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.