Venezia is Bellisima!

I did it! I completed my first weekend of travel to Venice this weekend. The weekend started off by realizing that our train tickets were not from the main station in either Florence or Venice, so this was our first test of travel. We figured out how to take a one euro train to the station we were leaving from and were able to get on the train to Venice and we were off! When we got to that station we had to figure out how to get to the main station in Venice. This station was very small and it was late at night so we couldn't find where to purchase our tickets. Then we saw the train we needed to get on and without a ticket just jumped on. The man came around checking tickets, and I just decided to look confused and give him a very sad face telling him that I will pay right there. As we were getting off the train he just let us all get off and ride the train for free! We then proceded to take a fairy to our "hostel" which ended up being the most adorable bed and breakfast in the best location!

Friday morning we woke up, and were told we were getting breakfast served to us. Thinking we were getting an American breakfast, after missing it so much, we were very excited. When we got the breakfast, it was cookie, hard rolls and Nutella. I don't understand how the Italians eat this kind of food for breakfast. We headed to San Marcos square, picking up a toothbrush for me on the way. As we walked into the square, I was amazed by how beautiful the church was, and when we walked in it I was in awe. I never thought that I would be so amazed by a church, but the whole inside is covered in gold and the most amazing art.

After we visited the church we headed to the Gugenheim in Venice. All of my friends here have majors that somehow focus around art so they were in love with all of the works of art. I felt like a snob because I thought all of this modern art looked like something I could have done. Modern art is just something I don't really understand so it was difficult to really be amazed by it all.

For dinner that night, we found a random little trattoria, close to our house and away from the main tourist areas. When we walked in there was about a 10 minute wait. The people felt terrible so handed us some sparkling wine while we waited. When we sat down we ordered lots of seafood for dinner and appetizers! The waiters also gave us a liter of wine for free, and then a special discount when were all done. The staff treated us like we were celebrities.

The next morning we headed to the outdoor markets which were so fun to be around and see all of the Italians shopping for their fresh fruits, vegetables, and lots and lots of fish! Then we hopped on a gondola with a cute boy that showed us around Venice. He asked where we were from and all of my friends here are from California so he proceeded to sing Katy Perry's song "California Girls" as he rowed us around Venice.

Later that afternoon my friends and I went to the top of the bell tower and saw all of Venice. It is such a beautiful place and it is hard to believe people actually live there. My friends and I decided to do some shopping and go get a glass of wine. I don't know what was going on, but we walked into a restaurant where we were once again treated like royalty. We each just ordered a glass of wine and we got a free appetizer of Bruschetta, our own individual plates of mozzarella and bread, a free bottle of wine, and free bellini's. Not to mention they played a California playlist for us when they found out we were from California. We each payed four euros for all of this!

My weekend in Venice was such a fun one and a great way to learn how to travel through Europe. I highly recommend going there if you are in a group of 6 girls because you will be treated like Royalty!

A few quick updates

I just realized I haven't written much in my blog lately so here are just a few updates. Last Friday I went to Assisi, which is about 2 and a half hours away from Florence. This is a gorgeous ton with a beautiful church that is painted with Fresco's dedicated to the Life of St. Francis, or San Francesco. It was a very cute town and fun to see Monks walking around everywhere. The only problem was it was about 30 degrees and snowing/raining, so it was hard to enjoy the town completely because no one was prepared for this weather. Also this week, Nona came to town. The adorable 83 year old Nona, or Grandma, of my host family has been staying with us all week. She is such a stereotypical Italian Nona. She reminds me a little bit of Kai's Grandma, with her very humorous strong-willed personality. On Monday, I found out I have tendonitis  in my heel from all of the walking I have been doing in non-athletic shoes. So, I have a comfortable pair of new walking shoes and I think my heal is getting better. No extreme physical activity for me until it does though which is always hard for me! Last but not least, I am off to Venice today for the weekend! I am talking my first ever train ride (besides the Polar Express of course) and am getting to Venice at about 9:45 tonight. I am also staying in my first hostel! I will tell you all about my adventures in Venice when I return on Sunday.

Starting to figure it all out..

After one week of living in Florence, I am starting to figure it all out. While I am still not a pro I am better at living here than I was a week ago. The things I have mastered so far:
1)If you have ever been to Florence you know that the cars are crazy! The first day of being here I would stop at a crosswalk and wait about 5 minutes until the cars would stop. But now, I just close one eye and cross! The cars will stop.. I have learned this from my host family and all of the other local Italians. You just have to be forceful that you are crossing the street and cars will stop. According to my Uncle Bob I need to find nuns because everyone stops for them, but I think I am doing ok without the nuns.
2) I started Italian on Monday and am beginning to learn the language. I decided to order a coffee this morning just because I was proud I could say "Passo avere un caffe regulare" and the man understood me and I got exactly what I wanted. While I am no where even close to conversational Italian, I am beginning to learn the basics.
3) I have successfully booked my first flight using ryanair! We will see how I do when I actually have to take the flight, but I am officially going to Barcelona for spring break. All of my other travels are still in the process of being decided. But so far it is looking like Paris for Valentine's day weekend and London for my birthday weekend!
4) I now know some of the history of Florence and all about the Medici family, that have a lot to do about Florence's past. I also learned the story of The David and many other statues! I learned the reason that the Fleur de lis or the Gilo is everywhere is because France really helped Florence out many years ago and therefore Florence has the symbol of France everywhere.
5) I now know about the Prime Minister of Italy, Bertalone, and all of the trouble he is in for using underage prostitutes and lieing about anything. According to my host family Clinton is a god compared to Bertalone. However, he still has 3 more years and will most likely stay in office for that long.
6) I found and joined a gym and will be going to Italian bodysculpting today. So we will see how that goes! I also figured out a great running path and was surprised to learn that many people in Italy run!
7) I have figured out that the bread, wine, cheese, and olive oil just taste better here. If it is the cheapest bottle of wine, it will still taste good.
8) Most importantly, I have figured out how to twirl spaghetti!!!! For the first time in my life, I twirled my spaghetti instead of cutting it into small pieces! This is a huge accomplishment for me..

What I have yet to figure out is how the Italians are all so skinny

Some things I've learned about the culture.

The best part about the studying abroad experience so far is living with my host family and learning so much about the Italian culture. There are some major differences between our culture and theirs, and then just some things that I didn't know about.

1) Lunchtime- For the Italians, lunchtime is family time. Most of the shops are closed from about 1-3:30 so that people can go eat their lunch with their family. Today I ate lunch with my host family and they do the same thing that they do for dinnertime. They sit down, eat a meal starting with pasta, and then protein and vegetables, and then they all talk for about 45 minutes. After this, the day continues. I told my host sister that in America we never do this, and she was surprised to hear this.

2) Marriage-I asked my family when people in Italy get married. Despina responded by saying, "Like never" haha. Apparently the economy in Italy is bad right now so people won't marry until they can buy their own "flat," in other words, Italian people want to support themselves before they get married. Right now, that is hard for them to do.

3) Living at home- The idea of living with your parents at the age of 26-30 is awful in the United States. However, here it is completely normal. People will live with their family until they can fully support themselves which sometimes takes a while. Yesterday, we drove by a castle and my host family told me their friends live there, but not just their friends. In the castle it is their friends, and the parents, the kids, the cousins, basically it is like when I go to the lake in Indiana and living with that amount of people all the time.

4) The Media- It is funny to me how the Italians watch the same shows and movies as us, but in Italian. I have watched Glee everyday with them. Last night I watched Invictus with my family. We also watched the Italian version of American Idol, where they pretty much sing American songs.

5) Healthcare and the Government- Yesterday, Despina asked us my roommate, Jillian, and me if we voted for Obama because the Italians really like him. And yes, we both did. We were talking about how some people don't like him because they expected him to get us out of the huge mess Bush left our country in instantly. She agreed and said it's not like he can do magic. Then we started talking about healthcare and how Italian healthcare is free. She was telling me that she can not even imagine living in a place where you have to pay for healthcare because what if you are sick and need help. The Italians have that thought right.

6) Italian Breakfast- In Italy they basically eat sugar cookies (like the kinds that Peppridge Farm makes) and they have Un Cafe. When my family went to New York they said that they could not find any breakfast cookies, whereas here they have a whole aisle for breakfast cookies. I told them that nobody eats cookies for breakfast in America, and that that is basically a little kids dream. Despina said she can't imagine eating eggs, meat, and bread before lunchtime.

7) Living in a country with the Pope- The family told us that living in the country where the Pope lives is sometimes difficult. The reason for this is because they can't change the laws for certain things. For example, people that are gay will probably never be able to get married here, or at least not for a long time. Also, if you can't get pregnant they can't do things such as in vitro fertilization.

These are just some main things that I have already picked up about the culture since I have been here! I will tell you all about what else I learn. Tomorrow classes start and I am taking a class called "Family, gender in culture in Italy," so I am sure I will learn plenty about it!

Life with Florentines

Yesterday I moved in with my host family and they are the most amazing people in the world. My friend, Lisa Giusti, went on this program last semester and somehow got paired with the most amazing family in the world. Lucky for me, she gave me their name so that I could request them, and I got them! They are even more amazing and loving than I imagined. They loved Lisa though, so I have a lot to live up to as a member of their family for the next 3 and a half months. First of all, there is a mom, Ada, who is a typical Italian mom and is just the most loving and giving person. She was formally an architect and now she is working for a non-profit organization as a volunteer. She barely speaks a word of English, but we are still finding ways to communicate. The Dad, Giancarlo, also used to be an architect but now he is a professor at the University and teaches City Planning courses. He can speak a little bit of English. Then there is Despina, who is my 24 year old host sister. Luckily, she speaks fluent English because she is an English Literature major. This is extremely helpful so that she can help me communicate with the rest of the family. She is so sweet and has been so helpful so far. Teresa is the younger sister who is 15, she is a tennis player and goes to the secondary school for science because she is very good at math. She can also speak English pretty well. I love having this family because they are very similar to my own. I get caring parents, the Dad who works very hard, and the mom that works very hard at her volunteer work. I have an older sister that is less than a year age difference from Amanda, and a younger sister who is pretty close to Steph's age. They also love food, family (They are Italian after all) and although I was expecting a Catholic Italian family they are not very religious and don't attend Church.

So, now I have to tell you about the food. When I got there we had tea and cookies, and the California chocolate I brought them, apparently they love California chocolate and the giant box I got them is almost gone. Then we ate dinner around 8:45. There were a few things that surprised me about dinner. First, they don't drink wine with their dinner. I don't know if they do on certain nights and don't on others, but we just had water. Second, the dinner wasn't as long as I was expecting, it was pretty much the length of the dinners I eat at home. Last, I was the slowest eater at the table! I am almost always the fastest eater out of everyone I am ever with. When I came to Italy I thought I would get better about eating slower, but compared to their family I am a slow eater! So for the first course we had the most amazing pasta with broccoli. It was so simple but so flavorful! One of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. Then we had a spinach tart type of thing, which was also very good. For our protein I was told we were having fried chicken. I was very confused about this because I was thinking of KFC and I thought fried chicken was an American food. However, I was served the best friend chicken I have ever had, and far from the type of fried chicken that Americans are used to. It was just little pieces of chicken that were cooked in a frying pan with olive oil. For dessert we had fruta! or fruit. Although my goal is to not gain 75 pounds while I am abroad. It might be difficult with this amazing food. So if you don't recognize me when I get home, this is why.

Lastly, our house is a 15 minute walk from campus. Which is one of the closer houses, but I am glad it is a bit of a walk so I can get some exercise in. It is on the top floor of an apartment building and is a two story loft. It also was different from my expectations because I was thinking that it was going to be tiny. They also watch the first season of Glee, they watch Dexter, and many other American shows I love. They have a cat named Hermione because they love Harry Potter, and Teresa is obsessed with Twilight and Robert Pattonson. That is all I have to say for today! CIAO!

Finally in Florence!

My School, the Villa Rosa

I finally got to Florence Tuesday night after an hour and a half delay, an 11 hour plane ride, a four and a half layover in Frankfurt, an hour and a half plane ride to Florence and then a half hour bus ride! After that long trip I ate dinner with many of the girls on my flight, the dinner was a free buffet. As we sat down a man came up to the table and asked us if we prefer red or white wine. Half the table preferred white, and half red so we asked if we could get both. He brought the bottles to our table opened them and poured the wine for all of us. When we were about to finish our meal he comes up to our table to tell him we owe him 25 euro. We had thought the wine, like everything else with the dinner was free, but in fact it was not. This is when I realized I am going to have to figure out the Italian ways.

When I woke up Wednesday morning I was able to see this gorgeous city and headed on the bus to the school for meetings. Our school, the Villa Rosa is GORGEOUS! When we got a break, my friends and I went to explore the city. Since this was the first time I was really out on the streets of Europe I experienced some culture shock. Italy is nothing like I have seen before. The buildings are all so beautiful. We went on a walk to go see the Duomo. I can’t get over how detailed the whole entire building is. We also saw the Arno, which is way different than I imagined from the pictures than I have seen.

Standing in front of the Duomo

While wandering around, it was very clear I am an American. First of all, I think I know a total of 5 words in Italian (hopefully that will change when I start my Italian class on Monday.) Second, I am carrying a camera everywhere because I everything is just so unreal to me and I need to capture it all. Third, I have blonde, hair and blue eyes and it is pretty obvious I am not an Italian woman. Everywhere I go there are men saying remarks to me and every other American I am with. Right after we got out of a safety meeting was when we went for a walk. The first Italian man we see looks at us and says Hey ladies! I of course look right at him and say hi back. All of the girls I am with look at me and go “Katie, that is exactly what they told us not to do.” Well whoops, they had told us just to look ahead and walk without mingling with the flirtatious Italian men, like the Italian women do. For right now I am paranoid about my bag because everyone keeps telling me repeatedly that I need to hold on to my bag everywhere I go and be extremely cautious. I guess these will just be things I have to adapt to in the next 3 and a half months.

My new friend Angela at the Arno

Last night my friends and I went to a pizza place later at night and ordered the best cheese ever and drank delicious wine! I got to be the taster for the wine when the waiter opened it and I felt so old. I swirled it and sniffed it just like you Dad, be proud! Today I find out my host family and roommate so I will send updates as soon as possible! 

Florence is in my future

After a long wait, a lot of paperwork, and tons of packing, I am finally ready to start my journey to Florence, Italy tomorrow. I have managed to pack my whole life in a 60 pound suitcase, two backpacks, and a large tote bag. Hopefully I am not forgetting anything, but I guess as long as I have my passport and ticket, I am good to go. It is a weird feeling to actually be leaving for a different country for a full semester and not heading back to Boulder like I am used to...but I am ready for the adventure to begin! (starting with a 13 hour flight!)

                                                 (My room in the process of packing)