I have a few observations on Italians that I would like to write down before I forget what they are:
1.) Italian men have much more of a physical relationship with their children than American men I have seen. It is equally likely to see an Italian father holding his child or pushing a stroller or playing ball with them as it is to see the mother doing such things. As a matter of fact, the Italian mothers have a tendency to sit out during the fun just watching, having a coffee, or talking with other mothers.
2.) If an Italian boy finds out you are from America, you are "very beautiful" regardless of what you say to the contrary. Mind you, it is "very beautiful" not just beautiful. This phrase is usually followed by a very forward gesture: they try to kiss you. It is very simple to divert said gesture. Simply cover your mouth, say no, and quickly walk away.
3.) Italians love to dance. This is especially apparent in the discoteca. Italian men don't just stand there in the club and let the women dance for them. No, they genuinely like to dance and it is such a nice sight and feeling.
4.) Now, one of the hazards of the discoteca is that Italian men also like to touch. This really has not presented much of a problem for me. Most of the time, they just go for my hair or my face (a sign of affection is running your hand down the side of someone's face, it is endearing).
5.) Obviously, one of the biggest problems that anyone will have while visiting another country will be the changes in cultural cues and rules. I don’t know what certain gestures, slang, and other forms of Italian communication mean. If I go to a club and dance with a friend, has the relationship changed or does it stay the same neutral that it was before. Or was it never neutral in the first place and therefore have I led this person to believe something they shouldn’t? This type of scenario is complicated enough using my own language, but add in the factor that I can’t understand the majority of the words they are using and I am irretrievably lost…as any normal person would be.
6.) At the same, Italians are the most laid back people. They open their shops usually around 8 or 9 in the morning, close them from 1 to 4, open them again from 4 to 8 and then the day is done. To top it all off, they get loads more vacation time than Americans do. I think they generally enjoy themselves most of the time working or not.
7.) The drinking age in Italy is 16. Children grow up around wine. I think that this is the reason that they are much less likely to binge drink because they grew up knowing how to actually enjoy a beverage for what it is and the art that goes with making it.
8.) The Italians that I have met who speak English tell me that they like speaking English more because it is easier. This utterly baffles me because I have a hard enough time with it and I’ve been speaking it all of my life.
sabato 17 ottobre 2009
lunedì 12 ottobre 2009
Ruins, Ruins Everywhere…
This three day weekend, Chelsea and I decided to travel south and go to Pompei and Mount Vesuvius. This is our adventure:
On Friday, all of us girls had to get up early in order to catch the 8:13 train to Perugia. Our Italian professor, Chiara, wanted to show us the chocolate factory there. Needless to say I was in absolute heaven there. I do love chocolate so. I did feel bad for the workers though. When you take a tour of the factory, you basically just walk above it in this windowed walkway. I know I would feel like an absolute goldfish if people were watching me do my job.
Right after the chocolate factory, Chelsea and I went to the train station to catch a train to Arezzo. Ironically, even though Perugia is closer to Naples than Arezzo is, it’s cheaper to go there from Arezzo. It’s simply because from Arezzo, you can go through the mountains instead of around them from Perugia. Come to find out, there was going to be a train strike on Sunday. This was a major problem because if there was a strike, we would not be able to get back until Monday and that would mean missing classes which is not good. In the end, we decided to chance it because who knew if we would be able to go again. One of the best decision of my life. So we got to Arezzo and had to make a mad dash to the train. We got on and managed to find a couple of seats together. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to keep them. As it turns out this was a particularly crowded train and because we had bought our tickets from a kiosk, we didn’t have reserved seats. So we had to park ourselves in the hallway on these little (and uncomfortable) pull out seats from the wall. Then, when the ticket master came around, we found out that our tickets were not for the right train. So not only did we have to pay the extra money for the right ticket, we had to pay a fine for the mistake. Needless to say, when we finally reached Naples, we weren’t exactly happy campers. A five hour train ride and money just oozing out of my wallet. Not only that, but we had to take another train to get to the city where our B&B was. Luckily, that one was easy to find and cheap. Unluckily, I had managed to miscalculate the direction in which our B&B was on the map and we had no idea where we were. So we called Omar, the owner of the B&B and he very kindly came and got us:
Lauren: “Omar? It’s Lauren. I’m standing in front of SISA, the supermarket.”
Omar: “SISA?!? Oh no. Stay there. I come get you.”
(After we hung up)
Lauren: “That can’t be good.”
Chelsea: “No, I don’t think so.”
He found us. We walked to the B&B and he showed us our room. We got all of our stuff straightened out. We fell into bed. All was well.
The next day (Saturday) we went to Pompei (if you think I spelled that wrong, don’t. The Italians spell it with one i.). That was way bigger than I though it was going to be. We basically spent all morning there. We even ate our packed lunch in one of their gardens. It felt amazing. It is hard to imagine the city as it should have been, especially with a pizza parlor right in the middle of it. Ah, the power of tourism. After lunch, Chelsea and I got on a bus and did something I’ve never even dreamed I would get to do: we climbed Mt. Vesuvius. When I say climbed, I actually mean power walked because we had to make it back down the mountain fairly quickly in order to catch the last bus back down to Pompei. Anyway, the crater is crazy wild. It’s huge and intimidating and volcanic. Looking down into it, you wouldn’t have guessed that it was an active volcano because there was plant life growing inside. However, Let’s Go, our guide book, says that the next time Vesuvius erupts will be the worst eruption since Pompei. This is a devastating thought because so many people have made their homes right beneath the volcano and why shouldn’t they? It’s a booming tourist area any time of the year. Not only will they loose everything, historic places like Pompei and Ercolano will be lost all over again and may not survive a second time. The volcano is monitored very carefully and extensive evacuation plans have been made but in the end, many very important artifacts, history, and people will be lost. It’s a sad thought but an ever present one in the face of such a natural wonder.
After we got of the mountain, we decided to walk to the train station in Pompei because when we went to the tourist office to ask about bus schedules to Arezzo, they told us to take a train. Go figure. So we walked to the station and talked to the man at the window and he gave us tickets. Apparently there was not going to be a train strike. Awesome news!! So now we had tickets home, reserved seats on the train, and knew where the station was. Success!! We then took our tired selves back to the B&B, went to the supermarket for dinner that night and lunch for the next day, and went to bed early. It had been quite a day.
On Sunday, Chelsea and I spent the morning in Ercolano. This lesser known city is similar to Pompei. Instead of volcanic ash, it was covered in volcanic mud which apparently preserves much better. Ercolano was also better excavated so many of the buildings and their artifacts are in better shape. All in all, I enjoyed Ercolano more than Pompei. Pompei is over-run with tourists while Ercolano is not. It had a couple of tourists groups but nothing overwhelming. The art is more prevalent in Ercolano too. The floors had beautiful marble and geometric designs and the frescos on the walls were full of bright colors. So if you ever decide to go south, I definitely suggest this site as a stop. The weather was just perfect as well. Overcast skies without rain make for nice, cool weather. After our ruins exploration, we made our way back to Pompei and the train station. We made the mistake of getting on to the wrong train line but in the end it got us closer to the train station than originally expected. A blessing in disguise. We got on the train and had the whole car entirely to ourselves until we got to Rome. There we were joined by a young man who slept most of the time so no problem there. We had packed our lunch the nigh before with crackers, sandwich meat, cheese, grapes, nutella sandwiches, and two kinds of yogurt. A wonderful lunch and plenty of munchies to snack on. This is a major lesson I have learned while traveling. Always bring food. Always. You never know how long you are going to be on a train or a bus and find yourself almost passing out. It saves huge amount of money as well.
In the end, we made it safe and sound to Arezzo (where we met up with Amanda, who had just returned from Venice.) and then had an uneventful bus ride back to Sansepolcro. I love this place.
On Friday, all of us girls had to get up early in order to catch the 8:13 train to Perugia. Our Italian professor, Chiara, wanted to show us the chocolate factory there. Needless to say I was in absolute heaven there. I do love chocolate so. I did feel bad for the workers though. When you take a tour of the factory, you basically just walk above it in this windowed walkway. I know I would feel like an absolute goldfish if people were watching me do my job.
Right after the chocolate factory, Chelsea and I went to the train station to catch a train to Arezzo. Ironically, even though Perugia is closer to Naples than Arezzo is, it’s cheaper to go there from Arezzo. It’s simply because from Arezzo, you can go through the mountains instead of around them from Perugia. Come to find out, there was going to be a train strike on Sunday. This was a major problem because if there was a strike, we would not be able to get back until Monday and that would mean missing classes which is not good. In the end, we decided to chance it because who knew if we would be able to go again. One of the best decision of my life. So we got to Arezzo and had to make a mad dash to the train. We got on and managed to find a couple of seats together. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to keep them. As it turns out this was a particularly crowded train and because we had bought our tickets from a kiosk, we didn’t have reserved seats. So we had to park ourselves in the hallway on these little (and uncomfortable) pull out seats from the wall. Then, when the ticket master came around, we found out that our tickets were not for the right train. So not only did we have to pay the extra money for the right ticket, we had to pay a fine for the mistake. Needless to say, when we finally reached Naples, we weren’t exactly happy campers. A five hour train ride and money just oozing out of my wallet. Not only that, but we had to take another train to get to the city where our B&B was. Luckily, that one was easy to find and cheap. Unluckily, I had managed to miscalculate the direction in which our B&B was on the map and we had no idea where we were. So we called Omar, the owner of the B&B and he very kindly came and got us:
Lauren: “Omar? It’s Lauren. I’m standing in front of SISA, the supermarket.”
Omar: “SISA?!? Oh no. Stay there. I come get you.”
(After we hung up)
Lauren: “That can’t be good.”
Chelsea: “No, I don’t think so.”
He found us. We walked to the B&B and he showed us our room. We got all of our stuff straightened out. We fell into bed. All was well.
The next day (Saturday) we went to Pompei (if you think I spelled that wrong, don’t. The Italians spell it with one i.). That was way bigger than I though it was going to be. We basically spent all morning there. We even ate our packed lunch in one of their gardens. It felt amazing. It is hard to imagine the city as it should have been, especially with a pizza parlor right in the middle of it. Ah, the power of tourism. After lunch, Chelsea and I got on a bus and did something I’ve never even dreamed I would get to do: we climbed Mt. Vesuvius. When I say climbed, I actually mean power walked because we had to make it back down the mountain fairly quickly in order to catch the last bus back down to Pompei. Anyway, the crater is crazy wild. It’s huge and intimidating and volcanic. Looking down into it, you wouldn’t have guessed that it was an active volcano because there was plant life growing inside. However, Let’s Go, our guide book, says that the next time Vesuvius erupts will be the worst eruption since Pompei. This is a devastating thought because so many people have made their homes right beneath the volcano and why shouldn’t they? It’s a booming tourist area any time of the year. Not only will they loose everything, historic places like Pompei and Ercolano will be lost all over again and may not survive a second time. The volcano is monitored very carefully and extensive evacuation plans have been made but in the end, many very important artifacts, history, and people will be lost. It’s a sad thought but an ever present one in the face of such a natural wonder.
After we got of the mountain, we decided to walk to the train station in Pompei because when we went to the tourist office to ask about bus schedules to Arezzo, they told us to take a train. Go figure. So we walked to the station and talked to the man at the window and he gave us tickets. Apparently there was not going to be a train strike. Awesome news!! So now we had tickets home, reserved seats on the train, and knew where the station was. Success!! We then took our tired selves back to the B&B, went to the supermarket for dinner that night and lunch for the next day, and went to bed early. It had been quite a day.
On Sunday, Chelsea and I spent the morning in Ercolano. This lesser known city is similar to Pompei. Instead of volcanic ash, it was covered in volcanic mud which apparently preserves much better. Ercolano was also better excavated so many of the buildings and their artifacts are in better shape. All in all, I enjoyed Ercolano more than Pompei. Pompei is over-run with tourists while Ercolano is not. It had a couple of tourists groups but nothing overwhelming. The art is more prevalent in Ercolano too. The floors had beautiful marble and geometric designs and the frescos on the walls were full of bright colors. So if you ever decide to go south, I definitely suggest this site as a stop. The weather was just perfect as well. Overcast skies without rain make for nice, cool weather. After our ruins exploration, we made our way back to Pompei and the train station. We made the mistake of getting on to the wrong train line but in the end it got us closer to the train station than originally expected. A blessing in disguise. We got on the train and had the whole car entirely to ourselves until we got to Rome. There we were joined by a young man who slept most of the time so no problem there. We had packed our lunch the nigh before with crackers, sandwich meat, cheese, grapes, nutella sandwiches, and two kinds of yogurt. A wonderful lunch and plenty of munchies to snack on. This is a major lesson I have learned while traveling. Always bring food. Always. You never know how long you are going to be on a train or a bus and find yourself almost passing out. It saves huge amount of money as well.
In the end, we made it safe and sound to Arezzo (where we met up with Amanda, who had just returned from Venice.) and then had an uneventful bus ride back to Sansepolcro. I love this place.
martedì 6 ottobre 2009
View from the Top...the written portion
This blog was supposed to be posted last week (the week of the 28th of September). Sadly, I am terribly behind. But I will be posting both this and my blog about Pomei one right after another so do not fear.
The picture entitled “View from the Top” was taken by my roommate Samantha. I decided I needed an inspirational photograph and I think that one will do very nicely. It was taken in Montecasale.
I must apologize for disregarding my blog these past few days. It has been extremely and excruciatingly busy. Yes, even in Italy, there are hell weeks. To make a long story short and in order to not repeat what all of my friends have written on their blogs, I will paraphrase:
Massive Cleaning of Palazzo/Visit High School/Check Test In Italian: Friday (the 2nd). Trustees, Alumni and President Arrived: Saturday (the 3rd). Grand Opening: Sunday (the 4th). Term Paper Due: Monday (which got moved to Tuesday, thank sweet baby James). Florence With Trustees, Alumni, and President: Tuesday (the 6th). Midterm for Italian and Art History Final Exam: Wednesday (the 7th).
Samantha and I have transported a good southern phrase for all of this: Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again. Fortunately, every single one of the Meredith folks were an absolute joy to be around and we truly had a hard time saying goodbye when they left.
Now I've managed to get all depressing and that's silly. So a new and happier topic: Verona and Venice last weekend (the 25th through the 27th). I promised to write about them and now I am.
To begin, we had the hardest time finding a hotel. We were originally going to stay on Venice but when we found it impossible to find a place to stay I found a very cheap hostel in Verona: 17 euro a night and breakfast was included. Point for me. I have never booked a hotel in my life so needless to say I was exceedingly excited about my find. Unfortunately, said hostel was a good 20 to 30 minute walk from the train station. This is not horrible if you don't plan on using the train a lot but we did. Point to naive travel planner mishaps. Score is now tied.
Chelsea, Jenna, and I left for Verona early Friday morning. We arrived there (after paying 40 euro apiece for the train tickets...ugh) at about noon. We then proceeded to take one of the longest walks known to man in order to get to the hostel. I had packed a duffel bag instead of a backpack because I didn't know if we needed sheets. We didn't. They were provided. Extra weight brought for nothing. Point two goes to planner mishaps. I'm behind. After finally getting to the hotel, we went out to get some much needed food (silly us didn't bring a single crumb...another point to naivete...that makes three). Then we pretty much wandered around Verona. We managed to find a garden which was on of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was called the Giardino Giusti and even though it was 6 euro to get in, it was completely worth it. The views, the hedge maze, and the general ambiance were to die for. I recommend it with all of my heart to anyone planning on traveling to Verona. We then went back to the hostel for dinner (only 8 euro, point for me. 2-3) Amanda met up with us later that night (after an eventful night in which she went to the wrong hostel, among other things) and we slept quite nicely.
The next day we traveled to Venice. I can't describe Venice. It's a place to experience. I know that many people have a hard time enjoying it because it is filled to the brim with tourists but I can't bring myself to dislike it. It's just a magical place for me. We got to go to the island of Murano, where they make glass and I got quite a few nice gifts. We just generally enjoyed ourselves just wandering around and a going into a bunch of shops. I even got to see some of the glass blowers at work, which is one of my favorite things. I could sit and watch those people for hours. One in particular specialized in making spiders. As creepy as that sounds, his spiders were truly beautiful. They were so delicate looking that you would think breathing on them would make them break. In truth, I’m sure they could last through quite a bit of wear and tear.
Unfortunately, we had an early train out of Verona so we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to but in the end this just means that I have something to come back to. We managed to get back to Sansepolcro in one piece so another point to me. Tied game. Not bad, but practice makes perfection.
The picture entitled “View from the Top” was taken by my roommate Samantha. I decided I needed an inspirational photograph and I think that one will do very nicely. It was taken in Montecasale.
I must apologize for disregarding my blog these past few days. It has been extremely and excruciatingly busy. Yes, even in Italy, there are hell weeks. To make a long story short and in order to not repeat what all of my friends have written on their blogs, I will paraphrase:
Massive Cleaning of Palazzo/Visit High School/Check Test In Italian: Friday (the 2nd). Trustees, Alumni and President Arrived: Saturday (the 3rd). Grand Opening: Sunday (the 4th). Term Paper Due: Monday (which got moved to Tuesday, thank sweet baby James). Florence With Trustees, Alumni, and President: Tuesday (the 6th). Midterm for Italian and Art History Final Exam: Wednesday (the 7th).
Samantha and I have transported a good southern phrase for all of this: Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again. Fortunately, every single one of the Meredith folks were an absolute joy to be around and we truly had a hard time saying goodbye when they left.
Now I've managed to get all depressing and that's silly. So a new and happier topic: Verona and Venice last weekend (the 25th through the 27th). I promised to write about them and now I am.
To begin, we had the hardest time finding a hotel. We were originally going to stay on Venice but when we found it impossible to find a place to stay I found a very cheap hostel in Verona: 17 euro a night and breakfast was included. Point for me. I have never booked a hotel in my life so needless to say I was exceedingly excited about my find. Unfortunately, said hostel was a good 20 to 30 minute walk from the train station. This is not horrible if you don't plan on using the train a lot but we did. Point to naive travel planner mishaps. Score is now tied.
Chelsea, Jenna, and I left for Verona early Friday morning. We arrived there (after paying 40 euro apiece for the train tickets...ugh) at about noon. We then proceeded to take one of the longest walks known to man in order to get to the hostel. I had packed a duffel bag instead of a backpack because I didn't know if we needed sheets. We didn't. They were provided. Extra weight brought for nothing. Point two goes to planner mishaps. I'm behind. After finally getting to the hotel, we went out to get some much needed food (silly us didn't bring a single crumb...another point to naivete...that makes three). Then we pretty much wandered around Verona. We managed to find a garden which was on of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was called the Giardino Giusti and even though it was 6 euro to get in, it was completely worth it. The views, the hedge maze, and the general ambiance were to die for. I recommend it with all of my heart to anyone planning on traveling to Verona. We then went back to the hostel for dinner (only 8 euro, point for me. 2-3) Amanda met up with us later that night (after an eventful night in which she went to the wrong hostel, among other things) and we slept quite nicely.
The next day we traveled to Venice. I can't describe Venice. It's a place to experience. I know that many people have a hard time enjoying it because it is filled to the brim with tourists but I can't bring myself to dislike it. It's just a magical place for me. We got to go to the island of Murano, where they make glass and I got quite a few nice gifts. We just generally enjoyed ourselves just wandering around and a going into a bunch of shops. I even got to see some of the glass blowers at work, which is one of my favorite things. I could sit and watch those people for hours. One in particular specialized in making spiders. As creepy as that sounds, his spiders were truly beautiful. They were so delicate looking that you would think breathing on them would make them break. In truth, I’m sure they could last through quite a bit of wear and tear.
Unfortunately, we had an early train out of Verona so we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to but in the end this just means that I have something to come back to. We managed to get back to Sansepolcro in one piece so another point to me. Tied game. Not bad, but practice makes perfection.
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