longlivethewallswecrashedthrough

The group!

2012-01-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

I'm lookin real good.

Gusties off to Guatemala!

Off we go to Guatemala!

2012-01-06T12:16:00.001-08:00

Guatemala Mission Statement:

We will enter the culture with an open mind and willingness to learn and gain a deeper understanding of Guatemalan peoples’ values, viewpoints and culture. In addition, we hope to not only learn but to fully enjoy all of the cool things Guatemala has to offer.

We will strive to step out of our comfort zones to take full advantage of opportunities as they arise

We aspire to positively represent Gustavus and the US and spend more time learning about them than teaching about ourselves

We will strive to have patience and respect for one another and those we meet.

We aspire to be culturally sensitive and to bring back this sensitivity and new knowledge to use in our daily lives.

Our time in Perugia.

2012-01-03T07:04:00.001-08:00

Nothing describes it better. <---Watch this video.

Teagan's Blog.

2011-12-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

So my roommate Teagan is hilarious. Here's her blog, which could give a whole different perspective on our time here. SO FUN TO READ. And she's obsessed with food.

FEED ME BEAUTIFUL

Something to be learned from Italian men.

2011-12-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Okay so here's the deal. Italian men are unique. So unique. NOTHING like American men, can't even be compared. You can stereotype them and you can make generalizations about them, but the one thing that rings true, I think, for pretty much ALL Italian men, is that they aren't afraid to tell you how they feel.
They think you look good? No hesitation. They're going to tell you that you look good. If it makes them look like a fool, they don't care. I'm actually not even sure if they notice. It's not a weird thing to see a beautiful girl in the street and say "You look beautiful" or something along those lines in Italian. Yeah, it can be super creepy, especially if they mutter it under their breath or include some sort of kissing noise at you as you pass them on the street. But to a certain degree its something that can be appreciated. If you're in a bar, and a guy thinks he likes you, he's going to say it."But I'm in love with you!" has been heard more than once in a bar while I've been here. "You don't love me, you just met me. But thank you." What else do you say to that? And though it seems a little forward, especially to us Americans, its nice, you know? American men, on such a general basis, are so guarded and, like Englishmen (we studied this in my lit class..) they can be pretty bad at showing feelings. Italian men do NOT have this issue. In Italy, the land of love and romance, the men have no fears. Women are idolized. They want you to know they appreciate your beauty. They want to tell you they love you. They want to talk to you. If you have a boyfriend, or a husband, but another man loves you, the other man isn't going to let the fact that you're already in a relationship get in the way. He's going to court you, woo you, and tell you he loves you, even if he gets shut down OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. American men could take some advice from Italian men, in this regard. No, please don't start kissing at women in the street or muttering creepy things under your breath, but if a girl you like looks good, TELL HER. Don't worry about looking like a fool, because most likely she's going to appreciate it. If you like a girl, take a little tip from the Italian men and TELL HER. The persistence in these men is actually unbelievable. There are no fears of rejection, and I think that's something to be admired. They're going to fight for love, no matter the obstacles.

No, I did not date an Italian man while I was here.
Yes, it did drive me crazy getting hollered at and kissed by Italian men on a regular basis.
No, I didn't really enjoy being groped by strangers in the bar, or getting kissed by 40 year old men.
Yes, I'm going to miss the attention, and being told that I look good. Everybody appreciates a little confidence boost, right?
Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations I had with the nice, not creepy, fun Italian men that I met while living here (they do exist).
But most of all, I will miss the fearless quest for love that every Italian man takes part in. Yes, I do think American men could learn from this. It's definitely been an eye-opening experience for me. The Italian sun burns for romance, this is true.
There's something to be learned from Italian men.

.....

2011-12-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

Restaurant seating in the middle of the street.

My straight-uphill walk to school every morning.

The Center.

the list is never ending...

2011-12-15T07:16:00.000-08:00

Hand-made Italian Pizza, done in three minutes, made with real mozzarella cheese, and shaped like a heart if the guy who made it think you're cute.

My school, The Umbra Institute. Oh and Ciao Ciao's the little alimentari underneath, with "un panino caprese" for 2.80 euro, the most delicious sandwich in town.

THIS. Need I say more?

"I'll meet you at the fountain."

This girl.

THIS girl.

THIS girl. And boxed wine (note the tavernello box on the counter...1.75 euro at the priori store)

more things i will miss about italy...

2011-12-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

Bidets. Which we literally never used. Except my roommate Crystal, who washed her feet in it. Oh and when we drank wine in the bathroom because its the biggest room in the apartment. Then it made for a great little drink table.

Buildings and streets like this.

MY FRIENDS.

Giant, old, graffiti-covered doors.

And trying to get them unlocked after coming home from the bars in the middle of the night.

ALL OF THE DOGS. They are everywhere and they are SO CUTE.

Just sitting on the steps, enjoying the life.

The trains!

the impact of italy.

2011-12-14T02:25:00.000-08:00

If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.

From Minneapolis.

To Italy.

New friends.

Breath-taking scenery.

New friends becoming old friends.

Holidays away from home.

Exploring Europe.

December.

The most incredible four months of my life.

community service all over the world: its for the children.

2011-12-12T05:52:00.000-08:00

So every Tuesday this semester, I participated in a service project for an organization called Unicef. Basically, every week, we met with this group of cute old Italian ladies, and we made dolls. Well we each made one doll, because it took FOREVER. It was so fun though. The ladies didn't speak any English, so we had to speak Italian to them, which was generally a super huge struggle, but also really fun.

ACTUALLY, on one of our last days, we witnessed a big fight, all in Italian, between a couple of the women. It was really entertaining, because of their animated voices and huge gestures, and I was completely entranced in their words, trying to understand what was going on. All in all, once the woman who initiated the argument finally stormed out and slammed the door (all while yelling "ci vediamo!" aka "see ya later/we will see each other"...quite the dramatic exit...not..hahahha), the older lady who's in charge happened to be standing next to me. She was discussing the argument with the lady I had been working with, and I was trying super hard to understand what they were saying because I'm really nosy and I love drama and gossip. I got the gist of what was going on, but I wanted to hear what they had to say about it. The lady in charge realized I was listening and looked at me and asked if I understood. I said kind of...and then she looked at me, and really slowly said "IL MONDO E' BELLO, PERCHE CAMBIA." Aka, the world is beautiful because it changes. And then she went on, in Italian to say that there are many different types of people, normal people, CRAZY PEOPLE, etc...hahahahahahaha. Basically, the world is beautiful because of all of the variety. I was dying.

Anyways here's the video about it, credit to Ian Lyons our IT guy at the Umbra Institute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-SAQyrX24&feature=player_embedded

classes are real here too...

2011-12-12T04:52:00.000-08:00

So I just finished my final lit paper, due tomorrow. My class was all about women and men travelling in Italy in the 1800s basically. We read lots of narratives and books and short stories about people travelling through Italy during those times. And I just finished a ten page paper about it. What was really cool about the class was that I learned about how much I have in common with young travellers from different time periods. Travelling, studying abroad, taking a grand tour, whatever you're doing, its all the same. We have many of the same goals today as travellers had back then. See the monuments. Learn the language. Immerse yourself in the culture. See the art. Keep a diary. Make connections. So I started thinking to myself...which of these goals have I accomplished?

Okay well, I saw a HELL of a lot of art this semester. And churches, and monuments. I saw pretty much everything I wanted to see and more. I could probably last a good couple of years without having to see another fresco. Just saying.

Learn the language? Yeah. I mean, no, there's no way that I'm fluent, but I can have broken conversations with people, and I am SO HAPPY about how much I learned. My Italian class here was so high-paced and my school here has a really great Italian language program. It's required, and you have to go to Italian class four days a week...whereas all the other classes are only 2 days a week. I think that's awesome. I heard of other study abroad programs in Italy where the students only have Italian class once a week....Umbra does it best, in MY opinion. Then again, in Rome or Florence you could probably get away with speaking English...but in Perugia if you don't speak Italian..a lot of the times you're screwed. It's been the coolest challenge. I seriously recommend it. If you want to learn the language, study in a city/town that's not known for tourism...you won't have a choice.

Immerse myself in the culture. I guess the true test of this will come out when I get back to America. I'm not sure how I've changed to adapt to Italian culture, but I know that I love the lifestyle here, sooooo I think I'm going to have severe culture shock in about a week. Woof.

Keep a diary? What can I say. I tried. Oh and I have this blog.

Make connections. There is literally NO DOUBT IN MY MIND that I have made friends this semester that will stay my friends forever. I love them. And I have the most incredible, hilarious roommates. I seriously lucked out. I now have people to visit in Boston, Philadelphia, Texas...and connections for when I DO come back to Italy. So cool.

I'm doing way too much thinking and not enough studying.

BUT I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE I'M LEAVING THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE.

Four days. New goal: Eat pizza and gelato every day until I leave. Starting with dinner tonight.

Things I'm going to miss about Italy:

2011-12-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

Being among ancient ruins under the Italian sun.

Sitting the Colosseum and listening to Giampiero talk about the Roman Empire.

My roommates.

Going out any night of the week and knowing that by midnight, the whole center will be completely full of people. Also Dempsey's.

My AMAZING and HILARIOUS friends.

Being able to hop a train to any Italian city just for a day because we liked the movie that was filmed there.

(AKA Arezzo from "La Vita e' Bella"--Mandi and I went last week.)

Exploring Perugia, the most beautiful city in Italia, and finding hidden places like this.

To be continued...

Hot Springs. Italians are funny.

2011-12-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

So yesterday. Last minute, after we finished our finals, we were drinking wine and wandering our beautiful city. We got gelato, had pizza for lunch, rode the ferris wheel overlooking the valley, and then got invited to go to the hot springs. The HOT SPRINGS? Like, WHAT? I didn't even know we HAD those around here. Well, we do. And my roommate's friend's Italian boyfriend wanted to take us. So we get in the car, well three cars full, a bunch of American girls and Italian boys, and we headed out into the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE to go swimming in the hot springs. It was SPECTACULAR. It was like a natural hot tub, on the side of mountain in Italy, with only the BEST of views.
Turns out some of the best experiences come from spontaneous decisions. I'm so glad I went.

Why Italians are funny:
You know how in Minnesota if you get out of a pool/hot tub, even if its freezing and in the winter, you just go barefoot in a towel until you're in the house/in the car/dried off? Well not in Italy. For the hot springs, we had packed our swim suits and a towel...that's it. These boys had packed special WATERPROOF SANDALS and ROBES. Because upon exiting the hot spring, when it was time to leave, they didn't want to walk barefoot and get their feet dirty or let their body be cold. So of course when we hop out of the water and wrap up in our towels, barefoot on the dirt road in the woods in Italy, they thought we were crazy. "American girls are crazy!" They said. And we asked why. They said, "Look at you, you aren't wearing shoes! You are going to pee in your bed because of that!"
EXCUSE ME? I'm going to do WHAT, because I'm not wearing shoes? How does that even have anything to do with anything?
"Seriously, you're going to be cold and get sick and pee in your bed because you're not wearing shoes!"
Still don't get it.
APPARENTLY, when you get a cold/get sick from being in the cold, you have to pee alot, or pee in the bed? I literally still don't understand. I don't get sick from standing barefoot in 50 degree weather, and I also don't pee the bed when I have a cold. So...
Italians are funny.

i almost forgot i went to denmark.

2011-12-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

I realized I actually didn't write anything about my weekend in Denmark. I completely forgot to tell anyone that I went. It was a REALLY chill weekend, hanging out with friends from Gustavus, staying in my friends apartment near Copenhagen, exploring the city, having home-cooked meals, and going out in Copenhagen at night. Not a single map was opened, not a single tour was taken...we just spent time together and enjoyed the beauty of being Gusties and being in Copenhagen together. I loved it.

However, the thing that made my trip to Copenhagen so significant was the fact that I went ALONE. I met friends there, yeah (they were SAINTS and picked me up at the airport), but I travelled to Rome and flew to Denmark ALONE. I've never done anything like it before. I mean I've flown alone before, in the U.S, but never in a different country. I was nervous. I had to take a really early morning bus from Perugia to Rome on the Friday morning after thanksgiving...then spend like three or four hours in the Rome Fiumicino airport alone, then fly to Copenhagen alone, and then wander aimlessly until I found my beautiful, amazing friends. I've literally never been happier to see friends before. Ever. I don't have a phone that works outside of Italy, so I was SO nervous that I wouldn't find them in the airport, and then I'd be stranded in Copenhagen, alone. But no, my friends are awesome and were there, waiting cheerfully as soon as I got off the plane. :)

So that went smoothly. However, on the way back, I was even less excited, because I was leaving my friends, and was going to be spending the night alone in the Rome Fiumicino airport upon my return to Italia. So Peter took me to the Copenhagen airport in time for my 6:20pm flight on Sunday night, at the end of a short but wonderful weekend, and I caught my flight back to Rome. However, I didn't land in Rome until after 9pm, and the last bus/train back to Perugia leave before 9. SO I was stuck. It would have been a waste of money to get a hostel, and totally dangerous for me to have tried to get there in Rome alone at night. So I got some snacks, pulled out my blankets (I thought ahead), hugged my backpack with my LIFE, and slept. In the Rome airport. Alone. On a chair. Clinging to my backpack for dear life (AIN'T NO PICK-POCKETERS GONNA GET THIS GIRL). It was not my favorite moment of the whole semester, but I DID IT. I have never spent so much time alone in my life. With literally no contact, with anyone. It was definitely a moment of growth for me. I learned that I can, in fact, handle being alone with my thoughts for over 10 hours, surrounded by people who don't speak the same language as me. It wasn't horrible, and it definitely made me a stronger person.

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE.

Fun fact: No pictures were taken in Denmark. Literally none. So realistically, there's no proof that it happened. Which is probably why I forgot to tell people I went. But it was one the best weekends of my semester because it was SO relaxing and SUCH a learning experience. I had to be so independent, and I'm SO proud of myself!

Class? Please. This is study abroad.

2011-12-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

I got a letter from my amazing-best-grandma-in-the-world yesterday. She told me how she loved reading my blog and hearing about my adventures, but was wondering how classes were going (you know...if I actually have time to LEARN between backpacking to different countries in Europe). Well. Fun fact. Classes are kind of a joke. In my mind. I mean, I love learning, I love classes, but let's be real. Homework? I don't have time for that. I have literally never been less academically stressed in my life. I was more stressed out about my classes in middle school than I am here. I have this theory here: DO THE WORK. GET IT DONE. DO WELL. NO STRESS. I'm only taking four classes, two of which I think are SO AWESOME and SO FUN that they don't even feel like real work. The other two...we just won't talk about them. The truth is, I came to Italy to be in Italy and to explore Europe, not to study. None of my classes count for my major or my minor...or really any of my gen eds. I could have graduated in three and a half years, but I decided to spend a semester abroad instead and graduate on time with all of my friends. And it was literally the best decision of my life.

But, for the sake of "STUDY abroad," I'll write a little bit about my classes. It's good timing, actually, because I just finished my first final! It was my Italian final (my all-time favorite class here, not surprising) and it went really well. I love learning the Italian language, my professor Barbara is AWESOME, and I've done really, really well in the class. Being here has made me realize how much I love learning other languages, and hopefully in the future I'll be able to continue with Italian and Spanish...maybe even be fluent one day. :) There's no doubt in my mind that I want to be able to come back to Italy one day and still be able to get by with the language I already know...plus even maybe be able to have conversations and get to know Italians better because of being even more conversationally-fluent! Hahah! We'll see.

My other favorite class is Roman Empire. The Roman Empire is SO SO SO SO cool. SO cool. And my professor, Giampiero, is like an expert on it. (Side note: another thing i love about Italy is having professors/friends named Giampiero and Francesco, etc...AWESOME.) We took a field trip last week to Rome with our class and did a tour of the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Caracala baths. I wrote two papers for that class (yeah, seriously, that's it) and both were about the emperor Domitian. I actually really enjoyed writing the papers...I've never enjoyed history so much. I have my final next Tuesday though...its going to be a doozy. Maybe I'll start studying soon...probably not. I'm in Italy, Perugia is decorated for Christmas, and my friends want to party on the steps under the lights. Who can say no to that?

Psych and Lit are are my other classes. I have a lot to do for them still...I have to study for my psych final and write my lit paper...I'll get it done. Later. The main thing I learned in psych: Cultural shock happens. Immersing yourself into a culture helps you to become culturally competent and accepting as a person, and that's incredibly important. It's important to see other cultures as independent entities, not in comparison to your own culture. When you drop the comparisons, and just accept it for how it is, that's when you can see the beauty in the new culture. And this has been so important while living in Italy, because Italy is SO DIFFERENT from America. It's maybe not visible when you're visiting big, tourist cities like Rome, Florence, Venice or Naples...but living in Perugia it is so clear. The lifestyle is just SO different. If you try to compare it to the US, you just get homesick. But if you relax and appreciate it for what it is, it's beautiful. Adjusting to the Italian lifestyle has really changed who I am as a person...there are so many lifestyle changes that I've made without even realizing it while living in Italy, and I hope to bring them back to America with me.

So all in all, classes are good, I'm doing well, glad to be done. Not glad to be done with Italy, though. No. I'll be back. No doubt in my mind.

Here are a few pictures of things I've been doing in Italy while NOT doing homework or studying (hahahha):

Goofing around with my roommates, especially my roommate Crystal because she is CRAZY and I LOVE HER.

(This was "Perugia Pigtail Day" because Crystal was pissed that we weren't home for Thanksgiving AND didn't get school off on Thanksgiving....so she decided we would make our own holiday? She'll do anything for a laugh. Hahahahhaha.)

Thanksgiving Dinner with my beautiful roommates in Perugia, Italy. It wasn't half bad, but nothing compared to the good old home-cooking of my vegetarian mother. :)

Reading travel books and drinking wine in my bed, all while dressed to go out.

Taking angsty photos with my friends. They've caught on.

Going to the bars to spend time with my amazing new friends from this semester!

We had a huge American Christmas party for all of my school at our favorite bar...it was SO fun.

Back to studying for finals (kind of)!!

America countdown: 6 days. WOOF. Who knows if I'm ready to leave this incredible place, but I cannot WAIT to see my family.

Siamo andate a Parigi

2011-11-21T05:44:00.000-08:00

Hannah. Marg. Crystal. Mandi: The roommates take on Paris.

Pictures are worth THOUSANDS OF WORDS.

Loving each other in front of the Palace of Versailles!

BAAAAH ITS BEAUTIFUL!

More loving in front of the Palace Gardens.

Roommates (minus Teagan) at the Palace of Versailles!

YEAAAH BABY. Our hostel was just a few minutes from this beautiful site, as well as many sex shops and strip clubs. OHHH Paris.

FINALLY AT THE LOUVRE. Childhood dreams coming true.

So of course we have to goof off in front of world-famous historical monuments.

The Mona Lisa! (Somewhat famous, from what I've heard) WADDAP DA VINCI CODE.

Sharing a nutella-banana crepe on our walk to Notre Dame.

Loving puppies all over the world. This is why my parents never let me go to the Humane Society as a child. This dog wanted me to take him home SO BAD!! I swear, if I'd had another 1,000 euro....

In front of Hotel De Ville!

Mandi and I played this game at Notre Dame to see who could find St. Denis with his head cut off first. I won. WINNNAA.

St. Denis is behind me, holding his head, on the outside of Notre Dame.

Notre Dame. Bellisima!

Jardin du Luxembourg!

The Eiffel Tower as seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

In front of the Eiffel Tower at sunset!

Roomies at the Eiffel Tower. The BEST way to end our weekend. :)

Artsy shot.

Creme Brulee for dessert after a delicious dinner in France!

French onion soup.

Cheese fondue.

Creme Brulee.

YUM.

Mi piace Parigi.

PARLO ITALIANO!

2011-11-21T04:46:00.000-08:00

It's Monday and I am in the HIGHEST OF SPIRITS.
Perche, you ask?!
Perche PARLO ITALIANO!

Or at least enough to get by! Hahaha.
First of all, I got my third Italian exam back (only one more left to go after this!) and I got NINETY NINE PERCENT BABY. 79/80. ROCKINNN

Second of all, I had to go to this package-mailing store to send my poor broken camera home to my mom (so that it will be fixed before I go to Guatemala in January). And I had been warned ahead of time that they don't really speak English. So I prepared the words I would need to know to tell them what I needed, hopped the Mini-Metro down to Fontivegge, and went to the store. I walked in, said BUONGIORNO with confidence (it's important to always do that when entering a shop/store of any kind in Italy!) and said "Devo spedire un pacco." (I need to send a package.) I had this written down, and had been practicing it before I got there. APPARENTLY I had a nice Italian accent when I said it, because he started speaking in Italian REAL quick as if he thought I was fluent in Italian. YEAH BABY. Of course I had no idea what he was saying, so in Italian I told him that I only spoke a little English, and together, me speaking as much Italian as possible and him inserting English words if I didn't entirely understand, we had a conversation and got my package sent! ACCOMPLISHMENT NUMBER ONE.

THEN, I was already at Fontivegge so I figured I would go grocery shopping at the big coop (in the center, where I live, there are only little tiny mom and pop groceries, whereas the big coop by the trainstation is more like a rainbow or cub, Italian style). I had plenty of time, so I wandered through the store, picking delicious groceries and looking at the different foods.When I went to pay, I spoke Italian to the cashier and AGAIN had a little conversation in only Italian. How cool.

On my way back home after getting off of the mini-metro, I walked past this lady selling handmade jewelry on the sidewalk. It was SO cute, and while I was looking at it her dog came over to see me, and he was the SWEETEST dog. And she was super friendly and let me pet her dog, and in Italian I asked her about her jewelry, bought some, etc.

So basically, today has been an AWESOME cultural day for Hannah. And I'm feeling WAY confident in my Italian at this point. Not in class, and not in full on conversations, but I like knowing that I can understand a lot of what people are saying and can get my message across. It's such a good feeling!

"i'm just thinking about when we went to mexico six years ago and you packed 14 pairs of flip flops...one for each day."

2011-11-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

My mom reminded me of this just today, after I told her that I managed to fit everything I need for a weekend in Paris into my purse. Yeah. My purse.

If Margie Marks were reading this, she'd be in disbelief. When I used to sleep over at Elyssa's house, her mom, Margie, would always say "What, you forgot the kitchen sink?" because I literally packed EVERYTHING I could EVER POSSIBLY need, just for the one night at their house. And we lived five minutes away.

When I was little and we'd go on family road-trips, my mom would limit me to my one bag, but all of my dolls and clothes wouldn't fit in it...so I'd hide another bag full of stuff under my seat in the van....and she usually wouldn't notice until we were too far away from the house for her to do anything about it. I was cunning when it came to making sure I packed waaaay too much for anywhere we ever went.

And yes, when we went to Mexico for Spring Break my freshmen year of high school, I iDID, in fact, pack 14 pairs of flip flops. I had lots of outfits! I couldn't wear the SAME flip flops EVERY day with DIFFERENT outfits!! That would be horrible! (Fun fact: I barely touched anything I packed when we went to Mexico...turns out when you stay at a resort in Mexico, all you really need is a swimsuit and a cover-up...and one pair of flip flops).

So this weekend, for three days in Paris, I have packed:
Underwear.
1 pair of shoes (the ones on my feet right now, as we speak)
2 pairs of socks (have to rewear them maybe? NOT a big deal)
1 pair of leggings (the ones i'm wearing, RIGHT NOW)
1 t-shirt (the one i'm wearing RIGHT NOW)
1 pair of jeans (in case its cold)
2 light sweaters (friday and saturday)
Ipod
Wallet.
Toothbrush
Travel toothpaste
Travel shampoo.
Oh and the jacket that I'm wearing, RIGHT NOW.

Dear future travellers, feel free to learn on your own, but after ten days of backpacking and a semester of weekend trips all over Europe, I have TRUTHFULLY and HONESTLY learned that what I have listed above is all you need to survive. Oh and water, but you can get that anywhere (not for free though...don't kid yourself. this is europe).

Anyways, I'm off to Paris for the weekend with my roommates, Crystal, Marg and Mandi!
Ci vediamo!

The week of dinner parties.

2011-11-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

So this past week, my roommate's dad came to visit. Teagan's dad is hilarious, so fun, a lot like my dad, and SUCH a trooper. So on his first day in Italy (Friday), Teagan and I took him to Florence. We visited the Duomo (again, for me, but it's still beautiful!), saw the Galileo Museum (VERY COOL, especially for little miss "History of Science," Teagan), did some shopping, walked on the Arno River, crossed Ponte Vecchio, and had an AMAZING, DELICIOUS, traditional Tuscan meal for lunch. We had the house wine (as per usual), and Pappa al Pomodoro. Pappa al Pomodoro is basically a Tuscan peasant food, made from hardened bread, tomatoes,and some other spices/herbs. What makes this food so special? Like all Italian food, it's special because it's SO SIMPLE, yet UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS. All of the ingredients are SO FRESH. And then we had delicious chocolate hazelnut gelato. And took the train home.

AND HAD METER PIZZA.

Second time that week. The main scenario for meter pizza: Between 4-6 people go to Pizza Etruschetto and share a meter-long margharita pizza and a free bottle of wine. The goal: the pizza has to be completely finished. The rule: Everyone must do their part.

Here's a picture from our first meter pizza this week...which was on Wednesday...hahaha:

Six girls+1 pizza=Anxiety over getting enough. WE LOVE PIZZA.

I'd rather do meter pizza with four people. Much safer that way. Hahahaha.

So then, Saturday night, Teagan, her dad, our friend Briana and I had a little dinner part at Briana's apartment...pasta, veggies, salad, red wine....simple but delicious. And then we hit the bars. Teagan's dad, let me tell you, was a HOOT AND A HALF at the Italian bars. Makin' friends everywhere he went. It was awesome. We had a BLAST. We took him out every night that he was here, and he loved it every time. We even made him stay up until the secret bakery opened one of the nights (the secret bakery is the one that opens in the middle of the night (around one or two) for the drunks/partiers/bar-hoppers who are craving a nutella filled pastry...it's cheap and DELICIIOUUSSS).

SUNDAY, after cleaning up the house a bit and doing some homework, I took the mini-metro (cutest thing ever, I'll post a picture sometime) out of the center of Perugia all the way to the last stop where there is a GORGEOUS park for running. It was my first time running in like three weeks...rough...but it was BEAUTIFUL. So peaceful, and sunny, I swear I got a tan. And then I came back and we went to mass! It was at a stunning cathedral right next to our apartment, and it was all in Italian, but it was so fun to listen to. Throughout the whole service I was listening, doing my best to understand what the Priest was saying. Of course it helped that I've been going to church my whole life and know most of the basic bible verses/blessings/prayers that he said. That definitely helped. It was my first Italian catholic mass, though, and I think I will definitely be going back sometime!

And then Dal mi cocco's (which, I found out, basically translates to say "At my buddy's.") for dinner. The best traditional Italian restaurant in town. They do the full-deal. Wine, pizza bread, family-style pasta, salad, delicious dessert, amaretto shot with dessert, and an espresso to finish it off. CLASSIC ITALIAN. Nothing better.

Monday Night: Italian Murder Mystery Dinner Party.

So I've never been to a murder mystery party in ENGLISH, let alone in italian. But my italian professoressa, Barbara, thought it would be a fun thing to do as a class. (I KNOW, I LOVE THIS SCHOOL). So we all made a dish and brought to one of our classmate's houses for the party. Barbara showed up with the murder mystery supplies, and gave us each a character, a role, and a script. We had to go through the whole script in order to tell the story (Barb's tricky way of making us practice Italian outside of class), and it was actually really fun! Some of the courses of the meal went along with the script, which was super adorable. Then, in the end, we all had to write, in Italian, what we thought had happened and who had done it. The winner got a prize. It was definitely a test of my Italian comprehension, but was actually also a ton of fun. Plus, PLEASE tell me when I will ever have the opportunity to drink wine with a professor after this semester. Seriously. So funny.

Tuesday Night: Teagan's dad's last night in Italy=FAMILY DINNER IN THE APARTMENT.

Since we all had class and commitments all day, Teagan's dad made the roommates a delicious home-cooked family dinner for his last night in town. He made us this fun appetizer: cream cheese with pesto on top and hard bread. YUM. And for the main coures: Veggie Lasagna. And then gelato at our favorite gelato shop, "Fonte Maggiore" on him. SUCH a relaxing night.

So, to sum it up, for the past week I have been experiencing some of the best meals of my entire life in this country. Didn't hate it!

However, Teagan's dad has gone home, I'm writing a paper and studying for an exam (both for tomorrow)....so tonights dinner: Frozen pizza.

Ahhhh the good life.

Hanging around Perugia.

2011-11-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

So for the past two weeks I've barely travelled...and it's been awesome. Fall break was, to say the least, completely draining. Ten days of backpacking+nearly physically harming fellow travellers due to frustration+language barriers+currency exchanges (the czech crown...WTFFFF)+seeing beautiful views, hiking, visiting churches and castles in multiple different countries= ONE TIRED-OF-TRAVELLING HANNAH. No joke. One can do with a break from beautiful cathedrals and art museums and views after ten straight days of it. It has been so relaxing to stay in/near Perugia for the past two weeks.

Last weekend, I stayed in Perugia with friends, and then took a day trip with a class to Rome on Saturday. We visited the Keates/Shelley House (these English writers who escaped to Italy for health and lived right on the Spanish Steps in Rome)...and then saw the cemetary where they were buried (old...cool...cats EVERYWHERE (friends with the dead people, I guess)). It was actually my first trip to Rome! Crazy...I know...I've been here for three months and I've yet to go to Rome (minus to the airport for catching planes).

Pathetic Sidenote: I definitely had the Lizzie McGuire Movie Soundtrack stuck in my head the ENTIRE time I was in Rome that day. "THIS IS WHAT DREEAAAAAMS ARE MADE OF" YEAH. Sad. Literally caught myself singing it outloud under my breath while walking down the Spanish Steps.

Fun travellers sidenote: Trains SUCK. Like okay yeah they're nice blah blah blah because you don't have to drive, but let me tell you, there is NOTHING more stressful than getting tickets for/finding/hopefully not missing your train. Train conductors have no mercy. Once those doors lock, even if the train is still there, you're NOT getting on, sorry about it. So my whole class is waiting for the metro to take us back to the train station to make our 1:30pm train. Time check: 1:15. REALLLY pushing it. The metro pulls up, and it's PACKED TO THE BRIM (fun fact number 2: the metro system in rome SUCKS, you are jam-packed like sardines in a pick-pocketer infested subway car in the dark with strangers rubbing up on your body. IF you're lucky enough to even get on.). So my whole class gets on except my friend Lauren and I. We're trying to push our way in and literally get shoved off, right before the doors close and the metro takes off without us. But we're young, we're optimistic. We wait for the next line to the train station. We get off the metro. It's 1:26, and we're BOOKIN through the train station, no shame. (That's one thing you learn here...there's literally NO SHAME in running through the train station. Everyone does it. The trains have no mercy.) We get to the train. 1:29. Doors still open. LAUREN HASN'T VALIDATED HER TICKED. OOOHHH SHOOT. If you get on a train in this country without validating your ticket...you're screwed. Huge fine. So she's digging in her purse for her ticket...gets it stamped...we run to the train....DOORS CLOSED.
No such luck, my friends. The whole class headed back on the train to Perugia without us....Needless to say, it was NOT the best first-time-in-Rome experience.

LUCKILY, two days later, I did a little solo trip to Rome (skipped Monday classes) to meet up with some Gusties who were spending their fall break in Italy! The train ride was fine, I got there nice and early, met up with Britt and Emily, we thought we had it all under control. FALSE. Another fun fact about Italy: they have train/bus/public transportation strikes WHENEVER THEY WANT. A strike is called a "sciopero" and they are REAL common, and planned ahead of time. And usually just for a day at a time. So luckily, on our one day in Rome together, there was a public transportation strike. This means no metro, and really infrequent buses.
So we gave in and did a hop-on/hop-off tour. It sounds SO cheezy, but in reality, it was the best decision EVER. We got to see all of the main sites without having to deal with the chaos and discomfort of the metro/the buses/pick-pocketers in Rome. It was SO relaxing, and I got to see Rome from a whole new perspective.

Britt and I on the tour bus in Rome!

We visited the Colosseum. It's HUGE. You expect it to be huge and awesome, but it's even huge-ER and awesome-ER than I ever imagined. Incredible.

Fun sidenote: Surrounding the colosseum are men dressed as gladiators willing to take pictures with tourists if you give them money. And they yell at you when you walk past. Fun things the Italian Gladiator Men said to us:

"HEY! CHARLIES ANGELS! WHERE YOU FROM?!"

"The states."

"WHYY AMERICAN GIRLS SO EVERY PRETTY? SO EVERY BEAUTIFUL!!"

And then later when I was walking around alone outside the Colosseum (Britt and Emily went in...I'm going with a class in a couple weeks, so I just took the time to explore around outside):

"HEY BLONDIE! I LOOOVE YOU!"

Gotta love them Italian gladiators. Or Italian men in general.

Then we visited Vatican City. Saw St. Peter's Basilica (behind me in this picture), and the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel!

ANNND of course, the Trevi Fountain. We all made wishes and threw coins in to the fountain, obviously (just like in the Lizzie McGuire Movie....obvs).

And then we got hit on by a group of 14 year old Italian boys.

OOOHHHH the stories.

The Trevi Fountain was definitely my favorite part of Rome. So peaceful yet so chaotic, so MAGICAL! And BEAUTIFUL! I loved it. Maybe because I felt like Lizzie McGuire making her wish right before she met Paolo....baaaah Lizzie McGuire was so cool.

So this was me, keeping close to home, having a couple relaxing day trips...mixed in with some stress of travelling (brush it off...brush it off...hahaha). I swear when I get back, public transportation/flying won't even phase me. Flying especially. Flights are as easy as train rides/car rides here. Just get on, buckle your seat belt, sleep, and arrive in another country in a couple hours. HOW COOL IS THAT.

Now about that 8 hour plane right back to America in a month....

"The further you travel, the smaller the world becomes."

2011-11-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

Well isn't THIS the truth.

Anyways. About two weeks ago, a group of five friends and I took a 10 day backpacking trip of Europe. To sum it up, we went from Rome to Portugal to Spain to the Czech Republic. We visited the cities of Lisbon, Seville, Barcelona and Prague. It was incredible. It was 10 straight days LIFE LESSONS, tests of PATIENCE, and adventures.

Here's a little picture summary of the trip:

The group, camped out at the train station in Rome, waiting to go to the airport.

Night one of our trip: Sleeping in the Rome airport.

Fun Fact: Airports are, in fact, NOT fun to sleep in. Especially when all you packed is one backpack, no blankets, no pillows, and no mattresses.

An even MORE fun fact: The Rome airport is cold, especially in October, and especially at night.

The next morning, we flew to Lisbon, Portugal!

Enjoying the beautiful sunset in Lisbon. (Not posed or anything.)

The girls (Mandi, Teagan, me, Allison) walking along the water in Lisbon on our first night!

We had lunch in the oldest brewery in Lisbon, which, FUN FACT, used to be a monestary! (AWESOME, I LOVE MONKS AND NUNS) The beer was good, but dark. But it was the oldest beer in Lisbon...had to have it, right? The food was INCREDIBLE. And EXPENSIVE.

When in Portugal, thought, right?

The next day, we took the tram (yeah, like real-life yellow tram from the movies) to Alfama, the oldest and most beautiful part of Lisbon. We literally spent the whole day just wandering around Alfama.

Alfama is the only part of the city that survived the earthquake in the 1700s, so all of the old buildings, homes and churches are traditional and preserved.

We climbed up to the Castel San Jorge, which used to be a fortress for the city, and enjoyed beautiful views of the city of Lisbon.

The residential area of Alfama. Really quaint.

Abbiamo mangiato vicino al mare. It was nice. Vegetarian option consisted of: lettuce salad, bread, and cheese platter. Good thing I'm not picky....and I'm not gonna pretend I wanted to eat the fresh (basically still alive) grilled fish that my friends ate. Nope, I was happy with the salad. But glad that they tried the fish that came from Portuguese waters. Definitely an experience.

THEN WE TOOK A NIGHT BUS TO SEVILLE, SPAIN.

We walked along the river in Seville.

Climbed the Torre de Oro and enjoyed the views.

Visited the Catedral (the largest cathedral in the country).

Admired the Catedral (for hours. seriously).

Visited the Reales Alcazares, the summer home of the royal family, so basically a huge palace with beautiful gardens with over 200 species. Fun Fact: In Portugal and Spain, peacocks just walk around. WAY COOL.

Also cats. They're everywhere.

THEN WE FLEW TO BARCELONA.

And that's where I broke my camera (Yeah.).

SOOO. Pictures of that and Prague to come later, when I get pics from my beautiful roommate's camera.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T03:44:00.000-07:00

So Halloween isn't really a thing here....instead All Saints Day (November 1st) is a national holiday where everybody gets work and school off. Except the American students. So that's cool. Good thing we plan on celebrating Halloween in style tonight regardless. :)
Here's a little blog one of our professors sent us about Halloween/All Saints Day in Italy (kinda interesting!):
http://www.athomeintuscany.org/2009/10/20/ognissanti-in-tuscany/

Just got back from a 10 day backpacking trip around Europe: Portugal, Spain and Prague. So tired. Blogs about those trips to come soon...and lots of pictures of course!

PS....10 days out of Italy=NOT a good thing for my Italian language skills, which are minimal in the first place. This morning when I was basically a zombie leaving my apartment to go to school, I ran into my sweet older Italian neighbor lady and literally just stared at her because I couldn't remember how to say goodmorning in Italian. GOODMORNING. Like the first thing I learned how to say. The thing my professor says to me every morning, first thing. The thing EVERY grocier, baker, store-owner says when you walk into a shop any time before like 2pm, every day. BAAAH I felt stupid. I was running through it in my head like saying it in Spanish and thinking about how I just spent three days in the Czech Republic with absolutely no understanding of the language and I awkwardly stayed silent and running my brain until she finally said Buongiorno. And then I was still confused and mumbled buongiorno and smiled hoping that would make up for it and kept walking. BAAAAAAAAHHHH embarrassing. LANGGUUUAAAGGEEE BARRIERRSSSS

story of my life.

Cheers to London!

2011-10-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

LAST weekend, my friend Briana and I took a casual weekend trip to London, UK.
And I need to move there. It was definitely my favorite city so far (but how can I even say that...I've loved them all). All of the buildings were so regal and stately and just GORGEOUS and clean. The weather was a lot like home, with leaves blowing everywhere, grass and parks all over the place, and beautiful trees blowing in the wind.
And who WOULDN'T fall in love with all of the double decker buses and classic black taxis and the fact that drivers sit on the right side of the car and they drive on the left side of the road. It was crazy. And I loved it.

Just walking around London.

Some Deltas met up in London (because we love each other and we love Delta Phi Omega).

Classic picture by the Tube Map in London. Realistically though, we only took the Tube once because its expensive and we were on a budget. We walked EVERYWHERE. Another opportunity to tone our butts and legs. Always appreciated.

And we went out in London.

The Natural History Museum! Such a beautiful building, straight from the movie "Night at the Museum" (LUHH DAT). As a future teacher (yeah yeah yeah), I would LOVE to take students to this museum. I learned so much. I never wanted to leave.

Just chillin on the river by the Houses of Parliament.

Big Ben!

Outside of the church in Westminster Abbey.

Briana and I by Westminster Abbey!

Who wouldn't love a city that calls their bathrooms "loos"????

And we were just laxin' in the grass in London....

Buckingham Palace! My favorite part: seeing the guards in their absurd red uniforms and tall furry hats.

The Houses of Parliament from another angle...you can never have too many angles!

Walking along the park after leaving Buckingham Palace. Unbelievably beautiful with crisp, fresh air. I would love to live here. Seriously. I'd spend every day in this park, or running on this path, or walking with friends, or reading, or playing catch. It was perfect.

And of course a classic red-telephone-booth photo shoot had to happen.

STARBUCKS (aka american coffee, or in my case a CHAI TEA LATTE) was so welcomed in the airport early in the morning before our flight back to Italy on Sunday. SO WELCOMED. We literally stormed around the airport going "we need american coffee. WHEEERRREEE IS STARBUCKS? WHEEERRE IS BK? I want a breakfast sammy." Tryna snatch every bit of America we could while in London, hahahaha.

Our flight back to Perugia was quick and easy, but when we arrived in the city center, where EUROCHOCOLATE (the annual chocolate festival) is currently taking place, we were overwhelmed again with the Italian lifestyle. The city was full and crazy, blasting music about chocolate from speakers on every corner, Italians and tourists pushing and shoving their way down Corso Venucci...

And then I had an "I'm from Minnesota, the cold doesn't scare me, I like to wear my sweats to the grocery store and Italy doesn't like me" culture shock moment.

I got home from the airport, went straight to my room, and was EXHAUSTED. I literally dumped all of my things on the bed and just started talking to my roommates and relaxing and cleaning and unpacking and lounging around. But then I realized I needed groceries in order to make dinner and I hadn't eaten anything since my airport breakfast that morning. So, since I was already dressed in my white athletic shorts and t-shirt, I figured I would just throw on a north face and run to the grocery store (it wasn't cold, remember?).

Well, the Italians didn't like that. I figured that out as soon as I got onto the main road on the way to the grocery store. If I could even DESCRIBE the looks I got from the winter-jacket-clad-scarf-wrapped-boots-wearing Italians, you MIGHT understand. I really can't though. I got the up-down ("what is that girl wearing?") from literally every person I passed. I don't speak much Italian, BUT I UNDERSTAND YOU. I literally couldn't believe it. I WASN'T cold. I was actually incredibly hot from the uphill walk to the grocery store. The breeze on my legs felt GREAT. NO, no I WASN'T "freddo" (cold), you dear Italian people who are judging me. I'm from Minnesota and I'm fine.

So that was my little culture shock moment of the week, thought I'd share.

Lesson learned: No wearing short shorts and a north face to the grocery store in the winter here (we'll see if I follow that rule...comfort is comfort, in my book, but then again I'm becoming more and more Italian every day ;) hahah)

BASTA.

Falling in love with Venice.

2011-10-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, three friends and I took a trip to Venice!

We stopped in Florence along the way, where I saw the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge with the finest jewelry venders in the city....no I definitely couldn't afford ANY of that), went into the Uffizi on my own (cool museum, too bad I don't know anything about art), made friends with an old Italian man while he painted me a picture of Florence on the street outside of the Uffizi along the Arno River, and climbed to the top of the duomo (the most stunning view imaginable).

Here are some pictures from the day in Florence (it was rainy and cold and miserable, but can you really complain when you're in one of the most famous cities in Italy?):

The Duomo in Florence!

A nice little copy of the David. Nice and nakey, like all of the statues in the Uffizi.

The Arno River.

Sitting along the Ponte Vecchio, overlooking the Arno River!

Ponte Vecchio

My artist friend. SUCH a nice man. The best part of my day in Florence.

View from the top of the Duomo.

On top of the Duomo!

So THEN, we hopped a train to Venice (no big deal).

We got off the train in Venice and walked STRAIGHT onto the water. It was amazing. And then we wandered. And it was freezing (Venice is up north), and we wandered in the cold and dark, unmarked, streets of Venice until we found our hostel.

Here's Venice at night when we first arrived:

My friend Brittny and I had a DELICIOUS late dinner (I had Pesto Pasta, we shared a greek salad) at an indoor restaurant in Piazza Santa Margarita, right by our hostel.

On Saturday, we got up bright and early and booked it to St. Mark's Square to catch a boat to our tour of the islands.
First, we went to Murano, and watched a demonstration at the Murano Glass Factory:

We watched this man blow glass and turn it into a beautiful vase, right in front of our eyes. SUCH skill.

We basically died from the beauty of the store at the Murano Glass factory, spent a little bit too much money on glass jewelry, and then went to the island where lace is made (too cool) and another island with too many Murano Glass stands. It was fun, but we were all WAY too in love with the glass jewelry. Our wallets were sad.

After the boat tour, we walked along the Grand Canal for awhile....

The Grand Canal.

....And then we decided to have a really nice lunch on the Canal. When in Venice, right?

View from our restaurant on the canal (the water is behind all the vendors...haha).

Cuties sitting in the sun at our restaurant on the Grand Canal.

I got pizza because I didn't want seafood....AND IT WAS GOOD.

And we enjoyed some of the BEST wine I have ever tasted.

We spent an hour or two sitting, just enjoying our food and our wine and the fact that we were eating lunch on the Grand Canal in Venice.
And then we wandered.
We went to St. Mark's Square and enjoyed the beauty of it all, and then went into St. Mark's Basilica. It was the most STUNNING basilica I have seen so far. I don't know what it was about it, but we literally just sat down and soaked it all in for at least a half an hour. Just sitting, in silence, next to each other, in the Basilicia, taking it in.

St. Mark's Basilica

Wandering the streets of Venice.

View from the Rialta Bridge.

On the bridge!

Venice is beautiful.

Our view from the hostel the next morning! (Sunday)

On Sunday, we got up and literally just wandered. We had breakfast at a cute little bar (we had a classic Italian breakfast, un cornetto cioccolato con un cappuccino (cornetto=croissant), and we stood at the bar eating together, just as the Italians do. :) Then we continued wandering (I bought cute new boots) until our train left.

Wandering Venice.

Cute couple going on a real Gondola ride. Unforunately, we were on a budget and could not afford a Gondola ride (they're like 100 euro or something crazy like that). So now it's on my bucket list. Note to my future husband: You will be taking me back here one day and we will enjoy a perfect, classic, romantic Gondola ride.

One last solo shot in Venice before hopping on the train. :)

MI PIACE VENEZIA. E una citta bellisima.

Basta.

No more bread and cheese for me!

2011-10-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

Not only do I have the best parents in the entire world, but I also am confident in saying that I have the BEST GRANDMOTHER A GIRL COULD EVER ASK FOR.

Today I got a special packet in the mail from my beautiful, amazing grandmother that contained.....GUESS....
RECIPES.
Here's a list of the things I cannot WAIT to try making while I'm here:
Cheesy Broccoli Potato Topper
Fiesta Rice and Vermicelli
White Bean Pita Pizzas
Garden Ratatouille
Ziti with Asparaghus Sauce
Zesty Rotini with Fresh Herbs
Pasta with Pesto
Steamed Veggies with Yogurt Sauce
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole (one of my FAVORITES)
Tetrazzini

Sounds a LOT better than the frozen pizza I heated up for lunch today....

THANKS GRANDMA!

mia madre mio padre e mio fratello robusto :)

2011-10-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

thinking of my amazing family still today as i'm thinking about passing the one month mark and the journey ahead of me. i wouldn't be here without all of their support and love. :)

the best dad in the ENTIRE world.

the best MOM in the entire world. (and kyle of course, my guardian angel :) )

this boy makes me one proud big sister.

la mia famiglia.

i love this picture.

I AM TRULY, TRULY BLESSED.

Setting Records.

2011-10-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month. A month and four days, actually. Officially the longest I've ever gone without seeing my parents in my whole entire life. The second longest time I've gone without seeing them is when I lived in California for a month freshman year of college. And that was like, 29 days. Not even a full month. But I have officially passed that one month mark now, and it's crazy to me. When I'm at school (and when I was living in California), I call my parents pretty much every day. At least twice a week. I text my mom goodnight. I call to ask their opinion about pretty much everything I do in my life. In short--I'm not independent. I like to think that I am, but I'm not. I am a mama's girl/daddy's girl through and through and there is no doubt that I am a product of their raising. And I love them. And they are two of my BEST friends in the whole world. And I respect their parenting and the way they raised me and I am so grateful for them and the person they've raised me to be. And my mom is probably fainting as she's reading this because she is so shocked that I'm saying it.

But living away from them, in a completely different country, completely on my own, with no real means of contacting them, I've really realized how blessed I am. Personally, I think they are the best parents in the whole world and I just love them so much. They were so incredibly supportive of my decision to come here, and I realize that more and more every day. So THANK YOU, Mom and Dad. YOU ROCK.

Updates on my eating habits:
I've been learning how to cook! Crazy, I know. I learned how to make Eggplant Parmesan last weekend. The most delicious thing I've ever had in my entire life. I learned how to make Pappa al Pomodoro today in one of my classes...so that will be a recipe to try on my own next week. My roommates are going to teach me how to make Vegetarian Lasagna sometime soon, and I learned how to make mashed potatoes last week! I'm SO EXCITED to learn how to cook now that I realize it's actually kind of fun and way healthier than eating pre-made food. I've always had this dream of being the perfect housewive (hahaha) but I told my roommate Crystal that last night, and after watching me struggle to make meals and eat scraps to avoid cooking for the past month, she informed me that I'd be better off getting a housekeeper/cook. So that's encouraging. Hahahahaha. She's probably right.

Little accomplishments:
Today I met the other lady who lives in our apartment building! She's an elderly lady who lives alone, so she's never out when we are. Finally, today, I was heading out the door to go to class after lunch and I ran into her in the hallway. I was shocked at first and didn't know what to do, but decided to be brave and introduce myself in Italian! So I asked her her name, told her mine, said nice to meet you and was on my way, BUT I WAS SO PROUD OF MYSELF. Not a lick of English. YEAH BABY. It was a two second conversation, but to me it was a big deal.

Also, Amanda Knox Trial. Maybe you've heard of it. An American student studying in Perugia in 2007 was convicted of killing her roommate. She's been in jail for the past for years, and this year she appealed the verdict and a retrial took place. Last night she was acquitted. The courthouse is literally like five minutes from my apartment, even closer to my school, right in the center of town, and the place was a media frenzy last night (the verdict was to be announced at 8pm). Obviously I'm not a judge or a jury or a detective, so I have no idea where I agree with the verdict or not, but being amongst the crowd outside the courthouse was definitely an experience. Very invigorating. Not only did I meet a lot of Italians (and some Americans who realized we spoke English), but I learned a lot about the different perspectives on the case and the Italian government. Everything was in Italian, so we had to listen really hard to figure out and understand what was going on (and ask Italians who spoke English to explain things to us). Sometimes Itailans would come up to me and ask, in Italian, if I thought she should be freed or not. I didn't really have an answer (not my place), but it was so fun trying to speak in Italian back to them! It was really an interesting experience being among such a huge crowd of people in what is normally such a calm city. Unfortunately I did NOT meet Matt Lauer (sorry mom and Robyn), even though he was in the city earlier that day filming. :( OH WELL. However, it was really interesting to learn about the Italians' judicial system, as well as the view of the case and how the verdict affects them. Definitely a very cultural experience.

The Weekend of Day-Trips.

2011-10-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my Women's Narratives class had a day-trip scheduled for Friday, so I couldn't go on a trip for the weekend. This definitely turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the day-trip was beautiful, and yesterday (Saturday) I went on a spur-of-the-moment day trip to Pisa with two of my roommates, Crystal and Margaret, for a little shopping. :)

Fonti near Spoleto.

Ancient bridge near Spoleto. I guess this bridge is known for 6 suicides a year (people jumping off of it) becuase it is said to be the most peaceful/serene place to die because it is so beautiful.

The Marmore Waterfalls. SO COOL.

Carsulae, an ancient Roman town near Perugia. The ruins aren't all uncovered yet, but from what they've uncovered they've figured out a basic lay-out of the village.

Hannah in Pisa: Take 2.

Crystal.

Marge.

"We only have this in red...not pink."

2011-09-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

.....if anyone knows me AT ALL, they know that this one sentence could actually have reduced me to tears (and HAS in the past). At the phone store, when they didn't have the phone I wanted in pink last year, I literally started to tear up. It's sad. It's a problem. My computer is pink. My toothbrush is pink. My retainer is pink. And my beautiful, wonderful, now BROKEN camera was hot pink. But I'm in Italy, my camera is broken, and I needed the best, cheapest one I could find. Which came in red. I'm a grown woman now, getting mature colored things. We'll see how long it lasts.

Anyways here are a couple pictures from my new camera...

I have kewl roommates.

Lounging in the kitchen.

My new camera has a "cuisine" mode.

Crystal likes to fry up her french fries and burgers when Italian food gets the best of her.

ALSO.
After buying my camera from a camera store (where thank GOODNESS they spoke English...I'm getting better at Italian but I don't even know how to tell people at the camera store what I want in ENGLISH let alone Italian. So I was grateful. And I showed him my memory card and told him I wanted an inexpensive one, and bought it)...but anyways after the camera store I went to this household goods store to buy a cheap blow-dryer. All of the shops in Italy are basically specialty shops. So this shop was owned by this nice old man who only spoke Italian. I went in, spoke Italian to ask for the blow-dryer I wanted...and he was so sweet! Before he sold me the blow-dryer, he took it out of the box and TESTED IT to make sure it worked. Show me a place in America that cares that much. Seriously. Show me.

Madame Butterfly: A typical Tuesday night in Perugia.

2011-09-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday nights in Perugia have not ceased to be eventful so far. Literally, every Tuesday, whether planned or not, something awesome happens. This Tuesday?

THE OPERA.

Three of my friends and I bought last-minute, 16 euro tickets to the Opera "Madame Butterfly" at the Morlacchi Theatre of Perugia, which is right by our school in Perugia. It was all in Italian, we had horrible seats, but the singing was amazing. I could not possibly have had a better first-opera experience. The building was built in the 1700s, so the theatre is SO old and SO intricately decorated with beautiful architecture and frescoes all over the walls and ceilings. It was 3 and a half hours long, but I enjoyed every minute, whether I was watching (by LEANING out of my box all the way, otherwise all I could see was a lamp) or just sitting back, listening, and enjoying the beauty of my surroundings.

Luckily, we ran into one of the administrators from our school who has a REALLY nice camera, so we got some shots of us in our box in the theatre. Hopefully you can see a little glimpse of just how beautiful this building is.

The whole group during the first intermission!

Allison and I in our box together at the Opera. :)

7 cities. 5 girls. 1 weekend.

2011-09-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

PISA, FLORENCE and CINQUE TERRE.
EXHAUSTING. BEAUTIFUL. OVERWHELMING. CHAOTIC. AMAZING.

I'll start from the beginning.
Class ended at 5pm last Thursday. I went to my apartment, packed my bag, made dinner, and ran out the door to meet my friends by 7pm. The plan was to meet at 7pm, walk to the mini-metro station, take the mini-metro to the train station, and take the 7:40pm train to Florence. All of this is a great plan if nothing goes wrong.
But things go wrong.
As we're walking to the mini-metro, Teagan and Lauren realize they don't have their passports (you NEED passports to check-in to any hostel). So they run back to their apartments to get their passports, panting and sweating the whole way across town...and we're late for the mini-metro. It's cool...we're not stressing out. But when we're all finally together again at the top of the mini-metro station, we start running. Real casual, running down the escalator to the mini-metro. We get on the mini-metro, get off at the train station stop. Time check: 7:25pm. We have fifteen minutes to get to the train station, buy our tickets, find the binario (platform) for our train, and get on. Seems fine, but you never know how long buying tickets is going to take. SO WE RUN. All of us, like fools in front of the calm Italians, are RUNNING from the mini-metro to the train station. Of course as we're all gracefully running along the train tracks, Lauren's backpack decides to fly open and everything falls out. AWESOME (and hilarious). So we clean it up, keep running, buy our tickets SO FAST, and run to the binario. Turns out we were just in time. So we hopped our train to Florence. SWEATY? Yes. But do we care? Nope. Because we're finally on our way to Florence.

We get to Florence at like 10pm. It's dark, and all of the drunk people are out and about. We're relying on my written directions to get us from the train station to our hostel. We finally found it, checked in to our mixed dorm (quite an experience), and hit the town. We met up with some friends of friends who are staying in Florence, walked around, had some vino, had some delicious pizza con pomodoro (FRESH tomato, YUM), and then went to bed early. Here's the only picture I got of Florence thanks to my wonderful broken camera:

The awe-inspiring Duomo of Florence. It was breath-takingly beautiful. I can't wait to go back and actually be able to go inside. It was seriously unbelievable.

So we spent the night in Florence.

The next morning, we got up early and got on our train to Monterosso, Cinque Terre. We were supposed to take a train from Florence to Pisa, and then in a matter of minutes hop another train from Pisa to Monterosso. FORTUNATELY, we missed our connecting train in Pisa. After clearing it up and getting our tickets modified, we found ourselves, luckily, with an hour and a half of free time in Pisa. So, naturally, we ran (WHAT would we do without Lauren's map/guidebook obsession) across Pisa to none other than the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Running through the streets of Pisa.

The cathedral.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Taking the classic tourist picture with the tower. "Look at me! I'm holding it up!" (and lookin reaaaal good too after a day of hectic travelling)

Another beautiful, classic view of the tower.

The river we had to cross to get to the tower. (Arno River)

So after casually taking the classic tourist-leaning-tower shot, we ran back to the train station and caught our train to Monterosso.

We arrived in Monterosso in the late afternoon on Friday, and paradise began.
We spent the day on the beach, jumping off rocks, basking in the sun, and swimming in the sea.

The beautiful beach.

Basking in the sun.

A couple crazy red-heads in the beautiful land of Cinque Terre.

Bitties swimming in the sea.

As the day came to a close and our beach time came to an end, we decided to venture up into the mountain on a hike to find the Chiesa di Cappuccini (apparently Cappuccinos are named after the monks in this church, because they wore black/brown robes on bottom and white on top...just like a cappuccino...haha). It was AMAZING.

The Chiesa Cappuccini is now mostly a cemetary. Absolutely beautiful. We walked around reading the messages on the "graves?" (what do you call it when it's in the wall?). We saw a man replacing the flowers on his recently deceased wife's grave. It was so touching and sweet and silent and meaningful. More than I can even describe.

The hike up to the Chiesa! Our first hike of the weekend.

After this hike, we hopped a train to Corniglia, the smallest of the five villages in Cinque Terre, had a delicious, three hour long dinner, and spent the night in a really nice hostel there.

Dinner and an EXPENSIVE, Corniglia-made bottle of wine.

The next day, we got up early, packed up our backpacks, checked out of our hostel and took a train to the top city, Monterosso, to begin our hike.

We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza, which took a couple hours (UP and down and UP and down along the mountain. It was exhausting but so fun and beautiful and just SO SO worth it.

Monterosso!

Vernazza

(In Vernazza, we sat along this water where all the boats are parked and ate gelato and pizza. Classic Italy).

Then we hiked from Vernazza to Corniglia (another couple hours).

A view of Corniglia on our hike from Vernazza!

Such troopers. We were sweaty and stinky and unattractive but our HEARTS and our BODIES felt GREAT and THAT'S WHAT MATTERS.

So then, once we finally got to Corniglia, we got some powerade, made some friends (fellow American adults on a backpacking trips), and hopped the train from Corniglia to Manarola (the hiking path between those two villages was closed because of an avalanche/landslide...dangerous).

Finally, we hiked the last stretch from Manarola to Riomaggiore, our last stop and the village in which we would be spending the night. The hiking path between Manarola and Riomaggiore is called "Via dell'amore" aka "Lover's Lane." Couples who hike that path together usually leave an item representing their love on the wall of the cliff...or attatched to the railings..or they graffiti the walls. It was really sweet, almost sickening, but so classic, romantic Italy. I will definitely be back there one day when I'm in love...and we're gonna leave something. How can you not? It's too cheesy and great to pass up.

Lots of couples left locks...I'm not sure of the meaning of that...maybe because they can never be taken off of the wall...some of the locks were engraved or had writing on them...and some people who clearly didn't have anything with them just left whatever they had and wrote their names on it (like a train ticket or a tissue or a headband...etc). How sweet! The walls were LITTERED with this stuff. It was adorable.

When we finally arrived in Riomaggiore, we checked into our hostel (which was really nice), put our swimsuits on, left all of our things (including cameras...so there are no pictures of this part of the trip), and went to the sea. We climbed across some rocks until we found a good place to enter the water, and just swam. It was the most refreshing thing to do after a full day of hiking. Not a care in the world, just us, the sea, and the mountains surrounding us. It was tranquility.

However, tranquility doesn't last for long. Not for us, at least. We had only been in the water for maybe a half an hour when we realized if we swam a little ways further along the shore, we could go into a cave. So we did it. It was awesome. WE WERE IN A CAVE. The experience of it all cannot even be described in a blog...and we didn't have a camera. It wasn't a tour, it wasn't planned, it wasn't public. It was just us, in the sea, in a cave. I will never forget it.

And then: BUONANOTTE. Seriously. GOODNIGHT. I passed out so early. I was exhausted.

Sunday we took trains back to Perugia. It's so funny how I'd never taken a train before this trip, and now they're so normal. I love it.

WHAT A WEEKEND.

THE END.

Week 3.

2011-09-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

So my camera is broken. We'll see how I deal with this. I figured out if I hit it hard enough while it's trying to turn on, then sometimes it works....sooo we'll see.
This week has been awesome. In my classes, we're finally started to really getting into the topics and I love it. Social life has calmed down a lot...and everyone in general is just a lot more comfortable with doin their thaaang and not feeling so pressured to participate in EVERYTHING.
Monday: Classes, met a bunch of friends at our favorite bar (La Tana) to book our fall break trip (portugal, spain and prague) and a trip to London (waaddaaap KAITLIN BURLINGAME), did some homework, used their wifi, and sang some karaoke. SO MUCH FUN.
Tuesday: Classes, home-made dinner with friends, typical Tuesday in Perugia.
Wednesday: Classes, house-cleaning, studying for first Exam in Italian Language, 1.20 Euro Pizza and Gelato...and a night in with the roomies. SO RELAXING.
Thursday: TODAY! Classes, first Exam for Italian Language Class (totally rocked it) homework, packing and OFF TO FLORENCE as soon as everyone is done with class! We're spending the night in Florence...meeting some friends who are studying there...then tomorrow morning taking a train to CINQUE TERRE for a weekend of hiking, swimming in the sea, and appreciating the beautiful land of Italia!

Picture update of the trip and everything else when I get back....and figure out my camera situation. :)
Ciao!

Home Sweet Home.

2011-09-19T01:56:00.000-07:00

It’s funny how quickly a new place can be thought of as “home.” Home is not a definite word. The house you grew up in, or the house you have a mortgage on, is not necessarily your only “home.” I remember my first week at Gustavus, already telling my mom that I would need to go back home (to Gustavus) after certain events. Well it’s been two weeks here in Perugia, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is my home. We went on our first weekend-long trip this past weekend, down the coast to Sorrento, Naples, Pompei, and the island of Capri. It was unbelievably beautiful, we got great tans, swam in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and had delicious full-course Italian meals….but by Sunday night, on our bus ride back up to Perugia, all we wanted was home. We got off the bus in Piazza Italia, in the center of Perugia, looked at each other and said “It is SO good to be home.” I found comfort walking through the streets that I have come to know as my own, stopping by my school (even though I just started there two weeks ago) and finally coming home, with all of my roommates, to my comfy, food-less, potentially mosquito-infested apartment. It is SO good to be home. Home sweet Perugia.

Now here are some pictures from our little weekend getaway:

Pompeii.

Me in Pompei!

A view of the city center in Pompei.

Mandi, Lauren and I in a courtyard in Pompei.

Pompei was a town on the river before the volcano eruption destroyed/covered it in 79 AD. Sailors would come into the town and want to go to the brothel (naturally), but most of them couldn't speak latin. Thankfully, this images were carved into the ground as a road marker pointing towards the brothel. AKA, when a sailor saw this, they would follow the direction in which it pointed, and find the brothel. Literally.

Our first view of Sorrento!

Day 1 in Sorrento, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The beach in Sorrento (note the man bending over in tiny tiny shorts...he's actually pretty well covered for an Italian man).

Where we went swimming in Sorrento, in the sea! Can you believe how clear the water is?!

On our boat tour around Capri.

The beautiful blue water surrounding Capri.

Inside the Blue Grotto.

We got in these TINY rowboats, had to lay completely flat in the boat, and go through a TINY cave entrance to get into the blue grotto, where the water was the most brilliant blue I have ever seen.

Arcos around the Island.

On the beach in Capri with Lauren and Mandi!

Representing the beautiful state of Minnesota while in Naples, Italy.

Napoli!

Pizza in Napoli. 4 Euros for that whole pizza TO MAHSELF. YUM.

Cioccolato ("Foresta") Ice Cream/Truffle? From the most famous cioccolateria in Italia.

Apartments in Napoli.

For good measure, a picture of one of the rooms in the brothel (check out the bed made of stone. OUCH).

CIAO!

we don't have these birds back home.

2011-09-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

These beautiful little friends litter the streets in the center of Perugia. Today, while trying to enjoy a nice pizza lunch on the steps...these little buggers wouldn't leave us alone. They are fearless.

Sir Francis Bacon: Advice for the traveller.

2011-09-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

"WHEN A TRAVELLER RETURNETH HOME, LET HIM NOT LEAVE THE COUNTRIES, WHERE HE HATH TRAVELLED, ALTOGETHER BEHIND HIM; BUT MAINTAIN A CORRESPONDECE BY LETTERS, WITH THOSE OF HIS ACQUAINTANCE, WHICH ARE OF MOST WORTH. AND LET HIS TRAVEL APPEAR RATHER IN HIS DISCOURSE, THAN HIS APPAREL OR GESTURE; AND IN HIS DISCOURSE, LET HIM BE RATHER ADVISED IN HIS ANSWERS, THAN FORWARD TO TELL STORIES; AND LET IT APPEAR THAT HE DOTH NOT CHANGE HIS COUNTRY MANNERS, FOR THOSE OF FOREIGN PARTS; BUT ONLY PRICK IN SOME FLOWERS, OF THAT HE HATH LEARNED ABROAD, INTO THE CUSTOMS OF HIS OWN COUNTRY."
Words of wisdom from Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

parlo italiano un po.

2011-09-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had Tandem. Most of the American students in our program went to this pub, where a bunch of Italians met us, and we all sat together, trying to help them learn English while they tried to help us learn Italian. It made me realize that I can give a basic life story about myself in Italian (My name is....I am from...I live...I am studying...etc.) but I have no conversational skills. My goal for this week: practice CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS in Italian. Grammar only gets you so far in a pub.

Anyways it was actually a great experience and definitely a learning experience! We are going to be doing it every other week for pretty much the whole semester, so hopefully by the end we will be able to sit down, enjoy the free drinks and appetizers, and have an actual conversation in Italian.

This picture was taken right before we walked into the pub. Where we are standing is called "Lover's Lane" and I guess it's a popular teen make-out spot in Perugia. You can see why, because it is pretty much the most BEAUTIFUL view in all of Perugia (so romantic).

a day in the perugian life.

2011-09-14T04:26:00.000-07:00

Breath-taking views WHEREVER you go.

One of the original Etruscan gates that used to be the entrance to the city.

Again with the breath-taking views.

These cats legit just chill on the streets in my neighborhood. There are a few different ones. One with a crick neck, one that's clearly preggo, and this one, who likes to sit on top of the cars.

They have boxed wine in Italy, too. 1.50 Euro, thanks very much.

Drinking wine, planning trips, a casual Tuesday night in Perugia.

Fancy restaurant wine with our meter-long pizza. (Wine basically goes with every meal here. They drink it like water.)

Good friends with our meter-long margharita pizza, before demolishing it in 19 minutes flat.

8:27pm

8:34pm

8:46pm

DONE.

5 girls, 2 bottles of wine, 1 meter of pizza, 19 minutes.

BAMF

pictures from paradise

2011-09-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

The fountain in the center of Perugia. Piazza IV Novembre

Our first view of the Basilica of St. Francis as we arrived in Assisi.

These dirty, mangy puppies were probably the cutest things I have ever seen. The one in my lap was trying SO HARD to tell me something with his eyes. I was trying so hard to understand him. When it was time for us to keep walking, it took everything in me not to stick him in my backpack and take him home with me.

We learned how to make homemade pasta. The Orsini family, an Italian family who does organic, sustainable farming on Lake Trasimeno, invited all of the students in our program to their home for a traditional country-style breakfast, pasta making, and wine-tasting. The women in the family are traditional, professional pasta makers, basically. Together, they taught all of us how to make home-made pasta and let us each take a turn helping.

This is the view of Lake Trasimeno from the Orisini Family Home. The lake is BEAUTIFUL, and it was so refreshing to see water after being away from Minnesota for a little over a week. Unfortunately, the lake is toxic...so you can't actually go in it. But it's nice to look at. :)

One of the elderly Orsini women who taught us how to make the pasta.

The end result of our home-made pasta. It was DELICIOUS.

A view of the valley from Assisi. My friends and I hiked through Assisi for a couple hours after visiting the basilica, just enjoy the breath-taking views.

livingalone.

2011-09-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

This is my first time ever living alone. I mean ALONE alone, like I have to make my own meals, clean my own bathroom, take care of my own maintenance problems, do ALL my own dishes, etc. I am so spoiled at home and at school. The Gustavus cafeteria tricks us into thinking we're independent because we pick the PARTS of our meals on our own and pay for it with a card that has money on it, but in reality they came up with all of the delicious food and recipes and we just scooped it onto a plate. Actually NO, the cafeteria workers scooped it onto our plate. And at home I'm all "oh hey I make my own meals when my parents aren't around..." which is a complete lie, I now realize. By make my own meals, I mean that I make macaroni and cheese, burritos or salads with ingredients my parents bought or prepared and left in the fridge. When it comes to maintenence, we have full time people for that at home AND at school. At school, they are called janitors and maintenance people, and at home he is called my DAD. If something breaks or looks like it might break or isn't working right, they take care of it. If there is a BUG, my dad takes care of it (or at school, my rooommate Nicole takes care of it).
NOW I'M IN ITALY, LIVING IN MY FIRST APARTMENT (with roommates who hate bugs as much as or even more than I do).

What do I eat when I make my own meals in my apartment?
Cheese and bread. And it is DELICIOUS cheese and FRESH bread. But it's still just cheese and bread. Sometimes I get adventurous and put pesto or tomatoes on it. Sometimes I trade the bread for lettuce and have a salad with the same ingredients. I bought a kiwi yesterday and that was serious business. For breakfast I have yogurt and granola.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I decided to pass up all of my mother's gracious cooking lesson opportunities and wait til I was stuck in a foreign country to realize I needed to learn how to cook. KEWL.
((This is a shoutout to my mama...send recipes??))

Next problem:
WE HAVE BUGS. If you know me at all, you know how much I HATE BUGS. Nasty little things. Out to get me. GAH I HATE THEM. And we have them in our apartment. BAD. Over the past few days, my roommates and I have been waking up with nasty, welty, red bites all over our bodies. Okay, "all over" is not the correct explanation. The bites are only in the spots where our skin is pretty much NEVER exposed and in places that are not very appropriate to itch in public. GET IT? It's violating. We had our house/beds searched, and no, it is not bed bugs. Turns out, the bites are probably (most likely) from TIGER MOSQUITOES. I am going to a attach a link about tiger mosquitoes here, so you can fully understands what little bitches these insects are. As my roommate Crystal says, they are "super mosquitos." They are tiny, vicious, angry little monsters with night vision that apparently really love our apartment and all of the sweet, sweet girls that live in it.

SEE MORE HERE (if you dare): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_albopictus

NASTY.

Anyways, we have applied all possible protection against these enemies to our apartment. We have these things that plug in the wall and emit chemicals/some sort of aroma that's supposed to keep the mosquitoes away. We never have our windows open anymore, especially if the lights are on. We spray our rooms with this exterminating spray every day before we leave the apartment. We bath in bug spray. It's kind of helping.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, living alone for the first time in a foreign country without American food, custodians, or my parents here to fix my problems has been interesting so far, and it's only been one week. My main goal for this week: find new recipes. ASAP.

Realizations.

2011-09-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

So I was just reading through one of my first blog posts (I know it's only been like two weeks since I even started the blog but it feels like it's been so much longer)...and I said something like "Euros are pretty money you almost don't even want to spend." Well it turns out euros really aren't hard to spend at all. In fact, they are EASIER to spend than American money. Oh, gelato? SURE. Going out for wine with friends? WHY NOT. It's not like I have REAL money, just this pretty PRETEND money to spend. So that's great. I have absolutely no concept of money in this country. It's just pretty coins and shiny bills that slip through my fingers without me really even noticing. Today I'm practicing the art of eating the food I already have in my apartment. We are making homemade dinner from the pasta we already have, the cheese we already have, some leftover ratatouille sauce, bread and olive oil. Instead of going out. Italian meals (like actual sit-down restaurant meals) are SO BIG and expensive. They don't just have the salad/soup appetizer, a drink, and then a main course. This is how a traditional Italian meal goes:
aperitivo (appetizer drink that kick-starts your appetite)
first course: some sort of bread appetizer type thing, like pizza bread or bread with different spreads
VINO
second course: pasta. just the pasta. and it's so much better here than at olive garden. and there's usually no meat in the pasta itself.
VINO
third course: meat and salad.
VINO
dessert: something amazing, every time. Even though you're STUFFED from the previous three courses and all of the vino, you still have to eat it cause it's just SO good.

And it seems like a lot of vino, but in reality they aren't alcoholics, they just drink wine with most meals, the way Americans drink milk. They don't have milk really at all here, at least where I'm living. You can get milk, but people don't really drink it plain.

Anyways I have had this meal for the past two days, so I think I'm good for the next few days here. I have never felt so full of GOOD, FRESH food in my entire life.

That's all for today. I put albums up on facebook finally so most of my pictures are there now, but I'll add the most important ones in my beautiful, well-written blog that's coming sometime this week. HOPEFULLY. :)

Here are a few more pictures to get my anxious blog followers through the time until my next post. :)

Another stunning view of Perugia.

Great new friends!

Friends in Assisi.

Just a glimpse of Assisi!

lazy blogger.

2011-09-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

I am a lazy blogger. Okay false. I am not a lazy blogger. I am a busy-living-in-Italy-with-no-internet-and-no-cell-phone-who's-completely-disconnected-from-the-rest-of-the-world-blogger. And I'm not even actually a blogger.
So it's going to take some time for me to get used to this.
I promise a huge, well-written with beautiful pictures blog is coming soon. Probably on Monday. So much has been happening and I can't wait to write all about it. Once I have time. Here's the deal: We don't have internet at our apartment, and we have to walk pretty far to the school to get internet...and the school is only open for a few hours during the day, most of which are during the hours that I'm in class. So I'm trying. Our first week of classes was kind of like a fake week. Instead of having our actual classes, we had full days of intensive Italian language classes. Basically we learned the basics to help us get by while we're living here. Then, at the end of the week, we took a placement test to figure out which ACTUAL Italian class we should be in. I'm actually picking up the language pretty quickly, so I signed up for the intensive class, which meets for a couple more hours a week and moves at a quicker pace than the regular beginning Italian class. I'm excited to start real classes on Monday! I'm taking The Roman Empire, Human Development in Culture, Women's Writings in Italy, and and Italian. Classes only go Monday through Thursday, so yesterday (Friday) we went to Assisi! Pictures to come with the next blog post! It was incredible. We saw the Basilica of St. Francis (SO COOL). And we also just walked around a lot and died of heat and got really toned butts from all of the hills.

OKAY MORE ON MONDAY!!
:)

Perugia.

2011-09-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

Sunrise.

The Center.

People sitting on the steps in the center.

The walk to our apartment.

Our street.

A couple more pictures from the first weekend.

2011-09-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

Our little house mamas (two of my roommates, Marge and Crystal) making our first family dinner of the semester. Spaghetti, of course!

YUM.

Limoncello and Ciliegino. Flavored (Lemon and Cherry) liqueurs, used for cooking, or as a little (tiny, shot-sized) drink before dinner (like an appetizer!). I bought these at an organic market (like an organic farmer's market) that happens in Perugia the first Sunday of every month. I had to buy these because the lady selling them was SO NICE and she helped us with our Italian and taught us about lots of different veggies and fruits and how to say them in Italian.

A little picture update:)

2011-09-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Words can't even describe how the first two days living in Perugia (the center, where ALLLL the action happens). Our apartment is beautiful. I have four roommates, so five of us live together in our three bedroom, two bathroom apartment. It's amazing. Our rooms are huge, our closets are huge, we have a beautiful kitchen and a balcony. Pictures below:)

The city is unbelievable. Breathtaking. Everything I'd imagined and more. The people are so nice. They are happy to help you with your Italian, but they definitely don't usually speak English. You say a lot of "ciao" "grazie" "buon journo" and numbers like for shopping.

The main thing that I've been amazed by so far is the food. WOW. Grocery shopping is crazy. Pretty much everything is fresh. You buy food, make it, eat it, and then go buy more food for next time. It's not like costco, where you can get things in bulk. You buy food to last you the next few days, not the next few months. It's great. And the grocery shopping is totally a cultural experience and is sooo worth it.

Our intensive Italian classes start on Monday....THEY WILL BE SO HELPFUL. For this next week, instead of our regular classes, we just have full days of Italian class. However, I already feel my Italian improving (remember, I only knew like five words/phrases when I left). I can get by, at least, so far!!

Anyways some pictures to show my adventure so far:

This is the hotel room that I shared with one of my roommates, Crystal, on our first night in Perugia.

The view of the city (now I live among those buildings at the top of the hill) from our hotel room.

My bed. Yes I did dibs this bed because it was the only one with pink sheets.

My little taste of home. :)

Our beautiful kitchen.

This is dedicated to Maggie Shishilla. He is our little friend on top of the fireplace that watches us while we eat in our kitchen.

A view from the very top of the hill in Perugia. Taken at a bar that overlooks this valley.

One of the buildings on the main street, Corsa Venucci.

Walking around! My first picture in Italy.

My little phone that does nothing exciting and costs me hundreds of dollars to use.

Thoughts.

2011-09-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

On my travels today, I had some thoughts. (I forgot to include these in my last blog post).
First of all, I am an idiot and assumed everyone would just speak English to me because they would know I'm American and don't speak their language. WRONG. I can't believe how selfish I was. WHY is it ever fair that someone should have to work twice as hard to understand and speak MY language, when I'm just lazying by not making an effort? English is not their first language, and is certainly not the language they actually want to be speaking. They do it because they have to because Americans travel to their countries without making an effort to understand their language. I figured this out on my flight to Rome. It was on a Spanish airway, and the whole flight, plus all flight attendants, spoke Spanish. Pretty quickly I realized that speaking English wouldn't gain me respect on that plane, and that they didn't want to speak English if they didn't have to. I did my best to listen to their Spanish and try to understand it to the best of my ability and respond in Spanish as best I could.
On Monday we start a week of intensive Italian language learning! CAN'T WAIT!

I'M HERE!

2011-09-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

So, after over 24 hours of flying and traveling through airports where people didn't speak English, and I'm FINALLY HERE. Here's how the last couple days have gone:
I flew to New York. The flight sucked. I'm sick. I got a stupid cold right in time for this trip. My ears almost exploded as we landed in New York. But it didn't matter, I WAS FINALLY IN NEW YORK.
After 11 hours in the JFK airport in NYC, I found my group. A group of about 30 other students from my Italy program met in the JFK airport before our 9:00pm flight. On the flight, I sat next to great people, and slept the whole flight. Then, in Madrid, we had to RUN (very sweaty) from our NY flight, through the Madrid airport, to catch our flight to Rome. Once we landed in Rome, I found my luggage right away, went to the ATM and got some Euros, and bought a Caprece sandwich (fresh mozerella, tomato, and basil on GREAT bread). It was AMAZING. Then, we rode 3 hours to our hotel in Perugia (I slept the whole ride) and checked into our hotel. Our hotel prides itself on wine. YUM. We checked in, my roommates are AWESOME, the bathrooms are crazy (bidets, showers that just have the shower handle, the lights are hidden) but it's BEAUTIFUL. We had a group dinner ( all 70 some of us) in the hotel. It was a DELICIOUS pasta, salad with white wine vinegar dressing and cheese, chicken and lemon that I didn't have, and CHOCOLATE MOUSSE. YUM. Then, we all went to the only bar around (we're kinda in the outskirts right now until we get to our apartments). I swear this bar hadn't seen a crowd like ours EVER. Almost 70 of us walked into the bar asking for wine. They were so happy with all the service (the TWO bartenders, that was it) that they gave us free shots all night long. We bonded, drank wine, and had a GREAT time! The city is beautiful! I'm still adjusting to the time change. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the hotel room. And some of the hotel lobby (it's unbelievable how much wine they have on display...it's like all their walls are made of wine displays....OH ITALY)... :)
MORE TOMORROW, HOPEFULLY, after we move in! Love you all and thank you for the wonderful messages!

Getting Ready

2011-08-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

So suddenly, out of NOWHERE, I leave in five days.
Here are some things I've been thinking about/doing to get ready:

1. I realize that for some people, leaving home for four months isn't really a big deal. But this is without a doubt the longest I have ever been away from home. Even when I'm at school, I come home at least once a month for different reasons. I'm in constant communication with my parents no matter where I am. In Italy, I won't have a phone to contact the United States, just skype and facebook. That will DEFINITELY be an interesting transition. But I'm so excited!

2. I got my money exchanged for euros. Euros are beautiful, fancy money that you almost don't even want to spend. It should maybe be framed or something. I have no idea how Euros work. Like, if something costs 3.50 euros, how does that work? 3 euros and 50 cents? Or what? This is something I have to google before I go.

3. I can count to ten in Italian. I can say hi and bye and ciao, which works for both. I can say bathroom. I NEED TO KNOW MORE. Phrases I should practice: How much does this cost? How do I get to...? And most importantly, How do you say ____ in Italian? These are things I need to know. Seriously.

4. How does one suitcase last a person four months?

These are my main thoughts. Oh, and as I'm typing this I'm watching Jersey Shore Season 4: Italy. We'll see how much these situations actually play into my life once I get there...hahahha.

Write me letters:)

2011-08-18T06:48:00.001-07:00

Here's my mailing address in Italy!

Hannah Forster
c/o The Umbra Institute

Via dei Priori, 84
Perugia, Italy 06123

Fake Post: Is this background weird?

2011-08-15T17:16:00.001-07:00

Is this background weird, Patty?