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This blog has moved. Please continue to: http://ceocon10.me.holycross.edu/
Last Wednesday was one of those days that reminded me of the word I heard so much when I was applying to the Study Abroad program: immersion. After all of the built-up apprehension and pre-exam jitters, I did it. I made it through my first Italian exam! Although it was a written exam instead of the typical oral one that differentiates Italy’s academic system from ours, it was an amazing feeling passing in that test! I’d refer to my post-exam mood as an “Italy high”, or as we say more frequently amongst our group here, “a good Italy day.” I don’t know if I’ve used this expression before, but it’s become a phrase that is very appropriate for my study abroad experience. Now that my everyday routine has gradually lessened the magical awe of Italy from when I first arrived, it’s always very noticeable to me when I’m doing something very Italian. Luckily, our director from the Universita’ degli Studi a Firenze, Elisa, plans monthly cultural events for us where we can have these types of Italian experiences. Our events have run the gamut from a Chianti wine and olive tour to a night out for dinner and a variety show at the famous Teatro Verdi. Last Wednesday, our cultural event took a more artistic turn as we all got our chance to learn the history of the Teatro della Pergola, an ancient theatre right on my home street in Florence, followed by our own workshop time at an “artigianato” (handicraft) typical of Italy and Toscana. Our group was split up into two — one that created their own picture frames and mine that created our own leather-bound notebooks or journals, whatever purpose we would choose for them. Passing by the theatre everyday on my walk to school always made me want to pop in and see the beautiful interior, but I never had a good reason to enter before since I wasn’t buying any tickets or things of that sort. We had a wonderful tour guide who spoke with such a passion for the theatre that even in the overheated rooms, I couldn’t help but to listen as she spoke of the famous ancient families of Toscany that had their reserved viewing boxes, elegantly displayed by each family’s respective coat of arms that are still saved to this day in the entrance room of the theater! We received a complete tour of the theater, including both the back and front stage views as well as a glimpse to the ancient devices used for sound effects such as wind and rain. This upcoming weekend, we will actually be attending a play there so I’ll have to update soon on how one of the theater’s annual 160 plays fares with the Holy Crossers and myself. Chi sa! Who knows!
Right after the theatre visit, we went our separate ways, and with Elisa’s upbeat and energetic assistant, Cristina, we walked to a little artisan store a couple blocks from the Ponte Vecchio called “Il Torchio.” The shop was quaint and exactly what I imagined a traditional handicraft store to be. It was run by a lovely, older Italian woman named Anna, who works closely with a young, Canadian girl, Erin, teaching her the ways of the trade. It was a great afternoon, and I particularly enjoyed watching Erin work with Anna. Not only was Erin’s Italian impeccable after being in Italy for only two years, but the grandmother-granddaughter relationship between the two was simply comical and a pleasure to watch. They instructed us from start to finish on the initial sewing of the pages together; adding the hard covers with the messy and very intense glue; meticulously applying the leather pieces to the spine and the angles for a balanced finish with our personally selected paper designs; and cleaning up our mess with a finisher over the leather. The whole process lasted over 3 hours, but it was a true glance into the painstakingly slow and precise world of the artisan. All of the shop’s books, calendars, agendas, photo albums, and things of the like were handmade. And with a shop being run by just these two ladies, you can only imagine how much time and energy is put into the work! And so, with yet another monthly peek into the secret cultural world of Florence that I hope to continue to unravel, I can only say that it simply was a “good Italy day.”
It’s back to Florence for the semester! After quite the extended break of celebrating with my family and friends at home in America, I made my return to Europe for yet another celebration, or should I say two. Along with Whitney, we took a flight out from Boston to meet up with another Fiorentina, Amanda, to spend our New Year’s and my 21st birthday in Paris!!! Arriving on the 30th in the city of love and, of course, the Eiffel Tower, our vacation kicked off with rolling in the New Year just underneath this historical landmark where we three, along with another 15 HC-ers met up together for a true Holy Cross reunion. And even better, just two days later, I was able to spend my birthday walking along the snow-covered streets of Montmartre and sipping “vin chaud” (hot wine) with a view of the entire city at night. It was a vacation to remember, for sure. And now, I’ve returned to my second home -- my Florence.
As for the academic life, we didn’t have much time to breathe because the Italian school system, as we’re learning, has many differences from the American universities. Exams take place over a period of two months, offering two “tries” to earn a degree of passing. Obviously, we all opted for the first opportunity to have a break from university before the next semester begins at the end of February. Having two exams in the first semester has proven to be very difficult for me, and I’ve been spending much time studying between lessons with my tutors as well as having our normal lessons at our language school, Dante Alighieri. However, do not be afraid — it is a doable thing. Going into it knowing what you are up against is my best advice for everyone. Matt and I took Geografia, a two-part class dealing with the relationship between the population and the environment, and branching out into a basic economic understanding of the market and general world economy up until this period of time. With this type of course, it requires two exams —a n oral and a written exam. Once that one is finished, it will be just two more to go, and I can say hello to the official start of a new semester. It’s a strange feeling being here and watching all the new students arriving, frantically carrying around their maps and struggling with their Italian. I look at them, and I feel the smile on my face, remembering how that was once me. And now, I’m ready to enjoy myself and take my language level to the top. But before I get carried away with myself, keep your fingers crossed for me for my exams!
A presto!
Well, I have some catching up to do! Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Firenze has never seemed more festive in all of my time here! I cannot even describe how absolutely wonderful it is to be going through the hectic preparations for “Natale,” popping in and out of little specialty shops and walking through the grand open markets of Saint Ambrogio and Santa Croce. Although the Italians surely know how to celebrate their Christmas holiday, it sure is strange how they don’t quite understand the Thanksgiving holiday. Half of them seem to believe that it is just a big eating day once a year, yet they also can’t fathom why we wouldn’t have pasta as our first course and then our turkey afterwards. The other half thinks that we are either celebrating our independence after the war from the British or something about the Native Americans. Either scenario is comical, especially since most of the restaurants attempt to make some close resemblance to a turkey (tucchino) with stuffing (ripieno), and in their valiant efforts, they cook it the day before and the majority of Fiorentini — the people of Florence — were saying “Happy Thanksgiving” on Wednesday instead of Thursday. Despite all of these comical cultural differences, Thanksgiving was a huge success, and I felt completely fulfilled as having a half American, half Italian celebration.
Amanda, one of the other students in our Holy Cross group and one of my good friends from school, went to the English speaking mass at the Duomo two weeks ago and stumbled upon a religious group for American students studying abroad called the St. Thomas More Society. It’s run primarily by students and directed by Fr. Mario, an incredible young priest who is from America but also speaks five languages and is a serious advocate of having active youth in the Church, including while studying abroad! Amanda and I have been attending some of the events that are offered, and we signed up to help with the baking for the big Thanksgiving feast. Most of the weekly dinners are held at this cute little restaurant, “Gusto Leo,” a two-minute walk from the Duomo where the owners always reserve a full room just for our group to meet. For Thanksgiving, we had an entire room with two long tables for almost 30 people, including students from Fairfield University, California State University, and other places scattered throughout the U.S. There were also two Italians interested in having a little English-Italian conversation, Jada and Marco. Amanda and I met up with one of the student coordinators, Jana (pronounced “Yana”), in the afternoon, and together with her friend from the States, Kaitlyn, we concocted our own versions of apple pies, pumpkin pies, and chocolate chip cookies from the available American-type ingredients that Italian supermarkets offer. Quite the entertaining experience! And with a house smelling of all the “homey goodness” of the holiday season, who wouldn’t be in the festive spirit? As we took our many pies and cookies on the city bus with us, all heads turned to what we were holding with complete interest until one Italian finally asked about the pumpkin pie. When he heard that it was pumpkin, he had a look of complete shock and he exclaimed, “Ma come si fa???” In other words, but how can you do that?!
The dinner itself was nothing short of a dream Thanksgiving celebration for me. Surrounded by not only this wonderful group, and with Amanda, Jen, and Jenny’s company from Holy Cross, we feasted like no other Thanksgiving. And I’m being completely literal because we not only had a turkey and potatoes; but we also had pasta, cheese, and foccacia bread due to the Italian chefs’ insistence. As the Italians say, “Sempre cosi,”or,“This is always the case.” We finished the meal with our delicious desserts, and by the end, it was midnight before the chefs were wishing us a good night and a happy end to the holiday. I’ve always said that the Italians know how to enjoy themselves, and after that night, I definitely learned how true I was!
Now, only two weeks before I make my big homecoming to Pennsylvania, I can’t get enough of Florence. I would absolutely love to see all the celebrations here, in the piazzas, by the Duomo…it must be beautiful! As the lights are being strung throughout the streets, walking through the city always feels right out of a movie. I recently had a house change into the downtown area, and although I’m still adjusting, being closer to all the action of the city has been incredible. My new host family, Katia, and her adopted 12-year-old daughter, Ami, keep the apartment alive and hopping everyday. It’s always reminding me of life back in high school where my brother and sister and I were always out and about with my parents going from one event to the next. The only challenge is that I have to keep up with their fast-paced talking! This upcoming weekend is one of the biggest religious festivals in Italy, the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8; many Italian families get their Christmas trees at this time and everyone has school and work off! My cousins from Foligno invited me to spend this time with them and do some Christmas shopping for my family away from the hustle and bustle of the Florence streets. I’m so excited! I’ll make sure to have lots of details about the festival as soon as I get back.
A presto!
It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by since I’ve last written. Now that Florence is becoming more and more my own, the difference between September and now for me is uncanny. Every Sunday, when my parents and I have our official phone call to say our true hellos--not a rushed phone call during the week to save our pennies or an e-mail update during the day — I always feel like I should be telling them how much I miss America and how much I can’t wait to come home until Christmas. And although living in Italy has shown me an entirely different culture and made me appreciate so many of the things of America, I can’t ignore the fact that the reason why I came to Italy was to be immersed in a different culture. If I wanted to find America in Italy, I wouldn't be here. However, at the same time, it’s going to be wonderful to go home and see my family for the holidays. In my opinion, I definitely could have stayed in Italy and traveled for the holidays with my friends who are staying here, or with my family, for that matter.
After being in Italy since August, I feel like I can look back on the way that I’ve grown with the language since I’ve been here. This past weekend, I went back to Foligno in Umbria, where my family lives. I was so excited because not only was I going to see my cousin Marta and her parents, Caterina and Vasco, but Marta’s sister, Lisa, and her husband, Stefano, were also planning on journeying down from Rovereto in the North of Italy to spend the weekend with us. We hadn’t all been together since I went to visit the second weekend of September for Foligno’s annual festival that celebrates the different neighborhoods or “rioni.” However, plans changed at the last minute and Lisa and Stefano were not able to come anymore because Lisa had a sudden appointment on Saturday to student teach as part of her teaching courses. I still decided to go, and it probably was the best thing for me to keep up my spirits and my perseverance with Italian. Every now and then, I have to admit that the frustration and fear of not improving my Italian comes over me. But then, there’s always moments or things like this past weekend that keep pushing me along. As soon as I got to their house, I felt so wonderful to be with my family that I just relaxed when I spoke, and by the end of our first “cena” on Friday night, not only were the words flowing from my mouth, but I even was using the Italian gestures. I didn’t even realize it until Vasco commented on how Italian I looked. I can’t even begin to express how pumped I was…and still am, obviously! Later, Marta and I were talking about things to do in Florence because she studied architecture there for three years, and we got on the subject of movies. She suggested we go to a late movie in Italian, and even though I had my doubts, I thought, what the heck? The worst that could happen is that I would only be able to appreciate the picture. We went to see Changeling, the new movie about post-World War II with Angelina Jolie and her lost child. When I got into the movie, at first I could feel myself concentrating, but as the movie went on, I forgot that I was even listening to it in a different language. Walking out of that movie felt more of an accomplishment for me than all the Italian language class I have in a day. Now, trust me, it wasn’t always like this. I’ve had some pretty funny and odd moments in my learning of the language. To this day, I still confuse words and accidentally say another word when I mean something completely different…but for me, it’s all part of the experience. One of my first “moments” was the first time I spoke with Irene on the telephone. In front of all of my cousins, I was trying to explain to her that I loved eating everything that I had just eaten for lunch. But instead saying everything (“tutto”), I said, everyone (“tutti”). I don’t think she knew how to respond to hear that I loved eating people. Another one of my favorites is how I was explaining to my conversation teacher during September how people on the bus always laugh at me like I’m such a foreigner when I try to get off the bus. And my teacher asked me what I was saying to politely make my way to the door. I informed her that I was saying “promesso” (I promise) instead of “permesso” (Excuse me), thinking that obviously they were chuckling to themselves about my American-ness. No wonder people laughed at me. I might as well have had my hand up in the air in traditional girl scout style to complete my mistake! Knowing that I can go from these embarrassing moments to listening to a movie completely in Italian helps me to really see my improvement here. This week will probably be the most relaxing week I've had in a while here in Florence since for the most part, there is nothing too major going on except for my studies and the visit of a couple of the Strasburg girls in France, although there's nothing like being able to show the city off to people!
Tonight, we have one of our cultural events with Laura, our young, hip cultural director for a dinner and a night “spettacolo” or show in the downtown area. As always, I'm excited because whenever we go to these events, they are always phenomenal. We just found out a couple of weeks ago that our university director here, Elisa Camporeale, arranged for our visit to one of the most exclusive museum exhibits in all of Florence, the Vasari Corridor. Every year, there's an official announcement to the Florence community about when this corridor will actually open. During the time of the Medici, it was a passageway for the family that ran from the famous Palazzo Pitti all the way to the Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza Signoria, one of my favorite piazzas in all of Florence. Needless to say, I'm completely ecstatic! I'll be in touch soon...a presto Holy Cross!
