I just finished my final exam, which means the PROGRAM IS OVER AND I'M DONE. It feels good but also a little sad, like it went so quickly. But now it's technically vacation, first with my Italian family and my Italian boyfriend, then with my madre and zia. And as thrilled as I am to be traveling through Italy I am also definitely ready to go home. Today on the walk to class I caught myself making a mental list of all the things I'm excited to come home for:
-Going to Red Robin and getting the fattiest chicken burger. However, I'm probably more excited about the endless fry basket, and massive quantities of ranch. And ketchup that doesn't taste like vinegar!
-Phad thai.
-Putting on nice, tight clothes straight from the dryer.
-Laying around in my sweats all day without people looking at me funny.
-TV in English.
-Constantly having Pandora going. And wireless access everywhere I go, including at home.
-Not having a prepaid phone that you constantly have to add credit to.
-Snacking midday, especially excited for chips and popcorn.
-Not having pasta at every meal.
-Driving. And having a nice smooth ride in an automatic car.
-Ordering water at restaurants and not paying for it.
-Being physically able to sleep until noon.
-Singing along with the radio.
-Eating desert after dinner and not for breakfast.
I'll probably add more this weekend as I prepare to set off. I love Italy, but I miss home. Can't wait to see you all!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Pazza Inter amala
Yesterday I was a soccer fan for a day. It was actually pretty awesome. I was in the Villa after lunch working on my journal/final project for Giuseppe with Faith when we heard someone nearby screaming in Italian. After a little while we determined he was yelling at a TV. Then later we heard sirens and loud pops in the distance. I thought it was an ambulance and maybe gun shots, but then the sirens came closer and eventually up the street we were on. It was actually a long (long!) line of cars all decked out in blue and black, horns and megaphone sirens blaring. Apparently a very popular northern soccer team, called Inter (rival of Milan), had just won some tournament that I would say is equivalent to the Superbowl, and every Inter fan turned out to celebrate.
It was actually pretty cool, there were people hanging out of car windows and waving flags, throwing confetti and such. And of course I was playing tourist and taking pictures while standing on the curb watching with everyone else. I saw Enrico drive by with a few Zona Briganti in the car and waved. Then I made my way home. I guess the sfilata of cars goes back and forth across town a few times, so they passed the house another 1 or 2 times before Enrico and the rest finally stopped and waved for me to get in the car. I got to wave the Italian flag out the window, which was pretty fun. They threw some black and blue Inter scarves at me to help me fit in.
Then right as the procession all parked and made its way up to the Villa to form a crowd it started to rain. I improvised and wrapped one scarf around my head ninja-style to keep my hair less than soaked. Then, with all the spectators left over from some political rally in the square watching us, the crowd started to sing and chant and wave flags. Then they lit off fire crackers. And I mean real heavy duty firecrackers, probably illegal in the States. Every time one went off without me seeing it I screamed like a girl. But that only lasted about 10 minutes, then they drove me back home. Anyways, I’m pretty excited I had the whole soccer-madness experience, especially since I wasn’t in Rome for the Champions League Barcelona-Manchester game. I’ve at least now had a taste.
It was actually pretty cool, there were people hanging out of car windows and waving flags, throwing confetti and such. And of course I was playing tourist and taking pictures while standing on the curb watching with everyone else. I saw Enrico drive by with a few Zona Briganti in the car and waved. Then I made my way home. I guess the sfilata of cars goes back and forth across town a few times, so they passed the house another 1 or 2 times before Enrico and the rest finally stopped and waved for me to get in the car. I got to wave the Italian flag out the window, which was pretty fun. They threw some black and blue Inter scarves at me to help me fit in.
Then right as the procession all parked and made its way up to the Villa to form a crowd it started to rain. I improvised and wrapped one scarf around my head ninja-style to keep my hair less than soaked. Then, with all the spectators left over from some political rally in the square watching us, the crowd started to sing and chant and wave flags. Then they lit off fire crackers. And I mean real heavy duty firecrackers, probably illegal in the States. Every time one went off without me seeing it I screamed like a girl. But that only lasted about 10 minutes, then they drove me back home. Anyways, I’m pretty excited I had the whole soccer-madness experience, especially since I wasn’t in Rome for the Champions League Barcelona-Manchester game. I’ve at least now had a taste.
Friday, May 29, 2009
No more bambini!
Alright, I finally feel like writing. First off, yesterday was the last day teaching at the elementary schools. For once, the first school was a major pain. We wanted to make it a 'review' day (translates to game day), so we did Simon says then duck, duck, goose. Except the teacher, who is normally a joy, was being a major pain in the ass. Serious PMS or something. She thought playing duck duck goose in the main foyer was too dangerous so we went outside. After a few games of nice, safe telephone they wanted to play red light, green light. Again, a few minutes in the teacher nearly had a heart attack that someone would get hurt. So we tried to teach them quack didilyoso (I couldn’t believe I remembered the song from first grade) which was incredibly hard. I can’t even explain the game in English, let alone Italian. I don’t remember why she didn’t like that game, but ultimately we ended up going back inside and leaving soon afterward. When we said it was our last day and good-bye, the kids all charged David with hugs while the rest of us left unnoticed. Not exactly a good start to the morning.
But then a miracle happened. We went to the second school and were brainstorming ways to get out early. I suggested we go to the supermercato and get some treats, so we could walk in with goodies, say thanks and good-bye and leave. Katy went and got some stuff, and as we walked down the hall to the classroom it was eerily quiet. At that point David said out loud “wouldn’t it be great if they weren’t here.” And right then we look in our classroom, and it’s completely empty. It was an absolute miracle, the gods heard us!! I like to think carma paid us back for never slapping any of those kids by giving us our last day off. We wrote a little note on the board, something like “Good-bye! ~Gli Americani” then split the snacks amongst ourselves and booked it the hell out of there before they came back.
When I came home I had the best lunch. She made boiled potatoes and fresh grown Italian green beans, and mixed them together. Simple, but so, so good. I was pretty psyched to eat Italian green beans in Italy.
In class we had an exam, which again took me probably under 20 minutes. If we don’t all 4.0 these classes I will be shocked. Then I hung around for a few hours and watched the end of my Grey’s Anatomy finale from the other day; it took me an hour to watch the last 10 minutes, but it was so worth it. Finally at 6pm we had a short lecture with Ruggero followed by a demonstration by Zona Briganti (Enrico’s band). They came in and played us some songs then each talked a little about their instruments and their music, etc. The dancer for the group explained the basics of tarantella, then asked if anyone wanted to come up and try. Of course, Matteo, the class suck-up, jumps right up there. It was pretty hysterical. Then afterward I walked home with Enrico and one or two others from the group. Yep, that’s right, officially a groupie…
Later that night I uscire’d once again with Enrico. We met some of his friends in the Villa, grabbed a bench and just chilled there for the night. They spoke nearly the entire time in Roglianese dialect, and I did not understand a single word. It sounds like a mix of Italian and Greek to me, seriously messed up. But we must have sat there for more than two hours, and even though I was just kind of half listening it was a fun night.
Finally, to sum everything up, this morning I went on a special little outing. Manuel’s teacher at the kindergarten asked me earlier this week to come in one day and read some English words to the kids. I just finished up there, and it was literally about 20 minutes of me teaching them how to pronounce English words that were in their little workbooks. Thinks like apple, butterfly, green, feet, brother, etc. Italians absolutely cannot make a “th” sound because in their language they always keep their tongue behind their teeth. So when I tried to teach the “th” for “brother” and “three” they all sounded pretty ridiculous. The teacher kept sticking her tongue out way too far and the kids kept spitting.
Alright, that’s about it for now. I have the rest of the weekend mostly free, so maybe you’ll hear some good stories or maybe you won’t. Baci ciao
But then a miracle happened. We went to the second school and were brainstorming ways to get out early. I suggested we go to the supermercato and get some treats, so we could walk in with goodies, say thanks and good-bye and leave. Katy went and got some stuff, and as we walked down the hall to the classroom it was eerily quiet. At that point David said out loud “wouldn’t it be great if they weren’t here.” And right then we look in our classroom, and it’s completely empty. It was an absolute miracle, the gods heard us!! I like to think carma paid us back for never slapping any of those kids by giving us our last day off. We wrote a little note on the board, something like “Good-bye! ~Gli Americani” then split the snacks amongst ourselves and booked it the hell out of there before they came back.
When I came home I had the best lunch. She made boiled potatoes and fresh grown Italian green beans, and mixed them together. Simple, but so, so good. I was pretty psyched to eat Italian green beans in Italy.
In class we had an exam, which again took me probably under 20 minutes. If we don’t all 4.0 these classes I will be shocked. Then I hung around for a few hours and watched the end of my Grey’s Anatomy finale from the other day; it took me an hour to watch the last 10 minutes, but it was so worth it. Finally at 6pm we had a short lecture with Ruggero followed by a demonstration by Zona Briganti (Enrico’s band). They came in and played us some songs then each talked a little about their instruments and their music, etc. The dancer for the group explained the basics of tarantella, then asked if anyone wanted to come up and try. Of course, Matteo, the class suck-up, jumps right up there. It was pretty hysterical. Then afterward I walked home with Enrico and one or two others from the group. Yep, that’s right, officially a groupie…
Later that night I uscire’d once again with Enrico. We met some of his friends in the Villa, grabbed a bench and just chilled there for the night. They spoke nearly the entire time in Roglianese dialect, and I did not understand a single word. It sounds like a mix of Italian and Greek to me, seriously messed up. But we must have sat there for more than two hours, and even though I was just kind of half listening it was a fun night.
Finally, to sum everything up, this morning I went on a special little outing. Manuel’s teacher at the kindergarten asked me earlier this week to come in one day and read some English words to the kids. I just finished up there, and it was literally about 20 minutes of me teaching them how to pronounce English words that were in their little workbooks. Thinks like apple, butterfly, green, feet, brother, etc. Italians absolutely cannot make a “th” sound because in their language they always keep their tongue behind their teeth. So when I tried to teach the “th” for “brother” and “three” they all sounded pretty ridiculous. The teacher kept sticking her tongue out way too far and the kids kept spitting.
Alright, that’s about it for now. I have the rest of the weekend mostly free, so maybe you’ll hear some good stories or maybe you won’t. Baci ciao
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Spazzatura
It’s getting harder and harder to bring myself to update this thing. I pretty much do the same thing every day here. In the mornings we get terrorized by first graders, then come home and eat way too much, then rest a little and go to class. After class I surf the internet, which lately has meant catching up on some Gray’s Anatomy, then come home and eat yet again. Finally I finish the day with a shower then uscire with Enrico. So there you have it.
The last few days I’ve been trying to also update my Italian journal, which will serve as our final project for Giuseppe’s class. Yesterday I had to meet with him and show him where I’m at before I turn it in next week. So I’ve been trying to catch up on a month in Rogliano as well as doodling in it to make it look personal. I printed out all my blog entries for May and summarized those into Italian. It was a pretty daunting task, I’m still only up to the 8th of May.
Sunday we went once again to the beach. I spent the morning working on my journal, then we left around 11 to go to the grandparent’s house for lunch. I again stuffed myself, except this time it was with chicken breast and French fries! And the nephew Giuseppe, who was a real jerk last time, was a little tiny bit more courteous this time. We started talking about music, and he thought I had good taste—except the guy likes Avril Lavigne so his judgment is evidently questionable. After lunch it was straight on to the beach in Falerna, about 20 minutes from Rogliano. I slept under the umbrella for a bit while the rest of the family cooked themselves. Then I joined them in the sun, and soon after in the water. This time we were on the Mediterranean, and the water was quite a bit warmer than the last time we went to the beach. It was also surprisingly salty; I don’t know if it was the extra salt or the extra fat that made me float so well. And when I took a shower that night I could taste the salt in the water that came off my hair. We ended up playing catch with my rubber duck (paperella) and with a soccer ball, then went back on the sand for a few more hours in the sun. We didn’t get home until about 8pm. But the best part was that I didn’t burn a single bit.
Finally, the only other notable part of the week has been some issue with the trash bins in the neighborhood (called spazzatura). Across the street there were a few dumpsters for the people who live her to put their trash in. As far as I can tell from what I pick up while they yell at each other in Italian, there are people who don’t live on this street coming by and dropping off their garbage. So much so that it’s overflowing onto the street next to the bin. I really don’t see what the big deal is, but Marilena and others have taken to calling people out when they come by with trash in hand. When they have “discussions” with each other here, it always sounds like they’re fighting. Absolutely every time. Then at the end of their talk they say friendly things along the lines of ‘bye, see you soon, take care.’ A few times I’ve asked Marilena afterward if they were arguing or not, and she always says no, in fact that’s a friend of hers. Anyways, can’t get used to how they talk to each other here.
The trash issue has turned into a real crisis, though again I don’t see the big deal. Today a cop even came by and the neighbors all complained about the happenings with the trash. Yesterday the trash guys took the dumpsters away (don’t have a clue why), and now when people walk by with stuff to throw out Marilena and others have to tell them to go home or “talk” to them when they leave it on the ground. The trash guys also went around trying to explain recycling the other day, and passed out handouts about what goes with what. The family seemed unsure, so I said I’d help. So far they’re kind of struggling with it; they keep asking me if different things can go in different bins. But it’ll be nice to finally be able to recycle in the house. I’m so institutionalized, every time I threw away a glass bottle or water bottle I felt incredibly guilty. Walking home the other day Kevin threw some of my trash on the ground, and I stopped and picked it up, and without thinking told him “Common Kevin! I’m from Seattle, that’s basically against my religion.” Then I had to pause and translate it so he’d understand…
Ok I think that’s all I’ve got for now. Manuel told me to tell you all "vi salutano Manuel e Kevin" (Manuel and Kevin say hi). Ciao
The last few days I’ve been trying to also update my Italian journal, which will serve as our final project for Giuseppe’s class. Yesterday I had to meet with him and show him where I’m at before I turn it in next week. So I’ve been trying to catch up on a month in Rogliano as well as doodling in it to make it look personal. I printed out all my blog entries for May and summarized those into Italian. It was a pretty daunting task, I’m still only up to the 8th of May.
Sunday we went once again to the beach. I spent the morning working on my journal, then we left around 11 to go to the grandparent’s house for lunch. I again stuffed myself, except this time it was with chicken breast and French fries! And the nephew Giuseppe, who was a real jerk last time, was a little tiny bit more courteous this time. We started talking about music, and he thought I had good taste—except the guy likes Avril Lavigne so his judgment is evidently questionable. After lunch it was straight on to the beach in Falerna, about 20 minutes from Rogliano. I slept under the umbrella for a bit while the rest of the family cooked themselves. Then I joined them in the sun, and soon after in the water. This time we were on the Mediterranean, and the water was quite a bit warmer than the last time we went to the beach. It was also surprisingly salty; I don’t know if it was the extra salt or the extra fat that made me float so well. And when I took a shower that night I could taste the salt in the water that came off my hair. We ended up playing catch with my rubber duck (paperella) and with a soccer ball, then went back on the sand for a few more hours in the sun. We didn’t get home until about 8pm. But the best part was that I didn’t burn a single bit.
Finally, the only other notable part of the week has been some issue with the trash bins in the neighborhood (called spazzatura). Across the street there were a few dumpsters for the people who live her to put their trash in. As far as I can tell from what I pick up while they yell at each other in Italian, there are people who don’t live on this street coming by and dropping off their garbage. So much so that it’s overflowing onto the street next to the bin. I really don’t see what the big deal is, but Marilena and others have taken to calling people out when they come by with trash in hand. When they have “discussions” with each other here, it always sounds like they’re fighting. Absolutely every time. Then at the end of their talk they say friendly things along the lines of ‘bye, see you soon, take care.’ A few times I’ve asked Marilena afterward if they were arguing or not, and she always says no, in fact that’s a friend of hers. Anyways, can’t get used to how they talk to each other here.
The trash issue has turned into a real crisis, though again I don’t see the big deal. Today a cop even came by and the neighbors all complained about the happenings with the trash. Yesterday the trash guys took the dumpsters away (don’t have a clue why), and now when people walk by with stuff to throw out Marilena and others have to tell them to go home or “talk” to them when they leave it on the ground. The trash guys also went around trying to explain recycling the other day, and passed out handouts about what goes with what. The family seemed unsure, so I said I’d help. So far they’re kind of struggling with it; they keep asking me if different things can go in different bins. But it’ll be nice to finally be able to recycle in the house. I’m so institutionalized, every time I threw away a glass bottle or water bottle I felt incredibly guilty. Walking home the other day Kevin threw some of my trash on the ground, and I stopped and picked it up, and without thinking told him “Common Kevin! I’m from Seattle, that’s basically against my religion.” Then I had to pause and translate it so he’d understand…
Ok I think that’s all I’ve got for now. Manuel told me to tell you all "vi salutano Manuel e Kevin" (Manuel and Kevin say hi). Ciao
Friday, May 22, 2009
"If this is Italy, and my ass is Venice..."
Wow, I haven’t posted for a full week. I think that’s the longest I’ve gone without writing during my whole time here. Sorry, I’ve kept busy. Not sure with what really, but apparently I have. Alright, let’s get right into it then.
We left bright and early Friday morning for our weekend in Sicily. Before leaving, Marilena tried to send a ridiculous amount of food with me. It got to the point where I had a full sack lunch packed, and as she kept putting more snacks in the bag I had to follwe her and put them back. But when we saw everyone at the bus station, they all had their own gigantic bags of food too, it was pretty comical. At 7:20am, Sara, Faith and I were all on the little train to take us from Rogliano to the next town over to pick up the bus. Once in this town, called Piano Lago, I decided to use the station bathroom while waiting for the bus. When I opened the outdoor bathroom door, I saw this massive black spider crawl across the floor. Of course I flipped out. Then I called Sarah, literally on my cell phone because she wasn’t in earshot, and had her come over to play man and kill it for me. I stood outside the bathroom and listened while she killed the little bugger, from what I heard it took at least 7 whacks with her shoe. Told you it was big…
The bus ride was pretty uneventful. At the southern tip of Italy we had to take a ferry across to Sicily, and it felt like going to Bainbridge on a school bus. Molto déjà vu. It only took about 15 minutes, but in that time we all got off the bus and went on deck. A few of us went to the front of the boat for some extreme wind. It was like being in a wind tunnel, my clothes were blowing off and after a while I couldn’t see or breathe. I could also lean about 45 degrees forward and the wind held me up. Afterward, my hair has never been so tangled, I think I ripped about half of it out of my head while trying to comb it out later.
Once we got off the bus in Taormina, a hill town in eastern Sicily, it was a real bitch trying to get to our hostel. First we had to take a small bus the rest of the way up the hill into the actual town. Then we got lost looking for the city bus station. Once we finally made it onto one of those buses, we took it down the hill to the next town over called Giardini Naxos. Our hostel was sufficient, but evidently way out of the way of everything.
As soon as we all got our rooms, a few of us walked to the supermercato. We didn’t realize that a 1 kilometer walk to the supermercato would be as long as it was. And I don’t know what it is about Sicily, but we have never been honked at so much as there. Not even in Rome. Literally every other car honked or yelled things at us. It actually annoyed the hell out of me.
After our little trip for groceries, we all crashed and took a nap. This was followed by a massive dinner. We came back and I was so full I couldn’t move. Faith joked about going out to the balcony and throwing up into the boat parked below. This then became an ongoing joke for the weekend.
Saturday morning we woke up early to go with Christina to Mt. Etna. Because the universe hates me, and I guess knows that we’re from Seattle, it rained all day Saturday. But for some reason we wanted to see Etna regardless, so we got on the bus we had taken from Taormina the previous day. Of course we miss our stop, and instead just ride it all the way into Taormina to chill and get breakfast. This worked out, since we spent the rest of the day in Taormina and forgot Etna. We did some shopping, rode this wire gondola deal (called a funivia in Italian) which had a great view minus the rain. We then had a great lunch at what was said to be the best restaurant in town. Finally we finished the day by checking out the Greek amphitheater there. By then the rain was off and on, and while off the view was incredible. But I was absolutely spent at that point and really just wanted to go home.
On the bus back, I had the best moment. Taormina is kind of a touristy town, especially for Germans. While on the bus a British couple got on and started asking the driver where some hotel was. The driver of course didn’t speak English, and could only answer them in Italian. The couple looked so freaked out, so I leaned forward and translated for them what he had said. I was so proud of myself and my Italian. Then when we got off, I let them know this was their stop and what direction to go. Seriously, I felt pretty accomplished.
Once we finally made it back to the hostel, we all decided to take a little rest. I was still full from the massive lunch with no plans on eating dinner, and so were the rest of them. That is how our rest turned into sleep. We were asleep by nine. Faith woke up at 3, couldn’t get back to sleep, then at 5 asked if I wanted to walk with her to see the sun rise. Of course I said no :) I did go the next morning though, don’t worry. Anyways, that’s how we party: sightseeing then in bed by nine. Pathetic.
The next morning we slept in, went to the grocery store and bought snacks, then hit the beach. We chilled there, got some sun. While on the beach, Faith tried to explain to me where some Italian town was, and used her leg as a map. I believe the exact quote was "if this is Italy, and my ass is Venice, it's right here." I about died laughing, the quote of the weekend for me! The water was too cold and rough to swim in, so instead I dipped my feet in when I got hot. We then went back to the beach for dinner; we specifically chose this restaurant because there was garlic bread on the menu. It wasn’t even very good garlic bread, but the rest of the food was pretty decent. We ordered cocktails, and got some seriously strong pina coldas. Then I got the first full, complete meal I’ve eaten at a restaurant while in Italy: swordfish served with French fries and salad. It was glorious. We finished the evening with some tiramisu.
Back at the hostel, we chilled up on the roof for a while looking at the stars and fireworks. I’m not sure why there were so many distant fireworks, I can only assume from festivals for saints and whatnot. Then while on the roof, we thought we heard a mouse scurrying around; of course we flipped out. We tested the theory by throwing one of our Pringles near a hole we saw and waiting for something to pop out. Nothing ever did.
The next day, Monday, was the day we went back. Basically took all the same buses in reverse. I was pretty ready to get back to my routine, but when we were on the ferry floating away from that beautiful island I didn’t want to leave anymore. I’m definitely going back at some point and exploring more.
When I finally got home to Rogliano, I showered and did homework and went to bed. Nothing more exciting than that.
We left bright and early Friday morning for our weekend in Sicily. Before leaving, Marilena tried to send a ridiculous amount of food with me. It got to the point where I had a full sack lunch packed, and as she kept putting more snacks in the bag I had to follwe her and put them back. But when we saw everyone at the bus station, they all had their own gigantic bags of food too, it was pretty comical. At 7:20am, Sara, Faith and I were all on the little train to take us from Rogliano to the next town over to pick up the bus. Once in this town, called Piano Lago, I decided to use the station bathroom while waiting for the bus. When I opened the outdoor bathroom door, I saw this massive black spider crawl across the floor. Of course I flipped out. Then I called Sarah, literally on my cell phone because she wasn’t in earshot, and had her come over to play man and kill it for me. I stood outside the bathroom and listened while she killed the little bugger, from what I heard it took at least 7 whacks with her shoe. Told you it was big…
The bus ride was pretty uneventful. At the southern tip of Italy we had to take a ferry across to Sicily, and it felt like going to Bainbridge on a school bus. Molto déjà vu. It only took about 15 minutes, but in that time we all got off the bus and went on deck. A few of us went to the front of the boat for some extreme wind. It was like being in a wind tunnel, my clothes were blowing off and after a while I couldn’t see or breathe. I could also lean about 45 degrees forward and the wind held me up. Afterward, my hair has never been so tangled, I think I ripped about half of it out of my head while trying to comb it out later.
Once we got off the bus in Taormina, a hill town in eastern Sicily, it was a real bitch trying to get to our hostel. First we had to take a small bus the rest of the way up the hill into the actual town. Then we got lost looking for the city bus station. Once we finally made it onto one of those buses, we took it down the hill to the next town over called Giardini Naxos. Our hostel was sufficient, but evidently way out of the way of everything.
As soon as we all got our rooms, a few of us walked to the supermercato. We didn’t realize that a 1 kilometer walk to the supermercato would be as long as it was. And I don’t know what it is about Sicily, but we have never been honked at so much as there. Not even in Rome. Literally every other car honked or yelled things at us. It actually annoyed the hell out of me.
After our little trip for groceries, we all crashed and took a nap. This was followed by a massive dinner. We came back and I was so full I couldn’t move. Faith joked about going out to the balcony and throwing up into the boat parked below. This then became an ongoing joke for the weekend.
Saturday morning we woke up early to go with Christina to Mt. Etna. Because the universe hates me, and I guess knows that we’re from Seattle, it rained all day Saturday. But for some reason we wanted to see Etna regardless, so we got on the bus we had taken from Taormina the previous day. Of course we miss our stop, and instead just ride it all the way into Taormina to chill and get breakfast. This worked out, since we spent the rest of the day in Taormina and forgot Etna. We did some shopping, rode this wire gondola deal (called a funivia in Italian) which had a great view minus the rain. We then had a great lunch at what was said to be the best restaurant in town. Finally we finished the day by checking out the Greek amphitheater there. By then the rain was off and on, and while off the view was incredible. But I was absolutely spent at that point and really just wanted to go home.
On the bus back, I had the best moment. Taormina is kind of a touristy town, especially for Germans. While on the bus a British couple got on and started asking the driver where some hotel was. The driver of course didn’t speak English, and could only answer them in Italian. The couple looked so freaked out, so I leaned forward and translated for them what he had said. I was so proud of myself and my Italian. Then when we got off, I let them know this was their stop and what direction to go. Seriously, I felt pretty accomplished.
Once we finally made it back to the hostel, we all decided to take a little rest. I was still full from the massive lunch with no plans on eating dinner, and so were the rest of them. That is how our rest turned into sleep. We were asleep by nine. Faith woke up at 3, couldn’t get back to sleep, then at 5 asked if I wanted to walk with her to see the sun rise. Of course I said no :) I did go the next morning though, don’t worry. Anyways, that’s how we party: sightseeing then in bed by nine. Pathetic.
The next morning we slept in, went to the grocery store and bought snacks, then hit the beach. We chilled there, got some sun. While on the beach, Faith tried to explain to me where some Italian town was, and used her leg as a map. I believe the exact quote was "if this is Italy, and my ass is Venice, it's right here." I about died laughing, the quote of the weekend for me! The water was too cold and rough to swim in, so instead I dipped my feet in when I got hot. We then went back to the beach for dinner; we specifically chose this restaurant because there was garlic bread on the menu. It wasn’t even very good garlic bread, but the rest of the food was pretty decent. We ordered cocktails, and got some seriously strong pina coldas. Then I got the first full, complete meal I’ve eaten at a restaurant while in Italy: swordfish served with French fries and salad. It was glorious. We finished the evening with some tiramisu.
Back at the hostel, we chilled up on the roof for a while looking at the stars and fireworks. I’m not sure why there were so many distant fireworks, I can only assume from festivals for saints and whatnot. Then while on the roof, we thought we heard a mouse scurrying around; of course we flipped out. We tested the theory by throwing one of our Pringles near a hole we saw and waiting for something to pop out. Nothing ever did.
The next day, Monday, was the day we went back. Basically took all the same buses in reverse. I was pretty ready to get back to my routine, but when we were on the ferry floating away from that beautiful island I didn’t want to leave anymore. I’m definitely going back at some point and exploring more.
When I finally got home to Rogliano, I showered and did homework and went to bed. Nothing more exciting than that.
Back to life
Tuesday, vacation was really, truly over. At the elementary schools we taught the kids a few verbs then played at least 30 minutes of Simon Says. I think they liked it. Except at the second school, it was yet again another FML day. During Simon Says these 4 or 5 boys, the trouble makers, were running all over the place, including out of the classroom and down the hallway. The teacher (who did very little, just sat there and looked scary. Totally an empty threat) at one point sat in front of/barricaded the door. Fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave, we were more than done. I leaned over to the teacher and asked if it was ok if we finished early because the class was going crazy—seriously, you have no idea how out of control it got. She seemed kind of surprised, yelled at the kids a little, something about how we won’t come back if they don’t behave. Then she looked at me like ‘ok, continue’. So needless to say, we didn’t leave early.
The only other thing I remember about Tuesday was uscire-ing again with Enrico. We drove around for a while, then he asked what I wanted to do. Of course I had no idea, so we just went up to the villa and walked around. There we met the rest of the people from the band, and went together to a local pub to sit and chill. It was a little awkward because it was all in seriously fast Italian, and poor Enrico obviously felt like he had to lean over once and a while and slowly explain what had been said. But what made it more awkward was that his brother and his bro’s girlfriend were there, and got into this major fight. As I said, awkward, but also seriously fun to listen to in Italian.
Wednesday we didn’t have the morning free like we usually do. Instead we met up and went down the hill a little ways to meet a bee keeper and find out how he makes honey. At this place there were a few dogs and cats, and this insanely cute puppy. We were all way more absorbed in the puppy then in the honey-making process. Until he started messing around with bees and such, and there were hundreds of angry but smoke-doped bees flying overhead; then we paid attention. Afterward we went to the place where he purifies the honey, which is literally right next to the second elementary school. As soon as we took that turn to the school, there was this collective shutter and feeling of “wait, why are they taking us here? Get me off this bus!”
The honey was good, but tasted way different. I went home after and ate homemade gnocci. It was fabulous, but I was (again) too full to move. I swear, these people are deliberately trying to fatten us up. Like livestock.
After was class as usual. Then I watched two episodes of Greys Anatomy online, which I have missed tremendously. I think now I only have 2 or 3 episodes to go before I’m all caught up. Later I went out yet again with Enrico. It’s nice because it’s something new to do, something to get me out of the house. We drove to Piano Lago and got gelato, then drove around Rogliano for a while, again pretty chill. I can’t tell if this guy is interested or not. I originally thought maybe because he finished almost all his text messages with baci (which means “kisses”). But when I asked Marilena about that she explained that this greeting is super common in Italy and means nothing like it would in America. She said that friends always write that to each other, and it’s no big deal. So now I really have no clue what’s up with this guy. Well there you go, the full update.
And finally, today I didn’t teach at the elementary school. I showed up, along with one other girl in my group of 5, and there was no way we were going in there the two of us. So I went and explained to the teacher that my group was sick and I’ll be back Monday. Then I had a nice free morning! After classes, once I finally got home around 7pm Marilena told me we were having dinner at Carmella’s house. It was good, I stuffed myself again. I don’t try to, but they keep telling me to have a little taste of this, or a small bit of that and at the end I’m a balloon. Kevin and Manuel were being really weird tonight, and I was a little less than patient. So I spent most of the time talking in English to Caitlin. It was nice not to think for a while. Then Kevin started playing a Britney Spears song he had on his phone (not sure why he had it) and the kids thought it was extremely entertaining to watch Caitlin and I sing along in English. They kept playing more and more American songs to see if we could sing along. That was actually a lot of fun. I was supposed to uscire yet again tonight, but I am to exhausted. So instead here I am getting you all up to speed. Ok I think this is enough for now (basta così in Italian), ciao tutti.
*Also a note: Sorry for not putting pictures for you all to see on Picasa, I've been uploading pretty exclusively to Facebook with my precious little internet time. But I'll try and get Picasa all updated so you can see all the new pictures. Enjoy!
The only other thing I remember about Tuesday was uscire-ing again with Enrico. We drove around for a while, then he asked what I wanted to do. Of course I had no idea, so we just went up to the villa and walked around. There we met the rest of the people from the band, and went together to a local pub to sit and chill. It was a little awkward because it was all in seriously fast Italian, and poor Enrico obviously felt like he had to lean over once and a while and slowly explain what had been said. But what made it more awkward was that his brother and his bro’s girlfriend were there, and got into this major fight. As I said, awkward, but also seriously fun to listen to in Italian.
Wednesday we didn’t have the morning free like we usually do. Instead we met up and went down the hill a little ways to meet a bee keeper and find out how he makes honey. At this place there were a few dogs and cats, and this insanely cute puppy. We were all way more absorbed in the puppy then in the honey-making process. Until he started messing around with bees and such, and there were hundreds of angry but smoke-doped bees flying overhead; then we paid attention. Afterward we went to the place where he purifies the honey, which is literally right next to the second elementary school. As soon as we took that turn to the school, there was this collective shutter and feeling of “wait, why are they taking us here? Get me off this bus!”
The honey was good, but tasted way different. I went home after and ate homemade gnocci. It was fabulous, but I was (again) too full to move. I swear, these people are deliberately trying to fatten us up. Like livestock.
After was class as usual. Then I watched two episodes of Greys Anatomy online, which I have missed tremendously. I think now I only have 2 or 3 episodes to go before I’m all caught up. Later I went out yet again with Enrico. It’s nice because it’s something new to do, something to get me out of the house. We drove to Piano Lago and got gelato, then drove around Rogliano for a while, again pretty chill. I can’t tell if this guy is interested or not. I originally thought maybe because he finished almost all his text messages with baci (which means “kisses”). But when I asked Marilena about that she explained that this greeting is super common in Italy and means nothing like it would in America. She said that friends always write that to each other, and it’s no big deal. So now I really have no clue what’s up with this guy. Well there you go, the full update.
And finally, today I didn’t teach at the elementary school. I showed up, along with one other girl in my group of 5, and there was no way we were going in there the two of us. So I went and explained to the teacher that my group was sick and I’ll be back Monday. Then I had a nice free morning! After classes, once I finally got home around 7pm Marilena told me we were having dinner at Carmella’s house. It was good, I stuffed myself again. I don’t try to, but they keep telling me to have a little taste of this, or a small bit of that and at the end I’m a balloon. Kevin and Manuel were being really weird tonight, and I was a little less than patient. So I spent most of the time talking in English to Caitlin. It was nice not to think for a while. Then Kevin started playing a Britney Spears song he had on his phone (not sure why he had it) and the kids thought it was extremely entertaining to watch Caitlin and I sing along in English. They kept playing more and more American songs to see if we could sing along. That was actually a lot of fun. I was supposed to uscire yet again tonight, but I am to exhausted. So instead here I am getting you all up to speed. Ok I think this is enough for now (basta così in Italian), ciao tutti.
*Also a note: Sorry for not putting pictures for you all to see on Picasa, I've been uploading pretty exclusively to Facebook with my precious little internet time. But I'll try and get Picasa all updated so you can see all the new pictures. Enjoy!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Prima il fine settimana
Ciao tutti. I’m off to spend a nice, long weekend on a beach in Taormina, Sicily tomorrow, and thus should post before I can’t write for 4 days. First off, we’re just about half way done with our time here, which means just a little more than a month till I’m home! I love Italy, but now that I’m living with a family I feel like I'd rather be at my own home with my own fam and friends. So as of June 21st I’m all yours!
Also, the sunburn has now just about healed and I’m a nice crispy brown all over. I’m not used to seeing myself this tan. I kind of like it, I look healthy now. And though I’m using sunscreen religiously, I am sprouting some serious freckles on my nose for the first time. I’m a little worried that in Sicilia they’ll all merge into one big mass…
The last day or two my host brothers have somehow managed to get me to kick a soccer ball around with them. I told them I’m not brava and that they had to teach me, but I don’t think they really understood the degree of pathetic I was talking about. I mean I can kick the ball a good 75% of the time, but it definitely doesn’t go where it’s supposed to. Manuel kind of took the role of goalie guarding this garage door, and at one point I way missed him and he screamed my name and did this great Italian hand gesture that basically means “what the hell are you doing?!”
Speaking of Manuel, this is now my new favorite picture. Ever.
Yep, I taught him that. They still don’t get why I think it’s funny, though. Wait, Enrico understood it.
OH that’s right I haven’t written about Enrico yet. You’ll enjoy this. So remember how I said I met those guys in the band last weekend, and we went to see them at the villa but they didn’t show? Enrico was one of those two or three guys, one of the ones that live next door. I saw him a few times while I was leaving/returning to the house Wednesday morning, and eventually waved and said ciao. I guess later that day Enrico came up to my host mom and asked if I was ‘allowed’ (I think that’s the general translation) to uscire. She said ask her yourself, which he definitely did when I returned from classes. I told him I was leaving all weekend, but I was down for going out, said I’d call a few girl friends and he would call a friend or two. Of course none of my friends wanted to go out Wednesday night, but Marilena told me I should still go.
And I went. Instead of the fare una passeggiata type of uscire, which involves walking back and forth down the street, we andare in giro-ed. That one’s apparently a little different, you drive back and forth across and around town in a car. I actually enjoyed it. And they wore seatbelts! Well, at least in the front. My standards for guys here, or even just friends are simply 1) how well can I understand them when they speak to me and 2) do they carry the conversation well because I can’t do that too well just yet. Mostly just good at answering when spoken to. And that’s what our giro in macchina basically was; a nice tranquillo night.
Enrico asked if I wanted to uscire again after Sicily, and this time I will actually bring friends for his buds. There was talk of going to the beach and chilling down there, grabbing dinner. Yay new Italian friends!
Alright now I have to get ready to leave. I think it's rather ironic that in order to spend a relaxing weekend on the beach, I have to get up at 6 and leave by 7. But apparently that's easy for me now since I wake up on my own way too early here. Yesterday I was awake at 6:30 and there was nothing I could do about it. Maybe if I'm lucky it will be this easy to wake up back in Seattle, especially with my 8:30 chem class all summer. Fun. Arrivederci!
Also, the sunburn has now just about healed and I’m a nice crispy brown all over. I’m not used to seeing myself this tan. I kind of like it, I look healthy now. And though I’m using sunscreen religiously, I am sprouting some serious freckles on my nose for the first time. I’m a little worried that in Sicilia they’ll all merge into one big mass…
The last day or two my host brothers have somehow managed to get me to kick a soccer ball around with them. I told them I’m not brava and that they had to teach me, but I don’t think they really understood the degree of pathetic I was talking about. I mean I can kick the ball a good 75% of the time, but it definitely doesn’t go where it’s supposed to. Manuel kind of took the role of goalie guarding this garage door, and at one point I way missed him and he screamed my name and did this great Italian hand gesture that basically means “what the hell are you doing?!”
Speaking of Manuel, this is now my new favorite picture. Ever.
Yep, I taught him that. They still don’t get why I think it’s funny, though. Wait, Enrico understood it.
OH that’s right I haven’t written about Enrico yet. You’ll enjoy this. So remember how I said I met those guys in the band last weekend, and we went to see them at the villa but they didn’t show? Enrico was one of those two or three guys, one of the ones that live next door. I saw him a few times while I was leaving/returning to the house Wednesday morning, and eventually waved and said ciao. I guess later that day Enrico came up to my host mom and asked if I was ‘allowed’ (I think that’s the general translation) to uscire. She said ask her yourself, which he definitely did when I returned from classes. I told him I was leaving all weekend, but I was down for going out, said I’d call a few girl friends and he would call a friend or two. Of course none of my friends wanted to go out Wednesday night, but Marilena told me I should still go.
And I went. Instead of the fare una passeggiata type of uscire, which involves walking back and forth down the street, we andare in giro-ed. That one’s apparently a little different, you drive back and forth across and around town in a car. I actually enjoyed it. And they wore seatbelts! Well, at least in the front. My standards for guys here, or even just friends are simply 1) how well can I understand them when they speak to me and 2) do they carry the conversation well because I can’t do that too well just yet. Mostly just good at answering when spoken to. And that’s what our giro in macchina basically was; a nice tranquillo night.
Enrico asked if I wanted to uscire again after Sicily, and this time I will actually bring friends for his buds. There was talk of going to the beach and chilling down there, grabbing dinner. Yay new Italian friends!
Alright now I have to get ready to leave. I think it's rather ironic that in order to spend a relaxing weekend on the beach, I have to get up at 6 and leave by 7. But apparently that's easy for me now since I wake up on my own way too early here. Yesterday I was awake at 6:30 and there was nothing I could do about it. Maybe if I'm lucky it will be this easy to wake up back in Seattle, especially with my 8:30 chem class all summer. Fun. Arrivederci!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Bruciare e Ballare
Wow I’ve got a whole weekend to write about; not sure if I can remember everything. First off, we went to the beach as promised Saturday. This entailed me waking up around 8am without an alarm on a Saturday, which has never, ever happened before. I don’t know what it is about it here, but I absolutely cannot sleep in. Today I was up at 7! We left close to 10 after buying some fresh foccacia again as a snack. I didn’t realize that the beach we were going to wasn’t the local one, but instead was an hour away on the other coast of Calabria. Apparently it was a more “bello” beach and near the town of Catanzaro.
When we arrived, though it was likely almost 75 degrees in the sun, there were probably a total of 10 people on the whole beach. Not the season yet. It really was beautiful, but the sand was rocks and the water was too cold to swim. So instead I laid in the sun for a while with Marilena (in Italian, prendere il sole). Probably for no more than an hour, even with sunscreen on. And afterward, the entire front side of me was bright red. Like oh-that-looks-like-it-hurts red!! The Italians who tan right up were so worried about me. At some point after lunch I fell asleep under the umbrella, and Marilena told me good thing I was in the shade because, as she said, if you fall asleep in this sun you’ll ‘fry like meat.’ Thought that was a funny little phrase.
When we got home from the beach, first thing we all did was hop in the shower and eat some dinner. After that shower I think I had more aloe vera on me than live skin. It’s starting to heal up now. Then, bless their hearts, although they were all tired they took me to another small town called Donnici for a concert with the band I had met the other day. Once the kids got grumpy they left, and asked another host family to give me a ride home so I could stay for the whole time. There were probably 10 of us American girls there, and I had a blast. Turned out the band plays folk music, which generally is not my thing. And it was all in dialect so I couldn’t understand a word. No wait, that’s a lie, at one point I heard them say gallina (chicken), so one word. Anyways, they played for probably 2 hours, and a few of us danced in the front of the crowd with the other brave souls. I am proud to say I was gutsy enough to dance; even danced in the middle of a circle that formed at one point. And I finally danced the tarantella! It was such a blast.
After the concert, one or two of the Italian guys helping organize our program got us to go say hi to the band. We only caught the attention of two of the guys, and introduced ourselves etc. They remembered me and Caitlin from the day before, then tried to get all of us girls to come out for a birra with them. Staying with host families we couldn’t really do that, but in Rome I think we all would have gone. Common, it was a Saturday night! They asked if they’d see us the next night in the Villa, and I told them forse (maybe). Of course we all totally went the next night to see if they’d show, and nope didn’t see them. Bummer. Marilena told me that two or three of the guys in the group are siblings, and they live next door to me. Though I kept an eye out all day today I didn’t see them.
When we arrived, though it was likely almost 75 degrees in the sun, there were probably a total of 10 people on the whole beach. Not the season yet. It really was beautiful, but the sand was rocks and the water was too cold to swim. So instead I laid in the sun for a while with Marilena (in Italian, prendere il sole). Probably for no more than an hour, even with sunscreen on. And afterward, the entire front side of me was bright red. Like oh-that-looks-like-it-hurts red!! The Italians who tan right up were so worried about me. At some point after lunch I fell asleep under the umbrella, and Marilena told me good thing I was in the shade because, as she said, if you fall asleep in this sun you’ll ‘fry like meat.’ Thought that was a funny little phrase.
When we got home from the beach, first thing we all did was hop in the shower and eat some dinner. After that shower I think I had more aloe vera on me than live skin. It’s starting to heal up now. Then, bless their hearts, although they were all tired they took me to another small town called Donnici for a concert with the band I had met the other day. Once the kids got grumpy they left, and asked another host family to give me a ride home so I could stay for the whole time. There were probably 10 of us American girls there, and I had a blast. Turned out the band plays folk music, which generally is not my thing. And it was all in dialect so I couldn’t understand a word. No wait, that’s a lie, at one point I heard them say gallina (chicken), so one word. Anyways, they played for probably 2 hours, and a few of us danced in the front of the crowd with the other brave souls. I am proud to say I was gutsy enough to dance; even danced in the middle of a circle that formed at one point. And I finally danced the tarantella! It was such a blast.
After the concert, one or two of the Italian guys helping organize our program got us to go say hi to the band. We only caught the attention of two of the guys, and introduced ourselves etc. They remembered me and Caitlin from the day before, then tried to get all of us girls to come out for a birra with them. Staying with host families we couldn’t really do that, but in Rome I think we all would have gone. Common, it was a Saturday night! They asked if they’d see us the next night in the Villa, and I told them forse (maybe). Of course we all totally went the next night to see if they’d show, and nope didn’t see them. Bummer. Marilena told me that two or three of the guys in the group are siblings, and they live next door to me. Though I kept an eye out all day today I didn’t see them.
FML
Alright, now on to Sunday! Quite a day. It was mother’s day, and we went to a small(er) town 20 minutes away called Scigliano to visit Marilena’s parents. They were nice people, a little quiet, but nice. I think I’ve gotten so used to listening to Marilena that she was the only person I could understand, especially when the grandfather tried to talk to me. I felt so awful because every time he said something I couldn’t understand him and Marilena had to repeat everything. I’m sure they all think I’m retarded now. But to make myself feel better I like to think that they had stronger accents. Grandpa even sounded a little like the Godfather when he talked…
We ate both lunch and dinner at the grandparents’ house. Lunch was massive, I was more full than I’ve been in Italy thus far. Then after lunch, everyone grabbed a spot on a couch or chair and fell asleep. Seriously, that’s the Italian way. Perfect for me, right? After our naps we went to the town square and uscire-d, which yet again entailed walking up and down the main street. Every time I’ve done this I feel like I’m kind of being paraded—check it out, we know the Americans!
Once finished walking, we popped into one of the bars for a soda and ran into the nephew I had met at lunch. Here’s where it gets interesting. First off, some background: this guy is named Giuseppe (like every third guy here) and he’s probably something like 25. Total loser, doesn’t go to school, no job, etc. The only thing he has going for him is he’s got a girlfriend, though I don’t know how that happened. Now I can say all these horrible things because this guy was a total jerk to me. First off, when they introduced me to him, he said ciao then walked right past me and turned on the tv. Then they sat me in between him and his incredibly nice sister at lunch, and the entire time he never spoke to me and was turned around flipping channels on the tv. His back was to me the whole time, during a big family meal too! So I already thought this guy was a loser, when at the bar I said something wrong and apologized explaining that my Italian wasn’t very good. Marilena and his girlfriend both tell me, no you’re doing fine, you sound good. Then Giuseppe has the nerve to tell me in short ‘no you’re right you don’t speak well.’ Asshole. I got so frustrated then that I literally told him straight up in English “look, I speak English, it’s not like I’m stupid!” It felt good when they didn’t understand…
I had woken up that morning knowing it wasn’t going to be a good day for my Italian. Even since high school Spanish, some days I feel really on top of it, and others I just can’t get the words out. Of course the day I meet the extended family is one of those days. And as if my confidence wasn’t low enough after not understanding the family, this loser tells me to my face ‘no you’re not very good.’ It took all I had not to get a little teary. I held it until I was able to Skype with my family for mother’s day. I was only able to Skype because Giuseppe had lent me his internet USB thing, so since he did me this favor I couldn’t tell him off to his face. But it was good to see everyone’s faces, even Joey’s wait-why’d-you-wake-me-up? face. Also, Dad, if you read this, you really need a haircut. You’re verging on whafro.
The whole family crowed behind me and watch me Skype for a while, until I started to cry a little after my frustrating day. Then they all awkwardly left the room. Afterward Marilena asked why I was upset, if I was unhappy at their house. I hadn’t even thought of that, I felt so bad. I tried to explain it was because my communication was so bad that day, but I don’t think she believed me. I found out tonight that she later talked to my prof Giuseppe to ask him if I was unhappy. I don’t really know how to convince her that it has nothing to do with them.
The next day I went over the journal we have to keep in Italian with prof Giuseppe. He corrected the entries for me, then I told him I was frustrated and he reassured me that I was doing wonderfully. At least it made me feel better.
Also that morning we had the craziest day at the elementary schools. The first school went just fine, we taught body parts in English then taught them Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. The kids at the first school are excellent, very quiet and well behaved. The next school is a different story. Maybe because we get them after snack time. About 10 minutes in, David walks past me and says “I hate to say this, but this is turning into an FML situation.” And he totally called it. For those that don’t know, FML stands for F My Life, which is the best time-wasting website ever created. Worth a look, fmylife.com. Anyways, the kids were basically on crack, running all over the place, yelling, distracting each other. At one point David and Drew had to both sit in chairs with kids on their laps to physically restrain them.
We semi-salvaged the day by playing Hang Man with the English words we had taught the last few days. I am basically the only one in our group that tries to speak Italian at these schools. When it’s up to us to explain or initiate something, my entire group stands dumbstruck until I step up and take a stab at it. It’s a little frustrating, but at least I get the practice. It’s either we all stand silent and look stupid together, or I take one for the team and look stupid while trying.
Today I had to do the exact same thing. We went in with no idea of what to do, we thought maybe try teaching colors then play red light, green light. Turns out they already knew colors. So instead, at the first school we talked about typical American meals. The teacher asked what we ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then proceeded to explain that we eat such big breakfasts because the country is so big we need the energy to get around. I’m not sure, but I think she mentioned something about going around a city like Seattle is like going from Rogliano to Napoli (4 hours to do that, by the way)… Then I asked if the kids had questions for us. They asked about schools here, what time we get up and what time we eat, what we study at the U, basic stuff. I really enjoyed that. Afterward we went outside, along with 2 other groups with the same idea, and played red light, green light. Or some strange version of it since they never really got the idea of the game. And when we left, our class and another class started chanting “state qua!” which means “stay here!” Made my day :)
But of course we didn’t try the same thing at the second school. We instead had them draw their families and taught the words in English. The teachers stayed in the room the entire time today, so the kids weren’t such mental cases. But I could tell they were bored. However, we couldn’t risk taking this group out for a game, they couldn’t even play Duck, Duck Goose. To finish up we played another few rounds of Hang Man.
Alright, there it is, the last 4 or 5 days all wrapped up. I’m sorry if it wasn’t as entertaining as the last one, but I have been in a strange mood for a while and can’t seem to snap out of it. Maybe next time will be more fun.
We ate both lunch and dinner at the grandparents’ house. Lunch was massive, I was more full than I’ve been in Italy thus far. Then after lunch, everyone grabbed a spot on a couch or chair and fell asleep. Seriously, that’s the Italian way. Perfect for me, right? After our naps we went to the town square and uscire-d, which yet again entailed walking up and down the main street. Every time I’ve done this I feel like I’m kind of being paraded—check it out, we know the Americans!
Once finished walking, we popped into one of the bars for a soda and ran into the nephew I had met at lunch. Here’s where it gets interesting. First off, some background: this guy is named Giuseppe (like every third guy here) and he’s probably something like 25. Total loser, doesn’t go to school, no job, etc. The only thing he has going for him is he’s got a girlfriend, though I don’t know how that happened. Now I can say all these horrible things because this guy was a total jerk to me. First off, when they introduced me to him, he said ciao then walked right past me and turned on the tv. Then they sat me in between him and his incredibly nice sister at lunch, and the entire time he never spoke to me and was turned around flipping channels on the tv. His back was to me the whole time, during a big family meal too! So I already thought this guy was a loser, when at the bar I said something wrong and apologized explaining that my Italian wasn’t very good. Marilena and his girlfriend both tell me, no you’re doing fine, you sound good. Then Giuseppe has the nerve to tell me in short ‘no you’re right you don’t speak well.’ Asshole. I got so frustrated then that I literally told him straight up in English “look, I speak English, it’s not like I’m stupid!” It felt good when they didn’t understand…
I had woken up that morning knowing it wasn’t going to be a good day for my Italian. Even since high school Spanish, some days I feel really on top of it, and others I just can’t get the words out. Of course the day I meet the extended family is one of those days. And as if my confidence wasn’t low enough after not understanding the family, this loser tells me to my face ‘no you’re not very good.’ It took all I had not to get a little teary. I held it until I was able to Skype with my family for mother’s day. I was only able to Skype because Giuseppe had lent me his internet USB thing, so since he did me this favor I couldn’t tell him off to his face. But it was good to see everyone’s faces, even Joey’s wait-why’d-you-wake-me-up? face. Also, Dad, if you read this, you really need a haircut. You’re verging on whafro.
The whole family crowed behind me and watch me Skype for a while, until I started to cry a little after my frustrating day. Then they all awkwardly left the room. Afterward Marilena asked why I was upset, if I was unhappy at their house. I hadn’t even thought of that, I felt so bad. I tried to explain it was because my communication was so bad that day, but I don’t think she believed me. I found out tonight that she later talked to my prof Giuseppe to ask him if I was unhappy. I don’t really know how to convince her that it has nothing to do with them.
The next day I went over the journal we have to keep in Italian with prof Giuseppe. He corrected the entries for me, then I told him I was frustrated and he reassured me that I was doing wonderfully. At least it made me feel better.
Also that morning we had the craziest day at the elementary schools. The first school went just fine, we taught body parts in English then taught them Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. The kids at the first school are excellent, very quiet and well behaved. The next school is a different story. Maybe because we get them after snack time. About 10 minutes in, David walks past me and says “I hate to say this, but this is turning into an FML situation.” And he totally called it. For those that don’t know, FML stands for F My Life, which is the best time-wasting website ever created. Worth a look, fmylife.com. Anyways, the kids were basically on crack, running all over the place, yelling, distracting each other. At one point David and Drew had to both sit in chairs with kids on their laps to physically restrain them.
We semi-salvaged the day by playing Hang Man with the English words we had taught the last few days. I am basically the only one in our group that tries to speak Italian at these schools. When it’s up to us to explain or initiate something, my entire group stands dumbstruck until I step up and take a stab at it. It’s a little frustrating, but at least I get the practice. It’s either we all stand silent and look stupid together, or I take one for the team and look stupid while trying.
Today I had to do the exact same thing. We went in with no idea of what to do, we thought maybe try teaching colors then play red light, green light. Turns out they already knew colors. So instead, at the first school we talked about typical American meals. The teacher asked what we ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then proceeded to explain that we eat such big breakfasts because the country is so big we need the energy to get around. I’m not sure, but I think she mentioned something about going around a city like Seattle is like going from Rogliano to Napoli (4 hours to do that, by the way)… Then I asked if the kids had questions for us. They asked about schools here, what time we get up and what time we eat, what we study at the U, basic stuff. I really enjoyed that. Afterward we went outside, along with 2 other groups with the same idea, and played red light, green light. Or some strange version of it since they never really got the idea of the game. And when we left, our class and another class started chanting “state qua!” which means “stay here!” Made my day :)
But of course we didn’t try the same thing at the second school. We instead had them draw their families and taught the words in English. The teachers stayed in the room the entire time today, so the kids weren’t such mental cases. But I could tell they were bored. However, we couldn’t risk taking this group out for a game, they couldn’t even play Duck, Duck Goose. To finish up we played another few rounds of Hang Man.
Alright, there it is, the last 4 or 5 days all wrapped up. I’m sorry if it wasn’t as entertaining as the last one, but I have been in a strange mood for a while and can’t seem to snap out of it. Maybe next time will be more fun.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Tartaruga imbarazzata!
Thank you Mom and Lorie for the suggestions on what to do with the kids. But you guys have to know that these are first graders, 6 years old. They really have no desire to learn English, nor are they even capable of learning “my name is…” (trust me, I know now). So basically we just plan to play with them. It worked out really well the other day, we had them draw their favorite animal, then wrote a few animals in Italian and English on the board for them to copy down. Making them write anything uses up 3 or 4 times the amount of time as just talking would. Also, they all write in absolutely perfect cursive here. I’m 19 and I still can’t write in cursive! However, if we write in print often they can’t read it, which I think is worse. Anyways, after the animal lesson we went outside and taught them duck, duck, goose. First in Italian: anatra, anatra, oca, then in English. The first group got it pretty quick and absolutely loved it. We even played with them. The second group just could not figure it out. Next time we’re teaching body parts, then doing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.
Yesterday Sarah invited Leah, Faith and I to have dinner with her family. But what makes this interesting is that her family owns a pizzeria in Rogliano! It was such a fun night, I have so many good stories now! First off, Sarah met us on the main road, and good thing because I would have never, ever found this place on my own. Marilena gave me directions, told me it was by a certain church. What everyone failed to mention was that it was in this maze of alleys behind the church. But once we reached the nondescript door of the pizzeria/forno, to the right we found this staircase to nowhere with the most incredible view! It looked out to these rolling, green mountains, and on the left were the dim lights of the next small hill town. And there were sheep! In a field! With bells on! I could have stayed there all night.
Sarah’s host sister, Antonella (I think?) came and let us in, and led us to the back of this pizzeria where there was a table and tv set up in the middle of a large kitchen type area. There we met this guy named Fabio (the first Fabio I’ve met here! And I told him so too), who like everyone else in this town is my host dad Fausto’s cousin. Then we met their cousin, who was Italian by heritage and named Luigi, but actually British. It was so fantastic to speak English with him! And then his Italian had a British twist to it, it sounded so bizarre but still better than mine. With him there I basically gave up concentrating because I knew if it was important I could just have him translate for us…
While there we had this big pizza, and of course half of it was pizza Americana with french fries and hot dogs again! Marilena’s incredible pizza is still better. But what made the night wasn’t the food, it was Antonella. She is 21 and hysterical!! I love her and the 3 English phrases she knows. Every time she said “everybody let’s go” I thought of Dora the Explorer. Yeah that’s right. Then later in the night, there was some situation that caused me to do the Awkward Turtle gesture, which I then had to explain to them in Italian. I walked right into that one. But I feel like I did ok, I called it ‘tartaruga imbarazzata’ which was basically the literal translation of the top of my head. But it must have been right because they got it and thought it was hilarious! Explaining the Quiet Coyote hand signal took a little more finesse; then they shared with us that Quiet Coyote is dangerously close to a super insulting gesture. Won’t be trying that one with the school kids!
Later that night, Antonella asked if we wanted a ride home. We said no, we were fine walking, when Antonella’s boyfriend (fidanzato in Italian) of 8 years, Daniele, responded with “ma c’e’ la Mafia!” I guess you had to be there, but I thought that was too funny. There actually is still quite a bit of Mafia in southern Italy, but further south than we are, like Sicilia and Reggio. Not in our sleepy little area. Interesting, huh? Then, right before we left, Antonella’s little 8 year old brother had fallen asleep sitting on the table in front of us. Then he farted. Dio mio we just about died laughing! We asked what you call that in Italian, but we are all too hysterical to actually get an answer. That was one of the best nights here thus far.
For the first time in my life, I have absolutely no school, classes, etc every Friday. Today I had hoped to take the train into Cosenza and shop or wander, but it turned into a day of relaxation and internet. Caitlin and I made two treks up the road into the city’s main piazza today to take advantage of the wireless up there. A few days ago we met the guy in charge of the secured wireless network in the piazza and he hooked us up with access. So I spent the early morning surfing Facebook, then all evening researching Assisi and Cinque Terre for our trip after the program. It was actually really chill, I enjoyed it.
During lunch we were watching the news, and an update on the Amanda Knox trial came up, and Marilena asked me if I knew about it. I then had to inform her that Amanda is from our university, studied Italian like we do (but on an individual program. Explaining independent study in Italian was really, really hard), and our prof Giuseppe on this trip was her professor. Marilena’s jaw absolutely dropped. Now, a note: I have only heard from reliable sources that Giuseppe was her prof, I have no actual proof. But I believe it, and a few weeks ago when he had to cancel class for a day to take care of some business, it was rumored that it was to visit Amanda. I know, juicy right? We then had a short discussion about Italian law, about how Amanda will get a min. of 30 years but with good behavior in Italy you could be out in 5. I then had to tell her, in Italian, about how in America pre-trial you’re assumed innocent, but in Italy you’re assumed guilty. After lunch we went over to Carmella’s house (where Caitlin lives) for some coffee, and Marilena told her everything I’d said.
Then at lunch, I had to play apparently one of their new favorite games: guess her age. Some friend of Carmella’s came over, and they all insisted I try and guess her age. I hate this game, on my first night I guessed Marilena to be 45 (she’s only 40) and Carmella to be 40 (only 35). But they tan and smoke to no end here, I’m telling you that stuff will age you quick. I had to explain to them that my parents are past 50 so my judgment is skewed. Anyways, this time I guessed young (36) and I was totally right!
Caitlin and I then made our second trip for internet, because we’re that addicted. It could be worse, I could smoke like an Italian. When I left there was a big group of kids, probably all 20something, in my street talking. They are apparently part of a popular local band that’s playing a concert in another town tomorrow. They heard me yelling to Caitlin in English, then got all excited and started saying the only things they know in English: “Hallo what is your name!!” I introduced myself from across the street, and they told me their names. Then about 20 minutes later, in the main square they saw us again on our computers and came up to say hi. Now that I basically know the whole band, I want to go to this concert and see if they’re any good.
When I got back, Marilena and Fausto had a friend over. I think his name was Mauricio? He seemed really nice, and they kept telling me if I ever wanted to go out or go somewhere fun at night he could give me a ride or I could chill with him and his friends. I immediately thought they were trying to set me up. And I don’t mean to be a bitch but he looked almost 30, not really my thing. When he left, I told Marilena what I thought she was doing. She tells me no, no, just a friend of hers that she trusts and I could be friends with too. To convince me, she even added that she’d pick someone better looking for me, and asked if I thought Fabio from the pizzeria was decent looking (which he was). :)
I think that’s everything I wanted to tell you guys from the last few days. Tomorrow we may go to la mare and hang out on the beach! I think the boys are going to make me try fishing because I was dumb enough to say I’d never done it before. But this is all weather dependent. Can you imagine going to the ocean in Washington mid-May! When discussing it with Fausto, I heard Marilena talking to him about bringing an umbrella because I’m tropo bianca (too white) and I’ll burn… great, thanks. Maybe after tomorrow I’ll be a little more abbronzata.
Yesterday Sarah invited Leah, Faith and I to have dinner with her family. But what makes this interesting is that her family owns a pizzeria in Rogliano! It was such a fun night, I have so many good stories now! First off, Sarah met us on the main road, and good thing because I would have never, ever found this place on my own. Marilena gave me directions, told me it was by a certain church. What everyone failed to mention was that it was in this maze of alleys behind the church. But once we reached the nondescript door of the pizzeria/forno, to the right we found this staircase to nowhere with the most incredible view! It looked out to these rolling, green mountains, and on the left were the dim lights of the next small hill town. And there were sheep! In a field! With bells on! I could have stayed there all night.
Sarah’s host sister, Antonella (I think?) came and let us in, and led us to the back of this pizzeria where there was a table and tv set up in the middle of a large kitchen type area. There we met this guy named Fabio (the first Fabio I’ve met here! And I told him so too), who like everyone else in this town is my host dad Fausto’s cousin. Then we met their cousin, who was Italian by heritage and named Luigi, but actually British. It was so fantastic to speak English with him! And then his Italian had a British twist to it, it sounded so bizarre but still better than mine. With him there I basically gave up concentrating because I knew if it was important I could just have him translate for us…
While there we had this big pizza, and of course half of it was pizza Americana with french fries and hot dogs again! Marilena’s incredible pizza is still better. But what made the night wasn’t the food, it was Antonella. She is 21 and hysterical!! I love her and the 3 English phrases she knows. Every time she said “everybody let’s go” I thought of Dora the Explorer. Yeah that’s right. Then later in the night, there was some situation that caused me to do the Awkward Turtle gesture, which I then had to explain to them in Italian. I walked right into that one. But I feel like I did ok, I called it ‘tartaruga imbarazzata’ which was basically the literal translation of the top of my head. But it must have been right because they got it and thought it was hilarious! Explaining the Quiet Coyote hand signal took a little more finesse; then they shared with us that Quiet Coyote is dangerously close to a super insulting gesture. Won’t be trying that one with the school kids!
Later that night, Antonella asked if we wanted a ride home. We said no, we were fine walking, when Antonella’s boyfriend (fidanzato in Italian) of 8 years, Daniele, responded with “ma c’e’ la Mafia!” I guess you had to be there, but I thought that was too funny. There actually is still quite a bit of Mafia in southern Italy, but further south than we are, like Sicilia and Reggio. Not in our sleepy little area. Interesting, huh? Then, right before we left, Antonella’s little 8 year old brother had fallen asleep sitting on the table in front of us. Then he farted. Dio mio we just about died laughing! We asked what you call that in Italian, but we are all too hysterical to actually get an answer. That was one of the best nights here thus far.
For the first time in my life, I have absolutely no school, classes, etc every Friday. Today I had hoped to take the train into Cosenza and shop or wander, but it turned into a day of relaxation and internet. Caitlin and I made two treks up the road into the city’s main piazza today to take advantage of the wireless up there. A few days ago we met the guy in charge of the secured wireless network in the piazza and he hooked us up with access. So I spent the early morning surfing Facebook, then all evening researching Assisi and Cinque Terre for our trip after the program. It was actually really chill, I enjoyed it.
During lunch we were watching the news, and an update on the Amanda Knox trial came up, and Marilena asked me if I knew about it. I then had to inform her that Amanda is from our university, studied Italian like we do (but on an individual program. Explaining independent study in Italian was really, really hard), and our prof Giuseppe on this trip was her professor. Marilena’s jaw absolutely dropped. Now, a note: I have only heard from reliable sources that Giuseppe was her prof, I have no actual proof. But I believe it, and a few weeks ago when he had to cancel class for a day to take care of some business, it was rumored that it was to visit Amanda. I know, juicy right? We then had a short discussion about Italian law, about how Amanda will get a min. of 30 years but with good behavior in Italy you could be out in 5. I then had to tell her, in Italian, about how in America pre-trial you’re assumed innocent, but in Italy you’re assumed guilty. After lunch we went over to Carmella’s house (where Caitlin lives) for some coffee, and Marilena told her everything I’d said.
Then at lunch, I had to play apparently one of their new favorite games: guess her age. Some friend of Carmella’s came over, and they all insisted I try and guess her age. I hate this game, on my first night I guessed Marilena to be 45 (she’s only 40) and Carmella to be 40 (only 35). But they tan and smoke to no end here, I’m telling you that stuff will age you quick. I had to explain to them that my parents are past 50 so my judgment is skewed. Anyways, this time I guessed young (36) and I was totally right!
Caitlin and I then made our second trip for internet, because we’re that addicted. It could be worse, I could smoke like an Italian. When I left there was a big group of kids, probably all 20something, in my street talking. They are apparently part of a popular local band that’s playing a concert in another town tomorrow. They heard me yelling to Caitlin in English, then got all excited and started saying the only things they know in English: “Hallo what is your name!!” I introduced myself from across the street, and they told me their names. Then about 20 minutes later, in the main square they saw us again on our computers and came up to say hi. Now that I basically know the whole band, I want to go to this concert and see if they’re any good.
When I got back, Marilena and Fausto had a friend over. I think his name was Mauricio? He seemed really nice, and they kept telling me if I ever wanted to go out or go somewhere fun at night he could give me a ride or I could chill with him and his friends. I immediately thought they were trying to set me up. And I don’t mean to be a bitch but he looked almost 30, not really my thing. When he left, I told Marilena what I thought she was doing. She tells me no, no, just a friend of hers that she trusts and I could be friends with too. To convince me, she even added that she’d pick someone better looking for me, and asked if I thought Fabio from the pizzeria was decent looking (which he was). :)
I think that’s everything I wanted to tell you guys from the last few days. Tomorrow we may go to la mare and hang out on the beach! I think the boys are going to make me try fishing because I was dumb enough to say I’d never done it before. But this is all weather dependent. Can you imagine going to the ocean in Washington mid-May! When discussing it with Fausto, I heard Marilena talking to him about bringing an umbrella because I’m tropo bianca (too white) and I’ll burn… great, thanks. Maybe after tomorrow I’ll be a little more abbronzata.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Pizzette buonissime
I just had the best pizza. Of my life. Indescribable. I just had to tell someone. Seriously my mind is blown. AND I ate 5 pieces, more than both boys combined :)
And then Manuel drew a picture, and told me to give it to my brother Giuseppe at home. I asked him to draw me one, so he drew me.
Or I guess me with a mask... Am I really that pink??
AND THEN, to top of my entire night, the 6 year old Manuel said one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I was keeping an eye on him while mom smoked the last cigarette of the night, and I told him "io non fumo" (I don't smoke). He high-fived me. Then I asked "ti fumi?" (do you smoke?) He got all serious, looked at me and (jokingly) responded like he was ashamed, "No, ma bevo la birra..." (No, but I drink [the] beer). I about collapsed laughing! Favorite quote of the entire trip.
And then Manuel drew a picture, and told me to give it to my brother Giuseppe at home. I asked him to draw me one, so he drew me.
Or I guess me with a mask... Am I really that pink??
AND THEN, to top of my entire night, the 6 year old Manuel said one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I was keeping an eye on him while mom smoked the last cigarette of the night, and I told him "io non fumo" (I don't smoke). He high-fived me. Then I asked "ti fumi?" (do you smoke?) He got all serious, looked at me and (jokingly) responded like he was ashamed, "No, ma bevo la birra..." (No, but I drink [the] beer). I about collapsed laughing! Favorite quote of the entire trip.
Teaching bambini
I am so mentally exhausted it’s funny. It’s even hard for me to write in English at this point because I’ve been thinking so hard all day. But I’m kind of getting used to it. For example, last night Marilena realized that she could use me to send her aunt in Minnesota (who doesn’t speak Italian) an email in English. I was so proud of myself when she told me what she wanted to say in Italian and I translated it.
Alright I’ll quickly go over the last day or two and then some more details about my family. Yesterday our group met up around 10 and went together to two different schools in Rogliano. While walking down a hill to the first one, there were kids yelling and cheering for us out the windows, saying random stuff they knew in English. We all felt famous, it was pretty cool. I snapped a few pictures. Also, the view from that hill was incredible! I wouldn’t mind going to school there just to see that vista every day.
We met the school administrators, then popped our heads into all of the 1st and 2nd grade classes to say hi. The kids mostly just stared at us. Then we all went home for lunch. I again had dinner for lunch, as they do it here. A full course of pasta first, then some sort of meat, salad, bread, sometimes pickled olives and such. My host mom is a pretty good cook, and her parents have a huge garden and make a ton of stuff for her. Even homemade olive oil! And they’ve been sure to let me try their homemade grappa, both apple and strawberry flavors. God that stuff is strong, I can barely handle it! Then they laugh at the faces I make while it goes down.
We all learned very, very quickly that you must never let your host mom know you’re hungry. Cardinal rule here. Otherwise it’s “mangia, mangia!” until you can’t take another bite. Today in class Ruggero asked us what phrases we wanted to learn, and everything we came up with was some derivation of “I’m full.” The other day when I came home I made the mistake of eating a cookie I had bought on the way to Rogliano, and when Marilena saw me she started asking “Ho fame? Ho fame!” (Are you hungry?) I told her no, solo una mirenda (snack) because I really just wanted a cookie, but she was about to run off and make me a full meal. Then today she went to the store in the morning and bought us all fresh focaccia bread to have as a snack later, and mamma mia it was so good!
And believe me, today I was glad I had that snack. My morning consisted of trying to teach 2 classes of 1st graders (all 6-7 years old) a little bit of English. It was a group of 5/6 of us, and we walked in there with some idea of what we wanted to do, but by no means were we prepared. After trying rather unsuccessfully to teach “what’s your name?” and “my name is…” to these kids, we stared to sing the alphabet and numbers. We then moved on to having them write down the months of the year in Italian and English. The writing slowed them down for a while, so that used up all the rest of our time in each class. They loved it when we taught them how to day damme cinque in English (high five). Then I gave up and just started walking around talking to these kids, asking names etc. I think the most stressful part was just standing up in front of a class of 20 with no idea of what to do next. That and trying to understand what the teacher was saying to us in Italian. I’m not good at this stuff, growing up I didn’t babysit for a reason.
We went to one elementary school in the morning for an hour and a half, then bussed to another elem. school for another hour or so. In the second class I saw a little girl, a really shy, quite one, that looked exactly (exactly!) like my mother. Or at least like my mother did at that age based on pictures I’ve seen. I could not take my eyes off her, I’m sure she must have been thinking ‘why’s this crazy American chick staring at me?’ But seriously, it was astounding. The creepiest part of it all was that her name was Francesca, the Italian version of my mother’s name. My goal now is to at one point get a picture of/with this girl to bring home and show my family.
Alright I’ll quickly go over the last day or two and then some more details about my family. Yesterday our group met up around 10 and went together to two different schools in Rogliano. While walking down a hill to the first one, there were kids yelling and cheering for us out the windows, saying random stuff they knew in English. We all felt famous, it was pretty cool. I snapped a few pictures. Also, the view from that hill was incredible! I wouldn’t mind going to school there just to see that vista every day.
We met the school administrators, then popped our heads into all of the 1st and 2nd grade classes to say hi. The kids mostly just stared at us. Then we all went home for lunch. I again had dinner for lunch, as they do it here. A full course of pasta first, then some sort of meat, salad, bread, sometimes pickled olives and such. My host mom is a pretty good cook, and her parents have a huge garden and make a ton of stuff for her. Even homemade olive oil! And they’ve been sure to let me try their homemade grappa, both apple and strawberry flavors. God that stuff is strong, I can barely handle it! Then they laugh at the faces I make while it goes down.
We all learned very, very quickly that you must never let your host mom know you’re hungry. Cardinal rule here. Otherwise it’s “mangia, mangia!” until you can’t take another bite. Today in class Ruggero asked us what phrases we wanted to learn, and everything we came up with was some derivation of “I’m full.” The other day when I came home I made the mistake of eating a cookie I had bought on the way to Rogliano, and when Marilena saw me she started asking “Ho fame? Ho fame!” (Are you hungry?) I told her no, solo una mirenda (snack) because I really just wanted a cookie, but she was about to run off and make me a full meal. Then today she went to the store in the morning and bought us all fresh focaccia bread to have as a snack later, and mamma mia it was so good!
And believe me, today I was glad I had that snack. My morning consisted of trying to teach 2 classes of 1st graders (all 6-7 years old) a little bit of English. It was a group of 5/6 of us, and we walked in there with some idea of what we wanted to do, but by no means were we prepared. After trying rather unsuccessfully to teach “what’s your name?” and “my name is…” to these kids, we stared to sing the alphabet and numbers. We then moved on to having them write down the months of the year in Italian and English. The writing slowed them down for a while, so that used up all the rest of our time in each class. They loved it when we taught them how to day damme cinque in English (high five). Then I gave up and just started walking around talking to these kids, asking names etc. I think the most stressful part was just standing up in front of a class of 20 with no idea of what to do next. That and trying to understand what the teacher was saying to us in Italian. I’m not good at this stuff, growing up I didn’t babysit for a reason.
We went to one elementary school in the morning for an hour and a half, then bussed to another elem. school for another hour or so. In the second class I saw a little girl, a really shy, quite one, that looked exactly (exactly!) like my mother. Or at least like my mother did at that age based on pictures I’ve seen. I could not take my eyes off her, I’m sure she must have been thinking ‘why’s this crazy American chick staring at me?’ But seriously, it was astounding. The creepiest part of it all was that her name was Francesca, the Italian version of my mother’s name. My goal now is to at one point get a picture of/with this girl to bring home and show my family.
Uscire-ing
Today the weather did exactly what it’s done every day since we got here. In the morning it was beautiful and sunny and on the verge of getting warm. Then by 3 the clouds rolled in and it started to rain. And being a Seattleite I thought I knew rain. I was proved wrong in Rome, and now in Rogliano where it really, truly poured. This pattern has happened every day thus far, and all the locals swear it’s normally beautiful in May. We joke that it’s because we’re here. I’ve heard it should clear up by the end of the week, and I hope so because then we could go to the ocean over the weekend.
Alright, to finish up I have to write a little bit about tonight. First of all, we had hamburgers and fries for dinner, and yes I ate a hamburger. Didn’t particularly enjoy it, I prefer the veg ones, but I ate it. And they do ketchup way wrong here, it's so vinegary! Manuel has told me that Saturday nights they like to go out as a family and get McDonalds for dinner. I’m super pumped about that, yay American food once a week!! Then after dinner around 9 I went with Caitlin and her host sister Theresa to uscire. Uscire is a verb in Italian that means ‘to go out,’ which in Rome would have been to a pub or discotecca or gelato. Nope, here in Rogliano uscire means going to the center of town, and walking up and down the main street hoping to see someone you can talk to. It could be fun with a lot of people there to meet, like on a Saturday night, but tonight there was no one. Not a soul. Needless to say it was an early night for us…
I’ll leave you with a few more details about my Rogliano family. Fausto apparently leaves during the week to work in some different town. He’s only here on the weekends. I’m not sure but I think he works building railroads, because I knew he was construction and I heard something about rails. So right now it’s the boys, Marilena and me. She’s still half-yelling at me like I’m deaf when she talks, but less now. And she’s really worried about what to cook for me or if I’ll like it, even though I’ve “liked” and eaten everything she’s made thus far. Tomorrow we’re going to the store so I can show her foods I would like to eat. But I’ve heard I’m not the only one with a mom like this. She also likes to smoke… a lot. Whenever the boys are being annoying she breaks out a cigarette and goes to smoke it in the bathroom. She cracks a window, but the whole bathroom still stinks of tobacco at all times. While showering the other day I was worried I would smell like it too. But I’m actually getting used to cigarette smoke.
Kevin reminds me a little of my brother, they look a little similar in the face I think and every now and again I’ll see a familiar mannerism. I like Kevin, tonight I helped him with his English homework and then made him practice actual English by asking him simple questions and having him answer. For a little while he knew what it was like for me, what it’s like to not always understand. Then there’s Manuel, who is the cutest kid I have ever met. It’s sickening. He’s always bouncing around, and he has so much personality. It’s hard to describe, he’s just so entertaining!
Alright there it is. Again, sorry for the long posts, but at least I warned you the other day. As we say here all the time, ci vediamo dopo! (we’ll see each other later)
Alright, to finish up I have to write a little bit about tonight. First of all, we had hamburgers and fries for dinner, and yes I ate a hamburger. Didn’t particularly enjoy it, I prefer the veg ones, but I ate it. And they do ketchup way wrong here, it's so vinegary! Manuel has told me that Saturday nights they like to go out as a family and get McDonalds for dinner. I’m super pumped about that, yay American food once a week!! Then after dinner around 9 I went with Caitlin and her host sister Theresa to uscire. Uscire is a verb in Italian that means ‘to go out,’ which in Rome would have been to a pub or discotecca or gelato. Nope, here in Rogliano uscire means going to the center of town, and walking up and down the main street hoping to see someone you can talk to. It could be fun with a lot of people there to meet, like on a Saturday night, but tonight there was no one. Not a soul. Needless to say it was an early night for us…
I’ll leave you with a few more details about my Rogliano family. Fausto apparently leaves during the week to work in some different town. He’s only here on the weekends. I’m not sure but I think he works building railroads, because I knew he was construction and I heard something about rails. So right now it’s the boys, Marilena and me. She’s still half-yelling at me like I’m deaf when she talks, but less now. And she’s really worried about what to cook for me or if I’ll like it, even though I’ve “liked” and eaten everything she’s made thus far. Tomorrow we’re going to the store so I can show her foods I would like to eat. But I’ve heard I’m not the only one with a mom like this. She also likes to smoke… a lot. Whenever the boys are being annoying she breaks out a cigarette and goes to smoke it in the bathroom. She cracks a window, but the whole bathroom still stinks of tobacco at all times. While showering the other day I was worried I would smell like it too. But I’m actually getting used to cigarette smoke.
Kevin reminds me a little of my brother, they look a little similar in the face I think and every now and again I’ll see a familiar mannerism. I like Kevin, tonight I helped him with his English homework and then made him practice actual English by asking him simple questions and having him answer. For a little while he knew what it was like for me, what it’s like to not always understand. Then there’s Manuel, who is the cutest kid I have ever met. It’s sickening. He’s always bouncing around, and he has so much personality. It’s hard to describe, he’s just so entertaining!
Alright there it is. Again, sorry for the long posts, but at least I warned you the other day. As we say here all the time, ci vediamo dopo! (we’ll see each other later)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Feeding my internet addiction
Allora, by some miracle Kevin helped me set up my laptop to get internet off his cell phone. So I’m going to copy-paste the posts I wrote the other night. Prepare yourselves, I have a lot to tell you; but don’t worry, I’ll split it up so it doesn’t look like such a daunting read.
First off, we left Rome Friday morning. That means Thursday night we were all semi-frantically packing up our entire apt. I thought I was in good shape since I had packed one of my two bags the previous night full of all my non essentials. But by around 1am Friday morning my moral was gone, and I was sick of trying to figure out what I should pack and in which bag.
The next morning we made it out of the apt pretty smoothly. We all stopped at the café down our street for the last time and got cappuccinos and cornettos. I love that place, I’m definitely eating their for breakfast as much as possible with my mom and aunt when I go back. We then made our way across the river and down quite a few blocks to meet the group and ultimately the bus. I don’t think it was more than 2 miles, but I will absolutely never, ever do that again. My two bags got pretty damn heavy a few blocks down, and there is nothing harder than pulling suitcases across miles of cobblestone. I truly did not think I was going to make it. But I was the second of us 5 to arrive, so evidently I wasn’t the only one struggling. Seriously, it was a rather traumatizing ordeal. My shoulders and quads are still a little sore. After that, I don’t care how much it costs, I’m sending one of those bags back to the States before I travel around Italy afterward.
Once on the bus, no true issues. We came up with the craziest stuff on that 4 hour ride. First, we started talking about how crowded the Sistine Chapel had been and how much it would suck if there was a fire. We then decided that Fire in the Sistine Chapel would be an awesome band name, and I personally think it’d be a pretty interesting way to die—“yeah, she died in the fire at the Sistine Chapel. What a tragedy…” Also, Christina’s parents sent her a stuffed bunny for Easter, which apparently is a tradition for her, except this bunny is the size of a 6 year old! It had its own seat on the bus in front of me the entire way to Rogliano. We also discovered that paprika flavored Pringles (and I assume all other paprika flavored chips) are actually the Italian version of bbq!! When I saw the can I was really hesitant because it has all these pictures of red bell peppers, but it’s really just a mild bbq. I am so excited I finally found a substitute! I also learned that I don’t like tunnels in Italy. I just now noticed that every tunnel has these green signs that tell you how far away each end is from that point in meters, just in case you need to run out of the tunnel so you know which direction to go. I can only assume one would need to run out of a tunnel because it’s collapsing. I don’t like it. Finally, On the ride to Paestum Giuseppe at one point near Napoli got on the intercom and said we had to make a stop because “Matteo needs to go to the bathroom.” We all started laughing, but I thought he was kidding—nope, when we stopped Matteo was the first one off that bus. A pretty entertaining 4 hours.
In Paestum we got to either go to the beach a block away from the hotel or go explore the ruins of a Greek settlement a little ways away. I went with Sara, Leah and Faith to the ruins (thought I don’t remember why I passed up the beach). Ruggero was waiting for us because we were late, and then he basically gave the three of us a private tour. I actually really enjoyed it. Then on the walk back we walked through a buffalo mozzarella festival and tried various goods. The region is famous for buffalo mozzarella, and the next morning before departing for Calabria we visited a mozzarella factory down the road. Apparently fresh, hot buffalo mozzarella doesn’t taste like anything and is really chewy (thought obviously I wouldn’t know first hand).
First off, we left Rome Friday morning. That means Thursday night we were all semi-frantically packing up our entire apt. I thought I was in good shape since I had packed one of my two bags the previous night full of all my non essentials. But by around 1am Friday morning my moral was gone, and I was sick of trying to figure out what I should pack and in which bag.
The next morning we made it out of the apt pretty smoothly. We all stopped at the café down our street for the last time and got cappuccinos and cornettos. I love that place, I’m definitely eating their for breakfast as much as possible with my mom and aunt when I go back. We then made our way across the river and down quite a few blocks to meet the group and ultimately the bus. I don’t think it was more than 2 miles, but I will absolutely never, ever do that again. My two bags got pretty damn heavy a few blocks down, and there is nothing harder than pulling suitcases across miles of cobblestone. I truly did not think I was going to make it. But I was the second of us 5 to arrive, so evidently I wasn’t the only one struggling. Seriously, it was a rather traumatizing ordeal. My shoulders and quads are still a little sore. After that, I don’t care how much it costs, I’m sending one of those bags back to the States before I travel around Italy afterward.
Once on the bus, no true issues. We came up with the craziest stuff on that 4 hour ride. First, we started talking about how crowded the Sistine Chapel had been and how much it would suck if there was a fire. We then decided that Fire in the Sistine Chapel would be an awesome band name, and I personally think it’d be a pretty interesting way to die—“yeah, she died in the fire at the Sistine Chapel. What a tragedy…” Also, Christina’s parents sent her a stuffed bunny for Easter, which apparently is a tradition for her, except this bunny is the size of a 6 year old! It had its own seat on the bus in front of me the entire way to Rogliano. We also discovered that paprika flavored Pringles (and I assume all other paprika flavored chips) are actually the Italian version of bbq!! When I saw the can I was really hesitant because it has all these pictures of red bell peppers, but it’s really just a mild bbq. I am so excited I finally found a substitute! I also learned that I don’t like tunnels in Italy. I just now noticed that every tunnel has these green signs that tell you how far away each end is from that point in meters, just in case you need to run out of the tunnel so you know which direction to go. I can only assume one would need to run out of a tunnel because it’s collapsing. I don’t like it. Finally, On the ride to Paestum Giuseppe at one point near Napoli got on the intercom and said we had to make a stop because “Matteo needs to go to the bathroom.” We all started laughing, but I thought he was kidding—nope, when we stopped Matteo was the first one off that bus. A pretty entertaining 4 hours.
In Paestum we got to either go to the beach a block away from the hotel or go explore the ruins of a Greek settlement a little ways away. I went with Sara, Leah and Faith to the ruins (thought I don’t remember why I passed up the beach). Ruggero was waiting for us because we were late, and then he basically gave the three of us a private tour. I actually really enjoyed it. Then on the walk back we walked through a buffalo mozzarella festival and tried various goods. The region is famous for buffalo mozzarella, and the next morning before departing for Calabria we visited a mozzarella factory down the road. Apparently fresh, hot buffalo mozzarella doesn’t taste like anything and is really chewy (thought obviously I wouldn’t know first hand).
Rogliano: Day 1
The ride to Rogliano was about 4 hours, like the ride to Paestum, though more uneventful. When we finally got into the hills and arrived in Rogliano it was surprisingly cold, and there were all these old men standing around to “greet” (and I mean stare at) us. We were early so we waited for the families to show up at 4, during which time we all charged this snack table they brought for us. Seriously, like starving wolves crawling over each other. I had the best pizzette ever! Then they announced families and kids one by one and we went off with them to their house. My family is a group of 4: Fausto, il papa, Marilena, la mamma, Kevin age 12 and Manuel age 6. The kids are adorable!! I was exhausted and didn’t understand much of what they said to me the first night, so I set the bar nice and low. I think I understand Marilena the most because she makes sure to speak a little slower to me, except she does that thing where she yells like because I can’t understand I also can’t hear her. It’s starting to bug me a little, but at least when she gets louder I know she’s talking to me specifically.
The first day I told Marilena what foods I don’t really like, which included not eating a lot of meat and not liking cheese (but I tried to impress that I will eat what she cooks and am willing to try cheeses), but I’m not sure how that’ll go because now she’s worried about cooking for me. The first night we went to a pizzeria down by the ocean for dinner. My family is neighbors/good friends with the family that Caitlin is staying with, so we all went to dinner together. They ordered an incredible amount of food as antipasti—cheese, all these different meats and salami, fried stuff, and frutti di mare which was chopped up octopus. I tried a little of everything, really liked the frutti di mare, as well as these little fried balls. I realized during my second one that it was a little fried ball of crab meat! Just like a fried shrimp, but instead it’s crab meat and for a shrimp tail there’s a little claw. Freaking love those things. Marilena said she can get them for me at any supermercato, so I guess they’re common here. Yes!!
At this pizzeria there was a dance floor and this guy playing live music. First I thought this 20something kid was DJ-ing, then we realized he had a keyboard and thought he was playing that. Then we finally realized he was actually playing an accordion! There were a bunch of old people (who apparently had dressed up to come out and do this. I mean there were sequins involved and everything!) who came out and started doing different waltz-type dances. Then it turned into a line dance situation; it looked like everyone was doing the hustle, but way more difficult. Then the accordion kid, who looked really miserable and bored, played the tarantella, and I told my host mom I want to learn the tarantella dance. She showed me some can-can type dance that did not match up with the line dance everyone was doing, so I don’t know who to believe.
After all this antipasti, I was full, but they still proceeded to order a large (and I mean large) pizza. It was divided into margherita, everything on it, and ‘Americana’ which had French fries and pieces of hot dog on top! Of course I tried the Americana, and it really wasn’t bad. Caitlin wasn’t feeling well after antipasti so she didn’t have any. Then after dinner we all went outside and the parents had a smoke, and poor Caitlin went over to a corner to sneeze, then got sick. I felt so bad, what a rough first night.
On the 20ish minute ride back home to Rogliano, I stopped listening. I think they were still talking to me, but I was too exhausted to think. During dinner Caitlin and I hit the wall mentally, but after a glass of wine I could still form a few sentences. But in that car I was done. Also, they all laugh at me when I buckle my seatbelt while sitting in the back seat, which they don’t do here. Manuel likes to even stand up in the middle of the back seat, and I keep envisioning his cute little head going through the windshield.
I really like this family, I know my Italian is going to improve so much. But being with them makes me extremely homesick and mentally exhausted. This is why, right now, I’m really missing both home and Rome at the same time. Maybe once my head feels like it’s not going to explode I’ll miss them less.
The first day I told Marilena what foods I don’t really like, which included not eating a lot of meat and not liking cheese (but I tried to impress that I will eat what she cooks and am willing to try cheeses), but I’m not sure how that’ll go because now she’s worried about cooking for me. The first night we went to a pizzeria down by the ocean for dinner. My family is neighbors/good friends with the family that Caitlin is staying with, so we all went to dinner together. They ordered an incredible amount of food as antipasti—cheese, all these different meats and salami, fried stuff, and frutti di mare which was chopped up octopus. I tried a little of everything, really liked the frutti di mare, as well as these little fried balls. I realized during my second one that it was a little fried ball of crab meat! Just like a fried shrimp, but instead it’s crab meat and for a shrimp tail there’s a little claw. Freaking love those things. Marilena said she can get them for me at any supermercato, so I guess they’re common here. Yes!!
At this pizzeria there was a dance floor and this guy playing live music. First I thought this 20something kid was DJ-ing, then we realized he had a keyboard and thought he was playing that. Then we finally realized he was actually playing an accordion! There were a bunch of old people (who apparently had dressed up to come out and do this. I mean there were sequins involved and everything!) who came out and started doing different waltz-type dances. Then it turned into a line dance situation; it looked like everyone was doing the hustle, but way more difficult. Then the accordion kid, who looked really miserable and bored, played the tarantella, and I told my host mom I want to learn the tarantella dance. She showed me some can-can type dance that did not match up with the line dance everyone was doing, so I don’t know who to believe.
After all this antipasti, I was full, but they still proceeded to order a large (and I mean large) pizza. It was divided into margherita, everything on it, and ‘Americana’ which had French fries and pieces of hot dog on top! Of course I tried the Americana, and it really wasn’t bad. Caitlin wasn’t feeling well after antipasti so she didn’t have any. Then after dinner we all went outside and the parents had a smoke, and poor Caitlin went over to a corner to sneeze, then got sick. I felt so bad, what a rough first night.
On the 20ish minute ride back home to Rogliano, I stopped listening. I think they were still talking to me, but I was too exhausted to think. During dinner Caitlin and I hit the wall mentally, but after a glass of wine I could still form a few sentences. But in that car I was done. Also, they all laugh at me when I buckle my seatbelt while sitting in the back seat, which they don’t do here. Manuel likes to even stand up in the middle of the back seat, and I keep envisioning his cute little head going through the windshield.
I really like this family, I know my Italian is going to improve so much. But being with them makes me extremely homesick and mentally exhausted. This is why, right now, I’m really missing both home and Rome at the same time. Maybe once my head feels like it’s not going to explode I’ll miss them less.
Rogliano: Day 2
As for my second day with my family, I got up and met our program group at 10:30 in the center of the town so Ruggero could show us around. My host family walked me there, and on the way we stopped at a Sunday market to buy me a bath towel (I guess they didn’t have an extra?) Then after our brief walk through the tiny town Ruggero let us loose in the same market to explore for the remaining time… In the morning it was absolutely beautiful and sunny and warm, but by the time my host mom came to pick me up afterward for lunch, it was getting cloudy and ready to rain. We were hoping to go to the beach with Caitlin and her fam with the beautiful weather, but that got canceled. Instead we all went home for lunch, which was amazing home cooked pasta, chicken, peas and salad, finished with cut strawberries and bananas (which we topped off with some homemade limoncello). Literally dinner for lunch, which is how they do it here. I had to let my fam know that I don’t usually eat this much for lunch, and my stomach has to learn to eat like Italians. After I took an hour ciesta, and didn’t want to get up.
At 3 a neighbor boy who I met yesterday came over to try and make the internet work here. His name is Micro (though I’m not sure, and it’s pronounced “Meecro”) and he’s pretty good looking, but probably only 16 or 17. He tried for a while but ultimately couldn’t get the internet to work. Then some of his friends rolled up and he abruptly left. The boys here are like gangs, they completely remind me of the guys in A West Side Story. Matching jackets and all! Since there was still no internet, Marilena offered to drive me to the next town over, Marzi, where there is public wifi. The whole family went, and Caitlin and her family came too. We parked by the side of the road and I sat in the car and wrote my parents an email about how I have no internet at home. And as I sat in the back seat my whole family watched, and commented on how fast I type, it was all rather comical. Then they got bored and went outside for a smoke with Caitlin’s family. I felt bad for making them wait while I surfed Facebook, so I made it quick. That whole situation, parked in the middle of this town writing emails in the back seat, still amuses me.
Once finished we went as a group to the main city in the area, Cosenza. We walked around the historic center, which is exactly the kind of Italy that you see in pictures or calendars. Then we drove around the modern city center for a while and went back home. In the car back, they kept talking to me and I tried to keep up as best I could this time. Even so, today in the car, when I didn’t know what the Italian word for ticklish meant, Manuel finally smiled and said to me "non sai niente!” which means “you know nothing!” Yeah, after 6 months of Italian no kidding! Finally, once home I got all unpacked, which is a small miracle considering how much I brought and how much space I have. My tiny armoire looks so empty, I’m worried that in my editing I left 70% of my stuff in my suitcase. We shall see.
Alright, tomorrow we begin our actual classes as well as our internships teaching school kids English. My group of 5 is teaching 2 classes of first graders, not sure how it's going to go. I guess we'll just play a lot of Simon Says...
At 3 a neighbor boy who I met yesterday came over to try and make the internet work here. His name is Micro (though I’m not sure, and it’s pronounced “Meecro”) and he’s pretty good looking, but probably only 16 or 17. He tried for a while but ultimately couldn’t get the internet to work. Then some of his friends rolled up and he abruptly left. The boys here are like gangs, they completely remind me of the guys in A West Side Story. Matching jackets and all! Since there was still no internet, Marilena offered to drive me to the next town over, Marzi, where there is public wifi. The whole family went, and Caitlin and her family came too. We parked by the side of the road and I sat in the car and wrote my parents an email about how I have no internet at home. And as I sat in the back seat my whole family watched, and commented on how fast I type, it was all rather comical. Then they got bored and went outside for a smoke with Caitlin’s family. I felt bad for making them wait while I surfed Facebook, so I made it quick. That whole situation, parked in the middle of this town writing emails in the back seat, still amuses me.
Once finished we went as a group to the main city in the area, Cosenza. We walked around the historic center, which is exactly the kind of Italy that you see in pictures or calendars. Then we drove around the modern city center for a while and went back home. In the car back, they kept talking to me and I tried to keep up as best I could this time. Even so, today in the car, when I didn’t know what the Italian word for ticklish meant, Manuel finally smiled and said to me "non sai niente!” which means “you know nothing!” Yeah, after 6 months of Italian no kidding! Finally, once home I got all unpacked, which is a small miracle considering how much I brought and how much space I have. My tiny armoire looks so empty, I’m worried that in my editing I left 70% of my stuff in my suitcase. We shall see.
Alright, tomorrow we begin our actual classes as well as our internships teaching school kids English. My group of 5 is teaching 2 classes of first graders, not sure how it's going to go. I guess we'll just play a lot of Simon Says...
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A quick check-in
Alright, this one is just to let you all know I'm in Rogliano and it's beautiful, that my family is lovely and speak only Italian (my head is going to explode). Also, we have NO INTERNET at home. I'm sitting in the car right now with all my family watching me type because the next town has public wireless, so we drove here to send my fam an email. So I wish I could update more, but I can't. Thus from now on expect very long posts :) Miss you all!
PS. Manuel, my 6 year old host brother is told me to tell you all that I'm staying with "4 persone molto gentili" (4 very nice people). God this kid is cute!
PS. Manuel, my 6 year old host brother is told me to tell you all that I'm staying with "4 persone molto gentili" (4 very nice people). God this kid is cute!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wrapping up Rome
Ok I need to first make a revision: only my parents, aunt Lorie and Chelsea read my blog now :)
I am going to try and make this quick since it's nearly 2am here and I'm going to the Vatican museum at 10am tomorrow. But there's just so much to say I have to get it all down before I forget!
Hmmm ok to start with, last night Roxanna came home from church and told us about a concert she had walked past. Being bored I told her to show me, so (thinking it was across the street) we walked all the way across the river to the Jewish ghetto of Rome and found the concert/street fair she had told us about. Apparently it was to celebrate the 61st anniversary of the formation of the Israeli state. They played Hava Neglia and the whole deal, and we all danced and clapped (minus Mary) even though we clearly were not Jewish, making fools of ourselves but having a good time. Then we explored some of the booths a little, and saw this food that looked like funnel cake. But not really, it was like a fried flat pastry type thing that you then poured a raw egg into the middle and ate. Very interesting. But quite a night, not bad for a spontaneous evening out.
I am going to try and make this quick since it's nearly 2am here and I'm going to the Vatican museum at 10am tomorrow. But there's just so much to say I have to get it all down before I forget!
Hmmm ok to start with, last night Roxanna came home from church and told us about a concert she had walked past. Being bored I told her to show me, so (thinking it was across the street) we walked all the way across the river to the Jewish ghetto of Rome and found the concert/street fair she had told us about. Apparently it was to celebrate the 61st anniversary of the formation of the Israeli state. They played Hava Neglia and the whole deal, and we all danced and clapped (minus Mary) even though we clearly were not Jewish, making fools of ourselves but having a good time. Then we explored some of the booths a little, and saw this food that looked like funnel cake. But not really, it was like a fried flat pastry type thing that you then poured a raw egg into the middle and ate. Very interesting. But quite a night, not bad for a spontaneous evening out.
It is apparently the rainy season-ish in Rome. I guess Ruggero mentioned that every year the last week of April is a bitch for weather. And he's right, it was a literal monsoon the other day. I had finally gotten the oven to light so Roxanna and I could properly make our frozen french fries, and then the sprinkle outside turned into a torrent. I very seriously thought that the oven had malfunctioned and the kitchen was on fire, and I was hearing the crackling flames. I ran into the kitchen in a panic, heart palpitations and all, and when I see no flames I think that some other apartment must be on fire and run to the window. That's when I realize that it's the sound of the downpour. Us Seattleites thought we knew rain--we are so wrong. I guess this happens every year, something about warm air coming up from Africa and making it warm and sticky and cloudy, then the rain. Good thing we're getting outta here.
I cannot believe I am already packing to leave Rome. I don't want to go. I truly am excited for Rogliano and living with families, but I looked at the weather report for this week down there and it's even colder than Rome. We're talking low 60's (which in celsius is apparently about 15 degrees...) So much for the heat they all warned us about.
Alright, next story. The last few days I've been developing a sore throat, and waking up with a sore/stiff neck. I think the neck is because of our horrible beds, but I can tell I'm getting a bug. So today I run out of tylenol and advil and decide I need to run to a farmacia before we leave Rome to get a stash. I brought Roxanna with me to help me translate, and good thing too. She walks right up to the pharmacist and asks for ibuprofen. Thank goodness the Italian word for that is almost identical. We then realize that in Italian pharmacies, almost everything is behind-the-counter, even makeup. So we wait in a ridiculous line and when it's finally our turn the pharmacist asks if 200mg tablets are ok. I said sure, and paid 4.50 euro, which I thought was a good deal considering it would be about 5someting in the US. As we're leaving I realize I just paid 4.50 for 12 tablets!! I feel so ripped off. Now I'm rationing them until my Rogliano fam can help me get a good amount.
Alright to wrap this up I'm going to tell you all about dinner tonight. We planned to go as an apartment for Chinese food. Another few girls ended up coming with us, and we all ordered water and spring rolls/pot stickers and dishes. We literally waited almost 45 minutes for them to bring out our first appetizers. Then they would bring the entrees out one at a time at about 20 minute intervals. Trying to be polite we would wait and not eat until everyone had food. But after I sat there for about 20 minutes, the first one with food, and watched my mediocre chow mein get cold, we all just went for it whenever ours showed up. Then at the end of the dinner, when we got the bill, we decided we would talk to the waiter about not paying the service charge. In Italy one doesn't tip, there is instead always a service or gratuity charge added for you to the bill. Kelsey told them in Italian that the service "non era buona" and that we weren't going to pay the 7+ euros. Thinking we didn't understand they tried to explain how that's a flat fee, no negotiating. We finally all got so frustrated we decided to suck it up and pay so we could leave. Not an entirely pleasant experience, but eventful nonetheless.
I cannot believe I am already packing to leave Rome. I don't want to go. I truly am excited for Rogliano and living with families, but I looked at the weather report for this week down there and it's even colder than Rome. We're talking low 60's (which in celsius is apparently about 15 degrees...) So much for the heat they all warned us about.
Alright, next story. The last few days I've been developing a sore throat, and waking up with a sore/stiff neck. I think the neck is because of our horrible beds, but I can tell I'm getting a bug. So today I run out of tylenol and advil and decide I need to run to a farmacia before we leave Rome to get a stash. I brought Roxanna with me to help me translate, and good thing too. She walks right up to the pharmacist and asks for ibuprofen. Thank goodness the Italian word for that is almost identical. We then realize that in Italian pharmacies, almost everything is behind-the-counter, even makeup. So we wait in a ridiculous line and when it's finally our turn the pharmacist asks if 200mg tablets are ok. I said sure, and paid 4.50 euro, which I thought was a good deal considering it would be about 5someting in the US. As we're leaving I realize I just paid 4.50 for 12 tablets!! I feel so ripped off. Now I'm rationing them until my Rogliano fam can help me get a good amount.
Alright to wrap this up I'm going to tell you all about dinner tonight. We planned to go as an apartment for Chinese food. Another few girls ended up coming with us, and we all ordered water and spring rolls/pot stickers and dishes. We literally waited almost 45 minutes for them to bring out our first appetizers. Then they would bring the entrees out one at a time at about 20 minute intervals. Trying to be polite we would wait and not eat until everyone had food. But after I sat there for about 20 minutes, the first one with food, and watched my mediocre chow mein get cold, we all just went for it whenever ours showed up. Then at the end of the dinner, when we got the bill, we decided we would talk to the waiter about not paying the service charge. In Italy one doesn't tip, there is instead always a service or gratuity charge added for you to the bill. Kelsey told them in Italian that the service "non era buona" and that we weren't going to pay the 7+ euros. Thinking we didn't understand they tried to explain how that's a flat fee, no negotiating. We finally all got so frustrated we decided to suck it up and pay so we could leave. Not an entirely pleasant experience, but eventful nonetheless.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Boh...
I realized I haven't written anything for almost a week now. Bad Natalie. Boh, I just haven't really felt like it. Plus I'm sure the only people still reading are my parents and my aunt Lorie. So just for you three, here's a brief synopsis of the week.
We went out to Scholars Lounge a few more times last week. I think I already told mom about this. I believe Friday night we went to see a Madonna cover band--I never say no to live music. They were alright considering I know all of like 3 Madonna songs. Then we just hung out and talked to people near us in the packed bar. I ended up talking to this guy named Herald and his friends Silvestro and Evis for like 3+ hours. And I'm happy to say it was all in Italian. They were from Albania and studied at one of the universities in Rome, so they spoke English about as well as I spoke high school Spanish, thus necessitating the Italian. I was so proud of my Italian, I now know that I can get by, but how well I speak depends on who I'm talking to.
We went back to look for a friend of ours the next night, and I ran into them again. There was a Yankees-Red Sox game on, so the place was packed full of American guys. My Italian wasn't very good that night.
Friday morning we went on our little Friday field trip as a class, this time to the Roman Forum, Palatine hill and Colosseum. The Forum is incredible, you walk literally the same streets ancient Romans walked everyday past temples and ruins that are thousands of years old. I walked in the ancient Roman Senate building and saw the spot where the Emperor would sit. The floor is still painted, it's incredible! Then I saw the place where Julius Caesar was supposedly burned on the pyre, and over that spot they had built this little hut-like strucutre as a shrine. Inside was a mound of dirt with all these flowers laid on top. Pretty cool.
The Palatine hill was beautiful, it's where the massive imperial palace once was. We then walked down to the Colosseum and went inside. It was pretty cool, but at that point I was hot and tired and was not entirely as awestruck as I should have been. And to top it off, my camera battery had died while in the Forum, so I had this whole 'whatever I'll just see it again when I come back to Rome' attitude. Plus I didn't see any cats, which I was very disappointed about. But otherwise I really did enjoy the morning out.
Saturday we went shopping on the Corso, a major shopping street in Rome. It was packed. Like Disneyland during the summer x 1,000. Never again on a Saturday. I did manage to squeeze my way through into Prada and Gucci because I had the full intention to buy myself a nice Italian designer bag while here (some girls like shoes, I like bags, what can I say?). But nothing caught my eye :( All that work for nothing.
Now Sunday I did something pretty cool. I literally slept the entire day, putting off homework as long as possible (you know me). Then at 5:45 in the evening my roommate Roxanna and I walked up our street 2 blocks to la Piazza di S. Maria in Trastevere, where Daniele from the other night had said there would be a mass Roman pillow fight. We showed up 15 minutes early, as instructed, and there was nearly no one there. We thought we were in the wrong spot. Then right before six, the square started to flood with people with pillows and dressed up as ninjas or with matching t-shirts like they were teams. Roxanna and I weren't planning to take part, more so just wanted to watch from the fountain in the middle of the square, and thus only brought one (my) pillow.
But we coudn't help ourselves! We took turns going into the melee with our one pillow, and the other stayed back and took pictures--so many pictures! More than 200! It really was fun, everyone was so into it. Then I saw Daniele across the crowd and went over and whacked him from behind. From that point on every now and again we'd run into eachother and pause for a few minutes. At one point I told him about how I had spoken entirely in Italian for hours, and they said my Italian was good. To this he responds "who told you your Italian was good?!" Jerkface. But even if the thinks I'm retarded, he really is a sweet guy and I'm glad I met him. If I hadn't I would never have know about the guerra di cuscioni.
Wow I wrote more than I thought I would. Overall I have had a pretty wonderful last week in Rome. We leave for Calabria on Friday morning, where we'll be living with host families and teaching school kids English in addition to our classes. I really hope I live with a good cook, I'm dying for some good food! And I would love a family with pets, but as of right now I think I'm in one without any animals. Ma boh, vedremo!
We went out to Scholars Lounge a few more times last week. I think I already told mom about this. I believe Friday night we went to see a Madonna cover band--I never say no to live music. They were alright considering I know all of like 3 Madonna songs. Then we just hung out and talked to people near us in the packed bar. I ended up talking to this guy named Herald and his friends Silvestro and Evis for like 3+ hours. And I'm happy to say it was all in Italian. They were from Albania and studied at one of the universities in Rome, so they spoke English about as well as I spoke high school Spanish, thus necessitating the Italian. I was so proud of my Italian, I now know that I can get by, but how well I speak depends on who I'm talking to.
We went back to look for a friend of ours the next night, and I ran into them again. There was a Yankees-Red Sox game on, so the place was packed full of American guys. My Italian wasn't very good that night.
Friday morning we went on our little Friday field trip as a class, this time to the Roman Forum, Palatine hill and Colosseum. The Forum is incredible, you walk literally the same streets ancient Romans walked everyday past temples and ruins that are thousands of years old. I walked in the ancient Roman Senate building and saw the spot where the Emperor would sit. The floor is still painted, it's incredible! Then I saw the place where Julius Caesar was supposedly burned on the pyre, and over that spot they had built this little hut-like strucutre as a shrine. Inside was a mound of dirt with all these flowers laid on top. Pretty cool.
The Palatine hill was beautiful, it's where the massive imperial palace once was. We then walked down to the Colosseum and went inside. It was pretty cool, but at that point I was hot and tired and was not entirely as awestruck as I should have been. And to top it off, my camera battery had died while in the Forum, so I had this whole 'whatever I'll just see it again when I come back to Rome' attitude. Plus I didn't see any cats, which I was very disappointed about. But otherwise I really did enjoy the morning out.
Saturday we went shopping on the Corso, a major shopping street in Rome. It was packed. Like Disneyland during the summer x 1,000. Never again on a Saturday. I did manage to squeeze my way through into Prada and Gucci because I had the full intention to buy myself a nice Italian designer bag while here (some girls like shoes, I like bags, what can I say?). But nothing caught my eye :( All that work for nothing.
Now Sunday I did something pretty cool. I literally slept the entire day, putting off homework as long as possible (you know me). Then at 5:45 in the evening my roommate Roxanna and I walked up our street 2 blocks to la Piazza di S. Maria in Trastevere, where Daniele from the other night had said there would be a mass Roman pillow fight. We showed up 15 minutes early, as instructed, and there was nearly no one there. We thought we were in the wrong spot. Then right before six, the square started to flood with people with pillows and dressed up as ninjas or with matching t-shirts like they were teams. Roxanna and I weren't planning to take part, more so just wanted to watch from the fountain in the middle of the square, and thus only brought one (my) pillow.
But we coudn't help ourselves! We took turns going into the melee with our one pillow, and the other stayed back and took pictures--so many pictures! More than 200! It really was fun, everyone was so into it. Then I saw Daniele across the crowd and went over and whacked him from behind. From that point on every now and again we'd run into eachother and pause for a few minutes. At one point I told him about how I had spoken entirely in Italian for hours, and they said my Italian was good. To this he responds "who told you your Italian was good?!" Jerkface. But even if the thinks I'm retarded, he really is a sweet guy and I'm glad I met him. If I hadn't I would never have know about the guerra di cuscioni.
Wow I wrote more than I thought I would. Overall I have had a pretty wonderful last week in Rome. We leave for Calabria on Friday morning, where we'll be living with host families and teaching school kids English in addition to our classes. I really hope I live with a good cook, I'm dying for some good food! And I would love a family with pets, but as of right now I think I'm in one without any animals. Ma boh, vedremo!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
"Ciao chicka ciao ciao"
It's our last two weeks in Rome and I have been living them up. Monday we found out we didn't have to go to our internships Tues. morning because of Rome's birthday. So of course we all tried to make plans to go out! First the guys in the program showed my roommates and I a hill in Trastevere, and from the top you can see all of Rome. I love it up there. Afterward, I went out with some other Trastevere girls to a pub for drinks and french fries. There was a Red Sox game on that we were hoping they'd show, but it didn't happen. And rather than paying 5 euro for a half-pint of Heineken I just ate the fries. The girls then wanted to try another pub, and that's when I peaced-out to go home and make some dinner with Kelsey.
Later than night I got on facebook and my friend Faith invited me out to a discotecca she knew of. I met them near the Campo at almost midnight, and thus the bus to take to this club wasn't running anymore. We briefly popped into a bar in the Campo and met this incredibly good looking bartender. He was way into this girl Stephanie that came with us, and agreed to meet up the next night to see the Colosseum fireworks with us. We then proceeded to walk for at least 30+ minutes in the general direction of this club, just following the river. At this point, it was 1am and no one was out. Absolutely deserted. Finally we found this place, and there was literally no one there. Not a soul but the bartender and bouncer. For a Monday night it makes sense, but still, no one! We decided we'd walked all the way down here, so we weren't leaving without dancing. On an empty dance floor... the bouncer kept watching us, it was very uncomfortable. Then some creepy guys showed up so we left.
At that point, our bartender friend had called Stephanie wanting to meet up, so we went around the block and met him at this sports bar. This place was packed with people watching an NBA playoff game. Our new friend, Andrea, bought us all drinks, and then we just hung out. We talked to random Italian guys and got a few numbers... they were all creepers. Leah made some sort of record and got like 5 numbers/emails. We could barely get her out of that bar. Then at 5am Faith and I took some initiative and got our group to leave. Andrea gave us all rides to our respective apts. This guy is a pro--he knows that if he wants to win Stephanie over (which he did) he had to be nice to all her friends. Anyways, that's the latest night I've ever had.
Last night was not supposed to be any big deal. We were going to meet up and go to the Colosseum for fireworks around 9. Stephanie had heard they were canceled and didn't want to go anymore, but a few girls and I still went to check it out. She was right, we got there and everyone was walking away. So instead we went to Faith/Leah/Sarah's apt nearby and hung out. Then we walked back near the Campo to the Scholars bar, this Irish pub that's really popular with the English-speaking crowd. Little did we know, it was karaoke night!! So much fun, Christina and others went up and sang Sweet Home Alabama, and I was going to go with Faith to sing Don't Stop Believing until someone did it first! Then Stephanie showed up with Andrea, and Andrea's two friends. One of them, Daniele, told me about a giant organized pillow fight in Trastevere on Sunday. It's only like 2 blocks from me, and now I'm definitely going!!
We were having such a good time just hanging out listening to karaoke that we didn't leave until nearly 4am... again. Andrea and Daniele offered to give us girls a ride back, and we took it. They then took some detours and showed us this incredible view of Rome through this keyhole thing, and then to a 24 hours pasticceria for croissants. It was wild, I had such a good time. But tonight, I sleep.
Later than night I got on facebook and my friend Faith invited me out to a discotecca she knew of. I met them near the Campo at almost midnight, and thus the bus to take to this club wasn't running anymore. We briefly popped into a bar in the Campo and met this incredibly good looking bartender. He was way into this girl Stephanie that came with us, and agreed to meet up the next night to see the Colosseum fireworks with us. We then proceeded to walk for at least 30+ minutes in the general direction of this club, just following the river. At this point, it was 1am and no one was out. Absolutely deserted. Finally we found this place, and there was literally no one there. Not a soul but the bartender and bouncer. For a Monday night it makes sense, but still, no one! We decided we'd walked all the way down here, so we weren't leaving without dancing. On an empty dance floor... the bouncer kept watching us, it was very uncomfortable. Then some creepy guys showed up so we left.
At that point, our bartender friend had called Stephanie wanting to meet up, so we went around the block and met him at this sports bar. This place was packed with people watching an NBA playoff game. Our new friend, Andrea, bought us all drinks, and then we just hung out. We talked to random Italian guys and got a few numbers... they were all creepers. Leah made some sort of record and got like 5 numbers/emails. We could barely get her out of that bar. Then at 5am Faith and I took some initiative and got our group to leave. Andrea gave us all rides to our respective apts. This guy is a pro--he knows that if he wants to win Stephanie over (which he did) he had to be nice to all her friends. Anyways, that's the latest night I've ever had.
Last night was not supposed to be any big deal. We were going to meet up and go to the Colosseum for fireworks around 9. Stephanie had heard they were canceled and didn't want to go anymore, but a few girls and I still went to check it out. She was right, we got there and everyone was walking away. So instead we went to Faith/Leah/Sarah's apt nearby and hung out. Then we walked back near the Campo to the Scholars bar, this Irish pub that's really popular with the English-speaking crowd. Little did we know, it was karaoke night!! So much fun, Christina and others went up and sang Sweet Home Alabama, and I was going to go with Faith to sing Don't Stop Believing until someone did it first! Then Stephanie showed up with Andrea, and Andrea's two friends. One of them, Daniele, told me about a giant organized pillow fight in Trastevere on Sunday. It's only like 2 blocks from me, and now I'm definitely going!!
We were having such a good time just hanging out listening to karaoke that we didn't leave until nearly 4am... again. Andrea and Daniele offered to give us girls a ride back, and we took it. They then took some detours and showed us this incredible view of Rome through this keyhole thing, and then to a 24 hours pasticceria for croissants. It was wild, I had such a good time. But tonight, I sleep.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Corciano, Assisi and Perugia
Sorry for the delayed update, I've kept busy since we got back. Umbria is incredible, I found out from Kelsey that it is the green region of Italy as well as the only landlocked region. Now you know. We had a pretty whirlwind weekend exploring a few major towns, so prepare yourself for a rather long post.
Oddly enough, here I am most content when riding a bus/train with my ipod and the Italian countryside. The trip through Umbria was only about 2ish hours, but I kind of didn't want it to end; I just set my ipod to shuffle and zoned out staring at all the green hills. Anytime a Jason Mraz popped up I gave an earbud to Kelsey and we semi sang along.
We arrived in the early afternoon at the villa we would stay at for the weekend. There is a fourteenth century house on the estate, and next to it the family built some student housing and conference spaces. It reminded me a lot of a bed and breakfast, the rooms were adorable. The villa was set on the top of a hill (all of Umbria is hills), and across the street from the entrance was this giant castle. It was being restored so we couldn't go in, but we still managed sneak around to explore it a good deal.
The people in charge had assigned us to rooms, but Giuseppe thought he'd be nice and ask if we could pick our roommates. I was all for it at the time because I was assigned with someone I don't get along with, but then they called my name first and asked who I wanted to room with. Of course I had to be first... I sat there and said "who wants to live with me?" and didn't look behind me. I just watched from the front row as Giuseppe scanned the room and his face didn't change or pause at anyone, so then I just yelled out my roommates names. I found out later that 4 girls behind me had all enthusiastically raised their hands. Oops!
We had a few hours to chill at the villa before heading to Coricano, which is the next town over. My roommates and I ran into Giuseppe and he took us along with him to pick wild asparagus behind the house. I think this was my favorite part of the weekend, we were trekking through these garden-type woods behind the house and letting Giuseppe find all the asparagus. I think the whole time I found one stalk--those things are so hard to spot, in the wild they're tiny! But this area was beautiful, filled with lilac trees.
Before we headed to Corciano, we went to go take some pictures of the scenery. But one can only have so many pictures of hills, so we then decided to make it interesting. We began to take pictures of ourselves jumping in mid-air, and they turned out so funny. We joke about Megan being a ninja, and so she and Kelsey began to mid-air duel, and it looked awesome. Of course there was a large group from our program watching us look like jumping idiots the whole time--but still worth it.
Then we drove to Corciano to be greeted by the mayor of the small hill town. The place was pretty, but kind of boring. The most interesting part happened before we got on the bus to leave, when a car full of guys drove past, saw 25 girls waiting for the bus, and pulled over. They waved to us when we drove away, and then proceeded to follow the bus to Corciano! Creepers! Later on they came back and parked outside the villa while we were getting dinner. Kelsey saw their car after eating, and then my friend Christina went out and started talking to them. She invited them to come listen to our prof Ruggero sing after dinner, and they stood in the back corner and watched. Afterward, I got Christina to introduce me so I could ask them why they followed us to Corciano (yep, I wanted to mess with them a little). They were Leonardo, Francesco and Filippo; 2 spoke some English, one didn't speak any. But Leah and I talked to these guys for at least an hour, just joking around in an interesting mix of English and Italian. They turned out to be pretty cool. And we realized early on that if we spoke English fast enough, we could talk about them right in front of them without them understanding. Hehe
Ok, now to describe dinner. We had been told previously that we would get great food prepared by the villa's cook Paola, so needless to say I was expecting a lot. I was very, very wrong. The prima piatto came out and it was luke warm tortellini, which wasn't too bad since we were absolutely starving. If I had known what was coming I would have asked for seconds. Next up was meatloaf and dry salad. COLD meatloaf. I took one bite, trying to be a trooper, and I just couldn't do it. Maybe if it had been warmer I could have choked more down. But it smelled like the canned food I feed my cats at home, and I absolutely could not bring myself eat it. I felt bad, you know, starving-kids-in-India bad, but I couldn't do it. I threw some balsamic on the salad and ate that, then finished the meal with what I will call chocolate brownie since it was too dry to be cake. We were so hungry and so disappointed I think we nearly cried.
After Ruggero sang on the terrace, I hung out with the 4 girls that had raised their hands to room with me: Leah, Sarah, Faith and Christina. I love these girls, they are hilarious. Faith and Christina had been drinking while we had been talking to i ragazzi italiani, so they were pretty entertaining. They had mixed licorice-flavored anise with pineapple juice, how sick does that sound!
That morning was brisk to the point of being downright cold. I brought a North Face with me having looked at the weather report, but I was still freezing. Once we got on the bus, my roommates and I all tangled our legs and arms up and huddled for warmth. The first visit of the day, to a church that belonged to the Knights Templar, didn't help the situation much as it was also incredibly cold. But this place was incredible, I walked in and literally said "woah this is old." After getting a presentation from the architect in charge of the restoration, we got to go under the church and walk through an excavation that had been done. Below the church they had found the remains of an ancient Roman fullery--a place where cloth was made and dyed. I want to know how one goes about excavating something like that underneath a church? Do you just prop the church up and dig until you hit something?
After the first church on the outskirts of Perugia, we drove to Assisi and met up with Friar Claudio at S. Damiano church. The church was down this massive, steep hill which was an absolute bitch to climb back up. It was worse than going up the 462 stairs up the Duomo, my quads are still a little sore. But Claudio was the nicest man, really calm and told us all about Saint Francis in English because he wanted to practice. He honestly looked a little like my friend Andy. We did a walk-through of the small church, and I was not entirely impressed. I was even a little shocked when we went through the second floor and found a gift shop! Something about that made me a little uncomfortable. However, they were selling art and prints done by the monks, and a lot of students bought things.
Following our visit to S. Damiano, we drove across Assisi to see the massive church of S. Francis of Assisi. This place was incredible. Probably one of my favorite things thus far. Every single wall was covered in these magnificent frescos. I spent all of out allotted time gawking at the walls of the first floor, I only had a few minutes to go up and check out the even more remarkable second floor! I have to go back.
Also in the church of S. Francis is the tomb of S. Francis of Assisi. You go down some stairs into a small little room with a big stone structure in the middle (I assumed that was the tomb) surrounded by pews for people to pray. When I was trying to get to the stairs this horrible woman held out her arm and wouldn't let me into the file of people, I was so shocked! The audacity, we were in a freaking church! I made it in right behind her and when she turned around to look at me I made a face at her. Once you get downstairs the entire place is silent. I thought it was extremely funny that as I was in the line walking through, I heard someone hardcore blow their nose in the back pew. Didn't even try to stifle it, they just blew as hard as they could--so much for silence. I had to try so hard not to laugh!
We were running late and couldn't explore the town of Assisi, though I would have preferred that to driving to Perugia to visit the museum we saw. But before going to Perugia we had to make a small personal stop. It was Giuseppe's birthday, and as such his friend had invited him to his house for a few drinks. This friend was the Count of Perugia, and showed us all around his house that was actually a castle on top of a hill! Such a cool place, there are medieval paintings and furniture everywhere! I was ready to ask if he needed another granddaughter. Then we all shared some champagne and continued on our way to Perugia.
The museum was being renovated and wasn't open to the public yet, so we got to see a small section of it. Honestly was pretty boring since I know nothing about the Etruscans or the bronze age. I did, however, find these bronze safety pins in one display case. Seriously, safety pins!! Never knew they were around back then, it blew my mind.
It started to rain, but before we headed back to the bus we did about 30 minutes of shopping on the main road in Perugia. This consisted entirely of going to the Perugina store and buying chocolate. I didn't know it before this weekend, but Perugina is the Italian version of Hershey's. They make these wildly popular chocolate ball things called baci, which means kiss in Italian. Except they're better than Hershey's kisses, they're basically chocolate-hazelnut kisses. I hadn't realized that the chocolate Easter egg I bought myself was a Perugina egg filled with baci! I'm pretty excited to eat it, but I also kind of want to save it...
Quickly, I have to tell you about the metro in Perugia. The city is all on a hill, so I didn't know they could have a metro line. But we took this metro to get back to our bus, and I'll tell you it was just like a ride at Disneyland! They are these cute (tiny!) little metro cars, and the tracks go up and down and around curves like riding on a slow version of the Matterhorn. Loved it.
When we got back to the villa we were starved, and we were really hoping dinner would be better. It wasn't by much. Again, pasta first and this time we knew to get seconds. Then this luke-warm beef and cooked spinach came. It was better than the meatloaf so I ate it. That is, I ate it until Jennifer found the plastic part of a tag (like what you find on new clothes) in her meat! How does that even get there?? I immediately spit my food out. Then about 5 minutes later, I hear Christina say across the table "You've got to be kidding me!!..." and we look up to see her holding some other unidentified piece of plastic. It was a little gross, but we were still hysterical!
So to make up for dinner, we began to drink as many free wine bottles as possible. It turned into somewhat of a game, we had to make sure our bottle was empty when one of the servers walked around. At the end of dinner my table of 5 girls had finish 4 bottles of crappy house red. And believe me we were feeling it. That's probably why the plastic in our food was so funny.
Since it was Giuseppe's birthday dessert was better that night. There was tiramisu, some layered cake with chocolate sauce, and the white cake with cream we had bought Giuseppe as a birthday present in Perugia. The waiters brought around different cake to everyone, some lucky ones got a piece of the cream cake. Leah and I got the chocolate sauce one, which wasn't bad, but we wanted the cream. So we walked up to the table with a few pieces still left on it, and right as the server walked out the door we each grabbed a piece and booked it back to our table. It was the wine that made me do it! But goodness that cake was good!
Unfortunately, the boys from the previous night never came back to visit, though we were hoping they would. So instead my room filled with people to hang out after dinner, and we started to play cards. In this game aces were dares, and poor Christina kept pulling aces. At one point she had to get on her hands and knees and sing a verse from the Lion King, then roar. Then at 2am she had to crab crawl down the hallway and chant "I want to be an Airborne Ranger." Random, I know, but Morgan came up with it... I had a blast, it was such a fun night.
The next day we watched Paola give a demonstration on how to make pasta, and it seems pretty easy. Maybe when I get home I'll get a pasta press and give it a shot. We then had a lunch of homemade fettuccine and bruschetta. The first hot meal of the weekend! And on that note we hopped on the bus for Rome. Alright, so there are all the details, now you're all caught up!
Oddly enough, here I am most content when riding a bus/train with my ipod and the Italian countryside. The trip through Umbria was only about 2ish hours, but I kind of didn't want it to end; I just set my ipod to shuffle and zoned out staring at all the green hills. Anytime a Jason Mraz popped up I gave an earbud to Kelsey and we semi sang along.
We arrived in the early afternoon at the villa we would stay at for the weekend. There is a fourteenth century house on the estate, and next to it the family built some student housing and conference spaces. It reminded me a lot of a bed and breakfast, the rooms were adorable. The villa was set on the top of a hill (all of Umbria is hills), and across the street from the entrance was this giant castle. It was being restored so we couldn't go in, but we still managed sneak around to explore it a good deal.
The people in charge had assigned us to rooms, but Giuseppe thought he'd be nice and ask if we could pick our roommates. I was all for it at the time because I was assigned with someone I don't get along with, but then they called my name first and asked who I wanted to room with. Of course I had to be first... I sat there and said "who wants to live with me?" and didn't look behind me. I just watched from the front row as Giuseppe scanned the room and his face didn't change or pause at anyone, so then I just yelled out my roommates names. I found out later that 4 girls behind me had all enthusiastically raised their hands. Oops!
We had a few hours to chill at the villa before heading to Coricano, which is the next town over. My roommates and I ran into Giuseppe and he took us along with him to pick wild asparagus behind the house. I think this was my favorite part of the weekend, we were trekking through these garden-type woods behind the house and letting Giuseppe find all the asparagus. I think the whole time I found one stalk--those things are so hard to spot, in the wild they're tiny! But this area was beautiful, filled with lilac trees.
Before we headed to Corciano, we went to go take some pictures of the scenery. But one can only have so many pictures of hills, so we then decided to make it interesting. We began to take pictures of ourselves jumping in mid-air, and they turned out so funny. We joke about Megan being a ninja, and so she and Kelsey began to mid-air duel, and it looked awesome. Of course there was a large group from our program watching us look like jumping idiots the whole time--but still worth it.
Then we drove to Corciano to be greeted by the mayor of the small hill town. The place was pretty, but kind of boring. The most interesting part happened before we got on the bus to leave, when a car full of guys drove past, saw 25 girls waiting for the bus, and pulled over. They waved to us when we drove away, and then proceeded to follow the bus to Corciano! Creepers! Later on they came back and parked outside the villa while we were getting dinner. Kelsey saw their car after eating, and then my friend Christina went out and started talking to them. She invited them to come listen to our prof Ruggero sing after dinner, and they stood in the back corner and watched. Afterward, I got Christina to introduce me so I could ask them why they followed us to Corciano (yep, I wanted to mess with them a little). They were Leonardo, Francesco and Filippo; 2 spoke some English, one didn't speak any. But Leah and I talked to these guys for at least an hour, just joking around in an interesting mix of English and Italian. They turned out to be pretty cool. And we realized early on that if we spoke English fast enough, we could talk about them right in front of them without them understanding. HeheOk, now to describe dinner. We had been told previously that we would get great food prepared by the villa's cook Paola, so needless to say I was expecting a lot. I was very, very wrong. The prima piatto came out and it was luke warm tortellini, which wasn't too bad since we were absolutely starving. If I had known what was coming I would have asked for seconds. Next up was meatloaf and dry salad. COLD meatloaf. I took one bite, trying to be a trooper, and I just couldn't do it. Maybe if it had been warmer I could have choked more down. But it smelled like the canned food I feed my cats at home, and I absolutely could not bring myself eat it. I felt bad, you know, starving-kids-in-India bad, but I couldn't do it. I threw some balsamic on the salad and ate that, then finished the meal with what I will call chocolate brownie since it was too dry to be cake. We were so hungry and so disappointed I think we nearly cried.
After Ruggero sang on the terrace, I hung out with the 4 girls that had raised their hands to room with me: Leah, Sarah, Faith and Christina. I love these girls, they are hilarious. Faith and Christina had been drinking while we had been talking to i ragazzi italiani, so they were pretty entertaining. They had mixed licorice-flavored anise with pineapple juice, how sick does that sound!
That morning was brisk to the point of being downright cold. I brought a North Face with me having looked at the weather report, but I was still freezing. Once we got on the bus, my roommates and I all tangled our legs and arms up and huddled for warmth. The first visit of the day, to a church that belonged to the Knights Templar, didn't help the situation much as it was also incredibly cold. But this place was incredible, I walked in and literally said "woah this is old." After getting a presentation from the architect in charge of the restoration, we got to go under the church and walk through an excavation that had been done. Below the church they had found the remains of an ancient Roman fullery--a place where cloth was made and dyed. I want to know how one goes about excavating something like that underneath a church? Do you just prop the church up and dig until you hit something?
After the first church on the outskirts of Perugia, we drove to Assisi and met up with Friar Claudio at S. Damiano church. The church was down this massive, steep hill which was an absolute bitch to climb back up. It was worse than going up the 462 stairs up the Duomo, my quads are still a little sore. But Claudio was the nicest man, really calm and told us all about Saint Francis in English because he wanted to practice. He honestly looked a little like my friend Andy. We did a walk-through of the small church, and I was not entirely impressed. I was even a little shocked when we went through the second floor and found a gift shop! Something about that made me a little uncomfortable. However, they were selling art and prints done by the monks, and a lot of students bought things.
Following our visit to S. Damiano, we drove across Assisi to see the massive church of S. Francis of Assisi. This place was incredible. Probably one of my favorite things thus far. Every single wall was covered in these magnificent frescos. I spent all of out allotted time gawking at the walls of the first floor, I only had a few minutes to go up and check out the even more remarkable second floor! I have to go back.Also in the church of S. Francis is the tomb of S. Francis of Assisi. You go down some stairs into a small little room with a big stone structure in the middle (I assumed that was the tomb) surrounded by pews for people to pray. When I was trying to get to the stairs this horrible woman held out her arm and wouldn't let me into the file of people, I was so shocked! The audacity, we were in a freaking church! I made it in right behind her and when she turned around to look at me I made a face at her. Once you get downstairs the entire place is silent. I thought it was extremely funny that as I was in the line walking through, I heard someone hardcore blow their nose in the back pew. Didn't even try to stifle it, they just blew as hard as they could--so much for silence. I had to try so hard not to laugh!
We were running late and couldn't explore the town of Assisi, though I would have preferred that to driving to Perugia to visit the museum we saw. But before going to Perugia we had to make a small personal stop. It was Giuseppe's birthday, and as such his friend had invited him to his house for a few drinks. This friend was the Count of Perugia, and showed us all around his house that was actually a castle on top of a hill! Such a cool place, there are medieval paintings and furniture everywhere! I was ready to ask if he needed another granddaughter. Then we all shared some champagne and continued on our way to Perugia.
The museum was being renovated and wasn't open to the public yet, so we got to see a small section of it. Honestly was pretty boring since I know nothing about the Etruscans or the bronze age. I did, however, find these bronze safety pins in one display case. Seriously, safety pins!! Never knew they were around back then, it blew my mind.
It started to rain, but before we headed back to the bus we did about 30 minutes of shopping on the main road in Perugia. This consisted entirely of going to the Perugina store and buying chocolate. I didn't know it before this weekend, but Perugina is the Italian version of Hershey's. They make these wildly popular chocolate ball things called baci, which means kiss in Italian. Except they're better than Hershey's kisses, they're basically chocolate-hazelnut kisses. I hadn't realized that the chocolate Easter egg I bought myself was a Perugina egg filled with baci! I'm pretty excited to eat it, but I also kind of want to save it...Quickly, I have to tell you about the metro in Perugia. The city is all on a hill, so I didn't know they could have a metro line. But we took this metro to get back to our bus, and I'll tell you it was just like a ride at Disneyland! They are these cute (tiny!) little metro cars, and the tracks go up and down and around curves like riding on a slow version of the Matterhorn. Loved it.
When we got back to the villa we were starved, and we were really hoping dinner would be better. It wasn't by much. Again, pasta first and this time we knew to get seconds. Then this luke-warm beef and cooked spinach came. It was better than the meatloaf so I ate it. That is, I ate it until Jennifer found the plastic part of a tag (like what you find on new clothes) in her meat! How does that even get there?? I immediately spit my food out. Then about 5 minutes later, I hear Christina say across the table "You've got to be kidding me!!..." and we look up to see her holding some other unidentified piece of plastic. It was a little gross, but we were still hysterical!
So to make up for dinner, we began to drink as many free wine bottles as possible. It turned into somewhat of a game, we had to make sure our bottle was empty when one of the servers walked around. At the end of dinner my table of 5 girls had finish 4 bottles of crappy house red. And believe me we were feeling it. That's probably why the plastic in our food was so funny.Since it was Giuseppe's birthday dessert was better that night. There was tiramisu, some layered cake with chocolate sauce, and the white cake with cream we had bought Giuseppe as a birthday present in Perugia. The waiters brought around different cake to everyone, some lucky ones got a piece of the cream cake. Leah and I got the chocolate sauce one, which wasn't bad, but we wanted the cream. So we walked up to the table with a few pieces still left on it, and right as the server walked out the door we each grabbed a piece and booked it back to our table. It was the wine that made me do it! But goodness that cake was good!
Unfortunately, the boys from the previous night never came back to visit, though we were hoping they would. So instead my room filled with people to hang out after dinner, and we started to play cards. In this game aces were dares, and poor Christina kept pulling aces. At one point she had to get on her hands and knees and sing a verse from the Lion King, then roar. Then at 2am she had to crab crawl down the hallway and chant "I want to be an Airborne Ranger." Random, I know, but Morgan came up with it... I had a blast, it was such a fun night.
The next day we watched Paola give a demonstration on how to make pasta, and it seems pretty easy. Maybe when I get home I'll get a pasta press and give it a shot. We then had a lunch of homemade fettuccine and bruschetta. The first hot meal of the weekend! And on that note we hopped on the bus for Rome. Alright, so there are all the details, now you're all caught up!
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