Cinque Terre

My weekend trip to Cinque Terre was amazing. I rode to the train station with my friend Luke, who I was really happy to see. I was afraid that I wouldn't know anyone on this trip. Thankfully, when we got to the train station I realized I already knew a good portion of them. At least half of the kids on my trip were from Santa Clara University (probably a quarter of all the IES kids are from Santa Clara) and they pretty much stuck together leaving the non-Santa Clara people to bond. The train ride itself was very beautiful despite the spotty rain storms. We rode along the coast the entire way and of course, I had to take some pictures.

When we got to La Spezia it began to rain. Our hotel wasn't too far away but it was just far enough that we got a nice tour of the city center. It was filled with little shops, restaurants, and stalls selling everything imaginable. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. After we settled into our hotel I went with my assigned roommates (two girls from Santa Clara) and a couple of their Santa Clara friends to explore the city. I didn't have any of my friend's phone numbers and I didn't want to just "diss" them for no reason. It was really awkward and I could not wait to run into someone I knew. Thankfully my friend Emma rescued me and we wandered around and collected a few more lone IES wanderers.

When we got back, it was time for me to go to dinner. I was expecting to go to a cheesy trattoria, eat some bread and mediocre pasta and call it a night. Man was I wrong! We get to the restaurant and it was really NICE! We had a whole room to ourselves and each course was brought to us by waiters. We started off with some gnochi in pesto sauce (pesto originated in Liguria, the region Cinque Terre is in). I had never had gnochi before but it was delicious! Then we had some saffron risotto. Of course, that was absolutely delicious. Then we had a steak wrapped in some kind of pastry. I couldn't believe I was still eating at this point but it was all so delicious that I couldn't leave any of it on my plate. Just when I thought i couldn't eat any more they brought out some semifreddo agli amaretti. I've never tried that before but I couldn't believe how good it was too! At first I thought it was cake but then I realized it was really gelato. 

The next day we got up at 7:30 and had breakfast. After breakfast we hopped on a train to start our hike at Cinque Terre. It had rained a lot the night before and apparently it was dangerous to do all of the hike. So we ended up taking the train to most of the villages and then hiking around the towns. It was still nice though. We were prepared for the worst--rain and cold--but it was actually sunny and warm! We hiked around and ate lunch at Vernazza. We had some pesto focaccia, gelato (I had ciocolata e peperoncino and hazelnut), and then hiked to the top of this castle so we could see all around us. After our lunch break we finished hiking and took a boat to Portovenere where we wandered around, bought some pesto, and crashed a wedding. Apparently it's not weird for tourists to go into a church and wander around while guests are waiting for the bride to arrive. I felt incredibly uncomfortable but it's acceptable here. Brides in America would be in hysterics if some sweaty tourists barged into their wedding. 

We took another boat back to La Spezia just in time for dinner. This dinner wasn't as good and was served "family style" with big bowls of food for us to help ourselves to. We started out with salami and cheese, which was pretty good since we were all starving from hiking all day. Then we had ravioli with a meat sauce. The sauce was quite interesting since it had apples and cinnamon in it. It was the sweetest meat sauce I've ever had but it was strangely delicious. We joked that it tasted like a McDonald's apple pie with meat. Then we had pork and fried potatos. The pork was fine but the potatoes were AMAZING. Unfortunately they didn't give us very many so we ended up fighting over the last few potatoes. For desert we had panna cotta. It was strange and jello-y. It tasted fine and I really liked it but most people left it on their plates. I guess they didn't like the texture. 

Sunday we had a wine tasting. I had never been to one before so I wasn't sure what to expect. The winery was beautiful and had a great view of the mountains. We had a tour of the museum where we learned about various techniques they use to harvest, crush, and bottle the grapes and resulting wine followed by a tour of the garden. Afterwards we were lead up to a large room where we tried their bread, cheese, and homemade jams as well as their wines. We tried two white wines. The first was WAY too sweet for me and I could tell who was accustomed to drinking wine to get drunk by who complained about the "bad taste" of the second wine. The second wine had a much stronger flavor and, in my opinion, was ten times better. 

We got back on the bus and went to lunch. Of course, we were all stuffed from the wine, cheese, and jam when we got to the last restaurant but it was so delicious we had to eat all our food. We were given prosciutto and a vegitable quiche for our antipasto, pesto lasagne for our primo, some pasta in a delicious, creamy white sauce, some sort of beef stew for our secondo, and toffee gelato for desert. We were all so stuffed that we waddled back to the bus and promptly fell asleep. At one point I looked back and didn't see any eyes open. EVERYONE was in a food coma. 

When we finally woke up we were home and ready to start our next week of school. 

Today, I had my internship and I was very relieved to finally be able to have a conversation in Italian. My colleague was very patient with me and helped build my vocabulary while we talked about religious beliefs, our personal lives, and our jobs over coffee. I learned about his family and more than anything I was just happy to get to know someone in my office by speaking Italian. I left feeling very proud of myself.

Here are my pictures from Cinque Terre. 

Internship and Field Studies

Since I've been so bad at keeping the blog up to date lately I feel like I need to do a week's worth of updates now. Really, I'm just procrastinating. I leave tomorrow morning for a trip to Cinque Terre and I need to do homework and pack before then. But, this has been on my mind so I told myself I could cross this off my list and then move on to homework. We'll see how that goes...

Monday I started my internship at Nessuno Tocchi Caino, a non-profit agency which is concerned with abolishing the death penalty world-wide. It's a pretty interesting place. It's also part of il Partito Radicale, one of the political parties in Italy, so I get to see some Roman politics as well as work in the Nessuno Tocchi Caino headquarters. So far, I have been there three times and my only job has been to read about what they have done in the past year and summarize it in a letter for their English speaking followers. I have learned so much! For instance, I didn't realize the United States is the only country in the Americas that still allows the death penalty and Virginia is second only to Texas in the number of yearly executions. It makes me sick to think that Americans can be so advanced yet so, incredibly backwards. It's depressing to see, when it comes to the death penalty, the United States on the same level as China, Iraq, Cuba, and North Korea. Hopefully I'll be following death penalty cases in Virginia for the rest of the semester. We'll see. My boss hasn't really told me anything. I was pretty sure she didn't like me...until today.

Usually, she talks to me in English so I respond in English but then at the end of the day she'll say things like "Tomorrow, let's speak more in Italian". I just get confused because when I try to speak Italian she goes straight to English. Today however, I refused to speak English. She really liked it...I think. She is very hard to read. She doesn't smile, laugh or give me any indication that she likes me. Today she looked pleased when I told her I had already finished the letter (plus, I told her in Italian. That might have made a difference). As long as I continue to default to Italian I think my time at my internship will be fine.

The man who sits next to me, Sandro, is hilarious. It became very clear to me almost immediately that he does not like his job there at all. He sat staring at his computer for a couple hours, went to get coffee and a brownie, came back half an hour later, stared at his computer some more and then packed up at least half an hour early. I really like him. He wrote me a note saying "You seem so interested. I think it's so boring. :-)". It was a very welcome note. At this point on my first day I was feeling kind of lonely since no one in the office was talking to me and I was just reading their website and yearly report. He's my new best friend. He just doesn't know it yet. I also think he is going to be my boss since he is in charge of researching the death penalty in the United States. I'm pretty excited for next week.

Also this week I had my first field studies. For my art history class we went to Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. I didn't the the particular artwork we were studying was all that interesting but it was great to get out of the classroom! The church was beautiful and had an awesome fountain in front of it. It was neat to so somewhere so close to my apartment that I would have never found by myself.

Today, for my archaeology class, we went to the Roman Forum. Since it's my favorite place to go in Rome I loved it! It was nice to get our own guided tour. I now know which buildings are which and I have a general idea of what they probably looked like. I can't wait to go back and explore it some more! The only downside to today was that it was ridiciulously hot! I made the mistake of wearing jeans today because it was so chilly this morning. I was dying by the end of the two hours in the sun. Thankfully I had a lot of water with me. Next time I have a field study I know to dress appropriately!

Today we also had a surprise field study in Italian. I'm not sure what our field study had to do with our class but it was pretty cool. We went to a church that was full of skeletons. It was called Chiesa di Santa Maria dell'orazione e morte (the church of prayer and death). Apparently the monks would go around and collect dead bodies off the street and give them a proper funeral. It was a bizarre church. The crypt had walls of skulls, a cross made of skulls, a skull shrine, and the chandeliers were made of human bones. My professor kept saying "Questa chiesa e' molto creepy" (this church is very creepy). Again, I'm not sure what this has to do with my Italian class but it was another interesting church I would have never found on my own.

One last thing I saw today... Of course it has to do with riding the bus. That's where I get to see the most interesting things in Rome. While I was waiting for the bus to go to my internship I saw a young African boy (probably my age) waiting for my bus. A woman got off a bus and handed him her leftover ticket since it was still good. I already know that most of the Africans and South Asians on the bus don't have tickets but I thought it was extremely kind of that woman to give that young man her ticket. It would have been just as easy to throw it away without any concern for him. I was moved. The Italians can be very kind.

Here are all my pictures from the past few days: Field Studies

Firenze

Last weekend I decided to meet Ken in Florence for the weekend. It was a nice trip depite having to wake up at 4:30am on a Saturday morning! I was actually running a bit late so at 5:00 am when I saw my  bus pass in the opposite direction I got scared. Usually that means it will be back at  my stop in 15 or 20 minutes...I wasn't sure I had that much time. I needed to get on the bus as soon as possible! Not that day. The bus was back within 5 minutes and it almost didn't stop for me. I'm pretty sure my bus driver was trying to see how quickly he could go through his loop. It was the most exciting bus ride ever! I was the only one on the bus and the combination high speeds and cobble stones made it a bouncy and awakening ride. I definitely didn't need coffee after that! Fortunately, I got to Piazza Venezia three times faster than usual (since, no one else got on my bus and the bus driver was a crazy man) and my next bus was basically waiting for me. I hopped right on. This bus had a few people going to the train station so I felt pretty safe traveling alone in the middle of the night. 

I got to the train station exactly half an hour before my train...just like I had planned. I found my train with ease and sat down next to two girls who looked friendly enough. I still have no idea what language they spoke. It was a combination of Italian, French, English, and Russian sounding words. It was quite interesting for the first few minutes and then I fell asleep. When I woke up I was in Florence! 




My first job was to find Ken. Since we were coming into different stations we agreed on a walking route between the two stations and planned on meeting up somewhere in the middle. Well... I got lost. Almost immediately. Italian directions are so confusing since there are so many piazzas and so many side streets to choose from. My directions told me to go left but I had no idea which street on the left was the one I was supposed to take since they also don't bother to mark all the streets. Finally I happened to see an extremely handsome young man walking down the opposite side of the street... it was Ken! So, we found each other and made our way to the hostel. 

The little old couple who ran this hostel spoke very little English, which wasn't really a problem for us, but the check in experience was interesting. I told them my name and they stopped helping the two german girls in front of us, took us to our room, asked for our passports and 50 euros, came back with our passports and two towels and we never saw them again. We heard them though. They were the loudest little old couple I have ever heard. They didn't bother using telephones if one of them was cleaning a guest room and one was in the lobby. They just yelled. It kind of reminded me of when my parents ask me to call my brother for dinner. I just yell for him rather than actually take the time to get up from the couch and go tell him it's time for dinner like a civilized person... The point of that anecdote was that I felt very at home in that hostel. 

We took a short nap and then headed out to explore the city. We didn't discuss what we wanted to see or where we were going before we left the hostel...which was probably not the best idea but we had our little guide book maps so we figured that would be good enough. Thankfully Ken has a good sense of direction and we didn't get lost! We first went to the Duomo since it was just up the street. We contemplated climbing the Duomo but we figured we would have time to do it the next day. Little did we know the top of the Duomo isn't open for tourists on Sundays. Oh well. We did pass some of my IES Rome friends who were waiting in line to climb up. So Ken got to meet some of my friends. 

We spent the rest of the day wandering around until it got to be about dinner time. We decided it was probably best to go back to the hostel and pick a place to eat out of our guidebooks. We picked one and decided to try and hike up to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sun set. Of course, we followed those crazy Italian directions and got lost so we turned around before it got too dark. Thankfully it was cloudy and rainy so there was no sunset. We wandered to the restaurant only to find that it was closed! Immediately after that it started pouring so we picked the next closest restaurant from our guide book. We didn't realize it was such a nice restaurant but we got there early and didn't have to wait!

We sat next to a nice couple from Puerto Rico who told us all the things we should see while in Florence. They were very interesting and even offered to share some of their meal with us. Ken and I ordered pasta with a meat sauce and then rabbit for the second course. The rabbit was delicious! I don't know what I was expecting but it really did taste like chicken. Even the crunchy skin was delicious. We didn't order desert because we were too full so we took a long stroll back to the hostel instead. 


The next day we didn't plan ahead... again. We went to the Duomo but it was all closed. Then we wandered around for a long time looking for a kebab place to eat lunch. For whatever reason that is all Ken wanted to eat even though we were surrounded by all sorts of delicious pizzas, pastas, and panini. After a few hours we found one. I now understand why Ken wanted to eat kebabs so badly. We both ordered falafel and it was delicious and very interesting. They even put french fries on it. I was surprised by that but I love french fries so it was a lovely  surprise. We sat on a cute little corner, watched tourists, and ate our falafel. It was a lovely lunch. 

Afterwards, we climbed to Piazzale Michelangelo (we finally found the right entrance!). It was our favorite part of the trip. The views were great and it wasn't too touristy. We took tons of pictures and spent time just enjoying the view and each other's company.

We decided to go back and try the Duomo again. This time the church was open so we went inside and explored. We were a little disappointed the duomo still wasn't open but I'm sure we'll be back at some point. We joked that our parents would be disappointed that we didn't go into any of the important museums or see the David or any of that. But frankly, we had a good time just catching up and the museums were all too expensive! I don't know how any college student could afford to see all the museums Italy has to offer. Plus, I had seen all of them before so I was not too worried about seeing them all.

We wandered around some more, went to Santa Croce and Orsanmichele. Eventually we just got tired and decided we both had a craving for chocolate cookies and we wanted to watch the office. So, we set off in no particular direction in search of a grocery store and a piazza to sit in. We found chocolate cookies with a chocolate mousse center (best decision EVER), cokes and then we settled down on the same corner where we ate lunch. It's strange. It seems like we ended up going on every street in Florence. No matter where we were or where we were headed we always ended up in the same places!

To end our trip in Florence we found a cute little bar to have a last drink in. It was 5:00! We got a little voucher for a reduced price drink next time we are in Florence. I would really like to go back since I really enjoyed it there. Typically bars aren't my kind of place to hang out but this one was very cool. It was full of Italian students watching the soccer game or doing homework or just hanging out. It was very laid back. I can't imagine my American friends here would have enjoyed it but it was a nice way to say goodbye to Florence and Ken.

Here are my Florence Pictures. I'll post more when I get Ken's pictures.

My First Day of Class and the Most Exciting Bus Ride So Far

The first day of class is always the worst and the best day of the entire semester. It's the worst because you have to do introductions, talk about the syllabus, and stare blankly at the professor when they try to teach us as if we had magically known the reading ahead of time. But then again, it's kind of great because there is no pressure. I'm not expected to know the answer, no one is going to call on me, and it's OK if I don't know what's going on. No one else does either! My classes are fine and seem interesting enough although honestly I am sure they know we aren't here to learn anything for our majors and the classes are just a formality. For one, we don't have classes on Fridays unless we have a far away field trip so they know we are mostly here for travel and enjoying Rome. Most of my classes have on-site lectures meaning I get to have class in the Vatican museum analyzing artwork and the next day I could be taking a tour of the forum and talking about archaeology. Even though the classes don't seem as intense as what I'm used to, I'm sure I'll learn more by being on-site than I would watching slides in any class at Wooster. It's a great deal!

My main adventure today was getting to Stazione Termini to buy my train ticket to Florence this weekend. I got on the bus by school and rode all the way there without any problems until... the stop before Termini. Every once in a while ticket collectors get on board to make sure everyone has a validated ticket. If you have a ticket and it's unvalidated it's a 50 euro fine but if you don't have one at all it is 100 euros and they actually walk you to the atm if you don't have the money on you. Thankfully I had my ticket but they didn't even look at it! If you don't seem nervous about what's going on they don't care. However, if they see you trying to get off the bus, they will get you. The ticket collectors get on at the last possible second so anyone trying to escape will get caught. This was my first experience with the ticket collectors and it was exciting!

 Three south-east Asians were trying to escape but got caught... RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!! They tried to explain (in Italian) that the ticket machine was broken so they couldn't buy their tickets (the ticket machine wasn't broken and even if it was, they sell bus tickets for one euro EVERYWHERE). They tried to convince the ticket guys that they were only on the bus for one stop and that they weren't aware they needed a ticket (after they had said they tried to buy a ticket on the bus...). When we finally got to Termini the Asians tried to get off the bus by pushing the collectors and other bus riders our of the way and running away. The ticket collectors had apparently seen this before and demanded that only the front doors be opened and they blocked the Asians in a row of seats so that they couldn't get off but everyone else could. It was quite exciting and I was happy I could be entertained by understanding the discussion about the tickets. At one point one of the Asians said, "Do you speak english? I don't think you understand." (in english) and the collector responded "No, No, ho capito tutto." meaning I understand what you are trying to do and it's not working and then gave me a sly smile. It was hilarious. I don't know what happened after that because I got off the bus.

On my way back though I saw the same ticket collectors writing up a couple more south-east Asians. I guess they have a problem with the Asians riding the bus for free because they couldn't have cared less about my ticket. They didn't even look to see if it was validated.  I could probably go the entire semester and use the same pass and no one would care. But of course, I am too afraid to break rules...especially strict Italian rules that could cost me 100 euros.

I did get my train tickets though. Now all I need is a hostel in Florence and I'll be all ready for my next adventure.

The Jewish Ghetto

Last night we went to dinner at Il Bacocco, an  entoteca bistro where my ISC works. It was surprisingly small but according to Nicoletta it is one of the best restaurants in Rome for it's wine. I ordered pistachio pesto lasagna and it was probably the most delicious thing I have eaten so far and of course, the wine was great! If you are ever in Rome, I would definitely recommend it.

Today Corina and I went on an adventure to find Porta Portese, the largest flea market in Rome. We had some problems getting there since we didn't exactly know where we were going but we eventually made it. It was MASSIVE. We walked and walked and walked and never saw the end. I bought a black dress and a wallet but unfortunately the wallet never made it home with me. On our way back we got on a really crowded bus for a few stops and even though I was clutching my bag the wallet disappeared. Thankfully it was empty and I still have my money and bus pass (thanks to my cleavage caddy). I bet they will feel silly when they find out they stole an empty wallet.

We came home, I ate an entire package of fresh ravioli and then took a nap. This afternoon a bunch of people from the 400 and 301 Italian classes met to do our homework--explore the Jewish ghetto. It was pretty much the most fun I have ever had doing homework. We had been studying it all of last week so we were given certain sites to visit such as the Portico d'Ottavia, a pasticceria called Boccione, a ceramics store called Limentani as well as various piazzas and fountains. It was a great way to use our Italian since the stores were marked well so we had to ask how to get there. I enjoy the hands-on experiences Rome has to offer and I look forward to a semester of trips like these around the city.

Permesso! Scusate!

Basically you only need two words to be able to get on and off the bus: Permesso and scusate both of which mean “please move but I’m going to push you anyway just to make sure you get out of my way.” I love sitting (rather, standing since it’s usually really crowded) and watching what the Italians do when they need to get on or off the bus.

First, to make sure the bus actually stops you have to run out into the middle of the street essentially so that the bus can’t ignore you and they are forced to stop. Merely standing at the bus stop, as we would do at any bus stop in the states, will not do the trick. Once you’re on the bus you have to push yourself through a forest of people and I usually try to find a spot in a corner 1. So I don’t get pick-pocketed and 2. So that I can people watch and I don’t miss out on the interesting people behind me.

Today, for example, I watched a group of nuns try to figure out where their other nun friends were. It’s hard for me to get used to seeing nuns everywhere. I find myself staring just because it’s usually only something I see in the movies but I’m sure that fascination will fade quickly. I also watched a German couple try to ask for directions from the bus driver. Essentially the bus driver ignored them because either he didn’t speak German (which is probably most likely) or he doesn’t talk to people who don’t at least try to speak Italian. I also watched a man with a baby in a stroller get on and off the bus. That was quite an ordeal. The bus was already packed by the time he got on so he scusate’d down the bus pushing his baby. He didn’t have anywhere to go but the baby looked like he enjoyed people moving out of his way.

I get a lot of strange looks from people since I’m with a group of Americans usually. Especially when I’m alone on the bus I can see people eyeing me. I am pretty sure they are trying to figure out where I’m from. They get confused because I speak Italian but look American. I enjoy watching their confusion.

Yesterday though the bus doors closed on my face. I imagine this is a common occurrence since it happened to my friend Marilyn when she came to Rome with us a few years ago. It was embarrassing nonetheless and everyone I was with got a good kick out of it. I just have to remember to use my words and push people out of my way when I need to get off the bus. None of this timid American business for me! When I step on the bus from now on I will become Maria Elena, the aggressive, Italian bus rider. 

Italian Time Telling

We made dinner last night...but by we I mean our friend Sammy. He lost his key to his apartment the first night here so yesterday he got locked out of his apartment. We invited him over and he offered to make dinner for us since he loves cooking. It was amazing. Of course it was pasta but it was delicious and spicey AND fun to make. It was a good way to get out of our usual evening activities.

Italian beaurocracy does not go well with Italian time telling. I spent nearly four hours in a Roman post office today waiting for a five minute appointment to process my Permesso di Soggiorno—permit to stay. For whatever reason, Italians must think it is fun to make their paperwork as difficult as possible for foreigners to fill out. There can be no mistakes or you have to start over AND they require all sorts of extra papers like copies of entire passports, insurance letters, consulate letters, etc. It gets pretty ridiculous. Like I have said before, I’m pretty sure Italians have absolutely NO concept of time. The first four or five appointments in my group lasted at least 20 minutes each when in reality they only needed to last 5 minutes. We just filled out a paper, gave them some money and went on our way. We had a very friendly (maybe a little too friendly) Italian man waiting on us  and he wanted to know everything about where each of us was from, what we studied, what it was like in America, etc. It was nice to talk to someone so enthusiastic about America but I ended up missing my only class today. It turned out to be ok because the 20 IES student who had appointments today just sat around in the office chatting and looking at the beautiful frescoes painted on the ceiling of the office while eating panini and gelato. This must be why Italians are so laid back about time… they get rewarded with food and beautiful art for hanging out!

Getting lost is a daily occurrence for me. I rather like it except when I’m in a hurry…like today. I haven’t gotten used to Italian time yet and I was under the impression that I needed to be at the post office ON TIME for my appointment. Well, of course, I got lost with a few of my friends and we ended up needed to take a taxi because we had no idea where we were in relation to the post office. It turned out to be a great adventure because we came across a police barricade in the middle of a huge intersection. As we were waiting dozens of police cars with their flashing blue lights followed by policemen on motocycles wearing traditional military uniforms who were in turn followed by a limosine carrying Il Presidente, the president of Italy. It was just as I thought a motorcade accompanying a famous political figure would be…except a little more chaotic. They didn't really travel in a straight line like they do in the United States rather, they traveled in clumps here and there. They are Italians after all! 

Our Dinner

Food and Italian

These days have been mostly about food and learning Italian. Our intensive Italian classes started this week and both classes I've had so far have been very educational and even fun! Thankfully I placed into Italian 301 so I got credit for all my work this summer. Today for instance we watched a scene from a movie (La Finestra di Fronte) without subtitles and had to describe what was happening based on the dialog and context cues. It's a very interesting film based on the 15 minutes or so we saw. I would like to watch the whole thing sometime assuming I am able to find it. Then we listened to some music and had to retell a memory the music recalled for us. It was a new and interesting way for us to review tenses without actually writing them out and being bored out of our minds. So far I'm very impressed with my professor. She makes everything much more fun. She even teaches us parolaccia (Italian dirty words) in case we hear them in the street or more importantly so that we don't use them by mistake. She's really cool and I actually look forward to my two hours of Italian everyday.

As for food, I took a picture of my sandwich from yesterday. It was absolutely delicious with prosciuto, basil, provolone and mayonnaise and only 2 euros! Today I had pizza but I forgot to take a picture of it (of course). I decided it would be more worth my time (and money) to make my own sandwiches everyday so I bought some bread, prosciutto, and mozzarella for my lunches. I also bought some nutella since I figured I couldn't live in Europe without buying and eating some. That will be my breakfast. I can't wait to eat tomorrow!

Today two of my roommates and I, with the help of our friend Sammy who happened to be locked out of his apartment, made our first espresso. It was absolutely delicious and drinking it on our balcony was definitely the highlight of my day. Now I know how to make it in the mornings so I'll be ready to go for my 9:30am classes Monday-Wednesday.

Touring Rome Again

Once again we (Joana, Nicole, Corina and I) did not wake up early enough to do what we had planned--to go to Porta Portese, the largest flea market in Rome. It's only open on Sundays but you can buy EVERYTHING there from socks to cars to houses. From what we studied during my summer Italian class it sounds amazing but of course, you have to get there early. Instead, we took another tour of Rome with our friend Jackie in search of a different market.

We started out walking towards what we thought was the market but we ended up at the Spanish steps again. It's amazing how every street leads to either an incredible fountain, church, piazza, or an ancient monument. Since Jackie hadn't seen the steps yet we took pictures and stopped to fill up our water bottles. While we were there we ran into some guys from IES so we took advantage of seeing friendly faces. If Rome is such a big city, who do we manage to always run into someone we know?! Finally, we climbed the steps and ended up in a park overlooking the city. It was magnificent. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

We wandered around for a while looking for this market and after asking a few people how to get there we realized the market wasn't where we had originally thought. We thought it was near the Villa Borghese when in reality it was quite a walk away. Thankfully though we were able to walk through this nice park with children roller blading, families taking walks, and couples laying out in the grass. It was definitely my favorite part of the day. Everything was so relaxed and everyone was happy. Even the babies were happy I don't think I heard one cry the whole time we were in the park. Finally we made it to the market but it was mostly closed down by the time we got there so there were few options to choose from. I did not get anything but Jackie bartered and bought a long, black dress.

We ate a quick snack of pizza before heading home. As always, I forgot to take a picture of the pizza  because I was too hungry to wait. One day I will finally get a picture of true, Italian pizza!

This week I have definitely learned that if I plan on taking the bus, I better be at the bus stop 45 minutes before I actually need to be on the bus. I know I wrote about this yesterday but somehow we always get to the bus stop 5 minutes after the last bus as left so we end up waiting half an hour or so for the next bus to arrive. It's just a fact of life in Italy but thankfully our neighborhood bus stop is right outside a gelateria. If nothing else, I can have some gelato while I wait for my bus to not come.

Here are my pictures from today:
Touring Rome Again

Touring Rome

My roommates didn't wake up until 2 today so I spent my morning catching up with Ken and hanging out in the apartment. It was pretty fun. Around 4, when everyone was up and showered, three of us (Corina, Joana and I) went out to explore Rome. Our adventure started when we were waiting for the bus. Of course, the bus we want is always the one that comes 45 minutes late. That's one thing I am quickly learning about Italians: they have no sense of what it means to be on time and lines are non-existent. .I guess you can tell they are always late by the way they drive. Stop signs and stop lights are mere suggestions as are speed limits. It's terrifying and a little annoying. The lack of lines is very strange for me. You can find them at tourist attractions but in the bar...no way. You just crowd around and wait until someone helps you. It doesn't bother me as much as it bothers other people but I do not like to see someone who came in behind me get served first. Oh well, it's something I have to get used to when living in Italy. I found this picture online this morning and I thought it was funny and very true.

First we stopped at the Colosseum to take pictures and act like tourists. Then we went to the forum and took as many pictures as we could since we didn't feel like paying to go in. We decided to actually go into the Colosseum and the forum on the last Sunday of the month because the entrance fee, to the Colloseum at least, is free.

Then, we wandered through Rome, ran into some IES friends and ended up at the Trevi fountain. Of course, we took more pictures and got some gelato. It was delicious! I got lemon and chocolate gelato (as usual). While we were sitting by the Trevi fountain an italian man took our picture and was telling us all about how much he loves america and he told us we should visit his library. He also told us that if we studied at his library we would learn to speak perfect italian. He was an interesting guy but he didn't want to stop talking to us!

After that, we wandered around and went in shops until a lady yelled at us and told us we couldn't touch all the clothes. I'm not sure how we were supposed to see what was there unless we pulled it out and looked at it but whatever, we left. We wandered some more and ended up at the Spanish steps. We didn't mean to, we were trying to get back to our apartment but it was a very pleasant surprise. We took some more pictures and decided we really needed to get back to our apartment and make dinner (it was getting close to 7:30).

We found our way back to the IES center and took the bus back to our apartment. Of course, we can never make it back to our apartment before getting some food so we stopped at a little pizzeria and got some pizza. It was absolutely delicious (diced tomatoes and mozzarella).

It was a pretty busy day so I should take a nap! But before I do, here are the rest of my pictures:
Touring Rome

Lago Di Montignano

Lago di Montignano is beautiful! All the IES Rome students got on a bus and rode for an hour and a half through the Italian countryside. Of course, my bus got lost so we got to see the same sights about three times but eventually we got there. We even had to get on a smaller bus to go the last kilometer or two up to the lake because the windy road was too small for our big charter bus. 

When we got there a lunch of pane (bread), prosciutto, salame, pecorino, and another cheese I couldn't name.  It was absolutely delicious AND it was all local. For dessert we had fresh grapes and a chocolate cake covered in powdered sugar with panna cotta on the side. I was so eager to eat it I accidentally forgot to take a picture of it. It was a very pretty dessert. 

After lunch we swam in the lake, played soccer, went paddle boating, sailboating, and kayaking. I only did the paddle boats, sailboat, and swimming. But it was a great day and I had an amazing time meeting new people and bonding with my roommmates. 

I took pictures and here they are:

Lago di Martignano Pictures

When we got back we got our placement results. Thankfully I tested in 301 (I guess there isn't a 302) which means I tested into the 4 semesters of Italian class AND I get to go on the grape harvest trip which is reserved only for the students of the upper two Italian classes. All my roommates tested into the upper two levels also so we'll all be going on the trip. Corina is in my class also so I'll have someone to study with! 

Italia is a wonderful, wonderful place and I'm so lucky to be able to spend an entire semester here. It hasn't really hit me that I'm not on vacation yet but I feel like I can get used to living here. 

The Placement Exam and The Vatican

ITALIAN PLACEMENT EXAM!! The test wasn’t too bad. I felt like I knew everything that was on there (or at least remembered learning it at some point) except for the other future tense—I know futuro semplice. I don’t even know what it is called. I don’t know how I did but one of my roommates only took 8 classes of Italian (no, not semesters. 8 individual classes) and she placed into the 400 level Italian class. That’s as high as you can place. She’s also from Bulgaria so she speaks French, Bulgarian, Russian and English fluently so that might have something to do with it. So far three of my roommates placed into the 302/400 class. I’m not sure why they are together… but whatever. I don’t have to worry about that. I’m hoping to place into 202 (essentially three semesters of Italian) or 301 (four semesters of Italian). The 302/400 class is for people for have studied Italian at least 5 years. Two of my other roommates definitely have. One has studied Italian for 8 years and the other has an Italian father, speaks Spanish since she has a Mexican mother, and lived in Italy for a while. So I don’t feel any need to try to compare myself to them. I’ve only been taking Italian for 8 weeks—technically longer, I guess, more like 12 or 13 weeks now—but that length of time doesn’t compare at all to the amount of time the other people taking the test have been learning it. Now that I think about it, during the oral part of the exam I should have said something like I have only been taking Italian since the beginning of the summer. But of course, I didn’t think about it. I was too nervous! I was not expecting an oral portion of the exam. I thought it would just be a quick test and I would be done. Nope. I had a 10 minute interview with one of the professors and she would not slow down for me! I guess that is a good thing…but it made me nervous. Thankfully I understood what she was saying and could respond but I made some very silly mistakes. Oh well, as long as I’m not with the beginners I’ll be happy.

I also had to buy a cell phone today. Unfortunately, the man who was selling the plan I wanted didn’t feel like showing up today so I ended up getting the only other one available. It’s by no means terrible, it’s just not what I wanted. The lady seemed rather flustered because she had to come in from Florence for the day but she forgot to bring SIM cards for us and since we had to wait for her to figure out what she was going to do, she gave us 10 euros towards our plan. So that’s 10 euros worth of phone calls and texts that I don’t have to pay for! It was a little stressful but tomorrow I will finally get my phone and my sim cards ( I get two… one for Italy and one for traveling in Europe so I don’t get roaming charges).

While I was waiting for the lady (my exam ended at 15:30 and she wasn’t supposed to show up until 16:30) two of my roommates and I took a quick walk to the Vatican to see St. Peters. We didn’t go into the basilica because we didn’t have time to wait in line but we walked around, took some pictures which I’ll post once I get them from my roommate (unfortunately I didn’t have my camera. I considered taking it this morning but I figured we’d only be doing our placement exams so what’s the point?), then we walked back. I didn’t realize how close it was to the IES center. So cool!!

We went to the store again also since it’s on the way home from the bus stop. I finally bought some shampoo (I’m sure my roommates are thankful that I’ll stop mooching off of them) and my first bottle of wine. I am quite proud of it. I felt a little bit like I was doing something wrong but no, I’M IN ITALY! It is un vino bianco dell’Umbria. I’m sure an equivalent wine would be much more than 3 euros in the United States. I don’t know if it will be good or not,  but the point is that I bought it all by myself. I also signed up for a wine tasting trip to some vineyard in Tuscany. I’m pretty excited about it and hopefully I’ll learn more about wine. I might as well since I’m here.

Well, it’s about dinner time so I should start thinking about that. Tomorrow we are headed to a lake so I better remember to bring my camera!!

Orientation Day 1

Last night my ISC (Italian Student Companion) and her friend made us dinner--various antipasti dishes like fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and figs, bread, some meat I have never seen before (it was round, hard, and salty. I really didn't like it), diced tomatoes, and finally some pasta with a tuna and tomato sauce. By the time we got to that though, we were all really full. We ate by candlelight on our balcony and drank some espresso afterwards since we were supposed to meet some other IES students who are living near us at a local bar. We left the apartment at 23:00 and went to the "cheap bar" (as many Americans call it since it is pretty cheap) and we got to talk and hang out in a big piazza. I met some really cool people but unfortunately we didn't get back until about 2:00. What a long day!

Today we (my 4 roommates and my ISC)  woke up early (not early enough) and got un caffe' at Il Tuo Bar. It's basically underneath our building, which is quite convenient. We were running late so instead of trying to walk to the IES center we tried to take the bus but it never came. A man at the bus stop said he had been waiting for 40 minutes! We finally just got on the next bus to come, then we had to switch buses but instead we met up with some other IES students who were running late also so we walked with them. Thankfully another group or two showed up after us. 


Our orientation was pretty boring since we just talked about safety (mostly common sense stuff like "Don't get too drunk." "Don't accept drinks from strangers unless you see it being poured. Better yet, don't accept drinks from anyone. Italian men do that to see if they have a chance with you." etc), transportation, finances, etc. I'm buying a phone tomorrow so life might get a little easier.

We found the right bus back and went to the supermercato next to our apartment building. It's huge and has everything!! I bought mostly stuff I can use for a long time like rice and cereal as well as some verdura e frutta (fruits and vegetables). I was amazed how cheap it was. I stocked up and only spent 8 euros.

Also, I took some more pictures of our apartment.
Apartment Pictures/IES center