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:)

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!