So as everyone experiences, I have experienced a little home sickness. Italy is a very proper country let’s just say. Being my loud active and theatrical self doesn’t really fit in here. It’s sad but true…I miss the vulgarity all around and the outrightness of people and the not exactly dirty, but livable feeling of America. In America, there’s no fear that you are going to break something. I have no problem being proper and refined, but sometimes i just need to run and jump around and scream and have emotion. This beautiful place does not facilitate this desire inside me.
I miss the theatre immensely. I guess that’s a good sign, since it is my major. I’m looking into seeing some shows here, but getting that kind of information is a bit more difficult than at home. There’s not as much theatre here.
I miss my friends and my boyfriend. By the way, I purchased a cell phone before I came here and in retrospect it is not necessary. I recommend simply buying phone cards. I payed 5 euro and on a payphone it pays for 45 minutes, but by a landline it pays for 4 hours and 41 minutes. My host family allows me to use their phone and I can use the one at school as well. Phone cards are definitely the way to go or you can buy a cell phone here and put minutes onto it.
Also sad, but true……I miss American television!!! I know it’s horrible when I am surrounded by the grand outdoors. However Deal or no Deal just doesn’t cut it and Americans are great entertainers.You have to watch some Italian TV to really understand what I mean.
I miss big, huge, colorful, delicious breakfasts like cereal, haha, and pancakes. I miss Panos at wee hours of the morning. I miss peanut butter. (My mom will laugh at that because i didn’t start liking peanut butter until recently) Even though I adore that my host mother makes my bed everyday………………I miss my disheveled covers and unmade bed. I miss having to clean up after myself. I miss baths………..and I haven’t had one of those in a very long time, because I couldn’t take one in my last apartment either.
I don’t miss doing my laundry and cooking for myself, though. I don’t miss the cold and the snow, that’s for sure. : ) Good luck and I wish warmth to all of you in the north.
Things I miss
February 07, 2007
Siena
So, it’s a three hour bus ride from Rome to Siena. It’s a BEAUTIFUL journey. There are rolling richly green hills, bright produce farms, vineyards, incredibly blue skys, and sunny. Their grass is so perfect, it looks like turf, but it’s not.
I met my family in Siena. My Italian mom and dad are Maria Pia and Franco! I have a roommate, too and her name is Emily. But let’s talk about the parents.
Maria Pia is wonderfully dramatic. She paints her eyes with all shades of blue her cheaks and lips in red and her hair is sculpted to perfection, so that not even a gust of wind could move it out of place. She is energetic, gregarious, and hospitable. Franco is a bit older, shorter, and more quiet. You can imagine their relationship. haha It’s very entertaining. They run a butcher shop in Siena, so we have the best of meats at dinner. They are helping me become a little Italian.
Maria Pia always encourages me to transform my meak Italian into strong confident expressions. Dinner time is when I get to exercise my Italian conversation abilities. It’s humorous. The best way to learn is by trying and failing sometimes. They have a very tiny dog named Felipe and a big fat black cat named Jaugermeister, excuse my spelling. The similarities between humans and their pets make me smile.
They take care of us very well. My laundry is done everyday. My bed is made when I get home from school. Breakfast is ready on the table when I get up. Kisses are plentiful and the food is amazing. She hasn’t even repeated a meal yet and I’ve been here for 10 days! And after dinner we always watch the Italian version of Deal or no Deal and that’s exciting.
I started classes on Monday Feb. 5. I have Italian every morning at 8:30 . My classroom overlooks Piazza del Campo, the main square of Siena. It’s beautiful. Siena is a walled city, with limited motor traffic, cobble stone roads and medieval architecture. Some of this city was built before Christ and the more ‘modern’ buildings were built in the 1200’s! Who connects modern with the 1200’s. Italians! WOW, that’s all i have to say. There’s great shops, fresh produce, movies, bus station, everything you could think of.
Every Wednesday there’s a market with everything from clothes, to watches, to tools, to fresh flowers and produce for sale at cheap prices. We have experienced two markets so far and it’s great. People are very friendly and patient with us Americans trying to fumble our way through the language. Everyday we get better. It’s very incouraging. I definitely think I am learning Italian the best way there is to learn it. I learn grammar and gender and all the specifics in the classroom and then all I have to do is step outside to practice what I learn. The trick is going to be using it when I get back to the US.
I go to school next to one of the best examples of gothic architecture in the world. I feel special. It’s interesting seeing the horse hitches on the side of buildings and being transported back in time for a minute, then realizing the sound of an engine side swiping you as you’re gauking into outerspace.
This is SIena, welcome.
Rome
So after some techinical difficulties, which always seem to find me, I’m submitting my first blog to you. Sorry about the delay.
It all began with an 8 hour flight from Newark, NJ to Rome, Italy. I tried to sleep as much as possible to avoid jet lag, but, alas, it did not work. The jet lag plague will get you no matter what you do it seems. We arrived at 8 am with a full day of sight seeing ahead of us. The term ‘sight seeing’ does not do justice to what really was in store for me.
Imagine taking a bus from an airport to a hotel and in every direction you are smacked in the face with ancient Roman ruins. Can you imagine?! It was an immediate culture shock. These places and structures that I had seen in books, photographs, postcards, these two-dimensional figures were suddenly very three-dimensional.
We’re talking about The Sistine Chapel, The Roman Forum, The Colloseum, The Trevi Fountain, Vatican City, St. Peter’s Basilica, The Spanish Steps. I breathed the air that runs through them, over them, and around them! I touched The Colloseum where in history was the meeting place for all of the Romans to be entertained and to battle. I saw famous paintings and sculptures by Raphael and Michaelangelo, the originals that have been preserved. It’s incredible and extremely educational.
I experienced their meal traditions as well. For colazione (breakfast), Italians have coffee, cappuccino, or tea with pastries. For pranzo (lunch), you have the choice of a panini (sandwich), or you can sit down and enjoy bruschetta or some sort of appetizer for the first course, pasta for the second, and then cold cuts for the third. White wine is usually served with the first course and then red wine with the second course. This could change depending on what you’re eating. For cena (dinner), the first course is rice or pasta, the second is meat and a vegetable, and the third is cold cuts with cheese, and then you have dessert. Red wine is served with dinner. Fruit is always present at every meal. They have wonderful fruits and vegetables.
I am always hungry here if you can imagine that. I have breakfast at 7:15, lunch at 1 or 2, and dinner is at 8. So there is a lot of time in between meals and a lot of walking. Not to mention the brain exercise I do trying to learn the language. It’s delightfully exhausting.
There is a night life in Rome, but at this time of year Italians don’t normally go out. It’s too cold for them. This was an interesting thing for me to learn, because 45- 50 degrees is far more pleasant to go out in than what Buffalo is experincing at the moment. However, this is their winter. If you find yourself aching for a nice cold brew an illuminated Guiness is always a good sign. Irish bars seem to be the norm, but discotecas are all the rage. Not for me, though. It’s a good time, even if you’re the only ones there. haha
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