Un Aggiornamento Buono
Hello I Miei Amici and La Mia Famiglia:
I am very unhappy to report that it has finally gotten cold in Firenze and that I am ill prepared for it. At the moment, I am fighting very strongly the urge to get sick. Many other students in the program are sick with colds but I refuse to get sick. As of now I have been having a dull nausea. Not fun. I am pretty sure it was the extreme differences from this past weekend till now in temperature. Unlike this past weekend, It is POURING rain. I had to walk from the duomo to my appartment in flip flops and let me say that cobblestones are impossible to walk on without getting wet. If I still had that boot I would be a gonner.
Last week, the Bing Family treated us Stanford students to a night at the opera. It was a great cultural experience but I do not think the opera is my form of high culture. The costumes were entertaining and the story line was funny but it was hard to pay attention for so long and try to translate things in my head the entire time! Other than that, it was a great time and I enjoyed getting dressed up and meeting up as a big group. At least now I can say I have been to an Italian Opera. Oh and we had amazing seats so that is another reason to thank Mr. and Mrs. Bing.
This past weekend I adventured to Cinque Terre with 5 other friends. We got up extremely early and met at the train station. The train ride is at most 3 hours and we got into Riomaggiore (the first of the 5 towns) at about 10 am. Just stepping off of the train you are hit with a vast body of water and beautiful scenery all around you. The weather had changed drastically from the morning about it had to be in the mid-70s. We got to our hostel but realized it was a bit of a walk to our hostel. To be exact: 166 steps that most were at a vertical angle. I think till that point it was the most exercise I have done in 2 months. Our hostel is what you would expect of a hostel – a pretty gross bathroom and very little but beds and a dining room table. But, the view from our hostel was incredible. It looked straight out over the town and onto the water. (Picture Below)
The first thing on our agenda was to go to the fifth land: Monterossa. This town is known for its beaches. We took the time to lay on the beach and play in the water but I was antsy to get moving and see what each town had to offer. After a couple hours and failing to find a good place to eat we took a train to the fourth land: Vernazza. Vernazza was possibly my favorite of the lands. There were a lot of people but the chance to just sit out at the dock and look around was worth it. We eventually had to move because a boat full of tourists were heading right towards us and needed to dock. We ended up taking a short hike up hill above the town to an incredible spot that allowed us the see the setting sun and the town below us. We took many pictures of course and just hung out and watched the sun go down. We then headed back to Riomaggiore to shower off and get ready for a dinner out. The fact that I do not really like fish put me in a bad position when eating out because Cinque Terre is known for its fish. I ended up having some pest gnocchi and was pleased with the outcome. Who knew I would like gnocchi so much? The rest basically consisted of us hanging out in our hostel/deck talking for a very long. It was a great bonding moment.
The next morning, we all woke up at 9 am. I was the person in charge of waking everyone up (lucky me) but for some reason I was unable to sleep. Riomaggiore is a pretty creepy place when everyone is asleep – very eerie and deserted. After everyone had woken up, we headed out on our first hike. We hiked from Riomaggiore to Manarola. It was a very easy walk but you walk along a path which they basically call the path of love. The walls are all filled with names like “James + Cindy = Love” and so on. Plus they had a guy on an accordian playing “Strangers in the night.” It was pretty romantic. We got to the second land which did not have much too it and A LOT of people so we just headed to the third land. We had to climb 400 steps to get to Corniglia but the pictures and views were entirely worth it. Corniglia was definitely the least touristy and the most Italian. It was beautiful and different from the previous 4 we had seen. It was the one that was talked about the least by Rick Steves but was one of our favorites. See? Rick Steves does not know all.
We then headed back to Florence but it was by far my favorite weekend so far in Italy. I actually don’t know how one could have a better time. The beautiful weather, scenery and good company made for the best time yet! I suggest to anyone going to Italy to spend about two days in Cinque Terre because it is breathtakingly beautiful. I would go back in the drop of a hat.
I have finally noticed this week that I am in the flow. I have a routine…in Italy. It is quite strange to think about. I know the people pretty well now and expect to see them everyday. We have the same bars/clubs that we go to every so often. I have my favorite sandwich shop, which they definitely recognize me at. I think they recognize me at this one gelato place – I should work on making sure they don’t recognize me anymore.
My classes are continuing to go well. I have to say that I am kind of disappointed in the classes as a whole though. I know I do not have the range of choices that I have at Stanford and maybe because I am taking a class out of my major but I am not that happy about them. Art History is very interesting of course but the teacher is a bit pretentious and plays big favorites. I don’t think she realizes that most people in that class have never taken art history in their lives. My other class (Sociology of Migration) is all in Italian and that means it is HARD. The teacher is Arab with a French accent but only speak Italian to us. This means it is very hard to understand what he is saying. The basic topic is interesting but I don’t think I can ever really like it since the teacher is very unorganized and always late (plus answers his phone during class). AND, the class is 3 hours! I am really testing my attention span here but so far I am doing pretty well at paying attention to the entire time. Finally, I am taking an Italian class and I love it. I get to improve my Italian even more and we talk about Italian culture a lot. I like the ability to have discussions about things that happen in our everyday life.
Tonight we are having a joint dinner with another host family and Stanford students. It should be fun. It is sort of like a family event. I am always pointed out as being really white. It is GREAT. Especially when I am with someone who is Mexican, a girl who is Filipino, and a girl who is Indian. OF COURSE I am white. I don’t feel like I look that different from them but I guess I do to them.
This weekend I am heading on a day trip to Perugia. There is a chocolate festival and this is the last weekend. I expect the chocolate to be plenty and expensive. At least I will be eating well☺ I plan to have a laid back weekend and prepare for midterms since they are in two weeks and we have our Bing trip the week after next. We are going to Pompeii, Napoli and the Amalfi Coast. It will be SO fun. We are being put up in a nice hotel and we get a big lunch and dinner while there. I am also excited to all be living together for once.
I will update in a week or so! I miss and love you all!
PS: I am putting up a Snapfish album of my adventures so far. More to come later.
I am very unhappy to report that it has finally gotten cold in Firenze and that I am ill prepared for it. At the moment, I am fighting very strongly the urge to get sick. Many other students in the program are sick with colds but I refuse to get sick. As of now I have been having a dull nausea. Not fun. I am pretty sure it was the extreme differences from this past weekend till now in temperature. Unlike this past weekend, It is POURING rain. I had to walk from the duomo to my appartment in flip flops and let me say that cobblestones are impossible to walk on without getting wet. If I still had that boot I would be a gonner.
Last week, the Bing Family treated us Stanford students to a night at the opera. It was a great cultural experience but I do not think the opera is my form of high culture. The costumes were entertaining and the story line was funny but it was hard to pay attention for so long and try to translate things in my head the entire time! Other than that, it was a great time and I enjoyed getting dressed up and meeting up as a big group. At least now I can say I have been to an Italian Opera. Oh and we had amazing seats so that is another reason to thank Mr. and Mrs. Bing.
This past weekend I adventured to Cinque Terre with 5 other friends. We got up extremely early and met at the train station. The train ride is at most 3 hours and we got into Riomaggiore (the first of the 5 towns) at about 10 am. Just stepping off of the train you are hit with a vast body of water and beautiful scenery all around you. The weather had changed drastically from the morning about it had to be in the mid-70s. We got to our hostel but realized it was a bit of a walk to our hostel. To be exact: 166 steps that most were at a vertical angle. I think till that point it was the most exercise I have done in 2 months. Our hostel is what you would expect of a hostel – a pretty gross bathroom and very little but beds and a dining room table. But, the view from our hostel was incredible. It looked straight out over the town and onto the water. (Picture Below)
The first thing on our agenda was to go to the fifth land: Monterossa. This town is known for its beaches. We took the time to lay on the beach and play in the water but I was antsy to get moving and see what each town had to offer. After a couple hours and failing to find a good place to eat we took a train to the fourth land: Vernazza. Vernazza was possibly my favorite of the lands. There were a lot of people but the chance to just sit out at the dock and look around was worth it. We eventually had to move because a boat full of tourists were heading right towards us and needed to dock. We ended up taking a short hike up hill above the town to an incredible spot that allowed us the see the setting sun and the town below us. We took many pictures of course and just hung out and watched the sun go down. We then headed back to Riomaggiore to shower off and get ready for a dinner out. The fact that I do not really like fish put me in a bad position when eating out because Cinque Terre is known for its fish. I ended up having some pest gnocchi and was pleased with the outcome. Who knew I would like gnocchi so much? The rest basically consisted of us hanging out in our hostel/deck talking for a very long. It was a great bonding moment.
The next morning, we all woke up at 9 am. I was the person in charge of waking everyone up (lucky me) but for some reason I was unable to sleep. Riomaggiore is a pretty creepy place when everyone is asleep – very eerie and deserted. After everyone had woken up, we headed out on our first hike. We hiked from Riomaggiore to Manarola. It was a very easy walk but you walk along a path which they basically call the path of love. The walls are all filled with names like “James + Cindy = Love” and so on. Plus they had a guy on an accordian playing “Strangers in the night.” It was pretty romantic. We got to the second land which did not have much too it and A LOT of people so we just headed to the third land. We had to climb 400 steps to get to Corniglia but the pictures and views were entirely worth it. Corniglia was definitely the least touristy and the most Italian. It was beautiful and different from the previous 4 we had seen. It was the one that was talked about the least by Rick Steves but was one of our favorites. See? Rick Steves does not know all.
We then headed back to Florence but it was by far my favorite weekend so far in Italy. I actually don’t know how one could have a better time. The beautiful weather, scenery and good company made for the best time yet! I suggest to anyone going to Italy to spend about two days in Cinque Terre because it is breathtakingly beautiful. I would go back in the drop of a hat.
I have finally noticed this week that I am in the flow. I have a routine…in Italy. It is quite strange to think about. I know the people pretty well now and expect to see them everyday. We have the same bars/clubs that we go to every so often. I have my favorite sandwich shop, which they definitely recognize me at. I think they recognize me at this one gelato place – I should work on making sure they don’t recognize me anymore.
My classes are continuing to go well. I have to say that I am kind of disappointed in the classes as a whole though. I know I do not have the range of choices that I have at Stanford and maybe because I am taking a class out of my major but I am not that happy about them. Art History is very interesting of course but the teacher is a bit pretentious and plays big favorites. I don’t think she realizes that most people in that class have never taken art history in their lives. My other class (Sociology of Migration) is all in Italian and that means it is HARD. The teacher is Arab with a French accent but only speak Italian to us. This means it is very hard to understand what he is saying. The basic topic is interesting but I don’t think I can ever really like it since the teacher is very unorganized and always late (plus answers his phone during class). AND, the class is 3 hours! I am really testing my attention span here but so far I am doing pretty well at paying attention to the entire time. Finally, I am taking an Italian class and I love it. I get to improve my Italian even more and we talk about Italian culture a lot. I like the ability to have discussions about things that happen in our everyday life.
Tonight we are having a joint dinner with another host family and Stanford students. It should be fun. It is sort of like a family event. I am always pointed out as being really white. It is GREAT. Especially when I am with someone who is Mexican, a girl who is Filipino, and a girl who is Indian. OF COURSE I am white. I don’t feel like I look that different from them but I guess I do to them.
This weekend I am heading on a day trip to Perugia. There is a chocolate festival and this is the last weekend. I expect the chocolate to be plenty and expensive. At least I will be eating well☺ I plan to have a laid back weekend and prepare for midterms since they are in two weeks and we have our Bing trip the week after next. We are going to Pompeii, Napoli and the Amalfi Coast. It will be SO fun. We are being put up in a nice hotel and we get a big lunch and dinner while there. I am also excited to all be living together for once.
I will update in a week or so! I miss and love you all!
PS: I am putting up a Snapfish album of my adventures so far. More to come later.
posted by Carolyn @ 6:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home