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Published: September 9th 2009
September 1, 2009
Longest day ever! Waking up this morning, refreshed and ready to go, is only a distant memory in my mind… I would have never dreamed it was even close to possible to do so much in one day! But it seems to me that anything and everything is posible in Italia, and that is what I plan on doing while I am here!
We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel, I think called the Baletti Palace or something like that….and met the rest of the USAC students who had arrived at 3 o’clock in the morning from LAX, having missed their Frankfurt connection by less than 15 minutes and spending 10 hours in Germany at the airport waiting for the next flight to Roma…today was so exhausting for me having already gotten 4 days to get over my jetlag, so I can only imagine how they are feeling! (I did notice most of the people who got in yesterday and early this morning were going out tonight, probably still running on adrenaline…).
After breakfast we all piled into a conference room at the hotel for a short orientation of USAC students and staff, and we received a bit more information about the program and our places of residence. Then Stefano took us on a tour of Viterbo- at first it seemed like I would get lost easily, but as I’ve been walking around a few times I know that within a week or two I will I know the city very well… Then we took a break for lunch. A former USAC student, Brigett, is here on vacation and has been giving us facts, tips, and insight that have been very helpful, and she brought us to a kebab place where we ate yummy lamb and got out of the heat for about an hour. After that we met back up with the group and were all shown our apartments or dorms. Our apartment is on Via Bussi, a small side street right off a main shopping and traffic street of the town. A kitchen and living room with two bedrooms, each with two twin beds and a sort of loft (which we don’t know what we will use for yet, the ideas so far are study area or storage…). There are two bathrooms, one is in the bedroom Cecelia and Meredith are in, and the other, which has a bathtub/shower and our washing machine, is the one Carla and I will be sharing is right off the living room. I took the night to rest my poor, sore, blistered feet and unpack all of my things, and it is really starting to feel like home. :-)
One of my favorite parts about Italy so far is the fact that everything is absolutely steeeeeped in tradition, and those traditions have been carried on through generations for many many years. This week is Viterbo is a big festival in honor of the patron Saint Rose, or the Festi di Santa Rosa. So since we have arrived, Viterbo has been completely bustling in preparation for Santa Rosa festival, and the Pope’s visit this weekend. I believe he will get in on Saturday and then give mass Sunday morning in the Valle Faul which is the big park next to the Palazza Papale or the Pope’s Palace.
A quick lesson in Viterbo (pronounced Vee-ter-bo, pretty easy you’d think but I’ve been saying it wrong all along…) is that the town has a long history dating back to the....well, a really long time ago. :-) And Viterbo is most famous for the Conclave, or the gathering of the Cardinals to pick a new Pope. Sometime during the 15th century the Cardinals were taking forever to pick a new pope, as they were having such a good vacation in the palace in Viterbo. The townspeople were tired of housing and feeding them after many months, and the general population was eager to have the new leadership and began putting pressure on the cardinals for a new pope. Eventually, after some ridiculous length of time (I think it was something like several years) the people of Viterbo locked the cardinals in one room and took off the roof (word into conclave????), giving them only bread and water until they made a decision. Needless to say a decision was quickly made… and the process of picking the new pope has been called the conclave ever since.
Tonight we got to see the “mini macchina,” carried by 100 boys, who look to be aged about 4 to 16 years old, and proceeded by a procession of young girls twirling the flags. It was really cool to heard drums across the city every once in a while and then witness a true Italian festival parading their small cobblestone streets….so cool…and will have pics up soon. The cool thing about the “mini macchina” is that these young boys participate every year from early years and eventually participate in the real parade, holding up the macchina as adults!
Once again tomorrow is a big day, as we will be registering at the police station and having our first Italian language classes, and hopefully!!!! I will be able to work something out through wells fargo to do one of three things; a) get in through the specific wells fargo line to figure out whats going on b) make sure a new pin # will be sent to me here, or c) get ahold of my mommy and daddy to send me money via western union asap! Hopefully at least one of these things will happen…. Wish me luck!
Ciao e arrivederci!!! Con amore…
September 3, 2009
The faccini was absolutely incredible. For months, 100 men train and practice to carry around the statue for the Festi Santa Rosa, the annual festival celebrating the Patron Saint Rose. The statue is 30 METERS tall, and they parade it around the town with all sorts of medieval characters and costumes, complete with flag bearers, drums, and trumpets. It was the coolest thing, even if we had to camp out for over five hours to witness the 10 or 15 minutes display. My roommates Carla and Cecelia and I had planned on camping out at the end of our street, and it is a good thing we didn’t because our view would have been awful! The streets began getting crowded around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and we had been told that if we wanted to see the maccina we needed to have a spot by five or six oclock. At about five the three of us decided that we would at least walk around for a bit in order to maybe find some of the other American students we’ve met, or find a good spot to camp out. It ended up that at the Piazza just down Il Corso (our street), Piazza D’Leon, (Plaza of Lions- there is a stone fountain of lions), we were actually able to spot three girls we knew and ended up with gelato and sitting down with them. This turned out to be perfect timing because having sat down around 5:30, the piazza was completely full by six and we were glad to have such a good spot. Over the next hour or two, several more of our USAC peers walked by and saw us, joining our little group until we numbered about 8 or 10. It was great to be sitting in a piazza full of Italians, to view a special Italian pastime that has been going on for a very long while! So the hundred men who are able to be in the faccini have to pay a certain participation fee, pass a physical test, and best of all, they participate in the festival each year from childhood.
Thie night of the actually Macchina di Santa Rosa, we ended up sitting in the cramped piazza from 5:30 until about 9:30, when the parade had started at nine, and everyone began to get very anxious and excited. So everyone stood up and the younger teenagers who had taken over the Fon?? D’Leon?? Started all of their chanting and singing, and the Italians lit up! They were clapping and shouting back to one another, chanting from one group to another, crowds yelling up to balconies who had not yet shut off their lights, etc…. The anticipation just kept building up, and several times we thought that the macchina was coming, and it didn’t! Not until 10:35 or so did they men and statue come down the street. It was such a magnificent sight, and the atmosphere was great. We all really felt like Italians, shouting and clapping and partaking in the festivities.... Needless to say we were very tired that night!
September 4, 2009
Our apartment is great, quite spacious I'd say for Italy, although
to our American standards quite small. Our street, Via Bussi, is right off the "Corso" which is one of three or four main streets within the medieval walls, and the Corso is the main shopping area. Via Bussi, where our apartment is located, is so narrow (no more than 10 feet wide, probably less) that it is only pedestrian traffic and we only very rarely see a car parked. This week there is a huge festival in Viterbo this week celebrating the patron saint, Santa Rosa. There have been several medieval parade/processions that we have been able to witness since we got here, and tutti (all?) the people line the little tiny cobblestone streets to watch....I have some pictures but my camera is about to die and I have to buy new batteries soon.
My classes are Mon-Thurs, and the only class I have every day is
Italian from 4:30 to 6:30, the rest are only one day a week. I am
trying to switch my Italian Art class to Italian geography, because it
sounds more interesting and has more to do with sociology...I may even
pick up studio art because it is beginner and Stefano told us the
professore does not speak a lick of italian and because it is art, he
uses gestures and the students pick up italian more quickly.... We had
our first day of italian class today and so far, so good.
As soon as all of this orientation type stuff is over and the
festival is over, the city will calm down some and so will I....at
least I'll have more time to blog, etc, and time to figure out a few
things like my phone. We have been so busy with orientation and tours,
etc that when we get done we are either too tired, moving in, or trying to find groceries!
Brigett, who studied w/ USAC last year has been in town visiting and in exchange for her showing us around, we
have let her crash on our couch last night and tonight before she leaves....at first she was quite good at this but it turns out was not the best of houseguests. Either way the information she shared with us has been valuable. She was able to show us several cheap places to eat, shops to get clothes, and the best bars/clubs to go to. One night we went out with her but did not last very long because we were still jetlagged and tired, and knew we had to get up early the next morning. But we did get to meet two of her friends, Giovanna (who goes by Gio as in Joe) and Dario.
September 5, 2009
I finally got a phone today! YAY!
Last night a group of seven of us went out for a nice Italian meal, and it was great! We met up with Bailey, Kelly and Annie, the girls that live a few blocks from us on Orologio Vecchio the street with the Piazza D’Leone (the Lion fountain where we watched the faccini/ macchina. We tried to go to Spaghetteria, a famous restaurant in Viterbo that boasts 100-plus types of spaghetti (Vanessa you would LOVE this place, don’t worry, I’ll take a picture for you…) but due to some embarrassing tourist moves, we decided to eat at another ristorante and maybe try back again another day… So we did some people watching and walked a short distance before finding a place to eat. Meredith and I shared a Primi e Secondi (first and second courses, Pasta and Meat dishes) and this was the first meal I’d had a real protein portion since I’ve arrived in Italy! The pasta and steak was delicioso and I was completely satisfied. After dinner we went over to check out the girls’ apartment and sat and chatted for a few hours over a bottle of wine. The night was a blast and it was good to get to know some of the people in the USAC group a little better... And school “officially” starts on Monday, so I’ll keep everyone updated on my classes.
This morning we woke up to meet the same group of girls for a little adventure around the medieval part of Viterbo, which called San Pellegrino. We walked around for two or so hours and got plenty of pictures (Bailey was nice enough to give me some batteries ). After our walk we all split up and us Via Bussi girls went to the local supermarket, Despar, for a few groceries and cleaning supplies. So far we haven’t quite been able to get the hang of going to the specialty stores, for example, getting fresh produce at the open air market (we missed it while checking out San Pellegrino), getting bread and the bread store, etc… but we were able to get some fruit today at the little store and I made friends with the shopkeeper, speaking with him in my awful Italian but smiling a lot and getting across that I was a student and would come back to buy from him next time…! During Pauso Pranzo, Italian siesta from 1 to 4,all the stores close and people go home for lunch and to relax. Do as the Romans do, or in our case, the Viterbese, and we did the same, going home and finishing up organizing our kitchen, cleaning the pigeon poop from our windowsills and floor (they like to sit in on our kitchen). One thing that is different is that the Italian week does not begin on Sunday, like ours, but Monday, so that the Sabbath is the seventh and last day of the week, a day of rest.
Arrivederci!
Pictures and more to come!
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I am so impressed that you have made friends with a shop keeper already. He will be invaluable. Good Luck with your Italian, can't wait to have you as a tour guide soon~ Lv M