Sicily

First and Foremost: Food

First Real Cannoli
Fig Pastry
Pistachio Pastry
Free White Chocolate (because I'm a girl and I was speaking Italian)
Linguini con Frutta di Mare
Thin, Flat Pasta with mussels and pumpkin sauce topped with chopped nuts
Bigger and Better Cannoli
Pizza topped with proscutto crudo, olives, hard boiled egg, peas, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese
Stolen Fruit

Things I did:

Saw a train get pulled apart, put on a ferry, and put back together
Ripped my jacket on the stairs
Learned the Italian word for needle and thread from Sicilians
Swam in the Mediterranean and convinced a friend to do the same
Saw the major city Taormina, the architecture is incredible
Went to the bar and made Sicilian friends
Explored the town at night
Explored the archaeological site of Siracusa
Walked through the old town Ortigia
Went on a walk along the beach, singing
Killed time playing cards, watching movies, and chatting on the 13 hour train back

Going h... (I don't even want to say the h-word uhh) home.

People say that you change when you studying abroad. This is because your experience of places you’ve seen, people you’ve met, cultures you immersed yourself in, gave you something you didn’t have before. When you go back home, you see that something in yourself, and see the world you used to live in through different eyes.
Will you appreciate your house more now?
Will you appreciate that friend more now?
Will you give that guy a chance?
Will you delete some contacts from your phone?

Okay, that last one’s a little harsh, but you know what I mean. Studying abroad opens your mind. Some of us came abroad open-minded, but we will leave better still. We might have been open-minded to different people, but experiencing the differences of lifestyles is a whole different ball game. Talking to people from all different points of view, from all over the world, some from the city, some from the country, some from big families, some from no families, some single, some lying… different cultures, lifestyles, ideas, beliefs, morals…

I am definitely going to miss this diversity. The one positive thing about going home? Seeing my little world through these different eyes.

Expectations

Reading an itinerary and taking the trip are two very different things. Sometimes you build up the trip in your head, romanticizing. Sometimes your pleasantly surprised, and other times disappointed. The same thing goes for people. Sometimes you meet someone and expect the worse, then realize you’ve got a lot of similarities. Maybe the next time you meet someone, you’ll be a bit more optimistic and they’ll let you down.

We base a lot of how we react to different people and personalities on who we have met before or the experiences we have just had. I don’t think that’s a very good way to go about things.

I’ve learned to go into trips and get into friendships with people neutrally. If there are no expectations, and you make the best of your situation, you will always come out ahead because everyone teaches you something. We learn and grow ourselves through every interaction, interactions with people, with culture, with the world.

Wow, I know I’ve said it before, but that really sounds like another one of these stupid 20-year-old revelations that everyone already knows. Oops.

My First 13-hour Train Experience

“Hey wake up, I need to pee.”

The light reaches out and finds my face as I crunch up to unlock the door. I wonder how much longer until we reach the ferry to get to Sicily.

I see a shadow, and thinking it is my roommate returning from the bathroom, I slide the makeshift curtain that is my scarf away from the window to ensure it’s her. Instead of a thin, blond haired girl, I find a thickly build Italian man with well-baked skin, a blacked out outfit staring in. He raises is plump sausage fingers to wave at me. I snap my head away and continue waiting for my roommate.

“It’s pretty sketch out there. If you really need to go, just be careful,” she says when she returns. I look out into the hallway and see the man has passed and was making his way onto the next train car. I quickly move in the opposite direction and slip into the bathroom. I brace myself, getting ready for a stocky man to push me into the bathroom to hurt me. I think of all of those tips, I’ve learned over the years to defend myself. Luckily, I returned to my room with no problems that night.

Our door gets double locked, and I get reacquainted with my pillow and the three train seats that are flush together and open up into a “bed”.

Two songs into my iPod, the silence the outside world is listening to is disrupted by the shrillest of screams. At first, I think it’s just the girls who were drinking a couple rooms down. I wake up and realize it was them, but the scream had more reasoning than “she really hooked up with him”.

“MY BAG! IT WAS UNDER MY PILLOW! THE DOOR WAS LOCKED!”

Three bags from three different rooms were stolen. They ended up catching one of the guys who wore a neon orange sweater. Two very expensive cameras and one iPod are still missing. Another thing missing? An explanation of who that man I saw was and why he was at our door.

Helping Our Environment

What is it going to take for the human race to start living greener? Over the past year, we have seen environmental catastrophes from the BP Oil Spill to the Japan earthquake and power plant crisis. This is an issue effecting every living thing on this Earth, though we live our everyday lives without a care.

I have realized in my studying abroad that being green for Italians is not a choice, it is a necessity because of the expense of heat and electricity. If only this were true in America. So many think that living green will disrupt their daily lives, though it is a lot simpler than that: turning off a light when you leave the room, using a refillable water bottle instead of cases of water, taking shorter showers, washing clothes in cold water, etc. Doing all of these things not only decrease your carbon footprint, but they also fatten your wallet. Who doesn't need that?

Here are a couple of sites to check out.

Convenience and Introspection

Some students here say that they miss the convenience of home. If anything, I am going to miss how convenient life is here. I love the fact that I can walk over to my friend's apartment across the bridge and yell up to her window, asking if she wants to hang out. I am going to miss telling a friend to meet at the Duomo so we can walk to gelato. If I wanted to take a day trip, all I need to do is walk to the train station. Sure, we don't have microwaves, but who needs that? I got popcorn gelato last week. And okay, we don't have dryers, but the drying rack does just fine.

Another thing I didn't realize I'm going to miss so much is the friend's I have made here. I forget that they do not get to come home with me. They have taught me a lot. Its also very easy to be yourself when you are around people from all over the country/world. I think at home, sometimes we can get swayed by the majority, but if we all know we are different, coming from different places, backgrounds, families, I think that its easier to show your true colors to people (not that I am not myself at home, I hope you understand what I mean by that). I think when you are around people who think a certain way too much, anyone would get a little swayed. Surrounding yourself with a new mix of people is like hitting the refresh button.

When you study abroad, you realize not only what your like, seeing yourself in other people, but you also see what your not like. I think this is a very important step in the growing up process.

I'm really going to miss the diversity of personalities, lifestyles, ways of thinking. I like understanding new cultures, seeing how others live, and getting to know new people. This is why I wanted to book a semester in California in the Spring. I'm going to crave a similar experience as soon as I get home.

I also was reminded of what it truly means to be happy, the things that are important to me. So many people here say they miss a lot of things and can't wait to go back to them. Yes, I miss my firepit outside, real breakfasts, and the little things, but truly, all that I miss from home are my grandparents, my parents, my dog, and a handful of my friends. If I could take them all with me traveling, I don't think I would ever stand still.

Connections

Its funny to see pictures of little things around Florence that I took upon my first days being here. I found a picture of a tag (graffiti) of the batman symbol. I thought it was so cool. On my pretty regular walk from school to lunch, I realized that I had been walking by it multiple times a week. I had never noticed it since that one day of exploration.

Also, I was walking by a bar with a friend last night after dinner, and I realized that was the bar I went to with my roommates and some friends the first night we went out. I had actually been there once recently, but I never noticed. I actually verified the connection with the friend who responded, "you didn't know that?"

I think its funny how you can fall into a routine and not notice the little things after a while. This is why I always try to walk a different way to classes and not get into such a routine here. Exploring a bit everyday, or even noticing different details is so important to a longer trip like this.

My Postcard

I think I had mentioned that I was not writing throughout my last weekend trip. I keep remembering details that I do not want to lose forever in the sea of my brain.

After the guided tour of Pompei, I wandered some of the shops. I found a thimble that was cheaper than any other thimble I saw, and my grandma collects them. I talked to the vender, in Italian of course, telling him I want to buy it for her. His first questions were what is my name and do I have a boyfriend, typical. After he tried setting me up with his son who gave me elevator eyes, I told him about how I was just there to buy a present for my grandmother. The vender told his 25 year old, tall, dark, blue eyed son that I would be a perfect match because I seem family oriented. After some laughing, he gave me my thimble and then reached over to the postcard, "a gift," he said. I put it in the bag without thinking, then gave the vendor a "proper parting of ways" which is the double cheek kiss.

I later looked into the bag and saw that the postcard he gave me was of the pictures from the Brothel. My grandmother2s thimble is now tainted, and I am left with a suggestive postcard fit for no one.

Three Perspectives on Travel

The Pilot
“Psh, all clear,” my dad hears as the fun part of his job begins. With a long runway before him, he exhales with satisfaction similar to a newly licensed driver looking out onto an open road the first time.
Traveling is not just experiencing something new. Its time. Its work. Its money. Its life-or-death. Its technical. Its business. Its not just going out to discover. Its a delicious expensive meal balanced with the loneliness of a hotel room. Its being on call. Its packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking. Its like sprinting, working less days a year, but busting your butt when you do.
“I love being a pilot,” he's always said, though it seems to me like words sound great, but when I think of all it entails, the jetlag, the culture shock, the unsettling feeling, the outcast tourist feeling, it might not be all that glamorous. Is a pilots license in my future? Maybe not anymore.

The Wife of the Pilot & The Local Servers
“Dad's stuck in Australia,” my mom sighs.
“How's that a complaint?”
“Having an empty house is nice for a day or two, but...” and she trails off.
“Oh Mom, I'll stay on a little longer.”
“I went to Belmar Bagels, and they said of course you could come back this summer.”
“Speaking of, you know what I've been thinking about? At my bagel shop, I can't stand the weekends because the entire tri-state area thinkings its cool to flood the beach. I wouldn't care, but their so rude and never tip. I make more money serving less locals during the week. I was sitting at a cafè yesterday, and I was relating to the barista frustrated with tourists but still trying to be friendly. I don't know how they do it. These tourists, and even locals sometimes, forget that there is a human being behind the counter, not just their food. Is it really asking to much to at least act pleasant? Plus, these workers have to deal with all the different languages. When people order in Spanish or Portugese to me at work every so often, I think Um, we're in America speak English. The baristas here deal with it all the time. They must hate the foreigners, especially because some don't even try Italian. So sad.”

An Elderly Local
“Look at all of these fresh faces and young bodies,” mio zio says as we walk through his hometown of Venice. “When I was their age, I was working for my family. I haven't been outta the country in 40 years. They are taking over and dilluting the culture. Everything's catered to them, burgers and fries, my country is disappearing.”

blue grotto

How did I almost forget about the Blue Grotto? That was the most amazing experience. On my high school trip, I saw the blue grotto in Capri, but I never went inside.

We are all on a boat tour of beautifully blue Capri, when we stop in this cove. I saw these little row boats manned by only the strongest tannest Italian men. My friends and I transfer from the bigger boat to the smaller boat with help from a sailer. We dodge a few other boats and end up in front of this little arch at the foot of the rock that has a chain hanging on top. Our rower says to duck as he pulls the chain and shoots us into the Blue Grotto. It was like finding a secret room in there. The only light to see is the sun's reflection on the pure white sand which illuminates the water. Breath taking. The men inside were singing stereotypically. I asked my rower in Italian if he likes to sing, and he said he did but he did not like his voice. I convinced him to belt out a few notes.

Unfortunately, my description of this experience is not as vividly written as the experience was, but I am off to Fiesole with a friend. I love how we all say, meet at the Duomo. Its hard to believe soon I'll be meeting at Dunkin Donuts instead.

Questo Weekend

This weekend, I went to Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, and Positano.

Pompeii Facts I've Learned
-Mt Vesuvius is the only active volcano on mainland Europe
-Abundency road is the main road full of shops and businesses
-Lupanare is a wolf call which is what Italians would do in the red light district.
-89 winebars, 39 bakeries, a few hundred people, Carpe Diem
-There's a Brothal with pictures, straw on the stone beds, moving on...
-A penis is a symbol of good luck and they are all throughout the city. Some are in stone carved into the ground which points in the direction of the Brothal
-Their community baths were like modern gyms
-They had white pieces of tile on the ground to reflect moonlight so they can see in the dark
-They had no street signs so "I'm left of the bull statue," or "I'm right at the foundtain," was how people got around
-There is a palace of justice at the end
-Lemoncello and fireworks typical of the neighboring town of Naples. Lemoncello is made from the peel of the lemon not the lemon itself and fireworks go off all summer, every birthday, all the time.

Relaxing Capri
I have been to Capri before so instead of going crazy trying to see everything possible, I relaxed. I've been to Anacapri before, so my friends and I had a lunch at the top of Capri next to a gorgeous view, did a little shopping, and laid out on the beach. Beautiful day.

Sorrento
When we came back to Sorrento, I walked the streets of Sorrento as my roommates went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I found the same scarves that are sold in Florence for 2 euros instead of 5. I found some made in Italy things as well which I was really excited about.

Both of the dinners in Sorrento were really good. The first night we had a basic antipasto then three different pieces of pizza, a basic slice, a prosciutto and mushroom slice, and a spinach and sausage slice. Yum. For dessert we had cream puffs in a chocolate liquor sauce.

The second night, we had a plate of prosciutto to start and amazing bread (the farther south in Italy you go, the better the bread is) then spinach gnocchi with shrimp. Dessert was a lemon cake. Of course, a glass of wine accompanied each meal.

The last day we went to Positano. We hiked down 454 steps to walk the quant town, speak with locals, eat some baccala with a rice ball and these grilled vegetables wrapped in a pastry, wander, and explore.

Another successful weekend.

Bus Buddy

I went away for the weekend on a trip run by the school and met some awesome people. On the three hour bus ride home, I got to know the person sitting next to me. It was surprisingly refreshing. We talked about everything from culture shock and reverse culture shock to having a drive to get out there and make your dreams happen to American stereotypes to our childhoods.

Random, great, long conversations with people give me hope for the world.

another post about food

I know, I know, you must be thinking, "boy can this girl eat." To answer that, yes I can, but also, I don't know why but I have a real connection to my food. Its a big part of culture I think.

Now that that's out of the way, the funniest thing happened to me the other day. I saw something green in my fragola and cafe` gelato. It was mixed into the strawberry part. I was thinking, if this was America, I would be so grossed out, but since I am in Italy I ate it. I licked all of the gelato off the green part and plucked it from my tongue and realized it was a strawberry leaf. How funny that when you see green in icecream at home, you immediately think of mold, but in Italy, you have no such uncertainty.

Also on the topic of food, let me stress the importance of eating local food. When your in Bologna, get the tortolini. When in Modena, taste the vinegar. When in the Amalfi Coast, order fish. It boggles my mind that people don't do this. This is how you get a more authentic experience. Open your mind, and open your taste buds.

In Capri, after having the local lemon cookie, I tried popcorn gelato. POPCORN! It tasted like caramel with popcorn bites inside. I really wanted something fruity as it was a hot day, and we just spent hours at the beach, but you don't come across popcorn gelato too often in your life.

Spring Fever

I would love to break this up into a bunch of different smaller posts, but it is 11:15pm, and I need to be up at 5:30am tomorrow, so here we go. I apologize in advance for the jumbled topics. I'll break them up somehow.

Thoughts from il Giardino di Boboli
Somedays, I wake up and it hits me all over again. I'm in Italy?! How long do I have left? How much money do have left? Is this really everything I have been hoping, waiting, saving, working for? Yes. It is. Its all that and more. I know I will have horrible culture shock when I get back because I can't even imagine the life I used to live. I drive a car? There's a beach close to my house? I have a dog?

I like this lifestyle I live. I like walking to lunch, a fresh lunch made from the freshest ingredients. I like walking to the food store at 7pm for ingredients to make dinner within the hour. I love speaking the beautiful Italian language to locals. I love browsing through vintage jewelry. I love laying in the Boboli Gardens, or in any park that is, to read and write and hang out with friends. I love walking to class and being distracted by cappuccinos and clothes. I love rewarding myself with a gelato after class. I love getting dressed everyday (they really get dressed dressed here, which I try to do a few times a week). I love my daily life. I love being here. When I... I don't even want to say the words... come home (I say cringing) I need to ensure that I take aspects from this daily lifestyle and incorporate it into my life at home.

Other thoughts from the Garden
I love how this is an option. Between classes, picking up a delicious chicken dish with sun-dried tomatoes and potatoes in a citrus sauce to sit up against a tree in a garden with Florence's skyline before me. To my left, there's Italian kids chilling. To my right, there is an old American couple kissing. What more can I ask for. Such a beautiful moment.

When I experience moments like this, in places I love, I wish that I could share this with people I love. I could picture my grandparents and I relaxing in this park. I could picture my friends hitting a field hockey ball around. I could picture my dog and I playing in the grass or playing catch...

Thoughts from the streets
Wow. Just bumped into someone who plays field hockey. I actually played against her friends last season. "Go Field Hockey"
Lesson reminded of? This world really is small. I also bumped into someone I went to middle school with in a bookstore here. She's also studying abroad. Small, Small world.

Thoughts after dinner
Always go out of your way to make someone else smile, even a stranger a day. I vowed to help a tourist with directions each day. Today that came easy, because someone came up and asked. I was thinking of just approaching lost tourists.

Anyway, I was on my way home from dinner and saw a few guys running. Two small keys jumped out of one of the guys pockets. I chased them down the street (they couldn't hear my 'Scusa' because of their iPods). I have never seen such a big smile when I handed him the keys. It made me smile. It was also a good way to work of the bread I had with my dinner.

Thoughts from Piazza Repubblica
I know this is typical 20 something year old female lingo, but right now, that's where I'm at, and I have to say, I'm love it.

vestiti - clothing

Okay, what are people doing? I woke up this morning and checked that today has a high of 80. I have a 9am class and realize its not going to be 80 when I walk out the door this morning, so I put on solid black not-too-short shorts, a white tank from express that has strings of black beads around the scoop neckline, a grey blazer and black flats. I wonder if I will be looked up and down by the Florence Fashion Divas, the group of girls who stand outside their school whom I need to walk through to get to mine.

I step outside and see... Jackets? Trench coats? Scarves? Sweaters? I do not understand. Did they not read the weather this morning? On my walk to school, I spot a few other younger people who have tee shirts, some have skirts, but other than this the only other group of people I see dressing true to the weather is tourists. I am not sure about here, but at home, the first day it is 80 degrees is cause for celebration. Bears come out of their holes, lemonade is poured, and women shave their legs.

Lesson learned: people dress seasonally. Instead of checking the weather, they check the date. Apparently April 7 is not means to break out the shorts.

(And if you are wondering the Florence Fashion Divas did do to body scan, I just held my head up and kept walking.)

mini mini details

I hope I don't forget the little things. I know I have said this before, but now I'm talking about the really little things. How I read through Sarah Ben-somethings mail when I look through the ABC mailbox hoping there is something for me. The names of the streets I've grown to love. All of those different kinds of cookies I get at Forno. The last weekend and week I am here, I plan to go around with my camera and take hundreds of pictures of my everyday life. I am anticipating it, though I dread that day too.

Craving Green

Maybe a flower pot on a ledge,
Maybe some leaves on a tree,
These are the only greens I see.

Maybe chopped in a salad,
Maybe pesto on spaghetti,
These are the only greens I see.

Maybe a man's spring jacket,
Maybe a woman's fitted tee,
These are the only greens I see.

Here I am
Writing against a tree
Stereotypically.
People sitting all around me
In the park, to just be.

In the hands of a man,
Flowers are cut so perfectly,
These are the only greens I see.

Flowers in shops,
A few tree tops,
Florence doesn't hold much greenery.

a spontaneous "lets get out of the classroom and write"

Being a planner is thrown out the window. The title I used to hold, completely dissolved. I have always had a plan, but would roll with the punches. A "flexible easygoing planner" is how I would describe myself. The "flexible easygoing" part is now stressed as I will press my lips before planner comes out of my mouth.

Here I am, my professor has dragged me to another church.

I would never really say that. Look at this.

Standing on a piece of shaky cobblestone outside the church, as my professor tried giving us a history and the Charlie Brown teacher voice rang in my head, I wondered how much this piece of the street must have endured to get this way. I wonder who the people are or were who traveled across it.

Donatello stands strong on the church. I think of how much he endured to get carved into marble and placed into the façade.

In sports, I think of recent March Madness events but also my personal experience in sports in track and field hockey, we measure success in points scored, personal bests, championship titles. The final result of a game or a score is all we focus on. We do not see or experience all that it took to get to that point.

I wonder what was endured to make another church, this church. All of the mosaic, the painting, the brick laying.

Forget Rome, forget Florence, forget this church even, this floor was not built in a day.

I wonder what the people were like, the ones who built this. I wonder what their personalities were. They all have one thing in common, endurance, even if they stopped every twenty minutes for un cappuccino or una bottiglia di vino. I mean these carvings are amazing, lacelike drapped but elegant like a spider web.

All of the people who sat in this spot.
All of the eyes who have looked at these things.
What are their stories?
Where are they from?
What did it take for them to get here?
Do they appreciate this?
Do they have a belly full of espresso, cornetto, or even spaghetti al pesto?
Are they bored?
What are they thinking?
I wonder if they are thinking about the same things I am.

people

Has anyone else noticed? Everyone looks the same. I have taken so many double takes on this trip. A few times a week, I will run into someone or see someone in a crowd who looks like someone I know.

This might just be choice theory or reality theory of me thinking of home, but I promise it to be true. So strange.

Cinqueterre

This blog is not only for my friends and family (and class), but its also a memory holder for me. I could tell you how amazing Cinqueterre is with the skinny, tall bright houses, the rocky, pebbley beaches, and the pesto and seafood everywhere. Instead here are some of my memories:

-going on trains without getting tickets
-trespassing to steal a lemon which was peeled and eating it whole
stealing aloe vera from residences
-trying to hitchhike
-running to the train
-jumping off the train when we realized its the wrong one
-zucca di frutta for free
-"what do I have to do to get a piece of birthday cake"
-free cookies
-the ferry taking a detour to see dolphins
-my camera dying and realizing that the seeing the rest of Porto Venere without a lens was pretty sweet


What I Remember Eating (aside from the stolen lemon)

Lasagna al pesto
Swordfish al limone
Dolci vino da Cinqueterre
Fried baccala
Fried whitefish
Faccachia
Faccachia with tomato and pesto
Pizza with pesto
Bread with nutella
Crepe with nutella
Blood Orange Juice
Raspberry and Hazelnut Gelato
Cumquat