Another Week of Italian Goodness
Ciao!
It has been awhile since my last post but time has been slipping by so quickly and I have finally realized that I am here to STUDY in Italy. This would mean that I actually have homework, papers, and tests. I have to be honest that these classes are less than thrilling and confirms that I would never be an Art History major. It is interesting information since I know very little about Art or its History but to me it does not seem to be important information. I have to kick that ‘tude if I am to do well in the class though☺
Since my last post, I said I was going to go to Viareggio (a beach town in Italy). However, in a tragic incidence I slept through my alarm and woke up 10 minutes before the train left. I rushed to the train station and missed the train about when I arrived. I could not figure this out for the longest time though and ended up having a mental breakdown of sorts in the train station because the people who speak even a little bit of English or understood my fragmented Italian were no where to be seen. On the Brightside, I went home and slept and ended up going to the wireless café and working on homework with some friends and having a relaxed Saturday. Plus, the beach was overcast so no big loss.
That night, we attended an “Aperitivi” party. This was a bring your own beverage of choice and enjoy appetizers. A previous student (my Italy Student Advisor) hosted the party. He is doing something unknown/nothing in Italy. It was a nice time to see my trip-mates outside of the center since we never hang out all together. However, there is still a bit of a divide but I think it is breaking down a little more? Who knows, it might last all trip but to be realistic we probably never be a close knit group!
The following day my friends and I attended an Italian soccer game! Whoop-dee-doo. It was fun to say I did it and it was fun to see the other Italian fans and how involved they get in the game but I was pretty bored since it is just a lot of kicking of a ball rather than a fast paced game like basketball, volleyball or football.
That night Amanda, my roommate, and I went to church at Santa Croce. This is the church I see from my window that has the tombs of Galileo and Michaelangelo (Just to name a couple). There is a lot of construction that is occurring so it was not as impressive as it would be without. There is very little emotion in the mass and I can’t understand the homilies. Someday…Someday.
This past week is a bit of a blur. I have had a lot of class and have been going to watch the MLB playoffs at an American bar. Two of my closest friends here are avid fans of the Oakland A’s. Therefore, I am supporting the A’s because of them and because of West Coast, AL pride. This week we had our Bing Dinner out and we had a great time but rushed out at the end so we could catch the end of the A’s game.
Recently, I have been feeling in a bit of a slump. I realize that it is not just a 2-week vacation that I am on but that I will be here for a couple more months. So, if I speak with you and I sound less than completely happy than it is just my second round of getting accustomed to living in a new place. I think I broke out of this slump a bit last Thursday. My good friend from Stanford, Ryan Williams, came to visit his girlfriend that is in my program as a surprise. I met with him before the surprising and went to lunch with him and took him to some Florence sights. I think I needed this piece of home/Stanford since I am without any close or even historical friends. Even though this was the only time I would see him, it was very refreshing to hang out with someone who wasn’t the same ole same ole. Also, that night we got all of our friends to go out (which is hard considering people live so far away from each other) and go dancing. It was a ridiculously fun time where we could dance to some American music, Italian music and some classics like “grease lightening”, “YMCA”, “We will Rock You”, “I will Survive”. I felt like I was at a really bad wedding or karaoke session but it is so much more exciting to hear those songs in Italy. Because we all know how bad “YMCA” is.
The next morning, my roomie and I had to wake up really early so we could go to the U of Florence to attend an American History lecture with our Language partners. Let me say that history professors can be boring everywhere. This guy just read off a piece of paper and mumbled everything in Italian! I wrote down everything I understoof and my language partner helped me fill in the blanks. But, I knew most everything that he was talking about. Yah Woodrow Wilson, Trust-Busters and Economic Crisis!
Following that Thursday/Friday Morning, we watched the A’s game on Friday night and then on Saturday we took the train to Bologna. Bologna has a different feel from Florence and has A LOT less tourists. It was such a good time! The main reason for going to Bologna was to see the Morandi exhibit at the museum. I really need to read more about him because he sure painted a lot of bottles and vases and then call it abstract art. We ending up shopping a lot (mostly at H&M) and went around to different Piazzas and we climbed at 500-step tower that had the most breathtaking view of Bologna. I have many pictures of this and will attach them to this posting. The stairs were frightening and definitely didn’t look stable. Looking down made me feel faint but I knew the end result would be great. By the time we got to the top we were all sweating profusely☺ But, it was so fun! Definitely the highlight of the weekend.
This week school will not be fun because I have so much reading and a quiz in Italian tomorrow (by the time I post this…the quiz will be TODAY) and I have a feeling it will be hard. Alas, now I must get back to the books! In my next post I will talk of great adventures like the Bing Opera (tomorrow night) and my weekend trip to Cinque Terre. Every weekend gets better!
I MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL!
It has been awhile since my last post but time has been slipping by so quickly and I have finally realized that I am here to STUDY in Italy. This would mean that I actually have homework, papers, and tests. I have to be honest that these classes are less than thrilling and confirms that I would never be an Art History major. It is interesting information since I know very little about Art or its History but to me it does not seem to be important information. I have to kick that ‘tude if I am to do well in the class though☺
Since my last post, I said I was going to go to Viareggio (a beach town in Italy). However, in a tragic incidence I slept through my alarm and woke up 10 minutes before the train left. I rushed to the train station and missed the train about when I arrived. I could not figure this out for the longest time though and ended up having a mental breakdown of sorts in the train station because the people who speak even a little bit of English or understood my fragmented Italian were no where to be seen. On the Brightside, I went home and slept and ended up going to the wireless café and working on homework with some friends and having a relaxed Saturday. Plus, the beach was overcast so no big loss.
That night, we attended an “Aperitivi” party. This was a bring your own beverage of choice and enjoy appetizers. A previous student (my Italy Student Advisor) hosted the party. He is doing something unknown/nothing in Italy. It was a nice time to see my trip-mates outside of the center since we never hang out all together. However, there is still a bit of a divide but I think it is breaking down a little more? Who knows, it might last all trip but to be realistic we probably never be a close knit group!
The following day my friends and I attended an Italian soccer game! Whoop-dee-doo. It was fun to say I did it and it was fun to see the other Italian fans and how involved they get in the game but I was pretty bored since it is just a lot of kicking of a ball rather than a fast paced game like basketball, volleyball or football.
That night Amanda, my roommate, and I went to church at Santa Croce. This is the church I see from my window that has the tombs of Galileo and Michaelangelo (Just to name a couple). There is a lot of construction that is occurring so it was not as impressive as it would be without. There is very little emotion in the mass and I can’t understand the homilies. Someday…Someday.
This past week is a bit of a blur. I have had a lot of class and have been going to watch the MLB playoffs at an American bar. Two of my closest friends here are avid fans of the Oakland A’s. Therefore, I am supporting the A’s because of them and because of West Coast, AL pride. This week we had our Bing Dinner out and we had a great time but rushed out at the end so we could catch the end of the A’s game.
Recently, I have been feeling in a bit of a slump. I realize that it is not just a 2-week vacation that I am on but that I will be here for a couple more months. So, if I speak with you and I sound less than completely happy than it is just my second round of getting accustomed to living in a new place. I think I broke out of this slump a bit last Thursday. My good friend from Stanford, Ryan Williams, came to visit his girlfriend that is in my program as a surprise. I met with him before the surprising and went to lunch with him and took him to some Florence sights. I think I needed this piece of home/Stanford since I am without any close or even historical friends. Even though this was the only time I would see him, it was very refreshing to hang out with someone who wasn’t the same ole same ole. Also, that night we got all of our friends to go out (which is hard considering people live so far away from each other) and go dancing. It was a ridiculously fun time where we could dance to some American music, Italian music and some classics like “grease lightening”, “YMCA”, “We will Rock You”, “I will Survive”. I felt like I was at a really bad wedding or karaoke session but it is so much more exciting to hear those songs in Italy. Because we all know how bad “YMCA” is.
The next morning, my roomie and I had to wake up really early so we could go to the U of Florence to attend an American History lecture with our Language partners. Let me say that history professors can be boring everywhere. This guy just read off a piece of paper and mumbled everything in Italian! I wrote down everything I understoof and my language partner helped me fill in the blanks. But, I knew most everything that he was talking about. Yah Woodrow Wilson, Trust-Busters and Economic Crisis!
Following that Thursday/Friday Morning, we watched the A’s game on Friday night and then on Saturday we took the train to Bologna. Bologna has a different feel from Florence and has A LOT less tourists. It was such a good time! The main reason for going to Bologna was to see the Morandi exhibit at the museum. I really need to read more about him because he sure painted a lot of bottles and vases and then call it abstract art. We ending up shopping a lot (mostly at H&M) and went around to different Piazzas and we climbed at 500-step tower that had the most breathtaking view of Bologna. I have many pictures of this and will attach them to this posting. The stairs were frightening and definitely didn’t look stable. Looking down made me feel faint but I knew the end result would be great. By the time we got to the top we were all sweating profusely☺ But, it was so fun! Definitely the highlight of the weekend.
This week school will not be fun because I have so much reading and a quiz in Italian tomorrow (by the time I post this…the quiz will be TODAY) and I have a feeling it will be hard. Alas, now I must get back to the books! In my next post I will talk of great adventures like the Bing Opera (tomorrow night) and my weekend trip to Cinque Terre. Every weekend gets better!
I MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL!
posted by Carolyn @ 9:51 AM
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