The end.

I wrote this entry yesterday while I was on the plane, so keep all the timing in mind...

Ciao all,

It’s hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. Nine months seems like nothing now, especially because I can relive my first days in Florence down to the hour. Our last week consisted of countless hours of studying (which we resented considering the fact that our days were severely numbered), rushed shopping sprees for the last-minute things, wild nights out, and insane binge-eating of anything Italian we could find. Since my last update that brought a few tears to my eyes, I’ve both studied for and taken my Italian Literature exam, encompassing the works of the Sicilian writer, Giovanni Verga. Exam day was full of pressure, as expected, seeing that I always stress the poor organization of the Italian education system. Claudio (our tutor, if I haven’t mentioned him before) had signed us up for the exam and we had been scheduled to take ours in positions 1 and 2. We were very excited and anxious to get it over with, so we had been thankful to be the highest on the list.

Naturally though, things never seem to go according to plan with the Italian university. We arrived at 8:30 am on exam day to find out that there had been two other “hidden” lists, for different students. So right there, we moved from numbers 1 and 2 to numbers 6 and 7. The worst part about the whole Italian-style exam is the actual waiting experience. Each person’s one-on-one session with the teacher was scheduled to take 30 minutes, so that put me, the first of Kevin and I, scheduled to take the exam around noon. I was tired of studying, so we sat there for 4 hours chatting with Italians who were completely freaking out, and playing games on Kevin’s iPhone. According to us, what we didn’t know at that point we weren’t going to learn under stress, the last few hours leading up to the exam. So, we threw in the towel.

Because Italians are so wild about their mid-morning coffee breaks, good ol’ Professor Bruscagli decided to take his right before giving me my exam. Watching student number five exit his office with a smile on her face was a good sign, and it caused me to jump out of my seat, ready for my fate. However, I suffered from the false alarm when Bruscagli followed behind the student, announcing that he was going for a coffee. “Great,” I thought, “another half-hour stuck in this window-less building on such a beautiful day.”

When Bruscagli returned, I finally got my chance at showing him what I had sweated over since February. I was very nervous and shaky, but tried my best to look calm. However, when you’re speaking in a foreign language, one can hear the uneasiness immediately. My excellent grammar skills had pretty much flown out the window as soon as I asked him permission to close his office door. (Italian exams are a public event; anyone can sit in and listen if they want to). He sighed and said something like, “Yeah, if you want. I guess you Americans aren’t used to taking oral exams, let alone public ones.” So right then and there, we started the exam. The first few questions I knew very well. I know I sounded like a complete fool because I just blurted out everything I had studied in no specific order. The final question however, was one that I hoped he wouldn’t ask me. I knew exactly what he was referring to when he said the “Sciascia article,” but I conveniently attempted to compare it to the article that it was positioned next to in my book, as I knew more about that one and Sciascia had completely escaped me. To be honest though, I actually didn’t study any of Verga’s critics too closely because I had been so focused on the novellas, his short stories that were the basis for the exam. Claudio had told us that the critics would be supplementary material, information to add to a conversation about one of the novellas. When I completely bombed that question, I assumed that it had brought me from a 30 to a 26 or something, considering that fact that I literally knew NOTHING of Sciascia and that Bruscagli was known to be a tough grader.

With that last question, he digressed and said “Well, I know that you (meaning collectively, Americans) have studied. I’ve seen you in my lessons, and you’ve taken the class seriously. So, I’m going to give you a 29/30.” I was blown away, and soooo relieved. I escaped as fast as possible. Kevin followed after me and received a 28, and Claudio, who was present and anxiously waiting the results, was very proud. When it was time for us to get out of there, Claudio popped his head in and thanked Professor Bruscagli. Apparently he said to Claudio, “Well, they knew the material, but their Italian…” and while saying that, he made some sort of negative, Italian person’s gesture. Guess he wasn’t interested in considering that fact that we were very nervous and probably speaking in stream of consciousness. And, above all, we were taking his class to practice and use our Italian in an intelligent way, not because we had an insane interest in reading Verga, an author I had never even heard of before second semester.

With that, we had finished with the Italian education system and nerve-wracking pressure that we could never have become completely comfortable with. We were out by 1 pm, just in time to meet everyone else with Maria and Piero for a farewell cappuccino. Right after all the exhilaration, it was pretty painful to say goodbye to Maria and Piero, easily the most genuine, fabulous and wise Italian couple that I have ever been privileged to know. After saying goodbye, I spent the rest of the day running errands and enjoying the sunshine, knowing that I had no studying waiting for me. We went out that night to an outdoor techno concert that was a bit of a flop, as I think we arrived a little later than we probably should have. We also witnessed the results of a fatal moped accident, sheeted body and all. Needless to say, that put the icing on the cake for an unpleasant night that we would have rather avoided.

That day and night passed in a blur and now we arrive at yesterday. It was a disgustingly rainy day, but I woke up early to meet Elia (our cultural adviser) for a goodbye breakfast. The only others to make it so early on that gloomy day were Maggie Rossi and Maggie Wright. Elia had 95 euro remaining that he had to spend on us, so we just went crazy at a café, picking out every sweet, croissant and quiche that looked appetizing. It was really enjoyable, even though not many of us were there.

After breakfast, I spent some time walking around alone and soaking in whatever I could of my last day in Florence. My window-shopping on the Ponte Vecchio turned into real shopping when I bought a gold-plated, Florentine style filament ring. I had been looking for a gold-colored ring that wouldn’t turn my finger green and there was no way that I could afford gold, so I was delighted when I found this ring for 22 euro. It was much more in my price range. I met Andrea, Grace, Jeff and Carla for our final lunch at Borgo Antico at 1:30 and I ate a great veggie pizza. Then, we walked over to Gelateria Carraia, one that I had really wanted to try because everyone else had already had the chance to do so. I got the flavors “After Eight,” “Yogurt and Nutella,” and “Cookies.” It was fabulous, but still doesn’t compare to my all-time favorite gelateria- Vestri. I can taste my favorite flavors so perfectly when I think about it.

Yesterday afternoon, we had crisis in the Maria Pia- Andrea- Elsa household while we packed.  As far as space goes, I had guessed really well in my packing, but I was having some too-close-for-comfort weight issues. I had no idea how accurate or inaccurate Maria Pia’s scale was, so I did my best to be as close to 23 kg per bag, without going over. One was over by .8 and I was kind of banking on the airlines giving me a break. Poor Andrea’s flight was leaving from Milan (not Florence, like mine), so she had to drag her luggage on the train by herself to Milan central station, and then take a bus from the station to the airport. She had a HUGE problem with the weight and I’m pretty sure she decided just to accept the inevitable fees that came along with overweight baggage.

Maria Pia’s final dinner with us was delicious, as expected. She made my favorite pasta, spaghetti, olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino for our primo piatto. For our secondo, she made chicken cordon bleu, salad, and stuffed tomatoes. We LOVED the stuffed tomatoes. Earlier in the day while we packed, Maria Pia had given us her gift, a Toscana calendar and little Florentine mementoes, which were all very cute. So after dinner, we gave her our gifts. Together, Andrea and I had bought a beautiful hand-engraved silver frame from the metal artisan that Elisa had taken us too early on in the year. We inserted a cute picture of the three of us from our joint birthday celebration that Maria Pia had thrown for us in January. I alone gave her a set of beautiful stationary from a really famous store, called Pineider. In her letter, I told her that the purpose of the stationary was to keep in contact with me. She was very moved. Andrea gave her a gift certificate to a bookstore in the city center. All in all, Maria Pia was very excited with her gifts and I was so pleased to present them to her.

Last night, Maggie Rossi, Carla, Andrea, Kevin, Grace, Jeff and I met up on Piazzale Michelangelo for some champagne and quality time during our last few hours. It was a picture perfect night looking down on Florence, but my camera was unable to capture the beauty that we were fortunate enough to admire. We sat on the cement stairs where a bunch of different groups were seated, and Maggie began a toast by pouring us all champagne. Each of said something, every speech equally moving. Following our reflection session on a perfect year, we were rudely interrupted by 4 wasted Welsh boys, who were singing incredibly loudly and chugging bottle after bottle of wine. When Grace said something to us that I suppose these boys thought amusing, they found an opening and came over to talk to us all. In the beginning, they were all very presumptuous and rude, insulting Americans through their slurred vocabularies. I spent a good 15 minutes ignoring all of them well Carla requested tunes for them to sing. With time though, we all started talking a little bit more. Some were cooler than others, but there was one kid who was a complete fool. He and Grace seemed to have a bit of a personality clash, as they spent a good while insulting each other back and forth. This kid was way out of line and too egotistical for me, so I told him that he was definitely the most annoying person that I had ever met and that he’d have been better off staying quiet. (Yes, that was the best I could come up with. I’m not really good at dishing it out.)

After our lengthy fights, conversations and jokes, we walked Maggie home because she had an exam early the next day and it was already 1 am. The rest of us made an attempt to go dancing but the club (Twice) reeked of European B.O. so we got out of there as quickly as possible. We then gave some drunk kids directions to their hostel and walked to Piazza della Repubblica and said our goodbyes. We all took turns hugging and talking to each other one by one. We were exhausted and emotional and really feeling the reality of the end of our amazing experience together. We all got in our respective cabs and went home.

For the past two weeks or so, I had been bothered by the fact that I hadn’t shed a single tear between all the goodbyes and gifts. Even at Piazza della Repubblica, I was shockingly one of the kids with the dry eyes. Typically, I’m one of the emotional ones, so I really beat myself up about the fact that I couldn’t seem to cry. I didn’t even feel a build-up or desire to and it made me feel uncomfortable, as if I had been ungrateful and unable to recognize the amazing year that I’d had. I did my best to let it go and imagined that I would have had an explosion of tears at some point. I guessed that my chances of that happening were most likely at the airport.

I went to bed around 3:30 am and woke up at 5:45 am to give myself ample time for the physical and mental preparation for my departure from the country that I had inhabited for the past 9 months. I weighed my suitcases a final time and tucked away my teddy bears. I took pictures of all the rooms in the house and then had my final, Maria Pia breakfast. She had made my favorite cake- apple, and also served me a yogurt and a cup of tea, as usual. I ate slower than I normally do, as the reality of my departure was finally starting to hit me hard and I was stricken with nausea. Maria Pia got herself ready, and we were out the door by 7:30 with 3 enormous suitcases, one backpack, one purse, and two heavy hearts.

At the airport, I grabbed one of those carts and thought about how lucky I was to have Maria Pia, willing to take me to the airport. I knew that most of the other kids would be taking taxis and, expenses aside, I was incredibly grateful for her presence. Once the suitcases were out of the car, I had told her to go home. However, she insisted on coming inside with me, which I ended up being incredibly thankful for, during the disaster that we faced.

We got ourselves into what we thought was the line, and were called forward by one of the attendants, who freshly told us that we were in the wrong line and needed to wait in the “Economy” line, “just like everybody else.” We were immediately rubbed the wrong way. When we arrived at the same woman about 5 minutes later, she started to weigh my bags. I was well aware that I would be paying for a third bag, so her rudely telling me that I would be shelling out 160 euro for that didn’t bother me. What bothered me is the fact that she spoke ENGLISH to Maria Pia, who was visibly lost by it and really only trying to help me. In weighing my bags, each was overweight by a kilogram or less, and she told me that I would have to pay 120 euro for each overweight bag. Then, she weighed my purse and carry-on together (which I’ve never seen done) and they totaled 14 kilograms, while they “should have” collectively weighed only 8. The fees that she rattled off to me caused my immediate waterworks, and this stupid woman didn’t even flinch. She said “get out of line and come back when you have figured it out.” At the end of that awful encounter, I had to tearfully explain the whole thing over again to Maria Pia, who was rudely ignored by this woman. She was so calm but felt horrible for me, as I was desperate. She did point out the fact that she was pretty sure our oh-so-friendly attendant wasn’t Italian.

I tore open my bags and did what I could to re-arrange and throw things out. The toss-able things that I found were minimal, and only totaled a kilogram between all 5 of my different bags. Maria Pia collected me and rushed me back over to the lines, as she saw that the rude attendant was busy harassing another customer. The second a nicer-looking attendant became available, she shuffled me and my stuff over to the respective counter as quickly as possible, with me hyperventilating at her side. I was still as pleasant as possible because even in situations of panic, anger doesn’t solve anything. Our new attendant couldn’t find my permission slip to check two bags without charge (when I left in August, the rules still included two free checked bags. As of January, it’s been changed to one. I had called the company and  been told that I would be permitted two.). Fortunately, I had printed out the flight change confirmation that blatantly stated my allowance for two checked pieces. Saved there, thank goodness. Maria Pia hustled my 3 overweight bags onto the belt, and the check-in process continued onward without our friendlier attendant saying a word about the slightly overweight situation. Maria Pia did a great job chatting her up, talking about the fact that I faced a grand challenge packing for 3 seasons, etc. The lady sent me off to pay for the one extra piece, and that all went fairly smoothly.

When I returned to the desk, my three enormous bags were gone, my boarding passes were ready, and the attendant had given my carry-on/purse combo a quick glance, an “OK” and a smile. We breathed a huge sigh of relief, narrowly escaping about 400 euro in fines. Maria Pia and I walked to the exit and she explained that when she had been conversing with the attendant, she had been able to confirm that our original attendant was not Italian, and was actually driving the other two check-in attendants crazy. All I have to say is God bless those who can see our sides of the story and know what it’s like to be a passenger dealing with the complicated airline industry.

Maria Pia gave me a brief speech on staying well, saying hi to people, and returning soon. I started crying in her arms and she started to cry too, which I was touched to see because she hasn’t found the reason to cry very much following her 2 painful divorces. We separated and I made it through security senza problemi and full of tears. See, I knew the tears were waiting to burst out at some point. The first leg from Florence to Frankfurt was uneventful. We arrived a half hour late and I got an immediate flashback of my Christmas horror story, so I booked it through the terminal, knocking through anyone in my way. It’s not like I’m going to see them again, right? I was unsure as to the size and distances within the airport, so I wasn’t risking a thing. I arrived at my gate, 10 minutes before boarding. Then, I finally stopped sweating.

So here I am on the plane, sitting in my chosen aisle seat and enjoying the concentration I am putting towards my final blog entry. We just breaked for what I guess would be lunch, even though the time has me all confused. I received a rude awakening by the spaghetti we ate and had the sad “I’m not in Italy anymore” realization. I would probably compare this spaghetti to a high-end play dough. Very appetizing. Maybe this diet I’m putting myself on will be easier than I thought, considering the fact that I’m pretty sure no food will be as good as Italy’s food and therefore, not worth eating.

For those of you who have made it to this point in my epic entry, bravi, because I am on page 6 in Microsoft Word and I’ve still got a ways to go! Allow me to digress with the list I have been compiling, the highs and lows of my nine-month, Italian experience.

What I will miss:

Pizza the Italian way- while I have always loved American pizza, the freshness of the ingredients and lack of soupy oil on the Italian pizzas have really made them winners in my book.

Piazzas- most likely the best architectural concept, certain to automatically relax a person

The Italian pace of life- while I had difficulty adjusting to what I thought was laziness in the beginning, I now appreciate the time that Italians devote daily to food, family and rest. That’s why everyone looks so much younger and lives so much longer.

Italian children- There’s nothing funnier than talking to a 5-year old who speaks better Italian than I do.

Public drinking- Yes, I’m guilty of the regular wine-drinking session on the Ponte Vecchio. The view is too breathtaking to miss for a drink, so why not do them both at the same time!?

The “pausa”- an Italian phenomenon that happens around 10:30-11:00 am when everyone heads to the “bars” for a cappuccino.

The cappuccino- I actually hate coffee, but there is a special place in my heart for Italian cappuccino. They have really mastered the art of coffee-making, from the dainty cup to the heart form that they create in the milk foam.

Outdoor discotecas- there is nothing better than breaking it down and sweating half as much as you would dancing inside.

Wine- Italy is wine capital. It’s cheap and delicious, so there’s not much else to say here.

Shopping- even though the supermarkets are strictly food and your shampoo must be bought only at the pharmacy, EVERYTHING can be easily found on the streets of Florence with a little extra thinking.

Italian family/friends- I now have discovered a whole other half to my life and people that I will love and appreciate forever.

Sitting down to dinner every night- As they always say “a family that eats together, stays together.”

I can guarantee that there is more, but I think that sums up most of the aspects of my life abroad.

What I can most certainly live without:

Senegalese immigrants- I think I’ll be able to breathe easier now that I won’t be followed around Florence by these horrendously smelling men, saying “Ciao bella” and trying to sell me tissues, umbrellas or light-up Duomos.

White-faced gypsy women- By saying “white face,” I am literally referring to the white paint that they cover themselves in while they chase people (and me) around, begging for money, making freaky kissing noises, and giving me the finger.

Every-day bus travel and etiquette- It’s hot, it smells like B.O., people fight for seats, people pick-pocket, there is yelling, babies cry, it’s never on time, it doesn’t come, the company goes on strike at random. It’s just a terrible combination and system.

Albanian men- They never tire of hitting on American girls that don’t speak Italian. They use the girls’ lacking knowledge of the language to convince them they are Italian themselves, and then they try to seduce the girls. They never won with our group.

Chain-smoking 14-year-old Italians- Italy definitely needs to crack down on the smoking problem

Italian drivers- They are MANIACS on the road.

Mosquitoes- Because Italian homes don’t typically have screens on their windows, the little critters enter by night and attack your body. The results are far bigger than those in America, and I don’t know why.

The University system- Everyone already knows my opinion, as I’ve ranted about it in probably ¼ of my entries.

Ridiculous superstitions- for example, Maria Pia thinks pepper (the spice) is terrible for you and clogs your arteries. Maggie Rossi’s host mom thinks ice is bad to put in your drinks. Maria Pia thinks that drenching foods in olive oil after they’ve been cooked is healthier than cooking olive oil with food. I will never understand where these ideas come from.

So in the end, this year abroad has taught me so much that I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I have made some incredible friendships with such wonderful people. In thinking about my relationships with the other Holy Cross students, I am so grateful for the design of our study abroad program. Because there were only eight of us for a full nine months, we learned the good and the bad of one another and also learned to adapt to different personalities. Had we been in social situations where we could choose our friends from different groups, we never would have learned what it means to acclimatize and create friendships with those who you wouldn’t necessarily choose as friends from the beginning. Being able to feel so comfortable around each other is what made the year so successful and fun. No one was ever ashamed to get crazy, or cry, or fall on his or her face. And, I’m only now finding the words for all that I would have loved to have said to my friends last night. On top of benefitting tremendously from my full-Italian immersion, I have learned tolerance, acceptance and self-discovery, and I couldn’t be more proud with this huge milestone that I have overcome both individually, and with my group. While I feared the intensity of Holy Cross’ program, I now completely understand their thinking and would always recommend what I did to others. Host families are a golden opportunity for immersion and cultural acceptance. Staying for two semesters provides for the perfect balance between traveling Europe and creating a life for yourself in your respective host country. While there were many low points, those were the scenarios from which I have learned the most, as they have taught me how to enjoy the good as fully as possible.

I’m now three hours from the “real world” and preparing to close the most memorable chapter, and best year of my life. Adjusting back to the life I left in August is going to be a huge challenge, and I know that a lot of my friends may not understand the things that will upset me at home, but I’m going to work through it all as best as I can, and have an amazing senior year at Holy Cross.

Well all, thanks for reading my 9-month blog, and let’s hope that when this plane lands, my 3 overweight bags have made the journey along with me.

Baci e abbracci,

Elsa

One of the best weekends in Florence

Ciao everyone!

As the title states, yes, this was one of the best weekends ever. It all started on Thursday (we were a little antsy to kick it off) when Jeff put his brilliant plan of "Tourist Week" into action. To be honest, I was a little skeptical about what he was trying to do when I received his Facebook invite, but I humored him. I'm thrilled I did so because we had a blast. In this Facebook invite, Jeff explained that he wanted for us to enjoy Florence together before leaving and that he wanted to have the opportunity to take pictures of the typical tourist sites that he had never gotten around to photographing. He instructed us to dress as "obnoxious American tourist" as possible, with maps in hand, cameras around our neck, and sweatshirts tied on our hips. Jeff would play our "tour guide" and lead us around Florence, while we pretended that we had no idea where we were and made a lot of noise.

On Thursday morning, we met in Piazza della Reppublica, and we were all pleasantly surprised to see how seriously everyone had taken this Tourist week. We looked like fools, basically. Jeff had bought old man glasses, wore high socks, high-waisted shorts, gym sneakers, a backwards hat, and carried an extended umbrella (as all the Florence tour guides do to keep everyone following behind). Carla had crazy-looking sunglasses with the lenses popped out, a "Texas" shirt, really weird denim shorts, high socks, high-top converses, pig tails, and a backpack. I did my best with what I had, but I had purposely left all American looking things at home in the US. I wore Paul's Westminster Lacrosse t-shirt, as lacrosse doesn't even exist in Europe. I tied a sweatshirt around my waist and wore a satchel that I borrowed from Maria Pia that had "Swan Tours" written on it. Everyone else looked pretty hilarious too.

We started with Bloody Mary's at 11:00 at this chic cafe in Piazza della Repubblica, Paszkowski. We looked like complete fools and somehow still managed to be asked out by one of the Italian waiters. He invited us to go dancing and his name was Giuseppe Acquafredda, which means "Joseph Cold Water." HA. We never called him. We had a great time making a scene at the bar and being silly. When we left, we followed behind Jeff, asking him where the Duomo was and what country we were in. We took touristy pictures in front of the Duomo and some real American tourists thought we looked so funny that they asked to take a picture of us. We all posed with our hands as peace signs. Most people seemed to understand that we were making fun of tourists, and weren't actually serious. So, that's probably a good thing. We walked around some more and then bought some wine coolers to draw more attention to ourselves. We actually passed by a legitimate tour group that commented "Hey! That group gets to drink on their tour!" I guess they were the only ones that thought we were serious. We had a fun encounter with the Polizia, but I completely forget why we approached them in the first place. Allow me to say that only in Italy can a person approach cops while drinking a bottle of wine and proceed to have a conversation with them. They seemed to think we were pretty amusing, and Carla and Grace got really involved in asking them stupid questions like, "So that Galileo guy... was he important?" After that hilarious encounter, we got lunch and called it a day because everyone (except for me) had a tutoring session. I bought a Universita di Firenze sweatshirt and went home.

Day 2 of tourist week was yesterday, and it wasn't quite as thrilling as Day 1 had been. However, we did see a tourist attraction that we had never seen throughout the year, the Medici Chapel. It was gorgeous, so we were content with our sightseeing experiences for the day. We also made a quick stop in the Accademia to see "David" for the last time. I must also remind everyone that we were dressed like idiots on this day as well. In fact, a very attractive middle-aged American woman thought Jeff was so adorable that she asked to take a picture with him. Jeff has a look that the cougars really go for with those pretty blue eyes and flowing hair. After the chapel, we all bought disgustingly tacky, sparkly shirts for "Eurotrash night," which occurred last night. As usual, I had trouble finding one, but I did get something that worked. It wasn't as awesome as everyone else's, though. I had tutoring from 2:30 to 5:30, and then I went home and changed.

We all met for dinner at Borgo Antico around 8 and had an awesome time there. Carla, Jeff and Grace have become pretty good friends with the owners there because they go so frequently, so we had fun joking around with them. Once we were ready to leave, we walked along the river to the outdoor discoteca, Central Park, to show off our "Eurotrash" looks. It's such an awesome place! I didn't stay very long because I was tired, but everyone else closed the place down. We had such a fun night.

This morning, we all met in Piazza della Repubblica at 11:30 to go to Vignamaggio for the second time with Maria (our Italian teacher) and her husband, Piero, and Gabriella and Alberto (the owners of CLIDA). The curves in the Chianti countryside were a little rough on all of us, as we had had a little too much fun the night before. It was the most picture-perfect day and Chianti really looked like a huge postcard. The car ride lasted about 30 minutes and when we arrived, the owner of Vignamaggio had set us a beautiful table in the sun room, where we ate our lunch. Naturally, just like the last time, the food was fabulous. We had pasta with fresh tomatoes, spinach and ricotta rolls with spicy sauce, crepes stuffed with cheese and artichokes, pork stuffed with fresh zucchini, mini pizzas, codfish, eggplant lasagna, and Florentine steak with onions sauteed in wine. There was probably more on the buffet, but I can't remember it all. For dessert, we had Vin Santo (dessert wine), crepes stuffed with cream, a flaky "sandwich" with cream and strawberries in the middle, and hazelnut coffee-flavored semifreddo. Incredible.

Just before we started dessert, we presented Maria, Gabriella and Alberto with their gifts. For Alberto and Gabriella, we put a group photo of us at their house into a really nice, wooden Holy Cross picture frame. Maggie also made Gabriella an espresso cup in her ceramic class, as Gabriella collects espresso cups. We also gave them flowers and a very heartfelt card. For Maria, we made a photo album with pictures that we had taken together, and also pictures of us students having a great time in Florence. Carla, our little artist, decorated the cover. Inside, we put Maria's card, which had a 150 euro "gift card" to her favorite restaurant. Her eyes bugged out of her head when she saw the gift card. Both she and Gabriella were so moved with the thoughtfulness of our gifts and all the women and girls cried for a good 15 minutes. It was an unforgettable moment. I was so happy at how well they received everything (not that I was worried). On a side note, the "gift card" actually turned out rather annoying to get. Because real gift cards don't exist in Italy, we had to explain our idea to the manager of the restaurant, who wrote us up a little credit on an order pad and stapled his business card to the top. We left the money with him and explained that they would be coming in soon for dinner. That was probably the best idea we could have had for Maria. She absolutely deserved it after all she taught us and all the places she took us.

After lunch, we all went outside and laid by the pool. It was such a beautiful spot, with a little wellness center and amazing hot tub that was inside, looking over the Chianti countryside. We all tanned for a little while and had an unforgettable time. I didn't swim in the pool, but Kevin, Maggie, Carla and Andrea did and practically came out as fast as they had jumped in. The water was FREEZING. So, I'm glad I didn't use the pool. The hot tub was better for me.

Around 5, we drove back into Florence and Andrea, Maggie and I walked around the center for a little while. It was such a gorgeous day that we didn't want to miss a single minute of it. I got my Dad a great birthday present (which I can't reveal on my blog because I know he's reading it!!!) and then we had iced teas in Piazza Santissima Annuziata. We came home around 8:00 and of course, Maria Pia had dinner waiting for us. Thankfully, we had reminded her to go light on the food, so she had made green beans and caprese salad. It was great, but now I have an awful stomach ache. WAY TOO MUCH food today. We've all decided to stay in tonight because we're full and exhausted from a great couple of days.

After this weekend, I feel so lucky to have spent the year here in Florence and to have met such amazing people through my language school. We have really formed an everlasting relationship with these people, and I am so thankful to have been able to spend so much time with them. I could not have asked for a more perfect day today. It seems to us that Gabriella, Alberto and Maria have formed a much tighter bond with us this year than with the students in previous years. They had mentioned that these were the most thoughtful gifts and cards that they had ever received from their students, and we were really pleased to hear that. We're thinking that they took to us so well because this is the first year that the entire group of students is friends. Usually, they break off into little groups of three and have problems with the others. This year, all 8 of us have become really close, making it enjoyable to spend time with us all together, as it's not awkward for Gabriella, Alberto and Maria to "force" us to frequent events as a group.

What a day. :)

A presto!

Weekend on the Amalfi Coast

Ciao all,

This weekend was absolutely amazing. One fun thing after another for a solid 3 days! After an awful day of stressful tutoring on Thursday, our bus left the station at 6:30 pm for Amalfi. We watched a bunch of movies during the trip (there was a TV) and also discovered the hard way that there were no bathrooms on board. We stopped at an autogrill for a little dinner around 9:00 pm and then continued the journey. Around 1 am, we started to get into the Amalfi Coast area, as I awoke to the bus taking some ridiculous curves on this road which was dangerously placed on a cliff. It was a little scary, but the view was gorgeous.

Around 2 am, we finally arrived at our hotel in Sorrento, completely destroyed. We had traveled about 8 hours, so the second we were assigned our rooms, we crashed. At 7 am, we woke up for breakfast and had to be walking to the ferry for Capri at 8 am. Needless to say, it was a rough morning. Cassandra, our awesome tour guide, led us all the way down a windy highway (most certainly a very dangerous thing to do with 45 American kids in tow) and we made it to the marina within an hour. On the way, I was excited to pass The Bristol Hotel, where my parents had stayed on their honeymoon and where my Grandma had the same room every year that she visited. It was only a half mile down the road from our hotel! What a coincidence! Anyway, when we arrived at the marina, we waited for about 20 minutes and then hopped on the ferry over to Capri. The ferry took about 45 minutes and was filled with old people. I guess Capri is a pretty popular destination for the elderly. When we arrived, we were a little disappointed with the cloudy, ominous skies. It rained for about 10 minutes and then remained cloudy for quite a while.

During that time, we hopped on another smaller boat to take a tour around the island and see the Blue, Green and White Grottoes. For the entire duration of the journey, we had pretty significant cloud cover, but we dealt with it and I took about 100 pictures anyway. All of the cliffs were so different from one another, and all equally breathtaking. Our first stop was the Blue Grotto, which was indescribably awesome. In order to enter the Grotto, we had to get off the bigger tour boat and into small wooden rowboats, 4 or 5 at a time. Our tour guide was a riot, so he made the smooshed conditions within the rowboat exciting and fun. With me in my rowboat were Maggie Wright and Maggie Rossi, along with a couple in our group that would not stop hugging, kissing and touching each other. It was a little awkward, but I guess that's besides the point. Anyway, all the little rowboats lined up to get into the Grotto, whose entrance is a tiny hole about 3 feet high. We were lucky that the Grotto was open to the public because it appeared as if we were nearing high tide, when people can no longer enter. We were all instructed to lay as flat as possible in the rowboat while our guide pulled us into the hole with a chain that was attached to the Grotto rocks. The interior was absolutely breathtaking. I was amazed at how enormous it was, as the entrance hole was so unassuming that it would never be able to reveal the secrets inside the Grotto. The water was lit with a beautiful blue (hence the name) that naturally comes from the reflection of the sun on the sand. All of the tour guides in the different rowboats sang the typical songs of Napoli (O Sole Mio, etc). The whole experience inside the Grotto lasted all of 8 minutes, when we squeezed back out into the daylight. Needless to say, we were very satisfied customers. Words really cannot describe the uniqueness and beauty of this Grotto. I am just amazed that the whole thing is completely natural!

The rest of our boat ride consisted of visits to the Green and White Grottoes and a little snooping of the summer houses of Sophia Loren, the Gerber family (Mussolini's former residence), Donatella Versace, and Giorgio Armani. When we arrived back on land, we took one of Cassandra's lunch recommendations and found a great restaurant down an alleyway, pretty close to the main piazza in Capri. We were the only ones there for a good while, and we loved it that way. The place was very cozy and trendy, with white couches and green pillows, and beautiful wooden ceiling beams. We all ate very well. We shared fried calamari and prosciutto and melon. I had pasta with tomato sauce, mozzarella and eggplant for my main course.

When we exited the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised to see bright sunshine. I guess Capri is a lot like the Vineyard in that it needs some time to burn off the morning haze and rain clouds. Carla and Grace split off from Jeff, Maggie, Maggie, Kevin and myself in search of Caprese sandals high on Anacapri. Our little group of five got some lemon granitas and then walked all over the island. We saw the beautiful gardens of Capri and from there, took a winding path down the side of a cliff, all the way to the bottom. There, we dipped our feet in the water and I collected a ton of sea glass. When we had finished there, we took the bus back up to the main area of Capri and stopped in a limoncello store for some souvenirs. Then, we coincidentally ran into Grace and Carla and together, went to a bar to drink some limoncello together.

Our whole group (all 45 of us Americans) met back at the port and took the ferry back to Sorrento around 6:30. We filled in the evening by showering and prepping for the nightlife. At 8:45, we had our included dinner at the hotel which consisted of bruschetta, pasta, salad, oranges and unlimited wine. It was pretty good. After dinner, we let Cassandra lead us into town for some drinks and fun. We hung around at this English bar for a while and then, around 12:30 headed right upstairs for some dancing. The discoteca part of the bar was soooo awesome because it was outside and the terrace was covered with trees and funky lights. It was a great atmosphere to dance. At this point, Grace, Jeff, and Maggie Wright had decided to go home. Kevin, Maggie Rossi, Carla, Cassandra and myself hung around and danced for a few more hours. We had a blast and took the long hike back to the hotel around 2 am.

We were able to sleep in about an hour longer on Saturday, and left for Positano around 10am. We took a 30 min bus ride that took us along the beautiful coastline road. We drove right along the cliffs for the whole way and it was a little scary, but absolutely gorgeous. Despite being exhausted, I couldn't close my eyes for even a second because I hated the idea of missing the view! When we arrived, the bus driver was in a sour mood, so he dropped us off at the very top of the cliffs, about an hour walk from where we wanted to be in Positano. But, va bene. The road we conquered on foot had a continuously beautiful view, so no one felt the need to complain too much. Before braving the walk, we stopped at a quaint fruit stand and bought some mega-lemons (I bought one for Maria Pia, and one to squeeze in my hair) and other fresh fruits. We walked down the winding road for about a half hour and then reached the famous stairs of Positano. However, when I say famous, I don't mean one special flight of stairs. I'm referring to the fact that Positano has no roads and that the townspeople and visitors get around using stairs to climb up and down the side of the cliffs. So, after finishing with the road that circled just above Positano, we took about 60 flights of stairs to make it to the bottom area and beach community. Our legs were completely destroyed when we finally made it. Who thought that walking down the stairs could be so difficult!? We sat on some benches to soothe our legs and they violently shook for as long as we put a little weight on the balls of our feet. So weird.

Once I was half-recovered, I re-traced my steps back to a cobbler that Cassandra (as a reminder, our tour guide) had pointed out. I fell in love with a pair of white leather sandals with gold grommets and good old Giovanni made them right there in front of me! He fitted my feet and everything! It was so cool and everything was so well and reasonably priced. My plan had been to buy a pair of sandals for my Caprese souvenir, so I'm glad I found what I was looking for. Even if I hadn't gone to Giovanni, I'm sure I would have found sandals at the hundreds of other places that I saw hammering and nailing the similar sandals, though. After my purchase, I met the rest of the HC gang on the beach. I set up camp and then hopped off the sand to get a personal pizza. All the good ones come from the Naples area, so I knew that I had to try one. I bought a margherita pizza with onions on top and ate it on the beach. My friends' mouths were watering, and this salivation was completely legitimate because the pizza was delicious. We did nothing all afternoon but relax and catch some rays. The temperature was perfect enough that I didn't break a sweat or have to jump in the water. Thank goodness for that because the ocean was pretty chilly.

Towards the end of the afternoon, we cleaned up camp and headed off the beach for some yummy granitas. Just for the record, they were better in Capri. Then, we walked up a few flights of the Positano steps and met the rest of the 45 Americans at the bus stop. The bus was able to drive us up the cliffs and closer towards where our tour bus had dropped us off that morning. Once we scaled the mountain road with the great view, we made it to the tour bus. We arrived at the hotel, showered up, and had dinner. While the dinner was alright, I would most certainly say that the first night's was better. Our second night consisted of pizza and then a weird fish that seemed a little too slimy to be fully cooked.

After dinner, the HC kids and myself went downstairs to our rooms for a few glasses of wine and a hangout session. I tried to learn how to juggle, and almost had it when I lost the 3rd orange. Oops. That was the end of that, but it didn't matter because we headed off to the club for a little dancing and fun! The rest of the interested Americans had already left the hotel, so the 7 of us met everyone in downtown Sorrento at the same place that we had been the night before. The dance terrace was pretty dead when we arrived and people were wallflowering it like crazy. Since 7 was a pretty ample number of people and we really didn't care what other people thought, we were the first to step on the floor and start dancing. We weren't there alone for more than 15 minutes when everyone else in the club felt comfortable enough to join us in the disco festivities. A few hours later we, the very own party-starters, were inadvertently kicked off the dancefloor as a result of lack of space. At that point, we called it a night.

On Sunday morning, we checked out around 10am and then walked around downtown Sorrento and bought amazing sandwiches for the trip. We left Sorrento at noon and succeeded in getting the 8 bus seats right up front, which was a huge feat. People were literally pushing for them (because it's easiest to see the TV from those spots). Grace wouldn't have let those seats slip out of her way. She's good like that. So, we settled into our comfy seats and ate our enormous sandwiches. We were happy as clams. I passed out on the bus and about an hour and a half later, we arrived in Pompeii, the stop that I had been awaiting the entire weekend. The usual 11.00 euro entrance fee was waived that day because it had been La Settimana di Cultura, so we were thrilled about that. We only paid 5.00 euro for an optional tour guide that came with our travel package. Great deal!

As soon as the tour started, it began to downpour. I stayed as optimistic as possible and really enjoyed seeing everything that I had learned about so thoroughly in my Archaeology of Pompeii class sophomore year. We saw the Pompeian restaurants, one of the theaters, wealthy and poor homes, brothels, temples, the baths, the bodies, and the forum. I loved it! I would have loved to have been able to explore more on my own because the House of the Faun and the large Amphitheater were on the other side of the town and I had really been hoping to see them. But, by the end of the 2 hour tour, I was thoroughly soaked and, though optimistic, I couldn't bring myself to walk all the way to the other side. I guess it just means I'll have to go back! I was a little disappointed because my friends didn't seem very thrilled to be there. It would have been nice if the sun had been out. I know they would have enjoyed it more had they not been soaking.

Either way, it was awesome to be able to recognize everything in Pompeii that I had learned about. Capri, Positano and Sorrento were breathtaking, so this trip was most certainly worth the money. We only paid 200 euro and got a hotel, 2 dinners, 3 breakfasts, transportation to Capri, reduced transportation to Positano, and reduced boat tours. When I come back to Italy, this area is the first place I'll be returning to.

Today, I received the good news that I have been chosen as a Fall Orientation Leader for incoming transfer students. I am so excited! Class registration was this afternoon, and I got everything that I had wanted (with a little extra pleading on one of the them). I'll be taking Dante, Italian Women's Autobiography (in Italian), Kids Today: Perspectives on Development, and Psychology of Adolescence. My adviser says that I may even be able to count the Women's Autobiography towards my Childhood Studies minor, because it discusses mother-daughter relationships and growing up. That would be AWESOME!

Chelsea is coming on Saturday and I will be meeting her in Pisa, where she flies in. I'm really looking forward to it and I have lots of plans for her!

I'll update the next time I have a spare moment.

A dopo!

Dad's fun-filled vacation

Ciao a tutti!

If I were to write and describe everything my Dad and I did in the last 10 days, I would miss dinner tonight. So, I'm going to make a concise little list and inform everyone that we had a fabulous time at everything we accomplished! No negative experiences to report!

Here's more or less how it went:

Dad stayed in my extra bed at Maria Pia's house, which worked out just splendidly.

Day 1 (Florence, Tuesday):

• Santa Maria Novella pharmacy- Dad loved it!

• Delicious dinner at Maria Pia's.

• Pub Night at "Dexter's Laboratory" with my friends. Dad bought everyone drinks. What a guy.
  

Day 2 (Florence, Wednesday):

• Galleria Palatina in Palazzo Pitti.

• Sandwiches at Antico Noe. Dad was crazy for them.

• Gelato at Vestri. Another place that Dad loved.
  

• Bargain shopping in San Lorenzo Marketplace.

• Dinner at Alberto and Maria's with Benedetta, Antonio and Anarita. Antonio and Anarita wanted to see my Dad before they left for Vienna the following day.
  

Day 3 (Florence, Thursday):

• A few random errands.

• Had cappuccinos on the rooftop terrace of Rinascente. Took some great pictures of Dad "living the life."
  

• Bargain shopping again in San Lorenzo Marketplace.

• Mercato Centrale meat market. Fascinating and disgusting.

• Italian Literature tutoring= damper on the day. Dad shopped around for an hour in the bookstore downstairs from CLIDA.

• Lunch at Natalino. Warm and deliciously toasted sandwiches.

• Gelato at Grom. Yummm.
  

• Piazzale Michelangelo. It had been raining all day and then cleared up. The view was perfect.

• San Miniato church on top of the Piazzale.

• Dinner at Maria Pia's. Dad brought beautiful flowers.
  

• A walk around the center and a Charlie Chaplin impersonator.

Day 4 (Venice, Friday):

• Took a VERY early train to Venice and arrived around 10:30. 

• Dad bought a TON of glass souvenirs.

• Used Rick Steves' tip to cut the line and see St. Mark's Basilica. (His tip: Use the free bag check that not many people know about and get a card that allows you to skip ahead of everyone else).

• Found a nice family from Wisconsin and took an amazing gondola ride through the canals. Split the price 6 ways instead of 2= very key.

• Tried to get to Murano island to see the glass museum and demonstration, but discovered that it was too far away.

• Got the last train home.

• Ate dinner at La Giostra at 9:30. OUT OF THIS WORLD, as usual. Dad loved it.

Day 5 (Florence, Saturday):

• Dad bought beautiful suede shoes. (I insisted that he buy some Florentine leather for himself)

• Boboli Gardens. We were glad to have waited because the previous two days were cloudy and rainy. This day was perfect.

• Lunch at Antico Noe, again.

• Train to Siena for an evening visit.

• Saw the Duomo and Piazza Il Campo, famous site of "Il Palio."

• Searched for about an hour for Uncle Roger's dinner recommendation and failed because Maria Pia and Andrea had misread us the information on the business card which we had left at home.

• Had a pricey, but lovely dinner right in the piazza.

• Took the train back to Florence.

Day 6 (Florence, Sunday, Easter):

• Decided to skip out on the Scoppio del Carro outside of the Duomo because we really needed to avoid sickness and get some sleep. (The Scoppio del Carro is an Easter tradition where they throw a plaster dove at the Duomo and then light off fireworks. Oxen are also involved, as I understand it.)

• Leisurely bussed into the city center around noon, got cappuccinos, and walked around San Lorenzo.
  

• Met Maurizio (Alberto and Maria's son who still lives at home) who brought us to the Easter celebration at their house.
  

• Celebrated Easter from 1:30 until about 9:00 at night. We ate for about 4 hours non-stop and at the 9:00 mark when we were preparing to leave, Maria was in the process of making dinner. She was confused as to why we were leaving, and we were confused as to why she was making dinner after a 4 hour meal. No hard feelings though.

Day 7 (Rome, Monday):

• Took the 9:15 am train to Rome.

• Settled in at our hotel near the Vatican.

• Found one of Paul's favorite sandwich places from his study abroad experience. The sweet lady was still there and made us some fabulous sandwiches.

• Spent a lot of time walking around. It started to pour. 

• Walked to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and all the way to the Vittorio Emmanuele II monument.

• Soaked, we stumbled upon one of Paul's favorite bars from his study abroad experience. We went in for a drink.

• Upon emergence, the sun was shining brightly, thank goodness.

• Searched for an internet cafe (our hotel didn't have wireless) so that I could check my email on interview updates with the Citi Performing Arts center in Boston. Didn't receive anything.

• Walked all the way back to the hotel and stopped briefly.

• Walked all the way to Trastevere.

• Ate a fabulous dinner at Dar Poeta.

• Stopped for some twilight pictures of the Vatican on the way home.
  

• Went home, exhausted.

Day 8 (Rome, Tuesday):

• Woke up at the crack of dawn and walked to the Vatican Museum.

• Skipped the line because I had made reservations.

• Spent 3 hours touring the museum and saw the Sistine Chapel at the end.

• Broke for sustenance in the Vatican Cafe.

• The weather was perfect, so we walked to the Roman Forum.

• Almost forgot to eat lunch, so we just grabbed one of those terrible sandwiches from a cart vendor and shared it.

• Toured the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill with the help of my trusty Rick Steves book.

• Skipped the line at the Colosseum because we had bought our tickets in the Forum (thanks to Paul's suggestion).

• Toured the Colosseum and filled Dad in on the history.

• Dragged our aching legs and feet to a Rick Steves recommended cafe, Cafe dello Studente, and had a light snack because it was too close to dinner for a big lunch.
  
  
• Stopped at an internet cafe. No word at that point.
  

• Opted for a cab back to the hotel.

• Attempted to walk to dinner, but only made it half way before running out of time and taking a cab.

• Had some incredible fried zucchini flowers and spaghetti at a spaghetteria called, Archetto.

• Took my Dad on Rick Steves' "romantic night walk." (Campo dei Fiori --> Piazza Navona --> Pantheon (where we stopped for gelato at the famous, and crowded Giolitti) --> Trevi Fountain --> Spanish Steps (where we were harassed by an Indian man selling roses).

• Took a cab home and went to bed.

Day 9 (Rome, Wednesday):

• Got up early, once again. (This time, we were incredibly tired and sore).

• Took a cab to the Borghese Gallery, whose tickets I had reserved a week before because they only allow 360 people in per time slot. What an incredible museum. Bernini is a genius.

• Walked around the gorgeously green Borghese Gardens.

• Took a cab to Basilica di San Clemente.

• Toured the Basilica and were amazed by the underground passageways and Pagan altars.

• Had lunch on Via Cavour and soaked in the sunshine.

• Found the bus near Circus Maximus and took it outside of the Roman walls and to the Catacombs of San Sebastiano.

• Toured the Catacombs. SOOOOOO COOOOL!

• Took a bus back to the center and found an internet cafe to check my email for an internship response.

• Received a rejection from Citi Performing Arts Center (thumbs down).

• Proceeded to walk towards the area of dinner, but stopped when we saw video cameras and people outside of a governmental building near Vittorio Emmanuele II.

• Discovered that Berlusconi was inside.

• Waited for 45 minutes and decided to leave, laughing to ourselves about the amount of film that had been wasted on Berlusconi-less cars with tinted windows.

• Stopped in Piazza Navona for a cappuccino.

• Became the first guests, with a 7:30 reservation, at a restaurant called Tre Archi. 

• Ate a wonderful final dinner.

• Bought gelato from a gelateria that was blasting techno music.

• Walked home.

• Went to bed early.

Day 10 (Rome, Thursday):

• Got up at 6:15.

• Had breakfast with Dad and then put him in a car to the airport. :(

So clearly, we had a very full vacation together. It was a wonderful time, and I'm so glad that he was able to come and see and understand my life in Italy. When I arrived home this morning, I checked my email and received something from the Avon Foundation in NYC. Turns out, their first person had turned down the position and so, they offered it to me! For my whole train ride back to Florence alone, I had been thinking about my career and getting used to the idea of spending another summer on the Vineyard. Looks like that's all changed and I'll be part of the workforce this summer in NYC!! At this point in writing this entry, Dad doesn't even know yet because he's still in the air. I've left him two voicemails that he will check when he's on his layover in D.C. I know I'll be getting a call. It's too bad I hadn't checked my email just one more time yesterday. The email came through at 10:30 pm last night and I would have been able to celebrate with my Dad. Oh well, he'll still be very happy.


Now, it's back to work mode. I have a lot to catch up on.


Ciao!!

Jeff's 21st and Mac Dario

Ciao!

Yesterday was Jeff's 21st birthday so after our test in CLIDA, we celebrated with some mimosas, cake and lots of other junk food until 1 pm. When class ended, we got lunch and then Grace took me to a place she had recommended to get my hair cut. I think I got one of the best haircuts I've ever had. It was a breath of fresh air to get it chopped off. She took so much weight off by giving me tons of layers. I still have my length though! My hairdresser was awesome because she was Canadian and obviously spoke perfect English. She explained that she has dual citizenship, which was really cool, and that she's living in Italy for a few months and then going back for a break. Then, she'll be coming back for a longer span of time. Kind of weaning onto the idea of living in Italy, I guess.

I was excited to have my new hair for Jeff's birthday dinner, which we celebrated at Borgo Antico, his favorite restaurant. His mom (who is still in America) treated us to the whole thing!! We had a great time. Andrea and I split these amazing ravioli and spicy spaghetti, because we both wanted both. So, it worked out perfectly. We drank lots of wine and had amazing cheesecake for dessert. We were in food heaven despite the fact that the owners were being hardcore creepers on all the girls at the table. Apparently, according to Grace and Carla who frequent Borgo often, they are always hitting on them.

After dinner, one of the owners came out with us and brought us to this really cool bar/club, called Slowly. However, the atmosphere wasn't right for the kind of dancing that we wanted to do because everyone was just sitting around and the music was terrible. So, we decided to leave. We'll probably go back for a drink some day, but not for dancing. After Slowly, we went to Cafe Bigallo and sat there for a while. Elmer came to hang out with us and did some more insulting of the American culture. Here's how our conversation played out.

Elmer: Yea, every American is fake.

Me: What do you mean exactly? I know there are some fake people, but I really disagree about them all being that way.

Elmer: Well, even you're a little fake.

Me: Excuse me?

Elmer: Well, you're the least fake out of all your friends.

Me: Thanks, I think?

Elmer: Yes, but even you are still a little fake. For example, when you see a person you don't like, why do you talk to them?

Me: Well I'm not just going to pretend they don't exist if all my friends are talking to that person or something. I'm not going to hug and kiss them, but I'll be civil of course.

Elmer: And see, that's a little fake because it's not the way you really feel.

Me: Okay, Elmer.

I let him say what he wanted to say because he doesn't really have a filter on anything. However, I just always remember to not take anything he says seriously. That's the only way to deal with him. He's very socially strange, but a nice kid when you get past that.

We all called it a night around 2:30am, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

Today was an incredibly memorable day.  At 11am, we met Maria (our teacher from CLIDA) and her husband, Piero in front of CLIDA to drive to a restaurant called Mac Dario, in Chianti. I was so excited to be a passenger in Maria's mini cooper as we took the curves, climbing up the Tuscan countryside. She's a pretty good driver, for an Italian, but I'm not sure how much that's actually saying. Anyway, we arrived at Mac Dario around 12:30 and it was the coolest little place! There was a long picnic table set up and two smaller picnic tables tucked into the alcoves in the wall. In the middle of the room on the wall was a huge charcoal grill and all these cool appliances. The bathroom was made too look like a closet among the series of real closets, so I had a hard time finding it.

Apparently this place and this man are very famous in America, but I had never heard of either. Naturally, Maria and Piero are great friends with the owner, so we were their special guests. I wonder how they come to know so many classy people in high places. Mac Dario came out and greeted us all, and I told him that he was a genius. The waitstaff was also great, and one of the waiters had the most amusing sense of humor. He kept saying "Oh you young people, beautiful like the sun." When it came time for the food delivery, he put bowls out on the table and each of us had an individual one to ourselves. He proceeded to throw this amazing spiced salt mixture into each of our bowls, launching it from a spoon. He only missed once! Then, they brought out the "Accoglienza," which consisted of raw vegetables dipped in the aforementioned bowl with the salt, and olive oil and vinegar. There was also sushi of Chianti which I can't believe I liked. It was completely raw ground beef with lots of seasonings. I am shocked at how good it was. Unbelievable! There was also tuna of Chianti, which was grated chicken that had cooked in some kind of broth for 10 hours. It was delicious. The following dishes included rosemary pork and some kind of amazing meatloaf with a sweet and sour sauce. The meatloaf was my favorite of all the starters.

Our main course was the famous "Mac Dario," which was probably one of the best hamburgers I had ever tasted. It was the perfect size and cooked exactly the way I like it, about medium-well. It had a light bread crumb covering and a side of rosemary steak fries, onions, and boiled vegetables. There were also three amazing sauces. One was spicy and thick, the next was sweet and sour and had a marmalade consistency, and the last was honey mustard! We were pleasantly surprised about the last one, considering it's nowhere to be found in Italy. Maybe Mac Dario got the idea from his wife, since she's American and is obviously familiar with honey mustard. I ate as slowly as possible to enjoy every bit of it. For dessert, we had a delicious, light cake, called Schiacciata alla Fiorentina. There was also espresso, of course.

I absolutely cannot forget to mention our lovely neighbor who sat himself next to Maria at the communal table. Lord only knows what his name was, but he was sooooo annoying. He was an American from Chicago, and spoke only English. From the brief background that Maria gave us, we learned that he goes to Mac Dario EVERY DAY for a hamburger and tries to make conversation with the people around him whenever he is there. At one point, even the waiter walked behind him mouthing to me that he never shuts up and that he's always there. He reached over our section of the table, and even got out of his seat to walk down to the very end of our section to re-fill our waters. I could have done it myself. Such a weird man. When Carla asked him what he was doing in Italy, he responded, "I'm eating." Period. The whole time, Maria was sitting with her back to him and blatantly ignoring anything he said to her. Knowing full well that he didn't speak Italian, she talked about him in Italian to us the whole time that he was seated next to her. Poor Jeff was his unfortunate victim of conversation, so they ended up talking American politics the whole time. Jeff majors in Political Science, and I assume he shared that with the man. Apparently though, all of his ideas and opinions were completely unsupported and nonsensical. I really thought Maria was going to kill him and I can't imagine how he visits Mac Dario every day. All they serve is meat! I imagine he's not leading the healthiest of lifestyles. Maria also told us that last time they had lunch there, the man turned to her and asked "how do you say 'to bleach' in Italian?" She responded with "candegginare" and he said "are you sure?" ARE YOU SURE!? SHE'S THE ITALIAN ONE! We won't even discuss the randomness of that question.

Anyway, when we were done with lunch, we went to the downstairs part of the restaurant where he had his butcher shop. All the meat looked so perfect and fresh. Mac Dario was so excited to have us that he gave us all mini sizes of that salt and herbs mixture. I asked him if I could take a picture with him and he was delighted and hugged the guts out of me for the photo. Then he said "ti sono piaciuti i bruciaculi, giusto?"--> You liked the (literally) butt-burners, right? I had no idea what they were, but I responded positively. So, he wrapped those up for me as another present. When I opened it up later, I saw that they were delicious looking peppers, soaked in olive oil. Those are most certainly coming home to the States. I guess they will be spicy, considering the fact that he calls them "butt-burners." As I walked out of the butcher shop, I saw his meat refrigerator, which was on display to the public. Hanging inside were huge cow legs and slabs of other types of meat. It was very unique, to say the least. Outside, our waiter popped out the top window and thanked us a million times over, blowing us lots of kisses. Then we went to take some pictures in front of the hills of Chianti.

On a side note, while this Mac Dario is a complete genius, I also understand that he is a little crazy. Apparently, he held funerals for the cows during the "Mad Cow" epidemic. Maybe he's a cow-whisperer and that's why he makes such great food. :)

As we were driving back towards Florence, I had such an amazing feeling about my study abroad experience. First off, I couldn't believe that I was living real life. I was in Chianti at a famous restaurant, eating incredible food with some amazing Italians. Maria calls herself our Aunt, and that's what she really is. She loves taking care of us and I will never be able to find the right words to thank her for all of it. I was so perfectly content at lunch, speaking Italian with my friends and experiencing something so totally unique. I felt so included in the culture because the waitstaff was so genuine and fun. Also, Maria and her husband make me so comfortable because everywhere they take us, they know the owners. We are always welcomed with warm hearts and that really makes me feel like a native Italian and not like an American who completely sticks out.

We returned to the center around 2:30 and I met up with my friend Alex, from high school. She is studying abroad in Ferarra and came to visit Florence for the day with her friend Nikki. As soon as I found them, they were sooo ready to go shopping, so I took them to the Ponte Vecchio as per their request. They bought some beautiful pieces of gold jewelry. I was amazed at how beautiful everything was. Then, I took them to Prada, Gucci, Hermes, and Fendi, and I don't think more needs to be said about this, except that they dropped a TON of money in all these places. I ONLY watched, but it was fun. Actually, when we were in the jewelry store Alex reminded me of something that I had done in 7th grade that she'll "never forget." I don't remember this, but apparently I really liked her silver heart link Tiffany's bracelet when we had French class together. She explained that one evening I called her house (this was pre-cell phone) and asked her where she had bought it because I had wanted to ask for it for my birthday. I guess her Mom thought that I was "soooo sweet" because I had no idea of any of these designer things, and I too found the story a little funny. I guess that answers my personal question of when I discovered Tiffany's. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing the bracelet as I type this entry.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I am so full from today and I think I'm going to stay in for the night and watch a movie. I need to be well-rested for homework tomorrow. Yay. Oh, and thank goodness that I had such a good weekend because I just received an email today that I didn't get the Avon internship in NYC. Apparently, they were impressed with my research and writing skills, but wanted someone with "more related experience." I'm sorry, but how much more related can my experiences get when I did Relay for Life for two years with the American Cancer Society?! Avon is a breast cancer foundation! What a lame excuse. Well, there's always more out there, I guess. I'll keep everyone posted.

A presto!

Lunch in Fiesole and Christmas shopping

Buona sera! Today, I reluctantly got up really early to meet Maggie Wright, Jeff, and Elia (our cultural advisor) for lunch. Andrea came as well. We all met up near Piazza San Marco and took Elia's car to Fiesole. We saw this cool Etruscan museum and the ancient amphitheater below it. It was sooo cool! And so old! We got to walk all over it and had lots of fun.

After that, we had lunch at a nice restaurant. Holy Cross paid for everything (yay!), so we ate bruschetta and assorted crostinis for apps, and each had a bowl of pasta. We also ordered a cheese platter and after lunch, coffees and cappuccinos. It was really nice to be able to have a long conversation in Italian. Elia made fun of me for the way I speak. He said that I pronounce every syllable and speak slowly- like an old woman! This was no surprise because I know I speak the same way in English. Oh well, that just means that people can understand me even better, right?! I hope so.

After lunch, Andrea, Maggie and I went downtown and I finished up my Christmas shopping. Andrea and I found a great gift for Maria Pia at the Luca della Robbia ceramics store. It's a wine carafe and it's beautiful! I can't wait to give it to her! We made friends with Mr. della Robbia, the guy who runs the place. We talked for about a half hour and he gave us a discount on our purchases! What a nice guy. I'll be going back there a lot.

Tonight, Kevin, Andrea, Benedetta, Benedetta's friend (Eleonora) and myself are going out to dinner in the center at this really good pizza place. They want to talk about America haha. Italians are crazy about America and it's so funny to hear! I'm really looking forward to speaking more Italian and hanging out with them. I really enjoy their company. They are so much fun... and Italian!

Perhaps I'll have more to report tomorrow, after my evening has finished...

Ciao!

Shopping!

Ciao a tutti!

Today we had a leisurely stroll through downtown and I finally settled on a good pair of black, leather boots. It took me a while to find some that I was willing to pay good money for, but these are just perfect, and beautiful leather! So, now I have my first (and most likely last) Italian leather item from Florence!

We walked around some more, got some gelato and then headed home. Tonight, we're probably going out dancing so Andrea and I are resting up! I'm pretty excited! We were hoping to participate in a breast cancer walk tomorrow, but they are full (I didn't think that kind of thing happened with charity events). So, I'm not really sure where tomorrow will take us. I'd like to explore something new. We'll see what happens. I'm going to squeeze in a nap before dinner.

Ciao!