Parigi

Sean and I went finally made it to bed at 2:30 after our night out in Florence, but then her alarm rudely woke us up at 4:40 so we could catch a taxi to the airport. European airports, we soon learned, are not like US airports where you need to be there 3 hours before an international flight. No, in a total of 36 minutes we made it across town, checked in, went through security and were sitting with espresso and croissant in hand at our gate. Later that afternoon we arrived in Paris to meet Alex and her parents at the Weston Hotel (it's going to be hard to go back to hostel living after this weekend). It was Alex's 21st birthday so we slipped on our little black dresses and all went out for champagne then a MAGNIFICENT dinner where Sean, Alex and I happily did not order yet another pasta dish. We then went out to Club VIP where we started the dance party (and by "we" I mean Alex's parents who probably out danced and drank us girls). After a long day and fabulous night we crashed on our very comfy, 5-star, down feather beds.

The next morning we got up early to visit the Louvre. Alex, Sean and I are all Art History majors so it was the equivalent of a trip to Disneyland for us! I had visited the Louvre in 7th grade on a family vacation so I was old enough to remember seeing some of the pieces, but definitely not old enough to appreciate it! We then just walked around Paris for the rest of the afternoon, ate some crepes, did some shopping (no, mom I was good and didn't buy anything!), walked past a Starbucks and didn't get anything - big step for me, and then headed back to the hotel to take the most epic nap of our lives. Unfortunately later that night Alex and her mom came down with the stomach flu so Sean and I set off to lazily stroll the streets of Paris for the rest of the evening.

Sunday was a long day of traveling and we were a mess! We got made fun off by the security guy for each having mismatched sox, then I set of the metal detector, had to be patted down, and have my bag searched. The rest of the day just followed suit including spilled drinks, chocolate stains on the blouse, tripping over boots, and almost leaving tickets and a blackberry on a bus- so we were happy when our bus pulled into Siena at 8:45 last night!

Thank Goodness for Siena

On Thursday, after having a walking class in Florence with my Italian Culture History class, Sean and I decided to stay the night because we had to catch an 8:30 flight to Paris the next morning. We both have friends studying in Florence, so we had a big group dinner with Sean and her roommate from Colgate, and then my friend David, Kay and Claire (the last two are studying in Bologna). Dinner was great then we decided to meet up with some people on the Syracuse Program for a night out in the big city. It was amazing the difference between Florence and Siena in terms of night life and daily interactions with the locals. There are Americans and tourists everywhere in Florence. We went to a bar and everyone there was on some sort of study abroad program. Also, if you try and speak Italian to anyone they just automatically respond in English. Where as in Siena, I only speak Italian and the people really try to work with me and my limited knowledge of the language. Also, there are almost no Americans in Siena so it was weird to hear English at the bar. Sean and I were both saying how we had debated between studying in Florence and Siena and now how glad we are that we decided to go to Siena! As we were leaving I ran into my high school friend Ryan on the street - I guess it's true what they say about Country Dayers always seeming to find each other!

10 Easy Steps to Becoming Italian

After three weeks of living in Italy I think my friends and I have finally figured out how to live like a true member of the Sienese culture. Just follow their basic rules:

1) Always wear a scarf (guys and girls - yes, I've seen more bright purple scarves on straight men here than on women), boots, oversized glasses, and die your hair black (I'm failing at the last one).

2) Drink at least 3 cups of coffee aka-espresso shots a day.

3) Have a croissant for breakfast at 9, pasta for lunch at 2, panino with prosciutto and cheese for a snack followed by gelato at 5, and another large helping of pasta, pizza or some sort of mystery meat around 8:30 with several large glasses of wine.

4) Close shop and go home between 12:30-4:30

5) Go to local bar/club on Tuesdays. Odds are you should be wearing some sort of costume

6) Leave 4 days to do laundry seeing as the washers are 1/2 the size as in the US and they don't have dryers.

7) Eat basically 5000 calories a day (see #3 to achieve this goal), yet still remain ungodly thin.

8) Don't smile at strangers on the street - old people and women will give you a "why are you smiling at me when you don't know me look" and young men will think it's an open invitation to stare and tell you how beautiful you are (may sound flattering, but it's just annoying).

9) Keep everything extremely clean, Italians are neat-freaks.

10) Only have one light on in the house, turn off the running water when washing your hair, scrub all dishes with soap then rinse all together (one would think they are really concerned about the environment - not at all, they just have an insanely expensive utilities bill)

Hopefully now if you come to Italy you will not have complete culture shock!

Towers, Walls and Confetti

Sparknotes version of this weekend: Pisa, Lucca, then Viareggio - 3 cities, 2 days.

Pisa: Got there and it was drizzling. Not that great of a city except for the Leaning Tower and the Church. When we saw it we were all like, "wooaahh it's actually leaning.." now this may sound like a dumb comment considering it's called "The Leaning Tower of Pisa" but it's far more impressive in person, so don't judge till you see it! Of course we all did our obnoxious tourist pictures holding up/kicking down/pushing the tower then quickly hopped on the next bus to Lucca.

Lucca: AAMMAAZZZINNGG has to be one of my favorite towns in Italy so far. Surrounded by a city wall this is one of the few cities that I've seen that actually has grass! This may not seem like that big of a deal, but it's a nice contrast to the cobblestone of Florence and Siena. Adorable little town, such a great "parent town". Fun shops, cafes, amazing restaurants, and gorgeous churches. There was a lack of night life but it was so pretty none of us cared. We also stayed in a hostel that was an old boarding school and made us feel like we were all at summer camp with 5 bunk beds.

Viareggio: The closest comparison to anything like Viareggio is a Marti Gras festival in New Orleans. Basically it consisted of a huge mob of people, dressed in very peculiar costumes and masks, and EVERYTHING was covered in confetti. We got to the main street where the parade was taking place and had to immediately stop complaining about the 15 euro entry fee once we saw the floats. They were nothing like I have ever scene. The floats, moved, played music, and some were towering over the 5 story buildings that lined the street. It was more spectacular than watching the Macy's Day Parade. Also, it was right on the beach so we got a nice view of the Mediterranean Sea.

It was a great first travel weekend, and even after the long train ride and a hot shower, we are still trying to get the confetti our hair..

Pro Chefs

As part of the CET program we get to take a cooking class at one of the local restaurants. So 4 of us, covered with white plastic aprons, attempted to make three different kinds of pasta from scratch: gnocchi, tortellini with spinach and ricotta cheese then ravioli with mushroom and some type of cheese. After 2 hours of cracking eggs, mixing, and rolling the pasta by hand we finally got to eat our masterpieces and they were deeeeliicciiouus! Oh and here is a pic of Siena in the snow!

Porcupine or Giraffe?

(I didn't take these pictures) Today in my Italian Cultural History class after starting our study of Dante's Inferno we headed out of the classroom and trudged our way through the slushy rain then snow across town to the Contrada dell'Onda. It never snows here but of course the one year it does, I'm here.. so much for escaping Maine's winter weather! Anyways, earlier in my blog I briefly explained about the contradas of Siena so here's a quick recap: Siena is comprised of 17 contradas. An outsider would view someone who was born here as just being from Siena. However, the Sienese people believe that first you are born into your contrada and then into Siena. Each contrada is basically its own city-state. Each has its own flag with symbol (usually an animal), seat of government, constitution and geographical boundaries - even though there may only be a narrow, cobblestone street that separates one contrada from another. It is a huge deal to be physically born into your contrada, so when the first hospital was built in Siena, it was in the Contrada dell'Istrice (the porcupine), fathers to this day, still bring in a jar of soil from their contrada to have present at the birth.

The biggest event for the contradas is the Palio which is a horse race run every summer. People come from all over the world to watch this event (it's the opening scene in the latest James Bond movie). Each contrada enters a horse (who is randomly assigned to the contrada) and jockey who they can pay up to a million euro for the best one! Not a bad salary for 90 seconds of work! The rivalries become so intense between the contradas that the jockey and the horse have 24 hour body guards for several weeks before and after the race. My teacher who is part of the Onda said that in the 80s after they won, the next day 200 members of their contrada had to go to the hospital because someone from their enemy contrada (Torre) poisoned their catered dinner. The following year when the Torre won, every Onda member was advised, for their safety, to leave Siena immediately and not return for a week (which they all did)!

After studying and hearing about the Palio from everyone I'm starting to regret not doing the summer program here! All I know is that it is definitely on my bucket list! (Sorry for the complete nerd post btw..)

Face Paint Anyone?

It is Carnevale season in Italy meaning to the Italians these are their last few weekends to party it up before they have to be saints during Lent. Therefore, there are Carnevale parties almost every night where everyone dresses up in some sort of costume (it's like having a month of halloween). So some people in my group had masks, others (including me) painted them on our faces and others wore things like antlers... (see pictures)

Different cities tend to have their own Carnevale with different themes. But they are all elaborate and include beautiful costumes, usually a parade or big event (horse race, saints race, concerts). One of the most famous is the Carnevale di Venezia (Carnival in Venice). This weekend we are going to Viareggio - most famous for its parade. I'll be sure to take some good pictures!

Good Old Comfort Food

After being here two weeks now, while we are LOVING the food, my friends and I have started compiling a list of all the things that Italy is missing from home (or if it is here in small quantities it is outrageously expensive)! So far we have:

-Peanut Butter (the mini jar is 3.60 euro = $5ish)

-Corn Chips

-Graham Crackers

-Milk and eggs that are refrigerated (they keep everything out on shelves so we tend to keep the dairy intake to a minimum)

-Classic soup flavors like Chicken Noodle (only lentil soup)

-Bagels (great bread here but Guisy, my Italian roommate, still doesn't understand the concept of a bagel)

-Cottage Cheese

-Salad dressing (they only use oil, salt and vinegar)

-Turkey (prosciutto is the main meat that comes in light and dark)

So if you are coming to visit *cough* MOM/Q *cough* I vote you throw an extra a couple jars of peanut butter and cans of chicken noodle into your suitcase!

Therefore last night at dinner Giusy and I sat and just googled pictures of food that we're going to try making from scratch. She was most intrigued by: the Smore, Peanut Butter and Fluff Sandwiches, and some sort of flavored bagel. Every time I showed her a picture of a new food item she would go, "Oh, buonissimo!"

Buon Compleanno Patrizio!

Today I only had Italian for three hours in the morning so I was able to get ahead on some work for the week, go on a nice long run and unlike last time, I did not snag my foot on a drain, fall, tumble then quickly turn the corner as if nothing had happened. That is when I realized that cobblestone streets are not flat enough to run on and definitely not soft enough to fall on! I feel like I have done a pretty good job of dressing like the Italian people around me except when I go running - my appearance screams "American Student" as my blond pony tail bops along and my sweatshirt says "Cutler 11" on the back, not exactly an Italian name...

Anyways, as I mentioned earlier there are only 10 girls and 1 guy, Patrick, on this program, and tonight was his 21st birthday. Being in Italy makes the traditional 21st birthday rather anti-climactic, but us girls decided to throw Patrizio (Patrick's Italian name) a surprise party with three different kinds of cake: a chocolate and pair heart loaf, a Nutella and graham cracker crust cake, and finally an apple and marmalade tart. So delicious!!! Here is a pic of the 11 of us. Everyone is really fun, down to earth and we all get along really well!

Una Bella Passeggiata

Exhausted from the discoteca Friday night, we decided to have a girls'-night-in on Saturday so Sean had a few of us over to her house for a wonderful dinner of meats, cheeses, breads, fresh vegetables, cake and wine prepared by Silvia, Sean's host mother. Feeling still too full the following day Sean, Alex and I decided to take a walk beyond the Piazza and venture to the outskirts of the city walls. It was the first sunny day in a while (been raining for almost a week straight now) so we took full advantage of the warm sunlight - you can click on the photos to see them bigger!

Andiamo a Firenze

My Etruscan and Roman Art and Architecture class headed to Florence on Friday. We were meaning to go to Fiesole to visit an archaeological dig site, but they decided to close early on us and ignore the fact that our teacher made reservations a month ago (welcome to Italy). But while we couldn't go all the way into the site we were able to stand at the top of the hill and overlook the gorgeous view. It was drizzling so I can only image what it would look like in the brilliant sunlight. Old stone ruins against brilliant green hills with the distant view of Florence down in the valley.

In any case we headed back to Florence where we went to the Duomo - so amazing in person!!! Once again being the nerds we are my friend Alex and I forgot we were on a class tour and ran to see a painting by Uccello (keep in mind there are only 4 people in my class, so I think our teacher noticed when she turned around we weren't there). We walked around inside then saw the burial site below. Since we had a little time afterwards we went walked around (pic is from the Ponte Vecchio at dusk). Can't wait to go back and just explore!

Palazzo Pubblico

So Wednesday we had our first Italian Cultural History class (this is my biggest class with 11 people), and when we went to meet our teacher in the classroom we were confronted by a very pretty, artsy looking woman named Kristin who obviously loves leopard print (hat, scarf and even tights)! She has been living in Siena for several years, but is from from Wellesley, MA and went to Nobles (for anyone who doesn't know my dad and his entire side of the family when to Nobles...small world). She is probably the best lecturer I've ever had, she knows her material so well, speaks quickly but slow enough to follow. She loves to go off on tangents, but they are always full of interesting pieces of information so we love them! After our introductions at the CET center we headed outside to have the remainder of our class in the Palazzo Pubblico. She says she likes to get to know her students on the walks to our different out-of-classroom locations, and lucky me, I was her first "victim". So arm and arm we walked through the streets of Siena until we reached the Palazzo. I had studied the paintings in this building for 4 years now so I couldn't wait!

Home to the government of Siena, this is where all official rulings, and decision makings took place. Inside are paintings by famous artists like the Lorenzetti brothers and Martini. We got a private tour and it's great because we are all art history nerds that almost died when we saw the fresco cycles!

After class we all had wine in the Piazza then went home for a relaxing evening of writing italian essays!

Back to the Books

Along with Italian I'm taking 2 art history courses: Imagery and Art in Public Space (IPS) and Etruscan and Roman Art and Architecture (ERAA), and then one Italian Cultural History Class (ICH). So far I've only had my IPS class. There are 5 of us and our class is held in the CET center in downtown Siena (about a 10 min walk from my apartment). There is no heat in this building, so class was quite chilly this morning since it was 25 degrees outside. All of us sitting in our heavy coats, gloves and scarves met our professor Peter, a very well dressed 1/3 Italian, 1/3 German, 1/3 English man. If that sounds like a confusing mix, just try listening to him speak. Every "w" is a "v", he speaks in third person and when explaining each figure in a slide he says, "now 'ere ve hav zis baztard. vo iz zis baztard? ve do not know." Very comical and engaging and will literally snap at you if he "vants you to zook at hem".

The next time we have class with him is on Friday where we will meet him in Florence! That is the great thing about this program, a lot of our classes our held outside the classroom, and we get to travel to places like Rome, Florence and Sicily to see the works of art in person!

Spalian Master

So yesterday we had our placement test, I've had 5 semesters of Italian so I'm supposed to be in advanced.. the only problem is that after 11 years of Spanish I tend to use spanish words and mix them into my Italian conversation. Giusy, my Italian roommate, also speaks Spanish and starts laughing mid-conversation because apparently every 5th word I say is Spanish combined with an Italian ending. Hey, it sounds good to me and she knows what I'm trying to say at least. Basically I would be fluent in Spalian. Italian + Spanish = Spalian. Me = Master of Spalian. A great combo for my italian exam..not.

But in the end it all worked out and I, along with one other girl, placed into the advanced class. CET is one of the most rigorous study abroad programs (not the typical, different country every weekend, go to class 2 days a week if you feel like it) and its goal is to immerse you as much in the culture as possible. Therefore the first 3 weeks are Italian intensive with 3 hours a day of Italian class, with about 2.5 hrs of homework, in addition to our other classes. After the 3rd week the hours go down to 7 hours a week. Since there are only 2 of us in my Italian class we will be getting a lot of one on one time! My teacher is this little Sienese woman with a very thick accent that will take some time getting used to, but she seems great and is really patient.

Gotta Love That Italian Leather

So we are wrapping up orientation with a scavenger hunt around the city. We split up into 4 groups then had to take pictures at the different contrada fountains while posing as that contrada's symbol (the picture with 3 girls). While my family may give me a rough time about my sense of direction - I am the only one here that knows their way around Siena! So ha! After the scavenger hunt in the rain, we all met at the Piazza del Campo and got the most delicious hot chocolate that was literally melted hot fudge.

We've had a lot of free time lately so we've just been exploring Siena. Lauren and I went on a hunt for Italian leather boots one afternoon and we were both successful! She bought brown leather ones and I bought black ones (both on sale and both under 100 euro.. woo student budget)!

Also for anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I'm the sweatshirt queen who lives in jeans, moccasins and soccer sweats. But being here I've attempted to wear real outfits everyday (big deal for me)