Bethany Knows Best

An Ode To Popcorn

2007-12-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Popcorn (a.k.a. "Poppy girl!!"), my favorite cat, died today. I got her when I was about 7 or 8 (hence the AWESOME name). She'll be missed : (

Partayyyy

2007-10-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

We had people over a couple Saturdays ago and went all out. It was our first "party" mostly made up of Daniel's go friends. But I managed to invite a literary friend of mine, Monica.

I bought some awesome china —5 teacups and saucers and a few fancy plates— from an antique store going out of business; I was pretty excited to create an array of desserts fit for the china. The food was amazinggggg:

THE FOOD: appetizer plate with cheeses, salami, roasted peppers, toasted pita, and crostini, lasagna, marinated vegtables with mushrooms, artichokes, tomatoes, and potatoes, M'hanncha, a Moroccan dessert that tastes a bit like baklava, berries with marscapone cream drizzled in chocolate, peanut butter chocolate scones, and black currant scones.

Close up of the M'hanncha

Close up of the marscapone dipping cream

Close up of the black currant scones (SOOOO GOOD, Daniel made them)

In other news, Daniel and I signed up for Nanowrimo, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month. You plan your novel in October and try to write 50,000 words or more in November. Last night Daniel and I stayed up until 2AM working on our outlines. I think that's going to be a pretty usual thing next month...

Movie

2007-05-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

I made a movie of all the little movies I took in Europe. It's not very good, and I couldn't figure out how to add titles in iMovie after many frustrated attempts so...

1. The Colosseum
2. Taormina, Sicily (yes they are singing the pizza pie song)
3. The blowing up of the cart, Duomo in Florence
4. Magic fountain in Barcelona, Spain
5. Flamenco show in Barcelona, Spain
6. Concert in the Piazza Signoria by the Uffizi gallery, Florence

Sorry it's so small but I am sick of working on it.

Last Hoorahs

2007-05-12T01:45:00.000-07:00

I am trying to stay up so that I can be on a semi-normal sleep schedule or something. It seems kind of pointless to sleep. My flight is at 6:45 AM and I am probably leaving for the airport at 4:30. I stop in Munich, have a 4-hour layover, then I fly to Philly.

I have spent the last few hours packing up everything. I have so much stuff…wow. I think I am just barely under the weight limit.

The last week has been really great but really hard. I have had an array of end of school parties and sentimental moments. For example, on my way back home tonight, I stumbled across and orchestra concert in the piazza signoria. They were playing phantom of the opera music and it sounded incredible. This piazza is beautiful, so it was kind of the perfect way for me to end my time here.

Concert in the Piazza Signoria (with a copy of Michaelangelo's David)

I also saw a really beautiful concert at an old church with my friend Emily the other night. There was an amazing pipe organ/organist, oboist, and mezzo-soprano. I wanted to see an opera, but this was close enough, and significantly cheaper! I was also hoping to do a wine tasting and tour the chianti region, but it was impossible to get in touch with the company and time ran out. Next time…

I finally met my cousin Carmella who lives in Firenze. She is 81, but doesn’t look it at all. It was kind of awkward though. I got really nervous and had trouble speaking Italian. Plus, how do you fill in someone on 22 years let alone 81 years? I was kind of confused on who the people were too… I know that she babysat for this one family for a REALLY long time, and I think she lives with them still. There was another random lady there too, though; I have no idea who she was, but she kept saying how she couldn’t understand me : (

Carmella and I

I’ve had to say goodbye to friends I have made here and acquaintances that I wish I had more time to get to know. Now my only option is to continue these relationships through facebook, or maybe a step up… emails. I know there will be a few people that I will be able to visit. Emily, for instance, lives in Queen Creek, AZ, not tooooo far from my soon to be family.

Me and Emily being the bandits that we are

On one of the last nights, I met up with everyone from a small book group I've been doing on the piazza michaelangelo. This piazza has a bronze copy of the David in the middle of the square and over looks the city. We all cooked different things and brought them, and were able to watch the sunset on all of Florence.

Sunset over the ponte vecchio taken from the piazza michaelangelo

One girl from the group, Michelle, is tranferring to Wheaton college in the chicago area. Both of us will be moving to a new place, not really knowing to many people, so I am super excited to continue my friendship with her and in one of the coolest places in the US!!! Woohooooo

Back: Michelle, Amanda, Molly, Audrey, Emily, Tetra, Kristen Front: Me, Megan

Sigh, I will even miss some of my professors. My Italian professor is such a darling. Our class only had 4 people basically (this one guy never came) and we had so much fun. I saw her at the end of the year party and she wished me luck in my marriage and emphasized that my fiancé was really cute hahahah (I showed her and this other girl a picture in class one time). I think she was a bit tipsy. Italian professors sure know how to party. Anyway, Micaela is actually going to Jerusalem pretty soon to study archeology there, which I think is totally awesome.

My Italian class: Christopher, Chelsea, My professor Micaela, Gina, and me

In order to prevent myself from chaining myself to the radiator, I guess I will try and focus on the things I WON’T miss about Italy. For example, the beggars everywhere, and especially the ones with dogs. If you can’t feed yourself…why did you get a dog? I know it’s for the sympathy factor, but it just pisses me off.

I won’t miss taking the bus every day either, though I will miss having to walk long distances. Italians on the bus annoy me. 9/10 times they try to sit in the aisle seat and make it difficult for anyone to try and sit in the window seat. You always have to climb over them or, maybe they will get up and let you into the window seat. Why don’t you just move over into the window seat? Or, better yet, just sit in he window seat in the first place!? I know, you’re thinking, they probably have a stop coming up, but no, trust me, I know what I’m talking about.

Above all, I won’t miss the disgusting guys that make kissy noises at me and/or say “ciao bella” among other obnoxious comments. “Eh…sexy…eh…what are you doing tonight?” or my favorite “my dream is to be your ice cream” (said to my friend who was eating gelato at the time). I just don’t get it… does this technique actually work on some girls? It must or they wouldn’t keep doing it I guess. I am sick of trying to walk by without glaring back at them or saying something really nasty back. In fact, today a friend of mine called this guy a turd in response to him and he got really mad and started freaking out at us and calling American girls sluts etc, etc. I agreed with some of the stuff he was saying, but he was being so extreme. I tried to reason with him but he was all “I’m from Napoli… we have mafia there. Blah blah blah. You come to italy and disrespect us, this is our home… blah blah.” I felt obligated to show this guy that not all Americans suck, but he was really mad and Emily kept exasperating him further. Whatever. Turd. Hehehehe.

Similarly, I won’t miss pushy street vendors that make noises/pretend like you dropped something just for you to stop for a second and look in their direction, or ones that say things like “hey baby.” So inappropriate. Like… how is harassment a sales tactic?

I can’t believe I am leaving in a few hours. I keep kicking myself, wishing I could do it all over. I feel like this was my one chance and I approached it all wrong or did it all wrong or something. I can write Italian a million times better than I can speak. If only I could write notes to everyone instead of talking. I expected to leave fluent… how naive. For anyone who tells you that immersion works, it doesn’t in 4 months.And the best time I have had here has been probably these last two weeks… figures. Makes it really hard to say goodbye.

I have taken quite a few short videos here. Some time soon I will try and figure out if I can put them up on the Internet somewhere so that you can see them. Talk to you soon...in America(!)

Una zanzara intelligente

2007-05-09T00:02:00.000-07:00

I have a mutated half human mosquito living in my room. Seriously.

The last couple nights I have woken up to loud buzzing in my ear. When I turn the light on and try to hit this thing, I always miss, and then cannot find it. I search the room high and low and it is nowhere to be found. This mosquito only tries to attack me when it's dark in the room. Guerilla tactics I tell you!

Last night I slept with the light on because I was getting annoyed. I woke up this morning and turned it off (some light came in with the morning). Soon enough, I heard the buzzing. I turned my light on and hit it, but somehow it escaped. Then... I saw it hiding...in between my bed and the wall. He's a cunning little thing. I missed him again and now he is lurking somewhere in my room only to begin la guerra again tonight.

I am north American

2007-05-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

You may remember a while back, me mentioning a song I overheard in the non solo sport store. I originally thought it said “I’m not American scum,” but it isn't insulting; it's a song about being an American in Europe. I saw the music video a while ago.

Oh I don't know where to begin
We are north americans
And for those of you who still think we're from England
We're not, no.

...

I hate the feelin' when you're looking at me that way
cause we're north americans
but if we act all shy, it’ll make it ok
makes it go away.

(so true)

...

You see I love this place that I have grown to know
alright, north america.
and yeah, I know you wouldn’t touch us with a ten-foot pole
‘cause we’re north americans.

(heheheh)

We are north american scum
We are north americans
We are north american scum
We love north america.

I do love North America, and I am definitely ready to come home! : )

The exhibition

2007-05-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

I went to our student exhibition on Saturday night. There was champeign, cheese, and olives, and I got to see my professors tipsy heheheh. I was supposed to have 3 pieces in the show, but apparently none of the works from our art therapy class were put in the show (though they were oddly put in the catalog of all the works). Meh...whatever, it's not like I need random people trying to analyze my issues ; )

I really enjoyed the exhibition. Many of the works were excellent, and had I not been obligated to vote for myself, it would have been hard to choose.

A work I liked called, "Norway is the perfect place for a hero convention" (sorry about the flash glare)

It was really cool overhearing people say things about my work. Kristen came with me and took some "mommy photos."

A closer look at my accessory design project:

It's a bag composed of mixed media -- woven strips of Italian love grafiti and then the words Ti amo Italia. I sewed random beads and sequins on it and also put them through the clear plastic tube handles. The sides are 4 scribbles I found by the same girl (Niky) who kept setting herself up with different guys, hahah. I don't know if I will have room to take this back with me... maybe someone else will want it.

I have had a really good week spending time with friends and relaxing. Finals week won't be too stressful, either, thankfully. Things are coming to an end and it feels bitter-sweet. While I am sad to leave this place, I have a whole 'nother chapter of my life beginning once I come home.

This year has been full of leaving things behind: I am graduating and leaving my college, I have studied abroad and left my country, friends and family, and very soon I will be getting married moving to another state. Daunting isn't it?

But how can I change if I stay static? And what will I miss out on if I never take risks and branch out? I try to be more excited than scared.

It hurts to know I will be leaving Pennsylvania. After I visited Allison in Alicante, I realized that I might not see her again for a long time. I was hit with how much I would be leaving behind. I know, though, that eventually my friends will be leaving Havertown too. And then there is my family... sigh... I guess I am only a short plane ride away, right?

I know I will meet new friends and have new opportunities in chicago. God will use me in new ways, put new awesome people in my path, and my life will really begin. No more school, entrance into the working world, and real pursuit of my hobbies. My life could go in any direction. Never before have I had so many possibilities. So cool. Thank God for the hope in Possibility.

The Rain in Spain...

2007-05-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

Stays mainly on the places I traveled over the weekend. It didn't help that the girl I went with (friend of a friend type of thing) complained the entire time, was negative, awkward, sighed as loud as possible, and freaked out multiple times, usually at me. I'll spare you all the details... I wouldn't dare complain to anyone again after experiencing that!

One of many statues in Madrid

Madrid was beautiful, tons of old buildings and good shopping. Shopping was about all we could do seeing as it poured most of the time we were there. It was also a way to ease the pain of being stuck with one of the most unpleasant people I have ever met.

I did get to see Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights at Prado, one of Spain's most famous museums. I vowed to see this triptych when I saw a slide of it in art history years ago. It was definitely worth it, and I got to see a few other works that I was familiar with . Unfortunately, she wasn't into art and could only think of it in terms of "I like it or I don't" and "this is better than this" so I felt kind of rushed/frustrated.

Cute statues near the Prado

I also saw Madrid's museum of modern art. There was a Chuck Close exhibit which was AWESOME. Close is an amazing painter who does large scale portraits. His portraits range from being super realistic (it looks like a photo) to what he most famous for-- the grid of blotches of color that look like a face when you step back. One of my favorites was a large portait of an elderly lady rendered in finger prints.

Madrid's train station (there is a garden inside!)

The next day we tried to see as much sights as we could-- just glance at the outside of famous buildings, etc, and then it was off to Alicante! Alicante is on the southern coast of Spain and my good friend Allison is studying there. My good friend Sarah studied there last year also, so I was really excited to see it.

We splurged on a hotel that had panoramic views. We could see the beach, the city, the mountain with an old ruin-y castle on top and a port.

On our balcony over looking the port

The castle

Though my companion was convinced it would rain, it did not our first day there. We met up with Allison, walked on the beach, hiked up the "mountain" and attempted to climb to the very top of the castle.

Allison and I on the beach

A cat that looks like a former/like it should be president

On the way up to the mountain

Bushes on the mountain that look as if they were growing christmas tinsel

View from the Castle

That night we hung out in Allison's apartment. I met her roomates, including an Italian fellow and his Italian friends. It was cool to speak Italian to some peers. We cooked some dinner and made an amazing fruit salad and talked. It was so refreshing to hang out with someone who knew me well and who I could be comfortable around, especially after feeling so tense around my travel "buddy."

The next day it poured and we couldn't find a train to Barcelona. I knew I was going to hear hell from you know who. Luckily there was a 9 hour bus, though, and luckily there was this guy...waiting with his stuffed tiger:

The bus ended up being really late but I was just thankful we didn't miss it because the 3 of us were paranoid that we did. Allison did a great job asking/speaking for us Spanish; she was amazing.

When we arrived in Barcelona it was really late and we had trouble finding our hostel. She freaked out, but I was pretty calm, realizing that we would eventually find it and that it really wasn't a big deal. Studying abroad has made me soooo much more willing to get lost, brave, and so much calmer about EVERYTHING. She, on the other hand, cried and threw a fit, and then proceeded to ask me to slap her because she "knew [I] wanted to." AWK.WARD. Anyway, our hostel ended up being really cool and had murals in the stairwell.

View down the stairwell

The hostel was essentially across the street from a famous Gaudi cathedral. The church had a sort of garden in the middle with I thought was so pretty and awesome. Facets of the garden:

The city of Barcelona was soooo cool, with so many quirky and awesome things. And it was a beautiful day!

Market--check out that roof!

Inside the market

A stuffed rooster in front of a bunch of dead chickens...
I don't know I found it amusing

Painted people on their balconies

Barcelona had tons of charming mini murals, I liked this one especially.

The architecture was beautiful in both Madrid and Barcelona, but there seemed to be more of a balance between serious and historical and fun and spirited in Barcelona.

Random street with gorgeous buildings

Lovely hanging lamps lining a street

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia--freaking AMAZING

Barcelona has some of the most entertaining street performing I have ever seen. For instance, a group of shirtless men played loud music and did acrobatic moves over concrete. It was exciting! They also had all these people pretending to be statues and then when you put money in their jar or whatever they put on a short show/let you take a picture with them. They had some of the most creative and incredible costumes I have ever seen! It made me want to give up all life ambition to become a street performer.

Branches in his hair? That's just cool.

Guy riding an elephant

One of my favorite sights was the magic fountain. Basically this huge fountain lights up and blasts classical/opera music with the water following the music.

We also got to go to a Flamenco show! This was one of my main goals of the trip seeing as I took Flamenco during the fall semester. I missed the recital and went abroad under the condition that I would see real Flamenco dancers in Spain. All in all it was a good show...although...there were no castinets or floofy skirts. WHAT THE HECK!? Is that too much to ask?

All in all I really did love Spain and think that I shall one day return to Barcelona (with more pleasant company). Any takers?

Loving the B in the B-a-r-c-e-l-o-n-a statue

Jewelry Design Project

2007-05-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

My collection which will be appearing in our exhibition this Saturday (click to expand)

Back to my roots

2007-04-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

Lavorerò
pensando forte
perchè non voglio essere come
te che non fai un cazzo, no!
E' vero, no,
giro di notte
mi piace si la bella vita
senza dare conto a nessuno

Back home,
back to my roots.
Back home,
back to my roots.

L'amore, no,
non è una scusa,
fa assumere un atteggiamento
di difesa al sentimento, no!
E manterrò
le mie radici
seguendo una sintonia
che mi porti a casa mia.

Back home,
back to my roots.
Back home,
back to my roots.

Prendo il treno e torno a casa
c'è qualcuno che mi aspetterà.
Prendo il treno e torno a casa
c'è qualcuno che mi aspetterà.
Back to my roots

-Back Home, Daniele Pino

I went to Roma to visit some DISTANT cousins of mine... as in we share the same great great grandmother. I am related to Cira and her grandson Luca. The phone number I had for them was too old and didn't work, so I wrote them a letter with my cell phone number here in Italy. They happen to live at the same address so they got the letter, called me, and invited me to come down!

I stayed the night and was fed well. They also gave me gifts for my wedding, which was really cute!

Cira was very interesting. She spoke so fast that I couldn't really understand her. Rather than speak slower, she kind of assumed I didn't know any Italian and kept asking Egidio and Luca to translate. She is sort of the stubborn type, set in her ways at 78 years old, and she grew up very poor so she kept emphasizing how important it is to be succesful. She had 3 kids, Anna, Enrico, and Georgio, but Georgio died young (maybe in his 30s?). There were pictures of him all over the house, and about 6 times more photos of him than the other chilren (yet he was the youngest). Cira was obsessed with Georgio because he was so sucessful and according to her she kind of lost her life when he lost his. It was really sad.

We went through a lot of pictures because she wanted to find one with my cousin Jeanie Grandinetti in it. Jeanie stayed with them in the 70s (?) and they had a couple photos of her, once of which she was singing with Georgio playing guitar. Cira got really sentimental about Georgio and kept telling me about how talented and beautiful he was.

I slept in Anna's apartment. The whole family lives in the same apartment building; it's amazing! Anyway, it was kind of odd... Once again, photos of Georgio were staring at me everywhere, but more strange was the fact that Anna didn't know I was there and we couldn't get a hold of her to let her know that I was sleeping in her apartment. Egidio left a note on the door. I was just laying there thinking... 1) please God... I hope she sees that note! 2) I hope she doesn't own a gun!

Egidio, her husband, is awesome. He speaks a bit of English and knows a lot about a lot of things--kind of like Daniel ; ). Egidio was SO in love with Cira, though, I could tell, and they have been married 50 years! They also spent 13 years in barcelona, Spain for Egidio's job. I think he was some kind of engineer. He is 75 but honestly could pass for 60. He is so alert and mobile; it's incredible.

Luca speaks excellent English. I was amazed at how many words he knew. Luca is just brilliant for his age (he's 16). He showed me around on Saturday night and I had a great time talking and walking around with him.

Sunday Egidio took me to this park near their house full of ancient aqueducts. It was SO COOL. I couldn't believe they were standing (especially this whole strip) after 2000 years!

They also hooked me up with Cira's sister Carmela who lives in florence, and gave me a few other phone numbers of cousins. I wish I had written to them earlier! Now there is no time to meet all these people! I will at least meet Carmela, though, and keep in touch with Luca.

München

2007-04-23T08:13:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I to Munich, Germany. It is actually pronounced something like Munch-ing and means “monks.”

I went by myself, but luckily Munich is one of the safest (and cleanest) cities in Europe. I happened to meet another girl in my room who was traveling alone as well, so that was nice. The hostel I stayed at was great. They have an indoor garden and their own bar attached. They also give free walking tours. I went on one and learned so much about the city; it made me fall in love with Munich:

The ceiling of the bar in which Hitler used to meet up with members of the Nazi party. The ceiling pattern looks a bit odd because they have since painted over the swastikas.

This is a surfing area in Munich’s large park called the English Garden--one of the biggest city parks in the world. American soldiers were actually the first to surf there; they were living right next door to this park at the end of WWII and thought that this wave looked good for surfing (Germans had never really heard of surfing/surfed prior because they aren’t near any oceans). Nearby is also a nude “beach” though it is basically more of a nude park!

Apparently this college student wanted to point out to the king that his well-known infidelity was immoral, so he posted a letter reprimanding him on the wall of his estate. The king got very angry and offered a reward to find who it was. The boy came forward, but before entering, he rubbed the nose of this lion for good luck. Turns out that the king, after the boy's explanation, gave HIM the cash reward and let him go free! Ever since, people have rubbed the nose of this same lion for good luck. The lion is also a symbol for Munich.

Munich was destroyed in the second World War, so when the war was over the government tried to rebuild everything. They didn’t have enough money to reconstruct this particular building so they painted these windows. Recently scholars found out that the windows were actually painted on the original building too and for the same reason--lack of money!

The tour guide said that Bavaria (area in which Munich is) is the most conservative section of Germany. In fact, he said that this statue of Romeo is kilometers away from the statue of Juliet!

There so many amazing memorials dedicated to those who fought Nazis and those killed during Hitler's regime. I wish I could post them all. This particular one is to the Scholls (members of the white rose group) who published information trying to let the people know what was really going on in concentration camps, etc. On the stone is carved portions of their letters.

I also went to THREE museums, Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek (my favorite), and Pinakothek Der Moderne, and it was really awesome and inspiring! I saw original works of Albrect Durer, Monet, Van Gogh, and many others. I think I was relieved to see something other than religious oil paintings from the Renaissance, but seriously, I LOVED the art in Munich. Here are a few that I liked...

From the Neue Pinakothek:

Judith

A saint with stigmata

From the Pinakothek Der Moderne:

The digital numbers kept changing and it was really neat

Odd "jewelry"

And finally, I did it… I went on a “pub crawl.” Yes, out of character, but Munich is essentially the capitol of beer. They took us to a famous beer garden and pub, but I didn’t buy any steins (i.e. the huge mugs below). I had a really great time and our tour guide was a 19 year old Brit who kept saying “riiiiiiiight” and explained how he ended up with 60 dollars in his bra after dressing up like a girl...

Girl from Australia and guy from Finland

Three German guys

Crazy tour guide (see if you can pick him out)

Lamb Cake

2007-04-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

Over Easter weekend I went on a couple day trips. First, Kristen and I went to Lucca, a peaceful and small city near Firenze. It was beautiful, relaxing, and we rode bikes on top of the old city walls.

The next day we went to Sienna, another nearby city, which had some great views at the top of the tower.

Love the shapes and textures that these houses make

Really funny mistake on the sign before entering the tower. Happiness forbidden!!!

Hills of Siena

On Easter I went to the duomo for the blowing up of the cart:

EASTER IN FLORENCE

There are several traditions and events in Florence, during the Easter holidays. The main important event is "the scoppio del carro" (=the explosion of the Cart). This is one of the oldest traditions in the culture of Florence. as the ceremony goes back to the First Crusade.

In 1097, under the command of Goffredo di Buglione, the crusaders departed for Palestine and in the summer of 1099 laid siege to and sacked Jerusalem. According to tradition, it was the Florentine Pazzino de/’ Pazzi who scaled the walls of the Holy City first. For this act of courage, Goffredo di Buglione gave him three shards of the Holy Sepulcher when he returned to Florence. He later donated them to the city in a grand celebration, and they are now preserved in the church of the Holy Apostles.

Historians tell us that after the liberation of Jerusalem, on the day of Holy Saturday, the crusaders gathered in the Church of the Resurrection and gave everyone present holy fire, the symbol of purification. This ceremony was the origin of the Easter tradition of giving out holy fire to the people of Florence. With the passing of time the planning of the festival became increasingly articulated, to the point that the use of a cart to transport the holy fire was introduced, with a tripod full of burning coal.

Today the cart of Easter fire, pulled by oxen and escorted by 150 soldiers, musicians, and flag-bearers of historic soccer, starts from Piazzale del Prato and arrives in Piazza del Duomo. At this point a metal wire unites the cart to the top of a wood column placed in the center of the choir. In the meantime, a procession begins from the church of the Holy Apostles led by the Gonfalone of Florence and flag-bearers of the Pazzi family, with priests and city officials. At 11.00, to the sounds of “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” the fuse of a rocket is lit and it flies, whistling, to set aligtht the fireworks in the cart. According to tradition, if the flight of the rocket is perfect, it will be a positive year for Florence.

(http://www.resortsinitaly.com/event-in-florence.htm)

I couldn’t see any of the parade because of all the people. I wanted to go to church afterwards, but it was so crowded and the tourists inside the church were loud as could be. I had to get home anyway to have Pasqua (Easter) dinner with the family.

The cart "explosion"

Dinner was awesome and I felt like I was going to explode (like the cart) from all the food. They even had a chocolate lamb shaped cake, which I thought was hilarious. Why don’t we make those in America?

From left to right: Elena (holding the glass), Valentina (Salvatore’s English speaking daughter), Valentina’s Husband (Marco?) holding their son Eduardo, Marco’s mom, and finally, loud mouthed Salvatore.

Give me some pene

2007-04-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay... embaressing moment time!

Elena has been sick these last few days. I feel bad for her, but it's been nice because I have been able to talk more with Salvatore. Usually he just watches TV 24/7 and doesn't really talk to me except for ciao and buona notte (hi and goodnight). I have the HARDEST time understanding him too, so I think he just kind of gives up. Talking to him makes me so nervous because he speaks so fast and often with his mouth full. Then, when I don't understand, he starts yelling or repeating it even faster.

Anyway, last night he asked me what I was going to eat for dinner because I was in the kitchen heating up some water. I replied "Penne" as in... penne pasta, which we have in the U.S. Well, apparently I pronounced it pene not pennnnnne, and there is a huge difference between pene and pennnnnne.

Salvatore started to chuckle.

him: "Che?" (what?)
me: "Pene." (Penne pasta)
him: "No...pene é un'altra cosa! Capito?" (No... pene is something else! You get me?)
me: "....Penso......" (I think *oh no...!*)

I didn't need my dictionary to figure this one out. I will give you one guess what pene means. In America it begins with pen and is a part of the male anatomy. I laughed pretty hard about it and even this morning I started to crack up at breakfast. I mean how cruel of Italians to have pasta named like that. It's like having the letter s in the word lisp. Wow, I will never think of penne pasta in the same way again!

Sicilia

2007-04-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to Sicily with the school. It was typical Italian madness!

We had to catch the train at a different train station than the normal one, so the school told us to take a train there. The train was late, so tons of students, including me, were freaking out thinking they were about to flush their 350 euros down the toilet. We all stood in a huge line for taxis, having no clue when our actual train was supposed to leave. You see... the school didn't bother giving us any itinerary.

When we finally got in the taxi I told him in Italian, "Abbiamo fretta!" (We are in a hurry!). We made it in time with about 20 minutes to spare, but some students basically made it by a hair. It was not a pleasant way to start the trip!

Kristen and I were supposed to be sharing our train cabin with a random girl from another school, but she didn't show up. We had this nice coach to ourselves and played Yahtzee and talked. The other students revelled in the fact that in Europe you don't have to be 21 to drink. In fact, that seemed to be the ongoing focus of most of the other students on this trip, who had bottles of beer in their hands at all times. God forbid they be sober for 15 minutes and actually remember some of Sicily.

Sicily was beautiful and has a really interesting history. So many cultures like Greek, Arabic, Norman (french), and Jewish all lived there in peace together. In fact, Greek mythology originated in Sicily (according to the professor) and at one time there were more Greeks in Sicily than in Greece. Take that Ardmore Pizza! (place that I worked where they were obsessed with Greeks and how everyone else was inferior). Think My Big Fat Greek Wedding. If I come from southern Italy, it may be that I am part of every ethnicity that people have assumed me to be. That would be pretty cool if I were Jewish and equally cool if I were Greek because then I could go back to ardmore pizza and rub it in ; ) Some girls thought I was Indian here...I could see Arabic, but Indian?

Anyway, my favorite parts of the trip were when we visited the coast. I love to go into the ocean as long as possible. My sunblock worked mighty nice by the way. I also walked along the beach and the song wish you were here by incubus came on. It was so perfect:

I dig my toes into the sand
The ocean looks like a thousand diamonds
Strewn across a blue blanket
I lean against the wind
Pretend that I am weightless
And in this moment I am happy

I wish you were here

I lay my head onto the sand
The sky resembles a backlit canopy
With holes punched in it
I'm counting UFOs
I signal them with my lighter
And in this moment I am happy

I wish you were here

The world's a roller coaster
And I am not strapped in
Maybe I should hold with care
But my hands are busy in the air saying:

I wish you were here

I felt like I was in a movie.

Some grafiti along the beach Laura ti amo (Laura I love you)

We also saw a Greek amphitheater and the second christian church EVER, which was really special, in Syracusa.

During the trip, I actually went out and hung out with people at night, something I feel like I have been missing out on. I have to take the bus home, so it kind of limits me from going out and experiencing the night life in Florence. I also finally met some cool girls from my school-- ones who don't talk about mascara for 30 minutes straight and whose knowledge of the Italian language consists of more than grazie and vino. These girls were fun and we got to vent about being surrounded by (insert insult of choice).

Consequently, it was depressing to hear the conversations at breakfast about the stupid things people did and how they were so drunk that they can't remember anything they did (yet seemed to remember enough to brag about it). It's really amazing how long people can go on about that same pathetic topic; I saw the same people at breakfast talking about the same thing hours later. Yes, you can drink alcohol here legally, now GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!

Seeing how disorganized the trip seemed (not having an itinerary, etc) I was a little doubtful when we were told that we would be able to get dinner before boarding the train to go home. The train didn't have a restaurant coach, so it was important that we all ate before our 14 hour train ride. Of course, with 20 minutes until the train arrived at least 40 people were standing in line to get horse steak sandwiches (recommended by the trip coordinator). When the train pulled up basically everyone made a run for it with their stuff and tried to get in. It was insanity-- the conductors wouldn't let us on because we didn't have tickets (our entire group had one ticket), no one knew what car they were on, and some people were probably still in line for food. I am so thankful I wasn't left behind!

Kristen and I didn't luck out on the way home with our cabin. The train was infested with mosquitoes and mosquito corpses. I told Elena that I was continuing la guerra (the war) on the train. It's our inside joke because we constantly kill mosquitoes at home.

As much complaining as I've done, I really loved Sicily. Sicily looks like I pictured Italy to look. I loved the beautiful terraces with flowers and quirky store fronts.

A store front

A balcony

Going to Sicily made me wish I had studied there instead. I know I am lucky to experience studying abroad, and the grass is always greener, but I am pretty sure I would have liked it so much more.

In Florence it seems as if every Italian speaks English to me. Even when I speak Italian, they talk to me in English. I also hear more people speaking English on the street than Italian sometimes (because of large influx of tourists). People in Sicily don't really speak English and the environment is much more authentic. Florence is a tourist's town. I realized I probably should have spent the time in somewhere that I would have ideally wanted to vacation for 4 months. I am sick of cigarette smoke, car fumes, dirty streets, narrow sidewalks, and cold people. I envy the "simple life" of the people in Sicily and wish that I could have really been immersed in a completely different genuine culture and that beautiful coastal environment.

Sunscreen

2007-03-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

As far as I can tell, Italians don't actually say Mamma mia. They say "Aiuto! Aiuto!" (Help me! Help me!). So... without further ado AIUTO AIUTO!

As you may know, Italy is REALLY centered on physical appearance--more so than America. For example, men's fashion is a much bigger deal here...men wear nice shoes and possibly uncomfortable shoes for the sake of fashion. They also wear wrinkle cream. Everyone is terrified of having cellulite, and apparently everyone wants to be tan.

I was TRYING to find sunscreen because I am going to Sicily this weekend on a school organized trip (Thursday night-Monday morning). I went to a couple dollar stores and the girl said something like it was still cold or whatever. I guess for Italians you only need sun protection when it's hot...and even then who knows...

I told her I was going to Sicily and asked if I could get it in the supermarket. She said Si, so I went to the nearby supermarket. There was about every (vain) cream you could ever think of, but no sunscreen. In fact, the only thing remotely close was bronzer or sun tanning lotion. AHHHHHHH. I couldn't believe it. In America no matter what time of year you can always find sunscreen! And usually at least 5 different kinds of sunscreen!

I thought...okay... the farmacia might have it. For those of you who don't know, the farmacia isn't like CVS, Rite Aid, Eckerd, Wallgreens, etc. It is more like a mix of JUST the pharmacy of those places, homeopathic stuff, and really ridiculous stuff like anti-cellulite pills and lotions. You can't get your gum, stationary, shampoo, make-up, one-hour photo, or toothpaste there, (unless it's anti cellulite), and it's not even close to being open 24 hours. In fact, nearly all stores in Florence close between 1-3PM. Deathly ill after 8PM? You are, as they say SOL. (Sh*t out of luck).

Well the farmacia did have it FOR 15 FREAKING EUROS. You can get sunscreen for 99 cents in America! Yeah, that hurt. Skin cancer vs spending 15 euros on sunscreen...hmmmm....tough one...

Speaking of, the euro is doing SO MUCH better than the dollar and I am terrified because I have to pay the rent soon. The ratio I heard is almost 1.50 dollars to 1 euro. I don't even want to calculate what that means in terms of the sunscreen I just bought. All I have to say is that the sunscreen better be the best darn sunscreen in existence.

Purses I designed in Accessory Design

2007-03-28T05:31:00.000-07:00

I sketched them first and then scanned and colored them using photoshop. Lots of time but pretty cool! The hardware was based on the screaming column I saw in Pisa.

My eye is blind in one eye

2007-03-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

My midterms went well… I think. I guess if they didn’t you’ll hear about it later ;)

So this past week was spent with Daniel. He came to visit on Friday the 16th and left this morning. We went to the airport at 5 AM. I am SOOOOO tired and out of it.

I took him on a tour of Italy: Firenze, Cinque Terre, Roma, Milano, Venezia, and Firenze again. (No pictures yet because Daniel took them all… but I will post some or give a link eventually).

We began with a dinner with my homestay family in which poor Daniel tried to keep up with Elena and Salvatore, having studied Rosetta Stone (well known language computer program) pretty thoroughly before coming. I sort of played interpreter, which made me proud of myself. A month ago I was sitting at the very same dinner table needing a translator. Nevertheless, Daniel did wonderfully on the trip for not having studied much Italian, though he kept beating himself up over it. (Non ti preoccupare Daniel! Italiano e` difficile!!) Dinner was amazing, but so much food that Daniel and I were basically about to puke our guts out if we ate one more fork-full.

The next day we saw the major sites in Florence, including a guided tour of the Uffizzi museum which holds some famous works like Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. We also climbed to the top of the duomo.

Sunday we went to Cinque Terre. Cinque terre may be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life… if not the most beautiful. We took it easy and walked around and between Manarola and Riomaggiore (2 of the 5 towns) and sat for hours gazing down at the most breathtaking views of the sea and hills. I also had the best pesto ever in the hostel we stayed at (they had a restaurant downstairs).

Rome was probably the low point. After we saw the Coliseum and St. Peter’s, it started POURING and we didn’t have an umbrella. My feet were drenched after a few minutes, and we eventually bought an umbrella from umbrella street vendors (who seem to be the only people who enjoy the rain…). The umbrella wasn’t nearly big enough for 2 people, so I got completely soaked.

Later that night, we met up with my friend Samantha who is studying for the year in Rome. We saw the place where she lives. It is sort of this 1500s mansion where everyone (about 28 students) live and work on art in their own studio spaces. It was really neat… and thankfully they had dryers! We put our clothes in and wore her pajamas, shoes, etc. It was pretty hilarious seeing Daniel in paint splattered scrubs and clogs. Then we looked through some of her pictures of Morocco and Senegal and cooked dinner. We made a big salad, rice, and this meat dish with pears, onions, wine, olive oil, and Italian sausage. It was AWESOME mmmmmmmm.

We spent the next day in Rome and saw the Catacombs. It was really exciting for me to see some of the origins of Christianity and Christian imagery. We wanted to go to the Vatican Museum or climb to the top of St. Peter’s after that but the lines were sooo long and I knew we had to hurry up and get to Milano! (yes-a lot of rushing around on this trip!)

In Milano we stayed with the Standridges (who I stayed with the first time I visited) and I showed him the awesome Duomo there and some of the other sites. The weather had gotten better by then, thankfully! Even still, this past week has been colder than it has been since January. Figures, huh? I had told Daniel to bring a light jacket…whoops.

Wednesday we went to Venice. This was my first time to Venice and I must say, Venice is pretty cool. I mean what can I really say? There were canals and not streets…that’s just cool. What wasn’t cool, however, was the Jewish museum. Diane Spadafora (woman from family at church who lived in Milano and knows the Standridges) told me I HAD TO SEE the Jewish Ghetto in Venice and that the merchant of Venice by Shakespeare is about that etc etc. So, I was pretty excited to see this site. We got there and…well… basically it just looked like the rest of Venice. We then decided to try the museum. Because we didn’t buy the tickets with the guided tour of the synagog/s, our ticket granted access to two—count ‘em two—rooms. The rooms were small; the first one had some decorative fabrics and the second had metal work like menorahs, etc. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like menorahs… but it was really like snooze-ville. On top of that, the rooms already had crowds of high schoolers in them taking the tours (in Italian) so we felt awkward even going into them because everyone was sitting on the floor “listening to” the guide.

We left Venice in the afternoon and got back to Florence Thursday night. During the course of the week I had experienced cramps, an ear infection, and then it all culminated toward the end of the week in an awful cold in which I was (and slightly am still) blowing my nose every 5 minutes. Poor Daniel… he always has to deal with sick Bethany. While I may become deliriously funny (i.e. saying “my eye is blind in one eye”), I am sure I am cranky too.

Friday we saw…well… he saw (I sort of sat on a bench) the Boboli Gardens. Then we went on a tour of the Accedemia and saw the original David. GAHHH that was incredible! But! The high point was most definitely last night. We saw Loreena Mckennitt in concert. She was so amazing!! Her voice made me cry… it’s got this haunting quality. She can also play the piano, harp, and accordion. The other instrumentalists were also soooo good. I think it was the best concert I have ever seen. It was bitter sweet, however, because Daniel and I knew we would have to part ways for his 7:40AM flight the next morning.

After he left and I came back to my homestay. Elena was there when I walked in. She was all excited: “How was it? Did you have fun?” The last thing I wanted to do this morning was talk, and after about 5 words I burst into tears and started sobbing. She gave me a hug and I think she bought me cookies when she went grocery shopping this afternoon (because they never buy sweets). Yeah, I am still really sad. It’s going to be a month and a half before I see Daniel again. I feel worse for Daniel, though. He is going to have to go through Bethany withdrawal and Italian food/espresso withdrawal ;)

Speaking of—it’s dinner time. Elena cooked up something good and I am invited! Time for me to drown my sorrows in some Italian cuisine.

Tights

2007-03-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

I spent alllllll weekend making flashcards for art history. We are talking about 180 pages of information and like 300 slides. Not exaggerating. SO I am going to sit on the computer and do nothing for a couple hours. I also went to this store that sells tights and bought a few pairs.

Fellas you can stop reading now I suppose. I'm about to talk about Italian tights.

Italian tights are AWE.SOME. I was a fan of wacky tights in the U.S.A. but here, they are abundant and come in thousands of varieties. Here are some examples:

The possibilities are endless! These tights are so cool that they make me want to shave my legs. (And for those that know me, that's a big deal).

Roma

2007-03-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

So I went to Rome over the weekend. It was non-stop but totally awesome.

I stayed in a youth hostel for the first time with Kristen and 2 of her roommates. That was certainly interesting. We had 2 random others in the room with us-- an American guy who was living in Poland and his Polish girlfriend. It was slightly awkward waking up to them snuggling in bed together...

Saturday I saw the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's. The Vatican museum is a claustrophobic's nightmare. The museum goes in a sort of one way fashion through narrow corridors. With tourists by the thousands you can image how tight it can get especially on the way to the Sistine chapel and the Raphael rooms. Everyone was so exhausted after those that we didn't have time to see the modern religious art section, which, from the brief rushed encounter looked really neat. St. Peter's was breathtaking of course, and I saw the famous pieta.

Sorry attempt at a panorama of the outside of St. Peter's

Sunday was the Colosseum and the nearby Palatine Hill. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, as you can see from the picture up at the top. My absolute favorite moment was when we were eating at a cafe with the Colosseum in sight and then a guy starting playing the accordion next to our table. It was probably the most stereotypically Italian moment possible.

The Colosseum at night--GORGEOUS

I left the group early because my foot was hurting me, plus I had homework. I ran to catch this bus and it ended up getting stuck on the tracks behind some other train and we were 90 minutes late. I was just laughing to myself thinking... and I ran to catch this one. Then, when I finally arrived I went to customer service because you can get your money back from trenitalia if your train is really late. I ended up filling out the refund form 3 times with different addresses. The first time I put my school address here, but there wasn't enough room. The second time I put my home stay address, but then the guy said "ok you'll get it in 3 months." I thought he was joking with me or my Italian comprehension was off....no...3 months. Typical Italy. So, yeah, I ended up putting my home address down . Who knows if I'll ever get my refund!

This weekend I am staying in Florence and studying for midterms! Eek! Wish me luck!

Cambridge

2007-02-26T06:05:00.000-08:00

I can see why smart people come out of Cambridge... Cambridge just makes you feel smarter.

Many colleges share the campus, and historic dormitories and churches are abundant. It's like a bunch of mini castles with gorgeous bridges and streams. It was BEAUTIFUL and I think I wanna move there.

On Saturday we toured London in ONE DAY. My feet felt like they were balls of mush by the end, but I saw the major sites: Big Ben, Westminster, London bridge, and even Shakespeare's globe theater. I also enjoyed the fish and chips that we had on the way home. I especially enjoyed the drunk middle aged men on the train that asked me for my left over chips (i.e. fries) because they smelled good.

In front of the Millenium Bridge

Kristen's uncle teaches theology so that was entertaining. He kept calling himself a heretic... I think I like British Christians. We had good laughs over the dinner table and I think Kristen's aunt and uncle are very fun and very intellectual people. They even offered to have me over again! Woohoo!

One of my favorite parts was the church we visited on Sunday. There was a boys/men's choir that did Latin choral music. The acoustics were incredible and I got chills. I also liked that the speaker used words like "scrupulous" and had a British accent.

Me Drinking Imaginary British Tea

Milano

2007-02-22T03:40:00.000-08:00

Friday I went to a part of the Uffizi called the Vasarian Corridor. This corridor was built as an escape route for the wealthy Medici family, should an uprising occur in Florence. The Corridor was filled with artists' self portraits and even a couple semi-famous works that the museum currently has no room for. We had this awesome tour guide, but most of the students basically zoned out, yawned, and complained. Once again I ask, why did you leave America if you don’t care about seeing Italy!!! I know museums aren’t always fun for some people but why sign up for a MUSEUM trip if you don't like museums? GRRRRRRR.

Saturday through Sunday, Kristen and I went to Milano. It was awesome. It reminded me of an Italian Chicago (and of course we all know how much I love Chicago wink wink). We stayed with a family (the Standridge's) that I know through the Spadafora’s, a family at Grace Chapel. The Standridge's and the Spadafora’s started a Christian church in Milano. The Standridges were super nice and welcoming and we talked a lot with them about their missionary work and about faith in general. I found them to be quite an inspiration, so much so that I hope to visit them again. They also had 4 daughters--one of which wasn't there--who were really cool too.

The Duomo

The duomo in Milano is INSANE. My camera isn’t good enough to take a picture of it because it is massive. We payed 4 euros to go on the roof and it was definitely worth while.

From the roof of the cathedral

Italians are REALLY pda (public displays of affection). This is me reacting to the thousands of happy couples everywhere. This one happened to be making out on the roof of the duomo. Don't get me wrong, it's cute and all, but AHHHHHHHHHHHHH *grabs Daniel and gives him a big sloppy one*

We also saw an “opera” saturday night. It was supposed to be The Tempest by Shakespeare. It was supposed to be an opera...

1) There was no singing except for about three minutes of something that sounded more like italian rap or chanting. 2) There was one actor and 2 stage prop men. 3) Prospero played all characters using various voices, humourous but with puppets. 4) PUPPETS for crying out loud.

Me in front of the stage baffled

Grant it, the puppets were definitely artsy... creepy doll faces, demented hands, skulls and bird cages. After the show Kristen and I just looked at eachother and laughed for about 15 minutes straight repeating, "what the heck did we just see???!"

All in all, one of the best times I have had so far in Italy. This weekend I am going to Cambridge, England to visit Kristen's aunt and uncle! woohoo!

A shot of the Arno from the Ponte Vecchio

2007-02-22T03:34:00.000-08:00

The Arno and the Ponte Vecchio

2007-02-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

FIRENZE 101

2007-02-15T05:36:00.000-08:00

Italians take window-shopping to a whole new level. Women and men stand gazing with a look of deep concentration and consideration at the merchandise within. They sometimes stand for minutes at a time. One must wonder… what are they thinking?

Italians’ dogs sh*t on the sidewalk. There is no grass and most sidewalks are really narrow. You should look down where you’re walking because chances are you might step in an unpleasant surprise.

There are TONS of Japanese people in Florence. Apparently designer clothes (Armani, Gucci, Valentino, etc) are a lot cheaper here than in Japan or America. Yesterday I waited as a huge group of Japanese tourists walked by me. It felt exactly like that rural legend of the car that waits as a long row of baby ducks cross the road.

Jewel-io

2007-02-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry it’s been a while. Believe it or not I have been swamped with homework. I am sooo tired, and after I write this I am going straight to bed.

Nothing too exciting has happened since I last wrote. Since I went to the Ferragamo museum, it's now our inside joke to call Salvatore "Salvatore Ferragamo."

On Saturday, my friend Samantha who has been in Rome for a semester and is staying the year came and visited me randomly. I took her around Florence and showed her the must sees because she hadn’t been here before. We also went to the Uffizi, a famous museum. It was amazing to see art works that I’ve seen slides of in art history class right in front of me. The Uffizi is like sensory overload. The hallways are literally lined with busts and portraits. I have to go there a couple more times this semester, so by the end I will have thoroughly enjoyed this museum and had a chance to really appreciate all that is within it.

I have a Jewelry design teacher named Giulio (i.e. sounds like Jewel-io). That’s just funny. He is supposedly really sensitive, which I can see. He got offended when I started eating something in class and got rather sassy. Today was just not a good day. I feel like it’s just been a crappy week or so all around. I am homesick and feel completely misunderstood. I have said/did stupid things that are giving people the wrong impression. For example, my friend’s roommate who I barely know told me that she feels like I’m judging her all the time and that she feels horrible around me. That’s right, “horrible.” I felt horrible times 40 after she told me that.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me… I have been feeling such a huge rift between me and most people over the last couple years. Not in a I’m better than them way, usually a more of a we’re in totally different places kind of way. Or sometimes I just feel like there must be something daunting about me because most of my peers just aren’t drawn to talk to me. I try to initiate, I really do. I don’t know when I started developing social problems. I feel like it’s kind of like the chicken and the egg. The more people ignore me, misunderstand me, etc the more I pull away and don’t even bother to try to reach out, talk, and have people understand me. Does that make sense? It’s a hard cycle to break because I have been hurt and disappointed many times.

So now that you think I need therapy, I might as well talk about my art therapy class. I like my professor a lot. She is super smart and has a very calming personality. All we do in class is make art and then talk about what we’ve made. I feel kind of like she is psychoanalyzing us though…Is it a real class or some kind of secret experiment? Last class we had to pick emotions and try to represent them and their opposite in art. I picked “longing” because I was thinking about Daniel and how much I miss him (…ready…1…2…3… “Awwwwwww”). Apparently the translator had a huge problem trying to say it in Italian. I had to pick the hard one as usual! Everyone else picked “happy” or “excited.” Leave it to me to give the pensive response. Anyway, this one guy cut out pictures of rhinos from a magazine for his rendition of “disappointment” and “excitement.” I was laughing so hard because I never really thought of rhinos as being excited or disappointed. The teacher was like “why did you pick rhinos?” and he was like (in his South Carolinian twang) “I don’t know… he just looked disappointed.” Meanwhile the picture was a rhinoceros just standing there with its mouth ajar. The “excited” rhinoceros was another photo of a rhino but cut off with the head/face drawn on. The rhino’s expression was so cartoon-y with a huge smile and a yellow “excitement halo” of bright colored lines. The more I looked at it the more I broke into laughter. Maybe you had to be there but it was so random!

In other news, Elena likes to slap my butt affectionately. It's really funny. She also sometimes offers me free food. I think she must really like me!

Salvatore Ferragamo

2007-02-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

I went to the Ferragamo Museum today. I wanted to take pictures really bad, but they weren't allowed. Then, as I was leaving I saw some Japanese guy taking loads of photos practically in front of the guards. Oh well. At least I have a lot of sketches.

Salvatore Ferragamo was apparently revolutionary in shoe making. We owe many standard shoe details to him, like the wedge heel for example. He used odd materials for his time, partially because he was innovative, and partially because he had limited options for materials during the war.

He was one of 14 children (!) and went to America with some of his brothers to make money in the shoe factories. In Italy he had been a shoe makers apprentice. Ferragamo was disappointed when he saw the low quality/uncomfortable shoes that factory machines made. He ended up moving to California to help his brother who worked on costumes for movie sets. There he opened his own shoe store and started making shoes for celebrities. (It is neat...the museum has lasts labelled with different celebrity names like Sofia Loren and Audrey Hepburn). When he returned to Florence he hired other shoemakers to work for him because the demand for his shoes became unmanageable.

I didn't think I would get into my accessory design class--I am against unnecessary and extreme consumerism (i.e. hundreds of pairs of designer shoes)--but I have sketched some really cool designs and have really enjoyed shoe designing. I have been pretty sick this week (cold/flu type thing) and spent yesterday in bed sketching various shoes inspired by my trip to Pisa. It was homework but I definitely didn't need to spend so long on it. It felt nice to just draw and listen to music. It may have been the first time I really felt completely at ease here.

Before yesterday, I hadn't listened to music at all since coming here. I realized that it's essential to my well being. I think I am going to walk around with an ipod from now on; I feel safe enough. Now I just need to find a piano...

On the way back from the museum, I took some photos of the Arno River/buildings across the bridge. I will try and post them this weekend. Sorry that this seems more like a history lesson than an update, but my last few days have been nothing but school, coughing, and snot.

Pisa

2007-02-06T02:28:00.000-08:00

Kristen and I in front of the famous leaning tower

Pisa was pretty fun. It was a good day trip and we miraculously made the train on time.

I went with Kristen and her roommates. I hate to seem gossipy, but her roommates were kind of like “oh this is it?” I was like… this is it? We are in Italy! There are 4 historic beautiful buildings around us!! They left after seeing the leaning tower and went SHOPPING. Not kidding.

Boots vs. a once in a lifetime learning and visual experience? Boots most definitely.

I wore a dorky fanny pack and looked pregnant. You can kind something puffy under my jacket. I pretended I was pregnant and was saying things like "he kicked!" and "Pane nel forno!" (Bread in the oven!) hahaha.

Kristen and I went inside all the buildings except for the tower. (It cost 15 euros to climb the tower…eek!) First we went into the baptismal.

The coolest part was when one of the guards went into the center, which is blocked off, and sung. The notes echoed all over (the acoustics in there are insanely amazing). She proceeded to sing other notes and harmonized with herself. It brought chills down my spine. This moment made the trip. It felt almost as though the instant was made for us.

We then went into the rectangular shaped mausoleum. It had all these marble tombs with elaborate marble statues and a sort of grassy area in the middle of the building that you could walk across. One of the guards was taking pictures of the statues like right up close and personal behind the ropes, which kind of amused me. It seemed like a typically Italian incident. Inside there were also frescos of Dante’s inferno, which were kind of crazy. To see both of these was only 6 euros total.

Last but definitely not least, was the church. This building is actually free to go into. It was covered like wall to wall with beautiful oil paintings. It took my breath away. There were a couple relics with elaborate decorations.

(Unfortunately, I can't post all my pictures in here but for more details check out my online photo album. You will also find pictures of my room and various other interesting things.)

At the end of the day we got some gelato and listened to this guy free style kind of like Justin Timberlake. He was good and I dropped some change in his box.

Last night I played soccer. I am so out of shape even after all this walking. The problem is they don't really start until 10 at night, so I have to leave early, walk by myself, and walk extra far to the bus stop. The field is 30 minutes away. I might do volleyball, which starts at 9. I don't want to be walking around too late, as much as I look like a mafiosa.

Aeh?

2007-02-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got on the bus and it was really crowded. My foot has been hurting me, plus I have a bunch of heavy textbooks. I wanted to sit down and spotted an empty seat next to an old lady. I said excuse me and stepped over her a bit to get to the seat. The woman proceeded to yell at me in Italian… thank God I didn’t understand what she said. I was thankful when she got off the bus—I didn’t need her bad vibes. Then an ATAF (bus system) employee got on and checked everyone’s tickets. I have a bus pass and I don’t know if he scanned it again or just somehow checked on the scanner how many I had. I was so confused. The woman next to me started explaining what he was doing but I had no clue what she was saying.

I sort of panicked thinking I would be late for class and totally followed my instincts to the school. Every time I have done that before I have gotten completely lost, but this time I made it in record speed! I think I have my route figured out… but I will probably somehow mess it up next time I have class.

The rest of my classes yesterday went well. My Jewelry design class is, as I guessed, theoretical—no making of jewelry involved. However, I still think the class is cool. We are learning how to draw jewels, the facets of jewels, how to represent metals and so on. That is pretty unique! The main project at the end will be to design our own collection of 5 pieces. Two girls dropped the class after finding out that we had to draw because they “have no artistic ability.” I was just thinking… the school is called FLORENCE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS. So many people are complaining about doing art here and I’m like duhhhhhh, what the heck did you think we were going to do? The majority of people here aren’t art majors I am finding, which kind of surprises me.

I also had the history of graphic design. The teacher is really awesome and she speaks English really well. You know she is still Italian though, because she always says aeh? After everything. “This development was important, aeh?” It’s so charming.

I have been told that I look like this singer, Laura Pausini, by Salvatore and also someone before that back in the states. I don’t really see the resemblance. I also have been asked directions/bus information by 3 Italians or so. Yay for looking authentic!

We watched this guy, Arturo Brachetti, on TV last night and he was really weird/awesome/wish he toured the US. He changed clothes in like 10 seconds into these totally bizarre costumes.

I’m actually not going to the duomo Saturday night for church. I think I am going with Kristen and her roommates to Pisa for the day on the train.

American Scum

2007-01-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

First of all Happy Birthday Mom!!! It was the 28th but I was stupid and forgot amidst classes starting : ( And, Happy Birthday Joanna as well! In general, happy January birthdays. We’re awesome.

Today I had just one class—Introduction to Accessory Design. I think my teacher is awesome. She is from Dublin and has the coolest accent. She is also reaaaaally funny. Although, as usual, I’m one of the only people who laughs out loud at her (because if you laugh at your teacher’s jokes you risk being uncool). There are 6 people in the class. Yay for very small classes so far!

She told us a lot about the fashion industry; she works as a freelance accessory designer and also has her own line of shoes and bags. It is so sad how everything is a slave to commercialism. You can’t just make something for the sake of it being beautiful or innovative, it has to be sellable. Everything is a knock off of what has already been done in the past or what a designer just put out. They have to predict trends and research thoroughly—it didn’t sound like much fun. It sounded to me like the fashion industry is really stressful, more about marketability than creativity. One is constantly under pressure. He/she has to watch as their designs are sold for a small price if anything at all (like when they just start in the business and are trying to get their name out), are copied by other companies, or are modified to conform to a more marketable model. Often designers are forced to create pieces they don’t even like because those pieces are more likely to sell. What kind of art is that?

We spent like THREE hours drawing “lasts,” these sort of shoe mannequins. They don’t look like feet, they are more shoe molds. Yeah…hard to explain, but that was annoying. At least I feel like I know tons more about shoes than I ever did. We went over the anatomy of a shoe, and shoes are very complicated. Americans own so much stuff and often we don’t even consider how it was made. Things don’t magically appear!?

We are going to visit a shoe museum next Friday—I am really excited and curious!

After class I went to the bookstore and got my Italian books, then went to some stores to look for athletic pants. FUA offers TONS of activities. There are 3 free trips, which you’ll hear about once I go on them, a lot of other weekend type trips that cost money (I only signed up for the long one to Sicily), and then everyday things like sports, movies, culture lessons, visits to places in Florence, etc. I am going to do soccer on Monday nights I think, so I needed some pants to play in. I went to a couple stores and didn’t really see anything. In the second store, Non Solo Sport, (Not just sports?), they had stuff for so much money. It was like EVERLAST pants for 40-50 euros. I’m like… you can get those for 8 dollars at Walmart. On top of that, there was a song playing that said something like “I’m not American scum” yeah… something along those lines. I felt really awkward, especially because the one sales person knew I was American. (He had said something to me REALLY fast and I told him I was American.) I sarcastically said I liked the song but he didn’t get it.

On the way home from Non Solo Sport I came across a little clothing shop called Ciao Ciao in which I found athletic pants for 5.90 euro each! I bought 2 pairs and was so happy I didn’t waste my money on brand name addidas or nike pants. Ciao Ciao is amazingly cheap and has an amazing name, obviously.

I find it really funny that they always play American music or music with English lyrics here. (Yes even “I’m not American scum” was in English!). Is that song big in the states/am I missing something?

I have a new class now instead of Bookbinding. I am registered for Introduction to Jewelry Design. I am not sure how this differs from Introduction to Jewelry Making, which was full. I guess it may just be hypothetical and theoretical jewelry? Heh. Even still, it could be cool.

The dean must have taken time out of his *precious* schedule to add me into the class. He speaks to everyone as if he’s mocking them/doesn’t care at all, and has a condescending, catty-feminine tone of voice (i.e. Amber in the movie Clueless). If you hate students why are you running a school? Maybe he’s just scarred from all the crappy stereotypical college students that skip 50% of their classes?

Last night this kid in my Italian class said it is EASY to get around Florence. I feel proud whenever I make it to a street name that I recognize. Sheesh. I don’t think I’ve taken the same way twice to/from school. One of these days maybe it will become easy for me.

Talking with the family has pretty much plateau-ed for the time being. But hey, my first week done, so far so good.

I need to spend less time at the Internet place. I spend more money on Internet than food. That’s pretty sad…

Chiese

2007-01-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I went out for the first time here. I met with Kristen and her roomates at a bar called Robinhood. The bar had free champeign, pasta salad, and olives. Fancy shmancy.

We talked for a bit and then danced. I had to fight off the Italian men! I flashed my ring at them and they left me alone. hehehe.

Her roomates continued on to a club and Kristen and I went back to the apartment. We had to wake up early to walk to church Sunday. Her drunk roomates wandered in about 2AM I think. I was trying to sleep on the couch. One proceeded to talk at full volume to someone over the computer. No headset... speakerphone. She had the lights on too. I got up to go use the bathroom just to make sure she knew I was there. She continued to talk for a while. I thought... this girl is either blacked out drunk or is pretty freaking rude. Sigh...

We walked to church across the river. It was an Anglican church and the service was in English. It was very much like Catholic mass. I liked how the service had a serious tone. Contemporary church music tends to ignore the more serious aspects of God, i.e. too much of Jesus is my best friend and not enough of I should fear God, God is powerful, I am nothing. This church definitely reminded me of my place so to speak and forced me to be much more reverent than I normally am.

The inside of the church was beautiful. The ceiling had rounded arches everywhere and was painted. There were depictions of angels and Christ and there were quite a few golden adornments, especially around the marble alter.

A small art history lesson for y'all:

When the reformation happened, protestant churches steered away from religious imagery. As it is even today, some people end up worshipping icons/objects instead of God. That is why much of the art after the reformation (art in northern European countries) became human oriented--still life, genre scenes, landscapes, portraits, etc-- and the art of the south remained religious.

I enjoy how extravagent the churches are here and their religious imagery. Saturday I think we are going to church inside the duomo!!! I can't wait! It is going to be amazing. The reason I love it so much is that a lot of these churches evoke the same feelings I would like to feel when I think about God. Believers should be in awe of the magnitude and beauty of God, just like one feels when they gaze upon the Duomo or Santa Croce. The artists must have intended this.

Today I had my first classes. I went to art therapy first in which we made art using any materials desired to describe ourselves. We could go as broad as our personalities and as specific as our current state of mind. I made something pretty literal in reference to feeling isolated and not being able too communicate well to my homestay family--lame. Everyone's basically had the similar theme of being confused or torn from their comfort zone.

I also had Italian class. I am excited to refresh! There are only 6 people in the class, and the teacher only speaks Italian. I hate when Americans are lazy when pronouncing italian. It is so obvious they aren't even TRYING to roll the r's and there are like 20 dipthongs per sentence. COME ON. You are in italy!!! No more trying to look cool! Time to really learn this stuff!

Anyway, I better go. I have to wake up early for class tomorrow!

OW

2007-01-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

Introducing the new "getting lost in Florence" exercise program!

I walked for at least three if not 4 hours today. Ow.

I have more to write but I'm too tired!

Viva Bush

2007-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

Yes… it is 4AM but at least I got 6 hours of sleep this time!

I am feeling a little more at ease now. I went to the Internet place across the street twice already. It’s really cheap… 50 cents for 15 minutes. I can spend hours there for a couple euros. I will definitely be going there a lot! I have this pathetic need to always feel connected to the Internet… but hey it is my only connection to you all!

I am proud of myself: I used the bus by myself yesterday to go to orientation! I recognized the train station where I had to get off and managed to find orientation rather easily. No one tried to rob me on the train! Yay! I think I just blend in. I try to look like I know exactly where I am going and walk with a lot of confidence and purpose. The women here for example don’t acknowledge the men when they say stuff to them. If you look back or smile it’s actually a signal to them that you might be interested. Basically I just walk and don’t look at anyone except to see if they might be trying to steal from me! The ride home was okay too… I just looked for SCARPAMONDO (shoe world) which is a block or so away from my homestay : )

Today I have to go back to school to take care of some things. I’m going to be stopping at the last stop, so hopefully I’ll figure out how to get to school okay. Valentina helped me draw out a route for myself and I am slightly familiar with it. According to Valentina, I am the only one doing homestay at Florence University of the Arts. I really wanted to slap people at orientation who were complaining about how they couldn’t find anything and the streets look the same blah blah blah. I was thinking ummm I have to take the bus every day and can’t speak any English here! Shut up!!! I think that (small random streets) is something really cool about Florence. It’s called deal with it and look at a freaking map!!! I’m so sick of Americans coming here and not appreciating the small quirky differences that make this ITALY and not America. I can understand things can be annoying, but there are so many positives to living here too.

I found many of the people at orientation to be the stereotypical college age traveler. “I got so wasted last night blah blah blah” Weren’t you over that freshman year? Don’t you know you’re not the first one to hear “I love you! You’re beautiful!” from an Italian guy? I think a lot of the people have rich parents too i.e. daddy’s little girl who brought 5 duffle bags of clothes. Sigh. I know not many people go here to study/learn about the culture and it’s kind of sad. It’s okay to have fun here and there but most Americans take it too far. We heard a few times yesterday that alcohol was involved in basically every bad thing that happened to someone in past years. In fact, in one weekend 4 people got their stomach pumped for alcohol poisoning and 2 of those incidents was the same girl! *slams head against desk repeatedly*

The housing coordinator also went through and showed us pictures of damages that you can get charged for in the student apartments. It was SO depressing to me the ways in which American students have ruined beautiful and very old Italian apartments. Some of these apartments have been in families for years and students literally destroy them, which is total sign of disrespect for these people that are allowing us to be guests in their culture. Needless to say, these renters won’t deal with Study Abroad Italy (the company in charge of my program) anymore. In the pictures, beautiful handmade furniture was ruined, junk was everywhere, toilet seats were ripped off, cigarette buts were left in the sink for the landlord to clean up, and puke was on the side of a building dripping out of a window. And Americans wonder why other countries hate us? I know every country has their jerks, but those pictures made me feel ashamed even though I know I’d never do something like that. In fact, I had a conversation with Elena about this topic after dinner last night (did you hear that!?… a conversation!!!)

I’m so glad I am staying with a family. I may be out of the social loop in some cases, but from the look of it, I am glad. Thank the Lord, I know someone here who is level headed too who I met before we came over. It was so nice to see her (Kristen). We were both so stressed out of this culture shock (both Italian and other Americans) and it was so nice just to get a hug and share our burdens. I think today we’re going to grab a meal and hang out for a while. Doooon’t worry, I’m not going to judge and shut everyone out just yet ; ). I have an open mind about other people. Whether we do or don’t have similar interests I will try and treat them with love all the same.

I also got a class schedule with the locations on it at orientation. I’m a little stressed out about it, though. I was signed up for 5 courses: Art therapy, history of graphic design, accessory design, bookbinding, and intermediate Italian. They suddenly dropped bookbinding on me (even though I got an “official” schedule like months ago). This is bad because I’m not signed up to get credit for my Italian class (I figured that because I have already had Italian up to the advanced level it wouldn’t count). Without bookbinding, I would only have 9 credits being transferred. You need to have 12 credits transferred to be considered a full time student, and more importantly, to get financial aid. So… I have to see what happened with that. Maybe the class doesn’t exist anymore (greeeeeeat). I might have to sign up for another art class or try and get Italian credit. Either way, this requires that I email A LOT of people at West Chester and try and get something worked out. I don’t even remember if I was cleared to transfer any other art classes when I met with my advisor. I will have to email him after I talk with the staff today.

I also have to worry about this permission to stay as a sojourner in Italy. Because I have a valid student visa from the fall, I don’t have all the document requirements to get this permit. I have essentially everything but the “seal of the consulate” on my letter of acceptance. So yeah… who knows what will happen with that. Yet another thing I have to ask about today at open house and yet another pointless hoop to jump through.

After those things I have to take an Italian placement test. I’m actually slightly excited to see where I place… especially after the last few days of INTENSE review!

It’s definitely so intense always speaking in Italian and hearing Italian in this apartment. You don’t get a break. It’s not like Italian class where after class you can go speak English with your friends and the stress is gone. This is non stop… no relief and takes complete concentration all the time. Sometimes I close the door, sit in my room in silence and read/organize stuff/sit here just to kind of get a break from it. I really love the people I’m staying with but sometimes I need to give my brain a rest!

While the homestay thing has its disadvantages—being on the outskirts of Florence and constantly being under pressure to speak in Italian (which is also very good in the long run)—I do get taken care of here. The food is awesome (last night I had ravioli with prosciuto mmm) and they feed me whenever I’m around and it’s a meal time, which they don’t have to do. In fact, I tried to pay her extra in rent and she was like no “un regalo” (a gift). I mean what a blessing! I will try to not eat here all the time because I don’t think it’s fair to them. Maybe I’ll go to some restaurants around here, or maybe to the super market. One of these days I should pick up something for the family there and surprise them.

The student apartments also have trouble with mold, old and/or frustrating appliances, climbing tons of stairs, possible bugs, etc. Some of the stuff won’t be a problem unless neglected, but still. I don’t really have to worry about any of that. This is a very nice place; it is the first floor apartment (though we have an elevator), high ceilings, tile floors, beautiful furniture, always a clean bathroom, and mold free. Elena always sweeps and cleans up. (She won’t let me help her). I have always had hot water. Still getting used to no shower curtain though!

I was noticing they also have no microwave. I think that is kind of cool. Everything is cooked fresh and food is purchased often. That is reflected in their small refrigerator as well. The food expires way quicker and so they don’t buy more than they need. Italians conserve a lot and it’s awesome. As far as I can see, they hang their laundry, always turn lights off, have shower heads that turn on and off as needed (because in reality you don’t need water running on you the entire time…that is a luxury), have small radiators for heat, and only drive when necessary. Many people have bikes and own motor scooters (mostly women that I have seen, which I think is pretty awesome).

Last night at dinner was pretty funny. Even when I have no idea what Salvatore is saying to me, he makes crazy gestures and noises and I can’t help but laugh. Whenever he imitates Americans it basically sounds like a cross between George Bush and a donkey. They are so funny when they try to pronounce American words. I never thought English pronunciation was that hard until I heard them try to say things like world—“vwoud”, hot dog—“hawdock”…haha yeah… it’s great. Salvatore just about had a conniption when he found out that we call zucchini “zucchini” too. Speaking of George Bush, they bash him on a regular basis. I don’t catch everything they say, but the latest was something about him being a worm on a fishing hook. They tried to draw the fishing line and hook for me because they thought I wasn’t understanding. I took the pen and drew a fish about to eat the worm and named it Salvatore!

We make a toast every night (“Viva Bush!” they said sarcastically the other night) with wine. Even the wine I have been drinking here is different. It doesn’t make me feel “buzzed” or tipsy at all. I know I’m only having a small glass or two, but it’s just so pleasant and goes great with the meal. I’m not sure if it’s a freshness factor or quality factor but I am really loving the wine at dinner.

Wow, I wrote a lot. But hopefully you find it interesting! More soon enough…

Bethy

2007-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

I finally got to sleep last night and slept until 1PM today! I am still having a hard time getting used to sleeping normally. Last night I got up around 2-3AM too. My brain is so overloaded with Italian that I lay there and I just here the random melodic progression of Italian words (that don’t even make any sense together). I was having “nightmares” about Italian words and about confusing maps. Now I’m finding it hard to speak in English because I’m so used to not knowing how to say anything!

Salvatore has a daughter named Valentina. I am pretty sure that Salvatore is a widow. Valentina’s mother is not Elena; there are a few pictures in the apartment of Salvatore and his first wife : ( . Valentina actually works for another school for foreigners in Florence that teaches culinary arts. She has sort of been a translator for me (she speaks English well) and answered some of my questions about living here and getting around. She is really cool, in her mid thirties, and has a son Eduardo who just turned six. Salvatore and Elena watch him while she works I think. Eduardo is glued to his Italian Game Boy and runs around kicking people (he just started taking karate) but it’s in a cute way! He hasn’t said much to me yet except buon giorno. It’s so embarrassing that he knows the language so much better than me and he’s so little!

This afternoon Elena took me around where we live. She showed me places to eat and also an Internet place. Things are a bit cheaper here because it’s outside of the center of Firenze. Tomorrow morning I’m going over to the Internet place to post all this stuff I’ve been writing! And can you believe it’s across the street from here! Unfortunately there aren’t any Internet cafes around the corner. There is one about 10 minutes walking away that I might try that once I feel more comfortable walking around. It seems safe here but you know me, I tend to get nervous. It’s weird because it’s urban here but not urban in the sense that we think of it. I think the only major crime here is pick pocketing—but more in center city and on the buses. I’m definitely paranoid about that but I have one of those dorky under the shirt/jacket wallet size purses. I’m thinking most of the time I’ll just carry some cash on me and a copy of my passport (having ID on you is required here) just to be the safest that I can possibly be. My bigger bag (school bag) is really complex and difficult to break into. I even have trouble opening it! Besides, all I’ll be keeping in there are textbooks and papers…nothing appealing to gypsies.

I have a cell phone too that the school gave me. Incoming calls are free I think? I’m going to ask to make sure. My numero di telefono ;) is 3357146020. If you’re calling from America you have to dial 011 39 first. I was planning on using Skype but it’s going to be hard because I don’t have Internet access all the time. However, once school starts I have off Thursday-Sunday and can probably arrange to be at the Internet place at certain times. I also can get mail here:
C/O Florence University of the Arts
Via Magliabechi 1
50122 Firenze, Italia

So, to continue, after Elena showed me the neighborhood, she went on the bus with me. I was actually right about which bus I had to take into the city. Elena baby-sits sometimes so I went into the city with her. She helped me find my school, which is really beautiful on the inside. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop. Outside it looked slightly “ghetto” so I was kind of discouraged at first. A lot of the buildings here look a little run down on the outside but are really lovely once you step inside.

Aaaaaand guess what? My suitcase was sitting in the office there! I was so happy! Yay for deodorant! Elena went to work and I took a taxi back to the house and unpacked all my stuff. I took pictures of my room but I don’t have the cord to put them into the computer. Grrr. I’ll post some pictures when I can.

I’m a little scared for tomorrow. I have to take the bus by myself! I’m not totally sure what my stop looks like and I don’t think it says the upcoming stop anywhere inside the bus. I’m sure I’ll survive. I at least have the ticket already. It is basically good for 2 trips (round trip). Soon I’ll try to get either a pass for like 25 trips or the monthly pass. On another positive note, my computer works fine here (I heard some horror stories about converters), and there is an ATM like right below us, so I don’t have to worry about carrying rent on me. *phew*

For dinner (they fed me twice today… I don’t know about this “one meal a day” thing) I had salad with oil and vinegar of course, bread with oil and salt on it (Elena was scolding Salvatore for putting too much on! Hehe) and some balls of mozzarella. Usually the balls of mozzarella that you get in the states are kind of bland. These were really good. They really feed me so much… they keep scooping it on my plate! At the same time, though, I know I’m loosing some weight because of walking and eating healthier. They also have fruit with every meal. I could get used to this!

For breakfast I had something really good. It was foamed milk with espresso and a little sugar. I never really liked the taste of coffee but I love it here! (Daniel you’ll be in heaven!) They have an espresso machine. She gave me some croissant type of things, yogurt, blood orange juice, and fruit. I took the apple and saved it for later. I can’t eat all this stuff at once! Hard to believe I know…

I watched a little TV with my family. I don’t really understand too much yet. A lot of it is dubbed over American programs. My dictionary is my best friend here. I must have looked up a hundred things so far. Talking with them went a little better today, though. I feel a little more comfortable talking with Salvatore. He reminds me a lot of my dad and my uncle Rob when they are talking together. He’s really funny. Elena kept rolling her eyes and affectionately saying “scemo” which I just found out means something along the lines of stupid/idiot. They are so cute picking on each other and Salvatore makes jokes about himself too (I think). From what I hear humor is hard to get in other languages but Italians I think are spirited and funny people. I’m catching on…

They don’t know how to say my name. I even spelled it Betani so they would know how to pronounce it. Elena keeps calling me something that sounds like a mix between “Bethy” and “Betty.” It’s really cute but sometimes I don’t know if she’s talking to me! Then again… I got used to being called “Stephanie” at Ardmore Pizza.

I feel so naive thinking that I was going to do all this traveling right away. I can’t even walk out of the apartment without getting stressed out and intimidated!

Sigh, now it’s 4AM and I’m not tired! I don’t know what to do with myself at this hour. I’m not feeling very sleepy. Maybe I’ll watch the sun rise from my balcony.

Paris: Mamma mia!!!!

2007-01-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, Paris airport is the most confusing airport EV.ER.

I got off the plane with about an hour of sleep. I followed everyone else to what looked like an escalator. Except… it wasn’t an escalator. It was a moving sidewalk thing that went up and down hills. It was interesting. I had to ask someone for help on where to go. I noticed an airport lady talking to someone. Then I recognized the someone…it was Chrissy, a girl also going to Florence University of the Arts. I recognized her because she facebooked me last semester. I said “hey aren’t you from Pittsburg?” so we went the other way on the moving sidewalk thingy and found our way to the terminal we were supposed to go to. It was so confusing—an array of corridors and then a bus ride across the airstrips. The bus took so long to leave. I was starting to get concerned about missing my flight.

We got to the right number terminal, but we needed the right letter. We had to walk quite a bit and then I saw Air France. I tried to check in but the computer didn’t recognize my ticket. I needed to check in because I had no clue what gate the flight was leaving from. I asked a French airport employee for help. She told me my bag was too big but that I couldn’t check it now because my flight was boarding in 2 minutes. I started freaking out a bit and found my way to the “gate.” The security guy was nice and said “don’t worry you’re not late.”

The gate looked like some shady random back alley part of the airport. There was a crowd/line there with a sign saying something in French that basically said “Florence leaving at 12:05.” It was like 11:40 or so and I was thinking a) what are all these people doing here and where are they going? b) is this ANOTHER bus? c) if it’s anything like that last bus, I’ll be stuck here for a while! So I sort of budged thinking well I need to get going because my flight is boarding!

On the bus I loaded some of my more expensive items (laptop, camera, ipod) in my messenger bag. I wasn’t going to take any risks checking that stuff. As Sarah told me, one of her friend’s got his laptop stolen that way. So… of course… this container fell out of my bag—a container full of paper clips, safety pins, erasers, pencil sharpener, staples… you get the idea. I think the people on the bus thought I was nuts. At least someone came and helped me pick it all up. I was so embaressed. They were probably thinking… you stupid American bringing all that crap. I felt like everyone at the airport thought I was stupid seeing as there was English signs everywhere and I still was confused. But take my word for it, if you have a connecting flight in Paris, try to make sure you’ve got LOTS of time to connect. 1.5 hours was barely enough. (No more complaining about Philly’s airport Dad! hehe)

Well it turns out everyone in the line and everyone on the bus was going to Florence (whoops) and this wasn’t a regular shuttle bus. This bus took us to the aircraft and we boarded it on the runway using stairs! Gosh… I was so confused and paranoid.

Sigh… but here I am, on the plane to Florence. Now let’s just hope my other bag arrives too…

Smelly

2007-01-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

My bag didn’t arrive. I don’t have any deodorant and I have one outfit. I don’t have a razor and of course Elena (host mom) gave me like cropped pants to wear. My legs are so hairy : ( . I had to sneak some of their shampoo. Salvatore (host dad) bought me a toothbrush and toothpaste which was really nice. I really hope that the bag comes tomorrow… wahhhh

The lady at the lost and found desk was scolding me. I think she had had it with the ignorant demanding Americans that were in line before me. Me and two other people from the program didn’t get our bags. The one was a New York kid and you could tell. One of the first things to come from his mouth was “I was a PA (production assistant) for the movie oceans 13. Blah blah blah. I’m acting cool because I’m not excited about anything and everything is just blasé.” He didn’t bother to talk to me at all because I wasn’t all hot and thin like the other two girls in the shuttle. (I know… you’re thinking, shut up Bethany that’s not true…). I tried to cut in but no one really cared. Do I have something written on my forehead like “ignore me”? And it’s not like I tried to add in something odd like “I have a 6th toe by the way.” They all exchanged numbers except for me. I guess I’m not cool enough. I’ll just chill with Salvatore ; )

My host family is pretty cool. They speak really fast and think I don’t know the words when sometimes it’s just that they speak so fast. I’m feeling really overwhelmed but I know I need sleep. Even still it’s going to take a while until I understand what they are saying to me. The phrase I’m hearing most often is “non ho capito” i.e. she didn’t understand. It makes me sad because I think they think I’m dumb. On top of that, I am not picking up an Internet connection ruining my hopes of limitless Internet access. I feel pretty isolated and have no idea how to get around. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll find a café and go on the Internet there. We have off tomorrow, orientation Thursday, and open house at the school Friday.

My room here is awesome at least. I have the coolest cabinets and plenty of space. I also have HUGE windows with a balcony! Yay! They fed me SO MUCH. I actually don’t feel that full. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t eat a lot, or if the food was just healthier. If they feed me like that once a day, though, I should be set. I had pasta with tomato sauce, chicken cutlets (it’s amazing how similar it was to my dad’s cooking), a medley of zucchini, carrots, and artichokes, and a blood orange. They kept putting more stuff on my plate and when I didn’t understand what they were saying to me they just said, “Mangia!” Hmm what else? The shower has no curtain… it takes some getting used to. And yes! There is toilet paper here! (I was worried before I came).

I’m feeling kind of down and homesick, but I’m thinking it could only get better from here.

From Philly to Paris

2007-01-23T00:23:00.000-08:00

I am on the plane to France. I have an entire row to myself…4 seats. I thought yessss I’m going to be able to sleep! I laid down across the seats with my earplugs and mask thing to shield my eyes from the light. I never fell asleep. I think I have about 4 more hours so maybe I’ll finally get tired enough to fall asleep. I am a really picky sleeper and it stinks. Can we say insane jet lag? I keep yawning so who knows. It’s about 12:30 or so Philly time.

So far I met a girl, Alexa, on her way to France to study abroad. We exchanged email addresses so maybe I’ll come visit her in France. She was behind me when going through security and we talked for a couple hours before boarding because we were both so early. She is taking classes at a real French university with French students. My hat goes off to her… I can’t even imagine that.

My bag was 55 pounds and the guy let me slide. It was nice of him, but you’re actually allowed 100 pounds (50 pounds per bag). I only have one bag…with 4 months worth of stuff in it—so no wonder it’s over 50! Oh well, at least I didn’t get charged the whopping 50 dollar fee for having over 50 pounds. I can easily drop 5 for the way back… I have full size shampoo, bars of soap, body wash, peanut butter and reeses (for my host family… peanut butter is rare in Italy), some books, etc.

I’m a little scared about communication with my host family. I can’t remember a lot of basic words. I think I’m going to sound a bit like a cave woman for the first few weeks. “Me have gift. It butter made from nut.”

Okay… I guess I’ll give sleep another attempt. Ho sonno.

My very own bloggy woggy

2007-01-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

I leave for Italy tomorrow. EEEK! This will be where I post any major events, photos, etc. More soon...