Church, Pizza and Pirates

Today I attended my first Italian mass.  One thing we were not warned:  prepare for an ice age when going to church.  We could see our breath when we were sitting inside.  Throughout the mass we were pretty confused, and it was a struggle to follow along.  They skipped some parts, like the entire profession of faith, and threw in a baptism.  I understood a word here and there, which I was really proud of, but for the most part it was just trying to figure out where we were in the service.  Italians are very good Catholics – they all showed up 2 minutes before Mass and left the second the final hymn began.  An elderly lady sat beside me and I could tell she was laughing at all of us for not having a clue what was going on.  She did shake my hand and wish me “pace” (PASH-eh), meaning peace.  I was half disappointed I didn’t get a good Italian kiss on the cheek.  For communion, we were a little surprised because there were no lines, it was just a flood of people rushing to the Eucharistic ministers.  Overall I was a little surprised at how casual the mass was, because I had heard that they are very reverant in Italy – quite the opposite actually.  Might be because we are in a small town though.

After Mass we headed to a local café – Café Roggi.  There are two parts to this café.  One is an upstairs coffee shop and arcade, the other is on the lower level and it is a nicer sit-down restaurant.  The upstairs café was playing Italian reality shows on tv – looked like a mix of Big Brother and Jersey Shore.  We went to the counter and each ordered whatever type of pizza we wanted.  The waitress hesitated when we ordered pizza, but then went ahead and had us pay and take a seat.  Turns out that they actually didn’t have the kitchen open, but the owner had come in and went to the kitchen to make us food!  After we devoured our food (I may or may not have eaten an entire pizza di quattro formaggio), the owner came up and made sure that we knew the restaurant below had better pizza than what he made.  I personally thought it couldn’t get better, so we’ll definitely be checking that out.  He talked to us in English for a bit, told us that his wife is from Texas and that she studied at Santa Chiara in the 80s. 

After we ate we participated in the Italian siesta, and then took about half an hour doing the sketching assignment we were assigned.  See Uncle Chris?  We do have work to do!  Tomorrow we even have classes!  I have History of Science and Technology or something complicated at 10:30am, lunch, and then a seminar at 1:30pm.  And on Tuesday and Thursday we have studio at 8:30am.  No classes Friday though. And field trips on Wednesdays.  Probably could have just left that out, guess I’m not helping my cause much….

Last night we went to a “Pirate Bar.” Not sure the name of it, but in order to get to the bar you go through doors next to the Loggia and walk down three flights of stairs.  The bar is completely underground and covered with pirate decorations hanging from the ceiling and walls.  There are three different coves you can sit in, we happened to choose the one that had an American flag on the wall, a confederate flag in the middle, and Eminem’s All Time Top 40 list on tv.  Thank you Italian bartender, for giving us the most America experience you can while we are in Italy…  Anyways, I got the cheapest thing on the menu – wine.

Pirate Bar representing America with a flag and Ricky Martin on the tv.  This is half of one of the coves I talked about.  Like a big brick vaulted cieling.

Tomorrow we begin classes like I said, but the bigger news is that the gelato shop in town opens tomorrow.  YAY!!!

Cara Marie

Oh, and I did not spill anything today! Quite an accomplishment! The cake goes to Amanda Watson, however, for knocking over an entire bottle of wine at dinner.  I guess that's enough spill for one day.

Sleep, Eat, and Be Italian

Well, after I wrote that last post I was planning on napping for an hour or so, uploading it, and doing some other productive stuff.  Instead, Kelsey and I slept for 4 hours until Marissa busted in and told us it was dinner time. Woops.  It was gloomy outside anyways, and I got some much needed sleep in, since I actually woke up at 7:45am. And I am serious, mom and dad and Eric. I woke up before noon. On a Saturday. Motivation might have been a pastry and hot chocolate (cioccolade calde).

All I have to add onto the last post is that when we got to dinner, my first bite of the penne pasta ended in my lap. So there is my spill of the day.

On another note, we have discovered that anything that is Italian is cuter and more precious than anything equal to it that is American.  From the dogs that we see to all the adorable babies and kids, we are obsessed with anything Italian.  I think it is because the kids aren't obese and the babies are legitimately adorable, not like the American "oh your baby is so cute" when really it looks like an alien.  Also, I believe it has something to do with how the kids are dressed.  With their skinny jeans in their fur boots by the age of 4, it makes them look like miniature people. SO CUTE.

Here is some food for thought: if you were Italian, what would you name your dog?  Kelsey said she would probably name hers Pezzi, meaning piece, from piece of pizza (the only phrase she knows). Not sure what kind of attitude her pup would have if she names it piece...piece of what, Kelsey?  Anyways, now any dog we see we call Pezzi, or gatto because we don't know dog in italian. Cat is fitting enough, right?

On the topic of cats, we tried to help two girls catch their cat today.  It was humorous standing back as all the Americans scramble around cars trying to catch this little gatto.  I just stood back and laughed. 

Well, we are going to some pirate bar in a couple hours.  Yes, pirate as in "Arggghh" as Stephanie said.  Should be fun!

Ciao

Cara Marie

P.S. I am going to start teaching you all Italian in my posts, there will be a quiz when I am back in the states. Pay attention!

....I feel bad for not talking about Arezzo, because it was a great trip, so I am going to copy and paste Marissa's post because I am just that lazy!

Copyright Marissa Carroll:

"First train ride- to Arezzo! We got off the train and were immediately greated with a relatively modern city, at least by the train station. Our tour guide Giovani, who was more entertaining than the sights themselves, met us here. He told us that in order to blend in more with the locals, we needed to stop saying "grazie" (thank you) and "scusi" (excuse me) so much and also to never order cappuccino after morning. He then mentioned that the Italian economy was the same as a leaky gelato cone or the titanic...it's going down and fast! But apparently world gelato sales went up 40% last year, so he said his hopes were there...not. We went into our first church which had a fake facade and beautiful frescos inside. Giovani said he was married in this church (his now wife is from Texas) and his mom hired a cheap exorcist for the event. This didn't really work out since he got married anyway. He now speaks english with a southern twang. The rest of the day consisted of a fast paced tour of the city's other historical wonders. I plan on returning next weekend for an antique fair that happens the first weekend of every month...exciting!"

Mafia

Today I ate like an Italian.  Before I let you know what I ate, because that’s obviously what we’re all here for, you must understand the Italian’s schedule.  Shops and restaurants open in the morning until about noon.  Then they close from about 1-4, so that the shopkeepers and workers can go home and have a three hour lunch/siesta.  Today, we had planned on going to the café in the morning (where I successfully ordered a pastry and hot chocolate), walking to the store at the bottom of the hill to get some groceries before the siesta, and making it back up the hill for a pezzi di pizza (piece of pizza).  Unfortunately in our small town, siesta starts earlier than we expected, so the only place we found open was a restaurant called Ristorante da Muzzicone.  It is owned by an old, chain-smoking Italian named Tugli.  He opened the door for us and let us know that it was “Apresto,” or open for you uncultured Kansans. 

When we entered, we saw that it was clearly a nicer place - every table set with tablecloths, wine glasses at each seat, everything you would expect in a nicer restaurant.  He didn’t speak English, so we tried our best to ask about the costs.  He brought us a poster that had the menu on it and showed that it was going to be 25 euro/person for an appetizer, pasta, meat, dessert, wine, water, and coffee if you so choose.  It was the type of menu where you pay to eat what he is making that day or you don’t eat there at all.  He saw that we were very hesitant (because we only wanted a light lunch that didn’t cost much), so after we deliberated a while if we should stay or not, he told us he would feed the whole table but only charge for 5 plates (there were 8 of us). We decided to accept that and just take it as an experience. 

The meal began, naturally, with wine – Il Rosso 12.  He brought out some bread and we got comfortable in our seats.  After a while, he brought out the antipasti, which was a meat tray of prosciutto, sliced salami as well as thin deli-like pieces of salami.  Next, he brought out a tray of noodles covered in a cheesy cream sauce with small pieces of bacon in it.  Oh. My. Goodness.  DELICIOSO!  Kelsey had three servings. I held back with just two servings, and needed some digestion time before the next course.  This was by far my favorite dish so far.

After drinking more wine and talking about life, the main course was brought out.  Slices of cooked meat soaking in olive oil and vinaigrette, covered with what I thought was a pine tree at first, but turned out to be rosemary.  Pretty tasty once again!  Finally came our first real dessert this semester – tiramisu.  We learned from our Italian teacher that tiramisu means “lift me up.”  This is because it was originally used for people who are sick, because it helps give them energy.  It was molto bene!  I hate coffee, but despite the espresso taste this dessert was super. 

Enough about the food and on to more interesting things.  This restaurant is a family business.  The owner just sat at a table and drank wine and smoked the whole time we were there.  He would be a very intimidating person if you came across him in a dark alley, but if you are friendly to him, he is friendly to you.  In the middle of our lunch, we noticed a bit of a quarrel between a waiter and another man dining there.  Apparently he didn’t like the cost of the meal, and was complaining.  The man eventually went to the owner and they were yelling at each other in Italian.  Tugli told the man to get out of his restaurant and never come back, plus a nice “F.. you!” in English.  The man left without paying, but I am positive he is going to be dead by the end of the night.  Good thing we tipped Tugli well, because thanks to the Godfather I now know that if you are in with the mafia and don’t wrong them they won’t kill you.  We’re in the clear. 

To update you on yesterday, since I fell asleep before posting, I will sum up the basics of my day.  Marissa and Kelsey had some good bonding, about how they can’t find clothes small enough for them. Must be such a rough life….

I went up a hill yesterday that I might as well have crawled up.  I’ll estimate it was a 70 degree angle, so I was pretty much rock climbing.  Later we found a path that is a little longer but a gradual incline, much worth the extra few steps.  I think we stopped 3 times to take breathers up the steep hill. I’ll be sure and walk up and down it if I’m ever feel like I’m gaining weight.

Oh, how could I forget? We went on our first trip yesterday.  Took a train to Arezzo, and had an amazing tour guide named Giavonni.  He is the Italian Charney.  He had great facts about everything he saw, and there was so much information that I decided to just film his little rants, so I will post interesting ones on Facebook eventually.  We saw lots of historic stuff that you might just look on Facebook for later tonight.  We even got a private tour of the frescoes that have been restored at St. Francis church.  P.S. St. Francis is the patron of Italy, although he is half French.  Hollar SFA Vikings!  We walked and walked and walked all over Arezzo, learned lots, and then got back on a train to head home.  Giavonni told us that next weekend there is a HUGE antique market next weekend that we will definitely be attending!! 

SPILL OF THE DAY?

Yesterday’s lunch was a really good soup that was cream based with some green stuff in it, well, it was really good but I really don’t know what it was.  For the second course (yes we have two course lunches), we were served pomariggio e formaggio, which is tomatoes and cheese.  It is a bit like bruschiutto without the toast.  As I was carefully serving myself from the tray of tomatoes and cheese, one of the tomatoes slipped out of the spoon, hit the edge of my plate, and landed flat in my lap.  I think it knew I was doing well not spilling and decided to act out.  Rude little tomato.  Did I mention it was covered in olive oil?

I think I am going to participate in the siesta now, oh life is so rough.  I will update later on today’s spill of the day, although I am doing alright so far!  One side note, when we were in the café today we ran into our professors and they pointed out a poster – CIRCUS is coming to Arezzo!!!! In February, and we found coupons for it!!!! SO EXCITED!!!!

Cara Marie

Silence of the Lambs

Today we had our first studio class. It was at 10am, so naturally we slept until 9:30.  I must brag that I have to walk downstairs, inside, to get to all my classes. No trekking through weather, rarely running late, and naps between classes are in my bed - not on a cement floor with carpet tiles on it.  In studio we did some exercises to make the "think outside the box" point. One was a team effort to stack our group's shoes as high as we can, naturally we won.  Hollar to Chip's seminar section.

We did have to walk outside to get to our actual studio room, but only for one week while they do something in the hall, I wasn't paying attention to what they're doing...  In studio we got all the desks set up, and we staked out some spots next to the radiator.  Fun fact - our building was built in 1587. BC. Just kidding, 1587 AD....

After our studio class we headed to lunch half an hour early, starved because we traded breakfast for sleep. Lunch was lintel soup, which was pretty delicious!  Also green beans, and the ladies in the kitchen attempted some fried foods - onion rings, fried colliflouer, and other veggies I didn't try. The main course was some fish, and yes I did eat it despite my issues with seafood from being raised in the midwest. Of course it was all delicious. And I think, minus the fried stuff, it was slightly healthy. Point for me!

Drumroll please: SPILL OF THE DAY!
Today wasn't necessarily a spill, more like a disaster.  I had a blood orange for dessert at lunch (dessert is always fruit except on Sundays) and my attempt at peeling it was more like a murder scene.  It was all over my hands, face, some in my lap although I didn't admit that earlier today, and it seemed to be a precursor to what would follow dinner - watching Silence of the Lambs.

Anyways, after lunch we did some Italian and learned about trains. Then we were free to wander the town, and Kelsey, Marissa and I did a great job at getting lost.  Luckily, my GPS kicked in right when we had absolutely no idea how to get out of the neighborhood streets.  When looking at the map, it looks like a giant knot with some loose strings...check it out. It's interesting. And extremely confusing. 

We got back for dinner and had a delicious meal.  Something on the menu was "puree" which turned out to be mashed potatoes!!!!!  There was also the tomato basil pasta, salad and roast beef.  The Texas A&M people got here today, so it was a full house.  The building has gotten much warmer, Marissa credits it to the increasing kinetic energy. 

After dinner I took a wonderful nap while Marissa and Kelsey showered, and then we headed to the basement for some enterntainment.  First we were spectators in an intense Cranium game, followed by Silence of the Lambs.  Pretty good movie, but now I'm worried someone is going to come up to me and eat my face.  I also feel guilty for the blood orange incident earlier today.

From what I hear my parents have been partying it up since my departure, going to Green Lantern Imax in Orlando, and HOGWART'S too. And they say I'm spoiled!?

Tomorrow we head to Arezzo.  Arrivederci a tutti!

Cara Marie

Velvet Underground

Today was a pretty good day. Woke up and got some breakfast, which reminded me of weird Japanese snacks Annemarie's Aunt Amy used to send us. Like a processed donut that tasted semi-decent.  Also a juice box of tropical fruit juice, which leads to my new development:

Spill of the Day: Tropical Fruit Juice Box

You know when you stick the straw in the box and sometimes the pressure makes it squirt out the straw? Yep. All down the middle of my shirt.  I decided on just wearing a jacket all day. Pretty successful since the building is still freezing.

To get you up to speed, spill of the day yesterday was orange juice in the flight, all down my shirt and onto my laptop case and blanket.  A stain remains on the blanket but I convinced myself the stain on my shirt wasn't noticeable. I'll never really know.

We took a tour from a local Italian woman today, named Lorella.  She teaches the Italian classes at the center. She took us to all the historic sights and gave us lots of info about how super Catholic the community is.  I'm pretty excited for Holy Week because there's parades on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday with a giant statue of Jesus processed through the town.  Each day is a different statue doing each different event for the respective day.  On Easter, however, I am particularly stoked.  They throw open the huge middle doors of the church and six men holding the statue up run into the church with a statue of the resurrected Jesus.  Sounds like a party.

Lorella also explained all the history of Saint Francis and his connection with the community.  He came through the town and now there is a piazza and an arch named after him, possibly a street, too.  The town was part of a pilgrimage route.  It was also the place where parts of the film Life is Beautiful was filmed! 

The piazza del something something from yesterday was actually called Piazza Garibaldi.  General Garibaldi is responsible-ish for unifying the Italian states, so there are piazza's all over Italy named after him.  We actually came during the 150th year of the Italian Unification, so there will be big parties once it gets nice out.

We also went to the historic tower in town.  Castiglion Fiorentino was once an Etruscan fortress, and the top of the town has a large walled-in lawn where Etruscan soldiers once fought off evil people.  Okay so I might have dazed off during the talk on all that history, but there's a nice big lawn and an amazing view where the wall has been knocked down to hand-rail height.  There is also a soccer field, which Lorella told us is the second religion of Italy.  Attached to this wonderful grassy place are two museums.  Once has Etruscan relics, should be interesting. Another is something else...like I said, I dazed off.... On a side note, Lorella was not sure if the trees had been there for 500 years or not, thanks Chip (Landscape Architect Professor) for asking those interesting questions...

One of the neighboring towns is Cortona.  Apparently there is a lot of rivalry between the towns, but Castiglion Fiorentino wins because 1. Americans are here and 2. They had proof of the Etruscan soldiers inhabiting it, which apparently is a huge deal.  Each town is very bitter towards the other, I'm going to compare Cortona to Lawrence while I am here.

After Lorella showed us all the historic spots in town, we went back for our first session of Italian class.  It was more like a refresher course since we took a semester of Italian already, and she was verrrry impressed with us. Little does she know we are Italian geniuses...

After the class we had some free time, so we got on the internet a bit to wait for the shops to open after their siesta (1pm-4pm), and we ventured to the town to find a hair dryer.  We went into the farmacia (farm-uh-chee-uh) and found very over-priced toiletries, but no hair dryer.  It was very nice that the store keepers tried to speak English to us when Marissa was buying some stuff, "Do you...want...for...uh...hair?" and "Tirty-seven, uhh...tree-five."

We found a salon that had straighteners and dryers in their window so we went inside, were greeted, and then stood there realizing we had no idea what to say.  Eventually we found one on a shelf and Marissa said, "quanto costa?" The lady replied in Italian, 35 euro, and then proceeded to pull one out from the display window, double check the price, pull it out of the box, plugged it in, show us how it worked and then made sure we saw the instruction book.  She clearly knew no English, but was very friendly and helpful.  We also went to another farmacia where the clerk was younger and decided to mix some Italian and English together, with the cost being "Nove-fifty." I guess today we realized that they know we are clueless, but appreciate us trying and will be very helpful, at least in our little town.  Side note - mom, saw an extensive tea set in the window at a boutique, looks very cute! I'll check it out sometime.

After dinner, which was once again amazing, we made pals with the new UTSA students here, and tried to teach them some Italian phrases.  They seem pretty nice, and we went and explored the Velvet Underground later in the evening.  The bartender spoke English which made it easier on us, and he kept showing off all his bottle-tossing skills. 

Anyways, the town is on a VERY steep hill, so no need to worry about me gaining weight, I will be Megan Fox after this semester.  I better get to bed, since we actually have a class tomorrow - STUDIO! 

Cara Marie

Sights of Castiglion Fiorentino

Refer to the first list below. This is a focaccia primavera. Or what's left of it after Kelsey and I.

Here is Kelsey next to a Kelsey-sized door! She belongs in Italy!

Refer to firsts list again, here is the impulsive wave.

Velvet Underground. Hot Spot for the college-aged kiddos.

Catholic church at Castiglion Fiorentino and view from the Loggia.

Buongiorno Italia!!!!

After a long day of flying, walking, waiting, flying, flying, flying, bus riding, walking, unpacking, and more walking, we finally made it to our new home at the Santa Chiara Study Center in Castiglion Fiorentino.  We got all our luggage up the steep hill (with the help of a local's "truck," more like a tricycle) and had time to unpack and settle into our quaint little dorm rooms (emphasis on little).  We got a quick tour of the local hot spots in town, and then headed back to the study center for our first home-cooked Italian meal.  It began with a basket of bread and a bottle of vino rosso.  Next was the first course - real, live, Italian pasta. Followed by salad, chicken, and delicious little potatoes that looked like lemon slices, very odd....but delicious none-the-less.

After dinner, my roomies and I decided we should probably contact home.  I let Kelsey use my converter to plug in her laptop to Skype with her momma, and she felt the need to burn the entire building down.  A giant spark followed by smoke led to a successful shut down of the wireless internet in the entire building.  Apparently it overloaded and flipped the breaker and we lost parental connection until our RA reset everything.  There were no injuries except Kelsey is convinced she could have gotten shocked to death - what's new.

Here is my list of firsts:

First regret of this adventure: Not getting an Auntie Anne's pretzel before boarding the 9 hour flight.
First meal on an international flight: Manicotti, salad, peppermint brownie (I pretended it was an Andes mint and went with it), bread roll and apple juice (which Marissa and I found to have more sugar, calories and carb's than a pop, so don't worry mom I switched to water).
First movie on an international flight: The Social Network (followed by The Expendables after a failed attempt to sleep)
First words spoken in Italian: "Vorrei uno focaccia primavera per favore"
First thing bought in Euro's: ....uno focaccia primavera, a delicious little sammy for a truck stop!

First Italian graffiti seen: "Hot Boys" all over the highway...I'm hoping it's a boy band.
First Italian highway lesson:  Staying in your own lane is NOT relevant. 
First Italian person I waved at on impulse: Construction worker on scaffolding 60 feet in the air.
First Italian bar I was told to go to: Velvet Underground...sounds mysterious.
First thing I am going to buy in Italy:  BLANKET.  They only turn the heat on at one time of the day and it is during the hottest time of the day, which is still of course below freezing...Kelsey and I are sporting sweats, smartwool socks, and of course our robes in the mean time.

Schedule for tomorrow entails breakfast, orientation, seeing some more sights in town, and meeting the new students from Colorado State and Texas San Antonio!

Until next time,

Cara Marie

Going Global

Thanks to my WONDERFUL daddy, I just set up my new Droid Global.  I have the international plan now, so you can still communicate with me while I'm away!  If you get Skype, you can message or call me whenever you would like (since I have Skype mobile), but phone calls and texts are a bit pricey.  Skype is free and can be downloaded at Skype.com.  I have been trying to brush up on my Italian, but I think I'll be relying on my Translator app more than anything.  I will also be able to use my maps, so don't worry about me getting lost!  Getting a bit nervous that the departure date is so soon - just 4 days away! 

Until then,

Cara Marie

Eight Days

I can't believe it's already time for the Orvieto program to leave!  Good luck to everyone leaving tomorrow for Italy, be there in eight days!

With this one week count down, I am realizing how unprepared I am...and am slightly regretting spacing out during Lynn Ewanow's tangents.  Probably should have taken more notes.  Instead, I am relying on all the lists my mom has saved for things to take to Italy, which, on a side note, resulted in getting clothes pins and a drain cover for Christmas.

Hope all my fellow travelers are ready for the ride of our lives!

Cara Marie

The Count Down

Two weeks until departure for Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy.  I will be studying architecture at the Santa Chiara Study Center in town, and will be traveling all over Italy and Europe.  Check here for more updates on travels, projects, and predicaments I get myself into!

Cara Marie