My perfectionism about this blog has been on my mind. As my english teachers always told me, a good paper needs a beginning, middle and end. This one had no end until now.
Looking over my last entry, I noticed that I was anxious about my flights. As most of you know, my journey home definitely didn't turn out the way I had expected. It included battling snow, while taking 2 buses, 2 trains, 2 planes and a car. It was definitely the most uncertain day I have ever experienced. Probably the worst part of the record snow fall in Florence was the fact that all my original plans completely dissolved as soon as I discovered my flight from Florence to Rome was canceled. I'm not someone who handles uncertainty well. I prepared myself for the schedule of that day and was going to strictly adhere to it. By being able to follow the schedule, I would feel like I had control of the situation. I had no control of this day. When the Florence to Rome flight got canceled, everything for the next 2 days was uncertain. I had to live moment to moment. Little goals of "getting to the train station" then "getting a non-canceled train", etc. was how I had to think. That's not how I usually think so it was definitely a growing experience. I broke several times and was rather demanding to find out information. Add that to the incredible instability of my feelings about leaving the country I have come to love, and that's pretty much my feelings now and at that time. I'm very proud of my friends and "flight buddies" though. Even though many of us didn't like each other, we worked together to get things done. I had to remain calm and was a leader in ways I have never been before. "My teams" hard work paid off in the end because we were the only 50 students to fly out that day.
So, in closing out this blog I wanted to report a little on my feelings of re-entry into the US. It has been a time of continued instability as to my mental, emotional, and physical state (totally a psychologist, my future employers will be happy). The jetlag and my body's clock has majorly been an influence in everything I do. After arriving "home home" on Sunday, I have gotten over the worst part of the jetlag but what is still a contributor to my state of being is the fact that my body thinks it's 12 pm when it's really only 6 am. So, I go to bed extremely early and get up extremely early as well as wanting a nap in the middle of the day.
The first 2 days were the worst for readjusting to everything. My mind continues to think I'm in Italy so when I have to drive, I am not as observant as I should be. It was kind of funny the first time I drove again. I kept saying aloud "This is weird. This is weird. This is weird" over and over to myself in the car. It felt so surreal because my brain thought it was still in Italy, and still does.
Monday and Tuesday were very lonely days. I don't have any abroad friends that live around me and most were still stuck in the airports in various cities and countries, so talking to anyone was basically impossible. I really just wanted, and want, someone to say they are experiencing the same feelings I am. My body physically rejects American food. It's become a game to see how long I can keep food in my body. I am hungry most of the time because the food just doesn't taste like what I'm use to. There are foods I crave or finally talk myself into, only to take a bit and not want to eat anymore because my body suddenly looses its appetite (until I stop eating said food, then it's hungry again). I'm lonely because I can't talk to anyone within reach of me (my family, local friends, etc) because they don't understand and can't relate with stuff I would say about trying to adjust again. Basically all I want to hear from anyone is "Me too". I want to know I'm not crazy for turning the water facite the wrong way each time (because they are turned a different direction) or walk into a room only to have my fingers search the wall for the light switch (because they are lower in Italy). Or to have someone freak out with me when I can read and order in english.
In my mind, I translate how to say or ask something into Italian, only to realize I don't have to. It's disappointing. I never realized how much I used the language until now. Even speaking to my host mom in the mornings. I just never thought about it because it's something I always did. I'm starting to say more in Italian with my own family around the house because that's how I stay sane.
Watching tv was overwhelming at first. I was still trying to process the basics so viewing the guide, that includes hundreds of channels, was too big of a decision at the time. I literally pulled my laptop out and watched shows on it. My brother mentioned something about it, I just said "I'm used to my laptop" and kept it at that. So for two whole days I passed time like I would in Italy trying to bring some normalcy to my "new" life. At times I care way too much what other people are thinking when I make a comment about something relating to this. One of my biggest fears is that they will think I am being dramatic, but I've come to try to balance what I openly show to others. I have also decided it's not my problem if they think I'm being dramatic. Most of them haven't experienced fully embracing and coming to love a foreign culture only to have to leave it. It is what it is. So I'm trying to be understanding with them and with myself.
I've tried to cook some items like I ate in Italy but have had no luck. The olive oil is a fundamental taste factor I have discovered, and we just don't have it in the states. My body is screaming for anything that resembles my former Italian diet. As I mentioned, it has become a game as to how long that last item of American food will stay in me. I'm basically continuously nauseous. Eating a meal with friends is awkward because I don't really eat. It has been 5 days so hopefully sometime soon it will go away. Something I noticed right away is the fact that EVERYTHING has so much sugar in it. Even apple salad has more sugar than I have been eating. It's constantly a challenge to find something to eat that doesn't include anything processed, covered in some sauce or cheese, and that is somewhat fresh. I'm family certain that is what has been causing my body to freak.
It is crazy to be back with my friends and family. I was literally depressed for 2 straight days, and still get waves of it. My thought is that these past 3 months were literally just something that was stapled into my life only to be removed. The experiences will always remain, but the people and the places will never be in my life again. Everything of my former months will never exist in their entirety ever again. Kind of like being awaken from a dream. No one in the life around me knows what I have experienced and fully learned. They never can. Only the people and places I had this past semester can understand, and they won't play the role the did in Italy.
I was nervous to see my parents again. I keep having to remind myself it was only 3 months because to me, so much happened it feels like much longer. I have matured and grown up faster than people who have stayed here. It feels like no one can grasp just how much, except the people I was with. Even seeing my best friends again was and is nerve racking because I've changed. I was with my best high school friends today. We clicked again because we all fit together so well, but I at least was feeling something different. My once completely silly humor has turned into more adult humor. I don't know if they noticed, but I definitely did.
When people ask me if I'm happy to be back, I just make up something they want to hear when honestly they need to ask me in a couple weeks. I'm not going to lie, I'm not incredibly happy to be back. I love my life, but I have also fallen hopelessly in love with Italy and miss it terribly.
My abroad experience did not end by returning. I have a feeling it won't end for another couple months perhaps. It has been more challenging to return than it was to adjust when I first arrived in Florence. Something that has helped is by finding a couple stores that sell authentic Tuscan wines and italian products. I can learn to incorporate certain aspects of the life I loved into my "normal" life. Being as cliche as I am (I'm an add for study abroad), I would never ever trade this experience. Even all the challenges of having to re-enter life as an American has been a very rewarding time. And the best part, I could still go to grad school abroad. Maybe not Italy (or maybe), but I've survived and loved a semester.... :-)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Procrastination station
Exam week is on. Feeling the full effects of it also except this time, I’m just ready to get the **** out of here. Being here is wonderful if I know I don’t HAVE to leave in 3 days, and I know I have fun things planned. Currently, no such luck. Studying is the worst it has ever been because I’m stressing about my flights/baggage. I have to tell my friends bye, get my luggage, go through customs where they hopefully don’t take time to search all my luggage, and get across the JFK airport within 1.5 hours while checking my bags again and such. This sounds like it’s not that big a deal, until you figure in that JFK is ginormous, I’m not familiar with it since I’ve only been there once, and I will be carrying extremely heavy bags. Not cool. And unfortunately, I have to go through customs and then back through a domestic flight security check. JFK is grande so lines are longer everywhere. One comfort is my flight to Charlotte is kinda at night (9 something), so the airport might not be as busy, that’s still relatively early though. I’m also concerned about my luggage being over weight and the fact that I may or may not be bring back 4 bottles over the limit of the law of wine and olive oil. May or may not….Stinking customs. But basically the root of this anxiety is because I have so many mixed emotions going in every direction due to leaving.
So back to exams, I have one exam each day. Italian oral was today, nutrition Thursday, and Italian written on Friday. I knew after today’s oral I would feel a weight off my shoulders because the speaking is the worst for me. I was right. I beasted it. By “beasted” I mean I’ve learned this semester to manipulate my natural sweetness and perkiness to get my way. It’s not manipulation, it’s using what God gave me….we’ll see how far that gets me in life. Hehe But, in the exam, we had to have a conversation for 10 minutes with two professors who aren’t our normal professors. So basically, I’ve never talked to them before. They’re strangers. But I was super nice and energetic which is what I used to cover up my horrible language skills. Seriously, I can say stuff and have come a long way with the language, but I’m probably the worst speaker in my class of 8 students. I’m not exaggerating. I don’t know what is going on most of the time. The written is pretty much fine, but I’m a visual learner so hearing something and having to respond without seeing the words it is hard for me.
As with every other semester, I will be cramming for each exam which makes my brain completely fried for about a week after. It’s the norm. I will be cramming for nutrition the rest of today and wake up early to study more and take the exam tomorrow morning.We'll see if I can sleep. I usually take benadryl during exam week at home because when I have time to sleep, too much stress so molto difficult.
I was super lucky to have only three exams (basically two grades though), and only one exam a day. I’m glad I took a studio class because we finished up last Tuesday and haven’t had class. Studying is really hard though. My concentration is completely shot. I can maybe get in 15 minutes of attention every 30-45 minutes. I am so ready to be out of here.
Another good thing about exams being this week is I get lunch dates with friends. My schedule has focused around classes back to back in the middle of the day, everyday so I never have time for lunch dates with people. Put alas, I have one today! Yay!
I also just discovered how to get internet in my house. Bad idea during exam week. Seriously, when I found out I was so surprised and annoyed because all I did was put in a USB and it started working and hasn’t stopped. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten use to not watching shows and not having internet except at school so having it now is like giving a kid candy for the first time. I’m hooked. Good way to procrastinate though. I already had papers and presentations finished so didn’t need it for research purposes. Oh well. A little added bonus for these next couple days.
I told myself I was going to go on a gelato binge but I have yet to eat one since I promised myself that. Maybe today will be the start. Non lo so.
I have been quizzing my roommate on her art history notes. She needs to be able to tell the date, artist, current location and other various amounts of info by looking at a picture of it. They are all within Italy and many within Florence. It's weird to be able to see a picture of something Brunelleschi or Donatello did and know I actually have seen it, know exactly where it is, and have studied it in my Medici patronage class (if a Medici commissioned it). I know so much more about art history. I can't say I am particularly interested in it, but I have been living in the city that helped create some of the best and well known artists in the world. It's crazy.
So back to exams, I have one exam each day. Italian oral was today, nutrition Thursday, and Italian written on Friday. I knew after today’s oral I would feel a weight off my shoulders because the speaking is the worst for me. I was right. I beasted it. By “beasted” I mean I’ve learned this semester to manipulate my natural sweetness and perkiness to get my way. It’s not manipulation, it’s using what God gave me….we’ll see how far that gets me in life. Hehe But, in the exam, we had to have a conversation for 10 minutes with two professors who aren’t our normal professors. So basically, I’ve never talked to them before. They’re strangers. But I was super nice and energetic which is what I used to cover up my horrible language skills. Seriously, I can say stuff and have come a long way with the language, but I’m probably the worst speaker in my class of 8 students. I’m not exaggerating. I don’t know what is going on most of the time. The written is pretty much fine, but I’m a visual learner so hearing something and having to respond without seeing the words it is hard for me.
As with every other semester, I will be cramming for each exam which makes my brain completely fried for about a week after. It’s the norm. I will be cramming for nutrition the rest of today and wake up early to study more and take the exam tomorrow morning.We'll see if I can sleep. I usually take benadryl during exam week at home because when I have time to sleep, too much stress so molto difficult.
I was super lucky to have only three exams (basically two grades though), and only one exam a day. I’m glad I took a studio class because we finished up last Tuesday and haven’t had class. Studying is really hard though. My concentration is completely shot. I can maybe get in 15 minutes of attention every 30-45 minutes. I am so ready to be out of here.
Another good thing about exams being this week is I get lunch dates with friends. My schedule has focused around classes back to back in the middle of the day, everyday so I never have time for lunch dates with people. Put alas, I have one today! Yay!
I also just discovered how to get internet in my house. Bad idea during exam week. Seriously, when I found out I was so surprised and annoyed because all I did was put in a USB and it started working and hasn’t stopped. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten use to not watching shows and not having internet except at school so having it now is like giving a kid candy for the first time. I’m hooked. Good way to procrastinate though. I already had papers and presentations finished so didn’t need it for research purposes. Oh well. A little added bonus for these next couple days.
I told myself I was going to go on a gelato binge but I have yet to eat one since I promised myself that. Maybe today will be the start. Non lo so.
I have been quizzing my roommate on her art history notes. She needs to be able to tell the date, artist, current location and other various amounts of info by looking at a picture of it. They are all within Italy and many within Florence. It's weird to be able to see a picture of something Brunelleschi or Donatello did and know I actually have seen it, know exactly where it is, and have studied it in my Medici patronage class (if a Medici commissioned it). I know so much more about art history. I can't say I am particularly interested in it, but I have been living in the city that helped create some of the best and well known artists in the world. It's crazy.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
New permanent address: Firenze, Italy
Thursday was the schools art show. All the studio arts classes has student work in it, showing off what they did for the semester. So many students are into art that study here in Florence. I was amazed about that when I first got here.
Everyone in photography had two large photos up. I was so proud of my work. Several people absolutely loved mine. The director of the program was talking about them with another gentleman as I walked up to get a photo of me and my work. He quickly asked if these were mine and seemed to genuinely think they were really beautiful. Since they are rather abstract, he asked me to explain where they were taken and a little about them. I proudly told him where they were taken and a little bit of the editing I had to do to digitally print close to the original. “Photographers” truly have a relationship with their printer. Not all printers print the same. With these particular photos I had to exaggerate the colors on the computer screen, as I have to with many of the photos I take because I love color. We have to do “test strips” also after adjusting anything on the photo. We only print a full photo after correcting and adjusting the color, saturation, etc. We had our final critique on Tuesday also. It was so interesting to see the best of everyone’s work pined up on the board. That person’s personality was stapled up on a big wooden board along with their likes and dislikes. It’s crazy and very interesting. As my professor went from person to person commenting and giving advice for the final time, she always talked about what part of the person’s personality came out of these particular works. My professor is great, she’s an Italian woman with one of the prettiest faces I have ever seen. Apparently the two photos I had in the exhibition show my “sensitivity” because both were difficult photos to take for several reasons, including the fact that they were taken at night, yet I tried to make them work anyway. I have learned so much about photography this past semester. It is definitely always a learning game though. It will take years and years of practice.
My host parents came to the show, which I was super excited about!! Super excited they wanted to see my work and that I am that important to them. I, like with everyone else, walked them over to my photos proudly displaying them. They even mentioned them a couple hours later at dinner. It meant a lot to me. At one point, Bruno was talking to when the VP of our program came over (Jim, he’s the coolest 50-60 yr old you’ve EVER met!). Of course, like everyone else in the world, Jim knew Bruno immediately and came over and gave each other a kiss, excitedly talked, etc. We got to the subject of me living with them and Jim immediately commented how lucky I am to have them. (although he had to mention that the families are great, but some are better than others). I knew this and very much emphasized it. Bruno was tearing up and wiping his eyes. I’m still not exactly sure why but it was only after we started talking about how great of a family they have been to live with. -I told Maria Luisa today that I decided she is coming home with me to cook because it’s just SOOOOoOoOooOoO good. She didn’t get the joke and just looked blankly at me.
After my show, we walked down the street to another one because a friend of there’s was having a show also. It was interesting. Not my style but it was good.
My Christmas present to my host family: Me with a bow on my head, because I’m clearly not leaving in a week. It’s not happening.
I started packing Friday. It’s so surreal. I opened one of my pieces of luggage and found something I had forgotten I put there. Even though it was only 3 months ago that I was unpacking them, so much has happened since then. It feels like so much longer. I literally can’t comprehend my reality in the US anymore. As I was packing, I was trying to envision walking downstairs after first waking up in the morning in my parents house. I just couldn’t do it. I know I keep saying that but I can’t explain it and I know no one else will understand it, so apparently this makes me say it over and over.
Packing again: So while starting to pack, I realized my luggage pieces must have shrunken. It will be a serious miracle if I can fit everything in them.
Something miraculous happened when I woke up Friday morning. I walked out of my room in a daze and still clearly somewhat sleep walking when all of a sudden, I see something coming in through Stefania’s open door. My first thought was, “that would make a pretty picture. Where is my camera“ then understood what was happening. IT WAS THE SUN!!! It literally took me a second to register that the sun was actually out. True to what we were told, it hasn’t stopped raining since November 1st, exactly. Although I will give mother nature a little credit: the locals say it is raining more than usual this year. However, to give us a happy goodbye, it is suppose to be sunny just about all next week.
I mostly finished everything that is due school work wise, Friday. I was locked up in the lib for hours on end and only took a break to go to the center and have lunch with friends. So for the next two days of my weekend, I am seeing the remaining sites in the city and Christmas shopping mixed with consuming an obscene amount of gelato. Sounds like a good weekend to me.
Such a wonderful Saturday!! I am absolutely obsessed with Florence during Natale! There are so many markets and everyone is so nice. Literally, we kept walking around and around the city, down little side streets, in piazzas, everywhere and kept seeing little festivals. We got free fresh dried spices and hot tea (yum!). On woman I loved was giving away something edible (which was yummy but not yummy enough for me to remember apparently). She was so sweet. I said “mangio?” (I eat?). Her response made me feel as though it would her pleasure for me to try it. She was so sweet! I can still picture her face and smile which was so welcoming. Basically everyone was like that all day. The main markets such as San Lorenzo (leather market) was seriously crowded though. I saw a lot of people that looked like locals and not just tourist also. Firenze comes alive during the Christmas season (Natale). The stores are ALL decorated and lit trees are in every piazza. It’s so great!
In the morning, we went back to the best chocolate place I have ever been to. I haven’t tried their actual chocolate because it was seriously expensive, but their hot chocolate was amazing, and I’m a connoisseur of hot chocolate in Florence! Since just discovering it Wednesday, I have been twice now. It’s called Vestri or something close to that. Unfortunately they were out of business cards for any future visits to Firenze I may make. The three of us shared a tiny gelato and each had a hot chocolate. These people seriously specialize in chocolate! Sooo amazing! Probably going again tomorrow. Not joking.
I’ve learned to work the San Lorenze market. As I have mentioned several times, men here in Italy are extremely confident. At this particular Market (it’s the main one and rather large), the booths that sell leather goods, scarves, etc. basically sell the exact same thing. So, I find what I want at one dealer, then go to a different dealer who is a younger flirty guy. Reason: I’m a young girl. Sounds manipulative, I’m aware, but I get the best deal because they are almost always willing to give discounts to blonde girls. To make myself feel better about this manipulation, I tell myself I’m simply taking advantage of the best deal available. Oh Italian men!
On the walk back from the center heading home, we saw a tiny market in Piazza S.S. Annunziata. Of course, we stopped. One place we check out was selling wine. I was super excited to be able to show off my wine knowledge. I am proud to saw I was talking to the owner and his helper about super Tuscan wines. There is no regulation on what percentage of a certain type grape they have to be made from, so the owner can be creative mixing the types of grapes. I love knowing this. I knew I love wine, but at that moment, I realized I love knowing about wine and how certain types are made and such. It seriously put an excitement in me. I also know that’s one thing I wanted to learn while here, but I seriously have learned that beginning to be a passion of mine: the art of wine making and tasting. Mi piace! I will have to learn about American wines when I get home because it has different regulations than Italian wines.
Today, Sunday, I went out with a friend again all day shopping and we visited Pitti Palace and saw The David. I love Pitti Palace. It was much bigger than I had thought. I visited the gardens which are incredibly famous (the Boboli Gardens) towards the beginning of the semester with my Medici art class but had not been in the palace. I was amazed by the floor plan also. So different from modern homes.
We stopped at the holiday market in Santa Croce again and I got a chocolate covered pretzel and hot wine. Not impressed with the hot wine at all. In fact, I only could drink about 10 sips then got rid of it. It was literally making me nauseous. I also got my china set I have been eyeing for a while. I know, I’m 20 years old and just bought a set of dishes. What can I say, I’m a unique interior design freak 20 year old.
It was freezing again today but was sunny part of the time.
Everyone in photography had two large photos up. I was so proud of my work. Several people absolutely loved mine. The director of the program was talking about them with another gentleman as I walked up to get a photo of me and my work. He quickly asked if these were mine and seemed to genuinely think they were really beautiful. Since they are rather abstract, he asked me to explain where they were taken and a little about them. I proudly told him where they were taken and a little bit of the editing I had to do to digitally print close to the original. “Photographers” truly have a relationship with their printer. Not all printers print the same. With these particular photos I had to exaggerate the colors on the computer screen, as I have to with many of the photos I take because I love color. We have to do “test strips” also after adjusting anything on the photo. We only print a full photo after correcting and adjusting the color, saturation, etc. We had our final critique on Tuesday also. It was so interesting to see the best of everyone’s work pined up on the board. That person’s personality was stapled up on a big wooden board along with their likes and dislikes. It’s crazy and very interesting. As my professor went from person to person commenting and giving advice for the final time, she always talked about what part of the person’s personality came out of these particular works. My professor is great, she’s an Italian woman with one of the prettiest faces I have ever seen. Apparently the two photos I had in the exhibition show my “sensitivity” because both were difficult photos to take for several reasons, including the fact that they were taken at night, yet I tried to make them work anyway. I have learned so much about photography this past semester. It is definitely always a learning game though. It will take years and years of practice.
My host parents came to the show, which I was super excited about!! Super excited they wanted to see my work and that I am that important to them. I, like with everyone else, walked them over to my photos proudly displaying them. They even mentioned them a couple hours later at dinner. It meant a lot to me. At one point, Bruno was talking to when the VP of our program came over (Jim, he’s the coolest 50-60 yr old you’ve EVER met!). Of course, like everyone else in the world, Jim knew Bruno immediately and came over and gave each other a kiss, excitedly talked, etc. We got to the subject of me living with them and Jim immediately commented how lucky I am to have them. (although he had to mention that the families are great, but some are better than others). I knew this and very much emphasized it. Bruno was tearing up and wiping his eyes. I’m still not exactly sure why but it was only after we started talking about how great of a family they have been to live with. -I told Maria Luisa today that I decided she is coming home with me to cook because it’s just SOOOOoOoOooOoO good. She didn’t get the joke and just looked blankly at me.
After my show, we walked down the street to another one because a friend of there’s was having a show also. It was interesting. Not my style but it was good.
My Christmas present to my host family: Me with a bow on my head, because I’m clearly not leaving in a week. It’s not happening.
I started packing Friday. It’s so surreal. I opened one of my pieces of luggage and found something I had forgotten I put there. Even though it was only 3 months ago that I was unpacking them, so much has happened since then. It feels like so much longer. I literally can’t comprehend my reality in the US anymore. As I was packing, I was trying to envision walking downstairs after first waking up in the morning in my parents house. I just couldn’t do it. I know I keep saying that but I can’t explain it and I know no one else will understand it, so apparently this makes me say it over and over.
Packing again: So while starting to pack, I realized my luggage pieces must have shrunken. It will be a serious miracle if I can fit everything in them.
Something miraculous happened when I woke up Friday morning. I walked out of my room in a daze and still clearly somewhat sleep walking when all of a sudden, I see something coming in through Stefania’s open door. My first thought was, “that would make a pretty picture. Where is my camera“ then understood what was happening. IT WAS THE SUN!!! It literally took me a second to register that the sun was actually out. True to what we were told, it hasn’t stopped raining since November 1st, exactly. Although I will give mother nature a little credit: the locals say it is raining more than usual this year. However, to give us a happy goodbye, it is suppose to be sunny just about all next week.
I mostly finished everything that is due school work wise, Friday. I was locked up in the lib for hours on end and only took a break to go to the center and have lunch with friends. So for the next two days of my weekend, I am seeing the remaining sites in the city and Christmas shopping mixed with consuming an obscene amount of gelato. Sounds like a good weekend to me.
Such a wonderful Saturday!! I am absolutely obsessed with Florence during Natale! There are so many markets and everyone is so nice. Literally, we kept walking around and around the city, down little side streets, in piazzas, everywhere and kept seeing little festivals. We got free fresh dried spices and hot tea (yum!). On woman I loved was giving away something edible (which was yummy but not yummy enough for me to remember apparently). She was so sweet. I said “mangio?” (I eat?). Her response made me feel as though it would her pleasure for me to try it. She was so sweet! I can still picture her face and smile which was so welcoming. Basically everyone was like that all day. The main markets such as San Lorenzo (leather market) was seriously crowded though. I saw a lot of people that looked like locals and not just tourist also. Firenze comes alive during the Christmas season (Natale). The stores are ALL decorated and lit trees are in every piazza. It’s so great!
In the morning, we went back to the best chocolate place I have ever been to. I haven’t tried their actual chocolate because it was seriously expensive, but their hot chocolate was amazing, and I’m a connoisseur of hot chocolate in Florence! Since just discovering it Wednesday, I have been twice now. It’s called Vestri or something close to that. Unfortunately they were out of business cards for any future visits to Firenze I may make. The three of us shared a tiny gelato and each had a hot chocolate. These people seriously specialize in chocolate! Sooo amazing! Probably going again tomorrow. Not joking.
I’ve learned to work the San Lorenze market. As I have mentioned several times, men here in Italy are extremely confident. At this particular Market (it’s the main one and rather large), the booths that sell leather goods, scarves, etc. basically sell the exact same thing. So, I find what I want at one dealer, then go to a different dealer who is a younger flirty guy. Reason: I’m a young girl. Sounds manipulative, I’m aware, but I get the best deal because they are almost always willing to give discounts to blonde girls. To make myself feel better about this manipulation, I tell myself I’m simply taking advantage of the best deal available. Oh Italian men!
On the walk back from the center heading home, we saw a tiny market in Piazza S.S. Annunziata. Of course, we stopped. One place we check out was selling wine. I was super excited to be able to show off my wine knowledge. I am proud to saw I was talking to the owner and his helper about super Tuscan wines. There is no regulation on what percentage of a certain type grape they have to be made from, so the owner can be creative mixing the types of grapes. I love knowing this. I knew I love wine, but at that moment, I realized I love knowing about wine and how certain types are made and such. It seriously put an excitement in me. I also know that’s one thing I wanted to learn while here, but I seriously have learned that beginning to be a passion of mine: the art of wine making and tasting. Mi piace! I will have to learn about American wines when I get home because it has different regulations than Italian wines.
Today, Sunday, I went out with a friend again all day shopping and we visited Pitti Palace and saw The David. I love Pitti Palace. It was much bigger than I had thought. I visited the gardens which are incredibly famous (the Boboli Gardens) towards the beginning of the semester with my Medici art class but had not been in the palace. I was amazed by the floor plan also. So different from modern homes.
We stopped at the holiday market in Santa Croce again and I got a chocolate covered pretzel and hot wine. Not impressed with the hot wine at all. In fact, I only could drink about 10 sips then got rid of it. It was literally making me nauseous. I also got my china set I have been eyeing for a while. I know, I’m 20 years old and just bought a set of dishes. What can I say, I’m a unique interior design freak 20 year old.
It was freezing again today but was sunny part of the time.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Happy Immaculate Conception Day!
Me showing off being a psyc major: Something I think that helps to understand a little of what we abroaders have been going through (and for anyone I have talked to who will be going abroad in the next year or two) is the fact that we live in a world of temporaries. For the past semester, my mind at least, has seemed to put ideas into the “temporary” or “unreachable” category. We’ve lived here just long enough to see something we want and to see it within reach, only to realize it is really unreachable, because we return in 3 months. We are only here temporarily. Example: the girl can’t get into a relationship with that guy in the program (or back home) that she REALLY likes because he truly goes to college across the country. He’s unreachable. We only temporarily have to learn the language to survive in the most basic level. --My mind has temporarily put everything of significance on hold, plans wise, because I know whatever I do here doesn’t really matter because I return to my “full time” life in several months. Some things that are unreachable are back home though. I have seen what could be, only to have other people move on with their lives while I’m off in Never Never Land. My life is truly on hold back in the states. Everything and everyone (hopefully not EVERYONE) in my life now is only temporary. In my life for a semester, then out of it forever. Italian culture is in my life for a semester, then (possibly) out of it forever. Our minds have had to adapt to that thought process for everything we have in our life here. EVERYTHING. As I analyze how I have been thinking for the past few months, it’s no wonder I have been over mentally stimulated. I’ve adapted to living this way and now have to adapt to the old way of thinking, the only problem is I’m not that same person anymore. No one can go abroad and not be different. I’m definitely the same person in many ways fundamentally, but different in fundamental ways as well. That’s exciting though. I have so much more experience and am not as innocent as when I left. Yeah, yeah, people still seem to want to protect me (I think that’s just my personality and won’t go away), but I‘m different in ways I ‘can‘t put my finger on‘. J Mi piace!
Over the past couple months, I’ve been around people with Italian, Californian and northern accents. Basically no one with a southern accent. Due to this cultural change I am not used to a “southern drawl” anymore. I picked up the southern accent immediately when I first met the one person I am friends with from Georgia because I had not heard it in forever. It’s so weird to think I actually have to get used to my home regions accents. After I first meet someone from the states here and have been talking with them for several minutes, they can usually tell I am from the south. Sometimes a “ya’ll” comes out without thinking. My slight accent it apparently cute. Back home, people say I don’t have any accent because it’s so little compared to other southerners. That shows the difference between the north and south, something I haven’t experienced much until this semester. -I’m in Italy but learning about the northern states of America….
Wednesday was a wonderful day off of school for a Catholic holiday. I say wonderful because it was so Christmas and family oriented, and low key for us students. It really was an added bonus day off in the middle of the week….and we still get our full 3 day weekend. So for this holiday, my Italian family had their whole family come over, their daughters, and their boyfriends along with their grandson and granddaughter. Julio, their grandson who is 3, was so loud and cute. It was very evident, even from my room, that he was having major fun annoying the adults and playing with his aunt. He was giggling and singing (in Italian, but all 3 year olds act pretty much the same). I’m pretty sure there is nothing more joyous in the world than a happy child. He was screaming at the top of his lungs sometimes. It was adorable and put a smile on my face.
So, their family came over and they decorated the Christmas tree, put stockings and Santa’s on the door handles. (I opened the door at one point only to be pleasantly surprised by the giant stocking). They had pizza for lunch (I think that’s the norm on this day every year for them). After all the family festivities, they went to the duomo to watch the giant Christmas tree being lit for the first time this season. They even ate gelato!! They never eat gelato! I was proud….coming from the girl who tries to eat one at least every week. At dinner, they were so full from everything that day they barely ate anything. --major bonus that made my night and possibly my semester: I didn’t tell them about the art show I will be in tomorrow night. (It’s a show for all the studio arts classes and I’m in photography). Some how Maria Luisa and Bruno found out about it and asked me, out of the blue, what time it was because they wanted to see my stuff. I WAS SO HAPPY!!! It shows they truly care. I know without a doubt my parents would have come but can’t of course, so my other family coming means so much to me.
For me Wednesday, I went with two friends to a Christmas market in Santa Croce. As I was walking there, I saw another Christmas market, then Christmas stuff on other streets as well. It was so exciting! There were so many people out and it was evident they were Christmas shopping. I think each stores goal is to get all their Christmas decorations up by today because the Christmas feel was on full blast! As I walked home, all the trees that I have seen up for a while now were finally lit proving that Christmas is on its way.
The market was a cultural mix of items. The food was mostly German but Ireland had a booth as well as British people selling china and such. I ate a Weiner schnitzel. I of course had to have a beer with that because that’s what you do. The booths had so much Christmas represented all over them. Ornaments, gifts ideas, homemade wreaths, freshly pressed olive oil, wine, jewelry and so much more. The ornaments were my favorite. I love Christmas. “It’s my favorite!” (love Buddy the elf!) It was raining and kinda nasty out but there were so many people probably because it’s kind of like their thanksgiving. A day off work, Christmas trees go up, family day, all the stores are ready for shoppers and have extended hours. (including open on Sunday!!! Shocker!) It was a wonderful day.
I had a wonderful conversation with my host mom Wednesday night, while I made white hot chocolate (thanks mom and dad!). As I walked into the kitchen, Maria Luisa was cleaning out “iRobot” . This thing is a wonderful invention. He polishes the floor all by himself, just type in the dimensions of the room(s) and turn him on….he moves around from room to room polishing and vacuuming. -back to the subject: so we were talking about my parents sending me hot chocolate and she asked if my parents think she doesn’t feed me enough. I of course put that out of her mind quickly adding in a “they know I’m addicted to your pasta. I talk about it all the time!” we then got into a discussion about how mothers in southern Italy wouldn’t think Claire and I eat enough, but women in northern Italy wouldn’t think that. She is apparently spared from that thinking because her mother is from Switzerland but married and lived in the south. Also, when looking for an Italian husband, I shouldn’t go south because the mother-in-laws are horrible in general, but usually only with their sons and their wives. (when she said horrible the made the funniest face with the funniest tone I have ever seen from her. It sent me into a laughing fit). One woman, I couldn’t understand who, had her mother-in-law tell her son to buy presents for her (the mother) and not his wife. I can only imagine how the wife would react! She emphasized several times how horrible they are. Very entertaining! I noted to look farther north when looking for my Italian man.
Exams are next week and I’m feeling pretty good about them. The thing that still makes me ask “why!?” is the fact that we have our Italian exams on Friday from 3-5. We leave Saturday morning. Really? My prof even said they know at that point were are going to be so checked out mentally. That’s kinda crazy considering a lot of us have gotten worse at the language the past month or so. The good news: I’m done with my photography class! I think I’ve learned the most applicable stuff from that class more than any other. When I think about not even being able to use my camera manually until about a week into this semester when we were forced to…it’s so natural now. It’s weird to bring my point and shoot camera anywhere now. It feels so weird to use it.
Over the past couple months, I’ve been around people with Italian, Californian and northern accents. Basically no one with a southern accent. Due to this cultural change I am not used to a “southern drawl” anymore. I picked up the southern accent immediately when I first met the one person I am friends with from Georgia because I had not heard it in forever. It’s so weird to think I actually have to get used to my home regions accents. After I first meet someone from the states here and have been talking with them for several minutes, they can usually tell I am from the south. Sometimes a “ya’ll” comes out without thinking. My slight accent it apparently cute. Back home, people say I don’t have any accent because it’s so little compared to other southerners. That shows the difference between the north and south, something I haven’t experienced much until this semester. -I’m in Italy but learning about the northern states of America….
Wednesday was a wonderful day off of school for a Catholic holiday. I say wonderful because it was so Christmas and family oriented, and low key for us students. It really was an added bonus day off in the middle of the week….and we still get our full 3 day weekend. So for this holiday, my Italian family had their whole family come over, their daughters, and their boyfriends along with their grandson and granddaughter. Julio, their grandson who is 3, was so loud and cute. It was very evident, even from my room, that he was having major fun annoying the adults and playing with his aunt. He was giggling and singing (in Italian, but all 3 year olds act pretty much the same). I’m pretty sure there is nothing more joyous in the world than a happy child. He was screaming at the top of his lungs sometimes. It was adorable and put a smile on my face.
So, their family came over and they decorated the Christmas tree, put stockings and Santa’s on the door handles. (I opened the door at one point only to be pleasantly surprised by the giant stocking). They had pizza for lunch (I think that’s the norm on this day every year for them). After all the family festivities, they went to the duomo to watch the giant Christmas tree being lit for the first time this season. They even ate gelato!! They never eat gelato! I was proud….coming from the girl who tries to eat one at least every week. At dinner, they were so full from everything that day they barely ate anything. --major bonus that made my night and possibly my semester: I didn’t tell them about the art show I will be in tomorrow night. (It’s a show for all the studio arts classes and I’m in photography). Some how Maria Luisa and Bruno found out about it and asked me, out of the blue, what time it was because they wanted to see my stuff. I WAS SO HAPPY!!! It shows they truly care. I know without a doubt my parents would have come but can’t of course, so my other family coming means so much to me.
For me Wednesday, I went with two friends to a Christmas market in Santa Croce. As I was walking there, I saw another Christmas market, then Christmas stuff on other streets as well. It was so exciting! There were so many people out and it was evident they were Christmas shopping. I think each stores goal is to get all their Christmas decorations up by today because the Christmas feel was on full blast! As I walked home, all the trees that I have seen up for a while now were finally lit proving that Christmas is on its way.
The market was a cultural mix of items. The food was mostly German but Ireland had a booth as well as British people selling china and such. I ate a Weiner schnitzel. I of course had to have a beer with that because that’s what you do. The booths had so much Christmas represented all over them. Ornaments, gifts ideas, homemade wreaths, freshly pressed olive oil, wine, jewelry and so much more. The ornaments were my favorite. I love Christmas. “It’s my favorite!” (love Buddy the elf!) It was raining and kinda nasty out but there were so many people probably because it’s kind of like their thanksgiving. A day off work, Christmas trees go up, family day, all the stores are ready for shoppers and have extended hours. (including open on Sunday!!! Shocker!) It was a wonderful day.
I had a wonderful conversation with my host mom Wednesday night, while I made white hot chocolate (thanks mom and dad!). As I walked into the kitchen, Maria Luisa was cleaning out “iRobot” . This thing is a wonderful invention. He polishes the floor all by himself, just type in the dimensions of the room(s) and turn him on….he moves around from room to room polishing and vacuuming. -back to the subject: so we were talking about my parents sending me hot chocolate and she asked if my parents think she doesn’t feed me enough. I of course put that out of her mind quickly adding in a “they know I’m addicted to your pasta. I talk about it all the time!” we then got into a discussion about how mothers in southern Italy wouldn’t think Claire and I eat enough, but women in northern Italy wouldn’t think that. She is apparently spared from that thinking because her mother is from Switzerland but married and lived in the south. Also, when looking for an Italian husband, I shouldn’t go south because the mother-in-laws are horrible in general, but usually only with their sons and their wives. (when she said horrible the made the funniest face with the funniest tone I have ever seen from her. It sent me into a laughing fit). One woman, I couldn’t understand who, had her mother-in-law tell her son to buy presents for her (the mother) and not his wife. I can only imagine how the wife would react! She emphasized several times how horrible they are. Very entertaining! I noted to look farther north when looking for my Italian man.
Exams are next week and I’m feeling pretty good about them. The thing that still makes me ask “why!?” is the fact that we have our Italian exams on Friday from 3-5. We leave Saturday morning. Really? My prof even said they know at that point were are going to be so checked out mentally. That’s kinda crazy considering a lot of us have gotten worse at the language the past month or so. The good news: I’m done with my photography class! I think I’ve learned the most applicable stuff from that class more than any other. When I think about not even being able to use my camera manually until about a week into this semester when we were forced to…it’s so natural now. It’s weird to bring my point and shoot camera anywhere now. It feels so weird to use it.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Weekend in Heaven
I thought Cinque Terre was the prettiest place I had ever been: wrong. Maybe it was just timing of the seasons or maybe there was “magic” but Lake Como is my favorite place on earth right now. -The sun was out full blast on Saturday and it was cloudy on Sunday. -I took pics but none of them capture how absolutely gorgeous the area was. The Alps are different from the Appalachian. For one thing there is nothing living (I.e. trees or plants) on the tops of them. Just snow.
This past weekend, I took a solo trip to Lake Como. I had originally planned to go over to the Switzerland side one day but changed my mind and just stayed in Italy. It is a major weekend destination for people from Milan because it’s about a 30 min. train ride away. I stayed in a town called Como but traveled by boat to Bellagio which is a smaller town closer to the center of the lake. Como is very urban yet has a very homey feel. Something I have been majorly disappointed with in Italy is the fact that basically all of the country prostitutes itself out to tourism. Everywhere I had gone, until now, there were tourist EVERYWHERE. Literally, almost everyone on the street looked liked a tourist, especially here in Florence. Como did not have that feel though. Because it is in the Alps, it’s so cold during the winter only the locals stay there. I got the feeling the people are use to the idea of tourists, but this time of year is for them…..there are no tourists. Como very much had a family atmosphere going on. There were families with kids and strollers. People obviously Christmas shopping (because of the “Milaners” during the summer, they have great shopping with top designer stores). There was a Christmas market happening with local artisans. An ice rink was set up with ice skaters out having fun and goofing off. It seriously felt like something out of a Hallmark movie. I did not see anyone I could tell was a tourist, the vibe was one of friendliness and such. What was good for me was people thought I was Italian simply because they don’t usually see tourists this time of year; however, many of the shops in smaller Bellagio and the little mountain town I went to were closed. During the summer, I could definitely see it as a type town out of “Dirty Dancing.” That wealthy weekend play time for families with tennis, swimming, upscale camp type feel while staying in the best hotels. It just felt right.
The moment I will remember the most will probably be standing on a pier looking out over the snow-capped Alps. It was a curve on the lake so I could see in three different directions. The panoramic view was just right. I have never seen anything so breath taking in my life. The lower lake area/towns did not have snow at all but the Alps surrounding the lake were all covered in the stuff. I can’t even describe how “magical” it was (yes I just used that cheesy word). It was absolutely freezing and being on a lake, it was extremely windy which didn’t help the wind chill. I literally remember staring out for several minutes, then all of a sudden it just hit me how absolutely gorgeously, stunning it was. Literally, like a light bulb. Sharing just a little about this because it’s kind of private: the exact thing that came to my mind was out of everything God made, out of this absolute perfect landscape, I was God’s favorite. I was staring at what to me, is ultimate, perfect beauty. Nothing as comparable as that. But He thinks me more beautiful than that creation. At that point, I literally didn’t feel the cold for a full 15 minutes. It was the most perfect moment, and literally, my favorite part of the trip.
What is this life I lead? I take weekend trips to the Alps. I live in Italy. So cliché, but what is this life? Who am I? This is crazy and at no other time in my life will I have this. It’s crazy!
The whole time I was staring at the mountains/a safe distance from actual danger, I felt a pull to be in them, literally facing the dangers and the harsh cold and the feeling of “communing with nature” if you will. I don’t know where this was coming from because I generally don’t like mother nature past a day or two of hiking at once. It was a weird feeling like I shouldn’t be looking at them, I personally needed to be literally feeling them and challenged by them. Like most of this post, it’s hard to explain but I felt like I was in the wrong place by not being physically challenged in that way by those mountains. -makes no sense, I’m aware.
As beautiful and serene as the snow-capped mountains seemed during the day, is how harsh and frightening they seemed as night fell. I was in Bellagio to see what I could see of the sunset (giant mounds of dirt are hard to see over). The feeling I got from them was distinctly different. The snow seemed scary and almost a threat to my life even though I was miles and miles away from the tops. Maybe is was because they are so vast…I don’t know but I was glad I was not on them after dark. I prefer life.
Sunday, my last day, I stayed in Como and explored along with taking a lift up a mountain close to the city. I was on the edge of Alps so this particular mountain does not generally see as much snow fall as most of the mountains I saw Saturday…hence the reason they could put a little town on the top. Again, this place was basically shut down for the winter since tourist season is during the summer. I thought it was cold in the city, nope. It was FREEZING at the top. It was not snowing at that moment but it had snowed fairly recently because there was 6-12 inches everywhere. I couldn’t walk around too much because I didn’t have proper shoes. After the snow got in my shoes once making my feet cold, I didn’t do it again. I couldn’t feel my fingers and they were beginning to hurt due to the level of coldness (that’s not a word, I’m aware). I was pretty excited to see snow even for a few minutes though…and ONLY for a few minutes. I threw it up and then walked through the powder. I felt like a kid, it was great. The whole time I was on the top with all this stinking snow, I kept thinking, what the heck is a southern girl from NC doing on the top of a mountain in the Alps. I’m not use to cold!-Literally, this cold was different than any I have experienced in the states. It was a much colder to the bone feeling, that again, I can’t describe. Even with a fleece pull over, my north face, a gore-tex Marmot, a scarf and gloves, that was not touching the cold with the wind. It. Was. Freezing.
As I was leaving Como it had been snowing for about 3 hours.
Both nights, I was a hermit in my hotel room. They were cold winter nights so I ordered pizza and figured out how to change the Italian tv into English. Law and Order UK is the first English tv show I had seen in 3 months. It was glorious. Simply glorious. I am so proud of myself. I lived through a weekend traveling in Europe all by myself. I didn’t forget to validate my train tickets, got to the correct plat forms even after delays (snow pretty much sums up my weekend), didn’t get lost walking around an urban city/didn’t get killed, figured out things even in a foreign language, I found fun things for only me to do with no knowledge of the area, etc. I lived!!! So. Proud.
Embarrassing moment of the weekend: I had to change trains in Milan, which is one of the biggest train stations I have ever been in. I was briskly walking because I had to use the little girls room before rushing to my next train. So here I am, walking quickly and deliberately when I start to slide. I started to fall backwards when instinctively I knew I might hit my head and that would be worse then falling forward. So, I over correct myself thinking ‘ok, maybe I’m not going to fall.’ Then boom. I pancaked out on the floor. With my book bag on, carrying a handbag, and wearing many layers, I sprawled out, limbs in ever, direction face down. How embarrassing. Several people came over to me (it’s a busy station, lots of people saw). The people of course were not speaking English and at that moment I just wanted to bounce up and forget it happened. One Italian woman said “banane” trying to lighten the mood while helping me up. -I’m not as young as I use to be. As soon as my knees hit that stone floor, they started what was in between a throb and a sting. As I was walking away I was trying to keep what little dignity I had left and walk without limping….majorly hard. My knees still hurt days later. As a kid, or even a couple years ago, that would not have damaged me so much. At least maybe I sacrificed myself for the wet spot, hoping to prevent an older person from falling and breaking something.
I was just e-mailing my mom about Christmas stuff and was thinking about the wine that would be nice to have with the different festivities, then realized, I don’t get wine at home as often I get it here for several reasons two of which include me not being 21 yet and a bigger one, most of my family doesn’t drink wine very often if at all. I have come to expect it with meals and such. One of my favorite combos now is red wine and chestnuts. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and red wine…nothing better in the world. Even when thinking about my friends, I was so excited for a split second thinking about how I could make a new biscotti recipe we made with my cooking class on Friday, which should be dipped in a dessert wine (for our Christmas party!!! so excited!). I can’t do that because we aren’t 21 so I don’t know how their parents would feel about it/if they like wine or not. The complications of drinking wine in the US are an after thought because I don’t have any of those problems here. Wine with dinner. Wine with lunch. Wine tastings. It’s all the norm and something I absolutely love about Italy.
Now on to exams and those papers that unfortunately were waiting for me upon my return. I have two weeks and one weekend left abroad. Como was my last trip in Europe though, for now. To be continued…
This past weekend, I took a solo trip to Lake Como. I had originally planned to go over to the Switzerland side one day but changed my mind and just stayed in Italy. It is a major weekend destination for people from Milan because it’s about a 30 min. train ride away. I stayed in a town called Como but traveled by boat to Bellagio which is a smaller town closer to the center of the lake. Como is very urban yet has a very homey feel. Something I have been majorly disappointed with in Italy is the fact that basically all of the country prostitutes itself out to tourism. Everywhere I had gone, until now, there were tourist EVERYWHERE. Literally, almost everyone on the street looked liked a tourist, especially here in Florence. Como did not have that feel though. Because it is in the Alps, it’s so cold during the winter only the locals stay there. I got the feeling the people are use to the idea of tourists, but this time of year is for them…..there are no tourists. Como very much had a family atmosphere going on. There were families with kids and strollers. People obviously Christmas shopping (because of the “Milaners” during the summer, they have great shopping with top designer stores). There was a Christmas market happening with local artisans. An ice rink was set up with ice skaters out having fun and goofing off. It seriously felt like something out of a Hallmark movie. I did not see anyone I could tell was a tourist, the vibe was one of friendliness and such. What was good for me was people thought I was Italian simply because they don’t usually see tourists this time of year; however, many of the shops in smaller Bellagio and the little mountain town I went to were closed. During the summer, I could definitely see it as a type town out of “Dirty Dancing.” That wealthy weekend play time for families with tennis, swimming, upscale camp type feel while staying in the best hotels. It just felt right.
The moment I will remember the most will probably be standing on a pier looking out over the snow-capped Alps. It was a curve on the lake so I could see in three different directions. The panoramic view was just right. I have never seen anything so breath taking in my life. The lower lake area/towns did not have snow at all but the Alps surrounding the lake were all covered in the stuff. I can’t even describe how “magical” it was (yes I just used that cheesy word). It was absolutely freezing and being on a lake, it was extremely windy which didn’t help the wind chill. I literally remember staring out for several minutes, then all of a sudden it just hit me how absolutely gorgeously, stunning it was. Literally, like a light bulb. Sharing just a little about this because it’s kind of private: the exact thing that came to my mind was out of everything God made, out of this absolute perfect landscape, I was God’s favorite. I was staring at what to me, is ultimate, perfect beauty. Nothing as comparable as that. But He thinks me more beautiful than that creation. At that point, I literally didn’t feel the cold for a full 15 minutes. It was the most perfect moment, and literally, my favorite part of the trip.
What is this life I lead? I take weekend trips to the Alps. I live in Italy. So cliché, but what is this life? Who am I? This is crazy and at no other time in my life will I have this. It’s crazy!
The whole time I was staring at the mountains/a safe distance from actual danger, I felt a pull to be in them, literally facing the dangers and the harsh cold and the feeling of “communing with nature” if you will. I don’t know where this was coming from because I generally don’t like mother nature past a day or two of hiking at once. It was a weird feeling like I shouldn’t be looking at them, I personally needed to be literally feeling them and challenged by them. Like most of this post, it’s hard to explain but I felt like I was in the wrong place by not being physically challenged in that way by those mountains. -makes no sense, I’m aware.
As beautiful and serene as the snow-capped mountains seemed during the day, is how harsh and frightening they seemed as night fell. I was in Bellagio to see what I could see of the sunset (giant mounds of dirt are hard to see over). The feeling I got from them was distinctly different. The snow seemed scary and almost a threat to my life even though I was miles and miles away from the tops. Maybe is was because they are so vast…I don’t know but I was glad I was not on them after dark. I prefer life.
Sunday, my last day, I stayed in Como and explored along with taking a lift up a mountain close to the city. I was on the edge of Alps so this particular mountain does not generally see as much snow fall as most of the mountains I saw Saturday…hence the reason they could put a little town on the top. Again, this place was basically shut down for the winter since tourist season is during the summer. I thought it was cold in the city, nope. It was FREEZING at the top. It was not snowing at that moment but it had snowed fairly recently because there was 6-12 inches everywhere. I couldn’t walk around too much because I didn’t have proper shoes. After the snow got in my shoes once making my feet cold, I didn’t do it again. I couldn’t feel my fingers and they were beginning to hurt due to the level of coldness (that’s not a word, I’m aware). I was pretty excited to see snow even for a few minutes though…and ONLY for a few minutes. I threw it up and then walked through the powder. I felt like a kid, it was great. The whole time I was on the top with all this stinking snow, I kept thinking, what the heck is a southern girl from NC doing on the top of a mountain in the Alps. I’m not use to cold!-Literally, this cold was different than any I have experienced in the states. It was a much colder to the bone feeling, that again, I can’t describe. Even with a fleece pull over, my north face, a gore-tex Marmot, a scarf and gloves, that was not touching the cold with the wind. It. Was. Freezing.
As I was leaving Como it had been snowing for about 3 hours.
Both nights, I was a hermit in my hotel room. They were cold winter nights so I ordered pizza and figured out how to change the Italian tv into English. Law and Order UK is the first English tv show I had seen in 3 months. It was glorious. Simply glorious. I am so proud of myself. I lived through a weekend traveling in Europe all by myself. I didn’t forget to validate my train tickets, got to the correct plat forms even after delays (snow pretty much sums up my weekend), didn’t get lost walking around an urban city/didn’t get killed, figured out things even in a foreign language, I found fun things for only me to do with no knowledge of the area, etc. I lived!!! So. Proud.
Embarrassing moment of the weekend: I had to change trains in Milan, which is one of the biggest train stations I have ever been in. I was briskly walking because I had to use the little girls room before rushing to my next train. So here I am, walking quickly and deliberately when I start to slide. I started to fall backwards when instinctively I knew I might hit my head and that would be worse then falling forward. So, I over correct myself thinking ‘ok, maybe I’m not going to fall.’ Then boom. I pancaked out on the floor. With my book bag on, carrying a handbag, and wearing many layers, I sprawled out, limbs in ever, direction face down. How embarrassing. Several people came over to me (it’s a busy station, lots of people saw). The people of course were not speaking English and at that moment I just wanted to bounce up and forget it happened. One Italian woman said “banane” trying to lighten the mood while helping me up. -I’m not as young as I use to be. As soon as my knees hit that stone floor, they started what was in between a throb and a sting. As I was walking away I was trying to keep what little dignity I had left and walk without limping….majorly hard. My knees still hurt days later. As a kid, or even a couple years ago, that would not have damaged me so much. At least maybe I sacrificed myself for the wet spot, hoping to prevent an older person from falling and breaking something.
I was just e-mailing my mom about Christmas stuff and was thinking about the wine that would be nice to have with the different festivities, then realized, I don’t get wine at home as often I get it here for several reasons two of which include me not being 21 yet and a bigger one, most of my family doesn’t drink wine very often if at all. I have come to expect it with meals and such. One of my favorite combos now is red wine and chestnuts. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and red wine…nothing better in the world. Even when thinking about my friends, I was so excited for a split second thinking about how I could make a new biscotti recipe we made with my cooking class on Friday, which should be dipped in a dessert wine (for our Christmas party!!! so excited!). I can’t do that because we aren’t 21 so I don’t know how their parents would feel about it/if they like wine or not. The complications of drinking wine in the US are an after thought because I don’t have any of those problems here. Wine with dinner. Wine with lunch. Wine tastings. It’s all the norm and something I absolutely love about Italy.
Now on to exams and those papers that unfortunately were waiting for me upon my return. I have two weeks and one weekend left abroad. Como was my last trip in Europe though, for now. To be continued…
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Il fine de Firenze
The full impact (without the real impact) of how hard it is going to be to transition back into my former life is hitting me. For over 3 months now, I have had a complete life without fast food-always home cooked meals, learning techniques for survival and then doing them naturally due to not being able to understand the language, repeating: being completely on my own and learning to survive with just my ideas-in a foreign city and continent. I have not had supermarkets-such as walmart, I walk EVERYWHERE (will I even remember how to drive a car), push the light switch on-instead of flipping it, limited and poor internet connection, no drinks except soda (which I don’t drink much) or water, drinking wine with almost every meal-and it being totally expectable, and other tiny tiny details that are my life. Italy is my life. I have a full, complete life here without anything of America. When I say this, I completely realize other people don’t fully grasp what I am trying to say. I can’t explain to someone, who hasn’t been through this, how difficult and rewarding it has been to live in this country that is COMPLETELY opposite from America. I am already getting frustrated with trying to be understanding when someone from back home writes something that clearly shows they won’t understand my transition when I get home (that’s totally and completely not that persons fault, it’s mine for not being understanding about the situation) I can already tell I need to get a head start on apologizing to my friends but especially my family for how difficult I am going to be for the first couple weeks I am home. I am already homesick for Italy, and I haven’t even left yet. As I just said, it’s not something I can explain to someone who hasn’t been through it. It is unique to this situation. People are hopefully willing to be patient with me even when I seem distant at times or want to be a hermit because I can’t take all the “new” stimuli once again. At the beginning of the semester, if you would have told me I would have to get use to driving that mile to the store instead of walking, I would have told you, you are crazy. I would never have thought I would need to make an effort to fit back into the life I was born into. But I am already realizing, it’s going to be challenging. I’m good with that type challenge though, something I’ve learned J
Who knew you are actually suppose to study while abroad. I think they need to take that out of the equation. It would make things so much more enjoyable. Do I even remember how to write a paper? I sure hope so because I have tons of work due soon. If I wanted a semester with very little work, I should not have chosen SU. The feeling of accomplishment is great after finishing something though. Also, I am learning tons and tons about the Medici family (quickly discovered they are one of the most important families in Europe-and lived here in Florence). I’m doing a paper and did a presentation on Luxembourg Palace in France-a Medici married a French king (Henry IV). It’s very fascinating.
My nutrition class is getting so boring. I already know most of the information the prof is currently covering-it’s not really focusing on the Mediterranean. My Italian class is getting a little better, even though I am still horribly horrible with the language. When I think about how I started with knowing NO Italian and how far I have come, it’s a long way. When I compare myself to how far everyone else has come and how far the prof wants me to be, it’s not very far. Languages are not my specialty I’ve learned. I’ve dissected how I learn and how a language needs to be learned-there is a difference which I won’t get into. My photography class is crazy right now. We are printing full sized prints of photos we have taken over the course of the semester for the final critique. Next week, we have an art show in the evening with the other studio arts classes to display what we have done. Each of us gets to print 2 very large photos. My prof knew exactly the ones she wanted from me. She seriously feel in love with them because of the mysterious “sensitive” quality she said I showed in the photograph. Honestly, when I took both photos, I didn’t think anything of them and almost deleted them on the spot but didn‘t want to take them time. They were both at night and rather abstract. But she raved about them, still does. It’s weird because what she sees as a good photograph and what we as the students see as good is totally different. She’s the professional though.
My mind is scattered so without a transition- As my photography prof and I were trying to print my photos for the art show coming up in a week, we were having a lot of difficulty. She was getting increasingly frustrated so I said, “Cross your fingers.” It was so funny, she looked at her fingers then quickly up at me while she said something like, me fingers are uncrossed..? It’s just something that came out of my mouth without thinking. Anyone in the states would have known that was insinuating luck, she had never heard it before so I had to explain what it meant. She thought I was crazy.
My last weekend trip:
I’m very excited about this weekend (which starts after my cooking class on Friday). I am going to Como, Italy and Switzerland!! So excited! Lake Como is right on the border of Italy and Switzerland and is suppose to be gorgeous! I had originally thought I would go to Geneva, Switzerland-and was very in depth in the planning process when my host dad talked me into Como. I had expressed the fact that I wanted to hike. Seriously, I’ve been craving hiking and just being in nature which can’t happen in Florence BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING GREEN. Errr! So, off to Switzerland I was going, when my host dad burst my bubble by saying it would be just another city, like Dublin basically was. I needed to be somewhere a little more remote. So, he immediately said to go to Como. I checked into it and still have an adrenaline rush thinking about where I am going tomorrow! Anddddddd, I’m going all by myself. I have planned this completely on my own and am going completely by myself. That means I can do what I want while there instead of compromising-not going to lie, pretty excited about that. I love the people I’ve traveled with, but most of them are not compatible travel companions with me. -weird how that works-
I’m hoping for snow in the Alps!! The Alps! Yay!
Who knew you are actually suppose to study while abroad. I think they need to take that out of the equation. It would make things so much more enjoyable. Do I even remember how to write a paper? I sure hope so because I have tons of work due soon. If I wanted a semester with very little work, I should not have chosen SU. The feeling of accomplishment is great after finishing something though. Also, I am learning tons and tons about the Medici family (quickly discovered they are one of the most important families in Europe-and lived here in Florence). I’m doing a paper and did a presentation on Luxembourg Palace in France-a Medici married a French king (Henry IV). It’s very fascinating.
My nutrition class is getting so boring. I already know most of the information the prof is currently covering-it’s not really focusing on the Mediterranean. My Italian class is getting a little better, even though I am still horribly horrible with the language. When I think about how I started with knowing NO Italian and how far I have come, it’s a long way. When I compare myself to how far everyone else has come and how far the prof wants me to be, it’s not very far. Languages are not my specialty I’ve learned. I’ve dissected how I learn and how a language needs to be learned-there is a difference which I won’t get into. My photography class is crazy right now. We are printing full sized prints of photos we have taken over the course of the semester for the final critique. Next week, we have an art show in the evening with the other studio arts classes to display what we have done. Each of us gets to print 2 very large photos. My prof knew exactly the ones she wanted from me. She seriously feel in love with them because of the mysterious “sensitive” quality she said I showed in the photograph. Honestly, when I took both photos, I didn’t think anything of them and almost deleted them on the spot but didn‘t want to take them time. They were both at night and rather abstract. But she raved about them, still does. It’s weird because what she sees as a good photograph and what we as the students see as good is totally different. She’s the professional though.
My mind is scattered so without a transition- As my photography prof and I were trying to print my photos for the art show coming up in a week, we were having a lot of difficulty. She was getting increasingly frustrated so I said, “Cross your fingers.” It was so funny, she looked at her fingers then quickly up at me while she said something like, me fingers are uncrossed..? It’s just something that came out of my mouth without thinking. Anyone in the states would have known that was insinuating luck, she had never heard it before so I had to explain what it meant. She thought I was crazy.
My last weekend trip:
I’m very excited about this weekend (which starts after my cooking class on Friday). I am going to Como, Italy and Switzerland!! So excited! Lake Como is right on the border of Italy and Switzerland and is suppose to be gorgeous! I had originally thought I would go to Geneva, Switzerland-and was very in depth in the planning process when my host dad talked me into Como. I had expressed the fact that I wanted to hike. Seriously, I’ve been craving hiking and just being in nature which can’t happen in Florence BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING GREEN. Errr! So, off to Switzerland I was going, when my host dad burst my bubble by saying it would be just another city, like Dublin basically was. I needed to be somewhere a little more remote. So, he immediately said to go to Como. I checked into it and still have an adrenaline rush thinking about where I am going tomorrow! Anddddddd, I’m going all by myself. I have planned this completely on my own and am going completely by myself. That means I can do what I want while there instead of compromising-not going to lie, pretty excited about that. I love the people I’ve traveled with, but most of them are not compatible travel companions with me. -weird how that works-
I’m hoping for snow in the Alps!! The Alps! Yay!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Italy Holds the Key to My Heart
I was realizing last night that I promised recipes to several of you before I left and have never fulfilled my commitment. Here are a couple of my favorites. It sounds so simple, but truly, Italians appreciate each ingredients flavor, so most recipes don’t have more than a couple items in it. A few tips I have picked up: 75% of the taste is based on the quality of each ingredient, so buy fresh when possible! Most American pasta is cooked for too long making it soggy, cook for less time and just until it’s not crunchy. Older Parmesan is better to use for cooking because it has more flavor-grad it yourself. The type of pasta you use with the type of sauce is the key to pasta making. “Chunkier” sauces need a pasta that will catch the sauce. Thinner sauces can handle smooth pasta. Ex. Spaghetti with olive oil based sauce. Most sauces are tomato based. I have eaten a cream based sauce probably 3 times while here. America has it all wrong. It is totally expected and almost always done to clean your pasta plate of remaining sauce with bread. -And just plain yummy!-
The first recipe my host mom makes often-varying one or two ingredients each time-they are all wonderful and one of my favorite types of pasta. I am guessing on the exact ingredients and put as much of each as you would like and last thing, I have not made the first couple myself (I don't have a kitchen to use), so it is based on observation of ingredients and my own taste buds (that's my legal contract for any law suits coming my way):
Pasta:
Shopping list:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil-the fresher the better
Fresh garlic
Tiny red peppers-desired strength
Sun dried tomatoes
Spaghetti noodles
Sautee the EVOO with the garlic, pepper and tomatoes for flavor. Don’t add much garlic. The flavor of the garlic should not be strong at all. Cook noodles “al dante” (spell?) (just past the crunchy stage but not to the mushy yet). Enjoy!
Tips: one of my favorite variations of this was with FRESH parsley finely chopped instead of tomatoes and pepper.
Tuscan peas:
Frozen peas, thawed
Olive oil
Garlic
Bacon, finely chopped and partially cooked
Onion, finely chopped
Pepper
Combine olive oil, bacon, onion, peas, garlic, (just a little!) and pepper to taste. Sautee until peas are heated and oil is flavored. Serve with remaining oil. Enjoy!
Compliments of a cooking class:
My favorite pasta of all time!!! (and one of the easiest dishes to make)
Gnocchi di patate al pesto (Gnocchi with pesto):
Gnocchi (as freshly made as possible)
2 cloves garlic
100 g fresh basil
50 g grated parmesan (freshly grated is better)
50 g EVOO
Salt and pepper
Pine nuts or almonds if desired
In a mixer, combine all ingredients except olive oil and parmesan. Gradually add olive oil with the pulse button. Add the grated parmesan. Mix with pasta or gnocchi and add nuts if desired. Top with extra parmesan (again, if desired). Hint: it’s much better with gnocchi or a pasta that will catch the sauce.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual blog:
Christmas! Yes, I am that dork who sings Christmas carols walking down the street, whose face lights up when she sees anything Christmas-esc, and who must cover the Christmas with tinsel so it doesn’t shrivel up and die. Every time I see something new for Christmas being put up in a store window, I have to say the word, with extreme enthusiasm, CHRISTMAS!! A giant ever green tree was put up next to the duomo Thursday (Thanksgiving, although I don‘t think it had anything to do with that), I just had to call someone and get my excitement out for this new fact. I have finally allowed myself to break out the new Dave Barnes Christmas album-after one day I have all the song lyrics memorized. Firenze is being covered with everything Christmas and it’s the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time. I always new I loved Christmas, but being in a new place has put more perspective on things and I’ve learned, I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME.
Wednesday night, several of us went to an English movie theater and saw Harry Potter. As I had not seen the others, the highlight of the evening was being able to drink beer in the theater. I don’t even like beer that much but simply the fact that I could a- buy it because I’m not 21 but it’s totally legal b. buy it at a movie theater and c. I’m in Italy! Everything seems so much cooler doing it here. So, my first whole beer I ever drank by myself, totally drank in a movie theater. While watching the legendary HP. In Italy. Epic. -Turns out, the random beer I got was fairly good.
Thanksgiving was just a normal day for me, that’s what I’m telling myself anyway. I was telling people “happy thanksgiving” and such, but I never allowed myself to think about the day. I just kept saying over and over in my mind, it’s just a normal Thursday. I knew if I let myself think about it, it would ruin my day. However, I did break that a little my calling my grandparents. It was so good to hear my grandmother’s voice. I didn’t realize I needed to hear that until that moment. My host family did not do anything special, although they did wish me a happy thanksgiving : ). The school made 3 different types of pies for us to grab a piece from, so I got pumpkin pie (even though I’m allergic, it was my only source of anything Thanksgiving, so I ate it). My Italian prof let us out 1 whole hour early! She NEVER lets us out early so it was a surprise when she did. I think she sort of knows what we were going through that day because she is hosting 2 girls from the program. The school was so sweet and gave us a list of places where we could buy a turkey, and pumpkin pie ingredients, etc. My roommates mom was here, so they were going to Amsterdam, which would have meant I would do it all by myself. As it turns out, I got my usual pasta craving about 3 o’clock so was happy to go home and eat my host mom’s pasta. Yummy!
I went to Lucca with my photography class on Friday. Lucca is near Pisa and about a 1.5 hour train ride from Florence. We went for a digital photography exhibit. It’s a super cute town and very small, not like Florence at all. As I heard it perfectly described once, Florence, and most of Italy has prostituted itself out to tourism. While in Lucca, I did not get the feeling that this city had though. I hardly saw any tourists. It was a lot more tranquil and silent compared to most cities I have to also. Since it was farther north, it was absolutely freezing, we even had some sleet. By the end of the day my fingers where so stiff and sore from the cold it was difficult to open a bottle of water. The exhibits were wonderful though! My favorite was probably a photojournalism one with multiple photographers. It was very humanitarian-esc…..go figure why I liked it. With each photograph, there was a brief description of the situation. One that stands out the most to me was a photo of a young girl (maybe 7 yrs. old) who had been buried by rubble from counter attacks by Israel. She was obviously dead. I won’t be able to forget her expression for a while.
I am truly appreciating Italy more these days. If the way I felt about Italy these past months were a graph, there would be MAJOR spikes throughout it all! One week/day I love it, the next I’m ready to get out of here, very unstable (coming from a psy major). I have gone back to the “I love Italy” stage for this post though. I think it has taken me seeing the end is near to honestly appreciate everything here. I love the feeling of not having pressure on me all the time to look “put together” and thin. Here, it’s either that I can’t understand the language, the culture doesn’t emphasize it like Americans do, or my mind set it different. I think it’s a little of both. That whole theory of me viewing things different here just about sums up my life over the past 3 months. I don’t feel the pressure to conform, society telling me I need this and that to be happy. I am more adventurous. I eat things without asking what it is (ok ok, out of fear sometimes). I actually eat tomatoes now! I know, right!! (just on things, but it’s a major step!!) I love certain aspects of who I am here. It has only taken 3 months to realize that….haha
The first recipe my host mom makes often-varying one or two ingredients each time-they are all wonderful and one of my favorite types of pasta. I am guessing on the exact ingredients and put as much of each as you would like and last thing, I have not made the first couple myself (I don't have a kitchen to use), so it is based on observation of ingredients and my own taste buds (that's my legal contract for any law suits coming my way):
Pasta:
Shopping list:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil-the fresher the better
Fresh garlic
Tiny red peppers-desired strength
Sun dried tomatoes
Spaghetti noodles
Sautee the EVOO with the garlic, pepper and tomatoes for flavor. Don’t add much garlic. The flavor of the garlic should not be strong at all. Cook noodles “al dante” (spell?) (just past the crunchy stage but not to the mushy yet). Enjoy!
Tips: one of my favorite variations of this was with FRESH parsley finely chopped instead of tomatoes and pepper.
Tuscan peas:
Frozen peas, thawed
Olive oil
Garlic
Bacon, finely chopped and partially cooked
Onion, finely chopped
Pepper
Combine olive oil, bacon, onion, peas, garlic, (just a little!) and pepper to taste. Sautee until peas are heated and oil is flavored. Serve with remaining oil. Enjoy!
Compliments of a cooking class:
My favorite pasta of all time!!! (and one of the easiest dishes to make)
Gnocchi di patate al pesto (Gnocchi with pesto):
Gnocchi (as freshly made as possible)
2 cloves garlic
100 g fresh basil
50 g grated parmesan (freshly grated is better)
50 g EVOO
Salt and pepper
Pine nuts or almonds if desired
In a mixer, combine all ingredients except olive oil and parmesan. Gradually add olive oil with the pulse button. Add the grated parmesan. Mix with pasta or gnocchi and add nuts if desired. Top with extra parmesan (again, if desired). Hint: it’s much better with gnocchi or a pasta that will catch the sauce.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual blog:
Christmas! Yes, I am that dork who sings Christmas carols walking down the street, whose face lights up when she sees anything Christmas-esc, and who must cover the Christmas with tinsel so it doesn’t shrivel up and die. Every time I see something new for Christmas being put up in a store window, I have to say the word, with extreme enthusiasm, CHRISTMAS!! A giant ever green tree was put up next to the duomo Thursday (Thanksgiving, although I don‘t think it had anything to do with that), I just had to call someone and get my excitement out for this new fact. I have finally allowed myself to break out the new Dave Barnes Christmas album-after one day I have all the song lyrics memorized. Firenze is being covered with everything Christmas and it’s the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time. I always new I loved Christmas, but being in a new place has put more perspective on things and I’ve learned, I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME.
Wednesday night, several of us went to an English movie theater and saw Harry Potter. As I had not seen the others, the highlight of the evening was being able to drink beer in the theater. I don’t even like beer that much but simply the fact that I could a- buy it because I’m not 21 but it’s totally legal b. buy it at a movie theater and c. I’m in Italy! Everything seems so much cooler doing it here. So, my first whole beer I ever drank by myself, totally drank in a movie theater. While watching the legendary HP. In Italy. Epic. -Turns out, the random beer I got was fairly good.
Thanksgiving was just a normal day for me, that’s what I’m telling myself anyway. I was telling people “happy thanksgiving” and such, but I never allowed myself to think about the day. I just kept saying over and over in my mind, it’s just a normal Thursday. I knew if I let myself think about it, it would ruin my day. However, I did break that a little my calling my grandparents. It was so good to hear my grandmother’s voice. I didn’t realize I needed to hear that until that moment. My host family did not do anything special, although they did wish me a happy thanksgiving : ). The school made 3 different types of pies for us to grab a piece from, so I got pumpkin pie (even though I’m allergic, it was my only source of anything Thanksgiving, so I ate it). My Italian prof let us out 1 whole hour early! She NEVER lets us out early so it was a surprise when she did. I think she sort of knows what we were going through that day because she is hosting 2 girls from the program. The school was so sweet and gave us a list of places where we could buy a turkey, and pumpkin pie ingredients, etc. My roommates mom was here, so they were going to Amsterdam, which would have meant I would do it all by myself. As it turns out, I got my usual pasta craving about 3 o’clock so was happy to go home and eat my host mom’s pasta. Yummy!
I went to Lucca with my photography class on Friday. Lucca is near Pisa and about a 1.5 hour train ride from Florence. We went for a digital photography exhibit. It’s a super cute town and very small, not like Florence at all. As I heard it perfectly described once, Florence, and most of Italy has prostituted itself out to tourism. While in Lucca, I did not get the feeling that this city had though. I hardly saw any tourists. It was a lot more tranquil and silent compared to most cities I have to also. Since it was farther north, it was absolutely freezing, we even had some sleet. By the end of the day my fingers where so stiff and sore from the cold it was difficult to open a bottle of water. The exhibits were wonderful though! My favorite was probably a photojournalism one with multiple photographers. It was very humanitarian-esc…..go figure why I liked it. With each photograph, there was a brief description of the situation. One that stands out the most to me was a photo of a young girl (maybe 7 yrs. old) who had been buried by rubble from counter attacks by Israel. She was obviously dead. I won’t be able to forget her expression for a while.
I am truly appreciating Italy more these days. If the way I felt about Italy these past months were a graph, there would be MAJOR spikes throughout it all! One week/day I love it, the next I’m ready to get out of here, very unstable (coming from a psy major). I have gone back to the “I love Italy” stage for this post though. I think it has taken me seeing the end is near to honestly appreciate everything here. I love the feeling of not having pressure on me all the time to look “put together” and thin. Here, it’s either that I can’t understand the language, the culture doesn’t emphasize it like Americans do, or my mind set it different. I think it’s a little of both. That whole theory of me viewing things different here just about sums up my life over the past 3 months. I don’t feel the pressure to conform, society telling me I need this and that to be happy. I am more adventurous. I eat things without asking what it is (ok ok, out of fear sometimes). I actually eat tomatoes now! I know, right!! (just on things, but it’s a major step!!) I love certain aspects of who I am here. It has only taken 3 months to realize that….haha
Sunday, November 21, 2010
"This is [Rome]"
Jumping in:
Although trying not to get into the bittersweet aspect of study abroad because it’s not that time yet, I have learned a tremendous amount about myself and life in general. I’ve learned that I’m too sweet sometimes allowing less than honest people to walk over me, not ok.-I’m “fixing” that.- And many other little things such as that.
I crave carbs now. Seriously, one would think to come from America-a country in which people eat pasta 2-3 times a week in general-would make me get sick of the food quickly, but nope. I crave it. If I don’t get at least one serving of pasta a day my body literally tells me it wants it -and bread has to be eaten with that pasta. At dinner with my host family, I eat 3 or more slices of bread. I’ve come to love the food. I’ve never liked bread that much. I’m actually a little surprised I’m not gaining weight….it’s that U.S. “carbs are bad” brain washing though…I currently am living proof of that not being true.
Dinner with my host family is my favorite time of day. They are so sweet and I am reminded in little ways everyday how blessed I am to have such a family. My host mom loves to cook and stays home all day allowing her time to make a delicious meal with love and care. I have yet to eat the exact same pasta twice. It’s wonderful. Most everything is seasonal which helps with that fact. It’s a norm for me to hand my dirty plate from one course to Maria Luisa so she can hand me a clean plate for the next. I do it without thinking. As I mentioned in an earlier post, as I talk with my friends, I realize more and more how blessed I am to have Maria Luisa cook for us. Many of the other host families have students for the money aspect, so they don’t truly care. It is very evident, especially with Bruno, that mine is not that way. They are great! Maria Luisa does everything for us. She takes our laundry, and we see it return in a couple days. I have yet to discover where it goes, but it comes back clean. She cleans our room for us, changes our sheets, etc. We are so spoiled and blessed to have gotten such a caring family.
I notice more and more shops putting up Christmas decorations. There were several Christmas trees newly put up yesterday and the Florentine symbol is hung with lights above streets near the duomo and center. As I see boutiques with new red and green Christmas items, I have to keep my excitement in check. Christmas!! (I literally say that out loud to the anyone passing by, who knows if they know what I am talking about)
I asked Maria Luisa the other day what they do for Christmas. Being Catholic, they aren’t suppose to celebrate until a couple days into January, however for the children (grandchildren), they open the gifts on December 25. Since they are from Naples (a region of Italy), one celebration included foods with mostly fish for every course. The other day includes mostly meats for every course and lots of cookies eaten all day (like holiday baking in the states).
Regions of Italy are very important to the Italians. They are very proud of where they come from because every region is known for specializing in certain items. My host family is from Naples which has the best Mozzarella and pizza. In the course of our dinner conversation, they almost always bring up something about, “we are from Naples…”. The government does not help dissolve the prejudice the people have of each region either. Although I couldn’t fully understand because it was in broken inglese, Bruno said: due to their national healthcare, it’s hard to move around within Italy, thus many people stay in one place. Bruno tried to move his mom from a nursing home in Naples to one in Florence but the people owning the facilities said no. Something about the insurance wouldn’t travel with her.
Travels:
Last weekend I went to Venice. It was fun. Not one of my favorite trips but it was good to be able to see the city with no roads. This past weekend I went to Rome with school. I loved Rome!!!! I have so much more respect for the Romans and ancient Rome in general since going. I can’t explain it but it’s so different from just learning about it and seeing pictures in a class room. The monuments are huge!! I completely understand why the slaves that arrived there said it was a city made by giants. I was there with the school so our tour guide was from SUF and was probably the best guide I have ever had. He knew so much about everything. We went to the Vatican and St. Peters Cathedral. St. Peters is so massive! It is said that people don’t understand the scale of it because the building itself does not allow human perspective. It’s true. It’s hard to explain but something I remember the most about what my guide said was the aisle is 2.5 football fields long. While standing at the very back, a pro football player could throw a football, totally thinking he could reach the end, only to see his ball land in the middle. The statues, many of them done my Michelangelo, are ginormous.
Along with the Vatican and St. Peters, we saw the Sistine Chapel. It did not have the awe factor I was expecting, that one that most everyone gets. It was super interesting learning about what they discovered in the restoration process though. Apparently after 4.5 yrs of painting on a ceiling, Michelangelo got bored and did little things to quicken the process. Making figures bigger, plaster work bigger and fewer, etc. While restoring it, they also found pig hair from his brushes, because he was painting so furiously it was destroying his brushes in the process. My favorite part of the Sistine Chapel was not Michelangelo’s ceiling, but the paintings on the walls. One sticks out in my mind the most. It depicted Moses and the Red Sea. The Egyptians are being covered in water while the Israelites are on the land. It was interesting that the artist (can’t remember who) put a rainbow in the background of this painting. I would assume to symbolize God’s promise to God’s chosen people: the Israelites. Very well done and very moving.
One Saturday, we saw the Coliseum and “Capital Hill” as I like to call it where the palaces once stood in ancient Rome. I didn’t realize until going to Rome how much of our history and the little phrases we have, what the Emperors decreed, and things such as that that have affected our lives today and carried down through the generations. Example: one of the temples (which was reconstructed and stands today) has columns that surround the building. Those columns have incisions in them in various spots. During the rise of Christianity, the people decided the temple needed to be destroyed because it was dedicated to pagan gods. It is so massive a structure, that even the most powerful piece of equipment (oxen) could not bring down the temple (Renaissance times). So two things stand out here. First: the saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them” was started because they couldn’t remove the columns, so they left them and just built a different building behind them allowing the columns to surround this new building. Second: even hundreds of years after ancient Rome, people did not have the technology the Romans had to bring down the columns. They didn’t even have to lift and construct it, like the Romans had to do while building it. They had the easier of the tasks and still couldn’t do it. That’s how amazing the Romans were.
The coliseum was another ah inspiring visit for me, and very possibly my favorite. Again, our guide was wonderful. He told us a lot of the culture of ancient Rome. 65% of Rome’s citizens (around 1 million in the city), were on “welfare” meaning what food stamps would be today. They didn’t have “food stamps” though. However, the empire was so wealthy that they didn’t go to the grocery store and get the cheapest stuff, they got caviar and champagne, etc. Rome was very wealthy! I have to see “Gladiator” the movie again soon. I would have a totally new perspective on it. -The Roman calendar at that time had 365 days (every year). Of those 365 days, 142 (around that number), had games in the arena. So roughly every two days there was a sporting event and holiday for the people. The coliseum held 50,000-80,000 people and could completely empty out in 20 minutes (it was that organized! That would come in handy for fire codes today). At the beginning of the day, hardly anyone came early because it was the funny stuff, dancing bears, circus material. As the day went on, more people trickled in as the games got more serious. Just before people fought, they would get animals that didn’t normally live together (from different areas of the large Roman empire), starve them, make them angry, and them put them in the arena together to ripe each other apart. -After this, people would go home and eat, relax, them come back to see the gladiators fight to the death-everyone‘s favorite. -very much like the movie, with the thumbs up/down for death and such. Today, a lot of the coliseum is destroyed from various earthquakes and such, but different parts of it have been reconstructed to see what it would have been like. The Romans were extremely smart and wealthy. So much more so than I had ever thought or learned in the classroom. It really is very amazing!! Their history is our history and REALLY effects what we do today without us even realizing it.
Architecturally, the Parthenon is one of the most intelligently made structures, ever. My guide said it is the most studied architectural building around the world. It has always been very well recorded and documented. They know exactly how it was made and use to look like because even after its completion, people studied it. However, no one knows for sure what it was used for. (I find that’s kind of funny. Everyone was so caught up on the fact that the building itself is a genius, but they didn’t really care what people used it for.) They have no fear of the dome falling (like they do with Brunelleschi’s dome in the duomo, hehe). The Parthenon has a 142 foot circumference and exactly that for its height as well. It is a perfect sphere and was designed that way. The dome was made from what is modern day concrete (they were so smart!) and many other fibers from that time. It has no central point (it’s an open circle at the top). It’s amazing! It was pouring rain basically the whole time I was there, so we saw the rain coming down through the middle of the open circle. So pretty!! It just fell on the marble below.
There is no city like Rome. It has definitely been my favorite and the most awe inspiring. The Romans were seriously geniuses and there has never been a civilization as wealthy as it was.
Oh, Italy. It has stolen my heart and now holds it captive with a tight key that is suffocating. I absolutely love the country and the people, the food, everything…but it’s time to go home. The best way to sum up how I feel: bring everyone I love and my college to Italy, and I would be the happiest person ever! My home is where my heart is and my heart is back in the states with the people I love. Most of us students have started a count down.
Although trying not to get into the bittersweet aspect of study abroad because it’s not that time yet, I have learned a tremendous amount about myself and life in general. I’ve learned that I’m too sweet sometimes allowing less than honest people to walk over me, not ok.-I’m “fixing” that.- And many other little things such as that.
I crave carbs now. Seriously, one would think to come from America-a country in which people eat pasta 2-3 times a week in general-would make me get sick of the food quickly, but nope. I crave it. If I don’t get at least one serving of pasta a day my body literally tells me it wants it -and bread has to be eaten with that pasta. At dinner with my host family, I eat 3 or more slices of bread. I’ve come to love the food. I’ve never liked bread that much. I’m actually a little surprised I’m not gaining weight….it’s that U.S. “carbs are bad” brain washing though…I currently am living proof of that not being true.
Dinner with my host family is my favorite time of day. They are so sweet and I am reminded in little ways everyday how blessed I am to have such a family. My host mom loves to cook and stays home all day allowing her time to make a delicious meal with love and care. I have yet to eat the exact same pasta twice. It’s wonderful. Most everything is seasonal which helps with that fact. It’s a norm for me to hand my dirty plate from one course to Maria Luisa so she can hand me a clean plate for the next. I do it without thinking. As I mentioned in an earlier post, as I talk with my friends, I realize more and more how blessed I am to have Maria Luisa cook for us. Many of the other host families have students for the money aspect, so they don’t truly care. It is very evident, especially with Bruno, that mine is not that way. They are great! Maria Luisa does everything for us. She takes our laundry, and we see it return in a couple days. I have yet to discover where it goes, but it comes back clean. She cleans our room for us, changes our sheets, etc. We are so spoiled and blessed to have gotten such a caring family.
I notice more and more shops putting up Christmas decorations. There were several Christmas trees newly put up yesterday and the Florentine symbol is hung with lights above streets near the duomo and center. As I see boutiques with new red and green Christmas items, I have to keep my excitement in check. Christmas!! (I literally say that out loud to the anyone passing by, who knows if they know what I am talking about)
I asked Maria Luisa the other day what they do for Christmas. Being Catholic, they aren’t suppose to celebrate until a couple days into January, however for the children (grandchildren), they open the gifts on December 25. Since they are from Naples (a region of Italy), one celebration included foods with mostly fish for every course. The other day includes mostly meats for every course and lots of cookies eaten all day (like holiday baking in the states).
Regions of Italy are very important to the Italians. They are very proud of where they come from because every region is known for specializing in certain items. My host family is from Naples which has the best Mozzarella and pizza. In the course of our dinner conversation, they almost always bring up something about, “we are from Naples…”. The government does not help dissolve the prejudice the people have of each region either. Although I couldn’t fully understand because it was in broken inglese, Bruno said: due to their national healthcare, it’s hard to move around within Italy, thus many people stay in one place. Bruno tried to move his mom from a nursing home in Naples to one in Florence but the people owning the facilities said no. Something about the insurance wouldn’t travel with her.
Travels:
Last weekend I went to Venice. It was fun. Not one of my favorite trips but it was good to be able to see the city with no roads. This past weekend I went to Rome with school. I loved Rome!!!! I have so much more respect for the Romans and ancient Rome in general since going. I can’t explain it but it’s so different from just learning about it and seeing pictures in a class room. The monuments are huge!! I completely understand why the slaves that arrived there said it was a city made by giants. I was there with the school so our tour guide was from SUF and was probably the best guide I have ever had. He knew so much about everything. We went to the Vatican and St. Peters Cathedral. St. Peters is so massive! It is said that people don’t understand the scale of it because the building itself does not allow human perspective. It’s true. It’s hard to explain but something I remember the most about what my guide said was the aisle is 2.5 football fields long. While standing at the very back, a pro football player could throw a football, totally thinking he could reach the end, only to see his ball land in the middle. The statues, many of them done my Michelangelo, are ginormous.
Along with the Vatican and St. Peters, we saw the Sistine Chapel. It did not have the awe factor I was expecting, that one that most everyone gets. It was super interesting learning about what they discovered in the restoration process though. Apparently after 4.5 yrs of painting on a ceiling, Michelangelo got bored and did little things to quicken the process. Making figures bigger, plaster work bigger and fewer, etc. While restoring it, they also found pig hair from his brushes, because he was painting so furiously it was destroying his brushes in the process. My favorite part of the Sistine Chapel was not Michelangelo’s ceiling, but the paintings on the walls. One sticks out in my mind the most. It depicted Moses and the Red Sea. The Egyptians are being covered in water while the Israelites are on the land. It was interesting that the artist (can’t remember who) put a rainbow in the background of this painting. I would assume to symbolize God’s promise to God’s chosen people: the Israelites. Very well done and very moving.
One Saturday, we saw the Coliseum and “Capital Hill” as I like to call it where the palaces once stood in ancient Rome. I didn’t realize until going to Rome how much of our history and the little phrases we have, what the Emperors decreed, and things such as that that have affected our lives today and carried down through the generations. Example: one of the temples (which was reconstructed and stands today) has columns that surround the building. Those columns have incisions in them in various spots. During the rise of Christianity, the people decided the temple needed to be destroyed because it was dedicated to pagan gods. It is so massive a structure, that even the most powerful piece of equipment (oxen) could not bring down the temple (Renaissance times). So two things stand out here. First: the saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them” was started because they couldn’t remove the columns, so they left them and just built a different building behind them allowing the columns to surround this new building. Second: even hundreds of years after ancient Rome, people did not have the technology the Romans had to bring down the columns. They didn’t even have to lift and construct it, like the Romans had to do while building it. They had the easier of the tasks and still couldn’t do it. That’s how amazing the Romans were.
The coliseum was another ah inspiring visit for me, and very possibly my favorite. Again, our guide was wonderful. He told us a lot of the culture of ancient Rome. 65% of Rome’s citizens (around 1 million in the city), were on “welfare” meaning what food stamps would be today. They didn’t have “food stamps” though. However, the empire was so wealthy that they didn’t go to the grocery store and get the cheapest stuff, they got caviar and champagne, etc. Rome was very wealthy! I have to see “Gladiator” the movie again soon. I would have a totally new perspective on it. -The Roman calendar at that time had 365 days (every year). Of those 365 days, 142 (around that number), had games in the arena. So roughly every two days there was a sporting event and holiday for the people. The coliseum held 50,000-80,000 people and could completely empty out in 20 minutes (it was that organized! That would come in handy for fire codes today). At the beginning of the day, hardly anyone came early because it was the funny stuff, dancing bears, circus material. As the day went on, more people trickled in as the games got more serious. Just before people fought, they would get animals that didn’t normally live together (from different areas of the large Roman empire), starve them, make them angry, and them put them in the arena together to ripe each other apart. -After this, people would go home and eat, relax, them come back to see the gladiators fight to the death-everyone‘s favorite. -very much like the movie, with the thumbs up/down for death and such. Today, a lot of the coliseum is destroyed from various earthquakes and such, but different parts of it have been reconstructed to see what it would have been like. The Romans were extremely smart and wealthy. So much more so than I had ever thought or learned in the classroom. It really is very amazing!! Their history is our history and REALLY effects what we do today without us even realizing it.
Architecturally, the Parthenon is one of the most intelligently made structures, ever. My guide said it is the most studied architectural building around the world. It has always been very well recorded and documented. They know exactly how it was made and use to look like because even after its completion, people studied it. However, no one knows for sure what it was used for. (I find that’s kind of funny. Everyone was so caught up on the fact that the building itself is a genius, but they didn’t really care what people used it for.) They have no fear of the dome falling (like they do with Brunelleschi’s dome in the duomo, hehe). The Parthenon has a 142 foot circumference and exactly that for its height as well. It is a perfect sphere and was designed that way. The dome was made from what is modern day concrete (they were so smart!) and many other fibers from that time. It has no central point (it’s an open circle at the top). It’s amazing! It was pouring rain basically the whole time I was there, so we saw the rain coming down through the middle of the open circle. So pretty!! It just fell on the marble below.
There is no city like Rome. It has definitely been my favorite and the most awe inspiring. The Romans were seriously geniuses and there has never been a civilization as wealthy as it was.
Oh, Italy. It has stolen my heart and now holds it captive with a tight key that is suffocating. I absolutely love the country and the people, the food, everything…but it’s time to go home. The best way to sum up how I feel: bring everyone I love and my college to Italy, and I would be the happiest person ever! My home is where my heart is and my heart is back in the states with the people I love. Most of us students have started a count down.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Cha-Cha-Cha Changes
I truly could not have asked for a better host family. They are such a blessing. My host dad especially is quickly becoming one of my favorite people. He, especially, is so nurturing and caring. He always smiles and loves to see me smile. He’s one of the funniest people I know, in a nontraditional way. He and our host mom are excellent examples of a great marriage also. I was realizing this while eating dinner with my roommate, her dad who was in town, and Maria and Bruno. The three “adults” were joking about marriage and “yes dear” and everything like that. Maria and Bruno know when to joke and know when to stop. It is very evident they are happy. They know the secret to a good balance with each other which seems key for a successful marriage. I am truly blessed to have them as further examples of how a family works. I don’t have stories of them fighting to compare like my friends do with their host families. Maria stays home all day and makes the dinner almost all by herself, but Bruno is more than happy to help her in the kitchen cleaning up or taking up the plates between courses, or finishing up the dinner whenever he gets home. It is so refreshing. I am truly blessed to have such good parents back home and parents here. Both are wonderful examples of how a marriage works.
It has rained here like crazy the past couple days. Literally everyday it pours all day. Wednesday we had thunderstorms off and on, even some hail. Thank God it hasn’t been too freezing, but everyday after class I really just want to go back to my room, put on a hoodie and drink hot chocolate. That has yet to happen.
A good friend and I were talking about the Italian culture. I was expressing my frustration about the way men view women here. (Why yes, I do go to a women’s college). Italian society allows men to “ciao bella” women they find attractive. It’s the norm. Even in a different country, walking by men who are “people watching”, I fully expect a “ciao bella”. That confirms how much Italian men say it. I use to see it as devaluing women. There is more to a woman than how she looks. She didn’t even get to pick how she looks so it REALLY is not all she is made up of. We have thoughts, feelings; we are complex creatures. After expressing all of this frustration to my friend, she completely rearranged my thoughts. She said they appreciate beauty. It’s as simple as that. She was totally right. Walk down the street and observe how they dress and that will tell you, they appreciate looks. In a book I am reading, it mentions that a sales associate in a store maybe the least intelligent person, but she is in that position because she looks good. Italians want beauty. It’s just their culture.
As the semester comes to a close (a little over a month left), the feeling all around is it is going to be a mad dash to the end. Most weekend trips have finished, although I am still trying to fit in last minute ones (Switzerland!!). People have tons of work to do and traveling by myself is not as much fun as being with friends. A lot of people I talk to, including myself, really feel the pull to be home. The holidays are quickly approaching. We are already hearing of Christmas stuff and Thanksgiving plans. “Stuff” isn’t as new here as it was when we first arrived. I am more use to the culture and have fallen into a “rut” with how to dive in deeper. I’m still thinking and hoping on this one. Study abroad programs don’t put any of this in their brochures.
The concept of what season it feels like is not truly present with us American babies either. I can only imagine the holiday decorations going up in various locations in the states. Walmart stocking up and boosting their advertising campaign. Walking down any given street in Florence, there is no sign of any season anywhere. Italy is so unique in that sense. It isn’t trapped into the marketing tricks and money aspect of holidays that the US is. I’m fairly certain the government has something to do with that. As Americans, we are so spoiled. We want things now and we want them big. The Italian government won’t even let Italians turn on the heat in their homes until November 1st . If the US government started that, Americans would F.R.E.A.K. out. We don’t have an advantage to being spoiled like we are either. In many ways, it makes us little children who whine and stomp our foot when we don’t get exactly what we want-and no one likes bratty children.
Again, trying not to skip ahead, but I was thinking the other day how hard it is going to be to return back to the “boring” life I had before coming. My brain has been stretched to the max with constantly new stimuli. I won’t have any of that in the near future. Currently, my brains norm is processing a high level of foreign material (foreign in everyway possible). Next semester, I basically know what to expect. That’s comforting and I dread it at the same time. I am super excited to see my friends and family though!
Trying to picture falling back into my “normal” life at home with the way I have changed, is very hard. It’s completely cliché, but I feel so different than a few months ago….That’s totally cheesy, I am aware. I like cheesy. I’ve noticed little things in the way I act and handle situations. I can’t wait to see how that blends with “my world”. So excited!
It has rained here like crazy the past couple days. Literally everyday it pours all day. Wednesday we had thunderstorms off and on, even some hail. Thank God it hasn’t been too freezing, but everyday after class I really just want to go back to my room, put on a hoodie and drink hot chocolate. That has yet to happen.
A good friend and I were talking about the Italian culture. I was expressing my frustration about the way men view women here. (Why yes, I do go to a women’s college). Italian society allows men to “ciao bella” women they find attractive. It’s the norm. Even in a different country, walking by men who are “people watching”, I fully expect a “ciao bella”. That confirms how much Italian men say it. I use to see it as devaluing women. There is more to a woman than how she looks. She didn’t even get to pick how she looks so it REALLY is not all she is made up of. We have thoughts, feelings; we are complex creatures. After expressing all of this frustration to my friend, she completely rearranged my thoughts. She said they appreciate beauty. It’s as simple as that. She was totally right. Walk down the street and observe how they dress and that will tell you, they appreciate looks. In a book I am reading, it mentions that a sales associate in a store maybe the least intelligent person, but she is in that position because she looks good. Italians want beauty. It’s just their culture.
As the semester comes to a close (a little over a month left), the feeling all around is it is going to be a mad dash to the end. Most weekend trips have finished, although I am still trying to fit in last minute ones (Switzerland!!). People have tons of work to do and traveling by myself is not as much fun as being with friends. A lot of people I talk to, including myself, really feel the pull to be home. The holidays are quickly approaching. We are already hearing of Christmas stuff and Thanksgiving plans. “Stuff” isn’t as new here as it was when we first arrived. I am more use to the culture and have fallen into a “rut” with how to dive in deeper. I’m still thinking and hoping on this one. Study abroad programs don’t put any of this in their brochures.
The concept of what season it feels like is not truly present with us American babies either. I can only imagine the holiday decorations going up in various locations in the states. Walmart stocking up and boosting their advertising campaign. Walking down any given street in Florence, there is no sign of any season anywhere. Italy is so unique in that sense. It isn’t trapped into the marketing tricks and money aspect of holidays that the US is. I’m fairly certain the government has something to do with that. As Americans, we are so spoiled. We want things now and we want them big. The Italian government won’t even let Italians turn on the heat in their homes until November 1st . If the US government started that, Americans would F.R.E.A.K. out. We don’t have an advantage to being spoiled like we are either. In many ways, it makes us little children who whine and stomp our foot when we don’t get exactly what we want-and no one likes bratty children.
Again, trying not to skip ahead, but I was thinking the other day how hard it is going to be to return back to the “boring” life I had before coming. My brain has been stretched to the max with constantly new stimuli. I won’t have any of that in the near future. Currently, my brains norm is processing a high level of foreign material (foreign in everyway possible). Next semester, I basically know what to expect. That’s comforting and I dread it at the same time. I am super excited to see my friends and family though!
Trying to picture falling back into my “normal” life at home with the way I have changed, is very hard. It’s completely cliché, but I feel so different than a few months ago….That’s totally cheesy, I am aware. I like cheesy. I’ve noticed little things in the way I act and handle situations. I can’t wait to see how that blends with “my world”. So excited!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Life is Life
I haven't written in a very long time so I will quickly catch up and then dive into what is fresh on my mind.
I was in Ireland 2 weekends ago. The biggest surprise after seeing green stuff that grows out of the ground was the fact that I was naturally speaking Italian. Ireland speaks English. When someone would ask me something I would respond with "Si" without thinking, wrong language. I am naturally a very friendly and polite person. Instead of saying "thank you" or "hello" I would say it in Italian. It was funny at first but about the 2nd day of fighting it and still failing sometimes, I just gave up. Transitioning back to the states is going to be tougher in ways I had not even realized. In Ireland, I actually saw commercially owned businesses! Amazing! Dominoes, Pizza Hut, etc. It was crazy! I honesty didn't realize how complete opposites Italy and the United States are. They truly are. If I had gone to Ireland without ever being in Italy, I would probably think Ireland really was different, but after living in Italy for months now, Ireland IS basically the United States. Almost completely the same. Paris was the same feeling. It was so commercial compared to Italy that it felt closer to the US also. Weird. Due to this feeling, I had and still have a grudge against italy a little bit. With the holidays coming up, I'm majorly feeling the want to go home. I don't think that is going away like the other homesickness bits did. I'll be fine though. But, I love the Irish people. Literally everyone we met on the street went out of their way to help up, to the point of getting on a bus with us. They were so friendly and talkative. Ireland had the feel of a New England state. The leaves were changing, it was cold, it also had a small town feel even though we were in Dublin. It was wonderful!!
Paris was good also but in a different way. I love Paris for the architecture. The city is absolutely stunning. Probably my favorite place I have been yet. I was not crazy about the French people, in fact I was a little unhappy with them, but the city itself made up for that. Being with 3 other girls, we had a romantic picnic complete with french champagne and cheese at night under the Eiffel Tower at night. We got to see the light show that happens on the hour every night. It was so magical. We even saw a couple get engaged. I think I was more happy and excited for her than she was! Sweetest thing ever. Paris is truly a romantic city. It's just special. We also went to the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Palace of Versailles, Arc de Triomphe, grave of the unknown soldier, Notre-Dame, and Musee Rodin. I've already decided, I will be going back to Paris at some point in my life. It's happening.
Continuing some of what I am learning about myself abroad, I'm learning character traits about myself from people. Weird concept, but back home for example, people tell me I'm xyz (I despise bragging so probably won't insert a trait). Here, people are telling me the exact same traits. I know more about my personality and what the world would say about me. I definitely respect myself more right now because I am learning how unique I am. Feeling weird saying this because I feel like I'm bragging but w/e.....After people truly get to know me fairly well, they tell me all the time how they've never met anyone like me. Honestly, I'm not one to take this to a pride level, but it's turning into me respecting me for being Made for a special purpose. There is no one like me. I have extreme value that deserves respect, as all humans do. I'm complex and loving and understanding, etc. and that's "who I am". God made me like that and intended me to be that way. For the first time, I'm totally happy with that. Take it or leave it. I wouldn't have been able to learn that if I were at home. I wouldn't have that new perspective of who PEOPLE say I am.
Today I met with a girl in the freshman program through SUF. She is one of the most refreshing people I have ever been around. I have a real heart for freshmen. It is SUCH a vulnerable time in their life. If they don't have strong values, they will be swayed by everything new in their life, thus I feel the need to protect them. So this girl is a God sent. I've had a rough week to say the least. I just met her last week and have since spent time with her 3 times. Today, we were talking in a piazza for 6 hours straight. During this time, a guy was walking his dog at various times. He came over to us towards the end. In broken English he asked us why we were there all day. It was the cutest thing ever that made me realize, God sent me her at just the right time. She maybe a freshman, but she's one of the strongest freshman I know. I needed her at this very time. Even one christian is better than none. Quality not quantity. In an environment that has no people in it that remind me of God's love, she appeared at just the right time. "The other southerner and the other christian".
Also today, I was at the school waiting for her to show up when a woman approached me looking very confused. In total Italian, she said she was trying to reach someone who worked there but the buzzer wasn't working. In very broken Italian, I explained no one was there because it's Friday. She probably wouldn't be able to until Monday. I also answered some of her questions, IN ITALIAN! I was so excited. Just the feeling of accomplishment of being able to have a conversation and be helpful with an Italian was so wonderful. I felt smart for the first time in a long time. Learning a language is hard!
I only have half the semester left here. Mixed feelings about leaving but either way, I have already learned so much!
I was in Ireland 2 weekends ago. The biggest surprise after seeing green stuff that grows out of the ground was the fact that I was naturally speaking Italian. Ireland speaks English. When someone would ask me something I would respond with "Si" without thinking, wrong language. I am naturally a very friendly and polite person. Instead of saying "thank you" or "hello" I would say it in Italian. It was funny at first but about the 2nd day of fighting it and still failing sometimes, I just gave up. Transitioning back to the states is going to be tougher in ways I had not even realized. In Ireland, I actually saw commercially owned businesses! Amazing! Dominoes, Pizza Hut, etc. It was crazy! I honesty didn't realize how complete opposites Italy and the United States are. They truly are. If I had gone to Ireland without ever being in Italy, I would probably think Ireland really was different, but after living in Italy for months now, Ireland IS basically the United States. Almost completely the same. Paris was the same feeling. It was so commercial compared to Italy that it felt closer to the US also. Weird. Due to this feeling, I had and still have a grudge against italy a little bit. With the holidays coming up, I'm majorly feeling the want to go home. I don't think that is going away like the other homesickness bits did. I'll be fine though. But, I love the Irish people. Literally everyone we met on the street went out of their way to help up, to the point of getting on a bus with us. They were so friendly and talkative. Ireland had the feel of a New England state. The leaves were changing, it was cold, it also had a small town feel even though we were in Dublin. It was wonderful!!
Paris was good also but in a different way. I love Paris for the architecture. The city is absolutely stunning. Probably my favorite place I have been yet. I was not crazy about the French people, in fact I was a little unhappy with them, but the city itself made up for that. Being with 3 other girls, we had a romantic picnic complete with french champagne and cheese at night under the Eiffel Tower at night. We got to see the light show that happens on the hour every night. It was so magical. We even saw a couple get engaged. I think I was more happy and excited for her than she was! Sweetest thing ever. Paris is truly a romantic city. It's just special. We also went to the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Palace of Versailles, Arc de Triomphe, grave of the unknown soldier, Notre-Dame, and Musee Rodin. I've already decided, I will be going back to Paris at some point in my life. It's happening.
Continuing some of what I am learning about myself abroad, I'm learning character traits about myself from people. Weird concept, but back home for example, people tell me I'm xyz (I despise bragging so probably won't insert a trait). Here, people are telling me the exact same traits. I know more about my personality and what the world would say about me. I definitely respect myself more right now because I am learning how unique I am. Feeling weird saying this because I feel like I'm bragging but w/e.....After people truly get to know me fairly well, they tell me all the time how they've never met anyone like me. Honestly, I'm not one to take this to a pride level, but it's turning into me respecting me for being Made for a special purpose. There is no one like me. I have extreme value that deserves respect, as all humans do. I'm complex and loving and understanding, etc. and that's "who I am". God made me like that and intended me to be that way. For the first time, I'm totally happy with that. Take it or leave it. I wouldn't have been able to learn that if I were at home. I wouldn't have that new perspective of who PEOPLE say I am.
Today I met with a girl in the freshman program through SUF. She is one of the most refreshing people I have ever been around. I have a real heart for freshmen. It is SUCH a vulnerable time in their life. If they don't have strong values, they will be swayed by everything new in their life, thus I feel the need to protect them. So this girl is a God sent. I've had a rough week to say the least. I just met her last week and have since spent time with her 3 times. Today, we were talking in a piazza for 6 hours straight. During this time, a guy was walking his dog at various times. He came over to us towards the end. In broken English he asked us why we were there all day. It was the cutest thing ever that made me realize, God sent me her at just the right time. She maybe a freshman, but she's one of the strongest freshman I know. I needed her at this very time. Even one christian is better than none. Quality not quantity. In an environment that has no people in it that remind me of God's love, she appeared at just the right time. "The other southerner and the other christian".
Also today, I was at the school waiting for her to show up when a woman approached me looking very confused. In total Italian, she said she was trying to reach someone who worked there but the buzzer wasn't working. In very broken Italian, I explained no one was there because it's Friday. She probably wouldn't be able to until Monday. I also answered some of her questions, IN ITALIAN! I was so excited. Just the feeling of accomplishment of being able to have a conversation and be helpful with an Italian was so wonderful. I felt smart for the first time in a long time. Learning a language is hard!
I only have half the semester left here. Mixed feelings about leaving but either way, I have already learned so much!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Oh, So Cliche
What a strange reality I live in. What other time in my life am I going to be single, exploring Europe with nothing to think about besides school? If I want to go to Germany or Paris for the weekend, I just go to the train station and am there within hours. In the states, I would be planning the trip for months in advance. Sounding so cliché, this is pretty much the time of my life. No kids, husband, job or anything to think about besides myself. I can be selfish. Mi piace! It’s majorly good to get it out of my system in these couple months!
Something a friend said the other day struck me, he said, “There are no parents here. We have to take care of each other.” It seems like such a basic thought, but is something I had never heard or tried to put into words. There are no parents here. There are no adults, we are the adults and people treat us as such. If someone needs to go to the hospital, which was the case in this particular example, we as the friends need to be the ones to go with them and comfort them. Other than our host families, which many students don’t have, there really are no people that play a significant role in our lives. Even our host families don’t truly know what goes on in our lives. Maybe this will change with time, but they treat us as completely independent adults as well. At college, we at least have people on campus we could go to or mentors in various organizations we are involved in, friends of the family, etc, but it’s different here. The only other people I can truly say that are involved in my life and have any significant role in it, are my peers. We are totally and completely the adults. Parents are (extremely) hard to reach for multiple reasons, faculty are not incredibly personal with the students, and anyone outside of SUF is regarded as a stranger. There literally are no adults here other than us. It seems like it would be intimidating but the fact that I haven’t gotten myself killed yet truly helps.
Life has defiantly settled down here meaning I have a norm. I no longer get excited returning to Florence after being away. It’s my norm and as any norm, I just do it automatically. Not saying I love the city any less, I’ve just adjusted to my current reality. I don’t miss home nearly as much as I did. As with school, it takes several weeks to a month or so to adjust to the new norm, which is the same here. I understand how to handle common situations with the different culture I experience everyday. I have learned to handle tiny waves of homesickness I get and how to prevent it. The newness is gone so daily life happens.
Fun stuff: This past weekend I went to Cortona and Perugia. Cortona is a tranquil hillside town on the border of Tuscany. It was authentic Italy while still touristy but not nearly as much as any place I have been. It is so much quieter than any place I have been also. I think what made the whole weekend for me though was the people I was with. We had so much fun just being together, and really silly. I’ve learned a lot of what determines how much I enjoy something is the people I am with, and they are wonderful. I seriously needed a goofy weekend!
Sunday, we took a train about 45 minutes from Cortona to Perugia for the Chocolate Festival which puts Perugia on the map for everyone around Europe, for a week anyway. There were roughly 150 vendors selling all sorts of chocolate items. Although I tend to be a vanilla girl, it was really interesting to see people carving giant chocolate sculptures and all the different things you can do with chocolate….believe me, there are a lot! We could have spent major euros trying the chocolate but there was a special pass we bought for very cheap that allowed us to go to several designated vendors and get free samples, many of which were whole chocolate bars and very nice. The only damper on the day was the rain and cold. We had planned to be there most of the day, but around lunch time it started raining heavily and got noticeably colder. At first it was an adventure and we didn’t mind the weather, but after the rain soaked everything in our bags, and everything on us, it was time to go home. There were so many people there we literally had to shove our way everywhere. I think the max number of times I said “permesso” in one minute was 20. Not kidding.
One challenge I have found with the language: it’s hard to joke with Italians. The languages, as with all languages, don’t translate literally. Little sayings and phrases that are funny in English, aren’t in Italian because they don’t understand the meaning behind it. Italians have phrases also. Example, we stopped to ask where a tabacchi was so we could buy bus tickets. The woman said what literally translates as something close to “200 foot steps up the hill”. After thanking her and walking out the door, we quickly realize 200 steps up isn’t going to lead us to anywhere. Later, we learn it is a phrase that means “a short walk”. Little things such as that give the culture much for character and makes the culture more appealing.
While sitting at an outdoor café in one of the major piazzas near the duomo, I realized how spoiled I am here. Cute little outdoor cafes are one of my favorite things at home so I am in heaven here! A good friend and I were drinking hot chocolate with whip cream and a complimentary sweet bread to dip in the drink when I thought of this. I couldn’t drink even half of it, it was just so chocolaty. I didn’t realize how much our American food is influenced by Italian food, but I discover more is everyday, literally. Hot chocolate really isn’t, it’s just thicker and less milk, but I don’t know how I am going to like returning to the states while knowing there are better forms of the same food in Italy. We have the fake stuff in the states, usually with preservatives. Many of my classes are site visits around the city such as Medici palaces and villas (and all things Medici because they basically built Firenze) so we don’t actually have “class”. One the way back from a photography class, we stop in for gelato. We travel around Europe on the weekends for fun. My host mom does EVERYTHING for me. All these and much more things make us incredibly spoiled, and I love it!!
Sarah
Something a friend said the other day struck me, he said, “There are no parents here. We have to take care of each other.” It seems like such a basic thought, but is something I had never heard or tried to put into words. There are no parents here. There are no adults, we are the adults and people treat us as such. If someone needs to go to the hospital, which was the case in this particular example, we as the friends need to be the ones to go with them and comfort them. Other than our host families, which many students don’t have, there really are no people that play a significant role in our lives. Even our host families don’t truly know what goes on in our lives. Maybe this will change with time, but they treat us as completely independent adults as well. At college, we at least have people on campus we could go to or mentors in various organizations we are involved in, friends of the family, etc, but it’s different here. The only other people I can truly say that are involved in my life and have any significant role in it, are my peers. We are totally and completely the adults. Parents are (extremely) hard to reach for multiple reasons, faculty are not incredibly personal with the students, and anyone outside of SUF is regarded as a stranger. There literally are no adults here other than us. It seems like it would be intimidating but the fact that I haven’t gotten myself killed yet truly helps.
Life has defiantly settled down here meaning I have a norm. I no longer get excited returning to Florence after being away. It’s my norm and as any norm, I just do it automatically. Not saying I love the city any less, I’ve just adjusted to my current reality. I don’t miss home nearly as much as I did. As with school, it takes several weeks to a month or so to adjust to the new norm, which is the same here. I understand how to handle common situations with the different culture I experience everyday. I have learned to handle tiny waves of homesickness I get and how to prevent it. The newness is gone so daily life happens.
Fun stuff: This past weekend I went to Cortona and Perugia. Cortona is a tranquil hillside town on the border of Tuscany. It was authentic Italy while still touristy but not nearly as much as any place I have been. It is so much quieter than any place I have been also. I think what made the whole weekend for me though was the people I was with. We had so much fun just being together, and really silly. I’ve learned a lot of what determines how much I enjoy something is the people I am with, and they are wonderful. I seriously needed a goofy weekend!
Sunday, we took a train about 45 minutes from Cortona to Perugia for the Chocolate Festival which puts Perugia on the map for everyone around Europe, for a week anyway. There were roughly 150 vendors selling all sorts of chocolate items. Although I tend to be a vanilla girl, it was really interesting to see people carving giant chocolate sculptures and all the different things you can do with chocolate….believe me, there are a lot! We could have spent major euros trying the chocolate but there was a special pass we bought for very cheap that allowed us to go to several designated vendors and get free samples, many of which were whole chocolate bars and very nice. The only damper on the day was the rain and cold. We had planned to be there most of the day, but around lunch time it started raining heavily and got noticeably colder. At first it was an adventure and we didn’t mind the weather, but after the rain soaked everything in our bags, and everything on us, it was time to go home. There were so many people there we literally had to shove our way everywhere. I think the max number of times I said “permesso” in one minute was 20. Not kidding.
One challenge I have found with the language: it’s hard to joke with Italians. The languages, as with all languages, don’t translate literally. Little sayings and phrases that are funny in English, aren’t in Italian because they don’t understand the meaning behind it. Italians have phrases also. Example, we stopped to ask where a tabacchi was so we could buy bus tickets. The woman said what literally translates as something close to “200 foot steps up the hill”. After thanking her and walking out the door, we quickly realize 200 steps up isn’t going to lead us to anywhere. Later, we learn it is a phrase that means “a short walk”. Little things such as that give the culture much for character and makes the culture more appealing.
While sitting at an outdoor café in one of the major piazzas near the duomo, I realized how spoiled I am here. Cute little outdoor cafes are one of my favorite things at home so I am in heaven here! A good friend and I were drinking hot chocolate with whip cream and a complimentary sweet bread to dip in the drink when I thought of this. I couldn’t drink even half of it, it was just so chocolaty. I didn’t realize how much our American food is influenced by Italian food, but I discover more is everyday, literally. Hot chocolate really isn’t, it’s just thicker and less milk, but I don’t know how I am going to like returning to the states while knowing there are better forms of the same food in Italy. We have the fake stuff in the states, usually with preservatives. Many of my classes are site visits around the city such as Medici palaces and villas (and all things Medici because they basically built Firenze) so we don’t actually have “class”. One the way back from a photography class, we stop in for gelato. We travel around Europe on the weekends for fun. My host mom does EVERYTHING for me. All these and much more things make us incredibly spoiled, and I love it!!
Sarah
Thursday, October 7, 2010
When in Florence
At dinner Tuesday night, Claire and I taught our host family about Thanksgiving and all the foods we have. They in turn, taught us about wine. Bruno has been bringing home wine for us to drink since he learned we like it. So, they learned about stuffing, of course they had to learn about the best part, and we learned about the “copyright laws” of the different wines of France and Italy and what they can be called (ex. Chianti). Apparently the two countries have a big rivalry that are not limited to wine. As is usual with our family dinners, Bruno got so passionate about convincing Guido, Stefania’s boyfriend, that Stefania, Claire and I had two whole conversations and were still amazed they were going at it. Oh the passion of the Italians.
Although we have 2 hour Italian classes each day and I am picking it up quicker than other languages simply because I am here, but in class it is so painful to understand and talk it. Even at dinner, I try to think of stuff to say in Italian but by the time I think of all my verbs and the conjugations along with how to put the prepositions together with the adjectives, etc, Bruno gets impatient and answers my question before I finish. My family is very patient with Claire and I though. They almost always know where we are going with the sentence though, so they respond back before we get to practice it. No complaints though. They are pretty amazing. I have to laugh at myself, as other people do, when I say something that isn’t right. Who knew words could have two meanings anyway?
I want to have an Italian bambino (baby). Ok, not seriously, as the man from the Italian consulate advised us, “It’s not always a bad thing…could mess up your studies though…” (it was hilarious). Every single kid I have seen here is so stinking cute though! They all have curly hair, some blonde, some brown but all adorable. Maybe I should have let that guy sell me to his friend yesterday…haha It would mess up my studies.
I asked my host sister if Italian guys hit on Italian girls all the time or if they just spot American girls and go for it. She said it’s everyone. Just the culture unfortunately. This is still a source of confusion for me.
Continuing my serious first hand realizations and issues I analyze, lately I have been realizing how much I let relationships define who I am. In Italian class, I gave a presentation on details about myself. Looking over my written speech, I noticed how much I described myself as the role I play in different relationships, thus allowing relationships to define who I am. Sister, daughter, niece, roommate, friend, etc. This has definitely been showing in my life with my want for the type relationships I have at home. I am homesick right now not for my actual home, but mostly for the relationships I have in the states. Recently, I have gotten upset with myself for allowing some of those relationships get to me emotionally. Thinking about it now, why wouldn’t they? Relationships are so incredibly important to every human on the planet, so why should I feel guilty about being upset in some of them? It isn’t trivial, it’s a fact.
Wednesday was Saint Bruno day. In the catholic church there is a saint for every name so on that day, the person with that name gets presents and celebrated for the day. So, Bruno’s day was Wednesday. I had never met the other daughter but she and her children along with Stefania’s boyfriend came to dinner. The older daughter has never come to dinner. There has never been a special occasion like it was that day. The apartment was loud and a typical family sound coming from everywhere. Little Julio, who is 3, was singing and making kid noises while crawling on the floor making travel difficult for the adults…a typical 3 year old. Little Agatha, who is 6 months, would cry periodically when she thought she wasn’t getting enough attention. The adults laughed and were obviously excited. Claire and I even got to help some, which never happens either. Bruno got gifts as if it were his birthday. The feel was very much of a birthday celebration. Although they are not practicing Catholics, their days are still celebrated.
This morning we had an olive oil tasting in my nutrition class. Literally, we had 3 different cups with a couple teaspoons of olive oil to drink. We learned the method for “slurping” it to tell if it is a good one or a bad one. My guess would be most of the olive oil we have in the United States is rancid, meaning the manufacturers did not take care with the crushing process leaving a bad flavor and much less nutrient than traditional olive oils. Italians use olive oil for everything, including baking. As most of you in the states know, if you use olive oil in baking, the flavor is usually still there thus you don’t use it. That strong oil taste will disappear when heated if it is of good quality (so most of what we use is not good). I hope I never have to do an olive oil tasting again though. I was looking around me and everyone else seemed to be ok with the texture and thought of drinking oil, however, I was definitely not ok with it. The thoughts…fine whatever, but the texture and thickness of the oil was building up in my taste buds and stomach. After tiny sips of the first two, I struggled so hard not to get sick on the last one. It was probably the nastiest thing I have ever tried. So greasy and uhhh just completely disgusting. I can somewhat taste good quality olive oil though.
Although we have 2 hour Italian classes each day and I am picking it up quicker than other languages simply because I am here, but in class it is so painful to understand and talk it. Even at dinner, I try to think of stuff to say in Italian but by the time I think of all my verbs and the conjugations along with how to put the prepositions together with the adjectives, etc, Bruno gets impatient and answers my question before I finish. My family is very patient with Claire and I though. They almost always know where we are going with the sentence though, so they respond back before we get to practice it. No complaints though. They are pretty amazing. I have to laugh at myself, as other people do, when I say something that isn’t right. Who knew words could have two meanings anyway?
I want to have an Italian bambino (baby). Ok, not seriously, as the man from the Italian consulate advised us, “It’s not always a bad thing…could mess up your studies though…” (it was hilarious). Every single kid I have seen here is so stinking cute though! They all have curly hair, some blonde, some brown but all adorable. Maybe I should have let that guy sell me to his friend yesterday…haha It would mess up my studies.
I asked my host sister if Italian guys hit on Italian girls all the time or if they just spot American girls and go for it. She said it’s everyone. Just the culture unfortunately. This is still a source of confusion for me.
Continuing my serious first hand realizations and issues I analyze, lately I have been realizing how much I let relationships define who I am. In Italian class, I gave a presentation on details about myself. Looking over my written speech, I noticed how much I described myself as the role I play in different relationships, thus allowing relationships to define who I am. Sister, daughter, niece, roommate, friend, etc. This has definitely been showing in my life with my want for the type relationships I have at home. I am homesick right now not for my actual home, but mostly for the relationships I have in the states. Recently, I have gotten upset with myself for allowing some of those relationships get to me emotionally. Thinking about it now, why wouldn’t they? Relationships are so incredibly important to every human on the planet, so why should I feel guilty about being upset in some of them? It isn’t trivial, it’s a fact.
Wednesday was Saint Bruno day. In the catholic church there is a saint for every name so on that day, the person with that name gets presents and celebrated for the day. So, Bruno’s day was Wednesday. I had never met the other daughter but she and her children along with Stefania’s boyfriend came to dinner. The older daughter has never come to dinner. There has never been a special occasion like it was that day. The apartment was loud and a typical family sound coming from everywhere. Little Julio, who is 3, was singing and making kid noises while crawling on the floor making travel difficult for the adults…a typical 3 year old. Little Agatha, who is 6 months, would cry periodically when she thought she wasn’t getting enough attention. The adults laughed and were obviously excited. Claire and I even got to help some, which never happens either. Bruno got gifts as if it were his birthday. The feel was very much of a birthday celebration. Although they are not practicing Catholics, their days are still celebrated.
This morning we had an olive oil tasting in my nutrition class. Literally, we had 3 different cups with a couple teaspoons of olive oil to drink. We learned the method for “slurping” it to tell if it is a good one or a bad one. My guess would be most of the olive oil we have in the United States is rancid, meaning the manufacturers did not take care with the crushing process leaving a bad flavor and much less nutrient than traditional olive oils. Italians use olive oil for everything, including baking. As most of you in the states know, if you use olive oil in baking, the flavor is usually still there thus you don’t use it. That strong oil taste will disappear when heated if it is of good quality (so most of what we use is not good). I hope I never have to do an olive oil tasting again though. I was looking around me and everyone else seemed to be ok with the texture and thought of drinking oil, however, I was definitely not ok with it. The thoughts…fine whatever, but the texture and thickness of the oil was building up in my taste buds and stomach. After tiny sips of the first two, I struggled so hard not to get sick on the last one. It was probably the nastiest thing I have ever tried. So greasy and uhhh just completely disgusting. I can somewhat taste good quality olive oil though.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Celebrate the weekend!
This weekend has been so much fun! I had another cooking class Friday morning. Not going to lie: I’m bored with making pasta already. Although my nutrition class went to a professional cooking school for this particular lesson, I did not enjoy it as much as the one Wednesday night. The super clean, non-personal feel the room gave off was not appealing to me. When we were in the schools tiny kitchen with too many people in it, it felt more like a home cooked meal. It also tasted better probably because it was made in love (yes, I like cheesy!) I enjoyed our instructors more also. On Wednesday night, we had an Italian man and his wife. They were so sweet and king. Friday, we had an instructor from the school we were at. We made the same ravioli I made on Wednesday as well. It is a signature dish of Tuscany thus holds much importants.
That “home” feel is something I still struggle to get in my life right now. In several conversations I have had with multiple people recently, either they or I have mentioned it is a different kind of lonely here. I can’t put my finger on why it is different and neither can they. College in general is a very lonely time. Although students are surrounded by people, he or she is totally on their own with no one honestly looking out for them and no one to come home to at night. Here, I am also surrounded by people, including my host family. So in theory, it should feel a little less lonely since people are actually looking out for me (my family), but it just doesn’t. It isn’t something I can explain to someone who hasn’t been through this process, it’s just different.
Friday afternoon, a friend and I toured the Duomo. Although I find the exterior more architecturally interesting, the interior is nice as well. I particularly loved the dome. The artwork throughout the structure was gorgeous though! The white, green and rose marble which basically makes up the whole church, completely amazed me. It is everywhere! Continuing my love of the dome, we climbed the many, many steps up to the tip top of the dome. What an amazing view. I can’t even describe how gorgeous it was. All the major sites in Italy could be seen from the top looking out, including all the churches, museums, and markets. I got so confused looking at everything. I have yet to completely distinguish the churches from one another, so walking the circle of the dome was a little confusing. We met a wonderful English man and his wife at the top though. We had a very lively conversation about us living in Florence and his recent arrival the day before. It felt good to be able to respond with an honest answer when he asked where the best places to visit were and any advice in general. I have honestly met some of the nicest people here!
Saturday was Ravenna with other students from school. This is a must see for anyone that loves art! The town has a fascinating history. It was once the leading city in Italy around the 6th century (give or take a century). The churches we saw were built just before the fall of the Roman Empire and barbarian invasion ( a little history lesson there). Our focus on this particular visit was the mosaics (small pieces of colored glass, about the size of a fingernail, put together to create an image from farther away). They are designed to catch the light and reflect it off to illuminate the room. I have never seen anything like it! (I’m putting pics up on facebook, but they don’t do it justice AT ALL!). The golds and patterns, just to think about the fact that someone has talent enough to take little pieces of broken glass and put it together with many other tiny pieces to cover and entire walls and ceilings is mind blowing! Just little detail to make something so…I can’t even find the word. It simply is just that amazing! It can’t be described and a photograph can’t do it justice. One chuch sticks out to me especially, San Vitale. One of the lavish mosaics depicted by favorite story from the Old Testament which definitely helped it’s ranking in my opinion, but the architecture inside was as impressive to me as the more popular mosaics. However, by the end of the afternoon we had seen around 5 churches all covered with these pits of glass, so at the last church I was use to seeing them and fairly unimpressed. Over stimulated.
Sunday I was in Fiesole which is a hillside town about 15 minutes from Florence by bus. I was not too impressed with the small town until we toured ancient Roman ruins. The amphitheater is still used by locals and dates from the 1st century B.C. (wow!). Even though it said “no climbing” of course that didn’t apply to me. I romped all over those things. With the type of plants and lizards that surrounded the ancient baths, temple, and amphitheater I felt like I was in Greece exploring. Even those few minutes of climbing and being so fearless while adventuring has been my favorite weekend trip since arriving. It surprised me that I felt that way, but literally I was fearless climbing all over the crumbling and somewhat unstable stones. They were huge, and only a tiny part of the base was left of the temple especially. It’s crazy, but here in Italy, I tend to be fearless. People actually tell me to be careful, indicating at least some degree of danger. At home, I tend to be fairly safe. I’ve been told by several people at various times they like my sense of adventure here as I try to get lost and go down that sketch ally, which usually always finds us the coolest places. I love that feeling! Summarizing, those ruins have been my favorite thing yet. Fiesole was a good town also. It seems to be a wealthy village with a lot of stereotypical villas with vineyards surrounding it, thus it was pretty. We got lucky because there just happened to be a large outdoor market happening, which only happens a couple times a year! Score!
So the 4th week slump is majorly getting to me. I am so hungry for a chicken breast, fries, and potato chips. I don’t even really eat fries or chips at home so it’s kind of surprising. I went to the American Diner near the duomo last night with a couple people. My expectations were not met. I wanted to put some MSG in my chicken sandwich. It was a fail, but no one can ruin pancakes though, right? I still have faith in them. I’m told the getting annoyed with the good Italian food and the horrible water (that my hair hates!!!!) and such will go away soon. Falling into a routine has really helped and finding several different core friend groups to be with has also. I have finally found people from a different program, and graduate school students, who actually like getting coffee and talking about deeper stuff and not how many Chanel shoes I have (not judging). That is something I have probably missed the most. Having conversations about trivial stuff for 4 weeks straight has had a bigger effect on me that I would like to admit, but all the people I am with are wonderful in their own way. It feels good to actually talk about emotions and genuinely analyze ideas with people though!
The weather is getting cold here. It hasn’t started raining yet and probably won’t until November, although it does rain about every other day or so. I am told come November, it will start raining and not stop which announces winter has started.
Sarah
That “home” feel is something I still struggle to get in my life right now. In several conversations I have had with multiple people recently, either they or I have mentioned it is a different kind of lonely here. I can’t put my finger on why it is different and neither can they. College in general is a very lonely time. Although students are surrounded by people, he or she is totally on their own with no one honestly looking out for them and no one to come home to at night. Here, I am also surrounded by people, including my host family. So in theory, it should feel a little less lonely since people are actually looking out for me (my family), but it just doesn’t. It isn’t something I can explain to someone who hasn’t been through this process, it’s just different.
Friday afternoon, a friend and I toured the Duomo. Although I find the exterior more architecturally interesting, the interior is nice as well. I particularly loved the dome. The artwork throughout the structure was gorgeous though! The white, green and rose marble which basically makes up the whole church, completely amazed me. It is everywhere! Continuing my love of the dome, we climbed the many, many steps up to the tip top of the dome. What an amazing view. I can’t even describe how gorgeous it was. All the major sites in Italy could be seen from the top looking out, including all the churches, museums, and markets. I got so confused looking at everything. I have yet to completely distinguish the churches from one another, so walking the circle of the dome was a little confusing. We met a wonderful English man and his wife at the top though. We had a very lively conversation about us living in Florence and his recent arrival the day before. It felt good to be able to respond with an honest answer when he asked where the best places to visit were and any advice in general. I have honestly met some of the nicest people here!
Saturday was Ravenna with other students from school. This is a must see for anyone that loves art! The town has a fascinating history. It was once the leading city in Italy around the 6th century (give or take a century). The churches we saw were built just before the fall of the Roman Empire and barbarian invasion ( a little history lesson there). Our focus on this particular visit was the mosaics (small pieces of colored glass, about the size of a fingernail, put together to create an image from farther away). They are designed to catch the light and reflect it off to illuminate the room. I have never seen anything like it! (I’m putting pics up on facebook, but they don’t do it justice AT ALL!). The golds and patterns, just to think about the fact that someone has talent enough to take little pieces of broken glass and put it together with many other tiny pieces to cover and entire walls and ceilings is mind blowing! Just little detail to make something so…I can’t even find the word. It simply is just that amazing! It can’t be described and a photograph can’t do it justice. One chuch sticks out to me especially, San Vitale. One of the lavish mosaics depicted by favorite story from the Old Testament which definitely helped it’s ranking in my opinion, but the architecture inside was as impressive to me as the more popular mosaics. However, by the end of the afternoon we had seen around 5 churches all covered with these pits of glass, so at the last church I was use to seeing them and fairly unimpressed. Over stimulated.
Sunday I was in Fiesole which is a hillside town about 15 minutes from Florence by bus. I was not too impressed with the small town until we toured ancient Roman ruins. The amphitheater is still used by locals and dates from the 1st century B.C. (wow!). Even though it said “no climbing” of course that didn’t apply to me. I romped all over those things. With the type of plants and lizards that surrounded the ancient baths, temple, and amphitheater I felt like I was in Greece exploring. Even those few minutes of climbing and being so fearless while adventuring has been my favorite weekend trip since arriving. It surprised me that I felt that way, but literally I was fearless climbing all over the crumbling and somewhat unstable stones. They were huge, and only a tiny part of the base was left of the temple especially. It’s crazy, but here in Italy, I tend to be fearless. People actually tell me to be careful, indicating at least some degree of danger. At home, I tend to be fairly safe. I’ve been told by several people at various times they like my sense of adventure here as I try to get lost and go down that sketch ally, which usually always finds us the coolest places. I love that feeling! Summarizing, those ruins have been my favorite thing yet. Fiesole was a good town also. It seems to be a wealthy village with a lot of stereotypical villas with vineyards surrounding it, thus it was pretty. We got lucky because there just happened to be a large outdoor market happening, which only happens a couple times a year! Score!
So the 4th week slump is majorly getting to me. I am so hungry for a chicken breast, fries, and potato chips. I don’t even really eat fries or chips at home so it’s kind of surprising. I went to the American Diner near the duomo last night with a couple people. My expectations were not met. I wanted to put some MSG in my chicken sandwich. It was a fail, but no one can ruin pancakes though, right? I still have faith in them. I’m told the getting annoyed with the good Italian food and the horrible water (that my hair hates!!!!) and such will go away soon. Falling into a routine has really helped and finding several different core friend groups to be with has also. I have finally found people from a different program, and graduate school students, who actually like getting coffee and talking about deeper stuff and not how many Chanel shoes I have (not judging). That is something I have probably missed the most. Having conversations about trivial stuff for 4 weeks straight has had a bigger effect on me that I would like to admit, but all the people I am with are wonderful in their own way. It feels good to actually talk about emotions and genuinely analyze ideas with people though!
The weather is getting cold here. It hasn’t started raining yet and probably won’t until November, although it does rain about every other day or so. I am told come November, it will start raining and not stop which announces winter has started.
Sarah
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Honeymoon Period? Over!!
As I sit on my bed and plan out the rest of my weekend trips for the semester, I have a premonition the time will go by so incredibly fast. Someone mentioned the other day that we have been several weeks now. It feels like no time at all. In a moment of sadness, I realize I have hit a major barrier with what I really wanted to do while here: learning about the Italian culture. I continue to learn little things about the everyday lifestyle from observing but the major window into their lives is largely a private affair for them. They don’t let “tourists” into it, and essentially, that is what I am. I am here for several months, but then leave their life forever. Florence is a major tourist city, so that is what they know. They keep their guard up against people like me.
Not knowing the language has probably been the biggest obstacle. I can smile after an Italian woman asks me something, but in the end, no relationship will have been made. I won’t understand her humor, or eventually learn the ways in which the culture makes jokes simply because I can’t talk with them. I get increasingly frustrated with the fact that I can’t communicate with Florentines. I have been with friends who speak the language well, so they have conversations. After, she may mention something the person said or generalize that he or she thinks _______ about their city but how do I get to know these things when most Italians don’t speak the only language I do?
The Italy I see is so different from the Italy they know is reality. The entrance is not passed over lightly. One thing I do know, individuals who speak English have a special bond here, especially English speakers from the states. Last week, I was sitting in a restaurant near campus waiting for my food. While seated, I decided to pull a book out for nutrition class. The woman next to me saw the title and started up a conversation. Little things such as joking about the title of a book with a complete stranger don’t usually happen in the states. It just felt different, almost like we hold on to other individuals like us here.
On a much different note, on Wednesday night I had my first cooking class. We made pasta, not from a box! Just eggs, flour, a tiny bit of olive oil and salt, and a pasta making machine. Well, you can’t really call it a machine because there was nothing electronic about it. It was more like a press that we had to crank after sending the “dough” through to smush it. We made three kinds, ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling (the best), fettuccini with a creamy tomato sauce, angle hair with a tomato/pepper sauce, and for dessert tiramisu. While eating our creations after, I kept thinking, “wow! I made every single thing in this dish, except growing the fresh herbs and laying the eggs“. No preservatives or anything went into it. Such a great feeling! Also, I have discovered why so many moms stay at home (use to) here in Italy, it takes forever to make pasta, which is the staple of their diet. It is easy to make, just a lot of time goes into kneading it then pressing it several different times to get the desired texture and strength. It tastes so amazing and does not compare at all to the box stuff. On Friday, I have my first cooking class with my actual nutrition/cooking class. Two in one week? Yes, please!
Sarah
Not knowing the language has probably been the biggest obstacle. I can smile after an Italian woman asks me something, but in the end, no relationship will have been made. I won’t understand her humor, or eventually learn the ways in which the culture makes jokes simply because I can’t talk with them. I get increasingly frustrated with the fact that I can’t communicate with Florentines. I have been with friends who speak the language well, so they have conversations. After, she may mention something the person said or generalize that he or she thinks _______ about their city but how do I get to know these things when most Italians don’t speak the only language I do?
The Italy I see is so different from the Italy they know is reality. The entrance is not passed over lightly. One thing I do know, individuals who speak English have a special bond here, especially English speakers from the states. Last week, I was sitting in a restaurant near campus waiting for my food. While seated, I decided to pull a book out for nutrition class. The woman next to me saw the title and started up a conversation. Little things such as joking about the title of a book with a complete stranger don’t usually happen in the states. It just felt different, almost like we hold on to other individuals like us here.
On a much different note, on Wednesday night I had my first cooking class. We made pasta, not from a box! Just eggs, flour, a tiny bit of olive oil and salt, and a pasta making machine. Well, you can’t really call it a machine because there was nothing electronic about it. It was more like a press that we had to crank after sending the “dough” through to smush it. We made three kinds, ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese filling (the best), fettuccini with a creamy tomato sauce, angle hair with a tomato/pepper sauce, and for dessert tiramisu. While eating our creations after, I kept thinking, “wow! I made every single thing in this dish, except growing the fresh herbs and laying the eggs“. No preservatives or anything went into it. Such a great feeling! Also, I have discovered why so many moms stay at home (use to) here in Italy, it takes forever to make pasta, which is the staple of their diet. It is easy to make, just a lot of time goes into kneading it then pressing it several different times to get the desired texture and strength. It tastes so amazing and does not compare at all to the box stuff. On Friday, I have my first cooking class with my actual nutrition/cooking class. Two in one week? Yes, please!
Sarah
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