When the Novelty Wears Off

Italians still celebrate their liberation in World War II

We were in Siena when they celebrated their liberation from the Germans in World War II. It gave me a greater appreciation not only for Italian's pride in their culture, but also made me proud to be an American. Silvia said that the Americans are well known for treating the Italians with kindness, not only liberating them, but giving them supplies they needed. 

Here is a clip of the start of the parade. They started near the city wall, and we followed them into the Piazza del Campo. It was a cool thing to experience!

Thunder storms in Italy are intense

The thunder is bone-rattling and the rain comes down in sheets. It's awesome when you are safely indoors, not so much when you get caught in it coming home from the train station. 

Americans value their privacy and personal space much more than Italians

If you don't want to be constantly running into people all the time, you have to constantly dodge people, because Italians have no problem shoulder checking you. I always feel like I'm playing chicken with the people walking toward me, and I always cave and jump out of the way. 

Music has restorative powers

The best way to escape from the stress of being abroad is listening to familiar music in your own language. After having a hard time finding a bus or a train, listening to music through my headphones really helps calm me down. It allows me to be in my own head for a bit, instead of being engulfed by a foreign culture. 

Apparently, I've got a funny sneeze

While we were in Barcelona, I sneezed out on the street. Afterwards, I hear a guy imitate my sneeze all the way across the street while his friends laughed. I just looked up and casually waved at them. :)

Rudeness is universal

People have been overwhelming wonderful here, but rudeness is inescapable. There is one coffee shop that is very convenient because it is right in between our apartment and our school. However, every time we go in there, the baristas are always super rude to us. We always try to order in Italian and meet them part way because they don't speak English, but even though we are attempting to speak Italian, they look at us like we are stupid and speaking some other language. They also always serve us after they serve all the Italians, even if we ordered way before them. Some of these instances may be cultural differences, but based on the way other Sienese people have treated us, I'm guessing its just rudeness.

Some Italian eating habits are totally different

For instance, according to our Italian friends at the University of Siena, eating more than two eggs per week is unhealthy. They were shocked when we told them that a lot of people eat eggs every day for breakfast. Italians also don't like peanut butter. A tiny jar of Skippy peanut butter is over four euros if you can find it! (Thankfully, my mom sent the Costco double pack with my brother, so we are set for the rest of the trip.) They also don't have salad dressing. If they do have salad, they use vinegar and oil. My question is: where did Italian salad dressing come from? Because it definitely didn't come from Italy.

Italians take PDA to a whole new level

People make out and grab ass out in public all the time. Makes me think of John Legend's song, "PDA: We Just Don't Care"

Eventually the novelty wears off

...and what's left is a whole lot of homesickness. Things that were exciting at first become irritating. Not being able to communicate really wears on you after a while. Housemates who don't go to class and never clean the kitchen really start to get annoying. This leads me to do silly things, like cry in front of my Italian teacher right before the oral midterm. Luckily, she was so sweet. She gave me a big hug, kissed me on the cheek, and told me she could be my temporary mom. I've been so blessed in where I've been put, but it doesn't mean that it's always easy.

Showing my family around Siena made me realize how much I love it here
I took them to my favorite coffee shop, Nannini, where we had cappuccinos and croissants with chocolate. I got to show them wear I live, the Duomo, and Piazza del Campo. We had a traditional Sienese lunch with Pici Cacio e Pepe (a thick, spaghetti-like noodle with a cheesy, peppery sauce) and Tuscan wine. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon with some of my favorite people in one of my favorite towns. Despite the homesickness, I really am loving it here, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to live in such a beautiful place. But when it's time to go home, I think I'll be ready. As long as I promise myself I will come back :)

Together is the Best Place To Be {Rome, part one}

Becca and I had a great weekend in Rome. Seeing my family was just what I needed, and it was so fun to explore such an awesome city with the people I love.

Once we got to Rome, we had a splendid time, but getting there was a bit complicated. We bought our bus ticket from Siena to Rome a few days ahead of time, so on the morning of the trip we got to the bus station and figured out that the lady at the bus station gave us tickets for Friday and returning on Saturday, instead of tickets to leave Saturday and come back Sunday. Unfortunately, they have a policy that requires customers to check the ticket themselves, but because we do not speak Italian, we were unable to read the sign that warned us of this policy. Luckily, one of the tickets hadn't expired yet, so for an additional 10 euros we were able to change the date of the returning bus ticket and only had to buy a one way ticket. It was frustrating situation to say the least, and the language barrier exacerbated the problem. But we only lost a few extra hours in Rome and a handful of cash, so as far as problems go, it wasn't too bad. We made it to Rome, which was the important part! :)

The bus took us to a train station outside the city, so we took a metro to the station right by our hotel. It worked really slick! We checked into our hotel, which Gram was nice enough to treat us to. 

Becca and I were in heaven! With all the drama surrounding our hostel experience it was so nice to be in a hotel, even for a night. We realized how spoiled we've been our whole lives.

After we checked into the hotel, we did some exploring of the city while we waited for my family to get there.

A cool church we walked past

Once again, the buildings were charming and much more decorated than the ones
in the US. It's something I will miss a lot.

Piazza Repubblica 

Another view of Piazza Repubblica

The Bank of Italy

First view of the Collumn of Trajan, a landmark we've been talking about in my
art history class.

The Altare della Patria and the Column of Trajan

The Column of Trajan. The entire surface is covered by a continuous spiral depicting
Trajan's victories in the Dacian Wars

We really should have done some research before going to Rome. We had no idea what this was, but it was certainly impressive. It was only after our trip we discovered it was the Altare della Patria. It was built in the 20th century in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of unified Italy.

Ancient Roman ruins. It's interesting how the old landscape blends so easily in with the more modern parts of the city. I'm excited to go back with our art history professor so we can have more history behind things.

Part of the Colosseum. Half of it was covered in scaffolding, but luckily some views
yielded some pretty cool photos.

It was so crazy to see something so famous and so ancient. It's hard to wrap my mind around how long this monument has stood here.

After the small adventure, we hopped on the metro and met Gram, Sally and Josh at the hotel. I was SO happy to see them; I don't think I've ever hugged people that fiercely. They were amazingly quite energetic, even after the many hours of travel. We ventured out to find a restaurant near our hotel.

Not the best picture, but it captures the moment. We had a wonderful dinner with excellent wine. Josh had his first glass of wine, and Becca and I were able to tell our waiter "Primo vino!" (meaning "first wine") in our limited Italian. Most people here are very patient and kind with our language skills and seem pleased when we make an attempt.

After dinner, we walked our jet-lagged members of the group back to the hotel, and Becca and I ventured out to find the Trevi Fountain, and found some other cool things on the way.

Church at the top of the Spanish Steps

Becca and I kind of stumbled upon the Spanish Steps. We were looking for the Trevi Fountain, but just happened across the steps on our way. Whoops! We were a little unimpressed. It's just basically a flight of stairs leading up to a church, and it was so full of tourist that we couldn't really enjoy it. I did like all the flowers they had laid out.

Look at all the people! It was absolutely insane.

Spanish Embassy, right next to the Spanish Steps. Makes sense :)

Finally, we found the Trevi Fountain! Probably my favorite thing in Rome so far. Its such a cliche and touristy thing, but there is a reason it's so popular: because it's awesome. Of course, we turned our back and tossed a coin into the fountain, ensuring that we will come back to Rome. It must work, because we are going back next week :)

Terrible quality photo, but had to get photographic proof we were there:)

Rome at night. Sighhhhh... :)

The next morning, we woke up in our wonderful hotel room and went down for breakfast. After breakfast, we went exploring the town.

A basilica pretty close to our hotel

It was Sunday morning, so mass was being held, but they still let tourist come in and check things out. The preist's words were projected on a loud speaker, but of course it was in Italian, so we didn't grasp a word of what he was saying. Still a cool thing to witness.

So happy to have my brother here. We shared many inside jokes and laughs.

Next, we went to the Trevi Fountain because Gram, Sally and Josh hadn't seen it.

Family photo <3

Tossing coins into the fountain. Every so often, the nuns of Rome collect all the money thrown into the fountain and give it to the poor.

Pantheon, an ancient monument we have been talking about in class. I'm sure we will here all about it when we go with my professor.

In the courtyard of a museum a free concert was being held. The acoustics in the area were really amazing. It made this little group sound so much bigger.

Piazza Navona, one of Rome's most famous squares

Beautiful churches will never get old.

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, or Fountain of the Four Rivers: the Nile (representing Africa),
the Danube (representing Europe), the Ganges (representing Asia), and the Rio de la
Plata (representing the Americas)

After Piazza Navona, we took a taxi to Palatine Hill. Taxi drivers in Rome are crazy. They make lanes where there are none, yell at pedestrians, and curse police officers. It's amazing we survived, but we made it! Palatine Hill is the centermost hill within the seven hills of Rome, and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It was very cool to see the ruins of what was once a great society.

#RomanRuinsSelfie ;)

My favorite picture of the four of us! It was so great to have them here:)

I love this picture. I just looked up, and the dome was perfectly framed by the door way.

Seagull! A nice change of scenery after all the pigeons we've seen.

Palatine  Hill looks over the city of Rome. So picturesque!

The trip to Rome was awesome, but I'm glad we get to go back next week. It's a city you need more than two days to fully appreciate. We will also get to see the Vatican, which we didn't get around to seeing this trip. It was so good to see my family, and Becca fit right in with the group. She and Josh were teasing each other by the end of the first day! :) Viva la Roma!