JMU Reunion a Paris

Allow me to catch you up...
All 10 of the JMU Florentines accepted the invitation to a study-abroad pow wow with all of the other JMU abroad programs in Paris. We were ecstatic to discover there were actually BOYS!

Since we had all made different hotel plans, once we deplaned and piled off our bus in the heart of Paris, we were exhausted and decided to part ways and get some much-needed sleep considering it was midnight. First though, since Alexa speaks French fluently, she put our girls on the right subway to their hotel before we took off. However, since we went down into the subway, we came up the wrong way and ended up being in a dark odd park where two drunk guys immediately started speaking to us and invited us out. CRAZY PARIS.

After taking the long way to our hotel through L'Arc de Triumph, we finally found our sweet little paradise tucked among the embellished apartments of Paris. My heart swells as I think of Alexa and I trekking all over Paris. The next day Alexa and I slept in but found this delicious little square filled with pasticeries, boulengeries, and cafes for breakfast. Then we practically ran down the Champs d'Elysees to find the JMU tour group at the Muse D'Orsey. Of course we did not realize how BIG Paris was. On the map it looked like such a small distance...but we were late and had to pay the full ticket to get into a museum where we may or may not find the rest of JMU. FINALLY we found Angel and Jenny in the modern art section and also ran into our first JMU compatriots! Finally we found everyone else and were off to Notre Dame which was beautiful and flying high with those flying butresses. The outside was more facinating than the inside. We sat outside to look at it with some vin chaud (hot wine). Then we went to the most wonderful place in the world...the Louvre. It is gorgeous on the outside with its many many courtyards and up-lit windows and of course the pyramids in the middle were aglow. And once AGAIN we lost part of our group. We assumed they had gone inside, so we went there and were about to start chanting the JMU fight song to see who would respond, but simply called the group leader instead. Once in the museum we were so tired, but managed to see the Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's A Dying Slave, the Venus di Milo, and so much more. I wish I could have spent days and days there....

But once we had dinner with the boys of London, we went to bed because the next day KELSEY was coming! (Not before having some real Parisian escargots!) A Domani!

Cin cin!

                                              


The Tuscany region is known for its wine, so Florence is a prime place to visit a vineyard.  We got to visit two Frescobaldi estates yesterday and see the wine making process and gallons and gallons of wine.  We first went to the Pomino estate then Nipozzano.  At Nipozzano they have the aged wine cellars of the Frescobaldi's including the birthday bottles. Apparently when a baby is born into the Frescobaldi family, they get a certain number of bottles of the Nipozzano wine.  Boys get 300 bottles, girls only get 100.  Being a group of mostly ladies, we were very upset to hear this.  The estates were beautiful and the villas, quintessential architecture for a 700 year old wine-making family.  The estates also produce olive oil and honey.  

At Nipozzano we had our tasting. We were all slightly saddened when it was only cheese and bread paired with our three wines because Alessandro had told us to eat a light lunch because we would be eating at the estates.  Well for us, a light lunch was a banana.  We were starving by 5 PM. But the wine made up for the lack of food. The first was a delicious full-bodied Chardonnay (Pomino Benefizio DOC) that smelled of vanilla and dried apricots with the smoothness of warm butter.  It tasted fresh and acidic with a dry attack on the tongue followed by a sweet reassurance that lingered on the palate.   The second was a Chianti Rufina DOCG with smooth blends of aged wood and red fruits.  It tasted dry and spicy with a medium intensity.  The final wine was very fine wine called Mormoreto IGT.  It was a supertuscan combining Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pino Noir that smelled strongly of dark fruit, very woody with a full structure.  It was a very warm wine that persisted on the tongue.  

It was a lovely day of seeing the countryside, where wine is made, and tasting the sweet fruits of the almighty grape.   We're off to Paris this weekend, A Domani!

Roman Holiday

Except this trip was not a holiday...It was like being in school. Let me start at the beginning...

We hopped on a train (yay trains!) and were in Rome by 11 AM on Friday.  After a short nap (I was still sick at the time) we met our tour guide, Frederico, and off we went to see where Julius Caesar was stabbed: Senate of Pompeii.  We proceeded to run around Rome the rest of the afternoon seeing the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Roman Senate, ancient shopping malls, and the Pantheon.  

A very interesting place was the Senate in the Roman Forum.  Evidently we are the first JMU group to ever go in it.  The coolest part was I got to sing in it!  It has a perfect geometrical shape giving it perfect acoustics so everyone in the Senate could hear who was talking.  So Frederico asked who was as singer in the group and everyone pointed to me...cleared my throat and popped out a nice little note.  Too bad I was still sick...ha! The rest of the Forum was really quiet and beautiful- we also saw where Julius Caesar was cremated; Romans still place roses there out of respect.

Then off to the Colosseum!  I was not as big as I expected, but then again half of it is missing because people decided it wasn't a big deal and started stealing marble and stone off of it to build other things like St. Peter's Basilica. The niftiest thing I learned was that hired sailors using a series of ropes and pulleys could cover the Colosseum with canvas in 15-20 minutes in case the emperor ever got hot. 

One of the most amazing places we saw was the Pantheon. It was a lot of the girls' favorite place in Rome.

The outside was this awful brick because, again, people had stolen the marble off to make other "more important" things.

But the inside, ah the inside, was aglow with all kinds of glossy marbles and statues. There were so many different colors.

But the dome was the true wonder. Along with being the largest dome in the world, it is a perfect half-sphere that could fit inside 

the Pantheon if you flipped it upside down. The drum of the dome however, is open. The floor is sloped so rain water drains off 

to the sides into little holes in the floor.. The hole in the ceiling symbolizes the sun as the seven niches were the known planets

and the domed floor represents the earth. It was beautiful... It was also very amusing because while our tour guide was talking, a

bird flew into the open dome and could not for the life of him find his way back through that huge gaping hole in the ceiling. At one

point everyone was straining their necks upwards watching this silly bird instead of the Pantheon. Angel has pictures. I will try and

steal a copy for you to see.

Rome was like a super-inflated Florence...we all missed being home in Florence that weekend.

It WAS very good to have seen these things and appreciate the beauty and tumultuous history of art and the Roman empire.

We did get a chance to go to a huge flea market and it was actually cheap! See, here in Italy they like to make old things

"vintage" and charge you more for it. Not here! I wanted to stay there for hours. Only a grumbling stomach could have pulled

me away, which it did. Next post: Vatican city, Trevi Fountain, Sexy wine. A Domani!

"...Get my ball".

Ok, well today the sickness has not subsided, but tomorrow we venture off for the weekend once again so I have no other time to Blog. Ah the adventures of Praha!

It all began with a 12 hour overnight bus ride with no window to lean on, so I was curled up in my seat with my pillow and eye mask.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my ear plugs - never forget those.  The bus driver played techno music all through the night and even Benedryl couldn't help me. 

Finally we arrived in Prague and we dropped our stuff off at the Czech Inn.  This hostel was really nice and we four had a room to ourselves that included towels, a sink, two bunks, and storage.  We had 30 minutes to change, eat breakfast, and be outside for the walking tour.  Breakfast was the best part of everyday. There were two different kinds of scrambled eggs, toasts, coffee, tea, yoghurt with honey, dried fruit, granola, orange juice, milk, cereal, and a meat and cheese platter.  Such a good hot breakfast.  Then it was off to meet Isaac for our tour of Prague.  

This is how we first met Isaac, "So, guys, I no english speak very good".  And we all just stared at him.  Then he broke out in a smile and laugher, reassured us that he was just joking and proceeded to power-walk us around Prague. We saw the Charles Bridge, the oldest clock tower, Mozart's flat, the Lenin Wall, King Wenceslas Square, the Museum of Natural History, Kafka's old house, markets, Old Town Square, the Jewish quarter and the oldest Synagogue in Prague, the old Jewish Cemetery, and the Castle - oldest palace still used as a government building. Isaac made our tour so interesting I didn't even realize I had hiked clear across Prague by the end of it.  

Funniest moments of Isaac's tour:  

We're stopped at the clock tower: "pfhhh! You're home, did you flim the thing!?"  "Wake the kids, it's starting!" "I don't know what happened after the third guy came out...I passed out from sheer excitement"

Gaston:  "So there was this sea lion named Gaston, and the floods of 2002 came up to the zoo. He stood there and just looked at the rising water, and without looking away said to his friends,'get, get  my ball'. When the waters came, he escaped and swam all the way up the river to Germany, then they caught him, brought him back and then he died from stress, no I'm just kidding he's fine. But really he's dead." 

Evidently the Czechs have a thing with cows and use it often like "That girl is hot like a cow"  or "Where my Heifers at?"  "Stop being such a cow, man".  

Lunch was at this little sit-down restaurant that looked very fancy but was reasonably priced.  We had first some hot spiced wine (yum!) and then some creme of broccoli soup, some goulash with bread dumplings (I had never had this, but its like very doughy pieces of bread), and finally a berry crepe with whipped cream. So delicious and warm - perfect for four cold and weary tourists.  

Day two was the zoo!  I love the zoo. Evidently Prague's Zoo is 9th in Europe, but not many animals were out because of the cold weather.  It was cold, but a comfortable cold if you had a scarf and gloves.  Also, there was no wind so there was not biting breeze to battle.  We wandered the zoo for around 4 hours and finally found our way to a warm lunch at an Irish pub.  The football match was on, so that was nice to watch.  We were so hungry that we ordered cheeseburgers and fries.  We reveled in the glory of normal Heinz Ketchup. We used almost the whole bottle between the four of us and our sandwiches and fries.  You should have seen the look on the waitress' face when she picked up that bottle noticing how light it was.  I laughed.  

Later that night after our much needed nap, we had a round of drinks at the bar in the hostel (evidently they serve every type of beer in Prague at this bar).  My favorite was this dark amost chocolatey beer called Kozel.  It cost less than a euro for both beers!  Later that night after a long time of running around town looking at the beautiful lit-up city, we found some dinner, and headed to the famous 5-story club that is evidently the biggest club in Eastern Europe. We danced a little there and met a boy from Leasburg!  Such a small world in Europe as a student.  

We woke up very early the next morning to squeeze every last bit out of Prague.  We went to the old radio tower that used to jam European radio during the days of Communist rule.  Some crazy artist had attached large black babies crawling all over the tower to make some political statement (I forget what).  Then we made it all the way back to Wenceslas square to wander our last few minutes.  

 was so proud that we could navigate Prague after only 3 days there. It is very well organized and the public transportation is very cheap.  This city was so amazing and historic.  It was the only city in Europe not to be bombed in WWII so the buildings are different architectual styles even right next to each other. It was so magical here in winter, I wonder what it's like in fall or spring.  I'm going back. Definitely.  But it's a big day tomorrow, and I'll write you all about it when I get back. A Domani! 

What goes around, comes around.

Well, our entire house minus Jenny has caught a  cold.  Alexa, Irene, and Bridget had it yesterday, I have it today, Angel is starting to not feel well, and Mamma Lo has had a stomach virus.  Evidently it only lasts two or three days. But for now, we are a mess of tissues and tea.  My story of Prague will have to wait until tomorrow.  Again, I apologize but the nighttime meds are starting to kick in.  I am just thankful my room girls are so generous and nurturing.  Buona Notte! A Domani!

Democrat for President

I find it ironic that when I'm in Florence and the school workload is supposed to be "easy", I've been to two outside lectures, a war memorial, and churches galore- things I would never do in a regular JMU semester.  I actually really like it and I feel like I'm more aware of current world events here than I am at home. Thanks JMU :)

My most recent scholastic endeavor was a lecture by Bob Shrum on, "The Obama Presidency One Year Later". I thought since I was learning so much at European politics, I should stay current with my own country's political goings-ons. 

We arrived and were ushered into the room Sala Luca Giordano decorated with "The Apotheosis of the Medici" in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which was once the residence of the famous Medici family of Florence. It was brilliant. The lecture itself, not so brilliant. Bob Shrum is a very good orator, however, the lecture was not about President Obama at all.  He talked mainly about the elections that had happened in the states the previous day.  He basically only discussed the outcomes of the elections based on America's view of President Obama.  He never really said much more about President Obama besides the idea that Americans are not satisfied all the way with him because they haven't seen enough progression out of the economic depression in their own lives.

 As the speech when on, I found out I had inadvertently stepped into a Democratic rally.  I felt very out of place and highly outnumbered as a moderate Republican. But it was a good leaning experience to see both sides of the scale; to see how the other side thinks.  Though I think we need to stop seeing it as "sides" because thats when things get nasty and egos get in the way.  Our entire political system has been stopped up because people can't get over their party associations to just get some legislation out there that actually does something for people.  

For example:  Health care bills are flying around congress willy nilly for people to sign just so the Democrats can get it out there while they are the party in power. Maybe if the two groups actually wrote the plan together it would have a little of what everyone needed. Also, they could figure out a way to have universal health care that wasn't universally awful if they found a way for the National government to NOT be in charge of it.  That way it could be efficient, actually have a competitive incentive for doctors, and not bleed our country dry of funds.  Just a thought, Congress. 

Thank you for obliging my political rant.  I promise you an amusing story about Prague next time.  A Domani!

Fiorentina!!

Last Sunday most of our undergrad students attended our first Italian calcio (football) match! Met at the train station, hopped on a bus and after ten minutes were at the stadium. Its a good sized stadium but we were told to sit in the one section where no one else was sitting, which we found out was the neutral part of the stadium. A few minutes after the game started the security guy told us to move over with the rest of the Florentines. I think he saw us obviously cheering for our city. We all find it very convenient to assimilate into the Florentine culture because the colors of the Fiorentina (the name of the team) are purple and gold. JMU represent!! (Our school colors are also purple and gold)

Fiorentina was having a bad loosing streak this season and they were playing Catania from Sicilia (Sicily). The game was very good and we won 3-1!! It was very exciting cheering and celebrating with the Florentines. We learned a lot of vulgar hand gestures and some key Italian phrases to shout while watching a calico match.

Per chi? – For who? (Bad passes)
Per che!?- WHY!?
Vaffanculo! – ____ You!
Andiamo! –Let’s go!

The fans were almost as entertaining at the match. They had huge flags, were all decked out in purple, and ranted and raved in true Italian wear-you-heart-on-your-sleeve fashion. If you ever visit a city and want to feel a part of the community, I would definitely recommend going to a football match.

Speaking of hand gestures, one Italian class this week we spent an entire class learning about hand gestures used in everyday language. The stereotype is true: Italians can’t talk without their hands. They can actually have conversations without being able to hear each other at all. Evidently it is so engrained in the Italian culture that Italian children who move to another country and forget the Italian language, still use and remember the hand gestures. There are hand gestures for statements such as: “I’m hungry”, “You must be dumb”, “It’s crowded in here”, “I’ve had enough of this person”, “leave me alone”, “Let’s go”, “Come here”, “Go away”, “Its finished”, and “nothing”. We’re slowly trying to integrate these into our speaking, but it may take some more practice. Well, it’s time for one of Mamma Lo’s famous dinners and to pack for Prague. A Domani!

Concluding thoughts on Greece

Seeing the Italian country side roll past invokes such food for thought.  After a week of the minor, yet time consuming,  stressors of midterms, a week of pre-planned traveling was gratefully welcomed. The good and bad things about these trips are the people.  If there are annoying people, you have to try not to be annoyed all week.  But if you have great people, even the worst of travels can be an adventure.  We had our share of both on this trip. But, it just gives you experience dealing with all kinds of people and loving them where they're at whether you like them or not.   

The mountains of Italy (the Apennines)are very much like the rolling hills of Virginia only more stately and secure in the fact that they have stood there with those exact same towns nestled in them for hundreds of years. 

I also couldn't wait to get back to Florence where I knew I could drink the tap water.  I was so tired of spending money just to stay hydrated.  And that was my trip to Greece: Where everything tastes better with tatziki sauce.  A Domani!

The Rest of Greece

As promised, I have returned to tell you the rest of my Greek story.  As I wait for pictures to upload (yes, they are for your viewing pleasure) I will pick up where I left off.  (Also note that I have a new slide show just for Greece!).  

We departed around 10 P.M. to take an overnight bus ride to Athens.

I was miserable on that bus...I learned my lesson: always bring some type 

of sleep aid and take it. I had earplugs and an eye mask and I could not get

comfortable enough to sleep. Holly on the other hand had Dramamine and was

out for the whole night because she gets motion sickness.

We arrived in Athens, dropped off our stuff at The Attelos Hotel

and went straight away on our mini tour of the city. We stopped at the tomb

of the unknown soldier and saw the changing of the guard. They were dressed

in traditional uniforms which were not very...shall we say, official looking?

They had almost pompoms on their slipper shoes, kilts, tassels, and a goofy

looking walk. These girls on our trip were giggling the whole time as the

soldiers were marching and changing guard. It made me so upset to hear her

mock others' traditions and culture. She was lucky she didn't get slapped in

the face.

We moved onto the Panathinaiko Stadium which was built before 329 BC

and got an upgrade in 1896 to look like it does now. Then we went past

Hadrian's Arch and Zeus' temple. From there we started on our way to the

Acropolis! We stopped at Dionysis' theatre, then continued our hike up

to the Acropolis. There were beautiful panoramic views of the city of Athens.

(which is HUGE!)It holds 2 million people. It was almost overwhelming walking

around the Acropolis; there was so much history there that I mostly just stood in

awe saying, "This was actually around thousands of years ago!". I also got to

see the Caryatids (they weren't the originals, but we eventually saw the originals

in the Acropolis Museum) and the Roman Agora on the way down the craggy mount.

I swore I wouldn't be a tourist in Europe, but something about Greece

just turned me into a consumer! I spent waaay too much money, but found some

great gifts in exchange. I also found my crazy harem pants. They look like

I'm in the middle of Aladdin! There was so much good food there I just wanted

to eat all the time. I love gyros (pronounced heroes but with a rolled 'r')

and lamb, and tzatziki sauce, the pita, baklava, yogurt with honey, and souvlaki. 

They also had very good candies and doughnuts in Athens. I was in heaven. :)

We left the next morning on a bus at 10 A.M., rode four hours to the 

port, got on another ferry, got on another bus to Florence, and did not return home 

until 6 P.M. the next day. It was so beautiful to be back in Florence and feel

like it was home. I have some more conclusive thoughts on Greece, but that will

have to wait...A Domani!

(Don't let me forget to tell you about the Fiorentina football match and

the Boboli Gardens!)

Greece is the word

Allora, while waiting for dinner and procrastinating doing actual homework, I think I'll take you on the first part of my journey to Greece. 

Day one was all traveling, very uneventful, and almost boring if we were not on our way to an extraordinary adventure. Holly and I had booked a cabin on the boat so we could actually lay down and sleep on the overnight voyage.  We shared the room with two girls from NYU who were freshman!  It was their first semester in college and their major program required them to study abroad for a year. They would return home as sophomores and not know the layout of their campus, not know professors, and not have a set group of friends. I remember adjusting to college life...it would have been impossible while studying abroad-let alone for a year!  They had applied and been accepted, so they were loving it.  They had also had lots of travel experience, but still...talk about being baptized by fire.  The boat ride was quiet and we caught up on lots of sleep. 

Day two we were greeted by bilious clouds rolling away to reveal the first sunshine in Greece. We all piled onto a

giant pink bus to take us to our first residence in Greece: The Pink Palace.  I hated this place and was glad to leave when we did.  The best part about staying here was that Holly and I got out own room, eggs for breakfast, the beach, and

 an all-day ATV ride around the island of Corfu.  

 The part I didn't like was that it was painfully obvious that it was off-season and I felt so pressured t

o buy drinks, go on the "booze cruise" (which I heard ended up being blase), and join in the general "what happens in Corfu stays in Corfu" attitude. The dance party was even a bust, and I love dancing.  The food was also over seasoned and disappointingly American.

The best day, (day two at Corfu) was the ATV ride all over Corfu.  Our guide was a humorously lewd Grecian man who made sure all

the ladies knew how to drive an ATV.  After a brief practice ride, we all mounted our motors a

nd zoomed down the steep hills toward the coast.  After a brief period looking at the crystal water, we zoomed back up to the top of a mountain for lunch, then down a mountain and back up another.  I was surprised at how many mountains there were on this one island!  The views were called "wow spots" because you couldn't help but

 breathe out that word as you looked at the expanse of greenery, water, the mainland, and at a certain point the coast of Albania.  It was my first time on an ATV, but I would tuck my legs back and pretend I was riding a motorcycle.  

The beach was much warmer and I proceeded to get a sunglasses tan-line on my face...love the raccoon look. Tomorrow must wait for the rest of my story...A Domani!

Mamma Mia!!!

Happy Halloween!! (Yesterday:D )Italians don't really celebrate Halloween; it's more of a kids' holiday, but we actually saw some little bambini in costumes running around Santo Spirito. Italians celebrate The Day of the Dead the day after Halloween by visiting deceased loved ones.  We celebrated by having a day out in the hills of Tuscany with Mamma Lo!

Mamma Lo had told us about

 these natural hot springs a few weeks ago and we decided that today would be the day to squeeze into Mamma Lo's 

tiny car and drive off to spend a leisurely afternoon there. We planned to be up early to clean our rooms, make lunch, and be off by eleven A.M.. Of course in Italy nothing goes as planned.  The water pump broke again. This is the second time it's broken since we've been here and apparently it breaks once a month always on the weekends when things are closed.  Fortunately, Mamma Lo gave the plumber a stern talking to and he ha

d the pump finally replaced, instead of fixed, by the time we returned 

(and boy would we need that water when we got back).  During this commotion we (Angel, Jenny, Alexa, and I) went to the market to get the fixings for our Panini.  Alexa

 had one with a mushroom spread, tomato, basil, and Bresaola (a less fatty Prosciutto), and the rest of us had a goat cheese spread, Bresaola, tomatoes, pepper, basil, and oregano. So fresh and delicious!   

After an hour and a half drive off into the beautiful countryside of Tuscany, we turned onto this small gravel road, parked almost under an overpass and hiked down a small path with our bundles of food and towels. It was the most unsuspecting place for a hot sprin

g, but there it was. Smelling like burning rotten eggs, the steaming water was 

piped down into several different pools.  It was like mulit-leveled hot tubs an

d bathtubs carved into the rock with water cascading down 

into the main pool right next to a small river. It smelled so badly once we arrived, but gradually our noses adjusted and we could 

barely smell anything but the fresh air. Underneath the white sulfur water were pocke

ts of dark mud in-between rock c

revices.  Of course we took full advantage of a free spa treatment and proceeded to take a mud bath. (I g

ot two facials!)Mamma Lo even joined in to help us!  

We Lounged in the springs for two 

hours before partaking of our picnic.  Wanting 

to make the mo

st of our day, after lunch we packed up and headed home; but not without some more forays. 

First, we stopped at the tiny walled

city of Menteriggioni.  We walked around it in about 30 minutes while having a cup of t

ea or coffee at a little cafe. 

The only down side of the springs is that the terrible rotten 

egg smell clings to you quite passionately after emerging from the springs.  All five of us were in a soap shop (a pretty fragrant one at that) when a man nearby placed his nose under his

 scarf and leaned away from us.  We laughed and quickly left as to not overpower anyone with our stench.  We had completely forgotten that we smelled wretched!

After leaving Monteriggioni, twenty minutes down the road was Mamma Lo's center called "The Roses".  She created this center for mentally disabled kids to attend after high school. See, in Italy these kids go to school mixed in with all the "normal" kids, but after high school, have no where to go and tend to be left behind. Mamma Lo's center is a place of beautiful expression, learning, and adventure for these "kids" (Some have been here so long, they're in their thirties, but have the youthful vitality of a fifteen year old).  We saw where the horses are, the gardens, the many sculptures, mosaics, fountains, pots, theater, and many other art projects that the kids have done.  Each year is a new curriculum where each activity reinforces the core of the curriculum.  For example they are learning about the body. So in their lessons they draw themselves, in ceramics they create sculptures of the body, their dance and music lessons sing about the body, they carve woodwork into miniatures of themselves, and many other forums of discovery.  It was amazing to see where Mamma Lo spent her time, and what she had created from nothing. 

By the time we got home at 6:30 we were stinky, cold, and hungry, but so very satisfied with the day.  And then we had Halloween night to look forward to...but I will leave that for tomorrow.  And I promise you will hear of my excursion to Greece.  A Domani!  

Final Rush

Whew! The weeks just fly by here in Florence.  Its been a hectic rush of classes and getting used to an actual schedule after having over a week of freedom in Greece for fall break. Oh yes, Greece.  But I'll get to that in a minute. Or maybe tomorrow; it's a multi-chaptered story.  Let's start with the preliminaries and do an overview of all things leading up to and involved with fall break.  

Two weeks before fall break I was sick

...but thankfully I have very good gi

rlfriends that I live with who took wonderful care of me. The girls would sit around with me and watch movies in bed, make me tea, periodically checked how I felt, and made sure I got lots of sleep.  Unfortunately I may have given my bug to my room mate who was not feeling well the next week: midterms.  I had a midterm or paper in each of my classes as payment for being released into freedom. We also had classes and our crazy/awesome 80 year old art history teacher threatened to punish us if we were absent from our museum visit on Thursday to start 

our break early(as we don't have class on Friday to her dismay). Thankfully all of us are good st

udents and hadn't made plans until Friday or Saturday.  

We were scattered over Europe: Greece, Tuscany, Sardinia, Ireland, London, and San Marino.

Half of the girls' families were coming to visit over fall break so there were 5 of us who needed plans for break.  Being sick two weeks before, I had not planned much and decided to go with Holly on a student trip with this company called EuroAdventures to Greece. We would first spend 2 1/2 days on

 an island called Corfu, then 

see Athens for 2 1/2 days.  With this trip you pay a set price and get a guide, transportation, accommodations, some meals, some tours, and a whole group of students to meet. There are several different companies like this in Florence

 to choose from.  It can be fairly expensive for a student to travel this way, but we also pay for the convenience of not having to deal with being in charge of finding places, transportation, finding that transportation...lots of thing

s involved.  We had done that f

or some weekend trips and for fall break it was nice to relax and see Greece without worrying when we needed to switch trains or where to find the right boat going to Greece.  

We finally bought our trip Monday, made it through midterms, checked the weather in Corfu and Athens, threw some clothes in our carry on bags, and we were off to the train station to meet out adventure!

I will tell you more about Greece in my next few posts...A Domani!

You Concentrate on Your Bicycle

Today was our trip to Assisi.  We were all a little disappointed after our very fun outing in Siena.  Our tour guide was just as entertaining if not more than our Siena guide, but the town was not filled with its usual charm but with thousands of religious pilgrims.  Tomorrow is Saint Francis' day and there will be thousands and thousands more pilgrims there to see St. Francis' tomb, church, house, and town. I was constantly being pushed and chided by 5 foot Italian grandmothers.  At one point I think a little old lady was hitting me in the back of the knees with her purse so she could get past me quicker!  Then Victoria and I had a conversation about how we wanted to be these crazy pushy little old ladies when we were grandmothers. 

This city was completely built around the Catholic faith. Not being Catholic, I am quickly being educated here in Italy on Catholic traditions, art, and saints through our art history classes, day trips, and my literature class.  This is good! But today was clouded over by 6 hour bus rides, crowds of people, and a very tiny town dedicated to tourism.  The jewel in the day besides the girls with whom I get to spend my time, was our tour guide, Joseph. (pronounced Yoseph) He is a native of Assisi and has 7 dogs.  He also was very friendly and entertaining as well as knowledgeable about his town. Two of my favorite quotes of his were in explaining why the Italians never add to frescos because evidently, "It would be like seeing my grandmother in a miniskirt".  And in response to some Italian cyclists whistling at our group of 10 females, "You concentrate on your bicycle!"  It was great. Once home, the evening ended with some Chinese food and laundry.  Tomorrow is the beach! It's an early night for me.  A Domani!

The most glorious days in Italy are the one spent leisurely  wandering the city.  Today was shopping day though, and we had a mission: leather jackets. Mamma Lo had told us about this leather market that evidently had the best deals on quality Italian leather.  The first place we went I found some buttery brown leather jackets that fit like a glove, however they were 275 Euro.  Thats 400 US dollars! We had to run out of there before they pressured me into buying it one of them.  I then ran into Alexa and found out that she has already purchased a coat for 120 Euro! So of course we go back to that store and Stephano ran to get me several different options. While he was gone I found this black fitted jacket that I ended up buying. Chin Chin for leather!

Next order of business was lunch. However, it was then 3:30 P.M. and most restaurants close from 3 till 5 or 6.  This practice boggles us American because we are used to having food service available to us all day long.  Eventually as we hungrily wandered the streets we found a restaurant called "Il porcospino": The Porcupine! Our waiter was very friendly and even encouraged us to order in Italian and nicely corrected our vocabulary.  We all agreed it had been a successful day in Italy and rushed home to take a nap and get some work done, which is what I must do now.  A domani!

Peanut Butter Jelly time

Monday was my birthday...unfortunately I had 6 hours of class and homework due.  So while I was typing up questions for polisci I hear giggles outside and Angel and Jenny burst in and throw balloons all over the room and sing "Happy Birthday" to me.  They also gave me a card with an adorable fat giraffe for me and a poem inside!  It goes,

"Dear Jordan, It's your birthday 

And we're proud to say 

That you're a great appartemento-mate, 

All of us living together must be fate! 

Tu, Jordan Garegnani hai 20 anni, 

Watch out world, she's gonna get all the great uomini. 

We're glad that we can celebrate with you and show you how much we care, 

If needed, we'd give up Mama Lo's dinner for you,

Finding someone like that is very rare." :)

The day of my birthday was not very exciting with all of my classes and my nap after.  However, the night was just great. Some of the girls and I went off to Dante's (the usual birthday spot for JMU kids) where we had great pasta and lots of free drinks :)  We then of course went to get Gelatto and then this sweet bar called Naima. 

 The next day was a continuation of my birthday because our faculty in residence got a cake and some bottles of prosecco to toast with all the girls and some of the faculty.  Then of course dinner was fantastic at Mamma Lo's with spaghetti and clams and Shepherd's Pie and salad...nom nom nom. We even had dessert!  We're going to Assisi this weekend and the beach nearby.  I'll let you know all about it. A domani!

And what a grand birthday it was!

Alright, so before I tell you about my birthday (I always seem to be a few days behind) I must tell you about my weekend in the Amalfi Coast. 

Alexa and I were planning to meet two other JMU girls down in Sorrento, which is a beach town.  So after departing from the train station at 6:40 A.M. on Friday, we promptly fall asleep and wake up in Naples around 10:30.  We then have to catch a smaller metro-like train that takes us to Sorrento but takes forever because its a local train and we stop

 at EVERY single stop. By the time we get to Sorrento, we are very excited because it is beautiful, you can see the crystal Mediterranean, the mountains and all the little houses tucked up in them.  

Then to our dismay we find out that we have to wait a half hour for the bus that will

take us to our hotel.  Which then turns into 45 min and in an hour we finally leave.  We then discover that this bus is also used by local junior high students to get home from school.  I now remember why I HATED riding the bus.  Italian 

middle schoolers talk very loud.  By this time Alexa and I were starving and just tired of being crammed on a bus.  After an hour of winding around the mountains and Alexa feeling motion sick, we are left on a little one lane road about a 2 minute walk away from the ocean. We had made it past the journey!  We checked in and found that we had a cute little bungalow to ourselves. But that did not interest us, we wanted FOOD.  And of course, the only places to eat nearby were the hotel restaurant and pizzeria that had just closed and wouldn't reopen until 4:30. Great.  We find a little convenience store and stock up on cheese, crackers, chips, and prosciutto and run to the beach to bathe in the glory of the Mediterranean sun. 

The plans were to meet up with the other girls who were staying in Sorrento.  Of course, now we knew that they were an hour away and not very convenient. But of course we didn't check the bus schedule until we were all dressed and ready for dinner which was around 7 and found out that the l

ast bus home from Sorrento was at 8. Again,great. We have no choice but to make it a date night and have a cute dinner at the hotel's restaurant.  Alexa and I were both very adventurous with our meals.  She had a fish and clam pasta in a cream sauce while I had pesto

 and sea urchin.  (I wouldn't really recommend sea urchin)  That night was just very relaxing

 and we got a good night's sleep minus the cat screeching outside our window. 

The next day comprised of more beach-laying and our trip home started at 2:30. We didn'

t get hom

e until 11 P.M.  Train travel is not always the most efficient....  

We learned a very valuable lesson in the train station though.  

Just like Italian men, never make eye-contact with stray Italian dogs.  We were on our way to the bathroom and of course Alexa and I being dog lovers were looking at the stray dogs laying in the train station- bad idea.  They hopped up and started following/trying to head us off. They followed us all the way to the bathroom and 5 minutes later when we came back out, followed us again. We were so confused and didn't really know what to do except keep walking. Thankfully they didn't try 

to go into the cafe with us!  

Once we returned home we settled down and got some sleep when we found our shirts and numbers had arrived!  The next day was the Corri la Vita! (the Italian version of Relay for Life) The next morning at 9 am we were all decked out in our orange shirts and race numbers

 and joined thousands

of people in the Piazza Della Signoria.

 We got there just in time

for the walking part of the walk/run as the huge masses in

 the piazza slowly move towards the street. Everyone was very 

enthusiastic as we walked along.  People had children, babies,

strollers,dogs, signs...everything.  We walked for an hour or two all through the city.  The funny thing was the difference between Ame

rican and Italian mentalities at events like this. It happened to also be free museum day so on our walk many Florentines were enticed into the museums or stopped to have lunch or a caffe.  And we of course had the American mentality of "go, and get it done. Power through!"  It's just very telling of the relaxed Italian lifestyle.  If you're going to do an event like the Corri la Vita, you might as well make a day of it and do it leisurely. We just ended up getting lost though and going home but it was definitely something worth doing and very fun to participate in.  

The interesting thing was that our wine and food pairing teacher is a Frescobaldi which is a very famous family in Italy. They have been making wine for 700 years, have a bistro, a castle, and a bridge and a piazza named after them. They are very active in the Florentine community and were a primary sponsor of the event and our teacher's aunt started off the race.  We thought it was really fun to not feel like a tourist and participate with the rest of Florence in this giving event.  It is now time for me to write a paper (yes, I unfortunately actually have homework here). A domani!

A day in the life

I have lots to tell you all about my weekend adventures, but that will have to wait until after I finish my homework and classes tomorrow.  Today will be some random stories I have left to tell of the past week.   

Last week our art history class went on a trip to the Uffizi museum which I referenced in my last post's title. It was originally a palace that was made into an art museum to hold the many frescos that reside in Florence. We were waiting outside of this ancient museum and on a bench nearby a young attractive(they're always attractive) european couple were making out and having the time of their lives.  At one point he even picked her up and twirled her around. This was 10 A.M..  Of course all of us were slightly bewildered and awkward, but the rest of Florence was unfazed by the couple.  We quickly have found out since then that PDA (public displays of affection) is very normal here. We just try and keep ourselves together and not gawk.

The dinners here just keep getting better and better at Mamma Lo's house.  The first half of the dinner we speak in Italian to each other to try and immerse ourselves into the language, however, telling stories of the day is very difficult when one only knows so many words and tenses.  After a while we give up and cannot help our exclamations about the food in English.  It's so wonderful to have our "family dinners" as we call them.  Sometime Michael (our German student who lives with us) joins us and it's just a full happy table 6 eating dinner and chatting away.  Our last dinner together was a going away dinner for Michael because he is leaving us to go study in Rome for a year. Sad for us.  We had the most delicious pasta that night though, with a pumpkin sauce...I didn't know such wonderful things existed!  I relished every bite and Michael seemed very amused as I did my happy food dance.  He probably thinks we're crazy American girls, but we all genuinely liked him and I think he'll miss us a little too. We might even visit him in Rome!  

Last story is about this awesome Italian clothing designer named Geoffre.  He speaks barely any English but owns this shop that we pass every day on our way to school.  Jenny introduced us to him one day and now we see him all the time and we say Ciao!  He is very sweet and tries to speak English to us as Alexa usually translates his Italian and Jenny and I stand there and smile because we have are now friends with a real Italian designer...sweet :)

That's all I have time for for now, but I will write later. A Domani!

I will wait for you forever in the Uffizi!

Ok, so as I promised, the rest of my stories.  The water first: the past week has been an adventure every day to see if the water will come on. At first the pump didn't work. So if the water refused to come on, we would have to go out of the apartment into the pump room and reset the pump.  Finally, a few days later the plumber actually came and of course the only solution to the bad pump was to take it away and fix it.  So for about 4 days our water pressure was about 50% of what it is originally. My favorite experience was one day, mid-shampoo, the water starts waning and just turns itself off.  I stand there for a moment praying I will not have to go out in a towel through the apartment with soap everywhere to reset the pump. I turn off the water, turn it on again, and a few drops come out.  Still reluctant to leave the warm bathroom, I tried once more and more water came out, but was ice cold.  The last attempt I was greeted with a loud rush of hot water.  Victory! It wouldn't be Italy without the water going out. 

Angel, one of the girls living in my house had her 21st birthday last Wednesday...it was a celebration starting Tuesday night at dinner with Momma Lo.  We had a glass of wine with dinner, a scrumptious apple crumble for dessert and then a little lemoncello after dinner. We went to this club called Bebop which evidently has a Beatles cover band that plays on Tuesdays.  The minute we walk into the club, we are dripping sweat.  There are so many American and British students all mashed together dancing and singing along to "It Won't Be Long". There was practically no air to breathe. Angel of course got free drinks for her birthday and we celebrated an hour or so into the morning of her birthday. We decided to leave because these other American girls were making complete fools of themselves. Being black-out drunk they invaded the stage with their drinks and revealing ensembles and generally disrupting the band.  We did not want to be associated with them and had to get out as soon as possible.  We were so mad that these were the kind of girls representing American females. Thanks girls, thanks.  

On a happier note, the next night all 10 of us went out to Dante's restaurant which happens to be directly across the street from our flat.  It is this great restaurant that takes care of students and doesn't charge them a cover-charge, bread, or the first round of drinks.  We of course then made friends with the owner and he just kept giving us free carafes of wine and brought us plates of a special homemade mushroom and ricotta ravioli in a cream sauce.  It was like hot fluffy pillows of heaven in my mouth.  Needless to say we are going back for my birthday next week :)   

I can hear music coming from the kitchen...that's a good sign that dinner is on the way! A domani!

Lucky to Know You

I somehow feel like a part of this wonderful place already. Granted, most young residents are international students or Americans, but that just adds to the eclectic nature of this city. Florence is also very accommodating of American students which is nice, but I wish they would force us out of our comfort zone a bit more. It's really up to the student on how immersed he or she will be in the Italian culture.  For example, this weekend is a pastry festival and I intend to be all over that!   

My days pass in a pace and disposition that I will attempt to explain... People rarely rush anywhere yet the city is always busy.  There is an air of leisure always in the air, yet an intense focus on interpersonal relationships. Italy is so much about its people and culture rather than status and the independent self. It's nice to feel a part of something which is why I think people like JMU so much because it creates a college community and attitude unique to itself.

I love how classes are obviously important here, but are not the main focus of being in Florence. Also, the classes offered here only enhance my cultural understanding of Italy and Firenze. For example, we learn about how wine is not a drink here, it's a way of communing with people and sharing with them. It's also sweet that part of our homework is to try 3 different wines to evaluate and compare them. :) But for class time we go to museums and historical places which makes art history real and just hits you in the face with how amazing it really is rather than seeing it in a book. 

This weekend is the first of Oktoberfest so of course all the girls are making a trek out to Munich to celebrate German beer.  Alexa and I were the only two to stay in Firenze, but we are going on a walking/eating tour of Firenze and attending a pastry festival this weekend.  (We also get to meet mamma Lo's grandbaby!) I think we'll do just fine...

Even though this place is the most freeing place, it's wonderful to know that people back home love you and are missing you while still supporting your exploration abroad.  Don't let me forget to tell you about Angel's birthday extravaganza, a designer named Geoffre, family dinners, and PDA in Museums.  Ciao ciao a domani!

Imagine if you were sleeping for several months or years and suddenly you were woken up. You would be a little confused, right? Wine is like that.

To finish my thoughts about this weekend....

Sunday was a day of relaxing.  We woke up late in the day to the sun shining into our window.  After lounging around we finally got ourselves together enough to go and find some little place for lunch.  We decided upon this place that is very good to students of Florence called Dante's. The drinks, cover-charge, and an appetizer were all on the house. I enjoyed a traditional Florentine pasta dish of penne pasta lightly covered in a tomato creme sauce with cooked Florentine ham. It was such a big portion that I got to eat it as my dinner also. 

After lunch Diana and I walked all over Florence and picked through a little antique market in our closest piazza, Piazza de Santo Spirito.  I didn't purchase anything but was so tempted by all the antique jewelry, purses and hats...I could go on.  

I actually did some yoga yesterday which, I am very excited to say,  the girls also liked so hopefully I can keep up with my yoga teaching skills while away in this beautiful carb-filled place.  

Getting to know the people in your group is inevitable, but I really suggest you find a close connection with as many people in your group as early as you can.  It's great having only 10 of us because we are small enough to do things all together, but we don't necessarily HAVE to stay together.  Another blessing about this group is each person is determined to get the most out of their semester in Italy.  Some have different goals than others, but we each have the same mentality of, "I'm in Italy for 3 months, I must experience as much as I can."  

Today was a full day.  Four classes and a meeting. Italian class is coming along slowly and my brain is struggling to remember what I've learned. English class...we'll see if it picks up speed.  My two new classes today were Political Science of the European Union and Wine and Food Pairing.  Both will be challenging.  We had a nice sparkling Prosecco that evidently can be paired with anything except super heavy meals and we toasted the beginning of the class and to many more wines!  Salute!

Way to put on your big girl pants...

Being in Italy is such a grand adventure.  I can't explain the feeling of freedom and solace I get from exploring the streets of Firenze. The wind blowing from the river Arno and the savory smells of some trattoria drifting by. On the weekends there are open air markets with all kinds of wonderful treasures such as clothes, bags, furniture, and even candy and fruit! 

Today was a day of lazy wanderings after my first time enjoying the night life of Florence.  The discoteque is great because Europeans LOVE American music. It's a few months behind, but that just means we all know the words. The drinks are usually very expensive at the clubs, so if you want to drink, do so before hand with your friends. (Have dance parties in the kitchen even;)).  Something I had never seen happened to my friend and I the first time we broke out onto the dance-floor. There we were dancing by ourselves and after a few moments there were a few more guys around us than I remembered, and then after a few more moments of dancing, we were completely surrounded by partner-hungry Italians!  We were like poor fish being circled by sharks. Always bring boys in your group to grab and pretend to be your boyfriend. If it were not for Kevin we would have been done for. Otherwise, it was a great time and it's always fun to let loose and dance your heart out. 

During the day on Saturday was our first excursion outside of the city.  We drove about an hour outside of town into the Tuscan countryside to a town called Siena. This place is beautiful and filled with a vibrant culture.  Evidently the town is divided into 17 Contrade, or districts, that is represented by an animal or nature.  There is the goose, porcupine, caterpillar, panther, eagle, snail, owl, dragon, unicorn, she-wolf, seashell, wave, forest, tortoise, tower, ram, and the one I'm going to become a part of, the giraffe!  Evidently you are baptized into your contrada and are what you are for life.  There are of course rivalries among the contrade usually with neighbors and even alliances. There is a huge deal of a horse race each year and each contrada hires a horse and jockey and they race around the main square and whoever wins gets to put another painting up in their museum and get bragging rights for 2 months.  Each contrada is also usually associated with the trade they practiced back in the middle ages for example wave residents were carpenters and the goose people were dyers. It's all so full of community and pride, I love it!    

Tomorrow is my first full day of classes, but I will write more about my weekend tomorrow.  A Domani!

Wake up, you're in Italy!

It's been 3 days in Italy and I am finally starting to feel like a part of the city. I awoke after our first night in our lovely flat to my housemate reminding me that I was in Italy, what a way to greet the day! Our top floor flat is beautiful and eclectic along with our house mother who is an amazing british ex-model.  We had our first homemade dinner by mamma Loraine (as we call her).  Turns out Italian food is a lot lighter than America thinks. I don't see any overweight Italians yet almost every meal contains some sort of starch. It's magic!  

In a few words my first day was underwhelming. I was excited to be in the city but was more interested in getting settled and falling asleep.  We had been in transit for 17 hours or so. The two days following were much more exciting.  

We did a walking tour of the city with our on-campus coordinator, John Scherpereel.  I however, only know where a few key points of the city are thus far. I think a little independent discovery is really needed to become familiar with a city.  Getting lost is a good thing in this case! 

Another lesson learned: When going out, make sure to get a cup to drink any kind of alcohol. (also bring a bottle opener!)  You feel pretty silly sitting around in a circle of 10 girls trying to open a beer bottle with a mascara tube.  Well, I am going to the opera to see Rigoletto to enjoy the culture of Florence.  

A domani! (until tomorrow!)