good food & new friends.

my study abroad program, aifs provides is with monthly opportunities  to sign up for various activities such as cooking classes, wine tasting, soccer matches, filed trips, gelato tours (not that i need another excuse to eat gelato), dinner with italians, italian operas, and many more wonderful experiences to dive into the culture. i have been signing up for as many as my schedule will allow in order to fully satisfy my craving for the italian culture. one of my favorite activities so far has been the dinner with italians. going into this experience i was concerned there might be forced awkward conversation and that i would have to speak only in italian to these strangers. those worries were all washed away as soon as the dinner had begun. i sat with three italians in addition to some of the other students from my program who were also participating. conversations started out with basic "safe questions" consisting of where we were from, how old we were, and what we were studying. i became more and more comfortable in the situation and i was excited to use my newfound knowledge of the italian language. i talked a lot with a woman named susanna, 25 who lives in florence and does research studies in siena. she was so fun and lively. i could have kept talking to her throughout the entire evening. our conversations varied from family life to easy italian recipes that she recommended for me to cook in my apartment. i was so intrigued by her stories and her life. it is something as an american student i do not necessarily have access to. sure, i have all the museums, food, and physical surroundings to immerse myself but no one really tells you how to go about living the life of an italian. this dinner was an amazing resource into learning the not so obvious tricks and trades to italian life.

the golden light of florence.

Walking back to my apartment today from class there was something exquisite about my surroundings. At first I could not quite grasp what it was that I was feeling. It was the golden light of Florence. I had heard this phrase mentioned but I did not fully comprehend its significance. Though I had previously heard mention of this so called “light” there is no comparison between what you may imagine and the true understanding which comes through experience of not only seeing it but feeling it firsthand. Having said this, I wonder if it is in fact possible to feel light, or if it is the way the light makes you feel? This golden light beams down upon the city reflecting off of the buildings bringing to life the warm Tuscan colors and catches my eye glistening on the water of the Arno. The light itself is difficult to describe but the way it makes you feel is much more tangible. It is the kind of light that makes you want to hug a stranger, share a true passion, or conquer the world’s problems by planting one tree at a time. It is the kind of light that warms even the depths of one’s soul. Although I did not hug a stranger or plant a tree I did come to the realization of how extremely blessed I am to be able to experience these simple beauties in which life has to offer.

bewildered.bologna.blog.

 we were about to embark on our first weekend adventure of the semester. we were breaking free of the confines of our AIFS school group and traveling on our own! a few weeks prior we had purchased tickets to see an iron & wine concert in Bologna. Julianna and Jacqueline really liked the band and their music was pretty great so i decided i would tag along. the concert was late so it made most sense to book a hostel in bologna for the night and catch the train back in the morning. the trip started out a little rough as i got pretty sick the day before we were supposed to go to the concert. the night before our departure i looked up directions to the train station--although this was not helpful because in the morning we realized it was the wrong train station! ah so we scurried our little selves out the door after scrambling to write down some directions where the mapped stopped. we decided our feet may be able to carry us faster than the bus and plus we did not know where the bus stopped nor did we have tickets. after walking for about 30 minutes we realized we were going to miss our 11:42 train departure. we continued our journey in hopes that we could catch a later train. we spotted a train station and thought that maybe it could transfer us to the correct train station where we needed to be...it was a good thing julianna asked right as we were stepping onto the train, who knows where we would have ended up? that would have been an adventure in  its own. after running out of map, directions, and after our gut instinct had failed us we decided to ask for directions. with the little italian i know i asked a gas station attendant the direction of the station where we needed to be. he was shocked we were even attempting to get there by foot. he insisted we take a bus. with the help of some friendly strangers we figured out what stop to get off and the direction we needed to travel to get to the correct train station. just as a little bit of discouragement started to creep its way into our spirits we saw a sign for the statione!!! our spirits were lifted back up. after talking to the ticket attendant we were able to get the next train to bologna. with the help of the very flexible train schedule, we finally felt like we were on the right track!

when 1:40 rolled around we boarded the train and it all seemed to be going as planned. the train ride was only about an hour long and with good company it passed by in no time. when we arrived in bologna we realized we were a little disorganized but we were not about to let that aspect ruin any part of our weekend trip! we did not have the name of the hostel or how to get there from the train station. this did not set us back, in fact it only created yet another adventure along this crazy ride of a weekend. our new mission was to locate an internet cafe and look up the necessary information to find out minor details like where we would be resting our heads that evening. wandering through narrow streets, crowded squares with dancing gypsies, we were kindly given a map and some directions. we eventually found an internet cafe as well as the necessary means to locate our hostel. we thought it would be useful to look up information regarding the concert. when we went to the concert's home page and logged in, to our utter dismay, shock, surprise, and confusion there was no record of our purchase of the concert tickets....um well what do we do now? hmmm think.think.think.don't get upset. move on. although it was not quite that easy we did our best. we played the cards life dealt us that evening and tried to look for an alternative. we first called the ticket company and they did not have record of the purchase either, and unfortunately tickets sold out 2 weeks ago. so, we planned our next move; step one: find the hostel and check in. step two: get to the concert to see if people were selling tickets. step three: do all of this with a positive attitude and a smile.

so we had directions and a bus number to get to the hostel. we took a city bus from the train station but we did not quite end up at the hostel. the instructions read; "the bus will stop directly in front of the hostel" since we weren't quite sure where to get off this was a minor issue. santa strena was in the name of our hostel and there was a stop on the bus schedule with that same name so we figured it would be a pretty safe assumption. we counted ten stops to where we thought the santa strena stop was and got off. well most of us got off anyway. julianna and i were the last ones in line to exit the bus and right as we were about to step off the doors abruptly snapped shut in julianna's face. out of our initial reaction we tried to pry the doors open. fail. so the bus continued on to its next scheduled stop. all julianna and i could do was laugh and wave goodbye to our friends from the inside of the moving bus. we got off at the next stop and began walking back in the direction in which the bus had just brought us. not too far down the road we saw jacqueline, sarah, and denny waiting for us. since we literally had no idea where we were, we went inside a small bar to ask for directions. a lovely italian man who spoke no english at all gave us some partial directions and told us  it would be about 1 kilometer in the direction we had just come from. we were embarking on yet another step in the journey towards finding our hostel. after we walked for what seemed like way more than 1 kilometer we finally found it!! the feeling was almost as exciting as finding buried treasure on a pirate's map...only we lacked the map. once we found our treasure we checked into our hostel, threw our bags down and headed for the concert venue. i almost didn't want to leave in thoughts that we may not make it back to the hostel after we had such a hard time finding it in the first place. but my adventurous side kicked in and since it was only 8:30 and the whole reason for coming to bologna was to see this concert we made our way back onto the streets of bologna.

we arrived at the original bus stop which was in fact very close to the entrance of the hostel and waited about 20 minutes for the next bus to come. just when we were about to give up hope we see the shining lights of the bus as it was approaching our stop. maybe our luck was just about to turn around. we boarded the bus without bus tickets...oops and got off at the train station where we first arrived. we had directions on how to get to the concert venue which was not too far from the station. we successfully made it there where we did not have as much luck as we had hoped for. we checked the list just to see if our names would magically appear along with backstage passes but there was no such luck and no one scalping tickets. denny did have a ticket and we were trying to convince him to go in and listen for a few songs but out of the kindness of his heart he refused. just as he was saying it would be cool to keep the ticket as a souvenir a man came up and asked us if we were selling any tickets and without hesitation denny sold his ticket almost as fast as you could say iron & wine. the woman was so extremely grateful as iron & wine was her favorite band. it was heartwarming to see that he absolutely made her night and that something that we thought went wrong was made into something so right.

after we got over the final realization that we were not going to see iron & wine we decided to bury our sorrows with some good old italian hospitality; food! the place we ended up eating was perfect to lift our spirits up. it was about 10:30 at night the whole restaurant was crowded and music from an accordion as well as cheerful italian vioces filled the air. with pizza, calzones, and pasta in our bellies we decided to call it a night and make our way back to the hostel...or so we thought. considering we took a bus from our hostel to the train station we thought it would be most logical to take the same bus from the station back to our hostel, but then again we were on the losing side of the public transportation battle. so boarding bus 21 when we really needed to take bus 21b was not productive in our efforts to get back to the hostel. we found out we were aboard the wrong bus just after the last stop. the bus driver told us he would take us back to where we needed to catch the right bus. once we got back, we all got off the bus in hopes to find bus 21b.  as soon as we got off of bus 21 the route and same bus in which we just got off conveniently changed to 21b and it was the last bus of the night leaving at 12:44am. joy to the world. we are alone. we made our way over to a taxi station and after about 30 more minutes of waiting we hailed a cab and this time we really were on our way to the hostel. we split the cost of the taxi with no questions asked, we were just grateful to finally get back.

throughout all of this i learned a lot. life is an adventure and sometimes no matter how much control you try to have over situations, they will find a way to outsmart you. there is nothing we could do most of these situations but laugh and find the best way to get through them together.

pictures of this remarkable adventure to follow...

documentation of my trip to bologna.

at the right train station....almost wrong platform

as you can see we were dropped off outside the city limits of bologna

trekking along the highway in efforts to locate our hostel

waiting for the bus,yet again

denny and the concert that almost was.

calzones for everyone

team rocket power never dies

i learn something new everyday.

things i have learned while living in italy:

• there is always confetti in the streets. i'm guessing this means life is a party in italia land
• wine really is cheaper than water. water is almost considered a delicacy
• you must ask for the check or else you will be sitting there for the entire night, it is considered rude to bring the check before the customer asks for it
• there is no concept of forming lines whatsoever
• you can tell the homemade gelato by looking at the pistachio flavor (its a secret)
•  ciao bella is not necessarily always a compliment when received on the street
• ecola, alora, and, va bene are key terms in the italian language!!!
• public transportation aka the bus system is more of a guess and check sort of aspect you never know where you'll end up
• the concept of personal space is virtually nonexistent. proxemics are much different
• dinner doesn't typically start until 8:30 or 9

beautiful is the growing mind.

i signed up to volunteer during the time i would be living in florence. i thought it would be good to give back to the community who so generously accepted me into their home. i also presumed it would be a very beneficial way for me to emerse myself in to the culture. on monday, also valentine's day, which has no relevance to this story whatsoever, i had my first volunteer meeting! i was literally thrown into the situation, not really knowing quite what to expect. my instructions were as follows, " all you need to do is catch the number 11 bus and take it across town and get off at lamarmora. it only comes every 20 minutes but if you leave now you may be able to make it, or you can walk." with the information i was just given jumbling around in my head i made my way for the door and hurried down the stairs. while frantically power walking down the street i was mentally deciphering  whether i should walk or take the bus. with the map clutched in my had as if the wind may snatch it away from me at any given moment and possibly talking myself through which means of transportation would be most effective considering  i had 20 minutes to get there and apart from a small red "x" on the map i had not a clue where it was. it would be safe to say i was looking like a lost and confused tourist more than ever, which i usually try to avoid at all costs. as i was walking down the street, i was trying to avoid the busy lunchtime foot traffic when a large gust of air following a city bus sped through the air coming from behind me nearly pulling me down. if it was not for this abrupt jolt of nearly being love tapped by a huge bus i may not have realized it was bus number 11 that zoomed past me. in only a moment's time to decide my feet took a mind of their own my body followed then my brain finally caught up and before i knew it i was running after the bus and jumped on just in time for the doors to close swiftly behind me and the doors closed just in time for me to realize that i didn't but a bus ticket. side note: so how the public transportation system works is you have to buy  a bus ticket which you can purchase at any tabacchi for 1,20 euros and it works for up to 90 minutes. however if you do not buy a pus ticket you could be subject to pay a 240 euro fine!! so at this point i am illegally riding the city bus to an unknown location while simultaneously freaking out that i am going to get fined and trying to recollect why i got on the bus in the first place. i was trying to look for the street i was instructed to get off at but before i knew it i was the second to last person left on the bus so i decided i should get off now before i was brought back to my original starting point. i got off at a stop i had never even heard of before and luckily i was about 2 centimeters from being completely off the map. after about 45 minutes and only one huge circle later i arrived at the school where i was supposed to volunteer. I was nearly an hour late, but because i was late i was assigned to a 5th grade classroom instead of kindergarten. i was a little nervous and excited wondering if these kids would tear me apart, what would i be doing and would i even be of any service to them? the teacher was very welcoming and introduced me to all the students. they were each instructed to ask me a question about my life. i was on the spot and suddenly i felt like i didnt even know how to speak proper english. my mind was jumbled with wanting to answer in italian and remembering the correct way to speak in english. i felt like new kid in class. haha. once class began,  i became a little more comfortable. i was observing the class as a whole and i was fascinated and truly impressed by their english speaking skills. i felt like i may have been learning more from them, than they were from me. i was mesmerized by their ability to switch from speaking fast paced italian to a language that i could comprehend. overall it was a truly rewarding experience and every monday i will await the anticipation and nerves that flow through my body upon entering this 5th grade classroom.

just a sneak peek at my future travel plans:

• Cagliari, Sardegna
• Rome
• Morocco
• Dad comes to visit me in Italia
• Venice
• SPRING BREAK: Greece and Turkey
• Cinque Terra
• Barcelona
• Mom comes to visit over Easter
• Amalfi Coast 

for all those who are curious.

here is a virtual tour around my apartment in Italia. Video provided by Jacqueline Grace.

into the gardens.

today after class i met up with sarah and julianna and we grabbed a quick panino and decided to take advantage of a free afternoon and the sunshine in florence. so, what else would we do besides go to the bobeli gardens of course! to most what is considered a tourist attraction turned into an afternoon of pure bliss. the bobeli gardens are directly behind/ a part of the pitti palace where the medici family lived in florence. it was not until i was within the depths of the lush gardens that i realized how much i appreciated the exclusion from the crowded streets of the florentine city. birds singing and quiet footsteps replaced the clutter in my head consisting of homework, errands, chores, and responsibilities. i think it may be safe to say this is one of my favorite places in the city this far. looking up and seeing blue skies without the interference of buildings, green trees and soft ground, i was truly grateful for this moment of relaxation to reflect upon my surroundings, myself, and my day. deep breaths of crisp february air fill my lungs and the much appreciated sunshine kisses my skin--at this instant there is no other place i would rather be. julianna and i laid down on a bench and let the afternoon take us away. aka we took naps together while sarah was writing on the neighboring bench. one afternoon was was not nearly enough to capture all that the gardens had to offer. i could spend a whole day there and not even comprehend the hours passing me by. i am so thankful for God's creation of earth and the pure beauties i am fortunate enough to encounter.

a woman skill.

a skill in which i am proud to pertain, taught to me by my good friend Julianna is the art of crochet. after observing her womanly hands create a winder headband in barely 2 short sittings i was fixated on learning this trade. we made it a personal mission to locate a store which sold yearn and hooks, however this was a little more difficult than expected. in florence we finally found a sewing shop on a side street nearly 25 minutes from my apartment. at this small shop we were lucky enough to encounter a bargain of one euro per ball of yarn. i took full advantage of this opportunity and stocked up with 4 balls of yarn. yarn, check! apparently this miracle of a store was too good to be true. the store did not sell hooks. we trekked onward in search of another store that could possibly carry another crucial aspect of this desire or maybe obsession to learn to crochet. a little disappointed we continued to roam the streets of florence in search for the perfect store, and just before all hope was lost we stumbled upon an embroidery shop that did in fact sell hooks. success!

later that evening julianna began to teach us some of the crochet basics. it took time for me to get accustomed to the hand positioning and movement, it was something about this awkward shaped object resting in your hand while simultaneously pulling yarn tight and looping right and left that was throwing me off. this may explain my pathetic inability to use chopsticks. haha. during the beginning of my crochet career i became frustrated with the fraying yarn, the inconsistent stitching, and my lack of womanness in that it wansnt in my dna that i would immediately be able to crochet a warm blanket to sleep with! ah, defeat...or so i thought, julianna was an excellent teacher and she was very patient with the three of us while we were asking for her guidance and approval every stitch of the way. after repeating several rows and starting over twice-- i finally got the hang of it. i was on my way to obtaining the magic touch that must come after i have grandchildren  (only because grandmas are good at everything). I am now on my way to creating my very first headband!!

step one...2 chains complete!

halfway finished!!


final product coming soon.

in a land called fiesole.

on friday i ventured to a small town on the outskirts of firenzie. it was only about 20 minutes away but the ride there was quite an experience. this day trip was organized through my program and was previously paid for. we met at piazza san marco to catch a bus. i was mistakenly under the impression we would have a private bus since we are such a large group. cramming 50 american college students onto a city bus that also provided public transportation, with barely enough room to breathe, on the warmest day we have encountered in florence so far was quite an experience! although it may not have been the ideal means of transportation i would not have done it any other way. with the frequent and sometimes abrupt stops we were colliding into each other and other forentine passengers. i felt more sorry for the local passengers probably trying to catch the bus for work, than i did for a group of american tourists making their way to a lovely quaint town for a day trip.

when we arrived in fiesole, i was relieved to get off the crowded bus and excited for the adventures ahead. fiesole is much less city like than florence, and it was a nice change of pace from walking through the busy streets and crowded sidewalks. the vast countryside and stunning sunshine drew me into a place of peace immersed in thankfulness, happiness, and beauty.  we went to il musei di fiesole and explored the archaeological area of the museum. this part of the tour consisted of ancient temples, baths, and a theatre. when touring the theatre i learned that it is still used today for high school graduations, concerts and plays. i could not even fathom having the privilege of graduating within the walls of an ancient monument. it is astounding  to me to comprehend the thought that i was viewing the remnants of a temple that someone  once, long ago was attending church in. it makes me wonder about the lifestyle they lived, and how so long ago before Christ a community was formed. while studying the baths i imagined a mother taking her young children to the baths and experiencing the daily obstacles any mother would when trying to get her children to behave in a cooperative manner. as the tour came to a close i was just absorbing as much sunshine as i could. the weather was absolutely beautiful. we walked a couple of miles along the streets and down the hills of fiesole to where we were scheduled to have brunch.

brunch, ha. so we thought. it had a much greater resemblance to a feast! i am pretty positive i ate more than the past two year's thanksgivings combined! the food was so delicious it was difficult to even put my fork down. we were served dishes of lasagna, salad, proscuttio and roast beef, cheeses, eggs, spinach and mushroom pies, bruschetta, and a dessert consisting of tiramisu cheesecake and fresh fruit. needless to say i took full advantage of this superb meal that was so generously put before me. i was surrounded by delicious food, great people, a beautiful city, and amazing opportunities just within my reach. i feel so blessed and fortunate to be exposed to so many wonderful prospects.

do something..

that scares you

for yourself

nice for someone else, with no expectations of anything in return

you have always dreamed of

you have never imagined to do

brave

or

silly

for no reason other than you genuinely want to

because it is Sunday

in the name of love

you felt you were called to do

that keeps you young, do not let age defy the joy of blowing bubbles or playing tic-tac-toe

spontaneous and adventurous

anything

and do that something, whatever it may be, do it today, with no fears that anything will stand in your way, for we do not always have the securities of tomorrow to lean on. Do not be shy, live for yourself and stay true to your morals and beliefs. Do not hesitate in life. Be sure of yourself and do not be afraid to be wrong. Speak your mind, others do not always know what you are thinking. In life we must take chances and live the life we were given. What is the point of always holding back? We feel we cannot read a good book because we do not have time. Must we always live by the concept of time? Relax and remember to breathe. Our work and responsibilities of everyday life will always be there waiting for us when the day is done. What are we waiting for? Let us live in the here and now. The possibilities are endless and only you can make them a reality.

words of encouragement.

“keep your eyes on what’s ahead. do not lose sight of your dream. it is easy to get distracted, do not let others try to defer your path.”


“take chances every day. if you do not you will never know what could have been.”

Day 3 in Florence: I mastered the art of… grocery shopping?

Yes that’s right, grocery shopping! We received prepaid supermarket gift cards as part of our meal plan, and my roommate, some friends and I decided to stock up on some of the essentials. Since we live about 20 minutes from school, and most of the restaurants are located around school as a central point, sometimes it is not our greatest desire to walk across town to eat. My roommate Jacqueline and I decided we would put our cooking skills (mostly hers) to the test in our brand new, never been used kitchen! We walked to a market about 15 minutes from our apartment called Essalunga. Walking in we were about to get a cart until we saw the 1 euro usage fee. Even though I am in Italy I am still a college student, therefore I decided to pass. Lucky for us there were shopping baskets free of charge inside. We casually walked through the automatic doors, grabbed our baskets and BOOM- a mixture of babies crying, produce flying, and Italian words were circulating all around me. Okay, so maybe it was not quite that dramatic, but it was a very hectic experience. I was instantly overwhelmed. I have quickly learned that the Italian culture has a very different take on proxemics than Americans do. Their concept of personal space is much smaller than ours. This is fine it just takes some getting used to-there was not much order to the process of collecting groceries here, it was more like a free for all on black Friday. Trying to dodge the little bambinos helping their parents shop, attempting to locate items on our list, and once we found what we thought these items were, trying to read and distinguish what it was we were actually going to purchase was a serious mission! I did my best not to let myself be consumed by the chaos and stick to our ultimate goal; dinner. Once our baskets were filling to the brim with pasta, oil, butter, salad, basil, fruit, yogurt, and a few other items we promptly remembered the lengthy walk back to the apartment we still had ahead of us. As we were about to check out we saw we would not only have to pay for our groceries, but our grocery bags as well. To avoid the extra cost each time we went to the grocery store we bought large reusable bags for 1 euro. Walking back to the apartment I left accomplished and successful. It sounds silly but it’s the small cultural advances that can sometimes mean the most.

When we arrived back at our apartment Jacqueline and I made our first home-cooked meal in our new apartment. With the basics and limited ingredients at hand we prepared penne pasta with oil, butter, and garlic, salad, which was a much needed fulfillment to my vegetable deprived diet, and white wine. It was not the most gourmet of meals but I was proud of us for our accomplishments! We set out little table in our little living room and enjoyed our meal in the comfort of our apartment with Mr. Sinatra gracing our ears with his majestic voice. It was a wonderful way to spend a lovely evening and to end a very busy day.