Pre-Spring Break Update and Pics from Last Weekend!

Midterms are over and my two short papers are finished! That means I’m off to Barcelona tomorrow! Before I take a 10-day hiatus from blogging, I figured I’d leave my readers with a quick update (along with the pictures that belong with the last entry, if the Internet will let me upload them!).

This week went by super fast, just like every week here seems to. My roommate Daniela finally arrived back at the apartment after leaving for a good three weeks, and it has been so nice having someone else here with me! She told me she’s back to stay, because her normal class schedule starts next week! That was a relief for me to hear. I like my alone time, but living in an isolated apartment in Italy all by yourself would probably be too much solitude for anyone but a hermit wannabe. Daniela is SO sweet and very easy to live with. She’s really clean and considerate, and she always makes an effort to ask me about my life and start conversations with me, even if I have trouble coming up with the right responses sometimes! The past two nights we’ve done homework together in the kitchen while watching TV (in Italian, of course). She showed me how many American TV shows are in Italy—they have House, Closer, CSI, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Desperate Housewives, the Simpsons, and some knock-off of American Idol for Italy. And that’s just a sampling! It’s pretty hard for me to understand the TV shows because they talk so fast, but I can still get a general idea of what’s going on and it’s fun to hang out with Daniela and watch it together. Talking to her is such good practice for my Italian, because there is literally no other option but speaking the language, since she doesn’t know any English! She doesn’t judge my butchered pronunciation and she really listens to my Italian when I speak, as opposed to storeowners or other Italians I’ve met who will immediately recognize I’m an American and automatically assume I can’t get a point across in Italian.

This week I finally got to volunteer again at the high school! I missed one week because of my food poisoning, and then the other week was Fat Tuesday and school was cancelled. My time volunteering this Tuesday was probably my favorite thing I did all week. I’m so glad I signed up to be part of this program, because you really get to work face-to-face with people and see the impact you’re having, which makes it so rewarding. This week the teacher had the class break up into five groups to try out different informal conversation topics. Basically they would get a sheet of paper with a situation like “A Souvenir from Paris” or “Evening Classes” and it would have pictures and words in English underneath them, and then a list of potential phrases to get a conversation going. So for the “Evening Classes” situation, there would be a list of potential classes the kids were supposed to have seen on a bulletin board, and together they had to choose which activity they wanted to sign up for. They had to explain why they thought one class was better than another, etc. with phrases like, “What if…” “I think we should…” “Why don’t we?” and it was actually so much fun going around to the different groups and trying to help them with the assignment. At first I was a little intimidated, because the class is pretty out of control and loud compared to an American high school, but the kids are actually all so nice and most of them really do try to learn. Some of them are actually very good at it, too! I felt like I was really able to get to know them better since I talked to them in small groups this time, and I felt like my being there encouraged them to get more involved and try harder than if it had just been their English teacher. I’m very excited for when I get back from break and get to work with them again!

Last night I went to a musical at il Teatro Morlacchi, which was a great cultural experience! It was BEAUTIFUL inside! The ceiling had all these intricate paintings and moldings, and there were luxurious red velvet-lined box seats surrounding the entire theater. I was seated on the ground floor, but I thought it looked like it would be so much fun to be in one of those little rooms looking down at the stage…very romantic, like stepping back in time. The play I saw was called “l’Impresario delle Smirne,” and I still don’t know what a “Smirne” is…I think it’s some kind of Eastern nationality, like Siamese? Or maybe a type of royalty? My Italian-English dictionary, as enormous as it is, doesn’t have it listed. In all honesty I barely understood a word of what was said during the show, and I consider myself pretty good at understanding what I hear in Italian at this point! When I saw il Concerto at the movies last week, I understood almost all of it. But with this, they spoke so fast, and there was music playing, and it was just so much more difficult. Still, it was fun to see the dramatic Italian acting, and the show was some kind of comedy so there were a lot of goofy scenes. There was some really good singing also, and very elaborate costumes. The musical started at 9, and the intermission wasn’t until 10:45…it wasn’t supposed to end until after midnight, but I was so, so exhausted after having gotten barely any sleep the night before that I left early. I felt bad doing it, but having been there two hours and on the verge of drifting off from sheer exhaustion, I felt like I had gotten everything out of it that I could! Plus, the final scene before the intermission involved an old man dancing around the stage in a fluffy pink tutu, so I felt like things couldn’t end on a much better note than that. I sort of had an “Aha!” moment in the middle of the scene—like, oh my God, I’m sitting in an ornately decorated Italian theater from the 1700’s, halfway across the world from everyone and everything familiar, watching an old man dance in a ballerina costume across a stage. My life is crazy.

In other news, summer internship responses should be coming in soon, which is both nerve wracking and exciting! I actually heard back from Washingtonian Magazine, someplace I’ve always wanted to intern, and they are moving me on to the next round of their internship selection process, which is great news! I have to send in a 300-word unedited review of some kind by March 9th. But by that point I will have heard back from ASME, the internship program that matters the most to me. It’s based in New York (though occasionally interns are placed in D.C.) and very prestigious—and it’s also paid! Washingtonian is a paid internship too, though not as much. I would love to intern at Washingtonian, but I don’t think I could pass up ASME if I got it. But it’s very competitive, so I really don’t know what to expect! It’s weird to even think about summer and being back in the U.S. right now. But it’s not that far away. That’s a thought that makes me really excited but also sad, all at once.

My flight for Barcelona leave’s tomorrow night at 5:15, but I’m taking the train into Rome tomorrow at 11:15. So tonight I have to pack! I’ve made my list and put a lot of things in the bag, but I’m not looking forward to cramming all the last-minute stuff in there. Because bringing a checked bag is so expensive, I’m just taking a carry-on for the 10-day trip, so I have to try to pack lightly. Easier said than done. In Barcelona I’m staying at a hostel in the center of the city, in an area called Plaza Catalunya. I wish I could stay in Melissa’s homestay, but the lady who lives there has strict rules but overnight guests…cross your fingers that the 5 random roommates I get in this hostel are normal! I have zero idea what to expect, and I have been so incredibly lucky with overnight accommodations everywhere I’ve traveled so far, to the point where I feel like karma’s going to give me a taste of the opposite. But we shall see. I can’t wait to see Melissa tomorrow! And I’ll also get to see my friend Nikki while I’m there, which will be so nice! Then on Wednesday I fly to London and will stay with my friend Erica until Sunday! Both Barcelona and London seem like amazing cities, and I am glad I have more than a weekend to experience both!
Arrivaderci until at least March 8th! Here are photos from my visit to Alessandra’s last weekend:

A Weekend in the Roman Countryside

I had no idea what to expect when I got off the train in Frascati, Italy, after a four-hour long train ride from Perugia. But I don’t think I ever could have imagined how warm and hospitable my cousin Alessandra and her family were this weekend, or how comfortable and “at home” I would feel, for probably the first time since I arrived in Italy. This weekend would have to be summed up as one of my favorite experiences since beginning this study abroad journey.

Some background information: Alessandra’s father, Pasquale, is a first cousin of my 96-year-old great grandmother (Grammy) Palma. I had met Alessandra in person for just a few minutes during my high school Italy trip, when she and her family stopped by the hotel I was staying at outside of Rome and brought me biscotti. Since then my Aunt Dianne has been keeping in touch with her through e-mail, and when she found out I was studying in Italy this semester, she immediately offered to host me for a weekend at her house. It was so wonderful coming to this foreign country and knowing that I had family here, however distantly related we might be! In a world where everything and everyone is unfamiliar, where you’re essentially on your own and starting from scratch for four months, knowing that there’s someone out there who you have a connection to and who is ready to take you under their wing is so comforting.

Alessandra greeted me with a big hug at the Frascati train station Friday night, and then we drove about 15 minutes to the town where lives, called Grottaferrata. Both it and Frascati are beautiful little towns just outside of Rome, suburbs of Rome we might say in America. But with a location way up in the hills, surrounded by palm trees (even in winter!) and the remains of decadent country villas, and with a bird’s eye view of all of Rome, I found it a much more tranquil, vacation-like setting than any typical American suburb. Alessandra even commented on that to me—that because so many people come to her town and to Rome while on vacation, people who live there fall into a year-round holiday state of mind just from being in that kind of environment. And things are a lot different here than in Milan, where she grew up—she told me the driving is much crazier (I witnessed this!), people come into work around 10 or 11 a.m. and stay until late, as opposed to working a strict 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule, and overall the attitude around Rome is a lot more flexible and laid back than in Milan.

So after a short car ride, Alessandra and I made it to the country villa where and her family live. She explained that when she and her husband Marco bought the house three years ago, it wasn’t even really a house. It was more like the foundation of a house, just scraps of a building with nothing really holding it together. But since Marco works in construction and carpentry, they were able to build up the house into what it is today, which is absolutely beautiful! Now it’s a three-story “villa,” with a big yard and a view of the cliff-side town Rocca di Pappa. There were so many unique little details in the house—a wood-burning fireplace that sent heat circulating around the house, the narrow, twisting staircase and the bookshelf built underneath it, and a gorgeous kitchen with very modern appliances and countertops but with a big kitchen table and perfectly, purposely mismatched chairs giving it a rustic, lived-in feel. Tucked away off a bumpy dirt road, their house felt like this little Italian haven, and it was exactly the kind of retreat I needed after my rough week of being sick!

Marco and Alessandra’s two kids, Michelangelo (5) and Matilde (15 months) were there to greet me when I arrived, and even though communication was a bit difficult, since they don’t speak English (scratch that, Matilde doesn’t speak anything at all yet! Lol) I was able to try my hand at some impromptu Italian conversation, and very much able to enjoy their company despite language barriers! Alessandra speaks better English than anyone I’ve met in Perugia so far—better, even, than my professors who teach English-language classes like history and film—so I was able to cheat and use her as a translator for much of the weekend. But having someone who could perfectly understand my English AND the Italian language made me feel much more comfortable!

After bringing my bag up to the third floor and my comfy, homey room for the weekend, I walked downstairs to find a full authentic Italian dinner waiting for me. Alessandra had promised me a “real” Italian dinner, and she and Marco did not disappoint. There was handmade pasta with a delicious, homemade red sauce. Then we had mozzarella di bufala, which Alessandra and Marco told me is the best I will find anywhere in the world. They buy it at a particular store that gets shipments three times a day, and they’ve never tasted any other mozzarella di bufala that compares. Let me just say that it was DELICIOUS! The cheese soaked up the flavor of the milk and had just the right texture and ahhh…just thinking about it makes me crave some right now! But then I also tasted at dinner that night my other new addiction—ricotta with honey on top. Seems like a crazy combination, right? Well whoever came up with it was a genius. This particular honey wasn’t the usual syrupy, smooth kind I’m used to putting in tea, but rather a gritty, lighter colored honey (miele, in Italian), and it in combination with the flavor of the sliced ricotta was to die for. I’m going to try to imitate it here in Perugia, or at home, but I don’t think it will ever be exactly the same. There was also a plentiful amount of crusty Italian bread, wine, and fruit for dessert. Though people often think of Italian food as being heavy and overdone, what I’ve learned is that the real stuff is much more pure and simple than American food. The food you eat for dinner comes straight from a local source, and you know what the ingredients are…rather than eating a muddled mix of artificial preservatives and factory-produced flavors. And dessert is often fruit! Alessandra and I had a lively discussion about what perceptions Italians have about the way Americans eat, and I tried to explain that not everyone eats McDonalds five times a week. Italians (including my roommate, Daniela) have this idea that American food is hamburgers and hot dogs and french fries, and that’s basically all we eat. They get this idea from American TV shows, like Super Nanny, that are imported into Italy and show the extreme of American culture. But we’re not all like that, I tried to explain!

On Saturday, the weather being the usual clouds and drizzly mix, it seemed to make more sense to stay in the Frascati area rather than walk around Rome, as much as I wanted to re-visit places like the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona. I am hoping to take a day or weekend trip to see those sights some other weekend before I leave! But seeing this area outside of Rome from an insider’s perspective was a really unique and unforgettable experience. First stop of the day was a visit to the hotel where Alessandra works, called Villa Grazioli. Dating back to somewhere around the 1600s, it’s this ornately decorated mansion with frescoed walls and ceilings. Alessandra helps coordinate events and public relations for the hotel, and they host companies like Chanel for conferences! She even told me that three years ago they filmed a Bachelor set there. Of course I appreciated that! It was so much fun getting an insider’s tour of the building, and Michelangelo tagged along and was so cute, wanting to show off the place where his mom works!

Afterwards we all got lunch at a typical “Fraschetteria,” a very authentic, informal eatery that specializes in “porchetta,” which is, you guessed it, a type of pork. We ordered a huge appetizers plate that came with a bunch of different kinds of meat, cheese, olives, vegetables and beans, etc. and it was delicious! Then Alessandra encouraged me to order a pasta dish, so I got some kind of fettucini with a special typical Roman sauce. I don’t remember what was in the sauce, but it was very good…I only wish I knew how to eat pasta like an Italian! I felt like an idiot trying to twirl the long strands of spaghetti with my fork and spoon, and it wasn’t the most dainty eating experience!

That afternoon Alessandra and I walked around Frascati, which reminded me in some ways of a flatter version of Perugia, though a bit smaller and more vacation-like. Lots of cute shops and restaurants, and a really beautiful central piazza with a typical Italian duomo. Later we walked through Grottaferrata, what Alessandra described as a more family-oriented town than Frascati. It too had lots of cute shops, restaurants and cobblestoned streets. We also visited the town’s abbey, one of the main points of interest in the area. It was built in 1004, and it’s still in use today as a monastery!

Later we stopped for about a half hour at a birthday party Michelangelo was attending, and it was really funny and interesting for me to see a typical Italian kid’s birthday celebration. It was also strange being surrounded by only Italian speakers, but strange in a good way! And thankfully I had Alessandra there to help me navigate the scary language waters.

Sunday we spent most of the day at the house, since I had to catch the train from Frascati in the afternoon. I also started feeling a bit of a stomach ache, which lingered into today but will hopefully go away soon! I can’t be sick again! So most of that day I spent playing outside with the kids, going grocery shopping with Alessandra and then laying down, trying to recuperate for my train ride! I was truly sad to say goodbye to Alessandra and her family when it was time for me to go—having this weekend with family, sleeping in an actual house rather than my apartment, and feeling taken care of for one weekend was so refreshing! And I feel so, so thankful to have family here in Italy who are so happy to have me stay with them!

I’ve already written my usual novel-sized entry, so I’m going to end now. But I wanted to mention that I did go to the old-fashioned Italian movie theater and saw il Concerto on Thursday, and despite it being without subtitles, I understood most of the movie and would highly, highly recommend it, if it’s ever out in English! This Wednesday I’m going to the theater to see an opera or play of some kind in Perugia…then Friday I’m off to Barcelona to see Melissa, and then to London to visit Erica! I want to post pictures now, but the internet is being slow, so I promise to post them later! Ciao ciao!

Some Downtime in Perugia

Well, I’ve successfully made it one week since my debilitating encounter with food poisoning, and physically and emotionally I feel much, much better than I did this time last week. I think a combination of factors collided to make the last week a really difficult one—first, the food poisoning itself, and then the fact that I was and have been completely alone in my apartment, since my Italian roommate left for a three-week stay at home, and also the fact that it’s been raining and cold here constantly. You really wouldn’t believe what an impact weather can have on lifting or bringing down a mood. And when you have a week straight of rain, in combination with a couple other negative situations, it can be a recipe for disaster.

I think that after more than a month of living in Perugia, I’ve realized that things here are far from perfect, and they’re not exactly how I imagined they would be. But just because everything isn’t just how I’d hoped it would be doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot for me to appreciate here, and a lot for me to learn from. And the fact that my study abroad experience isn’t exactly like my sister’s, or my friends’, or other people’s experiences I’ve heard of only makes sense. Every city and every study abroad program is different, and unique situations like who you’re roomed with or what part of the city you live in can completely spin a study abroad semester one way or another. My semester is its own individual experience, and I am learning to accept it for what it is, good and bad, and make the most out of all of it.

A lot of people are aware that I just got Internet in my apartment a few days ago. What a relief! I wanted to hope that I could go a semester without Internet in my apartment, but the reality is, living by yourself and far from reliable Internet access is just a bunch of unnecessary stress, especially when trying to stay in touch with people from home. Now I can finally Skype, respond to e-mails, look up travel itineraries and even have the luxury of finding out the 10-day forecast! All from the comfort of my own bed. I only have 50 hours a month, which I can tell already will run out fast, but at least weekend travel and spring break will help preserve some hours. Right now I’m still basking in the glory of finally having real, stress-free contact with the outside world!

Since I stayed in Perugia this past weekend, I’m not going to give a play-by-play of what I did every single day. Instead, I’ll highlight a few things I’ve been up to and give you a preview of what’s in store for me the next few weeks. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to share this time, but I’ll include some links here and there to make it more interactive! :-)

Friday morning I had to wake up bright and early for an appointment with the “Questura,” the Italian police who deal with immigration. At 8:30 I and two other Umbra students began a three-hour process chock full of fingerprinting, interrogation about addresses and parents’ names, and other similar enjoyable activities. For some reason Italy requires something called a Permesso di Soggiorno in addition to having a visa, so this appointment was the final step in getting that document. I learned that my fingers are particularly impossible to fingerprint—they kept having to try over and over again to get a good image of them, and for the other people I was with it only took one try…very strange!

During the afternoon and early night my medieval culture class had a field trip to a nearby town called Bevagna. This was another traditional Umbrian town, set up on a hill with a wall surrounding it. Winding, stone-covered streets, a bell tower/church and a main piazza with a small fountain-- the usual picturesque components of the medieval towns around here-- were all present. My class spent the afternoon touring a few museums in the town dealing with medieval life. We saw the remains of some kind of Roman bath, a small art museum with some paintings that were actually pretty intriguing despite being created by basically unknown artists, and a silk weaving demonstration. The silk weaving thing was more interesting than it sounds. They had this huge machine that took up an entire room and required two people to function, and it was built exactly to the specifications from some diagram made in the 1300s. I think they said it’s the only one of its kind in all of Europe, and I wouldn’t be surprised…it was so intricate, I have no idea how someone made the exact calculations for every component of it to work together just right. Later that night my class was ordered to dress up in medieval costumes and then taken to a room where we were fed a typical medieval dinner. Picture me in a long, bright pink robe wearing this crazy, braided headdress over my hair. That’s what I looked like eating dinner that night--- I only wish I had pictures! The food was actually delicious. It seemed to me more nutritious than what I usually eat here—lots of vegetables, beans, egg products. There was one thing that tasted like cream cheese on toast, and I had like three servings of it.

Something I did a lot of this weekend and Monday was wander. One of my favorite things to do here, on a sunny day, is just walk with no particular destination in mind. I love just choosing to take random streets that I’ve never been on and finding out where they lead. It’s always great to discover a part of the city I’ve never seen before. As small of a city as this is, there are still quite a few sections of it that I have yet to set foot in. During my recent adventures I discovered more of a park near my apartment that I’d only seen the entrance to, called Parco P.S. Angelo—the views of the surrounding hills and cottages, and the Perugia city wall, are spectacular. A very tranquil place to walk around or just sit on a bench, and I’m sure once it’s warm out I’ll appreciate it even more. I also explored a few churches and a medieval garden on the other side of town, and it was nice to get to know these other parts of Perugia that I hadn’t yet uncovered.

Two things I really want to do before I leave here, preferably more than once: Go to one of the theatres and see a play or opera, and see an Italian movie in one of the old cinemas. There’s a movie theatre, a really small one, right up the street from my apartment. There’s also one that’s a little bigger and more intriguing-looking about a 20-minute walk away, and right now they’re showing a movie called Il Concerto. A random lady on the street saw me looking at the poster for it and in Italian told me that she’d seen it and it was “Bellissimo!” She was very enthusiastic, so now I feel like I really have to go see it. There are several theatres in Perugia that show plays and operas. Il Pavone is right off Corso Vannucci in the city center, and then Teatro Morlacchi is a little closer to me, about a 10-minute walk away.

I have midterms coming up in the next week! Italian is tomorrow, and I’m probably least worried about that final out of all my classes except for maybe creative writing. After getting a 97 on our only quiz so far, I think I’ve got a good handle on it! Italian film I am not looking forward to, after having completely butchered last week’s presentation. Medieval culture I’m also a little nervous for, just because the material is so abstract and the professor doesn’t do a great job of explaining things. But compared to midterms back in College Park, it’s all a piece of tiramisu (like a piece of cake…get it? Haha, I know, I’m hilarious).

This Friday I leave for Rome, where I’ll be spending the weekend with my cousin Alessandra and her family. I think it will be a really nice, relaxing weekend and I’m definitely looking forward to it. Then a week from this Friday I leave for Barcelona to visit Melissa during my spring break! I’ll spend five nights there, and then I’ll fly to London where I’ll spend four nights with my friend Erica! It will be amazing to see two incredible cities and two familiar faces that I miss from home back-to-back! And after spring break, I’m more than halfway done this semester…

Venice during Carnevale, why I'll never eat a kebab again, and everything else on my mind.

I apologize for my lack of updates during the last week. It's been a crazy (and not necessarily in a good way) past few days, and I think I have just enough energy in me right now to give you what I hope is a decent blog entry!

Before I write about this past week, how about I start with the good stuff? Like Venice during Carnevale. You can't go wrong with that. We took a train Friday morning from Perugia and made it to the island by late-afternoon...and even though I thought it couldn't possible happen two weekends in a row (causing me to neglect putting an umbrella on my Venice packing list)it was POURING rain when we got there. I made do with my hood and tried to ignore how wet and freezing I was as we got on board a water taxi that dropped us off (luckily) just a minute's walk from our "hostel."

This was my first hostel experience, having stayed at the luxurious Marriott in Paris, and let me say, the bar has been set high. The place was more like a bed & breakfast, and they actually called themselves that rather than a hostel. B&B Al Tramonto Dorato had unbelievably reasonable prices, at around 32 Euro a night during Carnevale, and a front-row seat looking out on the blue-green water of the Grand Canal with ships/gondolas floating by. It was sparkling clean, there was a really nicely decorated lounge area that looked like it came out of a home design magazine, and our bedroom for three was roomy and bright. Breakfast was typical European fare-- rolls, Nutella, coffee, juice-- but I really have no complaints for the price we paid.

That first night we braved the pounding rain (once again, me sans umbrella) and did some window shopping around Piazza San Marco, which was only about 10 minutes' walk from the B&B. All of the stores were showing off their masquerade gear-- lots and lots of colorful masks, capes, and now and then some ballgowns for sale. We went to store after store browsing through the masks, and of course we also saw our fair share glassware stores, a must given that we were in Venice.

Dinner that night ended up being a huge disappointment. We walked for probably 20 minutes trying to find a restaurant that appealed to the eight people in our group AND that was relatively inexpensive, and ended paying way too much money at a trattoria that served us baby-sized portions and added in ridiculous charges for the salad, water and "cover" fee. Oh well...one of the girls I was traveling with said you should never go to a restaurant that has photos of its entrees on the outside. From now on maybe I'll start following that rule.

Saturday it was only a little drizzly, much more bearable than the downpour on Friday night! We spent most of the day wandering the labyrinth of streets that make up the island of Venice. For those who don't know, I was in Venice for a day or two during my high school trip to Italy. For some reason I don't remember coming away with a great impression of the city-- I liked it as a stop for a day or two, but it didn't really capture my attention the way Florence and Capri did. This time, though, I really found myself appreciating all the city's charming little alleyways. I liked that there were just so many of them-- everywhere you turned another alley, and almost all of them containing shops and restaurants rather than just being empty, dark paths. The canal was of course beautiful, but that's a given. If I had my way we would have taken a gondola ride, but somehow that never ended up happening (and lucky for me, I had done it during my last trip to Venice). Even with that gray, drizzly weather, though, it was still beautiful looking out at the aquamarine water (Is the water really, naturally that color in Venice, or do they put some kind of dye in it? I wonder.) while crossing all the little footbridges between alleyways.

We walked through San Marco Basilica and then made our way to the main piazza where they had a bunch of stages set up for Carnevale. Saturday was sort of like their "opening day," although I heard Sunday, the day we left, was the official beginning of the celebration. They had people dressed up crazy costumes screaming into microphones in Italian, and occasionally in English, and there were dancers and other performers putting on shows. There was even some man suspended from the top of this humongous bell tower in San Marco Piazza, and I think he was going to tight-rope or dive or do some kind of crazy stunt from that height. We left before he went through with it, but I still got some pictures of him hanging from the wire at the top. One of the other notable oddities to be found in Venice during Carnevale are the people dressed up in costumes parading here and there through the main piazza and by the canal. There were some couples dressed up in full-length, colorful, shimmery ballgowns and tuxedos, and then others in completely bizarre outfits, almost like Halloween. By the Venice train station I think we saw two jelly fish.

Saturday we ate cheaply. Venice seems to specialize in making pastries, something I didn't remember from having been there before, but will definitely remember going forward. There were pastry shops EVERYWHERE, each of them displaying their creations in the store windows, and I ended up devouring this delicious, flaky, ricotta-filled one. I got something like a slice of pizza for dinner (my diet these days seems to be pizza and dessert...yet somehow I've lost probably 5 pounds since arriving here?! We'll get to that later though).

I forgot to mention that I did eventually choose my own Carnevale mask after looking at probably thousands. I'll post it here, but it has this musical note detail on the side that I really liked, and then multi-colored, rainbow-y sequins going around the edges of it. It wasn't anything too flashy or crazy, at least not compared to the other ones out there, but I wasn't ashamed to walk around in broad daylight wearing it. You're only at Carnevale in Venice once (mostly likely)...might as well do it right.

One disappointment about my Venice Carnevale experience was the nightlife-- I'm not sure what I expected, but I thought there would be A LOT happening Saturday night. I imagined shows going on in San Marco Piazza, a parade of boats down the canal, bars and nightclubs with different events, concerts, anything! Instead, at like 10 p.m., San Marco was virtually dead. There were a ton of American study abroad students like myself, wandering around amongst each other, but nothing of substance really taking place. Too bad. That's why I'm pretty sure that the real Carnevale party started Sunday and continued through this coming weekend until the following Tuesday the 16th, Fat Tuesday. But regardless...I did get to experience a little taste of Carnevale right in Venice, which is more than most people can ever say!

















So after Carnevale...fast forward through classes Monday...and just before my film class move screening Monday night, I made the very unfortunate decision of consuming a Kebab. Just the thought makes me nauseous right now. But kebabs stands are rampant here...it's like the Italian fast food, or maybe just college town fast food here. They're cheap, easy to grab when you're on the run. Seems like a good choice, right? Well I learned the hard way that kebabs are never the right choice. I spent Monday night and all day Tuesday sick and then lying in bed zapped of all energy. Not only that, but the water in my apartment ominously shut off Monday night, right as I started feeling sick, meaning for a while there I didn't have a working toilet or sink. Also, I was completely alone in the apartment, and my apartment is located far from anyone else's on my program, so that upped the misery of the whole situation. And of course I had my first ever class presentation, worth 20% of my grade, due in class the day after I was wasting away in bed. Somehow I managed to deliver my little speech about the film last night, but it was probably the worst presentation of my life, and I'm pretty sure the teacher would be crazy to give me anything better than a C. Thank God these grades don't transfer!

Anywayyyy...long story short, I'm still recovering from this random sudden stomach illness, and unfortunately going through that experience brought on a different kind of sickness-- a homesickness-- that I still can't seem to shake. I hate that I even feel this way after having been here over a month, and with all these great trips to look forward to, and living in ITALY, but as absurd as this might sound, at this very moment there isn't much I wouldn't give to be lying on the couch in my house in Kennett Square, drinking tea and eating chocolate chip pancakes (I guess my appetite is somewhat back to normal...) and being surrounded by family and friends from home.

Paris! And other updates on life.

After a jam-packed weekend excursion to Paris, I’m back in my lovely apartment in Perugia and ready to update all you blog-readers on my new favorite city in the whole world, apartment life in Perugia, my first day of teaching English at a local high school, and other random and exciting goings-on over here in Europe.

Early Thursday afternoon I raced to the train station after class and just made it on time to catch my ride to Roma Termini with Alexa and Tina. After a three-hour journey we made it Rome, then took a bus to the smaller of Rome’s two airports, Ciampino. We flew on RyanAir to an airport about an hour outside Paris, and then took another bus into the city center. By that point it was about 11 p.m. We’d traveled for almost 12 hours. It took lots of walking in circles and questioning French strangers on the street to find our hotel, but eventually we did make it there. I’ll note that the French people we spoke to were all extraordinarily friendly, and almost all knew some English. I’d always had this vision of the French being snobby and arrogant toward Americans, but my experience this weekend totally contradicted that idea.

Now you may be wondering why I said we arrived at our “hotel.” Did I mean to type “hostel”? Well actually, no. Because of some random connection Tina’s family has with Marriott, we were able to stay in the Marriott Champs Elysee, this five star extravagant Parisian hotel set right in the heart of the city. Picture staying right on Fifth Avenue or in the center of Times Square in New York. That’s where we were in Paris. The Champs Elysee is the main street running through the famed Arc de Triomphe, and it’s lined with high-end boutiques and posh restaurants. I paid 30 Euro to stay there three nights, and the sign on our room said it would have cost 812 Euro (about $1200) a night. It wasn’t a huge room by any means, but the beds were ridiculously comfortable and the bathroom was gorgeous. Quite a step up from hostel living conditions.

The next morning, Friday, three of our friends caught their flight from Rome and made it to Paris, and the six of us were able to squeeze into our Marriott room for the rest of the weekend. Friday was freezing and rainy, but I couldn’t help falling in love with the city despite the dreary weather. It had such an energy to it. One of my friends called it “the feminine version of New York,” but in my mind it was almost like the feminine version of Washington, D.C. All these beautiful historical monuments, this sense of excitement constantly pulsing through the city, but with a romantic, sugar-coated twist to it. The French people were all so stylish, and never more in my life have I wished I knew the French language. It didn’t matter what a person looked like, how old they were or what they were wearing—the moment they opened their mouth and French started coming out, they transformed into this sophisticated, chic god/goddess. Even on the Metro of all places, when the announcer called out the stops, I was shocked at how beautiful it sounded. The words just kind of flow together into this smooth, shimmery perfection. Ahhh. Maybe I’ll have to buy myself Rosetta Stone or something when I’m back home and figure out how to speak like that.

Anyway, a synopsis of what I did in Paris this weekend:

 We went to the Louvre on Friday while it was raining, and I saw the Mona Lisa (and tons of other paintings, tapestries and artifacts) in person. Somehow I left my camera at the hotel that day, so no pictures! But take it from me, the Louvre was HUGE and in typical Parisian fashion, a lovely example of that European architecture I can’t get enough of. And I still can’t believe I really saw the Mona Lisa.

 On Friday we also had breakfast and dinner at this amazing pastry shop/restaurant called Laduree, which the concierge had recommended as the best place to get pastries in Paris. He knew what he was talking about. Dinner was pretty expensive, but it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences eating in a fancy Paris restaurant and sampling these to-die-for desserts. I couldn’t even tell you exactly what was in my pastry, but it was covered in chocolate and mixed with a bunch of other sweet delights.

 On the topic of food, I also had like four or five crepes this weekend. Alexa and I insisted on finding an authentic creperie where we could try stuffed-to-the-brim crepes, and after several failed attempts we landed on a winner just down a side street between the Notre Dame and Bastille. I had one crepe with nutella and bananas that was set on fire in front of me, and split another that had cheese, potatoes and other delicious goodies inside of it. Crepes are probably my new favorite food.

 Friday night at sometime around midnight, we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower to see it all aglow, and it was so worth it. We took pictures from across the beautiful Seine River, and then walked up close to it. It was so nice to see it while there were barely any people around (as opposed to our visit the next day, when it was packed with tourists). This is another one of those moments, like when I saw the Mona Lisa, where I can’t believe I actually saw the Eiffel Tower.

 We packed in the outdoor activities on Saturday, when it was cold but not rainy. Stops on our itinerary included the Arc de Triomphe up-close, the Notre Dame (my camera ran out of battery just before we reached it…oh, my luck…), the Bastille, and finally an elevator ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower just before dinner. I wasn’t sure whether paying to ride to the top would be worth it, but despite waiting in line in the freezing cold for more than an hour, I’m so glad we did it. That view was priceless. You’ll see in the pictures, but trust me, you had to be there to really understand what I mean. And I bet when it’s actually not frigid outside, it’s even more spectacular to be up there.

 My friends ordered escargot and frog’s legs at dinner Saturday night, but I wasn’t quite so brave and ordered myself another crepe, this one with cheese and mushrooms. Then, of course, I capped it off with a superb French version of an ice cream sundae, some kind of pastry topped with hot fudge and ice cream.



















Sunday we woke up bright and early and caught our flight and subsequent buses and trains back to Perugia. As much as Perugia is VERY different from Paris and France in general, and as much as I already miss Paris and would love to go back as soon as possible, I better appreciate some things about being here after being in Paris. With Perugia’s size, I have the chance to really know this city inside and out by the end of the semester. I already feel a sense of familiarity, of being at home when I walk down the streets. There are so many parts of this city I have yet to explore, little alleyways with quaint shops that I can’t wait to discover. The size of Perugia makes it more manageable, less overwhelming for a four-month stay than Paris. I can truly become a temporary resident here, recognize shopkeepers, become a “regular” at different spots, and just generally get to know this place beyond the surface-level tourist stuff. That’s what I’m hoping to do, anyway.

I’m planning on traveling a lot this semester, or at least as much as my budget allows, but I’m also looking forward to the weekends when I’ll stay here and have time to become further acquainted with the place I chose as a home-base for these four months.

The prices in Paris were so much higher than here in Perugia, so I also appreciate that I can get cappuccino for 1 Euro and a slice of pizza for 70 Euro cents in this town. Shopkeepers are so personable, too—yesterday I bought two random items at this little convenience store called Casa Del Pane, and as I was leaving the woman behind the counter told me in Italian to wait. Then she scooped up eight cookies from the shop’s pastry selection and told me to have them “per assaggiare” (to try)! Where else in the world do people do stuff like that?! And that’s not the only store I’ve been in in Perugia where I’ve been given free food to try. At the mini grocery store next to my school, the adorable older Italian owner is always giving out samples and telling people they don’t have to worry about paying for things they buy until the next day, if they want.

Other news—today I volunteered for the first time at a local high school. I’m going to help teach English to a group of 16 and 17-year-olds, and I’m basically like their student teacher once a week for an hour. I had no idea what to expect today, and it was a little intimidating at first. The teacher basically put me in front of the class of 25 students and told me I had free reign to teach what I wanted. She suggested I introduce myself and then see if the kids had any questions about life in the U.S. I did that, and a few of them asked me where I live and if I watch Gossip Girl (haha…for the record, I don’t) and then I got a bunch of them to introduce themselves. They all seemed to know basic English phrases, and some were better than others. It was a pretty unruly group, lots of talking over the teacher’s voice, but they seem for the most part like good kids, and I think it’s really going to be fun. I felt like I actually got a real sense of what life is like for people who actually live here in Perugia—not just to study here for a few months, but to grow up here and have this foreign perception of the U.S. The kids seemed really familiar with American pop culture—a girl told me she likes Beyonce and Lady Gaga, a guy said he likes Tupac, and when I tried to explain what the term “rush hour” means, everyone thought of the movie Rush Hour. They were also all excited to talk about the movie Avatar, which is about to come out here. It was crazy seeing the opposite side of the English-Italian language barrier. These kids are struggling with English the same way I struggle to express myself in Italian, and for some reason I find the whole concept of language so fascinating. They can spew out those phrases in Italian which would be SO confusing for me to come up with, but trying to say basic things in English is such a struggle. And for me it’s the opposite. Language is just so interesting—I don’t think I ever realized how fascinating I find the concept of it until I started getting into Italian, and especially now that I’m here really taken by it.

Well I’ve written more than enough in this entry—I apologize for how I go on and on, but I just have so much to say! Apartment life here is quiet but peaceful, and I’m practicing my Italian with Daniela, who is still very sweet. She texted me today that she was coming back to Perugia (she’d been gone for the weekend) and ended it with “un bacio,” which essentially is like saying “with love” or literally “a kiss” in English. How cute! Here are some pics of the new apartment:




(View from my bedroom window)



I’m off to Venice for Carnevale this coming weekend, so I’ll update next time on that, along with whatever else I’ve got on my mind. I miss you all, and in spite of the beauty of Paris and Perugia, am looking forward to how I’ll feel when I eventually am back in Pennsylvania and Maryland seeing those familiar places and faces I’ve missed!