Advertisement
Published: September 28th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Adam, Michael and Hannah
Hanging out in the piazza Ciao a tutti!
Our three week intensive language course ended Friday, and this week is the beginning of our regular semester classes. I am taking four classes, but one of them actually counts as two classes, and my schedule looks really great. I will continue to have an Italian language class, then I also have an introductory Art History class, complete with field trips to Florence, a class on Italian history, and a class called Education and Linguistics. The education class is about Italian Sign Language and it's going to be pretty challenging. Part of the class is taught by a woman who speaks only in Italian, and with her we learn more of the history, methods, and cultural context. The other half is taught by Roberto, who is deaf and therefore instructs the class entirely in sign language. Part of the class also includes going to an Italian school for deaf children and doing activities and working with them. The class is really interesting, and it is also a really neat way to learn Italian. It's also kind of funny to me that after the two hours of class in sign language, it makes the class afterwards taught all in
Italian seem so much easier.
Let's see..two weekends ago I took a very rainy day trip to Florence with a group of students from class, and even though it was raining, it didn't make the museums any less beautiful! On Sunday, a bunch of us bought tickets for the Siena v Rome soccer game (buying soccer tickets here was incredibly complicated...I had an easier time here buying health insurance from the post office than a 12 euro soccer ticket- another interesting thing about the tickets, for women it costs 12 euro, but for men it costs 18..), and again, although the weather was less than desirable, the game was very exciting. The fans from Rome were absolutely nuts, with their flares, cannons, screaming, singing... all of us kind of wished we were sitting over on their side! I had a great time, especially listening to the angry yelling of the disappointed Siena fans around me. After the game we all went out for some delicious hot chocolate at a cozy little cafe near the campo.
A quick update on the wet hair situation- Much to my dismay, the nosy Italian woman at the bus stop ended up being correct, and
I am now the obnoxious girl sitting in class and coughing and blowing my nose continuously. The other day, I was waiting for the bus with my concerned elderly friend, and I could feel a sneeze coming on. I really didn't want her to know that I was sick, so I tried my hardest to hold it in but....I sneezed really loudly, and she immediately whipped around and gave me a very smug look. I think she was quite pleased with herself. But I am getting better very quickly, and last night Lucia put an extra fleecy blanket on my bed for me, so I'll be better in no time (she also keeps suggesting that I take aspirin, or else that's what I think she's saying, but since I'm not exactly sure, as of now I've turned down all mystery medication).
Last weekend, Hannah, Michael and I planned a trip to Cinque Terre, five beautiful, cliffside fishing villages in Liguria. We left on the train Friday after class and came back Sunday evening. Everyone had told us how beautiful it was there, but it really exceeded any and all of our expectations. We realized it was going to be an
Sally and Hannah
A wonderful day trip to Florence amazing trip when we stepped right off of the train to a breathtaking view of the cliffs and water. We stayed at a hostel in Riomaggiore, but it ended up being a cozy little apartment with a balcony overlooking the water. As we were walking through the town trying to find where we were staying, we saw an adorable looking place up a hill with red and white striped awnings and lights strung all around and both Hannah and I commented that we really wished we were staying there. As we got closer, we checked the address and were shocked to see that it was our place. We had a great dinner Friday night (I had pasta with pesto), and spent the evening relaxing on our balcony with a bottle of wine (conveniently, there was a wine bar located right below our apartment). Saturday we woke up and spent the day hiking and sightseeing in the five towns of Cinque Terre, ending up at the beach in the last town (the town had the most amazing focaccia). I was a little embarrassed on the hike at how out of shape I happen to be (especially when I saw really intense
Hanging out in front of the Duomo
We made friends with this random man who asked if we wanted him to take a picture of us...I really thought he was going to steal my camera, but he turned out to be clean... elderly people passing by us...that was a little hard for my pride...), but the towns and views of Cinque Terre are definitely the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
A little sidenote--The other students and I have decided that the Italians are an incredibly dehydrated people. I really can't understand how they can manage on the little amount of water they ingest. The director of our program told us that the Italians always joke that they can pick the Americans out of the crowds as the people carrying and constantly drinking from huge bottles of water. Honestly, at dinner, my host family will put on the table a bottle of wine and a 1.5 liter bottle of water. I'm usually so thirsty at dinner that I could down the whole bottle alone, but one 1.5 liter bottle of water could last the four of them for awhile. They seriously will just put a little bit in these little glasses...when I first got here, I was trying to be polite and do everything how they did it. I would watch how much they drank and do so accordingly, but I was always just so thirsty. By the end of dinner
Adam, Michael, and me
Putting on our most serious faces at dinner after our trip to Florence I was so thirsty I would go to the bathroom and chug some tap water. Then I decided to try buying my own water stash for my room (I'm making water sound like a recreational drug...), and after dinner I would sneak to my room to take a few hits from my water bottle. Now that I've gotten more comfortable with my host family, I just drink as much water as I need, and I think now it's pretty much understood that half of the water bottle is for the camel-like American student, the other half for the dehydrated Italian family.
My address again for anyone that missed it before....
Siena School for Liberal Arts
Via Pannilunghi 10
Siena, Italy 53100
Advertisement
Tot: 0.268s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 10; qc: 75; dbt: 0.0612s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
cindy
non-member comment
WOW It looks like you are having fun can't wait to talk to you about it . see you later love ya, cindy