirt and then came the stairs. To get to the elevated town of Corniglia there are these switchback stairs that seem to go on for days. But at the top there is a welcoming sign that says, “Congratulations, you have just climbed 382 stairs and have arrived in Corniglia. Good job!” And you just look at it with distain. We were smart and decided to stop there and have a bit of lunch, cause we needed at rest after the walk thus far (little did we know what was in store for us after Corniglia). We ate some lovely breads and cheeses in this tiny tratoria along the hillside. It was just the break we needed. And then we headed out for Vernazza. In order to get to Vernazza they decided to make the path, steeper, more narrow, more rocks and more stairs. Wait I lied, they decided to make more steps made out of jagged rocks that are not that stable and very steep so you feel like a dying goat trying to climb a mountain. And then you would look out and see the coast, but wouldn’t want to look down cause you were on the coast, and at times we were literally on the coast and there wasn’t much separating us from the water down below. Aren’t we proud of me for trecking in the hot, up high on crazy paths, right above the ocean? Well, I am! Needless to say we finally made it to Vernazza, and sat down on the ground. And then we looked up and saw the most perfectly placed gelateria. It’s apparently famous, and celebrities go there and love it. Personally after the hike thus far I was loving anything. But I have to admit I have had better gelato. We took the time to take in the town, looking into the shops. I got really excited when I saw all of the pesto, and was tempted to buy some but I decided it was too early to buy food to bring home. We saw a great ceramic shop and lots of wine. And then came another memorable experience, using the bathroom. The only public restroom we could find was at the train station, and it was basically a hole in the ground. Once again, this is me, the girl who carries hand sanitizer and shout wipes. So after much deliberation, and the peer pressure from the girls, I used the hole in the ground, and it really was an experience that I wish I could, but will never forget. After laying on the giant rocks by the ocean we had rested enough to continue onwards. The final leg took us to Monterosso and we thought that the worst was behind us. Let’s just say there were more rock stairs, but these were windy and deceiving. As in they would go around the corner, and you would hope that you’d hit a flat part, but there would just be more stairs. I’m just going to say as of Sunday night, my legs are still store. I have re-named it, Cinque Terre: The Stair-Master of Italy. After lots of water, tears/laugher, and a few Hail Mary’s we reached the end of our trek and arrived in Monterosso. We then had one of the longest dinners in the world, as a reward for our travels. We ate at a little, relatively well-priced restaurant on the patio, overlooking the ocean. As in we could have jumped down and walked two feet into the cool waters. Dinner was delicious and just a blast. After eating for a few hours, we made our way to the train station, and relaxed as the train made it’s way back to La Spezia. Unfortunately we got on the wrong train, it was a non-stop express and we did have to pay another 3 euro. But it was well worth it. The only sad part, was how quickly we made the trip (comparing it to how long it took us to walk it-basically all day).
On Saturday we slept in and enjoyed our lovely hotel’s free breakfast. After we checked out of the Hotel Mary we headed out on the train back to Monterosso. The trains were backed up, probably due to all the annoying tourists, but we finally made it to our destination and proceeded straight to the beach to layout and relax in classy European lounge chairs with the most ridiculous looking sun blinders. It was a nice break, just people watching, listening to music, and enjoying the refreshingly cold water. Once we got tired of laying out in the sun, which is tiring, we decided to train it back to another town before catching our train back to Florence. Unfortunately the trains were behind all day and there was a huge confusion about what platform the train we needed was coming in at. Also everyone and their mom was trying to get on the same train. So needless to say we changed platforms a few times, ended up not getting on the train, and having to get onto another one. That was really the only bad thing that happened to us while we were there, so no worries. We caught another train, quite a bit later, after listening to the annoying Italian recording announcing information that wasn’t that useful. After a long day of hanging around train stations, we made it back to Florence- all four of us with all of our stuff. Overall, it was a great trip with hilarious and unforgettable memories attached to it.
Sunday was the day of rest. I got up and went to Church again. And once again I was surprised by how fast they get through mass. 45 minutes and we’re done! A Catholic 45 minute mass just feels so weird to me. I mean, hey, I’m not complaining. I’ve gotten better at understanding what is being said, with the aid of the little booklet (it’s not in English) so I can see the words in front of me in Italian. Afterwards, I came back home and did my homework. We did have some yummy Tiramisu, made by my host-mom Franca. I spent a good amount of time just hanging out with Franca and her friend Marisa, and once again I became La Marisa so we wouldn’t get confused.
I am anxious to begin this week! The soccer game is on Wednesday and on Sunday I am participating in the Corri La Vita (race for breast cancer). More details to come. Alla prossima.
On Tuesday I went to the first Spazio Conversione of the semester. Basically every Tuesday the school organizes this social for the students in my program to meet and talk with members of the Florence community, ranging in age and occupation. The point is for us to practice out Italian and for them to practice their English-it’s a lovely bilingual time. I went in with a good attitude and ready to speak Italian, and ended up speaking Italian, English and Spanish. Needless to say my brain was working overtime-crazy at least trilingual Italians. I actually lucked out and ending up at the table with four university students, two of which were in Law School and very cute. Niccolo and Giovani (the guys in Law School) were really great to talk with: when we couldn’t figure out the worlds, we’d just use wild hand gestures and sometimes Spanish (a good compromise between Italian and English). I have to go to these for the oral component of my Italian class, but I’d keep going even if I weren’t required to.
Wednesday was the day that a big group of us finally got out tickets and will be attending the Fiorentina v. Roma game this coming Wednesday. Yes, I am so excited and there will be a blog entry and lots of photos just about this game! More to come about said game very soon.
I’ve signed up to read books to elementary school students and we had our first training on Thursday. Basically, depending on the grade we get, we go to the school and teach the kids some words in English and then read a story to them, and then read it again with them helping us act it out. This semester the book is called, “Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo” written by Rosetta Stone. It’s really written by Dr. Seuss but he didn’t do the illustrations, so he used a nom de plum. I’m excited to get into the classroom and start reading with the kids. Earlier on Thursday, I went to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo with my Art History class. We learned about the fundamentals of sculpture by seeing the process first hand, ie seeing how the sculpture has evolved through time. The best thing about the Museo dell’Opera is that it’s where all the original works of art are held. Many of the works in the Duomo are actually copies, and the more valuable and delicate originals are in the Museo dell’Opera. We saw Michelangelo’s “Pietà”, Donnatello’s “Maddalena”, and some of Ghiberti’s bronze panels for the doors of the Baptistery. I have to say that if had to choose a favorite it would be Ghiberti’s panels. After classes got out I took a cooking class, and it was fabulous! We learned how to make three different types of pasta: spinach ravioli (the best by far), taglatelle, and a sudo-angel hair; three sauces: butter-rosemary, red pepper (which was really sweet and not spicy like I thought it would be), and traditional tomato; and Tiramisu. I was on team Tiramisu which was so fun. I am going to admit it now, I was never a big fan of Tiramisu, but after making it the right way I am now in luv with it! It was really great to eat fresh, hand-made pasta, and the best part (aside from eating it) was getting all the recopies!! So now I can make this yummy food when I get back to the states.
And then the weekend began! On Friday, I set out early in the morning on the train to CINQUE TERRE with my friends Katie, Sarah, and Evi. We met up at the train station, and after figuring out which one was ours and where we were supposed to validate our ticket, we finally set out on our way. It was a nice ride there in a cabin that felt very Hogwarts Express-esque. But there were no chocolate frogs on the snack cart and we didn’t have any Slytherines trying to stuff us into our suitcases. We were all pleased to arrive at the station and find out that our hotel was right across the street (something that we really appreciated later on in this story). The first thing I learned is do not judge a building by it’s exterior. From the outside, the Hotel Mary looks super sketch, but once we got in it was actually quite nice. The hotel manager was very accommodating and even let us check in early. A good rule of thumb when traveling in a foreign country is to always start out speaking in their language and communicate as much as possible. People are much more willing to help you out once they have seen that you’re willing to speak their language and aren’t a stereotypical rude American. I am not fluent in Italian, but I did my best to speak with the locals, and ask our questions in Italian. Without fail, we were met with positive responses and got some great help, like when ordering food and trying to find transportation. So once we dropped off our bags and got situated we left La Spazia (where we were staying) and set out for Riomaggiore (the first city). The walk started out quite nice with amazing views from the Via dell’Amore. The Via dell’Amore is a weird tunnel, with arches that frame great views, but it also has all of these poems and drawings on the inner-walls of, what else?, love. It was kinda cute yet kinda lame. But there was a guy playing an accordion at the end, which really just put it over onto the cheesy side. Up next was Manarola, which was also lovely and picture-esque. We walked around the shops and marveled at the ocean. And then things got interesting on the way to Corniglia. Let’s just say, our path stopped being a path and became rocks in dirt and then came the stairs. To get to the elevated town of Corniglia there are these switchback stairs that seem to go on for days. But at the top there is a welcoming sign that says, “Congratulations, you have just climbed 382 stairs and have arrived in Corniglia. Good job!” And you just look at it with distain. We were smart and decided to stop there and have a bit of lunch, cause we needed at rest after the walk thus far (little did we know what was in store for us after Corniglia). We ate some lovely breads and cheeses in this tiny tratoria along the hillside. It was just the break we needed. And then we headed out for Vernazza. In order to get to Vernazza they decided to make the path, steeper, more narrow, more rocks and more stairs. Wait I lied, they decided to make more steps made out of jagged rocks that are not that stable and very steep so you feel like a dying goat trying to climb a mountain. And then you would look out and see the coast, but wouldn’t want to look down cause you were on the coast, and at times we were literally on the coast and there wasn’t much separating us from the water down below. Aren’t we proud of me for trecking in the hot, up high on crazy paths, right above the ocean? Well, I am! Needless to say we finally made it to Vernazza, and sat down on the ground. And then we looked up and saw the most perfectly placed gelateria. It’s apparently famous, and celebrities go there and love it. Personally after the hike thus far I was loving anything. But I have to admit I have had better gelato. We took the time to take in the town, looking into the shops. I got really excited when I saw all of the pesto, and was tempted to buy some but I decided it was too early to buy food to bring home. We saw a great ceramic shop and lots of wine. And then came another memorable experience, using the bathroom. The only public restroom we could find was at the train station, and it was basically a hole in the ground. Once again, this is me, the girl who carries hand sanitizer and shout wipes. So after much deliberation, and the peer pressure from the girls, I used the hole in the ground, and it really was an experience that I wish I could, but will never forget. After laying on the giant rocks by the ocean we had rested enough to continue onwards. The final leg took us to Monterosso and we thought that the worst was behind us. Let’s just say there were more rock stairs, but these were windy and deceiving. As in they would go around the corner, and you would hope that you’d hit a flat part, but there would just be more stairs. I’m just going to say as of Sunday night, my legs are still store. I have re-named it, Cinque Terre: The Stair-Master of Italy. After lots of water, tears/laugher, and a few Hail Mary’s we reached the end of our trek and arrived in Monterosso. We then had one of the longest dinners in the world, as a reward for our travels. We ate at a little, relatively well-priced restaurant on the patio, overlooking the ocean. As in we could have jumped down and walked two feet into the cool waters. Dinner was delicious and just a blast. After eating for a few hours, we made our way to the train station, and relaxed as the train made it’s way back to La Spezia. Unfortunately we got on the wrong train, it was a non-stop express and we did have to pay another 3 euro. But it was well worth it. The only sad part, was how quickly we made the trip (comparing it to how long it took us to walk it-basically all day).
On Saturday we slept in and enjoyed our lovely hotel’s free breakfast. After we checked out of the Hotel Mary we headed out on the train back to Monterosso. The trains were backed up, probably due to all the annoying tourists, but we finally made it to our destination and proceeded straight to the beach to layout and relax in classy European lounge chairs with the most ridiculous looking sun blinders. It was a nice break, just people watching, listening to music, and enjoying the refreshingly cold water. Once we got tired of laying out in the sun, which is tiring, we decided to train it back to another town before catching our train back to Florence. Unfortunately the trains were behind all day and there was a huge confusion about what platform the train we needed was coming in at. Also everyone and their mom was trying to get on the same train. So needless to say we changed platforms a few times, ended up not getting on the train, and having to get onto another one. That was really the only bad thing that happened to us while we were there, so no worries. We caught another train, quite a bit later, after listening to the annoying Italian recording announcing information that wasn’t that useful. After a long day of hanging around train stations, we made it back to Florence- all four of us with all of our stuff. Overall, it was a great trip with hilarious and unforgettable memories attached to it.
Sunday was the day of rest. I got up and went to Church again. And once again I was surprised by how fast they get through mass. 45 minutes and we’re done! A Catholic 45 minute mass just feels so weird to me. I mean, hey, I’m not complaining. I’ve gotten better at understanding what is being said, with the aid of the little booklet (it’s not in English) so I can see the words in front of me in Italian. Afterwards, I came back home and did my homework. We did have some yummy Tiramisu, made by my host-mom Franca. I spent a good amount of time just hanging out with Franca and her friend Marisa, and once again I became La Marisa so we wouldn’t get confused.
I am anxious to begin this week! The soccer game is on Wednesday and on Sunday I am participating in the Corri La Vita (race for breast cancer). More details to come. Alla prossima.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Fare Un’ Escursione
So far life has been good. I think I have finally adjusted to being here and am no longer getting sick (knock on wood that this continues). The main plus of not being sick, I get to eat delish food! Mi piace molto il cibo Italiano. Here’s what this past week has been like:
Classes: All and all they are going well. The first week of school is never really that demanding, but the syllabi lead me to believe that all the work will not be overwhelming. I’m in Intermediate Italian and I can understand everything that’s going on. The textbook is straightforward and I am not worried much about this class. I also get a lot of practice in listening and speaking by living with my host mom, who doesn’t speak a word of English, which is really the best thing that could have happened for me. Just living in a residential place, watching Italian tv (or American tv shows dubbed over in Italian, “lui si chiama Walker, e’ un Texas Ranger” and many more wonderful shows like Ugly Betty-which keeps the Spanish in Spanish so I feel like I’m at home). A History of Witchcraft is so great!! I love the readings, one of which is inspiring me on what I may want to write my thesis on (popular culture/mentality in medieval Italy, in regards to religious conflict between the Catholic church and older-pagan/fairytales/folklore/superstitions; but I’m still working on it). The proff is crazy knowledgeable, and really keeps the lectures interesting-they would be better if certain people would shut up and stop trying to be such show-offs. I’m going to try and ignore those two girls, seeing as how I only have to deal with them for a few months, plus deep down I know I am smarter than them. The end of that subject. Art History: Antiquity-Michelangelo is great. We spend one class in the classroom and the other class out in the city. This past week we walked around the centro and had site-visits to the oldest parts of the city. I love it! Classical Mythology is interesting. I decided I was in dire need to learn the true mythology seeing as how I’ve been basing my knowledge off of Disney’s Hercules and other animated shorts (highly amusing but I do need to know what really happened). Main point: I like my classes, not all the people in them, but the material is still fascinating.
Fieldtrips: one of the best things to do here is to go on the all school/class fieldtrips. On Friday I went to Assisi and had a blast! We obviously went into the church, and had a guided tour about St. Francis and the frescos on the wall. It was very interesting, but sometimes hard to hear because you could not speak above a whisper and our earpieces were not working that well. I sort of told myself the story of the frescos as we went along. Then we did a walking tour of the village of Assisi and oh boy was that tiring. Something most people do not know about Assisi, it’s on top of a hill/mountain, and many of the roads are at a steep incline, which means walking tour of the city was very tiring. It’s a beautiful place, making the trek worthwhile. I’d like to live in a little medieval town just like it. Also, it has the best gelato I’ve ever eaten. It was this vanilla frozen yogurt with berries mixed in! Yum! I know I will miss it when I leave and feel that I should look into getting it shipped to me in the states of opening up my own gelateria if the grad school thing doesn’t work out ☺ We then climbed to the top of the Rocca, which had a spectacular view!
Then on Sunday I went to Populonia, which is this archeological site in the middle of nowhere. We trekked around the site and then crawled into some of the old Etruscan tombs. Yes, I said crawled. Populonia is great because it is one of the best sites to see Etruscan life. After we saw the crazy cool graves, we hiked/climbed up the hill/mountain to see the quarry. It was very tiring but worth it. We got to see some more tombs that were just beginning to be excavated in the forest and the view from the top was very impressive. It was a bit too cloudy so I was unable to see the island of Elba across the sea. But the trek made me feel like Indiana Jones discovering lost worlds, minus the giant bolder chasing after me and no Nazis.
I’ve been making more travel plans and on the days when I have stayed in Florence I have been exploring the city. I’ve gotten better at navigating the bus system and getting around in general. The city is beautiful yet dirty, and the people are accommodating and interesting yet rude. In general, Florence is a one duality. Today after classes, I’m going to find soccer tickets to a game next week. I think that’s about it for now. Alla prossima.
Classes: All and all they are going well. The first week of school is never really that demanding, but the syllabi lead me to believe that all the work will not be overwhelming. I’m in Intermediate Italian and I can understand everything that’s going on. The textbook is straightforward and I am not worried much about this class. I also get a lot of practice in listening and speaking by living with my host mom, who doesn’t speak a word of English, which is really the best thing that could have happened for me. Just living in a residential place, watching Italian tv (or American tv shows dubbed over in Italian, “lui si chiama Walker, e’ un Texas Ranger” and many more wonderful shows like Ugly Betty-which keeps the Spanish in Spanish so I feel like I’m at home). A History of Witchcraft is so great!! I love the readings, one of which is inspiring me on what I may want to write my thesis on (popular culture/mentality in medieval Italy, in regards to religious conflict between the Catholic church and older-pagan/fairytales/folklore/superstitions; but I’m still working on it). The proff is crazy knowledgeable, and really keeps the lectures interesting-they would be better if certain people would shut up and stop trying to be such show-offs. I’m going to try and ignore those two girls, seeing as how I only have to deal with them for a few months, plus deep down I know I am smarter than them. The end of that subject. Art History: Antiquity-Michelangelo is great. We spend one class in the classroom and the other class out in the city. This past week we walked around the centro and had site-visits to the oldest parts of the city. I love it! Classical Mythology is interesting. I decided I was in dire need to learn the true mythology seeing as how I’ve been basing my knowledge off of Disney’s Hercules and other animated shorts (highly amusing but I do need to know what really happened). Main point: I like my classes, not all the people in them, but the material is still fascinating.
Fieldtrips: one of the best things to do here is to go on the all school/class fieldtrips. On Friday I went to Assisi and had a blast! We obviously went into the church, and had a guided tour about St. Francis and the frescos on the wall. It was very interesting, but sometimes hard to hear because you could not speak above a whisper and our earpieces were not working that well. I sort of told myself the story of the frescos as we went along. Then we did a walking tour of the village of Assisi and oh boy was that tiring. Something most people do not know about Assisi, it’s on top of a hill/mountain, and many of the roads are at a steep incline, which means walking tour of the city was very tiring. It’s a beautiful place, making the trek worthwhile. I’d like to live in a little medieval town just like it. Also, it has the best gelato I’ve ever eaten. It was this vanilla frozen yogurt with berries mixed in! Yum! I know I will miss it when I leave and feel that I should look into getting it shipped to me in the states of opening up my own gelateria if the grad school thing doesn’t work out ☺ We then climbed to the top of the Rocca, which had a spectacular view!
Then on Sunday I went to Populonia, which is this archeological site in the middle of nowhere. We trekked around the site and then crawled into some of the old Etruscan tombs. Yes, I said crawled. Populonia is great because it is one of the best sites to see Etruscan life. After we saw the crazy cool graves, we hiked/climbed up the hill/mountain to see the quarry. It was very tiring but worth it. We got to see some more tombs that were just beginning to be excavated in the forest and the view from the top was very impressive. It was a bit too cloudy so I was unable to see the island of Elba across the sea. But the trek made me feel like Indiana Jones discovering lost worlds, minus the giant bolder chasing after me and no Nazis.
I’ve been making more travel plans and on the days when I have stayed in Florence I have been exploring the city. I’ve gotten better at navigating the bus system and getting around in general. The city is beautiful yet dirty, and the people are accommodating and interesting yet rude. In general, Florence is a one duality. Today after classes, I’m going to find soccer tickets to a game next week. I think that’s about it for now. Alla prossima.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Orientation and Full Emersion
Orientation here was very similar to Pomona’s, with the slight difference of the language being spoken alternated between English and Italian: va bene. We were definitely spoiled in the Pomona way, with lectures in a historic and beautiful (well I think those two words always go to together, but that’s just me) theater house and dinner in a classy restaurant next to the Palazzo Vecchio. It was a good night with good food, jazz, and a great view.
Syracuse University in Florence is set in the Piazza Savonarola, and yes it is a nice as the name implies. We have courtyards with wireless (which is the only place I can use the internet for free) and some nice panoramic views of the city from the upper floors of the school. The rooms get a bit hot, but that’s why I have a portable fan shaped like an ipod, yes very motherly of me, but it helps beat the heat. My favorite place by far is the “Quiet Room” where they have couches, chairs, tables, plugs for to charge your electronics, and windows that open out to the main square and back garden. I would have to say the real reason why I love it in there, is because of the sign that says you can sleep in there. The sign said I could, so I did and it was the best nap I’ve had since I arrived in Florence. This room is going to be my new hide-away at the school, if for no other purpose, than to sleep during down time.
I registered for my classes, and for the first time was in the first group to register and subsequently got into all of my classes. I’m also living in a single in my home stay, so I’m hoping this trend will continue into next semester. My classes are Intermediate Italian, A History of Witchcraft, Art History: Antiquity to Michelangelo, and Classical Mythology. The best part is that there are no Friday classes, making it that much easier to travel around. We have field trips with our classes and the school practically every weekend, a great bonus. I’ve planned out my trips already, and this coming Friday I’m heading out for a day trip to Assisi.
My home stay is pretty awesome. I’m living a 15-minute walk/short bus ride away from the school. I have a single room in the apartment of an older widow named Franca. She speaks no English, which isn’t a problem at all and since I’ve been living with her my Italian has gotten so much better. She says I speak well, which makes me really excited and gives me hope of being amazing after 4 months of living with her. She enjoys the movies and television, so we’ve been watching a lot of TV during our down time. I’m very happy that I’m going to get to watch some of my favorite TV shows while I’m in Italy, dubbed over in Italian of course. Ugly Betty starts this week, along with Franca’s favorite show Il Dottor House! I can’t wait for House’s sass in Italian. And before these shows begin, there is a Pomona favorite, Chuck Norris è Walker: Texas Ranger. Basically, Italian TV is very amusing.
After Syracuse finished orienting us, we were set free on our full emersion weekend. On Saturday, Rody and I walked around exploring Florence. We met these really nice Alumni who guided us to a yummy and cheap restaurant for lunch. The food was pretty good, but it was really all about the fruit we had there. Rody will back me up on this. We also learned that Hugh Grant’s brother owns a sit down restaurant in the same area, I have vowed to go back, find it, and eat there, when I have more money. We then went to the centro and began taking lots of photos of the Duomo. I know I’m going to be here for a long time, and that Duomo is going to get so many photos taken of it, by me it’s going to be ridiculous. I know I look touristy doing it, but I have accepted it and have moved on. While walking around, I also saw my first designer stores/prices. I took photos of the D&G prices, cause I just needed proof of how ridic expensive these clothes are. After I came out of shock, we continued to walk around, burning off the calories from the delish Italian food. Then we came upon, the Uffizi Gallery. Well first we came upon the Palazzo with all of the huge statues and fountain with huge statues in it. Then we spotted the fake David, which was the sign that we were at the Uffizi Gallery. Art + history + museum with amazing panoramic views of the city = me in heaven. But the Uffizi is huge and we were tired so we didn’t stay long, plus we have a free museum pass so I’ll be back again in no time.
On Sunday, I woke up and did something I was excited for but still very nervous to do: I walked, on my own to church. Granted it was only a few blocks, but it was the first time I had gone out by myself to a place I wasn’t quite sure where it was. I got there with no problems, acting like a local and not speaking to sketch street vendors who called out to me. Then the next hard part, get through a Catholic Sunday mass entirely in Italian with strangers. I do know how the mass works; it just took a while to catch on to what was being said. I mean, the priest wasn’t just speaking Italian, he was speaking church Italian. Off the top of your head can you tell me the translation to “peace I bring you, my peace I give you. Lord look not on our faults and failings...” and so on? Yeah, I thought so. Also, the Creed is hard enough to remember in English, let alone another language. So I kinda faked it while I was there, I mean it’s the thought that counts. But on a plus side, cute boys go with their mothers to church. Afterwards I made it back to my apartment and had lunch with Franca, her daughter Piatricia, and her old friend Mariza. Trust me, it was confusing. She decided to call me La Marisa, and Mariza simply Mariza. It made sense in context. Then Piatricia and her husband, who are in their late 30s, took me on a trip to Chianti. In retrospect, traveling is fun, but getting there and back was difficult to say the least. The rodes in the countryside are steep, windy, and not really wide enough to fit to cars at once. There were several occasions where we had to pull over to the side ie the small amount of grass that separated the cliff from the rode, or back up so the other car could pass. But it was worth the fear and nausea. We went around some of the smaller towns in Chianti and stumbled upon a wine festival. It was very crowded with people tasting the vendors’ wine (I mean it is Chianti), cheese, and other products. I was glad to see that no one was selling any Fava beans….or liver. Hahaha, I crack myself up. Sorry guys, I just started school, I need some amusement. We had some gelato, and the decided that the place was way too crowded so we set off to explore another neighboring town. Then we came upon the most amazing place. Basically, long Italian name that you don’t care about the origin of, the main point is, is that it’s a really old medieval town, home to about 100 residents. I was thrilled to see, first hand, how people lived in the era that I am studying. The streets were worn down from centuries of traffic, and the outer stone wall still showed its’ battle scars. I felt transported back in time, and then I looked over and saw one of the inhabitants of this place open a shed and get into their Audi, and it kinda killed my daydream. We then took a rollercoaster of a car ride home and settled in for the evening.
That’s about it for now. The facebook album with photos from my travels is up, so you can look at it in conjunction with this post for the full effect. Alla prossima.
Syracuse University in Florence is set in the Piazza Savonarola, and yes it is a nice as the name implies. We have courtyards with wireless (which is the only place I can use the internet for free) and some nice panoramic views of the city from the upper floors of the school. The rooms get a bit hot, but that’s why I have a portable fan shaped like an ipod, yes very motherly of me, but it helps beat the heat. My favorite place by far is the “Quiet Room” where they have couches, chairs, tables, plugs for to charge your electronics, and windows that open out to the main square and back garden. I would have to say the real reason why I love it in there, is because of the sign that says you can sleep in there. The sign said I could, so I did and it was the best nap I’ve had since I arrived in Florence. This room is going to be my new hide-away at the school, if for no other purpose, than to sleep during down time.
I registered for my classes, and for the first time was in the first group to register and subsequently got into all of my classes. I’m also living in a single in my home stay, so I’m hoping this trend will continue into next semester. My classes are Intermediate Italian, A History of Witchcraft, Art History: Antiquity to Michelangelo, and Classical Mythology. The best part is that there are no Friday classes, making it that much easier to travel around. We have field trips with our classes and the school practically every weekend, a great bonus. I’ve planned out my trips already, and this coming Friday I’m heading out for a day trip to Assisi.
My home stay is pretty awesome. I’m living a 15-minute walk/short bus ride away from the school. I have a single room in the apartment of an older widow named Franca. She speaks no English, which isn’t a problem at all and since I’ve been living with her my Italian has gotten so much better. She says I speak well, which makes me really excited and gives me hope of being amazing after 4 months of living with her. She enjoys the movies and television, so we’ve been watching a lot of TV during our down time. I’m very happy that I’m going to get to watch some of my favorite TV shows while I’m in Italy, dubbed over in Italian of course. Ugly Betty starts this week, along with Franca’s favorite show Il Dottor House! I can’t wait for House’s sass in Italian. And before these shows begin, there is a Pomona favorite, Chuck Norris è Walker: Texas Ranger. Basically, Italian TV is very amusing.
After Syracuse finished orienting us, we were set free on our full emersion weekend. On Saturday, Rody and I walked around exploring Florence. We met these really nice Alumni who guided us to a yummy and cheap restaurant for lunch. The food was pretty good, but it was really all about the fruit we had there. Rody will back me up on this. We also learned that Hugh Grant’s brother owns a sit down restaurant in the same area, I have vowed to go back, find it, and eat there, when I have more money. We then went to the centro and began taking lots of photos of the Duomo. I know I’m going to be here for a long time, and that Duomo is going to get so many photos taken of it, by me it’s going to be ridiculous. I know I look touristy doing it, but I have accepted it and have moved on. While walking around, I also saw my first designer stores/prices. I took photos of the D&G prices, cause I just needed proof of how ridic expensive these clothes are. After I came out of shock, we continued to walk around, burning off the calories from the delish Italian food. Then we came upon, the Uffizi Gallery. Well first we came upon the Palazzo with all of the huge statues and fountain with huge statues in it. Then we spotted the fake David, which was the sign that we were at the Uffizi Gallery. Art + history + museum with amazing panoramic views of the city = me in heaven. But the Uffizi is huge and we were tired so we didn’t stay long, plus we have a free museum pass so I’ll be back again in no time.
On Sunday, I woke up and did something I was excited for but still very nervous to do: I walked, on my own to church. Granted it was only a few blocks, but it was the first time I had gone out by myself to a place I wasn’t quite sure where it was. I got there with no problems, acting like a local and not speaking to sketch street vendors who called out to me. Then the next hard part, get through a Catholic Sunday mass entirely in Italian with strangers. I do know how the mass works; it just took a while to catch on to what was being said. I mean, the priest wasn’t just speaking Italian, he was speaking church Italian. Off the top of your head can you tell me the translation to “peace I bring you, my peace I give you. Lord look not on our faults and failings...” and so on? Yeah, I thought so. Also, the Creed is hard enough to remember in English, let alone another language. So I kinda faked it while I was there, I mean it’s the thought that counts. But on a plus side, cute boys go with their mothers to church. Afterwards I made it back to my apartment and had lunch with Franca, her daughter Piatricia, and her old friend Mariza. Trust me, it was confusing. She decided to call me La Marisa, and Mariza simply Mariza. It made sense in context. Then Piatricia and her husband, who are in their late 30s, took me on a trip to Chianti. In retrospect, traveling is fun, but getting there and back was difficult to say the least. The rodes in the countryside are steep, windy, and not really wide enough to fit to cars at once. There were several occasions where we had to pull over to the side ie the small amount of grass that separated the cliff from the rode, or back up so the other car could pass. But it was worth the fear and nausea. We went around some of the smaller towns in Chianti and stumbled upon a wine festival. It was very crowded with people tasting the vendors’ wine (I mean it is Chianti), cheese, and other products. I was glad to see that no one was selling any Fava beans….or liver. Hahaha, I crack myself up. Sorry guys, I just started school, I need some amusement. We had some gelato, and the decided that the place was way too crowded so we set off to explore another neighboring town. Then we came upon the most amazing place. Basically, long Italian name that you don’t care about the origin of, the main point is, is that it’s a really old medieval town, home to about 100 residents. I was thrilled to see, first hand, how people lived in the era that I am studying. The streets were worn down from centuries of traffic, and the outer stone wall still showed its’ battle scars. I felt transported back in time, and then I looked over and saw one of the inhabitants of this place open a shed and get into their Audi, and it kinda killed my daydream. We then took a rollercoaster of a car ride home and settled in for the evening.
That’s about it for now. The facebook album with photos from my travels is up, so you can look at it in conjunction with this post for the full effect. Alla prossima.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Ho Arrivato!
Ok, so I know it's been a while, but I finally got wireless internet at the school and this is the first time I have been able to sit down and chill. Here goes....
I arrived in Florence on Tuesday, the 4th and then proceeded to get sick and be jet-lagged at the same time, in a country that doesn't speak english. I lie. It's actually really easy to just speak english, but I am doing my best not to. I am working on getting my italian back to where it was in may, slowly and surely. I just found out that I am living with an elderly widow names Franca, who lives alone, about a 20 minute walk from the university. I do not yet know if I have a roomate, but should know by the time I meet her this evening. So far, we've just been filling out paperwork and not really doing much. Lots of english, I'm sorry I can't fill out legal documents in Italian, yet. I stress yet! I'm going to fight it out and register for classes tomarrow. Until then, it's going to be a lot of sitting arround the plush Villa Rossa and trying to adjust to life here. I have no real ideas formed yet and am looking forward to seeing more of the city. More info and pictures to come (on facebook) when I charge up my battery.
Ciao.
I arrived in Florence on Tuesday, the 4th and then proceeded to get sick and be jet-lagged at the same time, in a country that doesn't speak english. I lie. It's actually really easy to just speak english, but I am doing my best not to. I am working on getting my italian back to where it was in may, slowly and surely. I just found out that I am living with an elderly widow names Franca, who lives alone, about a 20 minute walk from the university. I do not yet know if I have a roomate, but should know by the time I meet her this evening. So far, we've just been filling out paperwork and not really doing much. Lots of english, I'm sorry I can't fill out legal documents in Italian, yet. I stress yet! I'm going to fight it out and register for classes tomarrow. Until then, it's going to be a lot of sitting arround the plush Villa Rossa and trying to adjust to life here. I have no real ideas formed yet and am looking forward to seeing more of the city. More info and pictures to come (on facebook) when I charge up my battery.
Ciao.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Getting Ready To End So I Can Begin
So I decided to set this up too keep you all in the loop about the on-goings that will go on during my study abroad in Italy. But first I have to make it through finals week. I'm half way there, just gotta keep writing that papers and pack. I'll actually write something of interest once I am home for the summer. Until then the title of this post says it all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)