Just A Quick Update!

I'm sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, but don't worry, I've been out doing things so I have lots of cities and photos to share!  In this entry I'm just going to give a brief recap of what's been going on lately (I promise I'll go back in further detail to give each city the time it really deserves)...

First off, I've been speaking Italian everyday and it still baffles me that I can have a conversation with someone in another language. I love learning everything about the culture and seeing the differences, but I think the thing that makes me smile the most is to see how similar we all really are. Last night, I talked with Alberto and his sister about the "American Dream," and in reality, it seems that everyone dreams of having the same thing. I started to explore other Italian cities, including Ferrara, Verona, and Spoleto.

[Recalculating...]
I had visitors! Mom, Dad, Charlie and Kathleen came to Italy on Feb. 16, and I met them in Rome for the weekend. We visited Siena, Chiusi, and Cetona, and I got to show them around my new home, Perugia.  They even had my friends over for dinner one night at the villa- the boys loved Uncle Charlie's cooking.  So, Cristina, where will we be next February so that they can have another vacation?

Dad, Mom, Charlie and Kathleen in St. Peter's Square

My Italian and American Family

As the fam prepared to drive through Southern Italy, I was getting my backpack ready for Spring Break! Lindsay and I traveled to Belgium, Germany, Ireland and England.  I had the best pot of mussels in Brussels, and the dorky Laura in me definitely came out as we saw all of the historical things in Berlin.  I loved listening to all of the live bands in the pubs of Dublin (a cheeseburger has never tasted so good!), and words cannot even begin to describe how beautiful Big Ben looks in person.

Belgian Waffles could be found on every corner in Brussels!

Me and Lindsay in Berlin

London!

Lindsay, Jake, Mike and I on the London Eye

As you may have already noticed, I am basically traveling through my stomach.

The week after Spring Break, my History of Italian Food class had a field trip to Florence, where we ate a traditional Renaissance feast. We stayed in Florence for the weekend (and got two awesome views of the city- one from Piazza Michelangelo on the other side of the river, and the other at the top of the bell tower of the Duomo).

This weekend I stayed in Umbria- it seems that everyone does lots of traveling while they're abroad, but I'm glad that I'm starting to get to know Perugia better.  Umbria is known as "il cuore verde dell'Italia," or the Green Heart of Italy. I thought it was green when we first arrived in January- I never realized how green it would actually become! Everyday just keeps getting better and better (which simultaneously will make it harder and harder to leave). So what's still to come? Next weekend, I'm off to Sardegna, and in two weeks, I'll be meeting Attila and the family in Hungary!

La festa di San Costanzo

(This is a little outdated now, but this is what was going on last week!)

So I just finished my third week in Perugia, and I’m still learning new things everyday.  I can’t believe how much walking I do on a daily basis!  Whenever I walk around the city, I seem to stumble upon something new.  For example, last Monday I walked to a different grocery store on the other side of our block, and on my way I passed a street (Corso Bersaglieri) that was entirely blocked off.  The road was closed to celebrate the Feast of St. Anthony, and people were standing in the street, drinking and eating, somewhat like a block party.  All of the apartment buildings still had beautiful Christmas wreaths hanging on the doors, and ribbons and streamers were hung from building to building.  

Italian difference #3- Perugia is very into recycling, and although we haven’t received our specific garbage bags yet (it’s Italy, it seems that everything works on Andrew time), I’m very impressed by their sanitation system.  You put your garbage on the sidewalk between 8pm and 10pm, and then these cute little garbage trucks begin picking everything up.  You never see a garbage truck during the day; you only see its little orange light as it drives around late at night.   What surprises me even more is that there are hundreds upon hundreds of people that hang out in the square at night.  If you walk through at 10pm, there’s only a handful, but if you’re there at 1 or later, it is packed with students.  There are three main colleges in Perugia, the Università di Perugia, the Università di Stranieri (University for Foreigners), and the Umbra Institute (the American college).  People come to Perugia from all over the world to study Italian, and I think that’s part of the reason why the people have been so welcoming to us.   So when you walk home at night, there are still plenty of people out sitting on the steps, and the town looks like a mess.  Yet when you wake up in the morning, it’s clean (except for all of the dog poop- that never seems to go away)!  All of the litter from the night before has magically disappeared, because these men go around and sweep everything up.  I can’t imagine that this would work in a bigger city, but considering the masses of people that are out at night, Perugia feels like a much bigger city than it appears. 

Thursday night we went out to dinner to a small pizzeria called Pizza e Musica- I think its one of Perugia’s hidden places.  It didn’t even have a sign on the door, so I know I never would have found it if my friends didn’t already know how to get there.  After dinner, we went to the Università per Stranieri (University for Foreigners) for a Jazz concert.  This was one of the things on my bucket list (along with touring the Perugina chocolate factory) since Perugia is so well known for its Jazz. The room that it was held in has a controversial painting on the wall, and there’s a screen that is usually pulled down to cover it.  The University was founded in the 1920’s and at this time of fascism, it was meant to “spread the superior Italian culture around the world.”  And the painting depicts just that.  It’s been really interesting to learn about World War II outside of the American perspective.  (And I really enjoyed the concert!)

Aula Magna in the Universita` per Stranieri

Friday morning I took the train with a couple of friends and went to Assisi.  It was only a twenty-thirty minute train ride from Perugia, and it was absolutely beautiful.  That was the day my cold began so I stopped at a small café for a tea, and the owner was so nice.  We talked for a while, and he told me about his friends that live in Jessup, PA, which is surprisingly close to Scranton.  He even gave me a map, and highlighted his favorite places in Assisi.  If I go back, I’ll definitely have to see him again.  St. Francis’ basilica was absolutely beautiful.  It was built on the edge of a hill, and is actually comprised of two churches, one on the lower level and one on the upper level, and there is a crypt underneath where St. Francis is buried.  Until St. Francis was buried here, his body was on guard twenty four hours a day, seven days a week in fear that it would be stolen- at this time, grave digging was a way to find money, especially for the bones of a saint.  It is interesting that the hill used to be called the “Hill of Hell,” since it was the place where criminals were put to death in Assisi.  Now that the Basilica is there, it is now know as the “Hill of Paradise.”

The Basilica

Assisi

View from the top level of the Basilica

We walked along a brick pathway that had thousands of names, including several Capasso's!

This weekend was the Festa di San Costanzo, and it’s a big deal here since San Costanzo is the patron saint of Perugia.  There is a special mass in the Cathedral, followed by a fiera, which is an open market in town.  Il torcollo di San Costanzo is a special type of bread made specifically for this holiday, consisting of pine nuts, raisins, and candied fruits.  I went with Nicki at noon to the center, and they had a tent set up where different bakeries from all over the city gave out samples of torcollo.  After, we walked to the giant market that was open for the holiday- they truly sold everything.  At night I went to Lindsay’s apartment.  She cooked dinner with her apartment mates and we played cards with our new Italian friends. 

Another beautiful day in Perugia

Just one of the countless stands that lined the streets to celebrate the festival of San Costanzo

Inside the tent, the samples didn't last long but they sure tasted good!

Sunday morning I finally woke up in time to go to mass (last Sunday the doors were locked because I had messed up the schedule).  Barbara gave me directions to the church that she goes to, so I woke up early and walked down a large set of winding steps into this tiny church.  Barbara described it as piccola e carina, but I didn’t realize how small it was going to be- and yet when you looked up and saw all of the detail in the paintings and the gold bearings on the arches, it seemed enormous! I didn’t know any of the responses, and I think I understood the homily for the most part.  I’m very excited to see what Easter will be like here in Italy! Highlight of Sunday: Someone stopped and asked me for directions!! Granted, there is a possibility that I told her the wrong way because I’ve never given directions in Italian, but just the fact that someone thought I looked like I knew where I was going was very comforting.  

I finally found the firehouse when we walked around on Saturday, now I know where to bring Dad in a week!

The stairs up Via Bartolo
I could only fit half of the steps in the picture, but I walk up this street every day to get to class and into the center of town. Needless to say, my legs are getting in good shape.

Macchina, perche`, perche`?

This weekend was my first weekend of traveling.  After researching several small cities in the Tuscan region, the final destination was based on the predicted forecast.  So, off to Lucca we went!  

The wall that encircles the city of Lucca

Lindsay sitting on the wall

Lindsay, Chelsea and I were originally psyched at the chance to arrive early and spend the whole day in Lucca.  But our 6am train did not seem like a good idea Friday morning, when I woke up at 4:15am and it was dark, cold, and sleeting.  My toes were numb as we waited at the bus stop, and the wind still managed somehow to go through all of the many layers I was wearing.  But we successfully navigated from the bus to the train, and we were even able to switch trains in Florence despite only having two-three minutes to find the next platform.  When we arrived in Lucca, the sun was shining, and all of my grumpy thoughts from the morning quickly melted away.  It was a beautiful day, in a beautiful city!

That little speck at the bottom? That's me!

Lucca is a medieval city, completely encircled by a 12m high wall (which is about 40 feet).  We walked along the path that sat on top of the wall (probably about 2.5 miles).  In the spring when all of the flowers and trees are in bloom, it must be a picturesque bike ride.   We explored the city for the day, walked up and down the narrow cobblestone streets (it was so nice not having to walk uphill) and shopped.  It was nice talking to locals- we even stopped in the museum of contemporary art.  There were so many bicycles in town, too!  I think I had assumed that there weren’t going to be any cars within the medieval walls, so we were certainly caught off guard when the occasional car drove by.  We even overheard an Italian couple talking about this same presumption- they seemed just as surprised that there were cars driving in the streets of Lucca. 

Typical street in Lucca

 

Chelsea striking a pose at the Contemporary Art Museum

After a late lunch, we walked back to the train station, waited only 10 minutes, and then hopped on another regional train back to Florence.  We were able to find a hostel for 15 euro a night; I know I was definitely surprised by how clean it was.  We stayed in a private triple, and had our own private bathroom connected to the room.  The hostel was family run, and it was only a couple of blocks north of the Duomo.  At night, we walked through all of the main piazzas, crossed the Ponte Vecchio, and then headed to Pizzaiolo for dinner.  The earliest reservation we could get was 9:30pm, but it was well worth it! The pizza was delicious.  My feet were so exhausted when we finally came back to the hostel.  II really liked Florence, but I’m glad I’m not studying there.   Saturday morning we had “Super Breakfast” at a sports bar, and it was really nice to eat a substantial breakfast instead of just a chocolate croissant (I didn’t realize how badly I was craving eggs and pancakes).  After, we shopped in the San Lorenzo market.  I ended up buying a leather jacket, and while it was more than I was planning to spend, I’m really glad that I bought it.  We spoke with a lot of different shop owners, and it was definitely reassuring to have people tell us that our Italian sounded authentic.  Lindsay and I spoke with one woman in particular, and she told us all about her experience learning Italian because she grew up in northern Italy in a section where they spoke German.  She was definitely encouraging, and she told us that we’ll learn Italian much faster if we fully try to immerse ourselves, because if we continue to go back and forth between English and Italian, it’s going to take a lot longer for us to learn.  We headed back to the train station in the afternoon- it took us less than 15 minutes to buy a return ticket and hop on the next train to Perugia.  Before you can get onboard, you need to validate your ticket by having it stamped in these little yellow boxes that are all over the train station.  Sometimes they check the tickets, sometimes they don’t.  On the way back to Perugia, someone was caught without traveling without purchasing a ticket- I’m not sure what will happen, but it definitely was a little unnerving to see police officers walking through the cabin.   

The Beautiful Duomo at Night

When I got back to my apartment Saturday night, I was unfortunately surprised because our apartment no longer had heat or running water.  I was very nervous, just cause it was freezing, and I wasn’t sure how quickly things can be fixed in Italy during the weekend, considering that things seem to already be much slower during the week.  Luckily, I was able to get through to Mauro, and Zach came by and figured out what was wrong.  That night, Chelsea’s Italian friends cooked us dinner, and the boys even showed me how to properly use the macchinetta (I was so excited that now I can make espresso in my apartment!)  After dinner, we went out to a discoteca and listened to two live bands.  It definitely wasn’t what I had expected, but I really enjoyed listening to Italian rock. 

"All children are born artists, the difficulty is in remaining so when adult" -Pablo Picasso

Sunday was a relaxing day; I started reading and working on my homework (what, homework?) and I went to Frank’s apartment for dinner.  I tried new flavors of gelato on Sunday after dinner- caffè and tiramisu (I had him put a little bit of whipped cream on as well).  I know the Italians think it’s crazy that the Americans keep getting ice cream; when we asked Barbara why none of the gelaterias are open, she just laughed and reminded us that its winter, and the only people who eat gelato during this time of year are Americans.  I met a woman tonight at Grom (the only gelateria that seems to always be open), and we ended up speaking for awhile.  She was in Perugia for the day for a special event, and lives in Rome.  I’m all about asking the locals what they like to do and what they would recommend- I know there are plenty of touristy things to do while I’m here, but if I really want to learn the language, I’m a big believer that I need to learn the culture as well.  I’d like to avoid the gelaterias that make these big mounds of vibrantly colored gelato for tourists, and instead find the smaller gelateria’s that say, “gelato artigiana” or “produzione propria,” meaning that the gelato is homemade and produced right in the shop.  So when I asked her for recommendations for things to do in Rome, she actually gave me her phone number and e-mail address, as well as a few of her favorite places.  Her and her husband own a bar, so when I go to meet Mom, Dad, Charlie and Kathleen, I’d like to see if we can stop in for a coffee. 

This weekend made me feel a lot better about my decision to select this program.  I think when I first arrived in Perugia, I felt very American and was unsure if I made the right decision- I definitely had enough Italian knowledge to start in the full-immersion program, and I felt like I wasn’t doing anything authentic.  After this weekend though, I feel like I have the best of both worlds.  Some of my classes are in English, some are in Italian.  Even though I’m in the American school, I’m still getting the opportunity to talk with Italians and I’ve learned something everyday.  Saturday night as I was leaving my apartment building for dinner, one of my older Italian neighbors came out and I spoke to her from a couple minutes.  I honestly can’t believe how much my Italian has improved during my time here.  I can tell already that it’s going to be strange to not speak Italian everyday when I come home- maybe Mom can learn some Italian this time while they’re here- Ragu! 

 

Wait, we have classes?

I think I had kind of forgotten that I would have to take classes and do homework while I was living here.  Whenever you talk about Study Abroad experiences, people talk about all of the places they traveled too, the community that they lived in and the people they met along the way.  Nobody ever spoke about schoolwork, so I think I had minimal expectations as far as workload.  While I am taking a significant break on my course load compared to last semester (I won’t be studying engineering mathematics or modern physics while I’m here), we will have to do homework, write papers, and give oral presentations.  When I first started to plan my schedule for traveling, I don’t think I took any of this into account!  The upside?  I think I’m going to really enjoy the classes I’m taking while I’m here. 

My Italian language class is basically the same as our week of Intensive Italian.  I have the same professor, Barbara, and to say that she’s a wonderful teacher is truly an understatement.  After giving us the syllabus for the official course, she told us that if there’s ever something that we’d like to go do or see, just ask.  I think this class is going to be very practical.  Now that we’ve gotten past the basic grammar and vocabulary, this course seems like it’s about using it, not just filling out exercises about proper verb tenses.  Like all of my other classes, I’ll have to give an oral presentation in this course.  But as we began brainstorming ideas, she told us that we can pick any topic we’d like.  For example, one of the girls asked about presenting on Baci and the Perugina Chocolate Factory.  Barbara’s response?  Of course, and the day after you present we won’t schedule any other presentations, this way we can take a field trip to the factory and see it for ourselves.

After my language class in the morning, I'm taking an Italian Short Story class.  Some of the stories I recognized in the syllabus because I've read them in previous Italian classes, or the names of the authors sound familiar.  But it was so weird to go from two Italian classes in the morning (especially considering the previous week of Intensive Italian) to a class taught in English.  It seemed especially strange that we have a British professor teaching a class on the History and Culture of Italian Food.  This will probably be my favorite course, and not just because I love to eat.  He made sure to mention on the first day that this is not a cooking course, but we will be tasting a lot of food, including wine, gelato, and a field trip to a restaurant in Florence.  I've only had two classes so far, and it’s already interesting to see the differences in food by region.  What’s especially interesting is that Italian food wasn’t popular before the Second World War- it was actually feared.   Scholars who came to Italy in the 1800’s to study Ancient Rome came despite how “awful” all of the Italian food was.  One of the things that surprised me is that there is no such thing as Italian food.  First off, the foods that we find in America at all of the Italian restaurants, such as spaghetti and meatballs, would never been found in Italy.  But more importantly, foods that are found in one region, such as Sicily or Naples, cannot be found in Bologna or Milan.  Even the foods of Bologna are a little different than food found in a restaurant only 30 minutes away.  So there's no such thing as Italian food, it's simply regional food.  The Italians aren't really proud of the government (especially after Mussolini), so when the war ended, they became proud of the cars, soccer team, and finally, their food.  It wasn’t until Dr. Ancel Keys published the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet that Italian food really became popular in the United States.  In class on Tuesday, someone was explaining how sore she was and how her arms kept creaking.  Barbara told us it’s like the Mago di Oz, which after a couple of moments, we realized she was talking about the Wizard of Oz.  Barbara acted out the tinman for us, reminding the class that he needed oil to stop creaking.  She said the same thing works in Italy, you need lots of olive oil to stay young, but instead of putting it on your body, put it on everything you eat!

Monday night we had a travel meeting, and they provided us with a lot of information, such as websites to use to research hostels and cities, as well as information on traveling via plane, train and bus.  Most importantly, they gave us some tips on traveling in general, and what to do in specific situations, such as what happens if your passport gets stolen or if the trains go on strike.  They recommended that we bring a photocopy of our passport with us, but instead of carrying it ourselves, we should give it to one of the people that we’re traveling with.  This way, if something does happen, we can bring the photocopy to the Consulate immediately to get a new passport.  It’s nice that the school is really looking out for us.  For Spring Break, they’ve asked us to fill out travel forms that indicate where we’ll be, this way if something happens while we’re away, they’ll have a better chance of getting in contact with us. 

Sitting on the steps!

There are many things in Italy and in Europe in general that seem very strange to me.  As we’ve been reminded several times in ISP, it’s not wrong, it’s just different.  Some of the things are certainly better, some are not, and some are just plain strange.  I think I’ll have to keep a tally in order to remember all of the things that are different to me, beginning with #1, Unisex Bathrooms.  I’ve been in Europe for two weeks today, and it still weirds me out when I walk into a bathroom and see a man washing his hands.  While it does seem practical just to make one bathroom with several stalls, I don’t know if I’ll get used to it.  I would think that men must hate it, considering that now they’ll have to wait when groups of females decide that they all need to go to the bathroom at the same time.  I have yet to see a urinal, but there are plenty of bidets.  We’ll call bidets #2- I won’t even begin to go into detail about the foreign concept of bides because I think it pretty much explains itself.  We’ve been trying to think of alternative uses, but the school already told us during orientation that we’re not allowed to put ice in the bidet to keep drinks cold.  


I'm done with classes for the week, and tomorrow we begin traveling!  I'll try and update again when we get back on Sunday. Buon Compleanno Wally and Uncle Gary, a presto!

For Uncle Tom, I saw this in the window of one of the shops and had to take a picture

Chocolate, Wine and Jazz

Perugia is a clearly medieval city, yet since it was founded by the Etruscans, this city is actually older than Rome.  It’s known for three main things- chocolate, wine and jazz.

The Griffin, logo of Perugia

Before leaving the United States, I remember Grandpa telling me that I was going to be living in the Hershey, PA of Italy.  Unfortunately, I won’t be here in the fall for the huge Eurochocolate festival, but I will be going on a field trip to Perugina, the chocolate factory here in town.  We’ve been told that at the end of the tour, you are given a piece of chocolate that makes a Hershey’s kiss taste like spinach.  I know I won’t be able to wait for the end of the semester though, considering our teacher Barbara brought in Baci for us last week and they tasted so good.  The Umbria region is also famous for its Sangiovese grapes.  As my dad can tell you, for a wine to retain the name Chianti, it must be made up with at least 80% Sangiovese grapes.  I bought a bottle of wine yesterday for 1,49 euro, yet spent 2,00 euro on a bottle of water?  Go figure.  Finally, every July Perugia hosts the Umbria Jazz Festival, one of the most popular events in all of Europe.  The festival offers 10 days of music, starting early in the morning and continuing late into the night, and includes free open-air concerts featuring top international performers.

(my roommates, Gina, Gina and Nicki)

I went to the school Friday afternoon to get my Permesso di Soggiorno.  After the awful experience I had getting a visa, I decided to play the extra forty euro and have a service do it for me, this way I know it’ll get done.  I feel so relieved that I have it all taken care of, especially considering the ridiculous stories that I’ve heard from people who tried to go on their own in the past.  We had another pot luck dinner in the evening at another apartment, and I am so proud of all of the cooking that we’ve been doing!  I mean we are in Italy so I had high expectations for food, but I’m glad that even the food we cook is delicious.  I don’t even like tomatoes at home, but everything is just so fresh here it’s impossible not to enjoy it.  On the way home, I stopped for an illegal pastry at a local bakery.  When we read in the handbook that they sold illegal pastries early in the morning, we all kind of assumed that this was some code word for drugs, but in Italy, it’s actually illegal to sell baked goods after a certain time in the evening because of taxes.  So, when the bakery opens up in the early hours of the morning to begin baking loaves of bread and flaky pastries for the day, they keep a window open in the kitchen.  For only one euro, you can go up to the window and order whatever they’re making.  I asked the baker to give me his favorite pastry, and he gave me una cornetta di nocciola, which is a croissant filled with nutella (a hazelnut chocolate spread).  You know that it’s fresh since you get to watch the baker pull it out of the oven and fill it right at the counter- it was without a doubt, the best croissant I’ve ever had! 

The girls after dinner at Il Birrario

The Bakery

Saturday morning we walked up to the northern part of town and saw the Chiesa di Sant'Angelo.  It was this beautiful round church built in the 1500’s, with these huge stone pillars inside. We continued to explore, and decided to walk up this long set of stairs (which definitely just seemed to get longer as we continued to walk up).  At the top of the stairs, we found another beautiful view of Perugia.  We were fortunate enough to have a Franciscan monk walk by as we were taking pictures, and he brought us inside and gave us a tour of a separate church and square.  On the way back to the steps, we went up into the Sant'Angelo tower, the largest remaining item of the defensive structures that once protected the city, and it had a full panoramic view of the city. We couldn’t stay long because we had a “Nooks and Crannies” tour at 12pm, but we’ll definitely go back on a clearer day. 

On top of the Sant'Angelo Tower

Chiesa di Sant'Angelo

Our tour was given by an Umbra staff member, Zach, and it was very comical.  I learned a lot of little known facts about Perugia, such as why the bread is made without salt, and I’m starting to get the gist of where things are located.  One of the stories that I really enjoyed listening to was when Zach brought us outside of an old orphanage.  It wasn’t just for children that didn’t have parents- mothers who weren’t married and parents that simply couldn’t support a child would bring them to the orphanage.  It used to resemble a lazy-susan, the mother would put the baby on the tray, ring the bell and run back down the alley, and someone would come down and rotate the tray inside the building to pick up the baby.  The priest would write down specific details about the baby, and the time and date in case the parents decided later on to come back for their child, but it rarely happened.  In the orphanage, the children would be raised with a Catholic name, and were taught a trade.  When the men turned 16 years old (for women, 18 years old) they were given the last name Alunni, and were sent off to live on there own.  The name Alunni makes sense, since it is derived from the latin noun alumnus, meaning foster son (just as an alumnus today is a graduate of a school or university).  But the most interesting part is that if you look in a phone book in Perugia, you’ll find at least a full page and a half of the name Alunni, since all of the orphans who lived in Perugia were given the same last name, and if you have this name that means that you most likely have a male relative who was an orphan.  Yet Perugia wasn’t the only place that did this- it seems that all major cities had a similar technique.  In Florence, the last name Innocenti (“innocent”) was given to their orphans.  If you know anyone with the last name, Esposito, chances are they have a relative who was an orphan in Naples.  Once Italy was united, laws were introduced forbidding this practice of giving last names that reflected a child’s origins.  

View of Perugia

I think that was the first paragraph in the entire blog where I didn’t write about food- don’t worry, that won’t last.  For dinner, we went to the boys apartment and they surprised us with a fancy, sit down dinner.  My apartment made tiramisu, and it came out really good!  We had a lot of help from Adelmone, or Ciao-Ciao as everyone in Perugia calls him.  I think he was pretty impressed that we were trying to make tiramisu, so he made sure we had the right lady fingers and he helped us decide how much of the ingredients we’ll actually need.  Gina had showed him the size of the pan we bought to use to see if he thought we’d need more mascarpone, and instead he just gave us smaller half trays for free, promising us that it would sit better in that size tin.  I still can’t get over how nice all of the Italians have been.  It’s hard living in a foreign country; just as the chief inspector told us, we’re often going to be targets because we clearly stand out.  But the people that we’ve met so far have been very welcoming. 

Saturday Night Dinner

Sunday we had lunch on Umbra, and they brought us to this beautiful villa outside of the city where I ate the best meal here so far.  The drive into the countryside made me really feel like I was in Italy, since the majority of Italy is countryside.  They set the table with bottles of wine (both red and white) and tall bottles of water.  I'm trying to drink the acqua frizzante (mineral water) but I just can't get used to it yet.  The waiters brought us plate after plate, and we kept eating despite being stuffed after the first plate of appetizers.  The ravioli had a much lighter sauce on it than what we're used to at home, and the risotto tasted almost like it was prepared in red wine or with balsamic- it tasted so good. They had tiramisu for dessert, and my roommates and I were so proud that our tiramisu tasted very similar to theirs!  

Outside of the villa

The beautiful room for lunch

Me and Frank

Our first plate of appetizers- we had four more plates and dessert to follow!

On the way home, I got to see the sunset at the edge of the Perugia, and I took a moment to walk inside the Duomo, our cathedral in town.  Since Cristina studied in Florence, she lived right by the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.  This Duomo is one of Italy’s largest churches, and probably the largest brick dome ever built.  It has this breathtaking marble façade and the inside is just as beautiful.  So I was very excited to see our Duomo in town.  And to my surprise, it was voted 3rd in all of Italy last year… for being the ugliest Cathedral in the country.  The pink and white façade was never finished on the outside, and Zach told us to imagine the masons six hundred years ago putting down their tools, saying “La finiamo domain!” meaning, we’ll finish it tomorrow.  And just like typical Italians, they never got around to finishing it.  After a wonderful weekend in Perugia, I’ll start my first day of elective classes on Monday.  Buona notte!

The Fountain and the Cathedral

The Steps with the unfinished facade of the Cathedral in the background

Sunset over Umbria

Ciao, Italia!

At the request of my big sister, I decided to write a blog about my experience studying abroad so that I could share it with my friends and family. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to update it once a week.  I have no idea how to blog, but here it goes!

For months now, I've been planning to study abroad in Perugia- filling out applications and forms, running back and forth to the Italian Consulate in NYC and trying to figure out what to pack.  But it’s been years since I decided that I wanted to study abroad in Italy.  After what seemed like the longest day of my life, I finally arrived in Perugia, yet it was nothing like I expected.  I was hungry and jetlagged, and I was growing impatient at the hotel, faced with yet another day of waiting for an experience to begin.  I didn't know anyone and it seemed like everyone already had already paired off with a friend.  It wasn't until after dinner that it started to hit me.  We walked into town up these narrow, winding roads that were lit with Christmas lights.  We finally found the fountain and the main steps, and the whole piazza was lit up with blue lights, and I definitely got the chills sitting on the steps, just taking it all in.

  

The next morning we were finally headed to our apartment, and the only thing I wanted more than gelato was to unpack.  It was really hard to find anything in the hotel because I had strategically crammed everything in the suitcase, you know, not the kind of packing that makes it easier to find things later on.  After asking us how many years we were planning on staying here, our driver somehow squeezed all of our suitcases into the car and we went up more winding roads to our apartment.  We live on the fourth floor, and the hardest part of the trip so far has been lugging all of our stuff up the stairs since there’s no elevator.  Thank goodness that Stefano, our landlord who looked like he was only twenty, was able to help us carry things.  A little old Italian lady came out to see who was making such a commotion, and the buzzer on the door next to ours says “Babbo Natale,” or Santa Claus.  Our apartment is pretty modern (despite the orange cabinets in our kitchen from the sixties/seventies), and it’s a really good size for four of us.  I share a room with Nicki, and Gina and Gina live in the other bedroom across from us.  We even have two bathrooms and a washer machine, and we’re all pretty obsessed with our plates and bowls (and the most adorable espresso cups!)

   (our kitchen)

  (my room)

The weekend orientation consists of placement exams, tours and an open house.  Saturday night we had a safety talk from the chief inspector of Firenze, and he was definitely the stereotypical “kick ass” Italian that I was expecting.  He started off by asking if we liked his English.  He said, “Welcome to Italy, here we speak Italian.  This is the best English you’ll hear from an Italian so don’t get used to it.” He asked what the number one sport in Italy is, and after a couple of people responded with the obvious answer of football (soccer), he smiled and said no, “Women is the number one sport here in Italy.”  He proceeded to give the females advice on Italian men, safety tips and how to hold our bags so we don’t get pick pocketed.  He explained to the girls that we shouldn’t talk to any of the guys that may approach us on the street, and should ignore them just like all of the other real Italian women do.  He then laughed and addressed the boys saying “Welcome to Italy, good luck with our women.”

The first week of classes here has been Intensive Italian.  I’m in the advanced course, and our teacher Barbara is the best.  She’s very expressive and has a lot of energy, and you can tell that she truly just loves teaching Italian.  We’ve been doing review on tenses, grammar, conversation and Italian history in our morning classes, and then in the afternoon we do Survival Italian.  The morning has been helpful to get back into the swing of Italian language, but our afternoons have definitely been the most useful for living here.  Monday we learned about our apartments, how things work, and different problems that we may need to tell our landlord about.  Stefano doesn’t really speak English, so we had Mauro, a genuinely great guy that works at the school (whose light-heartedness and smile reminds me so much of Moi in Guatemala), come and explain to us how to use the heat.  Our first night was freezing (which only made sense considering we live next to Babbo Natale), and we’re only allowed to have the heat on for seven hours during the day.  It was definitely hard at first, but now we’re getting a better handle on how to use it.  Tuesday, we learned about food and grocery shopping, and we took the Mini Metro to the big Supermarket.  Barbara had us asking the workers different questions, and she showed us how to order things (she even bought us different prosciutto and bread to buy).  It was hard at first because the Italians talk pretty quick and Barbara doesn’t permit us to speak any English in class, but everyone is really patient with us.  I’m glad that I’m in a smaller city, because the community here is definitely more welcoming to us than a bigger city like Rome would be, and they are really happy when we try Italian.  Wednesday we went to a bar, and we learned about the different types of coffee, and the bartender made us all of the different traditional l’aperitivo drinks and snacks.  Thursday we learned about travel, and Barbara showed us different websites to use to find trains and buses, and then we walked around the city and she pointed out the bus stops, where to buy tickes, and how to get to the main station.

 (espresso with a happy face- this is for you Cristina because it just is the epitome of your happy coffee face)

We don’t have class on Fridays!  Last night we had people over to our apartment and had a big potluck dinner.  It was so nice getting to sleep in this morning.  Today I need to take care of my Permesso di Soggiorno (Permit of Stay) and then I think we’ll walk around because it looks beautiful outside through our kitchen window.  Tomorrow morning I’d like to go to the market, and then we have a “Nooks and Crannies” tour, where Zach (an Umbra staff worker) is going to share anecdotes and point out his favorite places.  We’ve been forewarned- if we want to learn history of Perugia, this is not the tour because he may make things up on the spot (Mauro already told us not to take notes and not to listen to anything he says).  All of the Umbra Staff are really nice, and they’ve been really helpful at answering our questions about Perugia.   On Sunday, we’re having a lunch at a nearby agriturism (country house) and I’m excited for an authentic Sunday Pranzo.  All of the food here is so good.  I can definitely get used to having nutella with every meal, and it’s amazing how fresh everything is.  What’s even more amazing is how much walking we’ve been doing- it doesn’t matter where you go in Perugia, you’re always walking uphill.  The school isn’t that far away from our apartment, but there’s a huge set of stairs that we need to walk up to get to there.  It seems like we never talk in the morning as we walk to class because we’re still tired and too out of breath.  So we’ll come home with big bellies, but at least we’ll have nice legs! Ok, time to go get my paperwork ready for my meeting, ci vediamo!

The Fountain

Why don't we have nutella pizza in the United States? Let's fix that ASAP!