I don't know exactly what my problem is. writer's block? who knows. perhaps the complete utter shock i've been in for the last month since i arrived home to sunny little California. to my quaint little town nestled between the rolling mountains. to my favorite coffee shop downtown with excellent vanilla soy lattes. to all my loving friends. to all the adventures that i had missed so. to my family, my house, my garden... the farmer's market. i guess everything came down upon me like an oppressive fog, an overwhelming haze that dragged out for over a month.
so here i am. adjusting from my shock. re-habituating myself to this life. and let me tell you-- that's not an easy task. first of all, i feel like a completely different person. i feel sort-of displaced. like there is no specific place where i really belong. and then i think... i obviously belong here. wherever here is, because that is constantly changing. but here. where i am. in this moment. in this place. all on a general scale, of course:) and this place, where we are in every moment, is constantly changing. and that geographic location doesn't even really have importance in our lives... in our places. we are in control of our satisfaction and of our contented bliss. so then why is it so ridiculously hard to adjust from one place to another? why do we struggle so much to re-find our contentment? and what really is contentment? does true contentment really exist? or are we all changing our outlooks to find our own satisfaction, our own enjoyment and peace in our lives. who will ever know. anyway, my apologies for my philosophical babble... just a little tiny circular-shaped window for you to peer into my chaotic mind!
what i was trying to get at, is that i believe, in all honesty, i have found contentment in my life. not my Italian life, or my San Luis Obispo, CA life. not in one particular section of my life, but in my life in general. and i think it's thanks to my experience with AFS. my lovely experience in Trani, Italia.... where i made life-long friends and memories. the 6-month period of my life taught me more about myself and the people of this world than i ever thought possible.
and so here i am! at one of my homes. It's really wonderful. the sun is shining, the birds are eating on the feeder out front. my best friend is dj-ing on our local college radio station, and i am feeling so peaceful.
To me, living six months away from my California home helped everything to fall in place for me. i know who my true friends are. i'm more social. more aware of the effects of my actions and words. less of a hypocrite. more worldly. i have one more year of high-school. and i'm taking only the classes that interest me. im non a pawn in a cookie-cutter system any longer. and i'm not afraid of what will come.
This life we are living. all of these glorious moments, each of which has at least a miniscule effect, are like teensy dots on a stippled picture. when looked at in a scrutinizing manner, they may appear insignificant, chaotic, meaningless or even angering. but we zoom out, step back, to get a better look at our lives. our stippled masterpieces. with shadows, textures, graceful-flows.
we all have them, stippled lives.
and so look at what you have. it is beautiful.
this program, Intercultura, figuratively grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me violently, and scared me. but it dragged me back from my judgemental, prying, stress-filled outlook. it dragged me out of my rut... where i was stuck, trying to analyze senseless dots. this experience pulled me into another realm from which i can never leave. from which my eyes are more open and i can see all the beauty that this world offers us. where all my dots come together. from where i can see the potential, the opportunity, and the millions of doors which are swinging open all over the place. doors i think i can enter now without fear.
so here i go.
thank you all so much for following along with my journey. I hope you got something out of it :)
quando si permette l'opportunita' per qualcosa nuova da succedere, tutte le cose belle che sogniamo inizieranno. e la strada che desideriamo diventera' una strada che possiamo prendere facilmente e senza paura.
grazie intercultra. <3
15 August, 2012
16 June, 2012
June Bloom
I have often heard the phrase June Gloom, especially in California, where the morning fog really can be a bit of a downer. but as i live through this June here in Italy, I've got to say it's anything but gloomy. And so, welcome to the month of Bloom. it feels fitting, since there is a lot of growing taking place, a lot of blooming, so to speak. I feel like in my last full month in this wondrous country i'm a lot like an oriental poppy... a red one to be precise. all of my petals have emerged, slowly uncrumpling from the fuzzy green package which restricted them so... folding outwards, still wrinkly, but initiating to form a flower. a flower, which is unlike any other... not in fragrance or appearance, but in it's roots which twist down deep into the earth, it's roots which are nourished by this diverse globe.... the soil which we all share.
And so i'm a happy little red poppy in these days! my last two weeks were so full of fantastic moments, fantastic adventures, fantastic memories. First of all, I made a voyage up to Milano!
and what an incredible voyage. So essentially it put to test all my skills i've learned here. I had to take the plane alone, navigate the airport in Milano, find my train to the Milano Centrale Stazione, then find another train to Brescia, a beautiful little city where my friend Chandler lives, who was hosting me. overall, it was about a 4 hour journey. I had to ask for help, which put to use my italian speaking ability, I had to follow signs, have confidence in my decisions, and most of all I had to take in the amazing fact that i was traveling in Italy alone, with my colorful backpack slung over my shoulders, not as a tourist, not as an italian. Who exactly am I then? if not an italian, not a tourist.... who can I be? and so I sat in that little train from Milano Centrale Stazione to Brescia, thinking. and I came to the whole idea that i'm Tess. It was like an obvious realization, that to you may sound stupid, because obviously i'm Tess. but it was more than just, 'i'm tess'. it was like, here's this girl, who's living in a new place, speaking a new language, and contently experiencing a new way of living, who is traveling alone in a semi-sketchy train, a train that she found on her own. I don't know... perhaps it sounds stupid. For me, it was just a real confidence booster that i could accomplish that on my own. it was like a realization of all i've accomplished, of all i've become, of all who i am- Tess... someone worldly, diverse from just a Californian, or just an italian. i'm a swirl.
So i arrived at Brescia and Chandler and her host mum got me at the station. we took a beauteous walk around the city, it is gorgeous. there are so many mountains and green trees everywhere. Honestly, it really made me miss California. gosh, it was so beautiful! all those rolling hills, forested in a deep green. peeps of red and yellow, and the cloudy sky adding a suppressive hot glow to all the nature. quite the few days there in Brescia. one of the days we journeyed to Milano with another girl Ursi from Australia. that night, we saw Death Cab For Cutie (SO FANTASTIC!!) live in Milano. we ate Mexican Food! we laughed, walked through the streets of the city, enjoying our blissfully young lives. we saw the duomo, had some really expensive cinnamon gelato, and did some shopping:)
The next day we saw Verona, the city of love and Romeo and Juliette! how beautiful! We saw the house of Juliette, the walls full of graffiti, the letters nestled in the cracking walls... quite a poetic sight. all the young lover's names scribbled across the stucco, blending into a twisting and twerving colorful mass of sensations... hallways filled with romanitic energy, all the dreams waiting to be had, all the memories waiting to be remembered.
And then I returned to Trani. my home! for my last day of school - alas, i've finished with school! I had to write a 4 page paper in Italian, summing up my scholastic experiences here, and my friendships that i've made at school. It wasn't too difficult! and with that, I finished up with Liceo Psico-Pedagogico.
The next morning, very early, I left with all my Intercultura friends for a four day camp of all the students in this region in Taranto. we did a whole slew of activities. the second night, they had us all sit in a large circle on the floor... with all the lights out, and they gave us all little tea-light candles. we had to think of a memory that is really meaningful to us that happened in Italia, and when we felt ready, we had to say it out loud to everyone, and then light our candle with a lighter. there was a pure silence, full of so much respect and understanding. so many curious ears listening, so many open hearts loving, relating, and of course so many sets of eyes crying. It wasn't suprising how similar some of our memories were. We began to gradually illuminate the pitch-black room with all the lit-up emotions. and then all the volunteers came and took all our lit candles and placed them in the middle of the circle, organizing them to speel AFS. it was so beautiful.
and then on the last day, they had us all lie on the floor, close our eyes, and imagine all these things, imagine entering into our houses after having been gone for so long, smelling the essences of our kitchens, kissing our mums on the cheeks.
but overall it was quite the bonding experience for all of us... it was also real sad because we won't see each other all together again until we are in Rome. Until we go home in 20 days. the number is so small. I have found a pack of four friends, we call ourselves the four seasons... Me (autumn) Leah (summer) Ian (winter) and Charlotte (spring). we are all AFS students, and thus have something really strong in common. also, we get along spendidly. I'm really going to miss them when i go home. oh those words, 'when I go home'... are finally setting in with some reality. because i'm going home so soon. but i feel so at home here. so where am i going? this adventure has taken me all over the board... i've found my other home.
With my papa who takes us out in the boat on the Adriatic Sea, the powerful, vast, strong sea... whose gentle swells caress us. lapping softly, the transparent and warm sea surrounds us. It's such a concept, the sea. So impossible to understand, so expansive and strong.. but then again so gentle. such a soft touch. kisses from the sun, strokes from the sea, and stability from our soil. we are all walking, all growing, together producing an infinite wildflower field... and i'm a red poppy
And so i'm a happy little red poppy in these days! my last two weeks were so full of fantastic moments, fantastic adventures, fantastic memories. First of all, I made a voyage up to Milano!
and what an incredible voyage. So essentially it put to test all my skills i've learned here. I had to take the plane alone, navigate the airport in Milano, find my train to the Milano Centrale Stazione, then find another train to Brescia, a beautiful little city where my friend Chandler lives, who was hosting me. overall, it was about a 4 hour journey. I had to ask for help, which put to use my italian speaking ability, I had to follow signs, have confidence in my decisions, and most of all I had to take in the amazing fact that i was traveling in Italy alone, with my colorful backpack slung over my shoulders, not as a tourist, not as an italian. Who exactly am I then? if not an italian, not a tourist.... who can I be? and so I sat in that little train from Milano Centrale Stazione to Brescia, thinking. and I came to the whole idea that i'm Tess. It was like an obvious realization, that to you may sound stupid, because obviously i'm Tess. but it was more than just, 'i'm tess'. it was like, here's this girl, who's living in a new place, speaking a new language, and contently experiencing a new way of living, who is traveling alone in a semi-sketchy train, a train that she found on her own. I don't know... perhaps it sounds stupid. For me, it was just a real confidence booster that i could accomplish that on my own. it was like a realization of all i've accomplished, of all i've become, of all who i am- Tess... someone worldly, diverse from just a Californian, or just an italian. i'm a swirl.
So i arrived at Brescia and Chandler and her host mum got me at the station. we took a beauteous walk around the city, it is gorgeous. there are so many mountains and green trees everywhere. Honestly, it really made me miss California. gosh, it was so beautiful! all those rolling hills, forested in a deep green. peeps of red and yellow, and the cloudy sky adding a suppressive hot glow to all the nature. quite the few days there in Brescia. one of the days we journeyed to Milano with another girl Ursi from Australia. that night, we saw Death Cab For Cutie (SO FANTASTIC!!) live in Milano. we ate Mexican Food! we laughed, walked through the streets of the city, enjoying our blissfully young lives. we saw the duomo, had some really expensive cinnamon gelato, and did some shopping:)
The next day we saw Verona, the city of love and Romeo and Juliette! how beautiful! We saw the house of Juliette, the walls full of graffiti, the letters nestled in the cracking walls... quite a poetic sight. all the young lover's names scribbled across the stucco, blending into a twisting and twerving colorful mass of sensations... hallways filled with romanitic energy, all the dreams waiting to be had, all the memories waiting to be remembered.
And then I returned to Trani. my home! for my last day of school - alas, i've finished with school! I had to write a 4 page paper in Italian, summing up my scholastic experiences here, and my friendships that i've made at school. It wasn't too difficult! and with that, I finished up with Liceo Psico-Pedagogico.
The next morning, very early, I left with all my Intercultura friends for a four day camp of all the students in this region in Taranto. we did a whole slew of activities. the second night, they had us all sit in a large circle on the floor... with all the lights out, and they gave us all little tea-light candles. we had to think of a memory that is really meaningful to us that happened in Italia, and when we felt ready, we had to say it out loud to everyone, and then light our candle with a lighter. there was a pure silence, full of so much respect and understanding. so many curious ears listening, so many open hearts loving, relating, and of course so many sets of eyes crying. It wasn't suprising how similar some of our memories were. We began to gradually illuminate the pitch-black room with all the lit-up emotions. and then all the volunteers came and took all our lit candles and placed them in the middle of the circle, organizing them to speel AFS. it was so beautiful.
and then on the last day, they had us all lie on the floor, close our eyes, and imagine all these things, imagine entering into our houses after having been gone for so long, smelling the essences of our kitchens, kissing our mums on the cheeks.
but overall it was quite the bonding experience for all of us... it was also real sad because we won't see each other all together again until we are in Rome. Until we go home in 20 days. the number is so small. I have found a pack of four friends, we call ourselves the four seasons... Me (autumn) Leah (summer) Ian (winter) and Charlotte (spring). we are all AFS students, and thus have something really strong in common. also, we get along spendidly. I'm really going to miss them when i go home. oh those words, 'when I go home'... are finally setting in with some reality. because i'm going home so soon. but i feel so at home here. so where am i going? this adventure has taken me all over the board... i've found my other home.
With my papa who takes us out in the boat on the Adriatic Sea, the powerful, vast, strong sea... whose gentle swells caress us. lapping softly, the transparent and warm sea surrounds us. It's such a concept, the sea. So impossible to understand, so expansive and strong.. but then again so gentle. such a soft touch. kisses from the sun, strokes from the sea, and stability from our soil. we are all walking, all growing, together producing an infinite wildflower field... and i'm a red poppy
16 May, 2012
Roma, om bowls, and little things
So the day after my last entry i got a call, an amazing call, a call that made me scream so loud with excitement that my sister was furiously surprised. I got a call from MariaGrazia, my Intercultura support person, asking me if I would want to go to Roma with the host family of my friend Charlotte, from New Zealand! I don't know if i wrote about this in my last post, but on the 11th of April my host grandmother had a pretty bad fall and came to stay with us. she has been staying in my room since then, and I've been bunking with Francesca, my little sister:) It was pretty difficult at first, because everyone in the house was so nervous and stressed out, and for the first week I felt like i was without a space of my own... without my room, my closet, etc. But now it's much better and I'm settled in (in fact, sharing a room with Francesca has made us so much closer! so in a sense I'm grateful!). Ok.. so how all this relates to Rome... so my family was going to go to Rome the last weekend of April, but after the accident with my grandmother, we couldn't make the trip. which was sad. but then, I got a call! and I went to Rome. and oh my god.
Roma Roma Roma... I could probably write about a 20 page book about how much i love Rome. honestly it's the most beautiful city I've seen in Italy so far... or at least it ties with Firenze. my two favorites. However, Roma is so full of green. for being such a busy full city, there are a surprising amount of trees, flowers, grassy open spaces, and other natural things! Here in Trani, there is not really that much green. not to say there isn't any, because of course, there is green. but roma... my goodness. and on a sunny day, when the temperature is warm, there is a gentle breeze, the piercingly blue sky is splotted with puffs of white,the sound of about 20 languages is fluttering at ear's reach, and your sandaled feet stroll mindlessly along the cobblestone streets, rome is better than a dream.
Ok so as you probably know from my previous posts, if you've been following along in my adventure, I'm a terrible tourist. in the sense that when i see a famous place, and have to retell about it, i usually say something like, "there were these really pretty red oriental poppies growing out from the cracks" or something. not because i'm stupid, because i'm not, but because those tiny little beauties stick with me more than the dates of some battle, or some emperor who lived in a big house. and so, yes i know, the fact that I went to rome and didn't learn much about rome might be considered a bit pathetic. but here's what i know and the touristy things i did for those of you who like to read that kind of stuff:)
Allora... so we arrived, (having driven 4 hours in the car... Me, Charlotte, her host parents Silvana and Giani, her host brother Andrea, and their little terrier dog Laky) around the hour of 2 or something. and we got settled into our cute little bed and breakfast, on the 8th floor of this gorgeous roman building, old, and with an elevator that doesn't leave much to the imagination! and then we set off, having raded the B&B's pantry of whole wheat bread and jam, to walk around the city. of course, there was a gelateria down below, (thank you Italia, by the way, for having a gelateria on EVERY single block!!! makes dieting simply impossible) and so we had a gelato. i tried pear! suprisingly delightful! ok, so we went on this long walk and crossed the river of Roma, i'm thinking its called Tiber River... then again, im not sure, considering i am terrible with names! ok, then we saw some famous buildings in the political district of Rome, and then a Piazza who's name I don't remember, but who I studied in Latin class at SLOHS! there is a fountain in the center, and i think my latin teacher told us a story about how he and his wife met/went out for the first time/had a date there at some point, i can't remember. but it felt cool to stand in a place where someone I know had stood! so then we went to this amazing little restaurant where i ate an immensely delish salad with arugula, fresh tomatoes, huge pieces of Buffalo mozzerella, and some amazing rich balsamic. we all had glasses of beer and shared some bruschetta. yum. but oh how much i miss my family in California's cooking... the fresh, light, veggie/flavour-filled, small portioned meals!
ok, so then we went and saw forum romanum (which i studied in my latin class too!), colosseum, panteon, arch of Titus, fontana di Trevi, and many other things. one monument whose name i cannot remember, but some people know it as the 'Wedding Cake'. if you have no idea what im saying, sorry. ok, then that night, we went out for SUSHI! the first sushi of italy... and here is what i have to say: italy isn't famous for it's sushi for a reason. I left feeling homesick, hungry and 20 euros poorer! but oh well, it was an experience. So the next day we went to the Vatican! after waiting in line for ages we entered, and it was so beautiful. probably the most beautiful church i've ever seen. so immense and filled with art, colours, details. it's crazy that it was made by people before the times of power tools, machinery as we know it, before computers. the capacity of humanity unaided by modern technologies is shown clear as a bell in the Vatican, it is truly a magical feat. speaking of feet... we walked more than 500 steps to the top of the vatican to see a panorama of rome. so amazing, in fact i did it barefoot! my feet were blistered so i removed my shoes during the stair part. don't worry, i wasn't barefoot in the church! but the concept of being up so high, standing above one of europe's most gorgeous churches, seeing all of rome, proved to be even more spectacular than i could ever have imagined. ok, so then we ate lunch at this tiny sweet restaurant caffe and went home to our b and b. Charlotte and I went out together, met up with my second cousin and had caffe macchiato's in another famous Piazza whose name i cant remember. but there was a huge fountain and about a million vespas zooming around! and my cousin, Denver, told us to go to the Spanish Steps. The spanish steps are some (or should i say tons) of marble steps going up up up, covered with geraniums, bouganvilia, and other flowers, and of course a million tourists. I bought a piece of cheese and we sat in the sun enjoying life.
OK im on the last day of our trip! we woke up pretty early, took the metro into the center, and went to a huge mercato di Roma! where i had an amazing experience with an OM bowl. for those of you who don't know, om bowls are like singing bowls, and when you play them, huge vibrations and sounds that penetrate deep into your body, into your soul. so we are walking through the market, and i see this booth with all the things i love: tapestries, om signs, prayer beads, om bowls, little buddha statues, statues of ganesh, but most of all in that moment, i was drawn to the om bowls. there were so many! and so i imedialtey picked one up and started playing it. it was so big and so the vibrations were really strong. i guess that in Italy not many people know how to play om bowls, and so the guy who was working at the booth seemed happy and suprised! he brought out another om bowl from the back that was much bigger and began to seranade me. oh my god. i just closed my eyes as he moved the singing bowl from the crown of my head to the front of my face to myear to my stomach and back to the crown of my head. the vibrations of the sound waves were so intense. it literally left me trembling it was so intense. but so beautiful. it was like a ten second sum up of all my sensations in this experience abroad. so intense, and yet leaving me so trembling, so effected, easliy taken over by a greater power, a greater energy that fills our lives... some type of universal energy i cant describe. but this experience, here in italy, concentrates the energy. increases the flow of this feeling, this sensation of unitedness... all the crazy air molecules vibrating insanely together, fluctuating and pulsing with a vital rhythm. Ok, and although I probably sound crazy and i'm not making any sense, this moment i spent with that om bowl essentially re-directed all this universal energy at me. re-awakened my drive, my courage, my focus.
alrighty i'm done with retelling rome! please excuse my english, i know it has gotten rather horrible! but now on to my life here in TRANI! the city that will always come into my mind first when i think about italy, the city where my family lives! where i have friends, two sisters, a whole crew of adults i see as parental figures for me, and five cats. where i have a beautiful life.
and oh what a beautiful life it is! It's storming right now, quite the fluke, but it has been so lovely! i went to the beach many times, and my family went out on the boat on Saturday! we slept under the strong italian sun, went swimming in the salty adriatic, and ate cucumbers and focaccia:) quite a beautiful day. probably the amazing family helped make it such a beautiful day... oh what an amazing family i have here. they are such loving, remarkable people! it feels like i have two houses now. one in California, and one in Trani.
but all beautiful lives have their difficulties, part of what makes them so aweing. and my difficulties here in this beautiful life are summed up in one word that pops directly and easily into my mind. mentality. the mentality here is so different. i dont want to say it's bad, because it's just a little bit strange. perhaps only for me because im foreign, but for me, the mentality here has been a difficulty. the feeling that you are being judged for almost all you do. the feeling that everyone is always talking about everything, there are always rumors, there is always gossip. of course, you may be saying something like, 'there's gossip everywhere!' and yes it's true. but perhaps its stronger in southern italy, at least it seems it to me. and everyone here is extremely over-concerned with their reputation. they always think about their reputation before they do anything. ok, i shouldn't steriotype all southern italians by saying 'they', so i mean, in general, 'most' souther italians. but its okay. just takes some getting used too. and i think i'm getting used to it. I actually doubted my outfit yesterday before school and changed because it was too low cut. and if you know me at all, you will think, 'Tess changed her outfit to be more appropriate for school???? WHAT???' and i reply, yes, yes, yes. perhaps i'm more italian than i ever thought possible:)
and i'm speaking! pretty well! not fluent at all. but i'm working on it. it seems when i study, my speaking energy gets worse! who knows why:) but i've been studying alot because i'm going to take the certification exam in Bari at the end of June. im thinking of doing level B1 or A2(which is a little easier) i have to pay, alot, and if i dont pass the exam i choose to take, i dont get any type of certification or anything! so i'm thinking it may be better to go the safe route and do the easy one. but then again i think i can do B1! and this experience here sure isn't taking the safe route in life, and so maybe the exam should be a little stressful and scary also, because if i can do it, which i think i can, it will be even so much more rewarding.
I have to say that I LOVE my afs local chapter. they are all so amazing. we had a lovely party in the country last sunday, filled with marvelous food, music, singing, dancing, and good company. we are all one big family! its like a mini globe... all united, all international, all friends. AFS intercultura truly is like a huge global family. a family that I have become a daughter of:)
and i love my families.
Roma Roma Roma... I could probably write about a 20 page book about how much i love Rome. honestly it's the most beautiful city I've seen in Italy so far... or at least it ties with Firenze. my two favorites. However, Roma is so full of green. for being such a busy full city, there are a surprising amount of trees, flowers, grassy open spaces, and other natural things! Here in Trani, there is not really that much green. not to say there isn't any, because of course, there is green. but roma... my goodness. and on a sunny day, when the temperature is warm, there is a gentle breeze, the piercingly blue sky is splotted with puffs of white,the sound of about 20 languages is fluttering at ear's reach, and your sandaled feet stroll mindlessly along the cobblestone streets, rome is better than a dream.
Ok so as you probably know from my previous posts, if you've been following along in my adventure, I'm a terrible tourist. in the sense that when i see a famous place, and have to retell about it, i usually say something like, "there were these really pretty red oriental poppies growing out from the cracks" or something. not because i'm stupid, because i'm not, but because those tiny little beauties stick with me more than the dates of some battle, or some emperor who lived in a big house. and so, yes i know, the fact that I went to rome and didn't learn much about rome might be considered a bit pathetic. but here's what i know and the touristy things i did for those of you who like to read that kind of stuff:)
Allora... so we arrived, (having driven 4 hours in the car... Me, Charlotte, her host parents Silvana and Giani, her host brother Andrea, and their little terrier dog Laky) around the hour of 2 or something. and we got settled into our cute little bed and breakfast, on the 8th floor of this gorgeous roman building, old, and with an elevator that doesn't leave much to the imagination! and then we set off, having raded the B&B's pantry of whole wheat bread and jam, to walk around the city. of course, there was a gelateria down below, (thank you Italia, by the way, for having a gelateria on EVERY single block!!! makes dieting simply impossible) and so we had a gelato. i tried pear! suprisingly delightful! ok, so we went on this long walk and crossed the river of Roma, i'm thinking its called Tiber River... then again, im not sure, considering i am terrible with names! ok, then we saw some famous buildings in the political district of Rome, and then a Piazza who's name I don't remember, but who I studied in Latin class at SLOHS! there is a fountain in the center, and i think my latin teacher told us a story about how he and his wife met/went out for the first time/had a date there at some point, i can't remember. but it felt cool to stand in a place where someone I know had stood! so then we went to this amazing little restaurant where i ate an immensely delish salad with arugula, fresh tomatoes, huge pieces of Buffalo mozzerella, and some amazing rich balsamic. we all had glasses of beer and shared some bruschetta. yum. but oh how much i miss my family in California's cooking... the fresh, light, veggie/flavour-filled, small portioned meals!
ok, so then we went and saw forum romanum (which i studied in my latin class too!), colosseum, panteon, arch of Titus, fontana di Trevi, and many other things. one monument whose name i cannot remember, but some people know it as the 'Wedding Cake'. if you have no idea what im saying, sorry. ok, then that night, we went out for SUSHI! the first sushi of italy... and here is what i have to say: italy isn't famous for it's sushi for a reason. I left feeling homesick, hungry and 20 euros poorer! but oh well, it was an experience. So the next day we went to the Vatican! after waiting in line for ages we entered, and it was so beautiful. probably the most beautiful church i've ever seen. so immense and filled with art, colours, details. it's crazy that it was made by people before the times of power tools, machinery as we know it, before computers. the capacity of humanity unaided by modern technologies is shown clear as a bell in the Vatican, it is truly a magical feat. speaking of feet... we walked more than 500 steps to the top of the vatican to see a panorama of rome. so amazing, in fact i did it barefoot! my feet were blistered so i removed my shoes during the stair part. don't worry, i wasn't barefoot in the church! but the concept of being up so high, standing above one of europe's most gorgeous churches, seeing all of rome, proved to be even more spectacular than i could ever have imagined. ok, so then we ate lunch at this tiny sweet restaurant caffe and went home to our b and b. Charlotte and I went out together, met up with my second cousin and had caffe macchiato's in another famous Piazza whose name i cant remember. but there was a huge fountain and about a million vespas zooming around! and my cousin, Denver, told us to go to the Spanish Steps. The spanish steps are some (or should i say tons) of marble steps going up up up, covered with geraniums, bouganvilia, and other flowers, and of course a million tourists. I bought a piece of cheese and we sat in the sun enjoying life.
OK im on the last day of our trip! we woke up pretty early, took the metro into the center, and went to a huge mercato di Roma! where i had an amazing experience with an OM bowl. for those of you who don't know, om bowls are like singing bowls, and when you play them, huge vibrations and sounds that penetrate deep into your body, into your soul. so we are walking through the market, and i see this booth with all the things i love: tapestries, om signs, prayer beads, om bowls, little buddha statues, statues of ganesh, but most of all in that moment, i was drawn to the om bowls. there were so many! and so i imedialtey picked one up and started playing it. it was so big and so the vibrations were really strong. i guess that in Italy not many people know how to play om bowls, and so the guy who was working at the booth seemed happy and suprised! he brought out another om bowl from the back that was much bigger and began to seranade me. oh my god. i just closed my eyes as he moved the singing bowl from the crown of my head to the front of my face to myear to my stomach and back to the crown of my head. the vibrations of the sound waves were so intense. it literally left me trembling it was so intense. but so beautiful. it was like a ten second sum up of all my sensations in this experience abroad. so intense, and yet leaving me so trembling, so effected, easliy taken over by a greater power, a greater energy that fills our lives... some type of universal energy i cant describe. but this experience, here in italy, concentrates the energy. increases the flow of this feeling, this sensation of unitedness... all the crazy air molecules vibrating insanely together, fluctuating and pulsing with a vital rhythm. Ok, and although I probably sound crazy and i'm not making any sense, this moment i spent with that om bowl essentially re-directed all this universal energy at me. re-awakened my drive, my courage, my focus.
alrighty i'm done with retelling rome! please excuse my english, i know it has gotten rather horrible! but now on to my life here in TRANI! the city that will always come into my mind first when i think about italy, the city where my family lives! where i have friends, two sisters, a whole crew of adults i see as parental figures for me, and five cats. where i have a beautiful life.
and oh what a beautiful life it is! It's storming right now, quite the fluke, but it has been so lovely! i went to the beach many times, and my family went out on the boat on Saturday! we slept under the strong italian sun, went swimming in the salty adriatic, and ate cucumbers and focaccia:) quite a beautiful day. probably the amazing family helped make it such a beautiful day... oh what an amazing family i have here. they are such loving, remarkable people! it feels like i have two houses now. one in California, and one in Trani.
but all beautiful lives have their difficulties, part of what makes them so aweing. and my difficulties here in this beautiful life are summed up in one word that pops directly and easily into my mind. mentality. the mentality here is so different. i dont want to say it's bad, because it's just a little bit strange. perhaps only for me because im foreign, but for me, the mentality here has been a difficulty. the feeling that you are being judged for almost all you do. the feeling that everyone is always talking about everything, there are always rumors, there is always gossip. of course, you may be saying something like, 'there's gossip everywhere!' and yes it's true. but perhaps its stronger in southern italy, at least it seems it to me. and everyone here is extremely over-concerned with their reputation. they always think about their reputation before they do anything. ok, i shouldn't steriotype all southern italians by saying 'they', so i mean, in general, 'most' souther italians. but its okay. just takes some getting used too. and i think i'm getting used to it. I actually doubted my outfit yesterday before school and changed because it was too low cut. and if you know me at all, you will think, 'Tess changed her outfit to be more appropriate for school???? WHAT???' and i reply, yes, yes, yes. perhaps i'm more italian than i ever thought possible:)
and i'm speaking! pretty well! not fluent at all. but i'm working on it. it seems when i study, my speaking energy gets worse! who knows why:) but i've been studying alot because i'm going to take the certification exam in Bari at the end of June. im thinking of doing level B1 or A2(which is a little easier) i have to pay, alot, and if i dont pass the exam i choose to take, i dont get any type of certification or anything! so i'm thinking it may be better to go the safe route and do the easy one. but then again i think i can do B1! and this experience here sure isn't taking the safe route in life, and so maybe the exam should be a little stressful and scary also, because if i can do it, which i think i can, it will be even so much more rewarding.
I have to say that I LOVE my afs local chapter. they are all so amazing. we had a lovely party in the country last sunday, filled with marvelous food, music, singing, dancing, and good company. we are all one big family! its like a mini globe... all united, all international, all friends. AFS intercultura truly is like a huge global family. a family that I have become a daughter of:)
and i love my families.
23 April, 2012
almost may...
this month of april has flown crazily. and many lovely and exciting things have happened over the last three weeks that i must retell. ok, so shortly after my last blog post was the initiation of easter break in italy, which is a week off of school for easter (as you may have figured). the friday before Easter, my family and i went to Bari for the day and did all the fun sorts of shopping things, etc. but my favorite part of our day trip was the 3 hour picnic/nap we had in the most gorgeous park. all green and filled with trees, grasses, flowers, animals... and yet in the middle of a massive city. reminded me of some of the city parks in DC. it was beautiful. we had probably the best gelato i've ever tasted at this little gelateria, very antique and well known for the people of Bari.
easter was soon here and we had a beautiful day. blue, clear, and warm. where i live, on a little peninsula jutting out in the south of trani, there is a very historic monastery. So on easter sunday, my family walked, (the 30 second walk), to easter mass. It was actually incredibly beautiful! seeing that im not really the religious type, it was so beautiful even i was able to appreciate it's beauty. our easter lunch, oh deary me, so devine. suprisingly small! i always thought that easter in italy was the biggest food day! but in my family we just ate a regular amount (tons) but especially delish; crepes with a marvelous sauce and mushrooms/artichokes. my italian grandmother made them, so you can imagine their wonderful/classic-tastiness.
ok then it was Pasquetta, the day after easter, and there was an amazing party in the country that i went to, so beautiful with tons of trees, grass, flowers. I think that nature is what i miss most. Trani is incredibly gorgeous, and there is some nature, but i miss wild nature. and so it is fun fun to be in the country or in a vast green area:)
there are many religious parades of the Madonna and of Jesus in my city, some of which take place during the night, others the morning, others the evening. i saw two, and they were so intense. i have to say they frightened me a little. mainly because all the men in the parade were dressed in these white cloaks and their faces were covered with these white cone hats, and they looked almost identical to the Ku Klux Klan, whitch was horrifying. i almost cried when i first saw them. marching slowly twoards us... but then i realized it was totally different and not a horrible racist group, it was a beautiful religious tradition. then i appreciated it. but in the begining it was scary, as you could imagine!
the fifteenth of april, all of Intercultura in my local chapter traveled to Napoli, which is a very beautiful city. we walked around like crazy! it was a bit chilly and rainy but we had so much fun! it was so cool because i got to see mt. vesuvius, which i studied for like two years with my latin teacher at SLOHS. we ate pizza of napoli, probably the most delish pizza of my life! and some delishious sweets, we saw the sea, the castle on the water, many other glorious things!
the other students of Intercultura are so amazing. i have made so many close friends with the other foreign exchange students! they are all so easy going and fun to be around! and its so wonderful to know i have friends all over the world i can go to visit whenever in this life.... this experience is totally eye opening for just how big and diverse this planet is, and also just how connected and small it in in the realm of the universe.
I was thinking today about this experience, and i came to 5 points why its insanely life changing.
1. you learn a new language, honestly. i never could have fathomed this, but i am learning Italian suprisingly fast! in no means am i fluent, i barely get by to say the least... but its starting to feel like i can do it! and my friends who have been here for a year are such inspirations!
2. it gives you the possibility to make life-long friendships with people from all over the world. friendships that will last forever because they share one thing so strong, they can never be destroyed.
3. your relationships with your family and friends in your home town gets stronger and better. as they say, time strengthens everything... wait, do they say that? i do:)
4. you get the chance to know and love (and hate some parts, like being judged by EVERYSINGLEPERSON when you go barefoot somewhere) a new culture and a new family. a family that isn't related to you, but feels like it. a family that will always be there for you, always be a second home.
5. and finally, this experience helps you mature. the whole concept of having to be way more social, way more comunicative, give way more of an effort to all relationships, way more self-dependent, way more self-transportive, and way more reflective on your life in general, your future, the choices you've made, the effect of every little thing you have done, are doing, and will do. it's insane how reflective this experience will make you. and it really opens you up. like someone slices you open with a swoard and at first your in agony because it's so painful and scary, but then (considering that this example doesn't include the possiblitiy of death...) you are so relieved as everything can pour out into the open, it's lightening. i'm imagining this example, (mind you, im crazy,) with someone so weighted down, and then sliced across the chest and all these birds fly out and its so liberating. in a strange way thats exactly how this experience is. painful, difficult, but so worth it. It teaches you so much about yourself, the world, your previous life, your priorities, the things you used to take for granted, and how diverse our planet is. Its the best choice I have ever made in my life. and also the most difficult.
easter was soon here and we had a beautiful day. blue, clear, and warm. where i live, on a little peninsula jutting out in the south of trani, there is a very historic monastery. So on easter sunday, my family walked, (the 30 second walk), to easter mass. It was actually incredibly beautiful! seeing that im not really the religious type, it was so beautiful even i was able to appreciate it's beauty. our easter lunch, oh deary me, so devine. suprisingly small! i always thought that easter in italy was the biggest food day! but in my family we just ate a regular amount (tons) but especially delish; crepes with a marvelous sauce and mushrooms/artichokes. my italian grandmother made them, so you can imagine their wonderful/classic-tastiness.
ok then it was Pasquetta, the day after easter, and there was an amazing party in the country that i went to, so beautiful with tons of trees, grass, flowers. I think that nature is what i miss most. Trani is incredibly gorgeous, and there is some nature, but i miss wild nature. and so it is fun fun to be in the country or in a vast green area:)
there are many religious parades of the Madonna and of Jesus in my city, some of which take place during the night, others the morning, others the evening. i saw two, and they were so intense. i have to say they frightened me a little. mainly because all the men in the parade were dressed in these white cloaks and their faces were covered with these white cone hats, and they looked almost identical to the Ku Klux Klan, whitch was horrifying. i almost cried when i first saw them. marching slowly twoards us... but then i realized it was totally different and not a horrible racist group, it was a beautiful religious tradition. then i appreciated it. but in the begining it was scary, as you could imagine!
the fifteenth of april, all of Intercultura in my local chapter traveled to Napoli, which is a very beautiful city. we walked around like crazy! it was a bit chilly and rainy but we had so much fun! it was so cool because i got to see mt. vesuvius, which i studied for like two years with my latin teacher at SLOHS. we ate pizza of napoli, probably the most delish pizza of my life! and some delishious sweets, we saw the sea, the castle on the water, many other glorious things!
the other students of Intercultura are so amazing. i have made so many close friends with the other foreign exchange students! they are all so easy going and fun to be around! and its so wonderful to know i have friends all over the world i can go to visit whenever in this life.... this experience is totally eye opening for just how big and diverse this planet is, and also just how connected and small it in in the realm of the universe.
I was thinking today about this experience, and i came to 5 points why its insanely life changing.
1. you learn a new language, honestly. i never could have fathomed this, but i am learning Italian suprisingly fast! in no means am i fluent, i barely get by to say the least... but its starting to feel like i can do it! and my friends who have been here for a year are such inspirations!
2. it gives you the possibility to make life-long friendships with people from all over the world. friendships that will last forever because they share one thing so strong, they can never be destroyed.
3. your relationships with your family and friends in your home town gets stronger and better. as they say, time strengthens everything... wait, do they say that? i do:)
4. you get the chance to know and love (and hate some parts, like being judged by EVERYSINGLEPERSON when you go barefoot somewhere) a new culture and a new family. a family that isn't related to you, but feels like it. a family that will always be there for you, always be a second home.
5. and finally, this experience helps you mature. the whole concept of having to be way more social, way more comunicative, give way more of an effort to all relationships, way more self-dependent, way more self-transportive, and way more reflective on your life in general, your future, the choices you've made, the effect of every little thing you have done, are doing, and will do. it's insane how reflective this experience will make you. and it really opens you up. like someone slices you open with a swoard and at first your in agony because it's so painful and scary, but then (considering that this example doesn't include the possiblitiy of death...) you are so relieved as everything can pour out into the open, it's lightening. i'm imagining this example, (mind you, im crazy,) with someone so weighted down, and then sliced across the chest and all these birds fly out and its so liberating. in a strange way thats exactly how this experience is. painful, difficult, but so worth it. It teaches you so much about yourself, the world, your previous life, your priorities, the things you used to take for granted, and how diverse our planet is. Its the best choice I have ever made in my life. and also the most difficult.
03 April, 2012
il Sindaco di Trani e qualche altre cose
I was officially welcomed into Trani by the mayor himself! Last week there was a meeting for me with the Sindaco (mayor) and many other important people, both from my school and from Intercultura... and of course my family. it was so amazing, that all those people took the time to welcome me into Italy, with a silver-plated plaque and an amazing foto-filled book of the history of Trani. The only reason this welcoming was after I'd been in Italia for two months was so that I could hopefully understand the language and speak a little, which i can! its amazing, in fact I was interviewed in Italian! if you are interested in reading the article, it's here! http://www.traninews.it/articoli/9736-progetto-intercultura-il-sindaco-di-trani-incontra-una-studentessa-16enne-californiana-.asp yes yes yes, it's in Italian, but its easily translated in google translator:) It was really an amazing experience to have the opportunity to meet the Sindaco and communicate together. I am so grateful for Trani! an amazing place to live!
And it is surrounded by amazing places to visit! this last weekend i took a 3 day trip to Gravina in Puglia, a little town about one hour away by bus, where my amazing friend Leah Sharaby lives. she is another Intercultura student, and we met in New York, hit it off extremely well, and thank goodness we live so close! we took an amazing 3 hour long walk through the historic center of Gravina and almost got lost a lot... but thank god for my directional sense, we were never too lost:) Gravina has this beautiful section with a huge reservoir and grasses and trees and so much green and its hilly and everything is so antique and rustic and gorgeous. we traversed the hillside and crossed il ponte... a super old and stone bridge. being such marvelous adventurers, (considering that all students who go on exchanges are marvelous adventurers!) we ambled off the beaten path... (literally) and found a lovely sunny place to sit with an amazing view of the bridge, the valley, and the historic gravina... it was amazing! of course i did a bit of yoga:)
And it is surrounded by amazing places to visit! this last weekend i took a 3 day trip to Gravina in Puglia, a little town about one hour away by bus, where my amazing friend Leah Sharaby lives. she is another Intercultura student, and we met in New York, hit it off extremely well, and thank goodness we live so close! we took an amazing 3 hour long walk through the historic center of Gravina and almost got lost a lot... but thank god for my directional sense, we were never too lost:) Gravina has this beautiful section with a huge reservoir and grasses and trees and so much green and its hilly and everything is so antique and rustic and gorgeous. we traversed the hillside and crossed il ponte... a super old and stone bridge. being such marvelous adventurers, (considering that all students who go on exchanges are marvelous adventurers!) we ambled off the beaten path... (literally) and found a lovely sunny place to sit with an amazing view of the bridge, the valley, and the historic gravina... it was amazing! of course i did a bit of yoga:)
30 March, 2012
the flight of time
oh gosh golly gee whiz. time has flown. marzo has come and gone in the blink of an eye. it's already the thirtieth! for me this seems impossible, but then again, this experience proves everything possible. it is literally life-changing. aside from being insanely eye-opening to the world surrounding you, it also teaches you so much about yourself and about what your genuine priorities are. I feel like i've grown so much the past 2 months. haha i have to laugh at that, because i meant it mentally, but also I've grown physically... 10 kilos... whoops all that italian food's really setting in:) but oh goodness it's so so good. regardless, it doesn't really matter because all is good.
where to begin... So much has happened since my last post, ok i'll just start at the beginning. the trip to Umbria! insanely wonderful. aside from being heaps of fun, this trip was really educational and amazing practice for my Italian language skills. 3 days without one word of english:) my two roommates, Silvia and Claudia, sweetest girls ever... and luckily, they don't speak any english. it was perfect! in fact, i rarely speak english anymore here, only with my Intercultura friends and with emails and other things of that sort. it feels so good to be able to communicate in another language, as rough and incorrect as my italian may be. but today, i was having coffee with my friend and he kept telling me how american my accent was... and then we went to pay and the man at the counter asked me if I was from north Italy... you cant even believe my happiness at this! he thought i was from italy! it was so exciting:) for you its irrelevant, but i had to mention it because its just one of those things:) allora... Umbria: oh how i love this region of Italy. Umbria oh Umbria how beautiful you are. every place you look you see rolling hills, steeping mountains, little ancient towns nestled amongst them, trees, green, fields of trees studded with itsy-bitsy pink and white blossoms promising the fruits of summer... it is insanely gorgeous. the first day we toured Gubbio, a little city that has a very antique church and a nice little history. It was hard for me to focus on the historical things in this place because I was so incredibly taken by the sweet little narrow streets, incredibly steep, the millions of window-boxes with cascading red and pink geraniums, and the quirky old italian ladies sweeping the street outside their doors. But, yes the church was beautiful, and also this city of Gubbio is a little famous for its hand-painted and crafted pottery! something of much interest to me:) there was one story about a man who spins his clay on a car wheel! hard to believe, yes? then we went to our hotel, a sweet little hotel, our class took up the whole second floor:) and dinner, so much! two pastas, then a second course, then some other things, then salad, then some bread and cheese, then some gelato if you want... oh goodness it was insanely too much.
so the next day we went to Assisi. So beautiful. we got an amazing tour of the Church of San Francesco, the st. who is famous for always being with the animals. i hadn't realized before, but san francesco d'assisi in Italian is st. francis of assisis! so it was really cool for me to see where this amazing man lived and worked... a man who my family has an advent calender of! quite a beautiful thing. but this church of san francesco was amazing. massive. filled with beautiful art. the gorgeous high ceilings covered in frescos, the stained glass windows basking the internal parts of the curch with colourful beams of light, and the cracking tile floors reflecting hundreds of years of passing. and this church is filled with a story. really awakening to the reality of history and to the reality of how small and united our globe actually is.
After we saw Assisi, we hopped in the bus and popped over to Spello, my favorite city of this trip. so incredibly quaint and gorgeous. all the streets were tiny tiny tiny and cobblestone and extremely steep. also the architecture here was breathtaking. so quiet and innocent, not sabotaged by the modernness of society, but historic and thriving peacefully in a more tranquil realm. there were so many wild cats! in fact italy is filled with wild dogs and cats! i dont remember if I already wrote about this, but its so different for me, its always on my mind! so i guess here in Italia its not custom/law to spay or neuter your pets... and so there are always excess babies! and they roam around, sleep on parked cars, follow you in the streets, it's actually a little sad, because they don't have somewhere cozy to go at night.
then we saw another church of san Francesco d'assisi, and it was really aweing. the concept that the room where San Francesco died, the paintings on the walls, have been here for over 800 years. and this amazing man was in the same romm in which i stood. in which we all stood. sort of sends up chills for the spine!
The last day of our trip we visited Perugia, famous for its chocolate. oh yes, this chocolate is very very good. the kind that just melts into a rich creamy syrup on your tounge, seeping into your tastebuds with the perfect amount of sweetness. i ate so much dark chocolate, my body was probably an anti-oxidant pool. Ok so then we came back to Trani.
That about sums up the class trip, so wonderous.
hmm then it was st. patricks day and my AFS friend Riley came to trani for the night and we went out and about a little, much fun, and the next day embarked on the primo giorno of Settimana in Scambio, or exchange week, with Interculutra, in matera... (my second time in matera) it was a brilliant day, sunny and clear, and we had so much fun roaming around the beautiful old city.
Settimana in Scambio is a program made for the year students with AFS, (not allowed for semester students, not fair!) in which you get to experience another part of Italy for a week. so essentially we had about 3 students from north italy and one from Sicilia. They come to the local chapter of Trani, which encompasses Barletta and Andria, and the whole chapter spends the week together, doing little tourish things around the area. nice to have a week to bond with other exchange students and not to have to go to school! we had a nice tour of Trani, and we got to go up into the cathedral, from the top of which the view is amazing. we also saw the castles of Barletta and Andria, beautiful. In Andria we got to see the church of the sacred spine. I guess this is a little spine that was in the head of Jesus and it is very sacred and magic. once and a while when two special days collide, this thorn becomes soaked in blood! its a miracle, because it's in an airtight container and it can't be opened. rather interesting, eh? for me this is so difficult to believe, but i find it cool that we got to see the home of this sacred spine considering there are like six or something in the whole world.
We had a lesson of classic Puglia dance, and that was so fun:) an amazing occasion to learn some traditions of this region and wear a long skirt. some of the other exchange students and I are going to embark on weekly classes to learn this style of dance better! its so fun and beautiful, and the music is oh so groovy and fun to dance too. Finally on the last day of the week we had a photography lesson with the husband of Annalisa, one of the volunteers. It was incredibly fun, walking around barletta taking pictures and being instructed in Italian how to give them depth and make them more alluring to the eye. the week was finished off with an amazing party of all the people involved in the chapter... lots of food, dancing, and happiness. Im so grateful for Intercultura Centro Locale Trani! this chapeter has been so amazing!
Ok now some little wonders you might enjoy, who knows:)
the flowers are popping up all over the place! on the braches of trees, in the grass, on the side of the road, and they are insalely beautiful. little red poppies are everywhere! and also little yellow dasies, and the cherry, peach, and almond trees are coated with little blossoms. its gorgeous! finally feels like spring:) and its warm! very warm! my family is begining to put away all the super warm things, because they aren't needed anymore! woohoo im so excited! we have a little terrace on the second floor of our house that is socked in wiht sunshine from noon to when the sunsets, especially strong from 3 to 5, and ive been taking naps up there after lunch senza pants to tan up my legs a bit! and its so nice and warm and summery:)
I've got this little vase of spring in my room, filled with some unique flowers i found, and it really brightens it up! if your room ever needs a little fresh cheeryness i strongly recommend a little bouquet, it will lighten everything up a bit! Che bella questa vita:)
where to begin... So much has happened since my last post, ok i'll just start at the beginning. the trip to Umbria! insanely wonderful. aside from being heaps of fun, this trip was really educational and amazing practice for my Italian language skills. 3 days without one word of english:) my two roommates, Silvia and Claudia, sweetest girls ever... and luckily, they don't speak any english. it was perfect! in fact, i rarely speak english anymore here, only with my Intercultura friends and with emails and other things of that sort. it feels so good to be able to communicate in another language, as rough and incorrect as my italian may be. but today, i was having coffee with my friend and he kept telling me how american my accent was... and then we went to pay and the man at the counter asked me if I was from north Italy... you cant even believe my happiness at this! he thought i was from italy! it was so exciting:) for you its irrelevant, but i had to mention it because its just one of those things:) allora... Umbria: oh how i love this region of Italy. Umbria oh Umbria how beautiful you are. every place you look you see rolling hills, steeping mountains, little ancient towns nestled amongst them, trees, green, fields of trees studded with itsy-bitsy pink and white blossoms promising the fruits of summer... it is insanely gorgeous. the first day we toured Gubbio, a little city that has a very antique church and a nice little history. It was hard for me to focus on the historical things in this place because I was so incredibly taken by the sweet little narrow streets, incredibly steep, the millions of window-boxes with cascading red and pink geraniums, and the quirky old italian ladies sweeping the street outside their doors. But, yes the church was beautiful, and also this city of Gubbio is a little famous for its hand-painted and crafted pottery! something of much interest to me:) there was one story about a man who spins his clay on a car wheel! hard to believe, yes? then we went to our hotel, a sweet little hotel, our class took up the whole second floor:) and dinner, so much! two pastas, then a second course, then some other things, then salad, then some bread and cheese, then some gelato if you want... oh goodness it was insanely too much.
so the next day we went to Assisi. So beautiful. we got an amazing tour of the Church of San Francesco, the st. who is famous for always being with the animals. i hadn't realized before, but san francesco d'assisi in Italian is st. francis of assisis! so it was really cool for me to see where this amazing man lived and worked... a man who my family has an advent calender of! quite a beautiful thing. but this church of san francesco was amazing. massive. filled with beautiful art. the gorgeous high ceilings covered in frescos, the stained glass windows basking the internal parts of the curch with colourful beams of light, and the cracking tile floors reflecting hundreds of years of passing. and this church is filled with a story. really awakening to the reality of history and to the reality of how small and united our globe actually is.
After we saw Assisi, we hopped in the bus and popped over to Spello, my favorite city of this trip. so incredibly quaint and gorgeous. all the streets were tiny tiny tiny and cobblestone and extremely steep. also the architecture here was breathtaking. so quiet and innocent, not sabotaged by the modernness of society, but historic and thriving peacefully in a more tranquil realm. there were so many wild cats! in fact italy is filled with wild dogs and cats! i dont remember if I already wrote about this, but its so different for me, its always on my mind! so i guess here in Italia its not custom/law to spay or neuter your pets... and so there are always excess babies! and they roam around, sleep on parked cars, follow you in the streets, it's actually a little sad, because they don't have somewhere cozy to go at night.
then we saw another church of san Francesco d'assisi, and it was really aweing. the concept that the room where San Francesco died, the paintings on the walls, have been here for over 800 years. and this amazing man was in the same romm in which i stood. in which we all stood. sort of sends up chills for the spine!
The last day of our trip we visited Perugia, famous for its chocolate. oh yes, this chocolate is very very good. the kind that just melts into a rich creamy syrup on your tounge, seeping into your tastebuds with the perfect amount of sweetness. i ate so much dark chocolate, my body was probably an anti-oxidant pool. Ok so then we came back to Trani.
That about sums up the class trip, so wonderous.
hmm then it was st. patricks day and my AFS friend Riley came to trani for the night and we went out and about a little, much fun, and the next day embarked on the primo giorno of Settimana in Scambio, or exchange week, with Interculutra, in matera... (my second time in matera) it was a brilliant day, sunny and clear, and we had so much fun roaming around the beautiful old city.
Settimana in Scambio is a program made for the year students with AFS, (not allowed for semester students, not fair!) in which you get to experience another part of Italy for a week. so essentially we had about 3 students from north italy and one from Sicilia. They come to the local chapter of Trani, which encompasses Barletta and Andria, and the whole chapter spends the week together, doing little tourish things around the area. nice to have a week to bond with other exchange students and not to have to go to school! we had a nice tour of Trani, and we got to go up into the cathedral, from the top of which the view is amazing. we also saw the castles of Barletta and Andria, beautiful. In Andria we got to see the church of the sacred spine. I guess this is a little spine that was in the head of Jesus and it is very sacred and magic. once and a while when two special days collide, this thorn becomes soaked in blood! its a miracle, because it's in an airtight container and it can't be opened. rather interesting, eh? for me this is so difficult to believe, but i find it cool that we got to see the home of this sacred spine considering there are like six or something in the whole world.
We had a lesson of classic Puglia dance, and that was so fun:) an amazing occasion to learn some traditions of this region and wear a long skirt. some of the other exchange students and I are going to embark on weekly classes to learn this style of dance better! its so fun and beautiful, and the music is oh so groovy and fun to dance too. Finally on the last day of the week we had a photography lesson with the husband of Annalisa, one of the volunteers. It was incredibly fun, walking around barletta taking pictures and being instructed in Italian how to give them depth and make them more alluring to the eye. the week was finished off with an amazing party of all the people involved in the chapter... lots of food, dancing, and happiness. Im so grateful for Intercultura Centro Locale Trani! this chapeter has been so amazing!
Ok now some little wonders you might enjoy, who knows:)
the flowers are popping up all over the place! on the braches of trees, in the grass, on the side of the road, and they are insalely beautiful. little red poppies are everywhere! and also little yellow dasies, and the cherry, peach, and almond trees are coated with little blossoms. its gorgeous! finally feels like spring:) and its warm! very warm! my family is begining to put away all the super warm things, because they aren't needed anymore! woohoo im so excited! we have a little terrace on the second floor of our house that is socked in wiht sunshine from noon to when the sunsets, especially strong from 3 to 5, and ive been taking naps up there after lunch senza pants to tan up my legs a bit! and its so nice and warm and summery:)
I've got this little vase of spring in my room, filled with some unique flowers i found, and it really brightens it up! if your room ever needs a little fresh cheeryness i strongly recommend a little bouquet, it will lighten everything up a bit! Che bella questa vita:)
08 March, 2012
il giorno delle donne
Today is the day of women! in Italia this day is filled with mimosa flowers, le feste, and the celebration of the woman! it is truly wonderful:) generally on this day the men give the women a bouquet of mimosa flowers, which are dainty little yellow things which give off the faintest sweet aroma. I was gifted one sprig of these tiny blossoms, and it is brightening my room.
one specific thing i love about Italia is that there are no screens in the windows. anywhere! you just swing the window open and you can pop your head out! or any other part of your body you desire! a leg, an arm, both legs... i have the strong desire to dangle my legs out of the top floor of a building, but whenever i begin to do this, someone stops me. I'm not crazy! non ti preoccupare:)
well, i am a bit crazy, but thats irrelevant here:) hmm what should I talk about...
my family's recent trip to Matera, si? allora... last Sunday Leda, Francesca, my mother and father, and I traveled one hour to the city of Matera with about 15 family friends. Matera is a very historic city, composed originally of cave dwellings. now these rock caves are reffered to as Sassi di Matera, or Rocks of Matera. This city is so old and it's history stretches back to the 3rd century BC and it is really neat to see how the topography has changed over the centuries. for example in Matera there is a large rock 'cliff' so to say, and embedded in it are some seashells! because hundreds and hundreds of years ago the Adriatic sea was 48 kilometers inland! for me this is almost impossible to believe until i think about Pangaea, and the original mass of contenents... For our trip to matera we had a beautiful day:) the sun was shining wildly and the sky was clear! i wore a tank-top and a light sweater with pants and was pretty warm all day... the first day without a jacket!
In the air i can feel primavera, finally! the days are warmer, the clouds are higher, and the sound of birds twittering is far more prominent. Next week is comming with so much excitement! My class, all 3rd, (3Ap 3Ac 3Bp 3Bc 3Cp 3Cc... the c signifies classico and the p signifies pedagogico) are going to Umbria for 3 days and 2 nights! I am so excited... Umbria in spring, a beautiful adventure!
School here is so different, I can't decide if i like it more than american school or not... i really like that every day we get out around 1, but then again i don't like that we go on saturdays. My primary class is 3Bp, a pedagogical class, and I am primarily with them throughout the day. but so i can have a taste of everything, lovely intercultura has placed me all over the board. first third floor for two hours, then first floor for one hour, third floor again, finishing with an hour on the second floor. Its rather crazy, and my legs get so tired going up and down all those steps! ahaha but yes it is nice to meet so many different classes of people. the funny thing is that mainly during these crazy hours i am in studio autonomo, which is essentially: study whatever you want in this hour! so it would make more sense to just stay in one place for this, but i'm not complaining, its really nice to have that diversity:) My classes in school include: matematica, chimica, inglese, italiano, latino, storia dell'arte, and ed fisica. mostly i dont't know whats going on in classes but im starting to be able to follow along. 3 or four hours a week i have italian lessons with my tutor Francesca from intercultura, and she is so wonderful! i am learning alot from her.
I am starting to think some things in Italian, not full sentences or thoughts, but certain words and phrases! its very interesting to watch as the mind learns a new language.
Matera!
one specific thing i love about Italia is that there are no screens in the windows. anywhere! you just swing the window open and you can pop your head out! or any other part of your body you desire! a leg, an arm, both legs... i have the strong desire to dangle my legs out of the top floor of a building, but whenever i begin to do this, someone stops me. I'm not crazy! non ti preoccupare:)
well, i am a bit crazy, but thats irrelevant here:) hmm what should I talk about...
my family's recent trip to Matera, si? allora... last Sunday Leda, Francesca, my mother and father, and I traveled one hour to the city of Matera with about 15 family friends. Matera is a very historic city, composed originally of cave dwellings. now these rock caves are reffered to as Sassi di Matera, or Rocks of Matera. This city is so old and it's history stretches back to the 3rd century BC and it is really neat to see how the topography has changed over the centuries. for example in Matera there is a large rock 'cliff' so to say, and embedded in it are some seashells! because hundreds and hundreds of years ago the Adriatic sea was 48 kilometers inland! for me this is almost impossible to believe until i think about Pangaea, and the original mass of contenents... For our trip to matera we had a beautiful day:) the sun was shining wildly and the sky was clear! i wore a tank-top and a light sweater with pants and was pretty warm all day... the first day without a jacket!
In the air i can feel primavera, finally! the days are warmer, the clouds are higher, and the sound of birds twittering is far more prominent. Next week is comming with so much excitement! My class, all 3rd, (3Ap 3Ac 3Bp 3Bc 3Cp 3Cc... the c signifies classico and the p signifies pedagogico) are going to Umbria for 3 days and 2 nights! I am so excited... Umbria in spring, a beautiful adventure!
School here is so different, I can't decide if i like it more than american school or not... i really like that every day we get out around 1, but then again i don't like that we go on saturdays. My primary class is 3Bp, a pedagogical class, and I am primarily with them throughout the day. but so i can have a taste of everything, lovely intercultura has placed me all over the board. first third floor for two hours, then first floor for one hour, third floor again, finishing with an hour on the second floor. Its rather crazy, and my legs get so tired going up and down all those steps! ahaha but yes it is nice to meet so many different classes of people. the funny thing is that mainly during these crazy hours i am in studio autonomo, which is essentially: study whatever you want in this hour! so it would make more sense to just stay in one place for this, but i'm not complaining, its really nice to have that diversity:) My classes in school include: matematica, chimica, inglese, italiano, latino, storia dell'arte, and ed fisica. mostly i dont't know whats going on in classes but im starting to be able to follow along. 3 or four hours a week i have italian lessons with my tutor Francesca from intercultura, and she is so wonderful! i am learning alot from her.
I am starting to think some things in Italian, not full sentences or thoughts, but certain words and phrases! its very interesting to watch as the mind learns a new language.
17 February, 2012
finalmente sole
Yesterday and today have presented themselves with warm beams of sun! what a relief... it has been very cold here in Trani, and windy, cloudy, very brutal weather. I think spring is trying to appear! but the sun is very nice... it feels good to stand outside and feel the warmth. everything is wonderful here, friends, family, food, coffee, activities... and finally, the weather:)
last night I went out with my sister and mother and father to an Irish Pub in Bisceglie, a town just 10 minutes south of Trani, for a surprise birthday party for one of their family friends. It was extremely fun... there was a U2 tribute band called Twilight that played U2 for 3 hours... It was amazing!!! food, dancing, all other party extravagances you can imagine, quite a lovely night! and we didn't go out until 9... home around 12.30 am... mind you this is Thursday night... needless to say i was very tired today! The time here is very different from what I am used too... at night, when you go out it is not at 5, it is at 9 or 10... and you come home around 12 or so, then eat. on nights you don't go out, dinner is a little earlier like around 9 or 10. and punctuality is a whole other thing. when you have a date at 330, and you arrive at 330, you may have to wait 20 minutes or so. lucky for me, i am always running late, so i have yet had to wait. everyone here says that school is the only place where you have to be punctual. and i say, that is rubbish! 'punctual' ranges from 5 minutes early to 10 minutes late. i like this very much! we usually leave the house around 8.05 or so, school goes until 1 on all days (including Saturday.... proposterous!) and on tuesdays i stay until 2.
contrary to perhaps common belief, the fruit here is not that wonderful! the oranges are the only wonderful thing, but the apples are sort of mealy and the bananas are very brown and firm. hmmm it is very curious! i wish i could give my family here some california fruit... it is so much better!!
i think the fruit is the only thing that is not as good... in every other aspect, Italy wins in the food realm:)
attached is a view from my house of Trani at the sunset... with the ocean and the port of Trani in the distance. it is truly magnificant.
last night I went out with my sister and mother and father to an Irish Pub in Bisceglie, a town just 10 minutes south of Trani, for a surprise birthday party for one of their family friends. It was extremely fun... there was a U2 tribute band called Twilight that played U2 for 3 hours... It was amazing!!! food, dancing, all other party extravagances you can imagine, quite a lovely night! and we didn't go out until 9... home around 12.30 am... mind you this is Thursday night... needless to say i was very tired today! The time here is very different from what I am used too... at night, when you go out it is not at 5, it is at 9 or 10... and you come home around 12 or so, then eat. on nights you don't go out, dinner is a little earlier like around 9 or 10. and punctuality is a whole other thing. when you have a date at 330, and you arrive at 330, you may have to wait 20 minutes or so. lucky for me, i am always running late, so i have yet had to wait. everyone here says that school is the only place where you have to be punctual. and i say, that is rubbish! 'punctual' ranges from 5 minutes early to 10 minutes late. i like this very much! we usually leave the house around 8.05 or so, school goes until 1 on all days (including Saturday.... proposterous!) and on tuesdays i stay until 2.
contrary to perhaps common belief, the fruit here is not that wonderful! the oranges are the only wonderful thing, but the apples are sort of mealy and the bananas are very brown and firm. hmmm it is very curious! i wish i could give my family here some california fruit... it is so much better!!
i think the fruit is the only thing that is not as good... in every other aspect, Italy wins in the food realm:)
attached is a view from my house of Trani at the sunset... with the ocean and the port of Trani in the distance. it is truly magnificant.
08 February, 2012
some photos:)
tre gatti:) garfield, minu, e paris 
first gelato :) caffe, cioccolato, con panna:)
with Francesca, at a small carnival in Trani
Chicca, Me, Leda.. in Caffe Bar07 February, 2012
Bella Italia...
I can officially say that my home is in Italy! as of 9 days ago, I live in Trani, Italy, in Puglia:) This experience is well underway, and I have a lot of updating to do for you! please excuse me if my English is confusing, i have been forgetting English grammar and sentence structure... :/ ahah but i suppose that is good, perhaps it signifies that I am learning Italian! oh Italian, what a beautiful language:) It has only been 10 days in the country, and already I can understand the main idea of what people say! nonetheless, i am still phased by confusing situations everyday:)
Thank god for my amazing family.... they are the most loving, fantastic, beautiful family! every day i have gratitude for this, I feel i can call their house my home. My father, Angelo, is probably one of the sweetest men I know! so warm, caring, etc:) he brings home sweet things very often, like chiacchiere, creme filled croissants, chocolate things, fantastic! also he does the shopping for vegetables, and last week I went with him to this dear little market to get spinach, apples, fennel, tomatoes, pears, kiwis, rice, and some other wonderful things... it was a wonderful experience! I will discuss the food in great detail later on in my post.
next up is my mother, Titti, who is such a marvelous person! one of the most loving people... she won't let me go to sleep with wet hair, saying that when I am older I will have some type of head ache like her and her mother, because they went to bed with wet hair! it sounds crazy, right? but it is actually so sweet! and i have taken to the hairdrier, something I am not accustomed to. In fact, it is the most wonderful thing... called the fone, it takes around 30 minutes, but afterwords, my capelli are straight and smooth for about 3days! ( in Itlay, you can't wash your hair each day, most people only wash it once a week, but i insist after 2-3 days, it is one of the things which is foreign to me...) also my mother speaks English! which is so helpful for my learning of Italian, because she can tell me the names of things in English, then in Italian:)
Leda also speaks English, very well! she is marvelous... it feels like we have been sisters for ages, and also excellent friends! she is wonderful, for all things:)) she has been such a help, with school, with learning Italian, with life's drama's, other sisterly things... (hair braiding, gossip, laughter, picking out outfits, studying and procratiating together, going out, to the gym, to the library etc, etc... she is the sister I've always wanted and never had... quite a gift from the universe!) my other sister, Francesca, affectionately refereed to as Chicca, is so unbelievable! i always have a laugh or two with her! she only speaks a tiny bit of English, about the same amount as my Italian, but somehow we find a way to communicate and enjoy each other's company. we also share a passion for i gatti, the cats! living here are 5 cats, not in the house, ever, but always in the garden. they are not allowed inside. i am somewhat of an animal rights activist, it is like 0 degrees Celsius, it is snowing (AHHHH!!!) 20 mph winds are blowing, and the cats are all sitting outside in the window, huddled together, shivering, their plaintive eyes staring desperately into the warm casa, you can imagine my distress!!! but my family says that they are warm, they have fur coats, they have each other's body heat, but nonetheless, i am witnessing freezing cats! it is difficult! the cats are all related, a mother, and her 4 children. minu, paris, garfield, and plerumque. please excuse my spelling of the names, if they are incorrect. minu is my absolute favorite, (sorry to the others, i love you too) because she is so small and beautiful, orange and white. i love the cats.
... some words in English sound similar to Italian words, but the meanings are completely different... could lead to linguistic misunderstandings. for example, i say: "the cats, oh how adorable!" an Italian might hear, the cazzo how adorable... cazzo meaning dick.. so it is good to learn these things,, ahah but it does lead to some laughs. I am lucky for the people I've been around in these situations:)
hmmm what to discuss first... food or school. I think food. oh god. Italian food. there are no words. well there are, but they will not do it justice. so simple, so fantastic. so much better than anything, so homestyle, so fresh, so tasty, so satisfying, so nourishing, so beautiful, so classy, so delighting, so suprising, so diverse. I am in culinary heaven here! the average Joe may think, Italian food, pasta and pizza. yes, i say, but that is only the beginning. It is a crazy and marvelous world of flavours. crispy, soft, smooth, liquid, solid, sweet, savory, hot, cold, in a bowl, on a plate, out of the pan, in a cup... food everywhere. tonight, for example, we had a very simple and warming meal because of the freddissimo temmpo... pastina stelle... small pastas in the shape of stars, with a broth of a whole slew of veggies, some meats, and other pleasantries. like chicken noodle soup, except about 5 million times classier and more delicious. insalata with a medley of fruits,( mela, pera) two cheeses, two meats, tomatoes, balsamic reduction, pepe, sale, other delights... tonight was light eating! i am eating so much here, with no regrets. the result, a gaining of 2 Kilos! it is so irrelevant, my pants still fit, and i feel in a blissful state. the pasta, yes, it is fantastic, with hundreds of sauce varieties... always a pleasure. pizza... fantastic. puree di patate... like potatoe soup with cheese, cream... ahhh it so rich but so fantastic. fantastic. that is a good word to describe the Italian food. fantastico! my mother is an excellent cook! so is Leda, and I get to help in la cucina! it is so much fun for me:)) my new nonna, (grandmother) is so sweet as well. she visists ever so often... and she is a marvelous cook. the classic 'Italian grandmother':) perfect! my father makes fresh squeezed blood-orange juice for me almost every day. it is so fabulous... tart and sweet, so fresh and nourishing. He is so sweet:)
Lunch is so big! I have never eaten so much lunch.. so much! often pasta, bread, cheese, meat, some sort of baked dish, then fruit, then perhaps sweets. It is so wonderfully crazy!
breakfast, ahhh i love italian breakfast... or colazione.... consists of caffe, latte, and biscotti. essentially, a small porcelain mug full of hot, foamy milk, a smaller mug filled with strong italian espresso with a bit of sugar, and a plate of cookies. imagine the happieness! so fabulous!
SCHOOL! scuola.... scuola... ah... :) wow...italian school.... wild. so different. so fun! so difficult... it starts at 8.10, or it is suppossed to, but we always arrive about 3 minutes late and the professore is often another 5 minutes late... or so. time in italy is a whole other story, for another day. now it is so late, and i have so much more to say!
school: my school is a classical/pedigogical school, very antique! it is 3 floors high, right on the sea, beautiful views from all the windows, and full of all sorts of people. my main class, 3Bp, is so wonderful. the welcomed me from day one with open arms, open hearts, no judgement, just smiles and laughs! we all get along, it is fantastic to have a space in which i feel so comfortable so soon! i have already made some excellent friends! usually the students stay in the classroom all day and the teachers move around. for me it is a little different, because i go to another class at least one hour a day in order to get a more specific class list. with 3Bp i have Latin, English, Italian history, mathematica, chemestry, physical ed. in another class I have storia dell'arte, which is art history, a lovely class. i move to other classrooms for 'studio autonomo" so i can do some homework during school, which is nice, but most of these teachers want me to partake in their classes, which is fine by me. I love my school! everyone has been wonderful, hospitiable, fun, and happy:)
I have a tutor of Italian, Francesca, who I have seen once and who I will see in about a week or so. in total, Intercultura gives you 40 hours of Italian tutoring over the course of the semester program.. francesca is so lovely! and very patient, which is good.
Interculutra... (reffered to as AFS in Stati Uniti) is so good! i have to say, the orientation in Rome was far better than the one in NY, but i guess that's to be expected... it's Rome! :) our travels to Italia took about 30 hours... we had a 10 hour layover in Zurich international airport because of some sort of italian air-strike... but this was a fun 10 hours, lots of bonding with other Intercultura students, and luckily for us the Zurich airport offers endless opportunities:) from Roma, we took the train to Barletta, where my family picked me up. it was amazing.
so now I am here. all is good... tutto bene!!!! all is fantastico.
Italia is beautiful.
It snowed last night and tonight. no school today or tomorrow. it is truly a miracle! because I had a load of latin HW that was sooo difficult. but now I can procrastinate! yayaay!!!:) and Trani in the Snow, wow, it is lovely. and for everyone here it is so rare, a true gift from the heavens! Literally!!
happieness!!!
I will add photos another day, for now, i want to sleep:) hope all is well with every one of you!
ciao ciao ciao
XOXO
Thank god for my amazing family.... they are the most loving, fantastic, beautiful family! every day i have gratitude for this, I feel i can call their house my home. My father, Angelo, is probably one of the sweetest men I know! so warm, caring, etc:) he brings home sweet things very often, like chiacchiere, creme filled croissants, chocolate things, fantastic! also he does the shopping for vegetables, and last week I went with him to this dear little market to get spinach, apples, fennel, tomatoes, pears, kiwis, rice, and some other wonderful things... it was a wonderful experience! I will discuss the food in great detail later on in my post.
next up is my mother, Titti, who is such a marvelous person! one of the most loving people... she won't let me go to sleep with wet hair, saying that when I am older I will have some type of head ache like her and her mother, because they went to bed with wet hair! it sounds crazy, right? but it is actually so sweet! and i have taken to the hairdrier, something I am not accustomed to. In fact, it is the most wonderful thing... called the fone, it takes around 30 minutes, but afterwords, my capelli are straight and smooth for about 3days! ( in Itlay, you can't wash your hair each day, most people only wash it once a week, but i insist after 2-3 days, it is one of the things which is foreign to me...) also my mother speaks English! which is so helpful for my learning of Italian, because she can tell me the names of things in English, then in Italian:)
Leda also speaks English, very well! she is marvelous... it feels like we have been sisters for ages, and also excellent friends! she is wonderful, for all things:)) she has been such a help, with school, with learning Italian, with life's drama's, other sisterly things... (hair braiding, gossip, laughter, picking out outfits, studying and procratiating together, going out, to the gym, to the library etc, etc... she is the sister I've always wanted and never had... quite a gift from the universe!) my other sister, Francesca, affectionately refereed to as Chicca, is so unbelievable! i always have a laugh or two with her! she only speaks a tiny bit of English, about the same amount as my Italian, but somehow we find a way to communicate and enjoy each other's company. we also share a passion for i gatti, the cats! living here are 5 cats, not in the house, ever, but always in the garden. they are not allowed inside. i am somewhat of an animal rights activist, it is like 0 degrees Celsius, it is snowing (AHHHH!!!) 20 mph winds are blowing, and the cats are all sitting outside in the window, huddled together, shivering, their plaintive eyes staring desperately into the warm casa, you can imagine my distress!!! but my family says that they are warm, they have fur coats, they have each other's body heat, but nonetheless, i am witnessing freezing cats! it is difficult! the cats are all related, a mother, and her 4 children. minu, paris, garfield, and plerumque. please excuse my spelling of the names, if they are incorrect. minu is my absolute favorite, (sorry to the others, i love you too) because she is so small and beautiful, orange and white. i love the cats.
... some words in English sound similar to Italian words, but the meanings are completely different... could lead to linguistic misunderstandings. for example, i say: "the cats, oh how adorable!" an Italian might hear, the cazzo how adorable... cazzo meaning dick.. so it is good to learn these things,, ahah but it does lead to some laughs. I am lucky for the people I've been around in these situations:)
hmmm what to discuss first... food or school. I think food. oh god. Italian food. there are no words. well there are, but they will not do it justice. so simple, so fantastic. so much better than anything, so homestyle, so fresh, so tasty, so satisfying, so nourishing, so beautiful, so classy, so delighting, so suprising, so diverse. I am in culinary heaven here! the average Joe may think, Italian food, pasta and pizza. yes, i say, but that is only the beginning. It is a crazy and marvelous world of flavours. crispy, soft, smooth, liquid, solid, sweet, savory, hot, cold, in a bowl, on a plate, out of the pan, in a cup... food everywhere. tonight, for example, we had a very simple and warming meal because of the freddissimo temmpo... pastina stelle... small pastas in the shape of stars, with a broth of a whole slew of veggies, some meats, and other pleasantries. like chicken noodle soup, except about 5 million times classier and more delicious. insalata with a medley of fruits,( mela, pera) two cheeses, two meats, tomatoes, balsamic reduction, pepe, sale, other delights... tonight was light eating! i am eating so much here, with no regrets. the result, a gaining of 2 Kilos! it is so irrelevant, my pants still fit, and i feel in a blissful state. the pasta, yes, it is fantastic, with hundreds of sauce varieties... always a pleasure. pizza... fantastic. puree di patate... like potatoe soup with cheese, cream... ahhh it so rich but so fantastic. fantastic. that is a good word to describe the Italian food. fantastico! my mother is an excellent cook! so is Leda, and I get to help in la cucina! it is so much fun for me:)) my new nonna, (grandmother) is so sweet as well. she visists ever so often... and she is a marvelous cook. the classic 'Italian grandmother':) perfect! my father makes fresh squeezed blood-orange juice for me almost every day. it is so fabulous... tart and sweet, so fresh and nourishing. He is so sweet:)
Lunch is so big! I have never eaten so much lunch.. so much! often pasta, bread, cheese, meat, some sort of baked dish, then fruit, then perhaps sweets. It is so wonderfully crazy!
breakfast, ahhh i love italian breakfast... or colazione.... consists of caffe, latte, and biscotti. essentially, a small porcelain mug full of hot, foamy milk, a smaller mug filled with strong italian espresso with a bit of sugar, and a plate of cookies. imagine the happieness! so fabulous!
SCHOOL! scuola.... scuola... ah... :) wow...italian school.... wild. so different. so fun! so difficult... it starts at 8.10, or it is suppossed to, but we always arrive about 3 minutes late and the professore is often another 5 minutes late... or so. time in italy is a whole other story, for another day. now it is so late, and i have so much more to say!
school: my school is a classical/pedigogical school, very antique! it is 3 floors high, right on the sea, beautiful views from all the windows, and full of all sorts of people. my main class, 3Bp, is so wonderful. the welcomed me from day one with open arms, open hearts, no judgement, just smiles and laughs! we all get along, it is fantastic to have a space in which i feel so comfortable so soon! i have already made some excellent friends! usually the students stay in the classroom all day and the teachers move around. for me it is a little different, because i go to another class at least one hour a day in order to get a more specific class list. with 3Bp i have Latin, English, Italian history, mathematica, chemestry, physical ed. in another class I have storia dell'arte, which is art history, a lovely class. i move to other classrooms for 'studio autonomo" so i can do some homework during school, which is nice, but most of these teachers want me to partake in their classes, which is fine by me. I love my school! everyone has been wonderful, hospitiable, fun, and happy:)
I have a tutor of Italian, Francesca, who I have seen once and who I will see in about a week or so. in total, Intercultura gives you 40 hours of Italian tutoring over the course of the semester program.. francesca is so lovely! and very patient, which is good.
Interculutra... (reffered to as AFS in Stati Uniti) is so good! i have to say, the orientation in Rome was far better than the one in NY, but i guess that's to be expected... it's Rome! :) our travels to Italia took about 30 hours... we had a 10 hour layover in Zurich international airport because of some sort of italian air-strike... but this was a fun 10 hours, lots of bonding with other Intercultura students, and luckily for us the Zurich airport offers endless opportunities:) from Roma, we took the train to Barletta, where my family picked me up. it was amazing.
so now I am here. all is good... tutto bene!!!! all is fantastico.
Italia is beautiful.
It snowed last night and tonight. no school today or tomorrow. it is truly a miracle! because I had a load of latin HW that was sooo difficult. but now I can procrastinate! yayaay!!!:) and Trani in the Snow, wow, it is lovely. and for everyone here it is so rare, a true gift from the heavens! Literally!!
happieness!!!
I will add photos another day, for now, i want to sleep:) hope all is well with every one of you!
ciao ciao ciao
XOXO
13 January, 2012
visto e famiglia ospitante
Today rolled in as an extremely atypical Friday the 13th... I have had the best of luck! The most wonderful thing happened... my visa arrived in the mail! also, I finished school today (well I finished the one class I was taking, but still, it is exciting). So school is done, visa is here, what is left to do? the answer, pack! organize! and get ready to depart on the most amazing journey ever:)
I am working with my host sister, (who by the way is the most gorgeous, loving, and wonderful person, ahh I am so grateful, and honored, that we will live together!) to schedule a Skype date for my family and her family, just so we can all see each other and say hi! the language barrier will be a real challenge, considering my parents speak even less Italian than me, and I barely speak any:) but it will be lovely to see each other in cyberspace! with each passing day, my mind and body increasingly fill with more and more readiness and excitement, It is coming down to the single digits and i absolutely cannot wait! My mum and I went around the town over the last week and picked out some lovely little gifts for my host family (famiglia ospitante!) that are all either locally made or display something local (like postcards, etc). I hope that my new family likes the things I have chosen/made for them! they seem really accepting and open, so I think they will:)
It is going to be truly amazing to meet them in person.
the course I was taking at Olive Grove charter school is now complete! cramming in a 6 month course into 4 weeks was quite the undertaking, but with modern US History part B behind me, I feel as though leaving for Italy is even more of a reality, which it is! :)
upon arrival home from class today, I eagerly checked the mail (as I have been doing for the last few days), hoping my visa had come. instead of the express mail envelope I expected, I found a little peach coloured slip that said the postal carrier had missed me and couldn't leave my envelope if I wasn't there to sign for it. It also said that I would have to go to the post office on Tuesday of next week (and no sooner), to pick it up. I'm like, TUESDAY? I can't possibly wait that long, its going to kill me! so my dad and I hopped in the car and raced around the neighborhood looking for the mail carrier. guess what? pleasantly, we found him! about 6 blocks away! and he let me sign for my envelope... thus, MY VISA IS HERE!!! hallelujah, no stress, no worries, I'm set!
As it seems I have forgotten to post my travel Itinerary, I will do so now:
1. January 21st: my family piles into the car at 8 am and drives up to San Francisco
2. We dine at Chez Panisse... a dream which we all share, coming true!
3. Spend the night at the SF aeroporto hotel
4. Sunday January 22nd: fly from SF to Dulles airport in Virginia, 7.50 am
5. Arrive in Virginia sometime in the evening, Auntie Phyllis picks me up
6. January 22 evening to January 25, 3pm, make our way up to New York visiting friends and Family:)
7. January 25, 3pm: enter AFS departure orientation at (Hilton?) by JFK, until Jan 26th
8. January 26, 9pm: fly from JFK to Zurich through Swiss International Airlines
9. January 27, 10.50 am: arrive in Zurich
10. connect to flight to Rome
11. Italy:)
Through my fundraising, I am ecstatic to state that I have raised 7,700 dollars! thank you to all of those who have contributed, with the most thanks possible. I also wanted to give a special thank you to my loving grandparents, who contributed $5,000. you are the most wonderful and supportive people, and your generosity means the world to me. I love you all!
also, I wanted to send out a special thank you to my auntie, who will be driving me up to New York for departure from the D.C. area. I am so grateful to have such amazing east coast relatives!
Thank you all for following along with my journey via the blog world:) If you want to get email updates each time I post, just type your email in the little rectangular box in the mid-upper right hand corner! It will only send you an email when I post, and will not send you junk mail or spam.
fino al prossimo aggiornamento...
Xoxo
08 January, 2012
felice anno nuovo!
Happy new year to all, oh and what wondrous things the new year has swirled in with! the first 9 days of 2012 have been filled with great happenings... surely they are pretenses for a magical year to come:) the countdown is at 17 days until departure for Italy! at this moment i can barely contain my enthusiasm... the pre-departure excitement is hitting full force. crazy to think, but I only have one more Sunday in San Luis Obispo until late July! it is difficult to imagine, but does not deter my happiness in any way:)
to list the beauty in January 1st to thus far:
1) thanks to the support of my lovely parentals, my visa application process was a breeze! I was pretty worried it would be hectic and stressful, giving us much to do at the last minute, but it turned out to be effortless! we had all the documents we needed ( plus about 50 that we didn't even need ... better prepared than not i guess!) the woman at the consulate in LA knew exactly what she needed and was very helpful! my visa will be here this week:)
2) I have been communicating with my host family, through my host sister Leda mainly, and they are possibly the most loving and open people I have ever come upon:) It is like a blessing from the universe that my home will be with the Caiati family!
3) suitcases have come out, and i am embarking on a packing mission! I have to decipher between what I want to bring (all my clothes) and what i should bring logistically speaking... 44 pounds, or 20 kilos!
4) I went over to my school in town to get all my transcripts for my host school and they were so wonderful and efficient!
5) my family has been tremendously supportive and 100% loving throughout this process... i don't know if I could have done it without them!
although I am going to miss San Luis Obispo and the California feel, I am so ready to fly out into the world and immerse myself in this breathtaking journey. I also wanted to post a quick word of thanks to all of the people in my life who have financially supported my exchange... you all mean the world to me, and it has helped make this a 17 day from now reality!
xoxo to all,
Ciao!
to list the beauty in January 1st to thus far:
1) thanks to the support of my lovely parentals, my visa application process was a breeze! I was pretty worried it would be hectic and stressful, giving us much to do at the last minute, but it turned out to be effortless! we had all the documents we needed ( plus about 50 that we didn't even need ... better prepared than not i guess!) the woman at the consulate in LA knew exactly what she needed and was very helpful! my visa will be here this week:)
2) I have been communicating with my host family, through my host sister Leda mainly, and they are possibly the most loving and open people I have ever come upon:) It is like a blessing from the universe that my home will be with the Caiati family!
3) suitcases have come out, and i am embarking on a packing mission! I have to decipher between what I want to bring (all my clothes) and what i should bring logistically speaking... 44 pounds, or 20 kilos!
4) I went over to my school in town to get all my transcripts for my host school and they were so wonderful and efficient!
5) my family has been tremendously supportive and 100% loving throughout this process... i don't know if I could have done it without them!
although I am going to miss San Luis Obispo and the California feel, I am so ready to fly out into the world and immerse myself in this breathtaking journey. I also wanted to post a quick word of thanks to all of the people in my life who have financially supported my exchange... you all mean the world to me, and it has helped make this a 17 day from now reality!
xoxo to all,
Ciao!
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