Finally!
I have figured out how to upload my photos on here. Clink on the links to the right to see my abroad photos!
ENJOY!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Vivere. la risata. l'amore.
So, I stink at blogging. Things have been so wonderfully busy here, that I find it hard to find a time to sit and blog about everything. But I will try to recap in the shortest amount of writing as possible so as to not write another novel about my past three weeks.
The first week of November, my new friend Katie, and my friend Michael from SNC came and stayed with us for a few days. It was really nice to have them here. We celebrated halloween, by making a huge feast. Complete with everything from eye ball deviled eggs, to carmel apples, to bug juice punch. It was so much fun. It was my roommates, plus Katie and Michael, and we just had our own little celebration. We all dressed up and had a dance party and just hung out. It was a ton of fun! Halloween obviously isn't a big celebration here, but we did see many places decked out for halloween which was awesome.
Well November obviously saw the election of a new President. What an experience to be able to be in Italy and wait till 5 am to hear about the future of our country for the next four years. I think the Italians cared more about the election than many Americans I know. So the beginning of November saw some very interesting conversations with many Italians, Americans and friends back at home about voting and what was going on in the States. Of course, I sent in my ballot and took my part in the election. I took a nap for a few hours, before waking up at 3:30am to start watching the results of the election. IT was so amazing. As soon as we found out Obama won, my roommates and I had our own little dancing celebration in our room at the wee hours of the morning.
I think the coolest things about this election, was how many people took part in it. Regardless of who people voted for, so many people, especially the younger generation took their part in the voting process. It was awesome to see so many people actualy make educated choices before casting their votes. Majority of Italians were in favor of Obama here, and there was lots of celebrating around election time. I find that those in Europe are often far more educated about our country and government than so many Americans do. It embarassing how much more they know about my own country than I do. It makes you realize how very much sheltered the U.S. is, and how different it is in comparison to other countries. It was nice to get so many other people's perspectives of our country from the outside.
The first weekend in November, 5 of my roommates and I flew to Barcelona, Spain to meet up with a bunch of our friends from SNC. We met up with Katie and Michael again, as well as two of my really close friends, Jenn and Autumn, and two more friends from SNC. It was so fun to have such a big group of new friends, and old friends together having a blast! Jenn and Autumn study in Toledo, Spain, but they informed us that the langauge in Barcelona is actually different than that of the rest of Spain. It is in a providence named Cataluña, where they have both their own language, and are very independent from the rest of Spain.
So after checking into our very nice hostel, we met up with all of the others. It was so cool, because some were from Spain, we were from Florence, some from London, and some from Germany...so there was the uniting of many countries and expereinces. That night we went to a place called the Magic Fountain. There is a large fountain, with tons of smaller fountains leading up to it. The Fountain gets its name because of the water show that accompanys it. The fountain sprays water and changes color to the rhythm of the music that plays with it. It was an amazing show, and they played many American songs that I love! Afterwards, we decided to get some Mexican food, where I had a delicious burrito. A nice change from all the pasta and bread in Italy. We also had some Sangria, which is a very popular drink in Spain. It was good, but extremly strong. All the drinks here are so strong! I am always the last one to finish my drink.
On Saturday, we woke up early to get tickets for teh Barcelona bus tour that we decided to take. Since we were only there really for one full day, we decided there was no way we could take in all the sites if we didn't take a tour. It turned out to be such a great investment, that we decided to take our own little bus tour of Florence this week! We sat on the top of the double decker bus, which was freezing, but well worth it. Before the tour, there was this cute little man sitting with a chess game outside. My roomate Leah, being the crazy photographer that she is, decided to ask if she could take a picture of him. He said yes, and after that, ended up taking a picture of Leah. He seemed to be waiting for someone to play with him, so while we waited for our bus, Jenn played a game with him. It was adorable.
We stopped and got off the bus at a few markets and did some shopping. It was so fun. I got a reversible purse, which was an impulse buy that I really actually enjoy. We got to see a ton of historical sites which were so amazing. We got off at the Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Gaudi (Jenna, you would have loved it). Gaudi seemed to be everywhere in Barcelona. To me, it seemed like everything was built or made by Gaudi. La Sagrada was absolutely beautiful. It is not actually finished, and he died before it was finished. The money that people pay to go on tours helps to finish the building of it. I have never seen something so majestic and large.
After the touring, we decided we had to do a quick little shopping spree. So we went to the H and M in Barcelona. Loved it! Anyways, I had been itching all day to go see flamenco dancing. So after talking about it all day long, we decided to go see a show. For 30 euro we went to this beautiful theater, that served us a delicious dinner! We were served Sangria (which was not as stong this time) and Paella. Paella is a traditional spanish dish (that Jenn loves and always talks about, so I knew I had to try it). Anyways, I got the one with seafood in it. Boy was it delicious. That was a night of firsts, because I tried calamari, which I actually really like when i didnt think about what I was eating. Along with that, there was a little shrimp like creature which had eyes and everything on it. I actually picked him apart and ate him all up (it was much like your lobster this summer andrea!). The show was AMAZING. Flamenco dancing is such an art and a talent. After we all attempted it on the street afterwards, I decided I was not meant to be a Flamenco dancer.
The next day, we woke up early to leave for home. It was hard to say goodbye to my friend Jenn, because we have never been apart for such a long time, and we were all dealing with a lot of stresses at that time. I want to say hello to the Seidemann family, and let you all know that I love you and miss you all! So it was hard to leave them, but I will see them soon! Jenn mentioned something in one of her posts that her host mother had said to her. "She was talking about how different fruits have better times of the year as opposed to others. But the second time she used it was when we were having a really good conversation about life, people, places - everything. She told me "cada cosa en su momento" which literally translates to "every thing in it's moment" or which more clearly translates to "everything or everyone has it's own moment."
Jenn further went on with her thoughts about this phrase, which were basically that everything in your life, occurs at a particular moment, for a particular reason. I really loved this because it made me really think about how there have been so many things in my life that I have been blessed with, or that I didnt see as a blessing at the time, that occured at moments when they really needed to happen. It also made me remember how lucky and blessed I am to have all these wonderful expereinces.
So besides school, not much happend during the rest of the week. My friend Michael, invited us all to one of his friends house for a party. So Caitlin, Sara and I decided that we would go. We were a little nervous, as we weren't sure what to expect, because I was only friends with Michael and none of his friends. IT turned out to be an amazing time. We went to Michael's friend, Rafellas house, where they had prepared an amazing party complete with food and drinks for us. We met a ton of new friends. Italian, American, Chinese, German...it was awesome! So we finally met some real Italians and had a blast with them. We all ended up going dancing at our usual club, TWICE.
My roomates and I took a day excursion around Florence. We hopped on the bus that we discovered on our way home from barcelona, and rode it across the Arno River to the other side of Florence. We got off at Michaelangelo's lookout. Its a big look out point where you can see all of Florence. We went to a church called San Miniato. Its beautiful, and was so nice to see with my roomies. We then got ready for a party that we were hosting at our apartment. We had had so much fun with Michael and his friends, that we invited them all over. Michael is quite the social butterfly and party man, and he invited all his friends. We thought he would bring all the same ones over, but as I opened the door and saw about 15 new faces, I was pretty surprised. We ended up having an amazing time. We met a ton of Michaels friends that he grew up with from Eritrea, as well as more Italians and Americans. We had so much fun, and ended up goin dancing again! It was a ton of fun.
This past weekend, I went to Rome on our school's field trip. On Friday, I had to go with my women and religion class around Rome. We began by goin to the Santa Maria della Vittoria Church. It was incredibly beautiful. I love going inside churches! The church was begun in 1605 as a chapel dedicated to Saint Paul for the Discalced Carmelites. After the Catholic victory at the battle of White Mountain in 1620, it was reddicated to the Virgin Mary.
We then walked to the Santa Maria maggiore Basilica. It was so amazingly large. While I am not the biggest fan of large ornate churches, because I believe the money should be given instead to those in need, but I do think they are beautiful. I like simplicity rather than extravagence, but I do appreciate the beauty of these churches. This one was from the time of Pope Sixtus !!! (432-440) and had many ancient mosaics from the period. We then stopped at the Trevi Fountain and made our way to the Pantheon. I hadn't gone in the Pantheon the other times I was in Rome, so it was neat to go in there. Then we went to St. Peter's Basilica again. It was nice to get a different tour and perspective from my professor. I got to see different angels of the church with her. I then met up with my roommates to stay at the four star hotel that we paid a ridic. amount of money for (the school chose this hotel), and we had a typical roman dish. It wasn't very good for what we were paying, and I didnt end up eating most of it since it was pork and I dont eat pork (ick).
Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Vatican Musuems for a guided tour. It was much better than the tour that I went on with Justin, and I learned a lot more, and got to see a lot more than the previous time I was there. We also got to spend a good deal of time In Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It is increidbly beautiful and overwhelming in there. It is amazing to hear about Michelangelo's story and all that he did in his painting. He is so talented. We then went into St. Peter's again where we saw and heard more in detail about the works of Bernin, Michelangelo and Canova (Jenna, you would have been in heaven). We then got to descend into the crytpts and visit the tombs of the Pope. This was the best part for me. I really loved Pope John II, and I got to stay and pray by his tomb for a minute. That was amazing. The rest of the day, we wandered around shopping and eating lunch and what not. I got this amazing small tapestry of Mother Theresa, that I just fell in love with! We went to a lot of local vendors, and had a wonderful day. We once again had dinner at the hotel, and then just hung out. Leah and I talked for a while and watched the soccer game, before I passed out for the night. The two girls I was rooming with went out for the night, so I was all alone for a bit. It was nice to have some peace and alone time for myself for a few hours, as this is hard to find around here. Don't get me wrong, I love my roommates and my friends, sometimes I just like to catch a quiet reflective moment though!
Sunday, I decided to skip the colosseum tour, and go to mass at St. Peter's instead. This was amazing. I sat through the mass in the Basicila, and that was incredible in itself. The best part was that it was in Latin. While I dont know really any Latin, it was amazing to be there, because I still knew everything that was going on (except for what was said in the homily and petitions), but esentially could follow everything. Thats the best part about the unverisal Church! We then went out into the square, and....I saw the Pope. This was pretty amazing, and Oma would have been so excited! So he came to his little window and said a blessing in Italian, and then in English, German (which I taped for Oma), Spanish etc. It was really neat. Then we decided to go to Roman Forum, where we walked around the outside. Morgaine and I decided we didn't want to pay for the Forum, so we instead walked around the outside, which was equally as beautiful. I had already seen the Forum, so it was fine by me. We ended up discovering a monastary up there, and went in this beautiful hidden church. There was no one in there, except for the people that we could no see, chanting some beautiful songs from the back. I wrote a prayer intention and was able to pray for a bit.
All in all, the Rome trip was the best one of the three times that I have been there. I have had such an amazing chance to see it all.
Today, Sara and her boyfriend Brent, who is visitng her here, went to the Santa Croce church. This church is located just behind my apartment, yet I have never been in it yet. It was incredibly beautiful. It is a Franciscan church, and was very simple, but beautifully large at the same time. It was also awesome, because this is where Michelangelo is buried, so I got to see his large tomb. It is adorned with three angels indicating the three types of work he did, painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was really nice.
This week is going to be filled with small day trips around Italy and around Florence. I am super excited, but getitng sad, as we have passed the one month mark of coming home. While I am excited to come home, I also dont want to leave. I had made so many amazing friends here. Friends from Africa, friends from Italy, and friends that I will bring home with me. Friends that I will see, if not that often, again in America. LAJ, Leah, Morgaine, Sara, Trace, Caitlin, Faith...my roomates, have made this experience so amazing. They are so dear to me, and it will be difficult to leave them, knowing we will never have this same opportunity to be together again in Florence as we have been now. I am goin to be so sad, leaving friends I have made here in Florence, and not being able to just got out and dance with my Italian friends, or invite them over to dinner or a party. That will be difficult. My life is definately changed, and it is goign to be hard to come back to America. I am not the same person that I am as I left. I have grown so much here. I have become a more cultured person. I have opend myself up to so many new things. I have made friends from all over the world. I have grown spiritually. And most of all, I have realized a lot of things about myself while here. I have realized who the person is that I want to be, and how I want to live out my life. And that is something that I will have with me forever. So while I don't want to leave, I know that I will carry this experience with me forever.
I was talkin to my friend Tom from home the other day. We had an amazing talk, about faith, God and growing, and he helped me realize how much I have been blessed with. The amazing friends and experiences I have here. Then I remembered this quote: "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” I am learning how to master the counting of my blessings. I am blessed with so many things. My family amazing parents, my wonderful sisters (Ang, Bay, Em, Miracle, Monasia), my amazing friends from home ( I can't name them all, but I want to thank Nicole, Jenna, Jenn espeically for all the support you have given me these past couple of months), all my friends abroad, my new friends, all the experiences I have been blessed with, the chance to study abroad and travel all over, and all the amazing things God has put in my life. So as my time is getting near to an end here, I just wanted to thank all of you, because everyone reading this has played a part in my life, and allowing me to become a better person. From my extended family all the way to my grade school teachers that I know have read this, I love you all.
Amy
The first week of November, my new friend Katie, and my friend Michael from SNC came and stayed with us for a few days. It was really nice to have them here. We celebrated halloween, by making a huge feast. Complete with everything from eye ball deviled eggs, to carmel apples, to bug juice punch. It was so much fun. It was my roommates, plus Katie and Michael, and we just had our own little celebration. We all dressed up and had a dance party and just hung out. It was a ton of fun! Halloween obviously isn't a big celebration here, but we did see many places decked out for halloween which was awesome.
Well November obviously saw the election of a new President. What an experience to be able to be in Italy and wait till 5 am to hear about the future of our country for the next four years. I think the Italians cared more about the election than many Americans I know. So the beginning of November saw some very interesting conversations with many Italians, Americans and friends back at home about voting and what was going on in the States. Of course, I sent in my ballot and took my part in the election. I took a nap for a few hours, before waking up at 3:30am to start watching the results of the election. IT was so amazing. As soon as we found out Obama won, my roommates and I had our own little dancing celebration in our room at the wee hours of the morning.
I think the coolest things about this election, was how many people took part in it. Regardless of who people voted for, so many people, especially the younger generation took their part in the voting process. It was awesome to see so many people actualy make educated choices before casting their votes. Majority of Italians were in favor of Obama here, and there was lots of celebrating around election time. I find that those in Europe are often far more educated about our country and government than so many Americans do. It embarassing how much more they know about my own country than I do. It makes you realize how very much sheltered the U.S. is, and how different it is in comparison to other countries. It was nice to get so many other people's perspectives of our country from the outside.
The first weekend in November, 5 of my roommates and I flew to Barcelona, Spain to meet up with a bunch of our friends from SNC. We met up with Katie and Michael again, as well as two of my really close friends, Jenn and Autumn, and two more friends from SNC. It was so fun to have such a big group of new friends, and old friends together having a blast! Jenn and Autumn study in Toledo, Spain, but they informed us that the langauge in Barcelona is actually different than that of the rest of Spain. It is in a providence named Cataluña, where they have both their own language, and are very independent from the rest of Spain.
So after checking into our very nice hostel, we met up with all of the others. It was so cool, because some were from Spain, we were from Florence, some from London, and some from Germany...so there was the uniting of many countries and expereinces. That night we went to a place called the Magic Fountain. There is a large fountain, with tons of smaller fountains leading up to it. The Fountain gets its name because of the water show that accompanys it. The fountain sprays water and changes color to the rhythm of the music that plays with it. It was an amazing show, and they played many American songs that I love! Afterwards, we decided to get some Mexican food, where I had a delicious burrito. A nice change from all the pasta and bread in Italy. We also had some Sangria, which is a very popular drink in Spain. It was good, but extremly strong. All the drinks here are so strong! I am always the last one to finish my drink.
On Saturday, we woke up early to get tickets for teh Barcelona bus tour that we decided to take. Since we were only there really for one full day, we decided there was no way we could take in all the sites if we didn't take a tour. It turned out to be such a great investment, that we decided to take our own little bus tour of Florence this week! We sat on the top of the double decker bus, which was freezing, but well worth it. Before the tour, there was this cute little man sitting with a chess game outside. My roomate Leah, being the crazy photographer that she is, decided to ask if she could take a picture of him. He said yes, and after that, ended up taking a picture of Leah. He seemed to be waiting for someone to play with him, so while we waited for our bus, Jenn played a game with him. It was adorable.
We stopped and got off the bus at a few markets and did some shopping. It was so fun. I got a reversible purse, which was an impulse buy that I really actually enjoy. We got to see a ton of historical sites which were so amazing. We got off at the Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Gaudi (Jenna, you would have loved it). Gaudi seemed to be everywhere in Barcelona. To me, it seemed like everything was built or made by Gaudi. La Sagrada was absolutely beautiful. It is not actually finished, and he died before it was finished. The money that people pay to go on tours helps to finish the building of it. I have never seen something so majestic and large.
After the touring, we decided we had to do a quick little shopping spree. So we went to the H and M in Barcelona. Loved it! Anyways, I had been itching all day to go see flamenco dancing. So after talking about it all day long, we decided to go see a show. For 30 euro we went to this beautiful theater, that served us a delicious dinner! We were served Sangria (which was not as stong this time) and Paella. Paella is a traditional spanish dish (that Jenn loves and always talks about, so I knew I had to try it). Anyways, I got the one with seafood in it. Boy was it delicious. That was a night of firsts, because I tried calamari, which I actually really like when i didnt think about what I was eating. Along with that, there was a little shrimp like creature which had eyes and everything on it. I actually picked him apart and ate him all up (it was much like your lobster this summer andrea!). The show was AMAZING. Flamenco dancing is such an art and a talent. After we all attempted it on the street afterwards, I decided I was not meant to be a Flamenco dancer.
The next day, we woke up early to leave for home. It was hard to say goodbye to my friend Jenn, because we have never been apart for such a long time, and we were all dealing with a lot of stresses at that time. I want to say hello to the Seidemann family, and let you all know that I love you and miss you all! So it was hard to leave them, but I will see them soon! Jenn mentioned something in one of her posts that her host mother had said to her. "She was talking about how different fruits have better times of the year as opposed to others. But the second time she used it was when we were having a really good conversation about life, people, places - everything. She told me "cada cosa en su momento" which literally translates to "every thing in it's moment" or which more clearly translates to "everything or everyone has it's own moment."
Jenn further went on with her thoughts about this phrase, which were basically that everything in your life, occurs at a particular moment, for a particular reason. I really loved this because it made me really think about how there have been so many things in my life that I have been blessed with, or that I didnt see as a blessing at the time, that occured at moments when they really needed to happen. It also made me remember how lucky and blessed I am to have all these wonderful expereinces.
So besides school, not much happend during the rest of the week. My friend Michael, invited us all to one of his friends house for a party. So Caitlin, Sara and I decided that we would go. We were a little nervous, as we weren't sure what to expect, because I was only friends with Michael and none of his friends. IT turned out to be an amazing time. We went to Michael's friend, Rafellas house, where they had prepared an amazing party complete with food and drinks for us. We met a ton of new friends. Italian, American, Chinese, German...it was awesome! So we finally met some real Italians and had a blast with them. We all ended up going dancing at our usual club, TWICE.
My roomates and I took a day excursion around Florence. We hopped on the bus that we discovered on our way home from barcelona, and rode it across the Arno River to the other side of Florence. We got off at Michaelangelo's lookout. Its a big look out point where you can see all of Florence. We went to a church called San Miniato. Its beautiful, and was so nice to see with my roomies. We then got ready for a party that we were hosting at our apartment. We had had so much fun with Michael and his friends, that we invited them all over. Michael is quite the social butterfly and party man, and he invited all his friends. We thought he would bring all the same ones over, but as I opened the door and saw about 15 new faces, I was pretty surprised. We ended up having an amazing time. We met a ton of Michaels friends that he grew up with from Eritrea, as well as more Italians and Americans. We had so much fun, and ended up goin dancing again! It was a ton of fun.
This past weekend, I went to Rome on our school's field trip. On Friday, I had to go with my women and religion class around Rome. We began by goin to the Santa Maria della Vittoria Church. It was incredibly beautiful. I love going inside churches! The church was begun in 1605 as a chapel dedicated to Saint Paul for the Discalced Carmelites. After the Catholic victory at the battle of White Mountain in 1620, it was reddicated to the Virgin Mary.
We then walked to the Santa Maria maggiore Basilica. It was so amazingly large. While I am not the biggest fan of large ornate churches, because I believe the money should be given instead to those in need, but I do think they are beautiful. I like simplicity rather than extravagence, but I do appreciate the beauty of these churches. This one was from the time of Pope Sixtus !!! (432-440) and had many ancient mosaics from the period. We then stopped at the Trevi Fountain and made our way to the Pantheon. I hadn't gone in the Pantheon the other times I was in Rome, so it was neat to go in there. Then we went to St. Peter's Basilica again. It was nice to get a different tour and perspective from my professor. I got to see different angels of the church with her. I then met up with my roommates to stay at the four star hotel that we paid a ridic. amount of money for (the school chose this hotel), and we had a typical roman dish. It wasn't very good for what we were paying, and I didnt end up eating most of it since it was pork and I dont eat pork (ick).
Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Vatican Musuems for a guided tour. It was much better than the tour that I went on with Justin, and I learned a lot more, and got to see a lot more than the previous time I was there. We also got to spend a good deal of time In Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It is increidbly beautiful and overwhelming in there. It is amazing to hear about Michelangelo's story and all that he did in his painting. He is so talented. We then went into St. Peter's again where we saw and heard more in detail about the works of Bernin, Michelangelo and Canova (Jenna, you would have been in heaven). We then got to descend into the crytpts and visit the tombs of the Pope. This was the best part for me. I really loved Pope John II, and I got to stay and pray by his tomb for a minute. That was amazing. The rest of the day, we wandered around shopping and eating lunch and what not. I got this amazing small tapestry of Mother Theresa, that I just fell in love with! We went to a lot of local vendors, and had a wonderful day. We once again had dinner at the hotel, and then just hung out. Leah and I talked for a while and watched the soccer game, before I passed out for the night. The two girls I was rooming with went out for the night, so I was all alone for a bit. It was nice to have some peace and alone time for myself for a few hours, as this is hard to find around here. Don't get me wrong, I love my roommates and my friends, sometimes I just like to catch a quiet reflective moment though!
Sunday, I decided to skip the colosseum tour, and go to mass at St. Peter's instead. This was amazing. I sat through the mass in the Basicila, and that was incredible in itself. The best part was that it was in Latin. While I dont know really any Latin, it was amazing to be there, because I still knew everything that was going on (except for what was said in the homily and petitions), but esentially could follow everything. Thats the best part about the unverisal Church! We then went out into the square, and....I saw the Pope. This was pretty amazing, and Oma would have been so excited! So he came to his little window and said a blessing in Italian, and then in English, German (which I taped for Oma), Spanish etc. It was really neat. Then we decided to go to Roman Forum, where we walked around the outside. Morgaine and I decided we didn't want to pay for the Forum, so we instead walked around the outside, which was equally as beautiful. I had already seen the Forum, so it was fine by me. We ended up discovering a monastary up there, and went in this beautiful hidden church. There was no one in there, except for the people that we could no see, chanting some beautiful songs from the back. I wrote a prayer intention and was able to pray for a bit.
All in all, the Rome trip was the best one of the three times that I have been there. I have had such an amazing chance to see it all.
Today, Sara and her boyfriend Brent, who is visitng her here, went to the Santa Croce church. This church is located just behind my apartment, yet I have never been in it yet. It was incredibly beautiful. It is a Franciscan church, and was very simple, but beautifully large at the same time. It was also awesome, because this is where Michelangelo is buried, so I got to see his large tomb. It is adorned with three angels indicating the three types of work he did, painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was really nice.
This week is going to be filled with small day trips around Italy and around Florence. I am super excited, but getitng sad, as we have passed the one month mark of coming home. While I am excited to come home, I also dont want to leave. I had made so many amazing friends here. Friends from Africa, friends from Italy, and friends that I will bring home with me. Friends that I will see, if not that often, again in America. LAJ, Leah, Morgaine, Sara, Trace, Caitlin, Faith...my roomates, have made this experience so amazing. They are so dear to me, and it will be difficult to leave them, knowing we will never have this same opportunity to be together again in Florence as we have been now. I am goin to be so sad, leaving friends I have made here in Florence, and not being able to just got out and dance with my Italian friends, or invite them over to dinner or a party. That will be difficult. My life is definately changed, and it is goign to be hard to come back to America. I am not the same person that I am as I left. I have grown so much here. I have become a more cultured person. I have opend myself up to so many new things. I have made friends from all over the world. I have grown spiritually. And most of all, I have realized a lot of things about myself while here. I have realized who the person is that I want to be, and how I want to live out my life. And that is something that I will have with me forever. So while I don't want to leave, I know that I will carry this experience with me forever.
I was talkin to my friend Tom from home the other day. We had an amazing talk, about faith, God and growing, and he helped me realize how much I have been blessed with. The amazing friends and experiences I have here. Then I remembered this quote: "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” I am learning how to master the counting of my blessings. I am blessed with so many things. My family amazing parents, my wonderful sisters (Ang, Bay, Em, Miracle, Monasia), my amazing friends from home ( I can't name them all, but I want to thank Nicole, Jenna, Jenn espeically for all the support you have given me these past couple of months), all my friends abroad, my new friends, all the experiences I have been blessed with, the chance to study abroad and travel all over, and all the amazing things God has put in my life. So as my time is getting near to an end here, I just wanted to thank all of you, because everyone reading this has played a part in my life, and allowing me to become a better person. From my extended family all the way to my grade school teachers that I know have read this, I love you all.
Amy
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Dress smart like a London Bloke
Hello everyone!!
Well, I figure now that I have had a day and a half of doing absolutely nothing (I think I went outside like three times in the last two days)...I am finally ready to blog about my London experience. It was by far, the best trip ever. It was everything I was excited for and so much more. I fell in love...so much so that (don't have a heartache mom) I started looking into graduate social work programs in London as soon as I got back. It just felt so much like home, and was such a wonderful, wonderful place. We had six days there, and there was so much that I got to do, as well as many things I wish I could have seen. Hence, the fact that I needed to rest for a few days, because I was so tired and overwhelmed.
So anyways....Wednesday night John took the train from Rome and stayed with us in Florence because he was flying out with us to London Thursday morning. WE decided we had to take Justin out once dancing while in Florence, and since we had exams all the other days, Wednesday night it was. We stayed out for a while just dancing, but finally decided we better get home and sleep for a few hours before our train to Pisa and then flight to London!
By the way, exams went pretty well for the most part. Some were harder than expected, but I studied a great deal for them, and did my best. THe only one I really didn't do well on was environmental conservation. As previously noted, this is the dreaded class of mine...when I got the exam...I looked down and almost cried, because I literally felt like i knew nothing. So besides the fact that I made up a good 75% of the answers, my exams went pretty well.
So Thursday morning we (Justin, Caitlin, John and I) left on the train to Pisa airport. Our flight was decently early, 10ish, so we had to take the train quite early to get there. We took Ryan Air, which everyone says is supposed to be a good, cheap flight but sketchy. Well good and cheap it was, sketchy it was not. It was surprisingly, one of the best flights I have ever been on. We even got the exit aisles so we had plenty of room. Besides John tormenting me by telling me we were about to crash ( i dont know if i have ever mentioned my A) fear of flying or B) the fact that I always without fail get sick), the flight was good. WE finally got to stanstead airport at only around 11ish (they are an hour behind Italy)...so we had a good full day still. We then took the train to London, and bought an oyster card which allowed us to get around London for 7 days for only 24 pounds. It seems expensive, but for the amount of trains/buses/tubes we took, we saved a lot of money.
We took the tube to Kensington, where Justin lives. His apartment is located in a very rich part of London, and was pretty nice actually. He shares it with three other guys and two girls. It is also conveniently located across from Hyde Park, which happens to be where Princess Diane used to live. So after putting our stuff down and resting for a bit, we explored Hyde Park and St. James Park (they are connected). First of all, they are huge and were orginally just used for the royal family I believe (which is incredibly selfish seeing as its ginormous. I felt soo at home. The air was crisp, the leaves were huge and crunchy, there was actually green grass, and trees, ponds, swans (lots of birds...bailey you would have loved it), and just felt like autumn. It was incredibly gorgeous, and I could have spent the entire day just sitting there.
After meeting some large swans, lots of ravens, pigeons (I can never escape those darn pigeons), ducks, and geese. The swans were my favorite. We saw the Princess Diana tribute (a really cool water like structure), the Italian fountains, Peter Pan statue, Albert memorial and much more. Basically, it was amazing.
Before dinner, Justin took us to whole foods (love, love, love). We went to Thirsty Thursday, which is their wine tasting. We had five stations to go to. First was the we were served pancetta, sage and Parmesan risotto (oh my gosh, as Rachel Ray would say...Yum-o) with their own house Fresh and wile Prosecco. They were all sparkling wines, so of course, i loved them. The second course was a beetroot, orange and feta salad served with Fresh and wild Rosato Prosecco. I loved the beets (Oma you would be happy)...I was the only one who liked it though so everyone else gave me their servings to eat. Then we had a Manhattan seafood chowder (scallops, fish, lobster..mom you would have loved it) with Lanson Noble Cuvee Brut Champagne. Then we had beef Shank in garlic, red wine and pepper served with Blue Pyrences Sparkling Shiraz. Finally, we had vacherin Moint d'or served with carmelized walnuts and Prunotto Moscato d'Asti. The wine was really yummy, the actual dessert was weird...it tasted a little like melted brie and feet. But the walnuts were good. Anyways..you can tell that I loved this event because it was like watching the food network but live and getting to sample the food. Since most of you know I obsessively watch the foodnetwork (till all hours of the night), it was pure heaven.
Anyways...we went home and Justin made us some baked ziti...yum. Then we went to see some London sites at night. Justin took us to the Parliment, Big Ben, London Eye, Piccadilly Circus and much much more...except I can't remember what they were all called. It was so wonderful. I was in awe the entire night. Afterwards, we went back and Caitlin and I collasped in the twin bed we were sharing...which saved us a lot of money!!
Friday Billy (our friend in Rome) flew into London. Justin took us around London again where we saw many of same sites and more. We saw some of the same sites, and also Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey, and the house where the have the horse guards. We got to see them change the horse guards which was pretty much pointless, but part of their tradition. It was neat to see. At Westminister Abbey we coincidentally saw our friend Michael (from SNC) outside! It was really exciting, because we were supposed to meet up with him, but it was unexpected to see him at that point. We did some more exploring, and then headed back to Justin's. There we did a little shopping on High St. Kensington where we mostly just went into H and M.
Later we went out to a pub, and that was where I drank my first beer ever. (Don't worry people...I am legal here and in the U.S. now too!) I don't like beer, but I tried a fruity one called snake bite. It was excellent. Anyways..we had a lot of fun that night, and came back exhausted.
Saturday we headed to the Camden Market!! By far, one of the best experiences ever. As we were walking down the streets, I really wished that Emily could have been there. YOu would have loved it Em. I took tons of pictures for you though. Bascially, it was really retro and hip...very emo and totally Emily. There were so many things that I wanted to buy you (wait till Christmas...I might have found you something good!!). Anyways...it was at that point that I wished my sisters were with me because there was something that they would have all loved so much. I would go into a store and be like...Andrea would love this, Bay would love this, Emily would be in heaven. So anyways, I got a little sad cause I wished I could have shared it with them. We spent majority of Saturday there and had a ton of fun. Caitlin and I went into a few vintage stores (Sammy you would have been in heaven!) where I got a hat and a vintage vest. Camden market is so huge! It had tons of food stand from around the world: Chinese, Indian, African (justin gave me a bite of his food--which i liked until i found out it was goat), Caribbean, Italian and so much more. We ate some Chinese and shopped the rest of the day. There was an antique section, clothing, jewerly, Ethnic stores, bags and even a futuristic store called Cyberdog.
Saturday afternoon we met up with Michael (studying in London), Michael M (studying in Valencia) and Magda who used to go to our school but is going to grad school in London now. We went out for fish and chips (delicious). I washed it down like the British people with a fruity beer again! Afterwards, we packed up our stuff and went home with Michael's friend Katie, who we were staying with for the rest of our stay. We took a bus (very long ride...almost an hour) to New Cross where Michael and Katie live.
On Sunday, John left us to go back to Rome. Billy, Caitlin and I went into the city by ourselves and explored for a while. We went to Picadilly Circus (which is London's Times Square) where we explored for a while. Billy then went to go meet with a Feminist group that he had discovered in London, and Caitlin and I went around a bit more. We went to the National Gallery and saw some pretty sweet photographs, pictures and paintings. We wanted to go to the Annie Lebowitz exhibit which was showing there...but it cost too much money. Then we set out to the Globe theater where we wanted to go to the pagan festival that was apparently occuring there. Well, it wasn't...but we did see the Globe (although we didn't go in because it was too expensive). WE explored around London that day, went to Trafalgar Square and other places in London. Then we met up and had dinner at Pizza hut. Which you are probably like...pizza hut? But it was like no other pizza hut. We were seated, waited on, had our order taken, had cloth napkins, and they even served wines and champagnes there. Very classy. And delicious.
On Monday, we all headed into the city to shop. There we discovered...a cheap hair salon. So since hair cuts in Italy are around 40 euro for just a trim (and Lord knows what we will get what with our lack of Italian skills), we got a haircut in London. Awesome. I was worried cause she cut a lot off, but I like it. We then met up with Caitlin's high school friend, Rob, who studies at Oxford. No big deal that he is incredibly smart and oh, also parties with Emma Watson...Yes, I said Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger....aka Harry Potter's best friend). We had tea at Whole Foods before going to wagamama...another delicious resturant. It served curry like dishes which were excellent.
Then we headed off to Her Majesty's Theater to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Now I saw that a while ago in the states with my Aunt Anita and mom and sister, but this was just amazing. I think I appreciated it more because I am older now, but it was amazing. The stage, theatrics, special effects, pit orchestra, and of course Opera music was simply amazing. I loved it so much. And it was pretty cheap to go. AHHH I can't tell you how much I wished my siblings could be there to watch it with me.
WE passed out on the cold, concrete like floor that we were sleeping on for three nights. By night two we had layered our clothing on the floor so that we could have some sort of padding. But hey, it was free, and we saved about 200 euro by not getting a hostel.
On Tuesday, we had plans to see the Tate, Abbey Road, and Kings Cross (where Harry Potter has a little platform)...but only accomplished Abbey Road. We took the tube to Abbey Road..and after asking about 5 British people, who all gave us different directions, we finally found the road. It took us about an hour, but was worth it. We crossed the road, took some great pictures, and then left our mark on the wall. Walked, signed, pictures, and go. It was an amazing finish, to an amazing trip. So if you ever head over to abbey road...look for my name!
Needless to say, this has been a long post, but only because I had such an amazing time. I can't believe how blessed and lucky I am to get to experience all these amazing things. I have really begun to appreciate everything that I have in my life. It has been such a wonderful trip so far. This has been the best decision of my life, to study abroad. It has opened me up to so many new cultures and experiences, and allowed me to see what else the world has to offer. Needless to say, I have bigger plans with my life now, which include traveling and not staying in the U.S. my whole life. I am so blessed that I have gotten this chance. I remember when all my friends and family woudl come back from studying abroad and them describing their experiences, and I was never able to see how it could be so wonderful. But now that I am here, I know that this is an experience that you cannot describe in words. So while I want to say so many things, most of my memories are in my heart and undescribleable.
I have been blessed by this opportunity and also by the people that have become a part of my life through this experience. I really have the most amazing roommates, and have bonded so well with so many people over here. I have made friends in other countries, and seen my friends in other countries. Not many people can say, oh yeah, no big deal I went to Big Ben with my closest friends. While I am half way through my experience here, I am sad that it has gone so fast. I am excited to come home and see my friends and family that I miss a lot, but will also miss everyone here so much. This has definitely shaped me, and helped me to become a more open and diverse person, and I cannot wait to see what the last few weeks will be like here.
My plans for now....this weekend Michael and Katie come visit from London.
Saturday my roommates and I are planning a Halloween party (mom, i might be a highchair!! haha)...we are going to bob for apples, dance, and play games! It's going to be great. Plus eat all the Halloween candy mom sent over!! Thanks so much!!
I am going to Barcelona the following weekend, then maybe Paris, then Rome for our field trip. In December I am going to Rothenburg for their Christmas festival, which I am extremely excited about cause Mom and Oma both love Rothenburg.
My Oma called today, and that basically made my day. She was talking about thanksgiving, and I got a bit sad cause I wasn't going to be there to celebrate with her, and eat Opa's traditional dumplings (made by Steven now) and celebrate and be with family. But hopefully, we will have our own festivities here.
Anyways...this is becomming a novel, so until next time...I love emails and mail!! So keep sending it!
Love to you all
Amy
Well, I figure now that I have had a day and a half of doing absolutely nothing (I think I went outside like three times in the last two days)...I am finally ready to blog about my London experience. It was by far, the best trip ever. It was everything I was excited for and so much more. I fell in love...so much so that (don't have a heartache mom) I started looking into graduate social work programs in London as soon as I got back. It just felt so much like home, and was such a wonderful, wonderful place. We had six days there, and there was so much that I got to do, as well as many things I wish I could have seen. Hence, the fact that I needed to rest for a few days, because I was so tired and overwhelmed.
So anyways....Wednesday night John took the train from Rome and stayed with us in Florence because he was flying out with us to London Thursday morning. WE decided we had to take Justin out once dancing while in Florence, and since we had exams all the other days, Wednesday night it was. We stayed out for a while just dancing, but finally decided we better get home and sleep for a few hours before our train to Pisa and then flight to London!
By the way, exams went pretty well for the most part. Some were harder than expected, but I studied a great deal for them, and did my best. THe only one I really didn't do well on was environmental conservation. As previously noted, this is the dreaded class of mine...when I got the exam...I looked down and almost cried, because I literally felt like i knew nothing. So besides the fact that I made up a good 75% of the answers, my exams went pretty well.
So Thursday morning we (Justin, Caitlin, John and I) left on the train to Pisa airport. Our flight was decently early, 10ish, so we had to take the train quite early to get there. We took Ryan Air, which everyone says is supposed to be a good, cheap flight but sketchy. Well good and cheap it was, sketchy it was not. It was surprisingly, one of the best flights I have ever been on. We even got the exit aisles so we had plenty of room. Besides John tormenting me by telling me we were about to crash ( i dont know if i have ever mentioned my A) fear of flying or B) the fact that I always without fail get sick), the flight was good. WE finally got to stanstead airport at only around 11ish (they are an hour behind Italy)...so we had a good full day still. We then took the train to London, and bought an oyster card which allowed us to get around London for 7 days for only 24 pounds. It seems expensive, but for the amount of trains/buses/tubes we took, we saved a lot of money.
We took the tube to Kensington, where Justin lives. His apartment is located in a very rich part of London, and was pretty nice actually. He shares it with three other guys and two girls. It is also conveniently located across from Hyde Park, which happens to be where Princess Diane used to live. So after putting our stuff down and resting for a bit, we explored Hyde Park and St. James Park (they are connected). First of all, they are huge and were orginally just used for the royal family I believe (which is incredibly selfish seeing as its ginormous. I felt soo at home. The air was crisp, the leaves were huge and crunchy, there was actually green grass, and trees, ponds, swans (lots of birds...bailey you would have loved it), and just felt like autumn. It was incredibly gorgeous, and I could have spent the entire day just sitting there.
After meeting some large swans, lots of ravens, pigeons (I can never escape those darn pigeons), ducks, and geese. The swans were my favorite. We saw the Princess Diana tribute (a really cool water like structure), the Italian fountains, Peter Pan statue, Albert memorial and much more. Basically, it was amazing.
Before dinner, Justin took us to whole foods (love, love, love). We went to Thirsty Thursday, which is their wine tasting. We had five stations to go to. First was the we were served pancetta, sage and Parmesan risotto (oh my gosh, as Rachel Ray would say...Yum-o) with their own house Fresh and wile Prosecco. They were all sparkling wines, so of course, i loved them. The second course was a beetroot, orange and feta salad served with Fresh and wild Rosato Prosecco. I loved the beets (Oma you would be happy)...I was the only one who liked it though so everyone else gave me their servings to eat. Then we had a Manhattan seafood chowder (scallops, fish, lobster..mom you would have loved it) with Lanson Noble Cuvee Brut Champagne. Then we had beef Shank in garlic, red wine and pepper served with Blue Pyrences Sparkling Shiraz. Finally, we had vacherin Moint d'or served with carmelized walnuts and Prunotto Moscato d'Asti. The wine was really yummy, the actual dessert was weird...it tasted a little like melted brie and feet. But the walnuts were good. Anyways..you can tell that I loved this event because it was like watching the food network but live and getting to sample the food. Since most of you know I obsessively watch the foodnetwork (till all hours of the night), it was pure heaven.
Anyways...we went home and Justin made us some baked ziti...yum. Then we went to see some London sites at night. Justin took us to the Parliment, Big Ben, London Eye, Piccadilly Circus and much much more...except I can't remember what they were all called. It was so wonderful. I was in awe the entire night. Afterwards, we went back and Caitlin and I collasped in the twin bed we were sharing...which saved us a lot of money!!
Friday Billy (our friend in Rome) flew into London. Justin took us around London again where we saw many of same sites and more. We saw some of the same sites, and also Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey, and the house where the have the horse guards. We got to see them change the horse guards which was pretty much pointless, but part of their tradition. It was neat to see. At Westminister Abbey we coincidentally saw our friend Michael (from SNC) outside! It was really exciting, because we were supposed to meet up with him, but it was unexpected to see him at that point. We did some more exploring, and then headed back to Justin's. There we did a little shopping on High St. Kensington where we mostly just went into H and M.
Later we went out to a pub, and that was where I drank my first beer ever. (Don't worry people...I am legal here and in the U.S. now too!) I don't like beer, but I tried a fruity one called snake bite. It was excellent. Anyways..we had a lot of fun that night, and came back exhausted.
Saturday we headed to the Camden Market!! By far, one of the best experiences ever. As we were walking down the streets, I really wished that Emily could have been there. YOu would have loved it Em. I took tons of pictures for you though. Bascially, it was really retro and hip...very emo and totally Emily. There were so many things that I wanted to buy you (wait till Christmas...I might have found you something good!!). Anyways...it was at that point that I wished my sisters were with me because there was something that they would have all loved so much. I would go into a store and be like...Andrea would love this, Bay would love this, Emily would be in heaven. So anyways, I got a little sad cause I wished I could have shared it with them. We spent majority of Saturday there and had a ton of fun. Caitlin and I went into a few vintage stores (Sammy you would have been in heaven!) where I got a hat and a vintage vest. Camden market is so huge! It had tons of food stand from around the world: Chinese, Indian, African (justin gave me a bite of his food--which i liked until i found out it was goat), Caribbean, Italian and so much more. We ate some Chinese and shopped the rest of the day. There was an antique section, clothing, jewerly, Ethnic stores, bags and even a futuristic store called Cyberdog.
Saturday afternoon we met up with Michael (studying in London), Michael M (studying in Valencia) and Magda who used to go to our school but is going to grad school in London now. We went out for fish and chips (delicious). I washed it down like the British people with a fruity beer again! Afterwards, we packed up our stuff and went home with Michael's friend Katie, who we were staying with for the rest of our stay. We took a bus (very long ride...almost an hour) to New Cross where Michael and Katie live.
On Sunday, John left us to go back to Rome. Billy, Caitlin and I went into the city by ourselves and explored for a while. We went to Picadilly Circus (which is London's Times Square) where we explored for a while. Billy then went to go meet with a Feminist group that he had discovered in London, and Caitlin and I went around a bit more. We went to the National Gallery and saw some pretty sweet photographs, pictures and paintings. We wanted to go to the Annie Lebowitz exhibit which was showing there...but it cost too much money. Then we set out to the Globe theater where we wanted to go to the pagan festival that was apparently occuring there. Well, it wasn't...but we did see the Globe (although we didn't go in because it was too expensive). WE explored around London that day, went to Trafalgar Square and other places in London. Then we met up and had dinner at Pizza hut. Which you are probably like...pizza hut? But it was like no other pizza hut. We were seated, waited on, had our order taken, had cloth napkins, and they even served wines and champagnes there. Very classy. And delicious.
On Monday, we all headed into the city to shop. There we discovered...a cheap hair salon. So since hair cuts in Italy are around 40 euro for just a trim (and Lord knows what we will get what with our lack of Italian skills), we got a haircut in London. Awesome. I was worried cause she cut a lot off, but I like it. We then met up with Caitlin's high school friend, Rob, who studies at Oxford. No big deal that he is incredibly smart and oh, also parties with Emma Watson...Yes, I said Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger....aka Harry Potter's best friend). We had tea at Whole Foods before going to wagamama...another delicious resturant. It served curry like dishes which were excellent.
Then we headed off to Her Majesty's Theater to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Now I saw that a while ago in the states with my Aunt Anita and mom and sister, but this was just amazing. I think I appreciated it more because I am older now, but it was amazing. The stage, theatrics, special effects, pit orchestra, and of course Opera music was simply amazing. I loved it so much. And it was pretty cheap to go. AHHH I can't tell you how much I wished my siblings could be there to watch it with me.
WE passed out on the cold, concrete like floor that we were sleeping on for three nights. By night two we had layered our clothing on the floor so that we could have some sort of padding. But hey, it was free, and we saved about 200 euro by not getting a hostel.
On Tuesday, we had plans to see the Tate, Abbey Road, and Kings Cross (where Harry Potter has a little platform)...but only accomplished Abbey Road. We took the tube to Abbey Road..and after asking about 5 British people, who all gave us different directions, we finally found the road. It took us about an hour, but was worth it. We crossed the road, took some great pictures, and then left our mark on the wall. Walked, signed, pictures, and go. It was an amazing finish, to an amazing trip. So if you ever head over to abbey road...look for my name!
Needless to say, this has been a long post, but only because I had such an amazing time. I can't believe how blessed and lucky I am to get to experience all these amazing things. I have really begun to appreciate everything that I have in my life. It has been such a wonderful trip so far. This has been the best decision of my life, to study abroad. It has opened me up to so many new cultures and experiences, and allowed me to see what else the world has to offer. Needless to say, I have bigger plans with my life now, which include traveling and not staying in the U.S. my whole life. I am so blessed that I have gotten this chance. I remember when all my friends and family woudl come back from studying abroad and them describing their experiences, and I was never able to see how it could be so wonderful. But now that I am here, I know that this is an experience that you cannot describe in words. So while I want to say so many things, most of my memories are in my heart and undescribleable.
I have been blessed by this opportunity and also by the people that have become a part of my life through this experience. I really have the most amazing roommates, and have bonded so well with so many people over here. I have made friends in other countries, and seen my friends in other countries. Not many people can say, oh yeah, no big deal I went to Big Ben with my closest friends. While I am half way through my experience here, I am sad that it has gone so fast. I am excited to come home and see my friends and family that I miss a lot, but will also miss everyone here so much. This has definitely shaped me, and helped me to become a more open and diverse person, and I cannot wait to see what the last few weeks will be like here.
My plans for now....this weekend Michael and Katie come visit from London.
Saturday my roommates and I are planning a Halloween party (mom, i might be a highchair!! haha)...we are going to bob for apples, dance, and play games! It's going to be great. Plus eat all the Halloween candy mom sent over!! Thanks so much!!
I am going to Barcelona the following weekend, then maybe Paris, then Rome for our field trip. In December I am going to Rothenburg for their Christmas festival, which I am extremely excited about cause Mom and Oma both love Rothenburg.
My Oma called today, and that basically made my day. She was talking about thanksgiving, and I got a bit sad cause I wasn't going to be there to celebrate with her, and eat Opa's traditional dumplings (made by Steven now) and celebrate and be with family. But hopefully, we will have our own festivities here.
Anyways...this is becomming a novel, so until next time...I love emails and mail!! So keep sending it!
Love to you all
Amy
Monday, October 20, 2008
London meets Florence
Hello all,
So as you all know, this past weekend I took the train to Rome to meet up with Justin who is studying abroad in london right now. Well, I was little nervous to take the train by myself..and even more nervous because Billy (my friend in Rome) said that all transportation was on strike the day I was getting there, and I would not be able to take buses. Luckily, the train ride wasn't bad, (besides it being sweltering hot...the price I pay for being a tight-wad and getting the crappiest train) and Billy met me at the station. WE then went back to his apartment to wait for Justin to get in from the airport.
Friday night, we just hung out and went to bed early so that we could have a full day in Rome.
Saturday, Justin and I got an early start and headed over to the Vatican. We bought a ticket that included the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and the Basicilia. It was really nice, but I actually wish I would have had more time there and a better tour guide. Ours was a girl in college, and was most definitely inappropriate. She also was not the most informed tour guide ever, and rushed us through all the museums. We literally were only in the Sistine Chapel for 4 minutes and then were herded out. Something amazing though, was that I got to see the grave of Pope John Paul the II, though I would have liked to spend a bit more time there. Hopefully in November, I will be able to spend more time there. I also got to pray in the chapel in the Basicilia. I just prayed a decade of the rosary...but it was so amazing to be in there.
We then headed out to eat lunch and do a little shopping (more Christmas presents people!!!). We got the best gelato from the gelato place that caitlin and I went to last time we were in Rome. So yummy. I got Nicciola (hazelnut), fragola (strawberry), and arancia (orange). As Rachel Ray would say, YUM-O.
So then we headed to the Coliseum...this time we went on the guided tour, which was really interesting. We were exhausted and went to Billy's. The boys cooked us a yummy Italian meal, and that night we decided to go out and take night pictures. We went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.
Needless to say, we were exhausted. On sunday, we took the train back to Flo-town (as we fondly refer to it)...and then the studying for mid-terms began.
I had my first exam today, which I think i aced..and have the last four this week.
Tonight, I made a big American meal..with a hint of Italian influence....chicken wrapped in panchetta, corn, carrots and beans sauteed, french bread, and garlic mashed potatoes complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies that leah and I made from scratch. So yummy. SO my friend Michael (the one originally from Africa) came over for dinner. So we had a nice big dinner, and all got to know eachother even better.
Tomorrow=more exams...so I should get a good night's sleep before them. On Thursday I will be heading to Pisa for the morning and then flying out ot London for the week. So I will be back on Tuesday!
Talk to you all soon!
Love
Amy
So as you all know, this past weekend I took the train to Rome to meet up with Justin who is studying abroad in london right now. Well, I was little nervous to take the train by myself..and even more nervous because Billy (my friend in Rome) said that all transportation was on strike the day I was getting there, and I would not be able to take buses. Luckily, the train ride wasn't bad, (besides it being sweltering hot...the price I pay for being a tight-wad and getting the crappiest train) and Billy met me at the station. WE then went back to his apartment to wait for Justin to get in from the airport.
Friday night, we just hung out and went to bed early so that we could have a full day in Rome.
Saturday, Justin and I got an early start and headed over to the Vatican. We bought a ticket that included the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and the Basicilia. It was really nice, but I actually wish I would have had more time there and a better tour guide. Ours was a girl in college, and was most definitely inappropriate. She also was not the most informed tour guide ever, and rushed us through all the museums. We literally were only in the Sistine Chapel for 4 minutes and then were herded out. Something amazing though, was that I got to see the grave of Pope John Paul the II, though I would have liked to spend a bit more time there. Hopefully in November, I will be able to spend more time there. I also got to pray in the chapel in the Basicilia. I just prayed a decade of the rosary...but it was so amazing to be in there.
We then headed out to eat lunch and do a little shopping (more Christmas presents people!!!). We got the best gelato from the gelato place that caitlin and I went to last time we were in Rome. So yummy. I got Nicciola (hazelnut), fragola (strawberry), and arancia (orange). As Rachel Ray would say, YUM-O.
So then we headed to the Coliseum...this time we went on the guided tour, which was really interesting. We were exhausted and went to Billy's. The boys cooked us a yummy Italian meal, and that night we decided to go out and take night pictures. We went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.
Needless to say, we were exhausted. On sunday, we took the train back to Flo-town (as we fondly refer to it)...and then the studying for mid-terms began.
I had my first exam today, which I think i aced..and have the last four this week.
Tonight, I made a big American meal..with a hint of Italian influence....chicken wrapped in panchetta, corn, carrots and beans sauteed, french bread, and garlic mashed potatoes complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies that leah and I made from scratch. So yummy. SO my friend Michael (the one originally from Africa) came over for dinner. So we had a nice big dinner, and all got to know eachother even better.
Tomorrow=more exams...so I should get a good night's sleep before them. On Thursday I will be heading to Pisa for the morning and then flying out ot London for the week. So I will be back on Tuesday!
Talk to you all soon!
Love
Amy
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Under the Tuscan Sun
Hello all,
Well it's been a while since I posted, and I am struggling to remember all the great things that have happened since then! There are always so many updates I want to tell you all, but I forget some many details and would be sitting here all day if I told you all of them.
So...last week, my roommates Leah and Laurie-Anne and I decided to go find the English movie theater. Well what a beautiful theater is was. It must have been an old opera house converted into a movie theater. The seats were plush and the most comfortable things I have ever sat in. It was incredibly beautiful. WE saw Mama Mia, which I have already seen, but love soo much. Anyways..it was really fun.
On Friday we watched the movie Under the Tuscan sun, in preparation of visiting Cortona the next day (where the movie was filmed). On saturday, my roommates and I piled onto the train in the morning and took the hour ride to Cortona. It was incredibly beautiful. We basically just walked through the town (which is very small and all enclosed in walls). First of all, when we got up there (we took a bus up very windy, hilly roads). It was so wonderful because the air was incredibly fresh and clean, and felt so great to finally be able to breathe! We went around and bascially just enjoyed the beauty that we were in. It was so wonderful, because they had pupmkins and it felt like fall. The air was so crisp and smelled so wonderful. I had a juicy apple that tasted like it had been picked fresh off the tree! We walked around town and went to the Duomo, and also saw the oldest buildings in Italy. It was really fun. We stopped at the market, and I bought a rasta braclet, and some Christmas presents for the family (so get excited!). It was a really great day!!
ON sunday, Leah and I went to Church across the bridge. We went to the Church of England, which was similar to a Catholic service, but had some differences. It was really nice, because they had a social afterwards and we went and chatted with some people. Then Leah's professor, who was there, took us to a local bakery, which was delicious. We had some pizza, and then walked around a little outside fair that had antiques. It was really fun! I spent the rest of the day working on homework.
This week, I haven't done much except for studying. I am going to Rome this weekend, to meet my friend Justin (who is studying in London). We will be staying with my friend Billy for the weekend. So since we will be there all weekend, I had to study for mid-terms this week! So ahh, hopefully I will get everything done that I need to before I leave for tomorrow.
Today, I went out with my friend Michael. I met him in the dance club a few weeks after we had been here. He is from Eritrea, which is right above Ethopia in Africa. His name is Michael, and is a really nice guy. He has been in Italy for about 7 years, and speaks Italian and English. WE went out to coffee a few weeks ago, and had a nice conversation. Today, I met him in the center and we came back to my apartment and had a really good conversation. It was amazing ot talk to him, because he explained to me about the wars in Africa and the military and all the things that were going on over there. It was amazing to hear all these stories and to learn about a culture that has interested me so deeply, but to know and befriend someone from there and learn from a person first hand about his experiences is amazing. I am so glad that we have become friends, and to be able to talk so deeply with someone about their faith, culture, politics (ours and his), and deep issue affecting the world.
Tomorrow I will be heading to Rome, and will be visiting the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc. etc. Hopefully all of it! I am really looking forward to it, and will update as soon as my midterms are done!
Until then, remember I love posts and mail/email!!! Hope to hear from you all soon!
Well it's been a while since I posted, and I am struggling to remember all the great things that have happened since then! There are always so many updates I want to tell you all, but I forget some many details and would be sitting here all day if I told you all of them.
So...last week, my roommates Leah and Laurie-Anne and I decided to go find the English movie theater. Well what a beautiful theater is was. It must have been an old opera house converted into a movie theater. The seats were plush and the most comfortable things I have ever sat in. It was incredibly beautiful. WE saw Mama Mia, which I have already seen, but love soo much. Anyways..it was really fun.
On Friday we watched the movie Under the Tuscan sun, in preparation of visiting Cortona the next day (where the movie was filmed). On saturday, my roommates and I piled onto the train in the morning and took the hour ride to Cortona. It was incredibly beautiful. We basically just walked through the town (which is very small and all enclosed in walls). First of all, when we got up there (we took a bus up very windy, hilly roads). It was so wonderful because the air was incredibly fresh and clean, and felt so great to finally be able to breathe! We went around and bascially just enjoyed the beauty that we were in. It was so wonderful, because they had pupmkins and it felt like fall. The air was so crisp and smelled so wonderful. I had a juicy apple that tasted like it had been picked fresh off the tree! We walked around town and went to the Duomo, and also saw the oldest buildings in Italy. It was really fun. We stopped at the market, and I bought a rasta braclet, and some Christmas presents for the family (so get excited!). It was a really great day!!
ON sunday, Leah and I went to Church across the bridge. We went to the Church of England, which was similar to a Catholic service, but had some differences. It was really nice, because they had a social afterwards and we went and chatted with some people. Then Leah's professor, who was there, took us to a local bakery, which was delicious. We had some pizza, and then walked around a little outside fair that had antiques. It was really fun! I spent the rest of the day working on homework.
This week, I haven't done much except for studying. I am going to Rome this weekend, to meet my friend Justin (who is studying in London). We will be staying with my friend Billy for the weekend. So since we will be there all weekend, I had to study for mid-terms this week! So ahh, hopefully I will get everything done that I need to before I leave for tomorrow.
Today, I went out with my friend Michael. I met him in the dance club a few weeks after we had been here. He is from Eritrea, which is right above Ethopia in Africa. His name is Michael, and is a really nice guy. He has been in Italy for about 7 years, and speaks Italian and English. WE went out to coffee a few weeks ago, and had a nice conversation. Today, I met him in the center and we came back to my apartment and had a really good conversation. It was amazing ot talk to him, because he explained to me about the wars in Africa and the military and all the things that were going on over there. It was amazing to hear all these stories and to learn about a culture that has interested me so deeply, but to know and befriend someone from there and learn from a person first hand about his experiences is amazing. I am so glad that we have become friends, and to be able to talk so deeply with someone about their faith, culture, politics (ours and his), and deep issue affecting the world.
Tomorrow I will be heading to Rome, and will be visiting the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc. etc. Hopefully all of it! I am really looking forward to it, and will update as soon as my midterms are done!
Until then, remember I love posts and mail/email!!! Hope to hear from you all soon!
Monday, October 6, 2008
We party...Italian style
Hello all,
So as promised...my first post as a 21 year old! This week/weekend has been amazing.
My birthday morning started out with my roommate Sarah making a enormous "german" like pancake for me. It was so large..that it almost did not fit in our oven (image a 2 foot by 2 foot pancake baking). All of the girls and I feasted on this decliciouness that consisted of a pancake like batter with bananas, lemon juice and powdered sugar sprinkled on top (or rather heaped on top since we were all craving sugar!).
My roommate Faith then showed up with the most beautiful bouquet of sunflowers, greenery and these little red berries. They are so beautiful and have not wilted a bit so far. That made me soo happy. We decided to go outside and walk around a bit for my birthday. Much to our surprise, we walked behind our building to Santa Cruce (the square behind our house) and found a GERMANFEST!!!!
Well that just made my day. As you all know, I love being german, love german food, love german people, love german chocolate, candy everything. So it was pretty much the best day ever. It also felt nice to understand a language once again around here...because they were mostly germans and austrians who knew Italian, but also german of course. Oma, you would have loved it...there were sasuage stands, weinerschnitzel stands, german beer stands, huge pretzels, german potatoes salad, sauerkraut, everything. So my roomates and I ordered bratwurst...which were probably a good foot long, and sat and ate for a while. We then decided to buy some candy at the haribo candy shop (Laurie-Ann loved it so much she invested in over 20 euros worth of candy!) I then discovered a stand with fresh pickels, marzipan, lebkuchen, and all my favorite german cookies. I decided to buy only the mazipan though, and am so glad that I did. I felt home again!!
We walked aroudn the rest of the day in search of boots, because that is really what I wanted to buy, and my shoes are all wearing out! No such luck...but I will go again this week. There are tons of boots, i just want to be in love with them!
So in the evening, we decided that we were going to go to this Italian resturant that is owned by the people of the Oil Shoppe (where we get panini's all the time). So we dressed up, and walked down there...as we walked in we realized we were the only people there! But our favorite chef was there, and we had an excellent time. The girls told him it was my birthday, and he got all excited. He gave us a bottle of wine to start with, and then prepared the most amazing meal ever. It began with bread which we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar of course. Then he brought out the antipasta platter which consisted of grilled veggies, cheese, thin meats, bruschetta and more! SOo yummy. Then he brought out three different noodle dishes....one with a cream and meat sauce, one with a red sauce and zucchini, and one gnocchi (my favorite noodle) and a cheese like sauce over it. Then he brought out our creme brulee dessert and torched it...adding a candle on top of mine and torching it on!! It was so delicious, and so fun!
My roomies then gave me a card that Laurie Anne had handpainted with a picture of boots, and they all signed it and gave me euros to go myself a nice pair of boots. They also paid for my expensive Italian dinner. So sweet of them.
This night was not just a celebration of my birthday though...it was also a celebration of our one month anniversary in Italy, and one month celebration with my roommates for being together. (In case you have not gathered yet...Caitliln and I really lucked out and have the most amazing roommates ever....we are already planning roadtrips to visit when we get home).
Then of course, we had to end the night with dancing. We have made friends with the manager at the club we go to, TWICE, and we just happened to see him earlier at the germanfest. Well, he found out it was my birthday and reserved us a section in the VIP section of the club. So there was a table and couches with a happy birthday amy, reserved for amy sign. IT was awesome. Then a little after midnight, he came over, and one of the bar tenders brought a huge bucket of ice with champagne and glasses in it and i light sparkler and we got a bottle of champagne for free! It was the best! So we danced all night long!! It was by far one of the best birthday's ever.
Friday I didn't do much, but I did go out for coffee with someone we had met here. His name is Michael, he is actually from Ethopia, Africa and has been living in Italy for 6 years. He is a very nice guy (we met him at TWICE) and we had a nice conversation. It's so amazing to see how people from all over the world follow America and politics and sometimes know more than Americans do about our country. It's shameful how little I know about the politics and issues going on around the rest of the world.
Then Caitlin and i went to the train station to find a way to go to the airport and pick up Jenn and Autumn and Amy from their flight from Spain. After about an hour trying to figure out how to get there (we took the bus, which was a first for us in Florence since we walk everywhere) we arrived at the airport. Caitlin was making fun of me cause I was tearing up at all the reunions occuring around the airport. When Jenn and Autumn got off the bus however, tears started flowing out of both my eyes and Caitlins! I had missed those girls so much (We will all be living together when we get back to the states). We just sat around and talked for a while, and then we went dancing..IT was really lame that night though..much too crowded with very creepy men...so we went home shortly after being there.
Saturday we wandered around town, showing the girls the sites and Florence. We had a really nice day with them, and then in the afternoon the boys came from Rome to stay with us (billy, john and jake). We hadn't originally planned on seeing them, but last minute they came so it was definitely a full house in Corso Dei Tintori 6. We of course went out dancing again. It was sooo fun that night...We ended up staying up really late and talking, and then called a cab for the girls to get to the airport way early in the morning.
Sunday, being so exhausted..i woke up and made a huge pot of vegetable soup because I was in the need of some comfort food. I made a huge batch because I knew the girls would come in wanting some....it was gone shortly! I love cooking and am so glad that we have a nice kitchen here. It saves us money, and makes me less stressed. Then I cleaned a lot of the apartment (it gets so dirty here) and did homework.
Today I am not feeling well (its a mixture of not getting enough sleep, the change of season, the fact that I have a chest cold, and the fact that my asthma gets worse everyday I am here). But hopefully some good night's rest will cure it, and I will be back up and around ASAP.
Love to you all.
Also, i got a postcard in the mail today (yipee!! my first piece of mail) from Emily and her two friends as well as my two youth ministers and it just made my day! So thanks Emily, Armon, Jean, Claire and Eric!
Write again soon!
Love
Amy
So as promised...my first post as a 21 year old! This week/weekend has been amazing.
My birthday morning started out with my roommate Sarah making a enormous "german" like pancake for me. It was so large..that it almost did not fit in our oven (image a 2 foot by 2 foot pancake baking). All of the girls and I feasted on this decliciouness that consisted of a pancake like batter with bananas, lemon juice and powdered sugar sprinkled on top (or rather heaped on top since we were all craving sugar!).
My roommate Faith then showed up with the most beautiful bouquet of sunflowers, greenery and these little red berries. They are so beautiful and have not wilted a bit so far. That made me soo happy. We decided to go outside and walk around a bit for my birthday. Much to our surprise, we walked behind our building to Santa Cruce (the square behind our house) and found a GERMANFEST!!!!
Well that just made my day. As you all know, I love being german, love german food, love german people, love german chocolate, candy everything. So it was pretty much the best day ever. It also felt nice to understand a language once again around here...because they were mostly germans and austrians who knew Italian, but also german of course. Oma, you would have loved it...there were sasuage stands, weinerschnitzel stands, german beer stands, huge pretzels, german potatoes salad, sauerkraut, everything. So my roomates and I ordered bratwurst...which were probably a good foot long, and sat and ate for a while. We then decided to buy some candy at the haribo candy shop (Laurie-Ann loved it so much she invested in over 20 euros worth of candy!) I then discovered a stand with fresh pickels, marzipan, lebkuchen, and all my favorite german cookies. I decided to buy only the mazipan though, and am so glad that I did. I felt home again!!
We walked aroudn the rest of the day in search of boots, because that is really what I wanted to buy, and my shoes are all wearing out! No such luck...but I will go again this week. There are tons of boots, i just want to be in love with them!
So in the evening, we decided that we were going to go to this Italian resturant that is owned by the people of the Oil Shoppe (where we get panini's all the time). So we dressed up, and walked down there...as we walked in we realized we were the only people there! But our favorite chef was there, and we had an excellent time. The girls told him it was my birthday, and he got all excited. He gave us a bottle of wine to start with, and then prepared the most amazing meal ever. It began with bread which we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar of course. Then he brought out the antipasta platter which consisted of grilled veggies, cheese, thin meats, bruschetta and more! SOo yummy. Then he brought out three different noodle dishes....one with a cream and meat sauce, one with a red sauce and zucchini, and one gnocchi (my favorite noodle) and a cheese like sauce over it. Then he brought out our creme brulee dessert and torched it...adding a candle on top of mine and torching it on!! It was so delicious, and so fun!
My roomies then gave me a card that Laurie Anne had handpainted with a picture of boots, and they all signed it and gave me euros to go myself a nice pair of boots. They also paid for my expensive Italian dinner. So sweet of them.
This night was not just a celebration of my birthday though...it was also a celebration of our one month anniversary in Italy, and one month celebration with my roommates for being together. (In case you have not gathered yet...Caitliln and I really lucked out and have the most amazing roommates ever....we are already planning roadtrips to visit when we get home).
Then of course, we had to end the night with dancing. We have made friends with the manager at the club we go to, TWICE, and we just happened to see him earlier at the germanfest. Well, he found out it was my birthday and reserved us a section in the VIP section of the club. So there was a table and couches with a happy birthday amy, reserved for amy sign. IT was awesome. Then a little after midnight, he came over, and one of the bar tenders brought a huge bucket of ice with champagne and glasses in it and i light sparkler and we got a bottle of champagne for free! It was the best! So we danced all night long!! It was by far one of the best birthday's ever.
Friday I didn't do much, but I did go out for coffee with someone we had met here. His name is Michael, he is actually from Ethopia, Africa and has been living in Italy for 6 years. He is a very nice guy (we met him at TWICE) and we had a nice conversation. It's so amazing to see how people from all over the world follow America and politics and sometimes know more than Americans do about our country. It's shameful how little I know about the politics and issues going on around the rest of the world.
Then Caitlin and i went to the train station to find a way to go to the airport and pick up Jenn and Autumn and Amy from their flight from Spain. After about an hour trying to figure out how to get there (we took the bus, which was a first for us in Florence since we walk everywhere) we arrived at the airport. Caitlin was making fun of me cause I was tearing up at all the reunions occuring around the airport. When Jenn and Autumn got off the bus however, tears started flowing out of both my eyes and Caitlins! I had missed those girls so much (We will all be living together when we get back to the states). We just sat around and talked for a while, and then we went dancing..IT was really lame that night though..much too crowded with very creepy men...so we went home shortly after being there.
Saturday we wandered around town, showing the girls the sites and Florence. We had a really nice day with them, and then in the afternoon the boys came from Rome to stay with us (billy, john and jake). We hadn't originally planned on seeing them, but last minute they came so it was definitely a full house in Corso Dei Tintori 6. We of course went out dancing again. It was sooo fun that night...We ended up staying up really late and talking, and then called a cab for the girls to get to the airport way early in the morning.
Sunday, being so exhausted..i woke up and made a huge pot of vegetable soup because I was in the need of some comfort food. I made a huge batch because I knew the girls would come in wanting some....it was gone shortly! I love cooking and am so glad that we have a nice kitchen here. It saves us money, and makes me less stressed. Then I cleaned a lot of the apartment (it gets so dirty here) and did homework.
Today I am not feeling well (its a mixture of not getting enough sleep, the change of season, the fact that I have a chest cold, and the fact that my asthma gets worse everyday I am here). But hopefully some good night's rest will cure it, and I will be back up and around ASAP.
Love to you all.
Also, i got a postcard in the mail today (yipee!! my first piece of mail) from Emily and her two friends as well as my two youth ministers and it just made my day! So thanks Emily, Armon, Jean, Claire and Eric!
Write again soon!
Love
Amy
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Happy Birthday Anita!
Happy Birthday Anita!!
Hope you have a great day! Wish you were here celebrating with me!
Love,
Amy
Hope you have a great day! Wish you were here celebrating with me!
Love,
Amy
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Finding it hard to breathe...
So....as I have been scolded at now by a couple people, I figure I should post another blog (this is for you Nicole)...its going to be a long one...
So last week, classes went pretty well. On Monday in my world religion we visited the Synagogue because we were studying the Jewish faith. It was really interesting. I was very surprised to see how the women and the men are still very sepearted in the Jewish faith (for instance, the women have to sit in a different section of the Synagogue, while the men sit in front and closer). I really enjoyed the tour and the history there. The Synagogue was beautiful. I am actually going to attend one of their services soon, because I think it will be interesting to see how their faith works and their community.
I also attended the synagogue on Tuesday with my Women and Religion class. There, we had a different tour guide, who talked more about the differences in men and women, but I actually did not enjoy this tour. The woman was very rude, and skipped over our questions if we asked something about women, and was also kind of rude about Christianity. But it was still nice to see the Synagogue again.
On Thursday night, our roomate Sara said that we were going out with an Italian. Her family knows some friends that live here, and they gave their son Richard our number and told him to call Sara. We all went with her, since no one knew him. But it was actually incredibly fun. Richard took us to a bar, where we had a drink and just sat around and talked for a while. His friend came and hung out with us then...and then we went dancing. Which is my favorite thing to do. It was super fun...it was just Sara, Caitlin and I, and then Richard and his friend, and also another boy that we met a couple weeks ago who is from Ethopia. I am hoping to make more friends while I am here that are not American. I am glad that we finally have met some Italians and locals!!
Anyways..on Saturday, Leah Sara and I woke up really early and took the train to Cinque Terre with some our school. Cinque Terre is about 100 miles north west of Florence and is filled with vineyards, and thounsands of feet of rock forms (which sara described to us in great details!) It is composed of five villages and is why it is called Cinque Terre (translation...five lands). We began by hiking between Monterosso and Vernazza. Monterosso is a land where there are many resorts, lots of crowds, and a beautiful beach. We hiked very high up into the mountain, which was a hard hike, but totally worth it.
It was incredibly beautiful. It was a steep hike, and the rocks were difficult to climb at some points, but so beautiful. It actually reminded me of St. Lucia, and made me homesick to be there actually. I did not think I could find a land that was almost as beautiful as St. Lucia, but Cinque Terre comes very close. The waters were clear, and the scenery amazing. I finally felt incredibly at home. I think I could live there.
Vernazza is the real jewel of Cinque Terre. There is not much noise around there except for the train that goes actually through the mountain. There were many people near the harbour and so many cute little outdoor restaurants and shops. We stopped to eat lunch first. The region is the birthplace of pesto, so obviously, I got pesto pizza. It was incredible. They make it with a mix of half parmigiano cow chesse and half pecorino sheep cheese, garlic, olive oil, and pine nuts. The pizza was soo good, that we decided to go to another shop and try it on their other local specialty, which is focaccia. Its a flag bread with olive oil and salf. The baker roughs up the dough with finger holes and then puts onions, sage and olive bits in it. It was also amazing.
We walked around and took pictures, before we decided to try to manuvear ourselves into our bathing suits and jump in the beautiful water. WE swam for a bit, before we got out and took the boat to Manarola. From Manarola we walked to Riomaggiore. The story goes as follows:
"The Cinque Terre towns were extremely isolated until the last century. Villagers rarely married anyone from outside their town. In the 1920's, a trail was made between the first two towns: Riomaggiore and Manarola. Happy with that trail, the villagers asked that it be improved as a permanent connection between neighbors. Persistent landslides kept the trail closer more than it was open. After WWII, the trail was reopened, and became established as a lovers' meeting point for boys and girls of the two towns. A journalist, who noticed all the amorous graffiti along the path, coined the trail's now-established name, Via dell"amore."
It was a really cool tunnel to walk through, with grafatti everywhere proclaiming people's love for one another.
This was one of my most favorite days so far in Italy. I think because it was in the countryside...I felt so at home. It was also amazing because the air was incredibly clean. I have been having a lot of trouble breathing over here with my asthma because everyone smokes everywhere and there really is no clean air.
This weekend my roomate Laurie Ann, Caitlin and I were walking aroudn the square when we stopped to listen to a band playing. They were playing some Jewish dance music, and this little old lady was dancing by herself to the music. Really fast dancing though. She turned around and I smiled at her, and then she turned around again, grabbed my hand, and started dancing with me. Haha, so this old lady and I were dancing aorund the square...I was trying to follow her steps. It was hilarious. Turns out she was from Germany, and we had a conversation in German. I actually felt really proud that I could finally speak a language and was really happy to tell my Oma about it!
I have been walking so much around here, that I wore my shoes out. I am looking for some boots to get because it is starting to get cold, and I stupidly didnt really pack warm shoes. I love walking around here, just going down random streets and discovering new things.
Today caitlin and I discovered a new market that had incredible prices. We will no longer be getting our fruit and veggies from the downstairs market! We bought 4 huge green and red peppers, 4 massive carrots, a ton of green beans, 5 tomatoes, 10 huge potatoes that looked like they had been plucked from her, a huge bunch of celery, 10 clementines and four large peaches for less than 10 euros. It was awesome.
This week has been a stressful week so far with homework and reading and tests. But I am getting through it and looking forward to this weekend.
Thursday is my 21st birthday, and I am soooo excited for it. I know what you all are thinking...I am going to go party it up, but if you know me at all, you know that I am going to be quite content to eat a nice dinner and go dancing, which is exactly what my roommates and I are going to do. So no worries about me going out and getting trashed, cause I am not interested in that!! We are going our for our first real, and expensive probably Italian meal (the one with more than one course and wine) and then going dancing. I am so excited because I really love my roommates, they are so amazing...and we are going to have a wonderful time.
On friday two of my best friends from st. Norbert, Autumn and Jenn are coming to celebrate my birthday and visit Italy. they are studying abroad in Spain right now. I am missing them like crazy, so I am super excited to have them here this weekend with me.
So, i should be studying for my first italian test tomorrow, so that is what I am going to do!
The next post will be from the wise old age of a 21 year old in Italy!!!
Miss you all very much!!
Love
Amy
Nicole: Thanks for the wonderful email and for all the cards that make me smile so much. I miss you and wish you could be here with us. Love you so much.
So last week, classes went pretty well. On Monday in my world religion we visited the Synagogue because we were studying the Jewish faith. It was really interesting. I was very surprised to see how the women and the men are still very sepearted in the Jewish faith (for instance, the women have to sit in a different section of the Synagogue, while the men sit in front and closer). I really enjoyed the tour and the history there. The Synagogue was beautiful. I am actually going to attend one of their services soon, because I think it will be interesting to see how their faith works and their community.
I also attended the synagogue on Tuesday with my Women and Religion class. There, we had a different tour guide, who talked more about the differences in men and women, but I actually did not enjoy this tour. The woman was very rude, and skipped over our questions if we asked something about women, and was also kind of rude about Christianity. But it was still nice to see the Synagogue again.
On Thursday night, our roomate Sara said that we were going out with an Italian. Her family knows some friends that live here, and they gave their son Richard our number and told him to call Sara. We all went with her, since no one knew him. But it was actually incredibly fun. Richard took us to a bar, where we had a drink and just sat around and talked for a while. His friend came and hung out with us then...and then we went dancing. Which is my favorite thing to do. It was super fun...it was just Sara, Caitlin and I, and then Richard and his friend, and also another boy that we met a couple weeks ago who is from Ethopia. I am hoping to make more friends while I am here that are not American. I am glad that we finally have met some Italians and locals!!
Anyways..on Saturday, Leah Sara and I woke up really early and took the train to Cinque Terre with some our school. Cinque Terre is about 100 miles north west of Florence and is filled with vineyards, and thounsands of feet of rock forms (which sara described to us in great details!) It is composed of five villages and is why it is called Cinque Terre (translation...five lands). We began by hiking between Monterosso and Vernazza. Monterosso is a land where there are many resorts, lots of crowds, and a beautiful beach. We hiked very high up into the mountain, which was a hard hike, but totally worth it.
It was incredibly beautiful. It was a steep hike, and the rocks were difficult to climb at some points, but so beautiful. It actually reminded me of St. Lucia, and made me homesick to be there actually. I did not think I could find a land that was almost as beautiful as St. Lucia, but Cinque Terre comes very close. The waters were clear, and the scenery amazing. I finally felt incredibly at home. I think I could live there.
Vernazza is the real jewel of Cinque Terre. There is not much noise around there except for the train that goes actually through the mountain. There were many people near the harbour and so many cute little outdoor restaurants and shops. We stopped to eat lunch first. The region is the birthplace of pesto, so obviously, I got pesto pizza. It was incredible. They make it with a mix of half parmigiano cow chesse and half pecorino sheep cheese, garlic, olive oil, and pine nuts. The pizza was soo good, that we decided to go to another shop and try it on their other local specialty, which is focaccia. Its a flag bread with olive oil and salf. The baker roughs up the dough with finger holes and then puts onions, sage and olive bits in it. It was also amazing.
We walked around and took pictures, before we decided to try to manuvear ourselves into our bathing suits and jump in the beautiful water. WE swam for a bit, before we got out and took the boat to Manarola. From Manarola we walked to Riomaggiore. The story goes as follows:
"The Cinque Terre towns were extremely isolated until the last century. Villagers rarely married anyone from outside their town. In the 1920's, a trail was made between the first two towns: Riomaggiore and Manarola. Happy with that trail, the villagers asked that it be improved as a permanent connection between neighbors. Persistent landslides kept the trail closer more than it was open. After WWII, the trail was reopened, and became established as a lovers' meeting point for boys and girls of the two towns. A journalist, who noticed all the amorous graffiti along the path, coined the trail's now-established name, Via dell"amore."
It was a really cool tunnel to walk through, with grafatti everywhere proclaiming people's love for one another.
This was one of my most favorite days so far in Italy. I think because it was in the countryside...I felt so at home. It was also amazing because the air was incredibly clean. I have been having a lot of trouble breathing over here with my asthma because everyone smokes everywhere and there really is no clean air.
This weekend my roomate Laurie Ann, Caitlin and I were walking aroudn the square when we stopped to listen to a band playing. They were playing some Jewish dance music, and this little old lady was dancing by herself to the music. Really fast dancing though. She turned around and I smiled at her, and then she turned around again, grabbed my hand, and started dancing with me. Haha, so this old lady and I were dancing aorund the square...I was trying to follow her steps. It was hilarious. Turns out she was from Germany, and we had a conversation in German. I actually felt really proud that I could finally speak a language and was really happy to tell my Oma about it!
I have been walking so much around here, that I wore my shoes out. I am looking for some boots to get because it is starting to get cold, and I stupidly didnt really pack warm shoes. I love walking around here, just going down random streets and discovering new things.
Today caitlin and I discovered a new market that had incredible prices. We will no longer be getting our fruit and veggies from the downstairs market! We bought 4 huge green and red peppers, 4 massive carrots, a ton of green beans, 5 tomatoes, 10 huge potatoes that looked like they had been plucked from her, a huge bunch of celery, 10 clementines and four large peaches for less than 10 euros. It was awesome.
This week has been a stressful week so far with homework and reading and tests. But I am getting through it and looking forward to this weekend.
Thursday is my 21st birthday, and I am soooo excited for it. I know what you all are thinking...I am going to go party it up, but if you know me at all, you know that I am going to be quite content to eat a nice dinner and go dancing, which is exactly what my roommates and I are going to do. So no worries about me going out and getting trashed, cause I am not interested in that!! We are going our for our first real, and expensive probably Italian meal (the one with more than one course and wine) and then going dancing. I am so excited because I really love my roommates, they are so amazing...and we are going to have a wonderful time.
On friday two of my best friends from st. Norbert, Autumn and Jenn are coming to celebrate my birthday and visit Italy. they are studying abroad in Spain right now. I am missing them like crazy, so I am super excited to have them here this weekend with me.
So, i should be studying for my first italian test tomorrow, so that is what I am going to do!
The next post will be from the wise old age of a 21 year old in Italy!!!
Miss you all very much!!
Love
Amy
Nicole: Thanks for the wonderful email and for all the cards that make me smile so much. I miss you and wish you could be here with us. Love you so much.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Happy Birthday Auntie Barb
Happy Birthday Auntie Barb!
Hope you had a great 65th
..thinking of you in Italy!
love,
amy
..thinking of you in Italy!
love,
amy
"All I know is I'm wet, I'm hungry, and I'm lost..."
So..another exciting and adventurous week here in Italy.
Pictures slowly being uploaded at: http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/rr141/amykroll/
Warning: This is going to be a long post!!
My classes are alright. I was honestly expecting a lot more from these classes and am very disappointed in them. My Italian is coming along, although I am not quite comfortable enough to ask questions in Italian. Hopefully that will come along soon.
My world religions class is basically a review of everything I know already. My professor is really nice, but I dont she is actually a religious studies professor, and I feel like she just kind of presents basic surface information. But I am the only religious studies major in there, so maybe its new for many people.
My religion and women class seems exciting, but kind of jumbled. She jumps from random topics to random topics. But I am excited for our research paper. We could pick any subject having to do with religion and women and I decided I wanted to research the Islamic traditions specifically in Africa where they still practice female circumcision. I am very excited to get started on that.
My history of the mafia class is alright, not much to update in that except we are watching the Godfather II and I have no idea what is going on in the movie so far. Haha. My environment conservation class is the worst class I have ever had in my entire life. Basically, she stands up in front of the class, and reads really long statements about different decisions and the environment groups around the world wrote. It is the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life, and I dread going to class. Next week we get to watch a documentary, so hopefully it will be better. We also are doing a research project in there, and I think I am going to choose how poverty and pollution are correlated.
Now on to the good stuff: ROMA!!!
This weekend Caitlin, Faith and I went to Rome. And boy was it an adventure.
We left Friday morning and walked to the train station. Once we got there, we walked around like idiots trying to figure out what train we were supposed to be on....our ticket basically said nothing on it besides that we were going from Florence to Rome. So after asking some rude people, we finally met a nice little couple who explained how the train system worked to us.
So we sat on the train for almost four hours, and when they announced that we were pulling in twenty minutes late to the Rome station on the speakers, we figured...well we are here. We hopped off the train and started walking away. When I saw the guy that was sitting by us on the train asking somebody something and running back onto the train, I got a little nervous but figured he must have got off wrong. But as it turned out of course, we were wrong. We had gotten off at a Rome station that was almost spelled the same as the actual station we were supposed to get off. So here we were stuck in Rome, knowing nothing of what to do or where we were. I personally found it hilarious!
So after asking around, we learned that we needed to buy a metro ticket and take it to our the actual train station we were supposed to be at so that we could board the bus that would take us to our hostel. We boarded the metro (which was really sketchy and I hope to never take it again). Caitlin, Faith and I liked shoved ourselves into the corner with our backpacks touching the wall, so that nobody could steal from us because we have heard really horrible things about the metro. We were only on it for like 5 minutes, but it felt like eternity especially with the creepy man just standing there leering at us and looking at us up and down. I was very grateful to get off of there.
We got outside to be greeted by a very heavy rainfall. Luckily, we had our umbrellas. So we walked around trying to figure out where the bus was that we needed to take. We knew the number, we just could not find it. I think i must have asked about 10 people before we finally found it. So we got on the bus, and hoped for the best. A very nice Italian women tried to help us (since she knew no English she wasn't very helpful, but incredibly nice and kept just smiling and nodding her head at us). Then a man helped us figure out when to get off. So after getting off the bus, we were once again lost as to how to get to our hostel. Of course we found a nice Italian who directed us there. So ten hours later, we arrived, soaking wet, hungry and a little bit crabby to our hostel.
After getting there, we put our stuff away and navigated our way to our friend Billy's house, which was by the way, on the other side of Rome. (Our hostel was not even on the map it was so far away). So we learned the bus system fast. We took a couple bus, then a tram, and walked around (soaking wet again) to Billy's apartment. Let me tell you, we were not happy campers. Our four hour trip had turned into ten long, wet hours. Billy goes to St. Norbert with us, and he had visited us with his roommates the weekend before. We basically just sat around and talked until we decided that we were exhausted and wanted to go back to the hostel. On the way home we stopped to treat ourselves to a chicken kabob and a mcflurry from mcdonalds!! It was a magnum bar mcflurry and tasted really different, but pretty good. Then we took the bus back to our hostel, and were thinking how great we were doing. As the bus started to empty, and we pulled into a alley-like road, we realized we were the only people left on the bus and the bus driver had turned off the bus. So, a little nervous, Caitlin asked the bus driver what was happening. Turns our he was just taking a thirty minute break. So we just sat there, and then got back to our hostel an hour and a half later.
We got back to the hostel, announced that we hated Rome and passed our in our beds.
The next morning we decided to get an early start to see Rome. We took the bus to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basicila. We didnt go inside the Vatican because we are going for a tour in November, but saw the outside and the Basicila. It was amazing. Then we walked around near the Vatican and stopped in a few stores. I got a new finger rosary (Andrea bought me when she was here, but it broke) and a Mother Theresa pendant. We walked down a beautiful little street and had a small lunch. Then we took another bus to the Colosseum. Immediately, some gladiators ran up to me and were like take a picture with us. So totally taken aback, Faith snapped some pictures of me, and then some more gladitors came and took pictures with all of us. Of course nothing is free, and they said "5 Euro". But we figure the pictures were worth it. We walked around, and met a hilarious British guy who we ended up talking with for about 30 mintues. Of course his ultimate goal was to take one of us out, (haha), but we had a nice talk and he told us some great places to go. So we bought a ticket and went to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.
The Roman Forum was amazing. We walked through it for about two hours...it was incredibly beautiful. Hopefully I will have a link to photobucket with my pictures. Then we went to the Colosseum and walked around for a bit. It was wonderful. Then we walked to the Trevvi Fountain, which I feel was a little overrated just because there were so many tourists. So we threw a coin in, made a wish and walked to a gelato place. We ate the most amazing gelato ever. I have nuetella, berry, and mango flavored. Then we decided maybe we should eat dinner. So we were persuaded to eat at a restaurant , and we actually had our first real Italian meal. We had a bottle of sparlking wine, and then I had bruschetta, and then homemade pasta with sasuage and mushrooms. (oma, you would have loved this meal!!) Our waiter was really nice, and actually invited us to hang out later at some of the local places!
We went to Billy's and hung out for a while. We actually played this word game which made me so crabby because I couldnt figure it out and it was making me incredibly crabby!! We went out to this dance club that was supposed to be really fun, but when we got there it was a mostly a thirty year old crowd and no one was dancing. So we ended up leaving and trying to find a night bus home. Which was another adventure! The club was cool if there would have been people dancing. IT was outisde and there was a pool. Very classy and nice.
So we packed up early, and left for the train station the next morning. It took a nice long four hours, and we finally got home.
I was super excited to go home to Florence. Rome was nice, but to visit. I am glad I am not living there. I was actually homesick for Florence. The only thing I have been homesick for so far just happens to be to Florence!!
So it was a weekend of adventure and fun. We got lost, had fun, and I had a lot of firsts.
I had my first real train ride, my first bus ride, my first time being alone in a foreign country with no one helping me, my first metro ride, my first real Italian meal, my first picture with gladiators, and my first hostel!
Sorry this has been long! I'm sure there will be many more adventures to write about soon. As for now, I have to go read my Cosa Nostra book about the Mafia!
Ciao!!
Pictures slowly being uploaded at: http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/rr141/amykroll/
Warning: This is going to be a long post!!
My classes are alright. I was honestly expecting a lot more from these classes and am very disappointed in them. My Italian is coming along, although I am not quite comfortable enough to ask questions in Italian. Hopefully that will come along soon.
My world religions class is basically a review of everything I know already. My professor is really nice, but I dont she is actually a religious studies professor, and I feel like she just kind of presents basic surface information. But I am the only religious studies major in there, so maybe its new for many people.
My religion and women class seems exciting, but kind of jumbled. She jumps from random topics to random topics. But I am excited for our research paper. We could pick any subject having to do with religion and women and I decided I wanted to research the Islamic traditions specifically in Africa where they still practice female circumcision. I am very excited to get started on that.
My history of the mafia class is alright, not much to update in that except we are watching the Godfather II and I have no idea what is going on in the movie so far. Haha. My environment conservation class is the worst class I have ever had in my entire life. Basically, she stands up in front of the class, and reads really long statements about different decisions and the environment groups around the world wrote. It is the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life, and I dread going to class. Next week we get to watch a documentary, so hopefully it will be better. We also are doing a research project in there, and I think I am going to choose how poverty and pollution are correlated.
Now on to the good stuff: ROMA!!!
This weekend Caitlin, Faith and I went to Rome. And boy was it an adventure.
We left Friday morning and walked to the train station. Once we got there, we walked around like idiots trying to figure out what train we were supposed to be on....our ticket basically said nothing on it besides that we were going from Florence to Rome. So after asking some rude people, we finally met a nice little couple who explained how the train system worked to us.
So we sat on the train for almost four hours, and when they announced that we were pulling in twenty minutes late to the Rome station on the speakers, we figured...well we are here. We hopped off the train and started walking away. When I saw the guy that was sitting by us on the train asking somebody something and running back onto the train, I got a little nervous but figured he must have got off wrong. But as it turned out of course, we were wrong. We had gotten off at a Rome station that was almost spelled the same as the actual station we were supposed to get off. So here we were stuck in Rome, knowing nothing of what to do or where we were. I personally found it hilarious!
So after asking around, we learned that we needed to buy a metro ticket and take it to our the actual train station we were supposed to be at so that we could board the bus that would take us to our hostel. We boarded the metro (which was really sketchy and I hope to never take it again). Caitlin, Faith and I liked shoved ourselves into the corner with our backpacks touching the wall, so that nobody could steal from us because we have heard really horrible things about the metro. We were only on it for like 5 minutes, but it felt like eternity especially with the creepy man just standing there leering at us and looking at us up and down. I was very grateful to get off of there.
We got outside to be greeted by a very heavy rainfall. Luckily, we had our umbrellas. So we walked around trying to figure out where the bus was that we needed to take. We knew the number, we just could not find it. I think i must have asked about 10 people before we finally found it. So we got on the bus, and hoped for the best. A very nice Italian women tried to help us (since she knew no English she wasn't very helpful, but incredibly nice and kept just smiling and nodding her head at us). Then a man helped us figure out when to get off. So after getting off the bus, we were once again lost as to how to get to our hostel. Of course we found a nice Italian who directed us there. So ten hours later, we arrived, soaking wet, hungry and a little bit crabby to our hostel.
After getting there, we put our stuff away and navigated our way to our friend Billy's house, which was by the way, on the other side of Rome. (Our hostel was not even on the map it was so far away). So we learned the bus system fast. We took a couple bus, then a tram, and walked around (soaking wet again) to Billy's apartment. Let me tell you, we were not happy campers. Our four hour trip had turned into ten long, wet hours. Billy goes to St. Norbert with us, and he had visited us with his roommates the weekend before. We basically just sat around and talked until we decided that we were exhausted and wanted to go back to the hostel. On the way home we stopped to treat ourselves to a chicken kabob and a mcflurry from mcdonalds!! It was a magnum bar mcflurry and tasted really different, but pretty good. Then we took the bus back to our hostel, and were thinking how great we were doing. As the bus started to empty, and we pulled into a alley-like road, we realized we were the only people left on the bus and the bus driver had turned off the bus. So, a little nervous, Caitlin asked the bus driver what was happening. Turns our he was just taking a thirty minute break. So we just sat there, and then got back to our hostel an hour and a half later.
We got back to the hostel, announced that we hated Rome and passed our in our beds.
The next morning we decided to get an early start to see Rome. We took the bus to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basicila. We didnt go inside the Vatican because we are going for a tour in November, but saw the outside and the Basicila. It was amazing. Then we walked around near the Vatican and stopped in a few stores. I got a new finger rosary (Andrea bought me when she was here, but it broke) and a Mother Theresa pendant. We walked down a beautiful little street and had a small lunch. Then we took another bus to the Colosseum. Immediately, some gladiators ran up to me and were like take a picture with us. So totally taken aback, Faith snapped some pictures of me, and then some more gladitors came and took pictures with all of us. Of course nothing is free, and they said "5 Euro". But we figure the pictures were worth it. We walked around, and met a hilarious British guy who we ended up talking with for about 30 mintues. Of course his ultimate goal was to take one of us out, (haha), but we had a nice talk and he told us some great places to go. So we bought a ticket and went to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.
The Roman Forum was amazing. We walked through it for about two hours...it was incredibly beautiful. Hopefully I will have a link to photobucket with my pictures. Then we went to the Colosseum and walked around for a bit. It was wonderful. Then we walked to the Trevvi Fountain, which I feel was a little overrated just because there were so many tourists. So we threw a coin in, made a wish and walked to a gelato place. We ate the most amazing gelato ever. I have nuetella, berry, and mango flavored. Then we decided maybe we should eat dinner. So we were persuaded to eat at a restaurant , and we actually had our first real Italian meal. We had a bottle of sparlking wine, and then I had bruschetta, and then homemade pasta with sasuage and mushrooms. (oma, you would have loved this meal!!) Our waiter was really nice, and actually invited us to hang out later at some of the local places!
We went to Billy's and hung out for a while. We actually played this word game which made me so crabby because I couldnt figure it out and it was making me incredibly crabby!! We went out to this dance club that was supposed to be really fun, but when we got there it was a mostly a thirty year old crowd and no one was dancing. So we ended up leaving and trying to find a night bus home. Which was another adventure! The club was cool if there would have been people dancing. IT was outisde and there was a pool. Very classy and nice.
So we packed up early, and left for the train station the next morning. It took a nice long four hours, and we finally got home.
I was super excited to go home to Florence. Rome was nice, but to visit. I am glad I am not living there. I was actually homesick for Florence. The only thing I have been homesick for so far just happens to be to Florence!!
So it was a weekend of adventure and fun. We got lost, had fun, and I had a lot of firsts.
I had my first real train ride, my first bus ride, my first time being alone in a foreign country with no one helping me, my first metro ride, my first real Italian meal, my first picture with gladiators, and my first hostel!
Sorry this has been long! I'm sure there will be many more adventures to write about soon. As for now, I have to go read my Cosa Nostra book about the Mafia!
Ciao!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
VIP nightlife
So after my first week of classes was finished, we decided that we wanted to have fun this weekend.
Caitlin and I worked it out so that we dont have classes on Thursday or Friday. So Thursday we slept in (which is actually what we do a lot of the days because we are still not on a good sleep schedule and have trouble falling asleep at night).
Sidenote: our neighbors are playing the song ku fu fighting right now, and must have it on repeat because this is about the 5th time I have heard the song in a row now.
Anyways..Caitlin and I walked around with three of my roomates around Florence in the shopping district. We wanted to check out all the local artists and the shopping that is around here. While we found some very expensive American like stores, we also found very cute local stores with less expensive items. I have not bought anything though because I am only going to buy something that I really love so I can save money for traveling. We then picked up some more of our school books, and walked to the art store. Laurie Ann is an artist, and an amazing one (check out her work at http://www.laurieannejohnson.com) . Jenna, you would have been in heaven at this cute little art store, it was so adorable that I even bought some of nice writing markers. Well she had to buy well over 300 American dollars for her art supplies and we helped her lug them back home. Boy, was it a lot. Who knew that large canvases could feel like you were carrying a small dinosaur?
So after that, the girls and I all got dressed up to go for a night out on the town. We decided to walk to a bar called the Noir that is very classy and located near the Ponte Vecchio. We went there for appretivo, which is where you order a drink and get free appetizers buffet style. It was very crowded when we got there, so since there were eight of us, they escorted us to their...now wait for it....VIP room. So we were lead through some massive doors to a black velvet carpeted room, that was super classy and ritzy. Needless to say, we felt pretty great. I ordered a drink that was much too strong for my taste and only had a little bit of it. They seem to forget to put the juice and flavors in the drinks here and pour a lot of alcohol in instead, which is too much for me. (Being as my favorite drink is sparkling grape juice! haha)
So afterwards we decided we wanted to dance. We went to this dance club/bar called Twice. It was amazing because there was no cover charge like most of the other dance clubs, and you did not have to buy a drink to stay there (which was great cause the cheapest drink was 12 american dollars and a water bottle cost us 5 dollars when we did buy it). We had so much fun!
Anyways, the next day, our friend Billy from St. norbert and two of his roommates came to visit us. They are studying abroad in Rome. We were going to show them around Florence, until our first thunderstorm in Italy occured. But boy was it nice to finally have the weather cool off. Since Friday, it has been raining all weekend and the weather is cooling off. So the boys wanted to go out dancing, and we took them along with us to twice. But first we wanted to check out this other place we heard of called the fish pub. It was noisy and crowded so we headed to twice and danced the night away to the techno music that was the theme for the night. We had a ton of fun, and stayed out very late. I was exhausted the next day though, seeing as I am not used to staying out so late, especially two nights in a row (the night life scene isnt as thriving in good old de pere as it is here).
On saturday we just lounged around with my roomates and our visiting friends, and then cooked a large, delicious dinner for all of them. They wanted to go out again, and we were all a little tired, but being the hosts, we went out with them. (this was over my limit of how much I can go out!!) So when a series of events led us back home in less than an hour, I was very happy to jump into my pj's and watch a movie with Caitlin.
Today I lounged again and did homework. Lots of reading to do. But the classes are interesting, which makes it better. I have been feeling a bit sick (kind of like my bronchitis was coming back...so I have been resting and popping vitamin C pills all day). Hopefully the fact that I have been taking all my extra daily vitamins since I have been here will kick that little bug that keeps infecting me in the behind.
Anyways, I am going to go make dinner. Hope everyone back home is enjoying the cold weather that I hear is overtaking wisconsin, and that everyone abroad is enjoying their experience.
Love to you all
Amy
Caitlin and I worked it out so that we dont have classes on Thursday or Friday. So Thursday we slept in (which is actually what we do a lot of the days because we are still not on a good sleep schedule and have trouble falling asleep at night).
Sidenote: our neighbors are playing the song ku fu fighting right now, and must have it on repeat because this is about the 5th time I have heard the song in a row now.
Anyways..Caitlin and I walked around with three of my roomates around Florence in the shopping district. We wanted to check out all the local artists and the shopping that is around here. While we found some very expensive American like stores, we also found very cute local stores with less expensive items. I have not bought anything though because I am only going to buy something that I really love so I can save money for traveling. We then picked up some more of our school books, and walked to the art store. Laurie Ann is an artist, and an amazing one (check out her work at http://www.laurieannejohnson.com) . Jenna, you would have been in heaven at this cute little art store, it was so adorable that I even bought some of nice writing markers. Well she had to buy well over 300 American dollars for her art supplies and we helped her lug them back home. Boy, was it a lot. Who knew that large canvases could feel like you were carrying a small dinosaur?
So after that, the girls and I all got dressed up to go for a night out on the town. We decided to walk to a bar called the Noir that is very classy and located near the Ponte Vecchio. We went there for appretivo, which is where you order a drink and get free appetizers buffet style. It was very crowded when we got there, so since there were eight of us, they escorted us to their...now wait for it....VIP room. So we were lead through some massive doors to a black velvet carpeted room, that was super classy and ritzy. Needless to say, we felt pretty great. I ordered a drink that was much too strong for my taste and only had a little bit of it. They seem to forget to put the juice and flavors in the drinks here and pour a lot of alcohol in instead, which is too much for me. (Being as my favorite drink is sparkling grape juice! haha)
So afterwards we decided we wanted to dance. We went to this dance club/bar called Twice. It was amazing because there was no cover charge like most of the other dance clubs, and you did not have to buy a drink to stay there (which was great cause the cheapest drink was 12 american dollars and a water bottle cost us 5 dollars when we did buy it). We had so much fun!
Anyways, the next day, our friend Billy from St. norbert and two of his roommates came to visit us. They are studying abroad in Rome. We were going to show them around Florence, until our first thunderstorm in Italy occured. But boy was it nice to finally have the weather cool off. Since Friday, it has been raining all weekend and the weather is cooling off. So the boys wanted to go out dancing, and we took them along with us to twice. But first we wanted to check out this other place we heard of called the fish pub. It was noisy and crowded so we headed to twice and danced the night away to the techno music that was the theme for the night. We had a ton of fun, and stayed out very late. I was exhausted the next day though, seeing as I am not used to staying out so late, especially two nights in a row (the night life scene isnt as thriving in good old de pere as it is here).
On saturday we just lounged around with my roomates and our visiting friends, and then cooked a large, delicious dinner for all of them. They wanted to go out again, and we were all a little tired, but being the hosts, we went out with them. (this was over my limit of how much I can go out!!) So when a series of events led us back home in less than an hour, I was very happy to jump into my pj's and watch a movie with Caitlin.
Today I lounged again and did homework. Lots of reading to do. But the classes are interesting, which makes it better. I have been feeling a bit sick (kind of like my bronchitis was coming back...so I have been resting and popping vitamin C pills all day). Hopefully the fact that I have been taking all my extra daily vitamins since I have been here will kick that little bug that keeps infecting me in the behind.
Anyways, I am going to go make dinner. Hope everyone back home is enjoying the cold weather that I hear is overtaking wisconsin, and that everyone abroad is enjoying their experience.
Love to you all
Amy
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
So Many updates....
So, I have been here in beautiful Florence Italy for over a week now, and it has been wonderful.
We went to a shop called the Oil shoppe for lunch and it was so delicious. They make your sandwhich and then grill it (a panini), but for some reason it is way more delicious than any other sandwhich I have ever had. We then walked through the outdoor market....very overwhelming. We went to the indoor part of the market where the food is located and were hit with the overwhelming smell of a barn. The downstairs consisted of meats and cheeses, and some items that were supposed to be meat, but actually just looked like of heap of murdered animal. So needless to say, we passed by the meat because and went upstairs to the vendors. Upstairs, the locals were selling fresh fruit and veggies, olive oil, noodles, and spices. We bought lots of fresh fruit and veggies and other necessities to cook with, so that we could start saving some money by not going out everyday. We later found out that it is only cheaper to buy the fruits and veggies there, and buy the rest at our local market. Right underneath our apartment is a market called the Magi. They have the essentials, and Caitlin and I shop there pretty much everyday. Its so convenient because if we need something really last minute, we can just run downstairs and grab it.
On friday night we decided to stay in and do some good old fashioned roommate bonding. I am so blessed..I love my roommates to death. First there is Laurie-Ann. We call her our mom. She is a super senior at her college in Alabama and is 22 years old. Shes like our little southern mama. Then there is Faith. Faith is from the Chicago area but goes to school in California. She is so fun to be around....and her fashion style reminds me of the Olson sisters. She is adorable. Then there is Sarah...she is from the Chicago area also. She is so fun, because she her humor is just like mine and Caitlins. She just comes waltzing in the room, announces something random, and leaves. Her roommate Leah reminds me of our friend Jenn. She is very quiet, but then will burst out of nowhere with the most hilarious comments. She also sasses us right back, so we love it. Then there is Morgaine...Morgaine lived in ENglad for a good deal of her life, but now lives in Hawaii, but goes to school in Vermont. She is crazy, and a ton of fun. Her roomate Tracy is from Boston and goes to school with her in Vermont. She is also a crazy fun girl.
So basically we just bonded this past weekend...doing a personality test that Faith just happens to carry around with her, playing cards, and of course dancing.
On Saturday we went on a walking tour with our school. We walked for about three and a half hours, but it was well worth it. We traveled over the bridge to the other side of Florence, where the actual Florentines live. It is more peaceful there, and there is a lot more greenery. The part that we are in is more of the touristy area. Tomorrow, since Caitlin and I dont have class, we are going to put on our tennies and walk up to the vineyards and the green part of Florence to discover the countryside. I am hoping to get some good hiking in over there these next couple of months. We then had a free cocktail and food at Gonzo, the schools restaurant. And of course we went since...free is still afterall my middle name.
On Sunday the girls and I had a great idea to walk down to the supposedly beautiful park "down the road." Well the down the road was more like a 45 minute walk in the sweltering heat (by the way, its been in the 90's the whole time we have been here). We got there to find construction and tape all around the "beautiful" park. The park also happened to be not that shaded, and well the grass was dead. So we laid our blankets in the dirt and leaves and sat for about 20 minutes before deciding that the park adventure was a bust. But it was great bonding time, especially when an Italian man keep circling us on a bike over and over talking to us in a language we did not actually understand. But it was an adventure all the same!
Monday I started classes. It was so nice to start getting into a schedule and what not. I had Italian on Monday, which was extremely hard for me. Languages have never been my strong suit, and he began the class by talking very quickly in Italian. I kind of wanted to cry. Caitlin is going to help me though, cause otherwise i might just fail!! ahhh.
I also had world religions on monday. I am super excited for that class. We will be looking more in depth into the Buddhist and Islamic religions which I am super excited to explore deeper. Hopefully, I will be able to develop even more spiritually while I am here. We will also be visiting some churches and museums.
On Tuesday I had Women and Religion which I am very excited about. Caitlin was freaking out a bit about the class, because it is a little out of her element, but I think the class is going to be wonderful. We are going to be traveling to Rome for the day for this class, as well as do a lot of
visits to the mosques and other spiritual places. The first day, our professor sent us out onto the streets of Florence to find different portrayals of women throughout Florence.
We also had our history of the mafia class. Our professor has a very strong accent and talks very fast, so it was a bit hard to understand. I think the class will be interesting and probably break a lot of stereotypes that we all have of the mafia due to our medias portrayal of it.
Today I again had Italian (eek) and Environmental Conservation. That class is extremly dull, and it going to be a beast, because our professor is actually kind of boring and the content seems extremely boring also. So we will see what the class brings us.
We have been eating a lot of pizza from this cute little pizza shop just down the road. It is called mi amore pizza, and the women there is a little older woman who is absolutely adorable. She doesnt speak English, and we dont speak Italian (yet), but she often helps us pronounce the words of what is on the pizza. We also had gelato here a few times, and man is that yummy.
Ahh, but enough for now. I will post more after we travel to the countryside of Italy.
For now, I am feeling pretty good, not that homesick, but do miss everyone, especially my family. Hope everyone is doing well. I do have interent in my room, so if you want to talk to me...download skype (its free) and we can chat!!
Love to all..
Amy
We went to a shop called the Oil shoppe for lunch and it was so delicious. They make your sandwhich and then grill it (a panini), but for some reason it is way more delicious than any other sandwhich I have ever had. We then walked through the outdoor market....very overwhelming. We went to the indoor part of the market where the food is located and were hit with the overwhelming smell of a barn. The downstairs consisted of meats and cheeses, and some items that were supposed to be meat, but actually just looked like of heap of murdered animal. So needless to say, we passed by the meat because and went upstairs to the vendors. Upstairs, the locals were selling fresh fruit and veggies, olive oil, noodles, and spices. We bought lots of fresh fruit and veggies and other necessities to cook with, so that we could start saving some money by not going out everyday. We later found out that it is only cheaper to buy the fruits and veggies there, and buy the rest at our local market. Right underneath our apartment is a market called the Magi. They have the essentials, and Caitlin and I shop there pretty much everyday. Its so convenient because if we need something really last minute, we can just run downstairs and grab it.
On friday night we decided to stay in and do some good old fashioned roommate bonding. I am so blessed..I love my roommates to death. First there is Laurie-Ann. We call her our mom. She is a super senior at her college in Alabama and is 22 years old. Shes like our little southern mama. Then there is Faith. Faith is from the Chicago area but goes to school in California. She is so fun to be around....and her fashion style reminds me of the Olson sisters. She is adorable. Then there is Sarah...she is from the Chicago area also. She is so fun, because she her humor is just like mine and Caitlins. She just comes waltzing in the room, announces something random, and leaves. Her roommate Leah reminds me of our friend Jenn. She is very quiet, but then will burst out of nowhere with the most hilarious comments. She also sasses us right back, so we love it. Then there is Morgaine...Morgaine lived in ENglad for a good deal of her life, but now lives in Hawaii, but goes to school in Vermont. She is crazy, and a ton of fun. Her roomate Tracy is from Boston and goes to school with her in Vermont. She is also a crazy fun girl.
So basically we just bonded this past weekend...doing a personality test that Faith just happens to carry around with her, playing cards, and of course dancing.
On Saturday we went on a walking tour with our school. We walked for about three and a half hours, but it was well worth it. We traveled over the bridge to the other side of Florence, where the actual Florentines live. It is more peaceful there, and there is a lot more greenery. The part that we are in is more of the touristy area. Tomorrow, since Caitlin and I dont have class, we are going to put on our tennies and walk up to the vineyards and the green part of Florence to discover the countryside. I am hoping to get some good hiking in over there these next couple of months. We then had a free cocktail and food at Gonzo, the schools restaurant. And of course we went since...free is still afterall my middle name.
On Sunday the girls and I had a great idea to walk down to the supposedly beautiful park "down the road." Well the down the road was more like a 45 minute walk in the sweltering heat (by the way, its been in the 90's the whole time we have been here). We got there to find construction and tape all around the "beautiful" park. The park also happened to be not that shaded, and well the grass was dead. So we laid our blankets in the dirt and leaves and sat for about 20 minutes before deciding that the park adventure was a bust. But it was great bonding time, especially when an Italian man keep circling us on a bike over and over talking to us in a language we did not actually understand. But it was an adventure all the same!
Monday I started classes. It was so nice to start getting into a schedule and what not. I had Italian on Monday, which was extremely hard for me. Languages have never been my strong suit, and he began the class by talking very quickly in Italian. I kind of wanted to cry. Caitlin is going to help me though, cause otherwise i might just fail!! ahhh.
I also had world religions on monday. I am super excited for that class. We will be looking more in depth into the Buddhist and Islamic religions which I am super excited to explore deeper. Hopefully, I will be able to develop even more spiritually while I am here. We will also be visiting some churches and museums.
On Tuesday I had Women and Religion which I am very excited about. Caitlin was freaking out a bit about the class, because it is a little out of her element, but I think the class is going to be wonderful. We are going to be traveling to Rome for the day for this class, as well as do a lot of
visits to the mosques and other spiritual places. The first day, our professor sent us out onto the streets of Florence to find different portrayals of women throughout Florence.
We also had our history of the mafia class. Our professor has a very strong accent and talks very fast, so it was a bit hard to understand. I think the class will be interesting and probably break a lot of stereotypes that we all have of the mafia due to our medias portrayal of it.
Today I again had Italian (eek) and Environmental Conservation. That class is extremly dull, and it going to be a beast, because our professor is actually kind of boring and the content seems extremely boring also. So we will see what the class brings us.
We have been eating a lot of pizza from this cute little pizza shop just down the road. It is called mi amore pizza, and the women there is a little older woman who is absolutely adorable. She doesnt speak English, and we dont speak Italian (yet), but she often helps us pronounce the words of what is on the pizza. We also had gelato here a few times, and man is that yummy.
Ahh, but enough for now. I will post more after we travel to the countryside of Italy.
For now, I am feeling pretty good, not that homesick, but do miss everyone, especially my family. Hope everyone is doing well. I do have interent in my room, so if you want to talk to me...download skype (its free) and we can chat!!
Love to all..
Amy
Thursday, September 4, 2008
settling in...
Well....
day two. We had our first Florence University of the Arts orientation today, and it went well. They informed us about a lot of one day trips or weekend trips that we can participate in, for not that much money. So I am super excited because hopefully I will be able to go on some trips around Italy without losing all of my money.
They also informed us about a lot of free things that we can do around campus and Florence. Since free is my middle name, I decided I am going to participate in all of these activities. For instance, there is a free DANCE class, so obviously, I will be taking this. So be prepared to go out dancing with me because if you thought my moves were good before I left...just wait till I get back home! :)
They also have pilates classes and yoga...which I am hopefully going to participate in. Also, it sounds like you can play rec soccer, and I might take a look into that, because I miss playing soccer so much.
I only have classes Monday-wednesday (which yes, I did plan!)
So i will be taking Intro into Italian, History of the Mafia, Environmental Conservation, world religions and women and religion.
I am excited to get a schedule going and start a plan (cause as most of you know, i like plans and i like checking things off!!!).....
Well anyways...I am about to go to a meeting about living in Florence....so I will update when I have more exciting things to update about.
Ciao!! (also i will learn a new word soon so that I can write something else!)
day two. We had our first Florence University of the Arts orientation today, and it went well. They informed us about a lot of one day trips or weekend trips that we can participate in, for not that much money. So I am super excited because hopefully I will be able to go on some trips around Italy without losing all of my money.
They also informed us about a lot of free things that we can do around campus and Florence. Since free is my middle name, I decided I am going to participate in all of these activities. For instance, there is a free DANCE class, so obviously, I will be taking this. So be prepared to go out dancing with me because if you thought my moves were good before I left...just wait till I get back home! :)
They also have pilates classes and yoga...which I am hopefully going to participate in. Also, it sounds like you can play rec soccer, and I might take a look into that, because I miss playing soccer so much.
I only have classes Monday-wednesday (which yes, I did plan!)
So i will be taking Intro into Italian, History of the Mafia, Environmental Conservation, world religions and women and religion.
I am excited to get a schedule going and start a plan (cause as most of you know, i like plans and i like checking things off!!!).....
Well anyways...I am about to go to a meeting about living in Florence....so I will update when I have more exciting things to update about.
Ciao!! (also i will learn a new word soon so that I can write something else!)
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Arrival
Hey everyone,
Well I flew into Florence with Caitlin last night and we got to our school around 8pm. We got our apartment assignments and were so close that we walked to our apartment. HOwever, once we got there, we realized that we had the wrong keys. So after some walking back and exchanging, we got into our new apartment. It is huge. We have a nice kitchen (with two fridges, not one!), two single bedrooms, and three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a living room. They are all really nice and spacious. Kind of bare, but huge! I have seven roommates: including Cailtin they are Laurie Ann, Faith, Tracy, Morgaine, Leah, and Sara. WE have been getting along very nicely, and I am looking forward to living with them.ù
The flights went pretty well, all things considered (which would be my fear of flying and the fact that I get sick on every plane ride). But I sucked it up, and felt sick for only a part of the time (probably due to the fact that I knocked myself out with motion sickness meds!) So we got here safe and sound.
Caitlin and I ate our first Italian meal of pizza. I am not sure what was on it, but it was delicious. We walked around a little bit today and saw such beautiful things. I cant wait to explore the city more.
Its very surreal that I am here. I dont think it has hit me yet that this is where I will be living for the next four months. I am excited and sick about it at the same time. Right now, I just feel like I am on a short vacation. I am a bit homesick, when I think about all the people that I love that I left bedhind.
But thats all for now, because they are closing the internet lab!
Will update more when I get a chance. But for now, Ciao!
Well I flew into Florence with Caitlin last night and we got to our school around 8pm. We got our apartment assignments and were so close that we walked to our apartment. HOwever, once we got there, we realized that we had the wrong keys. So after some walking back and exchanging, we got into our new apartment. It is huge. We have a nice kitchen (with two fridges, not one!), two single bedrooms, and three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a living room. They are all really nice and spacious. Kind of bare, but huge! I have seven roommates: including Cailtin they are Laurie Ann, Faith, Tracy, Morgaine, Leah, and Sara. WE have been getting along very nicely, and I am looking forward to living with them.ù
The flights went pretty well, all things considered (which would be my fear of flying and the fact that I get sick on every plane ride). But I sucked it up, and felt sick for only a part of the time (probably due to the fact that I knocked myself out with motion sickness meds!) So we got here safe and sound.
Caitlin and I ate our first Italian meal of pizza. I am not sure what was on it, but it was delicious. We walked around a little bit today and saw such beautiful things. I cant wait to explore the city more.
Its very surreal that I am here. I dont think it has hit me yet that this is where I will be living for the next four months. I am excited and sick about it at the same time. Right now, I just feel like I am on a short vacation. I am a bit homesick, when I think about all the people that I love that I left bedhind.
But thats all for now, because they are closing the internet lab!
Will update more when I get a chance. But for now, Ciao!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Jitters!!
Hey everyone,
Well it's two days before I leave America for the beautiful land of Florence, Italy. Caitlin (my roommate) and I will be flying out of O'Hare at 10pm on September, and will arrive in Florence September 2nd around 5pm.
I have finished packing for the most part, and have all my documents ready to go (I think!!) HOpefully my suitcases are not over 50 pounds each.
Last weekend I got to visit St. Norberts for one last time before I go abroad. It was nice to see my friends that will be staying there this semester, but also hard to say goodbye to them for over four months. I started to feel upset about all the things I will be missing (apple picking, dances, thanksgiving etc), but am very excited for the new things I will get to participate in while I am abroad.
Caitlin and I have a mandatory field trip to Rome in November and we hope to travel all aroud Italy. I also am planning on going to London for my fall break. I have friends in London, Spain, Germany and family in Germany, so I hope to visit those friends as well as travel to other countries while I am there.
So this will probably be my last post before I go to Italy, but I will keep everyone updated while I am there. Until then, talk to you all later!
Goodbye America, hello Italy!!
Amy-
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