End of the week and Orvieto!

So yesterday I had a great time visiting Orvieto, but first I'd better write about the rest of last week.

On Wednesday, I got lunch with Jill, who is the girlfriend of my friend Erik from home. I didn't go to high school with her but she lived in a nearby town. She goes to URI but is spending this semester in Florence, and we finally met up! We went to a panini shop that had REALLY good sandwiches and chatted and all that good stuff. Afterward, we went toward the Mercato Centrale, she passes by there all the time on her way to school, but I hadn't been there yet! It is actually really close to a street I am on all the time, but I had just never gotten over there. Anyway it was really neat... there are all sorts of products in the open air stands, except for the food which is inside a building. When we went inside the building everything was closing up (it was about 3 in the afternoon) so I need to go back earlier in the day sometime. I think the outdoor market is a good spot to buy things too! It was really neat and I want to go back.

Also on Wednesday I finally started my "History of European Identity" class. On Wednesday and Thursday, there was ONE other student besides me! He is from the island of Elba, which is pretty cool... then Friday it started as a private lesson because he wasn't there, but then two other girls came in. So maybe now there are 4 students including me - we will see who shows up next week. Even if it is a little weird, it makes it easier to understand what is going on, and I love the subject. I have yet to figure out if there is any sort of logical sequence or if the professor is just going to talk about whatever he feels like on a given day (relating to European identity), but I like the subject so much that I am not too worried about it. With the types of things he talks about, I find myself drawing on background knowledge from International Relations and Comparative Political Systems, both classes I took last year at Georgetown. Glad to know they are doing me well!

Thursday, after class I met up with Lucia and she took me over to the section of the University for history classes. We were checking there to see if anything being offered first semester popped out, just in case, but everything conflicted with something at Scienze Politiche. However, it was still worthwhile because they already had lists up for courses NEXT semester, so we were able to already pick out three courses I might want to take in Spring! Go figure. Italy just doesn't make sense sometimes... most of the time. I am going to go home and everything will seem so calm and orderly!

Oh and before I forget, I have something to add to the list of things I have seen people do while riding a bike: drinking a beer! I did a double take to make sure it was really beer... and I am pretty sure it was.

Thursday night, I went to see the movie "Burn After Reading" at a downtown theater with Mairi, my Scottish friend from Orientation. The theater is one that always shows films in their original language, so we were able to see it in English instead of with Italian dubbing. Good language practice no, but it was good to see it with the original voices... I think Brad Pitt just wouldn't have sounded as hilarious in some other person's voice. It was really enjoyable and funny, unlike anything I have ever seen before. Also, it took place in Washington and made me all nostalgic... I even recognized the neighborhood of Georgetown, and the Key Bridge! George Clooney was walking up a hill that I have walked up a bunch of times before... (for Georgetown friends, the pretty steep one that goes up right next to Dixie's).

Going to class is different every day in terms of understanding lecture, but the textbooks are helping, and I can ask for help from a tutor if I need it. I think I will see where I am at the end of this upcoming week and go from there.

Yesterday I went to Orvieto, a town in the region of Umbria, 2 hours south and slightly east of Florence (2 hours by train). It absolutely was the type of quaint European town that I am so passionate about. It is on a hill/rock/outcropping, and once you get to the train station you have to take a funicular/tram type thing up to the actual town, so that was fun. I thought it was suspended in the air, but coming down at the end of the day I saw it was actually on tracks.

Anyway, it was really small so I walked everywhere, pretty much from one end of town to the other (and retracing back and forth a couple times). The first thing I went to look for was the Duomo, which is a huge and impressive building. The facade is just so intricate and detailed and beautiful, I was at the Duomo a few times throughout the day and just kept appreciating more and more of the decorations and artistry. The first time I was there, I went inside, expecting the normal quiet shuffling of the tourists. However I saw some chairs set up, and realized something was going on. As I got a little bit closer, I saw that it was a WEDDING! At first I couldn't believe it. I just stood there awestruck for a few moments. The bride had a veil that went past her feet onto the ground behind her, and it was just so impressive to see the wedding in the context of this huge gothic cathedral with the huge ceilings, decorations, and stained glass. I stood there long enough that the communion part of mass started, and they started to play music which added a whole new element. It was a truly breathtaking and unexpected moment! I hope it wasn't too weird for them to have all those tourists wandering through the church during the ceremony. Apparently they either didn't have a choice as to whether it would be open or wanted it to be. Who knows. I would guess the former though.

After I extricated myself from the awe of that and exited the Duomo, I wandered past some restaurants. I decided to try one that my guidebook recommended. However when I walked by at 12:15, it was empty and I felt awkward walking in, especially being by myself. So I did some more wandering and came back about half an hour later, at which point it was bustling. I got a table and started to make decisions. I knew I wanted a glass of Orvieto Classico, the local wine, and to eat something with regionally specific ingredients. I read that truffles were common in Umbrian dishes, so I ordered a pasta dish of gnocchi with saffron, truffles, and ricotta. I also got an appetizer of bruschetta since I knew I'd be eating dinner quite late. When the pasta dish came, the ricotta was different than ricotta I have had in the past, it was actually grated (there is a picture of it on Picasa). I really enjoyed the flavor of the pasta and the truffles - it was unlike anything I've ever really tasted before, which was my goal! If I went back I might try something else, but I was very satisfied with my decision.

Throughout the course of my meal, I observed two examples of dissatisfied American customers - at least English-speaking if not American. One was an older couple who sat down next to me. I could tell they were getting frustrated because no one came to take their order for some time. Eventually they decided to just get up and leave. I have to say I didn't notice them aggressively try to flag anyone down, and there were 3 guys who were trying to run the entire restaurant... Then there was also a group of 7 adults across the room from me. When their food came, there was some dissatisfaction. One woman said she ordered gnocchi and what she got was not gnocchi. The waiter who brought the food had another man come and look at the menu with her. From what I could overhear, what she had was "gnochetti" which are not, in fact, gnocchi, a point that she didn't have clear. I don't know exactly what gnochetti are but I imagine they are like gnocchi but smaller. Anyway, the conversation at its height sounded like this -

"Yes, gnocchi, see I ordered gnocchi!"
"No, gnochETTI"
"yes, gnocchi!"
"No, gnochETTI."

And so on. Also another woman at the table gave a plate back, saying "I'm sorry, but this pasta is not even al dente..." so they took it and brought back another plate. I have to say though, above all with the language (and culture) barriers, I can see and understand that the waiters must have been exasperated. For my part, I was perfectly happy with the service. For better or worse, I just expect things to be slower here and sit back to enjoy the meal.

After lunch, I walked past the center of town out to the far edge/end. I had read in my guidebook that there were beautiful views of the countryside from a church called Chiesa di San Giovenale. So I found that, enjoying the scenery of the town on the way. As I walked further and further, it was quieter and quieter, which was nice. When I got to the edge of town and the view, it was almost silent and so peaceful. I took pictures and enjoyed the atmosphere. I am glad I read about that little spot in my book!

From that point, I needed to kill time until a bit before 4 pm, when there was a tour of the Underground Etruscan village that is in the rocks literally underneath Orvieto. So I walked around some more, took more pictures and all of that. Then around 3:30 I went to the ticket office, and got a ticket for a 4:15 tour. I said I was a student to get a lower rate, and the woman said it was free! I was lucky enough to go this weekend, and apparently as part of a special cultural thing many sites and tours in Italy are free Sept 27 and 28! So that was a big plus. I sat in front of the Duomo until it was time to leave on the tour, just continuing to enjoy the atmosphere and people watching.

The tour itself was neat. I probably would have learned more had I taken one of the English tours, but I had a choice and I wanted to continue my Italian immersion as much as I could. So I understood bits and pieces, but I just tried to focus on actually seeing the caverns and passageways and such. I can always read more about it later.

After the tour I had to take the funicular back down to catch a train at 6:30 from the station. I got there and saw the letters "SOP" in the column saying whether trains were late or not. Another train was listed as 40 minutes late, but mine was just "SOP". I sat down, hoping SOP wasn't bad. Pondering, waiting. Thinking maybe I should ask. Thinking maybe I would find out. Then I realized I could try my dictionary... so I looked for whatever word it must be short for. A ha! "Sopprimere." Then, much to my chagrin, the meaning of sopprimere: to abolish, to cancel, to erase. Super. So I checked with one of the men at the ticket counter, and yes, it was true. On this particular day the 6:30 train to Florence had been cancelled, and the next one was scheduled for 8:30. Great. I just settled in and started to play mental games with myself, telling myself time would pass quickly. I suppose I could have gone back into town, but I didn't want to pay for more funicular rides. I eventually got a piece of pizza, found the bathroom, read for class, and got a magazine. As it got closer to 8:30 I saw that THAT train was 25 minutes late. Of course. By the time the train actually came at 9 pm, I was pacing the platform, just so ready to leave. The type of annoyance wasn't so much culture shock annoyance... more like anyone would have with cancelled trains and planes and such. The worst thing for me was that there was no explanation WHY the train had been cancelled... it just was.

So I eventually did get back to Florence, around 11 pm, and taking the bus home was faster than usual. I slept in this morning and I am relaxing now, so in the end it is all good.

This should link to my photos of Orvieto: http://picasaweb.google.com/Kathryn.Weatherby/Orvieto02?authkey=puk-3n908OU#

I am sure this is incredibly long now, but I had a lot from yesterday and hadn't posted since Tuesday!

Til next time!

That's so Italy... and food

I wanted to write a couple funny observations and talk about some of the food I've had lately!

Okay so the observations all center around things I have seen people do while riding bikes.

1) Talk on a cell phone
2) Hold an umbrella
3) This is from last night - light a cigarette! With both hands! I mean it is funny enough to smoke while riding a bike but then to be riding along as you light it... that is so Italy.

They really do love their cigarettes here... coming back on the train from Bologna, these guys waiting to get off at Florence had their cigarettes out and ready to go about 5 minutes before we stopped, and then lit up the SECOND the doors opened... ah well. I just try not to breathe too much outdoors. Ha.

Also food! Two nights ago Cristina made a DELICIOUS risotto using champagne, onions, other stuff, and of course the rice. It turned out really well. Lisa is very finicky about eating... she will say that things are disgusting while I am gobbling them up, and Cristina tries to get her to eat more, especially meat/protein.

I think the same night as the risotto, they put out this jam made out of ginger on the table that they got in Germany. The idea was to put it on the pecorino cheese we had (pecorino is a regional specialty in Tuscany). Anyway the combination was delicious, I probably ate half the cheese, though I tried to hold back to make sure it was okay, ha.

Last night I went to a restaurant called "Yellow" with Mairi and a few other girls for her birthday. Yes, it is really called Yellow. In English. Anyway, I got gnocchi with a gorgonzola and basil sauce, which was yum, we ordered a bottle of Chianti classico, and I had tiramisu for dessert. We lingered for a while after dinner, so we were in the restaurant probably a total of about 3 hours. Yes, it's true, they don't bring you the check unless you ask for it! It was really fun though, to eat out and do something social!

Alright I am off to shower and leave in time to have some lunch and get to class at 1 pm.

Kate

La Terza Fase

Well I am totally copying the title of my friend Kristen's last blog, but it is well intentioned and fitting. She wrote about going through the third phase of culture shock in France, and I am in the middle of it here, I have decided. I have been since Thursday or somewhere around there.

So right, the phases are apparently 1) when everything is new and exciting; 2) when you start to notice cultural differences; 3) when those differences start getting on your nerves and 4) acceptance.

Okay so what has happened to make me feel that I am squarely in phase 3? This is all going to sound so negative but I promise overall I am happy here... I will add some positive things at the end.

On Thursday, when I went to a class and no one was there despite it being the correct room, I about hit my peak in terms of being frustrated with the process of signing up for classes here. On Friday I received an e-mail reply from the professor saying that the course won't start until this week, not last week, on Wednesday Sept 24. At least I didn't try to go Friday, and at least I can start with everyone else but still...

On Friday, I went shopping in the afternoon, which was successful, but it was a rainy day. The custom seemed to be leaving one's umbrella at the front of the store so as not to get the whole store wet. That was fine at the first couple stores, but the last one was bigger and when I returned from making a purchase, my umbrella was nowhere to be found. I stood there for a couple minutes just trying to be sure I wasn't missing something. But yeah, I am pretty sure my umbrella was stolen. I am just as annoyed at myself as at the person who did it, because you would think I would know that in a foreign country I should keep my belongings with me at all times, but no, I was trying to do the more courteous thing... not the best in hindsight. But, if that is the worst harm that comes to me and my belongings, not so bad. Maybe it was some kind of rite of passage? I don't know...

On Saturday, I went to the supermarket to pick up things such as toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner. The checkout lines were similar to in the US but I couldn't find an express lane, so I just picked a line and waited. First thing was that there was an empty basket sitting in the line, claimed by no one, until this lady came back with more things to add to the basket, moved it up into the position ahead of me, and proceeded to leave to go find some more items. As tolerant as I tried to be, in my head I was thinking, "That's not how it works lady! You have to pick out all your items and THEN get in line!" But of course I didn't do anything and just decided to deal with it. Then right as I was getting toward the front this man asks if he can go ahead of me, because he only has one item. Being too nice as I am, I said fine. Then I also realized he was almost certainly inebriated, and I think he was buying some variety of boxed wine. Super. Then he kept motioning to me to put my stuff on the conveyer belt and I just didn't want to look at him and wanted him to leave me alone. OH and then, when it finally WAS my turn, the toothpaste didn't scan correctly so the cashier had to do a price check, which took a couple minutes. She said she thought the price was 1,49 and I said I thought I saw 1,52. Another woman came and asked about it, asking where I got it (answer being... right next to all the other toothpaste). So she goes to look, comes back, and what was the price? You guessed it, 1,52. Go figure. It's as if I had looked at the price or something and remembered it. Anyway the main reason that annoyed me was because I was holding up a line that was already so long, and I was only buying 5 things. By the time I got out of there I was beyond ready to get out of there.

Yesterday, I had to find a place to eat lunch before returning home, and most places were closed since it was Sunday. I eventually found a place where there was barely anyone, tried to tell the guy that I spoke Italian, and he just kept speaking to me in English. Then the pizza wasn't even good. I do have to say though that he was nice - I failed to be sure I had enough coins/cash to pay for it (well I had enough for the items but not the cover charge), and they didn't take credit, and when he became aware of this situation he just said, give me all the coins you have and that's fine. I said, should I go to an ATM and come back? Like a couple times, just to be sure. And he said no it's fine. Even that, his generosity and forgiveness for my lack of cash, was off-putting!

And then this morning. I had class at 10 am so I got to the bus stop in plenty of time for the 9:25 am bus which would get me to school around 9:45. I remember I may have raved about buses here. And how they are always on time. Well, they are always on time... except when they're not. I waited with an ever-growing crowd of students until the 9:25 bus arrived at 9:50, 25 minutes late. You can do the math on whether I was late to class or not I am sure... Luckily they were awaiting a guest lecturer who arrived just after me but I could have done without showing up late and without the stress. Positives though - I got a seat on the bus since I got on at the first stop (it was SO full by the time we reached the school) and I got to practice my inner peace/zen skills, you know, practicing staying calm when you can't change a situation. Semi-successful, I would say.

So that brings us up to date. Part of me feels silly for blogging about all these things but it's what I am going through, and venting is therapeutic. It is comforting that it is normal, up to the point where it is a named phase of the phenomenon of culture shock. Also it's comforting that there is this hypothetical acceptance stage that I will reach, hopefully soon.

On the positive side of things:

I managed to get my textbook today for the class I have already started, only on the second try checking the bookstore!

I bought a cute shirt, a dress for fancier occasions, and jeans that fit me well, all at reasonable prices, on Friday. I am especially happy about the jeans since the one pair I brought with me are too loose. They also are much more like the style that my Italian contemporaries seem to favor.

On Saturday I went to an exhibit on Impressionism at Palazzo Strozzi with Mairi, the Scottish girl from my orientation class.

On Sunday I returned to the two places Lucia brought me when I was fresh off the plane, Piazzale Michelangiolo (beautiful view of the city) and a church called San Miniato del Monte. I also took a new bus there, which turned out to be a great way to see a bit more of the city. That particular route is a circuit, so I took part of the circuit there and then just completed the circuit to return home.

Also yesterday as I was headed to the lunch I talked about earlier, I saw crowds of Florentines headed to the Fiorentina game (soccer) all decked out in their purple Fiorentina gear. Motorinos, cars, all just flowing in the direction of the stadium. It made me happy that I could tell there was a game just from traffic. They really do love their calcio/soccer/football over here.

Tonight I am going out to dinner with Mairi and some others that she knows for her birthday (23rd I believe). Should be nice to enjoy an evening out.

And, next weekend my friend Deneb from my summer internship is coming to see me! She is Italian and finishing up her degree in Genova, and then heading back to the US in November. At the very least, we plan to see each other. Not sure yet if it will be in Florence or Genova.

Okay this post is plenty long, I am sure. Hopefully managed to balance out the venting with some positives! I am trying to give myself a break and some time and space to adjust, as even as I go through it I realize it's normal.

Alright, more later on!

Love, Kate

Pictures!

I finally got my act together and uploaded photos for those of you who aren't on facebook or friends with me on facebook. Here is the link -

http://picasaweb.google.com/Kathryn.Weatherby/Italy02#

For now it is not well captioned, sorry about that. I tried to give an indication of the places where they were taken. If you have questions please ask!

Enjoy!

Casino

Casino meaning confusion and chaos... ie how people seem to use it in Italian.

I haven't written for a few days, more or less on purpose. I know it would be unreasonable to keep up the kind of pace I was on so I am slowing down a bit, amalgamating things.

This week has been sort of hectic because I am doing my last week at orientation school while also starting (or at least attempting to start) university courses. I don't really feel like going through everything so far blow by blow, but here is where it stands now.

I have been to all but one meeting of a course called "History of the Foreign Relations of Italy." So far it seems to be pretty good. I have had sort of conversations with two students, the professor knows I am foreign... and I understood more of lecture today than I did on Tuesday (yes, it is in Italian for those of you who are wondering). I know the time period and subject matter we are discussing and even some of the major themes! Yay! But I will have aids such as a tutor, doing legwork in my spare time, and borrowing notes from others to fill in the gaps of what I don't catch.

I tried out another class yesterday afternoon and decided no (too hard, not interesting enough, but good to try) and then tried to go to another this afternoon... but there was no one there, in the room specified on all the information. I waited like 35 minutes before giving up for sure. Who knows... but I e-mailed the professor and we will see if I get a response.

The goal is 3 classes, so the options remaining are one that I scoped out which doesn't start until October (not worth going into detail but they divide the semester into 3 parts here). Or, I could take a course on history or something at Lettere e Filosofia, the part of the university I was thinking of attending only next semester. Now it seems like it might work to mix the two faculties to get better flexibility. But Lettere starts either this week or the next week... and of course I don't know the exact schedule of courses at the moment. So things are a little bit still up in the air... and I was a bit frustrated earlier today when the course I thought would be there wasn't. But bit by bit... I will get there. And I think my schedule in terms of hours in class per week will be pretty light compared to usual at Georgetown.

Things otherwise are good. I have been talking more and more with Centro Fiorenza students and today even talked to two students at the university. There are always tons of people here (at the university) and it is sort of weird not to know anyone... but I knew that would happen. The worst thing is walking through a cloud of cigarette smoke every time I enter or exit a building. Italy has moved toward no smoking in most buildings... but outside you can really tell how many more people here smoke compared to the U.S. I just try to hold my breath as much as possible.

I have found I do some of my best thinking on the bus. Once I find a seat, I don't know... I can just zone out and really think. I enjoy it.

In class at Centro Fiorenza this week we have also been talking a lot about stereotypes, immigration, things like that. I am always learning more and more about life in Italy and life in Europe, and how they relate to and view the rest of the world. I find it all really interesting.

This weekend I am going to try to go to an exhibit on Impressionism in a museum here in Florence, it only runs through Sept 28. I might go with Mairi, the girl from my class. Otherwise, not sure yet what I am doing this weekend, but it will be nice to have more time to take it easy. Doing both schools this week has led to some long days. I can't believe I have been here almost three weeks already... the last two have really flown.

I think that is the update for now - I will write again when I have more to share!

Seeing David...

...except not the one who is my boyfriend, haha. No, yesterday was my first visit to the Accademia Gallery, I went with Lucia. She needed to scope it out because she is taking one of her classes there this week, and I just wanted to see. It really was pretty cool to see the real David up close and personal. Lucia told me a lot about it too. The statue was meant to be viewed from much farther away, and that is why his hands and head are disproportionately large for his body. I can go back there any time for free, AND skip the line, with my handy "Amici degli Uffizi" card, which works for many of the museums and churches here.

Also yesterday, I went to mass for the first time here in Italy. There is a church probably not even 5 minutes from the house and I went there. It was pretty neat, it got really crowded so if/when I go back I will need to remember to get there slightly early. I obviously knew what was going on most of the time, because Catholic mass is pretty standardized and I am familiar with the language. It was always nice when I could find the song and sing along by following the words. There was also a little pamphlet with the basic components of the mass so I had something from which to read for things like the Lord's Prayer. I also couldn't help but notice all the passato remoto in the readings... I will have to tell Trinita. Just goes to show you can't escape grammar EVER, even in church.

Also yesterday I went to a market in town that was selling all organic products - both food and other household items. If I were closer to going home, I might have been tempted to buy some gifts but it is not time for that yet... I did taste some jam and legitimate parmigiano reggiano though!

And after recounting those things, I come to the last development of the past few days... or lack of development maybe? Let's just say I will never take pre-registering for classes at Georgetown for granted EVER again! Last night Lucia and I met again to look at course offerings online. There are "orario"s, in fact multiple schedules/orari, but it is hard to navigate through them and I wasn't sure if together they made a complete list. At this point I only have one class that I am thinking of going to and signing up for. I am going to it tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm. It is called "History of Italian Foreign Relations" more or less. Beyond that, I have to see. I might end up taking one or even two courses at Lettere e Filosofia (different department of the university) this semester, whereas I'd been thinking I would take classes there only in the spring. Pretty much everything is a little chaotic even right now as classes started today, but according to the people Lucia has talked to in the university, it is even hard for Italian students right now. She said that there are just sort of like... structural problems within the university. Sigh.

At any rate, it is normal here too for students to sort of feel classes out in the beginning and sign up for them after attending the first session. I was very patient up until last week when it started to frustrate me... but even now, what else can I do? Lucia tells me not to worry so I just trust that in the end things will be fine. I am enjoying my time in this country but I must say I will be filled with joy and appreciation in spring when Georgetown allows me to pre-register online for Fall 2009 courses.

Oh yeah that's the other thing. At the very least, I am enrolled, but the enrollment system seems to be a card thing that was produced after Lucia gave them my documents. It has my info and picture and signature. Then on the back there is space for you to a) sign up for courses with the professor's signature and b) have your exam grade recorded also with the prof's signature when you eventually take your exam... and as far as I can tell it doesn't go much beyond that. I am trying to be open and accepting of things here, and I am with most things, but upon seeing that I was like woooooww..

So this week is my last at orientation school and first at university. I know as well as you what lies ahead but I will keep you posted!

Want to buy an umbrella?

So my title - to what does it refer? Well of course I shall tell you. Yesterday, like I said, it rained. It rained today too. When I went out last night, and when I was walking home from class in the evening, I saw all these men carrying umbrellas around offering to sell them to people... ohhhh the opportunism. I can just imagine, they are all the same ones who normally sell the fake purses and sunglasses on the streets, but they also carry umbrellas, just waiting for the sky to open up on the tourists who didn't bring anything because it never rains and the sky is always beautiful in Tuscany... or at least I like to imagine it going that way. Last night and today I was all set though - brought my umbrella in both instances.

I stayed out later than I wanted to, because it was Franz' last night and we kept saying we were going to go home soon but well, we all know how that goes. So I got back to the house maybe around 2:30 and crashed. I also let myself sleep more than I was planning to and changed my plan for the day a bit. I ended up taking a train from Firenze that left around 10:30 and got to Bologna at 11:30. The train ride was fine, and scenic, except it was cold. There was air conditioning and it was a rainy day today. I just didn't think of layers because it has been SO hot most of the time I've been here. After I found my way out of the station, I remembered the map in the guidebook and followed the directions to get to Via dell'Indipendenza, the "main drag" of Bologna. (I also had the guidebook with me for reference.)

In the first piazza I came to, there was a market of various goods from all over Italy, from different regions and all that. I tried some sort of condiment made from truffles (tartuffi) and a sweet cookie thing from Sicilia. I love how wandering around Italy you see all these markets where you can try legit artisan made food products... it's sooo, Italy, and it really happens! Tomorrow if the weather isn't too bad I might try to go to one selling organic food products here in Firenze, not too far from the house.

Anyway, first impressions of Bologna. All the sidewalks are covered so it is like you are in a promenade as you walk down the street. Really useful on a rainy day, actually. And on Via dell'Indipendenza, there was shop after shop after shop. As I might have written, my biggest reason to go to Bologna on this particular day was the fact that I needed clothes, and I knew that H&M was a place that would have clothes I liked for prices I liked. So in a way I guess you could say it was a small pilgrimage. I had to walk a ways down the street, but I just took it all in. Bologna seemed much more authentically Italian than Firenze. Not so many crazy tourists, more just Italians out shopping on a Saturday afternoon. It was nice. Eventually I got close to where I knew H&M must be, and there they were, the bright, lit letters in the familiar logo. I walked by the first time though, to go take a look at the main piazza in Bologna. There are sort of two connected piazzas actually, one called Piazza Nettuno with a large sculpture/fountain of Neptune in the middle. On all sides there were very medieval looking palaces/government buildings. As I walked a little further I saw the large church in Piazza Maggiore, named something like S. Petrunio (I have to look again sorry). It was very impressive and slightly unusual - more plain than your average cathedral. But certainly, very striking. I took some pictures and then decided to return to H&M.

And at H&M I did the usual shopping thing... right away I could tell there were a lot of fashionable type things that I hadn't seen before. I will spare you the details but share that I ended up buying 2 dresses and 1 shirt. The shirt is black so it can go with plenty of things, and I can wear the dresses for multiple types of occasions I think. It is just nice to have some more variety in the wardrobe...

After that I walked back through the same piazzas, couldn't find the street I was looking for, and consulted my map. After getting back on the right track, I eventually arrived at a pizzeria named for its owner, Gianna, about which I had read in my guidebook. It was highly recommended and it said one could watch Gianna roll out pizza dough while seated at the counter. Sure enough, when I arrived there she was. There was a couple there, and she was speaking some language other than Italian with them... not sure what. She asked what I wanted and gave me a menu when I didn't really know. Eventually I ended up ordering a pizza with tomato, mozzarella, and onion. It only cost 4,50 Euros. She made the pizza right then and there and put it in the oven. Within a few minutes, it came out steaming hot and she handed it to me right over the counter. Mmmm. It was good, and I also just loved the very homey atmosphere. There weren't very many customers - in fact the whole street didn't have a ton of people on it - but that made it more cozy in a way. After I finished and paid, the couple was leaving too, and Gianna gave us all free shots of limoncello. That's Italy for you... in America they won't let me buy or drink alcohol in public, in Italy they give it to me for free. Go figure.

After lunch, I didn't do much besides take my time returning to the train station. Once there, I bought a ticket for a train leaving in 45 min-1 hour from that point in time, went to get a caffe (espresso), found the platform for the train, and came back to Firenze. Not very exciting. But in general, it was just a really nice thing to do today. Some girls from the school were going to Siena today, but I had my reasons for Bologna and stuck with that plan. I realized during the day that even if it sounds lonely in a way to take a day trip by oneself, for me in this instance it works. I really enjoyed the chance to take in Bologna on my own, at my own pace, changing the plan on a whim just because I felt like it. This type of day is really what I had imagined for myself when I pictured this year abroad. And now I have seen one more small piece of Italy!

Tonight for dinner, my Italian family had Bridie over, a girl who stayed with them two years ago and is a Georgetown grad. She is now a TA at the Villa program in Fiesole (very closeby) for all the Georgetown students there now. She was really nice, and it was good to meet her because I'd heard about her. Also the whole evening was good "togetherness" time, and through talking with the family and Bridie at the same time, I got to know them better.

We all (me, Cristina, Federico, and Lisa) plan to sleep in a bit tomorrow and take it easy. I am thinking of going to mass at 11 am at a church very close by here (I pass it every day on my way to the bus). I am interested to see what it's like. I might go to the market I mentioned earlier, and try to do laundry if Cristina has time to show me how. I don't even know exactly where in the building one does it... But in general I am in need of some sleep to catch up after the week/last night/today, so it will be nice to relax.

That was today... definitely a success overall!

Thinking of you all!

Today, end of another week already!

Today it rained the hardest I have seen it rain in Firenze so far. In fact, it was a thunderstorm with hail! It started during the second half of my class this afternoon. It is only the second time I have seen it rain at all here. Luckily, I escaped the worst of it by lingering a bit after class – I went on the computer to check e-mail/facebook. Before I left it got a bit lighter and stopped raining so much. On my way home there was a slight drizzle, but nothing too bad. Thank goodness I didn’t have to go out in the downpour though – no layers, no umbrella, nothing to keep me from getting soaked!

This afternoon in class, after our weekly test, we played the Italian version of Scrabble! It’s called “Scrabeo.” Some of the rules are slightly different but it is more or less the same game. It was pretty fun and also interesting to use my Italian knowledge that way. One thing that made it a lot easier was we were allowed to use dictionaries to find words, instead of only to check if words existed. We could also use acronyms if we wanted. In the end, out of all the students, I won! It helped a lot that I had barely any letters left and only got two points subtracted. Certainly our teacher had the most points out of anyone, but she said it didn’t count because she is Italian. Today was the last day in class for Franz, the Swissman who has been here for six weeks total, including my two weeks so far, and Philip, the Irishman who decided to come to Firenze just for a week off of work to brush up on his Italian.

An example of how class tends to go. Today we read a brief excerpt in our book of an Italian book. We read little bits, and then Trinita asks if there are words we have never seen before or are new to us. Today I took the opportunity to ask about a word I’d been curious about, because I had heard it plenty of times here – “schifo.” Trinita said it was a great question, and then we spent maybe 5 minutes or so covering all the different forms of schifo. There is the substantive, adjective, verb, reflexive verb, idiomatic form, and so on. Basically it is a strong form of “disgust” more or less. You can say “Mi fa schifo” which means “it disgusts me.” You can say “Mi fai schifo” which means “you disgust me.” You can say it was disgusting, you can say you were disgusted, there is quite the variety. You can even say something was “schifosamente” good – disgustingly good. Trinita said it is kind of a vulgar expression, but everyone uses it. Certainly I have heard it a few times already. She said to be more elegant but say that same thing, you can use “disgusto.”

Another language thing we talked about today – which I knew already but love… so I thought I would share it. There are many ways to say you love something in Italian, but you have to use the right form. To say I like, you use “mi piace” and that goes mostly with things. You can also said you adore something – “adoro” which you also usually use with things or in a religious context. To say “I love you” to your friends and family, you say “ti voglio bene.” The verb amare is reserved only for the person you love in a romantic way. It is a big deal to say it to someone, and in the true sense, you only use it with one person. So, “ti amo” is something reserved for boyfriends/girlfriends and spouses, partners, etc. I really kind of like the nuances there.

Tonight I am going out with some of the people from school for Franz’ last night. Then plan all week has been to go to Bologna tomorrow, but I don’t know if I can get up early enough. Briefly today I was thinking of changing it to Sunday instead, but I really think it is better to go tomorrow. So I will probably just suck it up and be tired tomorrow night… it is what it is.

It’s kind of funny, part of the attraction to Bologna is the fact that there is an H&M there. I need clothes, I like H&M, and it has good prices. With my situation and the exchange rate, I can NOT just spend and spend… but I really do need clothes. I am also going to use the day to see a couple of the sights in Bologna and have a nice lunch I hope. It is only an hour away by train, so I can come back when it is light, so I won’t feel weird about traveling alone. Yes don’t worry everyone, I am paying attention to these kinds of things!

I have some things in mind for Sunday but just locally in Firenze. I might try to go to mass on Sunday at the church nearby the house. There is also going to be a market full of natural products both days this weekend, or I could also go up to one of the other little villages just outside of Firenze. So many possibilities, it’s lovely! But hopefully in all of this I will also have a chance to rest up a little bit – I go back to morning classes next weekend.

I still don’t know much more about university classes… which supposedly start on Monday. At this point it is legitimately frustrating. Lucia said she will talk to someone she knows who might have advice this weekend, and everything will work out in the end. I mean I do believe that everything will work out in the end… but I don’t understand why it is so hard to see course listings the Friday before classes start on Monday. Oh, Italy. But that is part of this year… being outside the US gives me the chance to see it in a new light, for better or for worse. I am finding out more about Italy, the US, and other countries (especially in Europe). I think I am starting to hear myself speak a little bit faster too… though I always still make plenty of mistakes and I have plenty left to learn.

I think I shared the most notable things from today. At this point I am hoping I can mix fun and sleep in the right quantities for the weekend to be all set to go on Monday!

Already Thursday?

This week has gone by quickly. Already venerdi tomorrow again. Having class in the afternoons this week has been nice. Today and Tuesday I had to be there at 11:10, but the other days at 2:10. It has helped because Monday night I went to the Ponte Vecchio to hang out and chat with some students while there was a singer and a general gathering there, and then last night I went to a movie with Franz and Mairi from my class. The movie was called "Gomorra" and it was about the mafia in Naples. It was a true life story based on a book by a man who was in the mafia for 5 years, got out, and published a book about it, real names and all! About 27 people were arrested. This guy continues to live in Naples because it is his home! Brave man...

Trinita, our teacher, said that the mafia is still very strong in southern Italy. Apparently about 75% of people pay a "pizzo" to the mafia - a fee that makes it so that everything is automatically taken care of for you, the house, job, family, and so on. Someone comes every month, always a different person, and on a different day of the week. And if you don't want to pay, well you can imagine. Or at least such is the mafia according to Trinita. It's crazy. The film was pretty interesting, and a good experience. It was kind of hard to understand, because part was in Neapolitan dialect with Italian subtitles, and then parts didn't have subtitles at all. It was also good to socialize more and do things with other students.

Italy is teaching me patience. Possibly more was published today, but on Monday, one week before my facolta at the university was set to start, there were no online postings of the courses. I don't know exactly how it is going to work, but Lucia and I might not even register me until next week... we are going to look at the listings tomorrow and make a plan for next week. I don't know. As long as Lucia is helping me, I am not too stressed. I mean, it wouldn't be productive anyway. It's just so strange because at Georgetown I would have known my schedule for this fall in April!

I suppose I never wrote about the dog of my Italian family after they got him. They came home with him that night last week. He is a tiny little thing (2 months old) and will stay that way. They can't really have a bigger dog because this apartment is not that big. His name is Briciolo, which means "grain" or "bit" in Italian, I looked it up. The first day or so, he was silent. Then he started to bark at me every time I came out of my room. My way of solving it was to make him smell my hand... then he'd stop. The past couple days he doesn't do that as much. Within a couple days after they got him, they realized he was sick. Something with his ear and a hernia on his stomach. Federico and Lisa went to a vet and got medicine for him, and they've had to give the medicine to him regularly ever since. The first few times they gave him the medicine there was lots of crying and some stress... crying on both Lisa and Briciolo's part. But I think he is getting better and giving him the medicine is not such a big deal anymore.

He is very cute, but he is not potty trained at all. They have like a pad in the kitchen for him to go on... and I think he is getting better at it. Maybe. But this past week or so he has just been sort of peeing everywhere. Yesterday Lisa brought him into my room and set him on the bed and he promptly peed on that too. Nothing that some laundry couldn't fix, thank goodness. So yes he is cute, but he can be annoying. He makes Lisa happy, and I don't have to clean it up when he uses the floor as his bathroom, so I'm fine with it all.

This weekend, I am thinking of going to Bologna for the day on Saturday. It sounds weird, but there is an H&M there and I need clothes (I didn't bring that many with me). I figure I can also see a couple of the sights and have a nice lunch. Bologna is an hour away by train. I have a very handy guidebook that Alexandra gave me (Thanks!) that covers all of Italy. I am using it for a map of the "centro" of the city and for lunch/sightseeing recommendations. Sunday I plan to do a little bit less, maybe go up to Settignano which is a small village just outside Florence.

Did I write about how Italian girls identify Connecticut as the location of the zoo in the movie Madagascar? I honestly can't remember. Well anyway my apologies if I already did... the other day Lisa's friend Giulia was here and we were talking about where I was from, and when I said Connecticut, she and Lisa were like "Ohh, lo zoo in Madagascar!" I just find the association so amusing.

On another note, I saw remembrance services for 9/11 on the news tonight while I ate dinner with Federico and Lisa. Lisa was asking about it, and for a second I was surprised she wasn't aware, but then I remembered she was born in 1999. So yeah, she was not even 2 years old. And of course she is Italian so it isn't part of her own national history. It is like something that happened in 1991 for me. Weird. But of course watching TV brought my heart right back to America and all that happened 7 years ago.

It really is interesting to hear the general European perceptions of America, and even European conceptions of Europe that allow me to really see differences. For instance, I have gotten the sense from a few conversations that Italians on the whole really worry about economic opportunity. Jobs aren't guaranteed at all for college graduates, incomes are low, prices are high. Cristina told me the other morning that she would probably have, or have had, another child if raising a child wasn't so expensive. She would like another, and she would like a sibling for Lisa, but it's just so expensive. Lisa didn't get into one of the state-run daycare centers as a young child, so Cristina had to pay for a private daycare that took up almost her whole salary. Apparently in this state-run daycare locally there were 3,000 applications for 300 spots. Without Federico's income, they would have been in dire straits. I know that many Americans worry about these kinds of things too, but it sounds like it is possibly more widespread here. So I guess just in general I have learned so far that America really is fortunate. Even in these times of economic crisis, the overall employment/income situation is better. I am relatively optimistic that after I graduate I will eventually get a decent job, and it seems like on the whole not as many young Italians feel that way. It's really interesting.

Okay I have rambled on for a while... I'll stop here!

Thoughts, Musings, Anecdotes

The first thing that comes to mind is an amusing story from class at orientation today. We were talking about holidays, and my teacher told us that many children born on Christmas (Natale in Italian) are named Natale or Natalina, kids born on Easter, Pasquale or Pasqualina. Kids born on Sunday, Domenico or Domenica. Kids born on August 1, Agosto or Agostina, maybe. (All of these correspond in the same way as Natale.) With each one, we laughed more and more... luckily I don't think she took it the wrong way. Ohhh Italians.

I had others, but they are not coming to mind right now - other stories and thoughts. I am pretty tired tonight so I'm going to try to go to bed on the earlier side. I am thinking of going to the library tomorrow and might be able to blog there in the morning.

Love you all!

Kate

Adventures of the past two days

Well yesterday was Cinque Terre. The actual place was beautiful but the format of the trip was NOT what I was expecting. I thought it would be mostly with Centro Fiorenza students, meaning people from all over who were in Italy to learn Italian and about the culture. Yeah, not so much. It turned out to be a group of about 50. One other girl was from Centro Fiorenza, she is Swiss and is a native French speaker who knows about as much Italian as me, some German, and little English. That's all cool but I just have to say it because... the other 96% of the group was all..... AMERICANS! Americans from various universities who didn't speak Italian, at all. I know it sounds a little ridiculous to have such a negative opinion of my peers from my country, but I must explain.

I am here in Italy to speak Italian, to live as much like an Italian as possible, to blend in. But yesterday I was with a large group of the stereotypical Americans... And the three guides all spoke English to them basically the whole day. Cindy was the only person with whom I could really speak Italian... so we stayed together the whole day. And we had to do the whole, group waiting thing, and on the train ride home they were just so... LOUD. And it was English, the very language I am trying to avoid speaking and hearing. I mean when I write here, and when I keep in touch with you all, of course. But out in daily life Italian is what I want to be speaking and hearing. And above all, I just wish I had known what to expect. Otherwise I might have done Cinque Terre on my own or with a small group. All that said, the place was beautiful and I am glad to have been there already, only a week into my time here. And the whole day was a reaffirmation of the more independent (and more truly Italian) way in which I am doing study abroad.

Today (Monday) I got up at 9, did my homework, haha, and then got ready to go. I met Lucia at the Scienze Politiche facolta at noon. Getting there was an adventure... or at the very least, exciting. Cristina and Federico told me I could take the bus from Piazza San Marco. I went online, and found out that the walk would take 20 minutes or so and that there was one bus at 11:25 (arriving at my stop at 11:45) and one at 11:40 (arriving at noon, our meeting time). So I left the house slightly after 11, and did the walk. It all went as planned except I walked around a certain piazza on the way instead of through - that might have saved time. Anyway, I barely missed the 11:25 bus... I thought about flagging it down but figured I could just wait til the next one. So in the meantime I went to an ATM to get some cash. Somewhere in that time period, my brain decided the next train was at 11:45. So a bit before 11:40 I decided that I had better go back. I turned the corner to see the bus pulling away... and remembered it left at 11:40, not 11:45. This time, I flagged it down while it waited at a nearby light. Thank goodness fortune (and the bus driver) were merciful. Finding the facolta went fine after that. Lucia has a friend who works at the library, and she showed me around a little. There are TONS of computers, and the library along with the whole complex, seems really new. We checked for course listings online to find that... alas... the list for this semester which starts a week from today, yes, Sept 15.... is not yet up. Lucia said last year they had their act together at this time and she hoped it would be so again, not so much. At any rate, she took my documents/copies for registering me, and is going to do that this week I guess. After that I'll get all the official documents including my library card, which will allow me to get into the library on my own.

Then we ate at the "bar" (bars are more for food and coffee than alcohol here) and she showed me where the actual cafeteria was... that might require a bit more registration and such but we'll figure it out later. It felt good to see the place where I will be taking all my classes and move a bit... even if it was just a tiny bit... toward being registered and all.

In class at orientation school this afternoon, we had two new students, they both seem a little older than the average student there, maybe 30s or so in both cases. The man, Philip, is from Ireland and is only here for a week, taking the course to refresh his Italian. The woman (I didn't completely catch her name) is from Austria and is here for 4 weeks. Both of them are married. Trinita (my teacher) came into class and introduced herself, then handed out the newspapers she gets for us every day. She told us to turn to a certain page, where it said that today was the one day in the year that the terrace on top of Il Duomo was open to the public, 10-4. It was about 2-2:30 pm at this point. She was like should we try to go? And we were like sure! And she said, okay, let's go! Have I mentioned that Trinita is awesome?

So we went, it was free, and after a wait in a line we went up all the stairs. The stairway was all stone and narrow and cool. It didn't feel dangerous or anything though. The view from the top was amazing... and it was such a beautiful day. I could see all of Florence as we walked around from one side to the other. It was incredible, and I feel so lucky I got to go. The only sad thing was that I didn't have my camera! Ohhhh well. At least the image is in my head.

Tonight I after dinner I am going to meet Franz and Maire from my class somewhere near the Ponte Vecchio. Yay for finally doing something social!

So those are the past couple days... pretty eventful all in all. Ciao!

The last couple days...

Yesterday afternoon (after I last blogged) I actually went inside Il Duomo for the first time. It is big inside! Very impressive in that way. And there are amazing paintings on the inside of the dome, it was beautiful. I just stood there for a minute or two trying to observe as many of the details as I could. I don't even remember exactly how I spent the rest of the afternoon... all those days in downtown Firenze are blending together. I think I had some more gelato though... mmm yes that sounds right.

I had the night at home to myself, because Federico, Cristina, and Lisa went to a birthday party for someone they know. I used the time to relax and go on the internet. This morning I got to sleep nice and late (til 10), and ate a leisurely breakfast and took a long shower. Then I went downtown and tried to send some mail. I say tried because I hope I did it properly... we'll have to see. I also had some lunch at a bookstore that I have visited a couple times. Then I took the bus out of the city up to Fiesole, the town where Georgetown's Villa is located. I will go there another time, but for today my main goal was to go to the "Campionato di Vino" - a wine tasting event in the Roman Theater in Fiesole. I got there a bit early, so I wandered some and went inside the cathedral there, which was also cool. At the actual event, I tried three types of wine - two Chiantis and one Carmignano... or maybe Carmignano is the place where it comes from. I don't know for sure. In any case, it was a good experience... even just being old enough to participate finally! (Here at least... I am beating the system!)

After Fiesole I took the bus back to near the house and checked out the park nearby, which was neat. There was a view of Firenze from the top part. While I was there, my parents called my cell and we talked for a bit. As I thought, it is indeed free to receive calls for me, and I think they arranged to have a rate of $0.09 to call me. I got back to the house around 6 pm. Cristina and Lisa are on a weekend trip to an amusement park somewhere in Piemonte (3 or so hours away), but Federico came home from work in the evening and made dinner for me. I still don't know exactly what he does...

Tomorrow will be a full and long day - it's the day I go to Cinque Terre!! I am so excited, but it will be an early start. I am just going to try to be ready for adventure and fun and take it all in!

Going to go now... before long I will get off the computer and go to bed!

Buona notte a tutti! (Good night everyone!)

Venerdi!

(Venerdi means Friday in Italian.)

The end of the week is here... I will be honest, already by the last day of this week it was hard to get out of bed in the morning, haha. But I got through class and to the weekend. We had an end of the week test today, in which I wish I could have done better... but we'll see, maybe I didn't do that bad. (Dave, I can hear your voice in my head saying, Kate, you did fine, whenever you say that you always do well.) So we'll see. At any rate, it's not worth worrying about.

After class I went to a pizzeria in the same neighborhood as the school. It was good, but I felt like a failure because after I ordered the guy at the cash register spoke to me in English. :-( I was sad that I was apparently not so convincing. There were other English speakers also there though... so alas, I don't know. I did ask him where the bathroom was in Italian after I was done. It at least felt like a small bit of redemption.

After I finished my lunch I walked here (to the library) using a different route than the past few days, on purpose. I walked past Palazzo Pitti which is huge, as it turns out. I will have to go there sometime. Then I walked across the Arno and saw La Chiesa di Santa Croce for the first time... another place to which I must return. Then I came here a different way than normal.

After I leave, I am thinking of going inside Il Duomo for the first time. Should be cool. And maybe I will use the rest of the afternoon to see something else, I am not sure yet. But armed with my map, I feel quite confident navigating... and then I will just hop on the bus to get home at some point.

Funny sidenote. Last night I met Lisa's friend Giulia, who was cute and talkative little girl kind of like Lisa. We were talking about where I was from and once more, I discovered that to 9-year-old Italian girls, the chief identifying fact about Connecticut is that it was the location of the zoo in the movie Madagascar. I haven't actually seen the movie but of course I've heard of it. It makes me chuckle that they know CT for that reason! Usually to say where I am from I just say a small town between New York and Boston. That usually does the job well enough. I also say I go to school in Washington DC.

Also, at dinner earlier this week, Lisa said my face was like a doll's. That is certainly a new, but very sweet, compliment! Also last night I showed her some pictures of home, including the house and the dog, which she liked.

I think that is all for now. I am hoping tomorrow will take me a little bit "fuori" (outside) the city for some scenic walking and venturing. Of course, it is hard to take a non-scenic route anywhere here! And Sunday like I said is Cinque Terre... I am really really excited!

Glad this is working as a way to keep you all posted - the amount I am on the computer I would never have time to convey this much detail otherwise!

Relieved...

Finally, I have internet on my own computer at the house where I am staying. It wasn't so much a matter of the family not wanting me to use it, but that I had to do all sorts of configuration with the internet service they bought. And since they pay based on how many hours they use it, I have to make sure to turn off the modem and if I use it a lot, I will pay them the 3 euros/hour that it costs. But honestly it's totally worth it... I will just keep good track. I can't sort of just stay online as much as I would at home, but at the very least I can go on at night, which is late afternoon in EST.

I suppose I didn't write yet that yesterday morning instead of staying at the school, the teacher took me and the 3 other students in class to an outdoor market in a park called "Le Cascine" which means "farms" more or less. The Medicis left the land to Florence on the condition that no buildings be built on it. There is also a pool there - you can swim in the Medici family swimming pool! We walked a lot - down the whole length of the market. I liked the food part best, go figure. At the booth with all the herbs one could smell the basil soooo strongly, it was incredible.

These past couple days, I literally walked across the Ponte Vecchio and right near Il Duomo on my way from school downtown for other activities (lunch, internet usage mainly). Today Lucia took me first to Gli Uffizi to get a card which allows me to go to the front of the line and get a free ticket. It's for Gli Uffizi and lots of other museums as well. Pretty cool. After we ate a quick lunch, she took me to a library in town where I got a card (for general services) and a subscription to the internet services there - one hour per day for free on their computers, and 3 hours per day on my own computer. After Lucia went back to her other job besides helping me out, I hung out there for a while and was on the internet. It was sort of spotty and slow at times... like other wireless connections I have encountered here. So far the connection here is strong. Actually here is the pattern - every connection for which I pay, is great, and every free connection, not so much. What are you going to do?

On Saturday I think I might wander around in town and take some pictures, despite the fact that I have already been by a few of the sites. I may also go to one of the smallish villages that is just outside of town - we'll have to see. And then hopefully after that I can get some pictures up on Facebook and Snapfish.

Alright, I think I will go for now. I am very excited I have this connection, but I also have a bit of homework to do before bed.

Now writing in the present...

The post below is from Monday. Today is my third day of class, and I am writing at the school. I think my break is basically over though... so I will have to write some more later.

Hopefully the large amount of detail below is a good way to catch you all up just a bit!

Love, Kate

Second "Catching Up" Post

My first day of school – Italian style!

My first success of the day was getting to the bus successfully. Not only that, but I bought tickets properly and everything. Last night, Cristina showed me the locations of stops for two bus lines. One is closer to the house but further from the school. The other is farther from the house but very close to the school. Both are convenient though – nothing is very far from anything else here really.

I had to buy tickets in a store called a “tabaccheria.” Let me tell you, tabaccherie are probably the most convenient stores ever. So far I’ve only bought bus tickets at one, but you can also buy stamps and the cards one needs to recharge time on a cell phone. Both are things I will need in the near future.

To continue though, I got to school just fine. I took the bus that was farther from the house and closer to the school. I overshot the street where I needed to turn to reach the school, but I figured it out pretty quickly. I had momentarily forgotten that roads change names across intersections (quite often) so when I looked to the right, and didn’t see the name of the street. I should have looked left and I would have seen it. But no matter, I had a feeling I had gone too far and turned around. I was nice and early too. After I waited a while with some other new foreign students, the secretary called my name and gave me a test, and told me to take it to a room and do it. After that, I handed it in and then spoke with an instructor. She asked me some questions and then explained to me my class schedule. I found out later I was in the fifth level – maybe that’s pretty good? Anyway, she brought me straight to the class, where they were in the middle of reviewing passato remoto. I sort of just jumped right in after a brief introduction and that was that. It seems that at this school people come and go into classes as they need to.

For the next couple weeks I have class every morning and two afternoons per week. The afternoon class is a slightly different group than the morning group. The morning class has three other students, one Swiss (a guy), one Scottish, and one Austrian (both girls). The teacher is really nice, probably the typical Italian “professoressa” that you might picture.

This particular afternoon, Lucia, my contact person and personal hero for the moment, took me to lunch. Basically ever since I got here (and even before) Lucia has been the person who can answer all my questions and help me with any problem. Pretty awesome. She works part of the time for Georgetown to help the students who come from there, and she also teaches at Lorenzo di Medici. Art history and literature. She’s really really nice and also very helpful. Anyway, she took me to lunch and it was that typical Italian lunch you always picture… I had bruschetta to start, which is apparently a local specialty. Lucky me. I ordered a pasta dish that Lucia recommended, it was basically ravioli with pear and cheese inside, and a sauce along with some asparagus. It was delicious… I even got dessert too – a real Italian tiramisu! Oh yeah, and red wine, and coffee after the meal.

Sidenote:

Lucia paid for lunch using money from, as she explained to me, a special “budget” provided by Georgetown for expenses related to orientation. Apparently there is some sort of supply of money for this. I also mentioned the trips to certain destinations offered by the orientation school, which I was all set to pay for myself – but then she said she can use the budget to reimburse me for that too! Soooo as a result, Georgetown is paying for me to go to Cinque Terre this weekend, and possibly to go to Chianti the weekend after that! Let’s just say I am a fan of this budget thing!!

Right. So lunch was delicious, and a good chance for me to ask Lucia a bunch of questions and talk about things in general. Also I’d like to share that she told me my Italian was good and that she was impressed with my accent! That was nice to hear… I have been wondering exactly how foreign/American I sound. So maybe I am not fooling anyone, but maybe I don’t sound horrible. Score.

To talk more about speaking Italian here… it feels good. Sure I make mistakes, and sometimes stupid ones, ones I know are wrong the second they come out of my mouth. And sometimes, I can’t get the exact word I want. The worst is when I know I used to know it, but can’t think of it. However, overall it’s going really well. I can definitely carry on conversation and understand most everything (when I pay attention). It’s just nice to have the confidence to walk into a store or somewhere like that and know exactly what I should say. Also, I’ve noticed that already I sometimes talk to myself in Italian (in my head) – so I guess that’s sort of like thinking in Italian! I just don’t know how much is voluntary and how much is involuntary or even how one might classify it. I’d say so far things language-wise are going better and faster than I thought they might. I can’t imagine where I will be in June when I leave!

After lunch, Lucia and I went back to the school in order to put together documents and forms for my permesso di soggiorno. Basically it’s another bureaucratic thing one must do to stay in Italy for an extended time – a “permission of stay.” You fill out some forms and then apply at the post office. It was kind of confusing… even for Lucia, which made me quite glad she was helping me. We had to make copies of my passport and fill out some forms, and she had to figure out if I had enough insurance (she didn’t know much about the policy I had from Georgetown until I showed it to her). Eventually we finished all that and walked across the Arno to the post office and downtown. The woman who handled my paperwork was very nice, and everything went smoothly. Lucia was very relieved that after all was said and done, I had my permesso di soggiorno – or at least if not the actual document (it takes a while to arrive… months if I understand correctly), proof of my approval. I guess theoretically the authorities can stop you at any time and ask to see your permesso di soggiorno. Fun fun. Not sure exactly how often it happens and all of that. Better safe than sorry!

After the post office, Lucia and I went to a bookstore so I could get a map and she could show me exactly where we were. We found one that was small enough to be convenient and but showed the essential parts of the city – both the center and the part where I live. She even paid for that with the lovely and helpful budget. Thanks, Georgetown!

Then Lucia had to go somewhere… I think to a library to do some work. We talked a little bit more and made plans for Wednesday afternoon (she’s going to show me the locations of libraries/bookstores where I can use wireless). Then she went off her way and I decided to explore downtown just a bit. I went from Piazza della Repubblica, which is where we left each other, to Piazza del Duomo, ie the location of Il Duomo. Yes, that Duomo that you have probably seen if you’ve ever looked at a picture of Florence. I circled almost the whole thing, I think, and also stopped into a store where I saw postcards for a much cheaper price than I’d seen elsewhere. 0,30 euros for each one! In the bookstore where I got the map, they were 0,80. I started myself off with 6, but I don’t know exactly when I’ll send them out. We’ll see how I feel.

After Il Duomo and the postcards, I walked to Piazza Santa Maria Novella, from which I knew I could take another bus home. On the way I was stopped by a woman whose Italian was very accented, because she was American. I told her I spoke English and she asked how to get to the river. I admitted that it was only my second day but pulled out my map and pointed them in the right direction, since I knew well enough where I was. After a short conversation, she and her husband went on their way and I went to the bus stop. After a wait that was short enough, the bus pulled up and brought me back to the vicinity of the house. I must say that I much prefer Florentine buses to the Metrobus in DC… I mean the Metro itself is great, but I spent my fair share of time this summer waiting for the Metrobus. The waits are shorter on ATAF (the Florentine buses), the buses are nicer, and things seem to run on time at least in my experience today. These are all good things considering these buses are going to be my primary way to get around. But it was also nice to discover that things really truly are not so far apart here. I could even walk downtown from the house in 15-20 minutes. This afternoon I was in a lot of different individual places but the walk truly didn’t feel all that long. Very doable.

I successfully got home on the bus, and made my way back here. I think I got here roughly around 6 pm, but that was well enough in time for dinner – they do in fact eat later here.

The food here at the house, Cristina’s cooking, is also great. The last two nights we had a pasta dish with pancetta. Last night there was prosciutto with melon (a classic combo) and a salad of cheese, tomato, cucumbers, and olives. Then I also had a banana. To drink I had carbonated water and then mixed some prosecco with it too – copying Cristina. This morning I had the classic Italian (and French) breakfast – coffee with some milk in a big mug, and a pastry smothered in Nutella. Yum. Tonight for dinner we had that same pasta, salad, and pizza. Cristina’s pizza was delicious – it had two types of cheese including mozzarella, tomatoes, zucchini, and basil. So good… I was going to ask for another piece and then Cristina asked if I wanted more. Perfetto. I could definitely get used to eating like this. The thought ran across my mind that I could be eating at Leo’s again nowadays… sorry guys, but I gotta say I’d prefer this any day. Yum yum. So yes overall you could definitely say the cuisine thus far has not disappointed at all – both in the house and when I ate out today. I came with high expectations and they haven’t failed me yet.

I was very excited to find out about the activities offered by the school. Like I mentioned, there is the trip to Cinque Terre, which is this Sunday. I am so there, as Cinque Terre was on my list and now I won’t have to worry about logistics. There’s also a welcome cocktail a week from today, a guided walk around Florence, and another trip next week – this time to Chianti country! That was definitely also on my list, so I’m planning on trying to go along then as well – and probably again on Georgetown’s tab!

So what else can I say – life is really good here. My biggest anxiety is finding a way to use the internet on my own computer, but I am getting closer. Even right now I’m writing this in Word to publish on the blog later. But I’ll figure it out and be more in touch with you all soon enough!

Right now Cristina, Federico, and Lisa are out looking at dogs. As I wrote before, Lisa wants a dog and has been pushing for it ever since I got here (and I assume before). As reluctant as Cristina seems, she called some places to ask and they went this evening to look at some. Lisa is hoping they come back tonight with a dog, Cristina is hoping that doesn’t happen. I’ll be interested to see the result when they return.

Tonight during the end of dinner we watched a campy Italian talent show. First of all, it TOTALLY had one stereotype of Italian television for me – 5 pretty girls dressed in skimpy outfits dancing around for no apparent reason… other than to add sex appeal. And then a somewhat doofy male host in the middle of it all. That was totally in one of the movies we watched in Italian class last year – I just don’t remember the name of it. It was the one where the daughter wanted so badly to be one of those scantily clad girls on TV… and girls like that truly do exist! I saw them! Anyway, the rest of the show was like America’s Got Talent or something. Each act had 90 seconds to show their stuff. Then the audience would vote on pairs of acts and get this – the one that lost fell through a trap door into a pool! I am not even kidding… but really I can’t criticize, American TV contains things just as stupid if not more so. But it was still funny. I also saw briefly that Making the Band was on, and I watched some Grey’s Anatomy in Italian just before I started writing this.

I have to be honest – in the months/weeks leading up to my departure there were times when I wondered if this whole thing was really a good idea – because I was realizing everything I couldn’t do and all the people I couldn’t really see during this year abroad. And those things are still on my mind, but after only the second day, I know it was a good idea – for all the reasons I imagined when I made the decision. It’s beautiful here, I am meeting all sorts of people, my Italian is already better, and it’s just incredible. Once you add some more frequent internet use, I am not sure how else things could be better. Certainly, I haven’t started at the university yet, but taking things one day at a time, it’s great. I’m glad I’m here.

This is really long… but I’m glad I have the blog so I can go into detail and you can all read it if you want. Especially with such limited internet for now, it’s really handy. I am going to go now and try to post this as soon as I can.

First "Catching Up" Entry

So today I finally have internet on my computer because I brought it to the school and there is wireless here. I am going to copy and paste this first entry that I wrote in Word, on Sunday, about my flights and the process of getting to Florence.

Here it is:

Well, I have just arrived in Florence and already today (and yesterday I guess, but it just feels like one long day) it has been an adventure.

To summarize my flights overall, I really have no complaints, especially with timeliness. I believe that all 3 flights actually touched down ahead of the scheduled arrival time. So yay for that. On the first two flights, the one problem I had, sadly, was my own bladder. Yes, that’s what I said. Hindsight is 20/20, but also I should have taken the age old lesson into consideration and used the bathroom in Bradley. Or if not that, used the bathroom on board the plane during the hour or so that the fasten seatbelt sign was off. But noooo just as we started our descent toward Dulles Airport, I realize I need to pee. And this comes on quite suddenly, considering the juice and coffee I drank at home and the water I drank on the plane. So during our entire descent into Dulles, this is what was dominating my mind. It was possibly the worst I have ever had to pee. Ever. I seriously considered asking the flight attendant if she could possibly let me get up to go during our descent… even though the fasten seatbelt sign was on. But I didn’t because that was just too brazen – even at that level of desperation.

So, I stuck it out through to landing, impatiently of course. As we taxied I told the couple next to me of my decision to try to get to the back lavatory once we were parked at the gate. They said “You know, we could have let you get up during the flight” – which of course I knew, and I explained my stupid situation of figuring it out just as I could no longer get up. Figures. So, long story short, the second the sign went off, those two let me out, and I only had to skirt around a couple people to get to the bathroom. The flight attendant back there said “Restroom? Sure!” to me as I went back but I wasn’t really waiting for his permission as it was. So, that was the main issue with the first flight, and it was entirely of my own making.

Arrival in Dulles was fine. I took a shuttle thing from the domestic terminal at which we arrived to the newer, shinier, international terminal from which I’d be departing. It was the same one in which I hung out with the students from my Turkey trip earlier this summer while we waited to depart – so that was a cool full circle thing. I found my gate first, all the while scoping out lunch and ATM possibilities. I noticed that one ATM kiosk had a currency exchange place on the other side, which was notable since I didn’t have any Euros and figured it might be a good idea to get some wherever possible. I figured my priorities were to get a People magazine, eat lunch, and exchange currency before heading back to the gate. After I called my parents and Dave, I went ahead and did those things. Had a nice fresh-tasting tuna melt at a café place – felt accomplished for finding something with ingredients resembling real food. Then I exchanged money which had a really high flat rate charge. In retrospect, I should have exchanged more money to make it more worth it, but I had my mind set on the original quantity and didn’t change it. After that I went back to the gate to hang out until it was time to board the Lufthansa plane to Munich. Let’s please note here that I did take the time to use the bathroom that was across from the gate in the terminal.

A bit less than an hour before departure, I boarded the Lufthansa plane. I was almost all the way in the back, but I had a window which was good, as I stated before. However, both my troubles on the last flight and my prophecy about “some poor soul” came to light early on. I had just finished my meal of something resembling manicotti with tomato sauce and side dishes (not bad as far as airplane food goes) when it struck me again that I needed to use the restroom. That, and I wanted to take out my contacts so I could sleep more easily. So first I had to wait for them to come take my tray, which took some time. And then there was the task of waking up the young man next to me. I started with poking him and saying “excuse me sir”. Nada. I probably tried something similar to that about 5 times… just choosing to poke him either on the shoulder or forearm to see if either worked better. Nothing. It was sort of distressing. It would have been rude to shake him but… I really needed to get up. I was just sitting there in limbo! Finally one of my tries I was a bit more forceful and actually said “Excuse me sir, I need to get up,” at which point he awoke, look confused, and then understood. I guess I should mention that he was definitely not a native English speaker either. I was trying to figure out what language he was speaking to a guy he knew… not sure, but he did the menu for his Onscreen entertainment in German. *shrug*.

Anyway, I am digressing. But I guess the point is I managed to get to the bathroom – but it was an ordeal, again. By this point I was getting very tired of my bladder ruling my life. But at least I woke that guy up. Deep sleeper! Also, I hope he didn’t hate me in that moment or if he did is over it now…

To back up, before this point, I watched “What Happens in Vegas” starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Certainly not going to win any awards, but it was good for watching on a plane. As a sidenote, I find Lufthansa’s individual screen formatting superior to AirFrance’s. Just in case you were wondering. After managing to get to the bathroom, I attempted to sleep. I did the typical airplane, trying to find a comfortable position deal. Mixed results. I did however make good use of the facemask I bought at Target last week for making things dark. I probably slept on and off for 3-4 hours… and that amounted to my night of sleep for Saturday. With the period of sleeping, the end of the flight sort of came quickly. I also ate breakfast that they gave us within the last couple hours and watched most of “21”. I will have to finish it sometime. Mom and Dad, have you seen it? It features a place you spent part of your lives… I imagine you didn’t spend your weekends going to Vegas to win thousands of dollars though…

So right. I landed in Munich. Very nice airport indeed. At times the signage was a little confusing but I found my way to passport control, where a German man was nice enough to let me into the Schengen area (after looking at my visa), and another round of security. In my preoccupation with whether I needed to take my shoes off and my liquids out (no, and yes) I didn’t take off my class ring and watch as I usually do. I think maybe the ring set off the metal detector, so I was quickly frisked by a German woman and then was good to go. I found the gate for the Florence flight with a perfect amount of time to wait. I definitely eavesdropped on some conversations to test myself on how much I understood – as it was a distinctively Italian crowd by that point. About 20 minutes before departure, we got on a bus to take us out to our plane. I knew it would be small, but it even had propellers. I wondered how it would feel to go over the Alps in it, but it was actually fine. In fact, the Alps were beautiful, and it was early morning, pretty cool. There was a mix up with where exactly my seat was (it was possibly assigned twice) but the flight attendant was really nice and accommodating.

This is more or less where I stopped on Sunday – it’s now Wednesday and I am about to post this.