Well, I am very sorry I haven’t blogged in such a long time and I’m even more sorry if any of you have been checking to see if I have blogged and had to look at that last post multiple times. Things have been really, really busy! But now I’ve passed both of my courses, after taking extremely interesting oral exams in both classes- I could tell you more about them but I will spare you the gruesome details, the important thing is- I passed! And even more importantly- I’m done with them! And most importantly- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II comes out in exactly 1 week!! Life is good.
I put my family on the plane today. The past week was AMAZING! But extremely tiring. I worked them real hard. When the week was over we were all exhausted- I got to come back to the Villalta and take a siesta, they got to start on an almost-24-hour journey with work and sports games waiting for them when they get home. Oops! I honestly would love to blog about everything we did when they were here, but I assigned the task to my mom and she’ll do a much better job than I would, and I actually trust her to write it; with Dan I was just wishing.
Another highlight- I just sent my paper to Rolla. I’m afraid it’s not very good. I don’t want to send it to Prof Serino (the guy in charge of the exchange over here) because he’s also the head of the project that I based my paper off of and I’m afraid I might have gotten some things wrong. Anyway- it’s 23 pages of really (erm…) exciting stuff . If you want to read it, shoot me an email and I’ll send it to you, unless of course you know too much about base isolation systems- in that case you don’t get to read it.
The only thing I have left to do here is pick up my transcript tomorrow so that my courses actually transfer back to Rolla, and to soak up the last bits of Italian sun that I can. Maybe I’ll blog again just to give me something to do, but I won’t have anything to talk about so you might as well quit reading after my mom has posted her blog. Pictures will be coming to facebook soon. Then you can see me in person!!! I leave Naples on Sunday around noon to go to my connect in Madrid, but I have a 20 hour layover, so right now I’m looking into places to stay in Madrid. I think I’ll just look for a place with a pool and I won’t wander far from the airport because I’ve already explored Madrid with a local (oh ya, I guess I haven’t blogged in a really long time… Madrid was grand- I actually got some studying done since Bego and I both had a lot of that to do, and we hung out in her apartment a lot of the time because the three days that I was there were over a hundred degrees. We went swimming in her pool, went to a great park downtown, walked around the city center, saw a bunch of cool architecture (she’s an architecture student- it’s nice to hang out with someone who likes to look at buildings as much as I do), ate tapas, made paella, drank mojitos, and got plenty of sleep. It was lovely.) Anyway, so I don’t feel that I need to explore Madrid anymore, and I’m tired of travelling alone (especially now that I’ve been spoiled by having my family with me….because I’ve gotten used to travelling alone or in a small group, at first I thought it was weird having a line of 5 people behind me like my little ducklings (and usually it was just that…we walked single file for most of the trip since the side walks are too populated to allow for anything else) but it was really nice having people with me that I can speak English to!, especially people I love so much). So anyway, I think I’ll just relax in Madrid on my way home.
Speaking of being spoiled with company, I think I had some tour guide withdrawals on the way home from the airport. I was waiting for the Alibus and a family looked very confused and was standing in the middle of the spot that the bust was going to come up in. I was listening to my headphones but I thought it looked like they asked someone how to get to Salerno. I wasn’t planning on being helpful, but they just kept standing in the spot that my bus was supposed to pull up in and I didn’t want to be delayed by tourists! So I asked them if they wanted Salerno, they said yes, so I showed them where the correct bus was. Once the people around me found out that I speak English and I know where I’m going, I started getting question after question for the whole time that we were waiting for the bus and for the bus ride. By the time we got to Garibaldi (the main square), I had 10 people following me and I led them to the train station and told each of them where they needed to go. It was quite funny. They kept joking, asking me where my umbrella was (the tour guides over here all hold umbrellas up in the air so you don’t lose them… in Rome it was hard to see the sites through all the umbrellas… just kidding.. but really.) But it was nice to finally be helpful to people for a change since I was the one relying on the help from strangers for the first couple of months.
Okay! I have to do! My fiancé is calling me on skype! See you all soon!! Byeeeeeee!
P.S.- The title of this blog means “in the mouth of the wolf”. It’s how you tell someone good luck in Italian. When someone tells you “in bocca al lupo,” you respond with “crepi” meaning “croak.” I just looked it up, and it says that the saying comes from the story for Romulus and Remus (how Rome got its name). Romulus and Remus were rescued by a wolf, saving them by taking them into her mouth..but this doesn’t explain why instead of say “okay, sure will” that you say “croak”….
Anyway, they did not explain to me the reasoning, they just told me that in boca al lupo means “put it in the mouth” and they said that you respond with crepi which I thought they told me meant “let him die.” This is a good example of the level of communication that I’ve had over here and proof that you cannot trust anything that I’ve told you I learned from these people!
giovedì 7 luglio 2011
lunedì 20 giugno 2011
Sorry for this one...
My brain exploded this morning. How was your morning?
Harry Potter walked into my Foundations class. This was before my brain exploded, so I can trust that it really happened.
A while ago I bought eyedrops. I think they are actually eye poison. I’ve ceased use.
I went to the beach yesterday after church. It was gross. It had ferro-sand…aka sand with iron in it. It was completely black. It really freaked me out seeing it stuck all over everyone’s’ bodies, like sand does when you’re wet and you lay in it- it’s a very different image when it’s black and looks like you’ve been left in the oven too long.
Desperation has caused me to create a minor case of schizophrenia in my own brain. I now have an alternate personality constantly commanding me to do my work. And she’s not very nice about it. She thinks I’m motivated by insults. I’ll show her…
Hopefully if I continue to be as worthless as I have been, she’ll learn to take over my hands and will just type out the report herself. She seems like the type to not rely on delegation, that she’ll just step up and do it all herself if I fail her. I hope she doesn’t see through my plan.
That’s enough for now.
We wish you a pleasant day!
Harry Potter walked into my Foundations class. This was before my brain exploded, so I can trust that it really happened.
A while ago I bought eyedrops. I think they are actually eye poison. I’ve ceased use.
I went to the beach yesterday after church. It was gross. It had ferro-sand…aka sand with iron in it. It was completely black. It really freaked me out seeing it stuck all over everyone’s’ bodies, like sand does when you’re wet and you lay in it- it’s a very different image when it’s black and looks like you’ve been left in the oven too long.
Desperation has caused me to create a minor case of schizophrenia in my own brain. I now have an alternate personality constantly commanding me to do my work. And she’s not very nice about it. She thinks I’m motivated by insults. I’ll show her…
Hopefully if I continue to be as worthless as I have been, she’ll learn to take over my hands and will just type out the report herself. She seems like the type to not rely on delegation, that she’ll just step up and do it all herself if I fail her. I hope she doesn’t see through my plan.
That’s enough for now.
We wish you a pleasant day!
sabato 18 giugno 2011
The One With All the Sports References
Buon giorno genti!
(C&P-Like my Friends-esque titling system now? I ran out of Italian words that I knew...)
It doesn’t matter how interesting the topic is- technical writing is boring. I had a meeting with one of the grad students this morning (who is a professor in Romania in real life- he is here on a research grant as well…I have a feeling he has been more productive with his time here than I have), in which he basically gave me a lecture in the theory behind earthquake engineering (it was a very good lesson, he’s a good teacher. It tied together all the bits of information that I have acquired over the past 3 months so that they are actually knowledge in my brain, rather than random bits of information that are inapplicable because I know what they are but not what they mean.). Anyway, as he was talking, it hit me that this is really significant stuff that I get to work with- it literally saves lives. I get learn about emerging technologies that will impact history, saving lives, from the sources that are creating these technologies (btw I found out that my metallic structure professor was the designer of the first earthquake engineering applications in Italy- which were among the first in the world…he’s a pretty big deal. And today in class he gave us the CD copy of one of his books- a two-volume, 1800 page reference book. I should learn how to do technical writing from him…he pumps out these giant books all the time.). Despite all of this, I still can’t focus long enough to write anything about it! I have to bribe myself to pay attention.
In reference to bribing… it’s a beautiful thing. My new tactic: “Okay Hope, if you actually focus on your work for only two hours, you can watch half a movie when those two hours are over..” or “if you can focus for one hour without stopping to check your email or facebook, you get to go get a snack” (I’m like Po in Kungfu Panda. How embarrassing.). Also, a new idea which I have recently implemented.. testing. I give myself half an hour to read everything I can on a subject, then I close the article and give myself 15 minutes to write as much as I can about it without peaking. This is an excellent anti-plagiarism technique. I should be doing my research paper on the research I’ve done on how to write a research paper!
So, life has continued. Slowly. I’ve kept myself cooped up mostly, forcing myself to be productive when I can manage it. Some of the girls have been telling me not to leave Italy every time the see me- it’s quite sweet and almost makes me want to stay.
I helped a girl study English this morning for the test that she has coming up. She had to read all sorts of articles which were incredibly interesting for me- a good way to learn what other countries think about your culture is to find a book that is trying to teach the people from that country English- it’s full of articles that are meant to help explain the culture your country. All the English classes here teach British English so I got to see what Italians think of England, but the English are similar enough to Americans that it still hit home. There was an article explaining about the Brits being quiet, even when they’re all packed on a train together. <“Just because they keep to themselves doesn’t mean that they aren’t friendly, you just may have to get to know them first!”> Also, <“they use the words ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘I’m sorry’” often. For example, they might say ‘I’m sorry’ after you’ve just stepped on their foot! Or, ‘I’m sorry, but this soup is cold.’”> So true, and so funny after being in Italy for awhile. I honestly have not heard “per favore” come from a single one of them, and when I tried using it once they asked me what I had just said. Later I looked it up on the internet to make sure I was using the right words for please, and I was, they just aren’t used to hearing it! Not that they aren’t polite or grateful, they just express themselves very differently.
____
Welp, I just got back from another meeting with the Romanian. I found out why he’s been so helpful (if I were in his position and I had my own work to do, I would certainly not be as eager to help a silly little foreign undergrad with her paper which no one will probably even read). It turns out he’s an advisor to students doing their senior design projects back in Romania, and I think he’s having teacher-withdrawls. He actually enjoys helping me. Cool, I’ll take it. His biggest criticism of my paper so far is that I’ve written it like a literature piece, rather than an engineer’s report. He said that engineers like things simple with lots charts and equations to explain what you’re talking about, not words. The problem is my brain isn’t as engineer-y as I thought when I chose my career path. He told me my mind should work like an engineer because I am an engineer- can you make your mind work a different way? Oh dear…
I baked some really awful lemon cookies yesterday. I made them to sell at the “Fete Chiesa” we had today at church (it was a fundraising bazaar). I worked the drink stand. My only customer was a little girl who literally came 5 times to buy a diet coke each time. I hope it was okay of me to sell her that many… But a note for the future- if you buy baked goods at a church bazaar, be sure to say nothing but good things about it if you eat it while you’re still at the bazaar. I had to watch the people who bought my cookies eat them in front of me. Luckily, none of them seemed to be displeased, although one woman gave her cookie a very solid stare-down before and after each bite she took with a confused expression. The new pastor’s wife came by to offer me one of my cookies which she had just bought and I respectfully turned her down saying that they were terrible and she should have picked something else. Is that rude?
I’m going to miss living here when I go. Now that the end of my trip is in sight, I’ve been very torn between the feeling that I just want to be home now and I don’t want to go. The wanting-to-be-home-now feeling has been more prevalent over the past week, but that’s probably because I spent the whole last week doing school work… I have another one of those weeks coming up, so I will be wishing for home again.
But I am sure I’ll be happy to be here tonight; I am finally going to see the famous opera house! Tonight is the only event going on there before I leave, so I’m going to try my best to get in. I didn’t go buy tickets beforehand, so I hope they are still available at the door. Anyway, it’s a performance by the Naples school of ballet- they’re performing Troy Game, which I think is about gladiators? The translation of the description could have been better. I’m kicking myself for not going to see an opera while it was still opera season. What is wrong with me? I’m also sad that I never made it to a soccer match. Opera, soccer, pasta, and wine…the only necessities to experience while in Italy; I’ve been here for 3 months and am only batting 500. (Did you like my football references Dan?? ;) (I’m juuuuust kidding, I know it was a tennis reference.)) It would have been really perfect if I had been able to get tickets to the final soccer match that happened to be when Dan was here. Oh well… more excuses to come back to Italy.
Okay! Time to go get in line at the opera house for what should be a very interesting ballet! Maybe I’ll post again soon, but I am very unreliable, so who knows.
Ciao!
(C&P-Like my Friends-esque titling system now? I ran out of Italian words that I knew...)
It doesn’t matter how interesting the topic is- technical writing is boring. I had a meeting with one of the grad students this morning (who is a professor in Romania in real life- he is here on a research grant as well…I have a feeling he has been more productive with his time here than I have), in which he basically gave me a lecture in the theory behind earthquake engineering (it was a very good lesson, he’s a good teacher. It tied together all the bits of information that I have acquired over the past 3 months so that they are actually knowledge in my brain, rather than random bits of information that are inapplicable because I know what they are but not what they mean.). Anyway, as he was talking, it hit me that this is really significant stuff that I get to work with- it literally saves lives. I get learn about emerging technologies that will impact history, saving lives, from the sources that are creating these technologies (btw I found out that my metallic structure professor was the designer of the first earthquake engineering applications in Italy- which were among the first in the world…he’s a pretty big deal. And today in class he gave us the CD copy of one of his books- a two-volume, 1800 page reference book. I should learn how to do technical writing from him…he pumps out these giant books all the time.). Despite all of this, I still can’t focus long enough to write anything about it! I have to bribe myself to pay attention.
In reference to bribing… it’s a beautiful thing. My new tactic: “Okay Hope, if you actually focus on your work for only two hours, you can watch half a movie when those two hours are over..” or “if you can focus for one hour without stopping to check your email or facebook, you get to go get a snack” (I’m like Po in Kungfu Panda. How embarrassing.). Also, a new idea which I have recently implemented.. testing. I give myself half an hour to read everything I can on a subject, then I close the article and give myself 15 minutes to write as much as I can about it without peaking. This is an excellent anti-plagiarism technique. I should be doing my research paper on the research I’ve done on how to write a research paper!
So, life has continued. Slowly. I’ve kept myself cooped up mostly, forcing myself to be productive when I can manage it. Some of the girls have been telling me not to leave Italy every time the see me- it’s quite sweet and almost makes me want to stay.
I helped a girl study English this morning for the test that she has coming up. She had to read all sorts of articles which were incredibly interesting for me- a good way to learn what other countries think about your culture is to find a book that is trying to teach the people from that country English- it’s full of articles that are meant to help explain the culture your country. All the English classes here teach British English so I got to see what Italians think of England, but the English are similar enough to Americans that it still hit home. There was an article explaining about the Brits being quiet, even when they’re all packed on a train together. <“Just because they keep to themselves doesn’t mean that they aren’t friendly, you just may have to get to know them first!”> Also, <“they use the words ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘I’m sorry’” often. For example, they might say ‘I’m sorry’ after you’ve just stepped on their foot! Or, ‘I’m sorry, but this soup is cold.’”> So true, and so funny after being in Italy for awhile. I honestly have not heard “per favore” come from a single one of them, and when I tried using it once they asked me what I had just said. Later I looked it up on the internet to make sure I was using the right words for please, and I was, they just aren’t used to hearing it! Not that they aren’t polite or grateful, they just express themselves very differently.
____
Welp, I just got back from another meeting with the Romanian. I found out why he’s been so helpful (if I were in his position and I had my own work to do, I would certainly not be as eager to help a silly little foreign undergrad with her paper which no one will probably even read). It turns out he’s an advisor to students doing their senior design projects back in Romania, and I think he’s having teacher-withdrawls. He actually enjoys helping me. Cool, I’ll take it. His biggest criticism of my paper so far is that I’ve written it like a literature piece, rather than an engineer’s report. He said that engineers like things simple with lots charts and equations to explain what you’re talking about, not words. The problem is my brain isn’t as engineer-y as I thought when I chose my career path. He told me my mind should work like an engineer because I am an engineer- can you make your mind work a different way? Oh dear…
I baked some really awful lemon cookies yesterday. I made them to sell at the “Fete Chiesa” we had today at church (it was a fundraising bazaar). I worked the drink stand. My only customer was a little girl who literally came 5 times to buy a diet coke each time. I hope it was okay of me to sell her that many… But a note for the future- if you buy baked goods at a church bazaar, be sure to say nothing but good things about it if you eat it while you’re still at the bazaar. I had to watch the people who bought my cookies eat them in front of me. Luckily, none of them seemed to be displeased, although one woman gave her cookie a very solid stare-down before and after each bite she took with a confused expression. The new pastor’s wife came by to offer me one of my cookies which she had just bought and I respectfully turned her down saying that they were terrible and she should have picked something else. Is that rude?
I’m going to miss living here when I go. Now that the end of my trip is in sight, I’ve been very torn between the feeling that I just want to be home now and I don’t want to go. The wanting-to-be-home-now feeling has been more prevalent over the past week, but that’s probably because I spent the whole last week doing school work… I have another one of those weeks coming up, so I will be wishing for home again.
But I am sure I’ll be happy to be here tonight; I am finally going to see the famous opera house! Tonight is the only event going on there before I leave, so I’m going to try my best to get in. I didn’t go buy tickets beforehand, so I hope they are still available at the door. Anyway, it’s a performance by the Naples school of ballet- they’re performing Troy Game, which I think is about gladiators? The translation of the description could have been better. I’m kicking myself for not going to see an opera while it was still opera season. What is wrong with me? I’m also sad that I never made it to a soccer match. Opera, soccer, pasta, and wine…the only necessities to experience while in Italy; I’ve been here for 3 months and am only batting 500. (Did you like my football references Dan?? ;) (I’m juuuuust kidding, I know it was a tennis reference.)) It would have been really perfect if I had been able to get tickets to the final soccer match that happened to be when Dan was here. Oh well… more excuses to come back to Italy.
Okay! Time to go get in line at the opera house for what should be a very interesting ballet! Maybe I’ll post again soon, but I am very unreliable, so who knows.
Ciao!
mercoledì 8 giugno 2011
The One with All the Writing
Hello again. This shall be another boring blog to read as my brain is preoccupied with other things.
So, I went to Venice and Florence! They were beautiful! I think Venice is my favorite city that I’ve seen in Europe because it’s so weird. Who builds a city on 100+ islands? It just doesn’t make sense… It was cool that there were no cars, though. I think I would be annoyed with this if I lived there, but as a visitor it was nice to not have to worry about getting run over (which is a very constant worry when living in Naples)
My day of travelling from Naples to Venice went perfectly- as soon as I got to the metro stop, the train pulled right up, as soon as I arrived at the bus stop, the bus pulled up, and I even had enough time to do some of my research at the airport before the plane pulled up- it was perfect. Venice from the air is very impressive.
I knew that all of that luck was going to come to an end, because travelling never goes that smoothly, and I was expecting something very unfortunate to happen so that the universe would be balanced.. but nothing terrible ever came. Leandra did have quite a feat getting there- maybe that’s where it equaled out. Also, that night we took a bus to get to our hotel, which was in the country outside of Venice since every room in Venice that cost less than 700euro (literally) was booked, and I left my ipod on the bus… Luckily I left my paper with the name of our hotel and all of it’s contact information on the bus seat next to my ipod…. The bus driver called my hotel when he got to the final stop with directions of how to get to the station, and I was able to go retrieve my ipod in the morning.
It was supposed to rain all weekend but we were very fortunate. The rain didn’t start until Leandra and I were on the train to Florence, and it only rained the duration of the train ride. The next day, it only rained as soon as Leandra, her family, and I were all worn out from walking around all day and were headed back to their hotel on the bus. Perfect.
I can’t do justice to either city by describing it on here… I think pictures will do just fine. As Dan says, there’re pictures on the internet, so that’s all you need to do to hear about my weekend- google it. Or if you want a more personal account, I will be posting my pictures once I’m done with all the work I need to do.
Alright, on to all the random tidbits of information which I’m not sure you care about, but it’s what a blog is for…
As a break from all the work I need to do, I’ve been getting to do a little calculus- one of my friends has a test coming up and has been referring to me when she gets stuck. It’s been a fun break from writing!
Italy’s getting hot. Real not. And humid. Not really any more hot and humid than Rolla in June, but with far less air conditioning. And even in the places that have air-conditioning, they don’t turn it on- they open the widows, which is quite pleseant when you haven’t just ran from the metro to class because the metro runs at different speeds and comes at different times everyday. It’s really hard to get cool again when you’re sitting in a semi-warm classroom all sweaty. And when they turn the air-conditioning on, it’s just barely on. I was in class yesterday, in the class that actually has air conditioning, and I was thinking, wow- it feels really good in here, quite perfect actually, and the teacher got up to turn down the air-conditioning because it was too cold and making his voice “disappear.” I appreciate that the US pumps so much air conditioning into a place in the summer that you always have to take a sweater with you- it allows us to run from once place to the other, which suits our lifestyle. It’s hard to be an American over here- I need to pull out more of the Italian in me.
I’ve just been informed that today is the festival of Spring and Mother Nature is coming to the Villalta… Something must have been lost in translation there.. I’m picturing someone in a green, viney, flowery suit coming and we all sit on her lap and tell her what we want for spring. I will let you know how this has played out.
So, my 3 months of travelling and procrastinating has caught up to me. I’ve been working all day everyday since I got back from my weekend excursion, and still have a lot to do. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting.
I sent my list of objectives for my research paper to my advisor in Rolla and to my advisor in Naples. My advisor in Naples said that his only concern was that it might be a little to “ambitious” and we’ll see what I can get done in my remaining time here (he knows my departure date is in 5 weeks). My advisor in Rolla responded with “great, can you have it done in 2 weeks?” So we’ll see if I can meet that 2 week request (although it’s less than a week now since I went to Florence and Venice last weekend and have been working on a different project all week…), or if it is, in fact, a little to ambitious.
I present a report tomorrow morning which I’m not sure even counts for anything. The professor gave an assignment a month ago in class, but since I am the only student who speaks English, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who understood that the teacher was assigning something. It’s the report on what the world would look like if concrete had never been discovered, which I was actually excited about writing, which is the reason that I sent the teacher an email last Friday asking if I could give a presentation on the subject rather than write a report (this way I could stack it with pictures, which is pretty much my game plan.) (Also, I was hoping that maybe if I did this project, it would be a replacement for a final exam. Since the exams here are oral, I have honestly no idea how to prepare for the test, so I’m going to try to avoid it any way I can.) My professor said that a presentation would be fine and “we’ll see about the report after.” Which is still fine by me if it replaces the test. On Friday he said- okay, you can present it Tuesday. However, I was leaving for Venice when I got this email, and wouldn’t be back until Monday evening, and had not at all completed the project, so I asked him if I could present Thursday instead. So here I am, trying to cram a semester’s worth of knowledge into a report due tomorrow which may or may not be for any credit. Yesterday in class he made a joke- “make sure you come prepared Thursday! This is your final grade!” and just as I was getting excited because it sounded like it would replace my exam he said “I’m just joking.” My heart sank. Oh well, maybe if I make it nice enough he will be blown away tomorrow and say that I have mastered the topic and no exam could match my seemingly endless knowledge! Here’s hopin’.
Okay, off I go. I could use prayers for persistence, endurance, and focus. Thanks! Also self-control…I have met my match with the food here. I hold no power of self-control against it. I know I shouldn’t let it be my master, but I willingly let it be at every meal and every snack time.
Mmkay, I’m really going now. You think you can only procrastinate so much…and then you write another paragraph…
K, ciao!
P.S. I’ve been continuing to document the food we’re eating, in a separate document so I don’t type your eyes off (the phrase “talk your ears off” doesn’t really transfer to the e-world…), and I literally just spelled delicious as “delishish” and could not remember for the life of me how to spell it correctly.
Too. Much. Writing. I’m literally going insane.
So, I went to Venice and Florence! They were beautiful! I think Venice is my favorite city that I’ve seen in Europe because it’s so weird. Who builds a city on 100+ islands? It just doesn’t make sense… It was cool that there were no cars, though. I think I would be annoyed with this if I lived there, but as a visitor it was nice to not have to worry about getting run over (which is a very constant worry when living in Naples)
My day of travelling from Naples to Venice went perfectly- as soon as I got to the metro stop, the train pulled right up, as soon as I arrived at the bus stop, the bus pulled up, and I even had enough time to do some of my research at the airport before the plane pulled up- it was perfect. Venice from the air is very impressive.
I knew that all of that luck was going to come to an end, because travelling never goes that smoothly, and I was expecting something very unfortunate to happen so that the universe would be balanced.. but nothing terrible ever came. Leandra did have quite a feat getting there- maybe that’s where it equaled out. Also, that night we took a bus to get to our hotel, which was in the country outside of Venice since every room in Venice that cost less than 700euro (literally) was booked, and I left my ipod on the bus… Luckily I left my paper with the name of our hotel and all of it’s contact information on the bus seat next to my ipod…. The bus driver called my hotel when he got to the final stop with directions of how to get to the station, and I was able to go retrieve my ipod in the morning.
It was supposed to rain all weekend but we were very fortunate. The rain didn’t start until Leandra and I were on the train to Florence, and it only rained the duration of the train ride. The next day, it only rained as soon as Leandra, her family, and I were all worn out from walking around all day and were headed back to their hotel on the bus. Perfect.
I can’t do justice to either city by describing it on here… I think pictures will do just fine. As Dan says, there’re pictures on the internet, so that’s all you need to do to hear about my weekend- google it. Or if you want a more personal account, I will be posting my pictures once I’m done with all the work I need to do.
Alright, on to all the random tidbits of information which I’m not sure you care about, but it’s what a blog is for…
As a break from all the work I need to do, I’ve been getting to do a little calculus- one of my friends has a test coming up and has been referring to me when she gets stuck. It’s been a fun break from writing!
Italy’s getting hot. Real not. And humid. Not really any more hot and humid than Rolla in June, but with far less air conditioning. And even in the places that have air-conditioning, they don’t turn it on- they open the widows, which is quite pleseant when you haven’t just ran from the metro to class because the metro runs at different speeds and comes at different times everyday. It’s really hard to get cool again when you’re sitting in a semi-warm classroom all sweaty. And when they turn the air-conditioning on, it’s just barely on. I was in class yesterday, in the class that actually has air conditioning, and I was thinking, wow- it feels really good in here, quite perfect actually, and the teacher got up to turn down the air-conditioning because it was too cold and making his voice “disappear.” I appreciate that the US pumps so much air conditioning into a place in the summer that you always have to take a sweater with you- it allows us to run from once place to the other, which suits our lifestyle. It’s hard to be an American over here- I need to pull out more of the Italian in me.
I’ve just been informed that today is the festival of Spring and Mother Nature is coming to the Villalta… Something must have been lost in translation there.. I’m picturing someone in a green, viney, flowery suit coming and we all sit on her lap and tell her what we want for spring. I will let you know how this has played out.
So, my 3 months of travelling and procrastinating has caught up to me. I’ve been working all day everyday since I got back from my weekend excursion, and still have a lot to do. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting.
I sent my list of objectives for my research paper to my advisor in Rolla and to my advisor in Naples. My advisor in Naples said that his only concern was that it might be a little to “ambitious” and we’ll see what I can get done in my remaining time here (he knows my departure date is in 5 weeks). My advisor in Rolla responded with “great, can you have it done in 2 weeks?” So we’ll see if I can meet that 2 week request (although it’s less than a week now since I went to Florence and Venice last weekend and have been working on a different project all week…), or if it is, in fact, a little to ambitious.
I present a report tomorrow morning which I’m not sure even counts for anything. The professor gave an assignment a month ago in class, but since I am the only student who speaks English, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who understood that the teacher was assigning something. It’s the report on what the world would look like if concrete had never been discovered, which I was actually excited about writing, which is the reason that I sent the teacher an email last Friday asking if I could give a presentation on the subject rather than write a report (this way I could stack it with pictures, which is pretty much my game plan.) (Also, I was hoping that maybe if I did this project, it would be a replacement for a final exam. Since the exams here are oral, I have honestly no idea how to prepare for the test, so I’m going to try to avoid it any way I can.) My professor said that a presentation would be fine and “we’ll see about the report after.” Which is still fine by me if it replaces the test. On Friday he said- okay, you can present it Tuesday. However, I was leaving for Venice when I got this email, and wouldn’t be back until Monday evening, and had not at all completed the project, so I asked him if I could present Thursday instead. So here I am, trying to cram a semester’s worth of knowledge into a report due tomorrow which may or may not be for any credit. Yesterday in class he made a joke- “make sure you come prepared Thursday! This is your final grade!” and just as I was getting excited because it sounded like it would replace my exam he said “I’m just joking.” My heart sank. Oh well, maybe if I make it nice enough he will be blown away tomorrow and say that I have mastered the topic and no exam could match my seemingly endless knowledge! Here’s hopin’.
Okay, off I go. I could use prayers for persistence, endurance, and focus. Thanks! Also self-control…I have met my match with the food here. I hold no power of self-control against it. I know I shouldn’t let it be my master, but I willingly let it be at every meal and every snack time.
Mmkay, I’m really going now. You think you can only procrastinate so much…and then you write another paragraph…
K, ciao!
P.S. I’ve been continuing to document the food we’re eating, in a separate document so I don’t type your eyes off (the phrase “talk your ears off” doesn’t really transfer to the e-world…), and I literally just spelled delicious as “delishish” and could not remember for the life of me how to spell it correctly.
Too. Much. Writing. I’m literally going insane.
giovedì 2 giugno 2011
The Boring Blog Post
Praise God! So, I’ve finally been getting down to work- pulling references and making a list of objectives for my research paper, but I’ve been a little too intimidated to actually get started on the thing. As I was finding references, I basically just googled base-isolation system, elastomeric bearings, U.S., which is about as general as I could be, and I started downloading any file that came up. My Wikipedia source made up about half of the information I found… not an impressive start. But after talking to the grad student working on this research at the university, I fianlly pulled out of her a way that I can help her with her research! She would like me to find out the U.S. codes for testing elastomeric bearing systems so that we can compare their test methods and results to see if they meet the U.S.’s standards.
I was more than eager to promise to find these standards for her because I’ve been asking the entire time I’ve been here how I can help (mostly because I feel guilty for receiving a grant to be over here- so I feel like I should be able to help the research going on, or at least put something significant in the world to show for my time at this university- I’m not sure this research paper is going to make it into the significant category), and I haven’t been able to be anything but a burden to Concetta because instead of being able to help, I have only made more work- having her check the problems I’m doing and scheduling times to meet with me. So, anyway, I’ve been feeling guilty, and at the opportunity to finally help I promised her- of course I’ll find the standards and requirements of the U.S.! After leaving her office, I thought about how, opposed to the rest one the world, which basically has 1 set of building codes, the U.S. has about 4 base codes, and on top of it state requirements and municipal requirements. So I was getting a little bit worried about fulfilling the promised I made, but when I sat down to work this morning, dragging my feet because I was a little bit worried about finding what I needed; I looked through the sparse files that I already saved, and boom! I literally named one of the files- U.S. Standard Test Procedures for Seismic Isolation Systems. I’m not sure why I looked past this file when saving it the first time, or probably why I was freaking out about being able to find standard testing procedures because apparently it was easy if I found it without even looking, but it sure was a blessing to see that I had it. God really does work in mysterious ways.
Okay, with that little drawn-out, probably intensely boring for those of you who aren’t base-isolation system fanatics, story under today’s blog’s belt, on with the updates. I assume Dan is still working on the blog of our adventures while he was in Italy because I see that it’s not posted yet… I’m sure it will be done soon. However, I don’t think I will actually be posting a blog about his visit because 1) I just received the deadline for research paper and it’s 2 weeks away 2) I also have two more semester projects in addition to the research paper to start and complete in the next 3 weeks, 3) when I get back to the states and actually talk to you people in person, I will have absolutely nothing to tell you about my trip because you have already read every detail! So, assuming Dan doesn’t post, those two weeks will remain secret until we meet in person.
Since his departure and my last blog, life has gone on as usual. It’s so strange that I only have about 3 weeks here left (and those weeks unfortunately will be filled with work work work…except for this weekend where I will be meeting Leandra in Venice, spending a night, then grabbing a train with her back to Florence and hanging out with her family for a couple days). Then after the 3 weeks of work are completed, I visit Begonia’s home in Madrid for 5 days, then when I get back- my family will be here!!! They are here one week and after they leave I have my final weekend in Europe, then I head out early on Monday for the journey home!
So anyway, life as usual has had some highlights. On Sunday I went to church in the morning. An American was filling in for the usual British pastor- his sermon was much longer, in true American fashion, and it was good. As I was walking out and he was shaking everybody’s hand as they leave, I found out that the girl in front of me is from Chicago and only in Naples for the weekend. I said hey, cool! I’m from Illinois! Have you enjoyed Naples? Good! Well, it was nice to meet you. And she went on her way, which happened to be the direction I was going to get back to the Villalta. After following her awkwardly for half a minute, I called out her name (which might be the first time I’ve remembered a name after only hearing it once) and asked her if she was doing anything for lunch. She told me she had no plans for the day, so I invited her to come eat at the Villalta. It was a cool experience, I’m glad I invited her to come.
To kill time before lunch we went to Castel dell’Ovo (it never fails to impress), and hung out on the roof a bit. She loved the Villalta and was very impressed with the lunch. She had quite a bit to share at tertulia since she has been to 17 countries since January. The girls just went crazy over all the places she’s been and they were especially impressed that she travelled to all of these places alone (Italians don’t like to be alone.) Anyway, it was a good morning.
I’m pretty sure I’ve done more than this in the past week, I just cant think of anything at the moment other than going to class and doing homework… I’ve watched a couple of movies that Dan left with me… Oh, also, I was quite sick the last couple of days, so sleeping took up a big hunk of time too. I had quite a high temperature and everything that comes with a fever for about 24 hours, now I’m just dealing with the leftovers, cold-like symptoms. I’m feeling much better. I’ve had to avoid Elisabetta like crazy, though; it would not be good if she got sick. (Oh ya! Elisabetta is back! She came back the second week that Dan was here.. I forgot to mention it. It turns out she needs 6 months of treatments now, so keep praying for her. She looks real good some days, and other days not so much.)
Also, Dan moved into his apartment in Indy (one day it will be my apartment as well…..weirddddd) and started his grown-up job! I’m very proud to be engaged to such an old man.
Okay, now I’m off to meet Karen for a ride. I hope the trails don’t wash out from under us; it rained at least a couple meters yesterday… When I come back I’ve promised to help a couple of the girls with some math problems? I don’t know why they think I would be able to help… But I also need to start writing! I spent the whole morning looking at wedding pictures making a wishlist :) I hope I don’t spend the whole afternoon looking up what to do in Venice and Florence! Although I do need to do that… I leave tomorrow.
Okaaaaay.. BYE!
Oh ya! There is a new girl from Lebanon living at the Villalta! She moved in last night. She only speaks English and Arabic, so I’ll be her go-to linguist now that I know the ropes.. She sure is lucky she has me! Just kidding… I hope I’m up to the job of keeping her informed…I’m rarely able to keep myself informed. Okay, over and out!
I was more than eager to promise to find these standards for her because I’ve been asking the entire time I’ve been here how I can help (mostly because I feel guilty for receiving a grant to be over here- so I feel like I should be able to help the research going on, or at least put something significant in the world to show for my time at this university- I’m not sure this research paper is going to make it into the significant category), and I haven’t been able to be anything but a burden to Concetta because instead of being able to help, I have only made more work- having her check the problems I’m doing and scheduling times to meet with me. So, anyway, I’ve been feeling guilty, and at the opportunity to finally help I promised her- of course I’ll find the standards and requirements of the U.S.! After leaving her office, I thought about how, opposed to the rest one the world, which basically has 1 set of building codes, the U.S. has about 4 base codes, and on top of it state requirements and municipal requirements. So I was getting a little bit worried about fulfilling the promised I made, but when I sat down to work this morning, dragging my feet because I was a little bit worried about finding what I needed; I looked through the sparse files that I already saved, and boom! I literally named one of the files- U.S. Standard Test Procedures for Seismic Isolation Systems. I’m not sure why I looked past this file when saving it the first time, or probably why I was freaking out about being able to find standard testing procedures because apparently it was easy if I found it without even looking, but it sure was a blessing to see that I had it. God really does work in mysterious ways.
Okay, with that little drawn-out, probably intensely boring for those of you who aren’t base-isolation system fanatics, story under today’s blog’s belt, on with the updates. I assume Dan is still working on the blog of our adventures while he was in Italy because I see that it’s not posted yet… I’m sure it will be done soon. However, I don’t think I will actually be posting a blog about his visit because 1) I just received the deadline for research paper and it’s 2 weeks away 2) I also have two more semester projects in addition to the research paper to start and complete in the next 3 weeks, 3) when I get back to the states and actually talk to you people in person, I will have absolutely nothing to tell you about my trip because you have already read every detail! So, assuming Dan doesn’t post, those two weeks will remain secret until we meet in person.
Since his departure and my last blog, life has gone on as usual. It’s so strange that I only have about 3 weeks here left (and those weeks unfortunately will be filled with work work work…except for this weekend where I will be meeting Leandra in Venice, spending a night, then grabbing a train with her back to Florence and hanging out with her family for a couple days). Then after the 3 weeks of work are completed, I visit Begonia’s home in Madrid for 5 days, then when I get back- my family will be here!!! They are here one week and after they leave I have my final weekend in Europe, then I head out early on Monday for the journey home!
So anyway, life as usual has had some highlights. On Sunday I went to church in the morning. An American was filling in for the usual British pastor- his sermon was much longer, in true American fashion, and it was good. As I was walking out and he was shaking everybody’s hand as they leave, I found out that the girl in front of me is from Chicago and only in Naples for the weekend. I said hey, cool! I’m from Illinois! Have you enjoyed Naples? Good! Well, it was nice to meet you. And she went on her way, which happened to be the direction I was going to get back to the Villalta. After following her awkwardly for half a minute, I called out her name (which might be the first time I’ve remembered a name after only hearing it once) and asked her if she was doing anything for lunch. She told me she had no plans for the day, so I invited her to come eat at the Villalta. It was a cool experience, I’m glad I invited her to come.
To kill time before lunch we went to Castel dell’Ovo (it never fails to impress), and hung out on the roof a bit. She loved the Villalta and was very impressed with the lunch. She had quite a bit to share at tertulia since she has been to 17 countries since January. The girls just went crazy over all the places she’s been and they were especially impressed that she travelled to all of these places alone (Italians don’t like to be alone.) Anyway, it was a good morning.
I’m pretty sure I’ve done more than this in the past week, I just cant think of anything at the moment other than going to class and doing homework… I’ve watched a couple of movies that Dan left with me… Oh, also, I was quite sick the last couple of days, so sleeping took up a big hunk of time too. I had quite a high temperature and everything that comes with a fever for about 24 hours, now I’m just dealing with the leftovers, cold-like symptoms. I’m feeling much better. I’ve had to avoid Elisabetta like crazy, though; it would not be good if she got sick. (Oh ya! Elisabetta is back! She came back the second week that Dan was here.. I forgot to mention it. It turns out she needs 6 months of treatments now, so keep praying for her. She looks real good some days, and other days not so much.)
Also, Dan moved into his apartment in Indy (one day it will be my apartment as well…..weirddddd) and started his grown-up job! I’m very proud to be engaged to such an old man.
Okay, now I’m off to meet Karen for a ride. I hope the trails don’t wash out from under us; it rained at least a couple meters yesterday… When I come back I’ve promised to help a couple of the girls with some math problems? I don’t know why they think I would be able to help… But I also need to start writing! I spent the whole morning looking at wedding pictures making a wishlist :) I hope I don’t spend the whole afternoon looking up what to do in Venice and Florence! Although I do need to do that… I leave tomorrow.
Okaaaaay.. BYE!
Oh ya! There is a new girl from Lebanon living at the Villalta! She moved in last night. She only speaks English and Arabic, so I’ll be her go-to linguist now that I know the ropes.. She sure is lucky she has me! Just kidding… I hope I’m up to the job of keeping her informed…I’m rarely able to keep myself informed. Okay, over and out!
venerdì 27 maggio 2011
Break's Over- Back to Blogging!
Well, that boy finally left, thank goodness, now the blogging can start once more! I’m not going to blog about any of the time that Dan was here because he told me that he really, really wants to write a blog entry about everything we did (I’m not actually forcing him at gunpoint or anything..). So I will be picking up with life since his departure so as to not encroach on any of his topics, but I will probably add my own version of the last couple of weeks once he has posted his. Typing this blog is more exciting when I’ve got something pretty on my left hand to stare at as I do it (you think I’m kidding).
Well, yesterday at 630am I dropped my fiancée off at the airport. I was jealous that he gets to go back home, which is weird because I am loving my time over here… home is just always an appealing destination. I’m very excited to go home, but I know I will miss this once it’s over.
After we parted ways, I had to get back to work. I headed back to the Villalta for breakfast before my two classes and a meeting for my research. I was having a real hard time staying awake in my classes- I thought this was due to either the fact that I woke up at 5am, the fact that one class was talking about lateral torsional buckling in steel trusses and the other was about dirt, or that it was literally 80 degrees (excuse me- 26.7 degrees Celsius) in each of the classrooms…but it turns out it was probably neither, I was just really, really tired! When I got home from class at 6pm I decided to take a short nap (although I had already had one…as I was waiting for my meeting to discuss my research, my Foundations teacher let me pass the time doing homework in his office while he went out to lunch and I dozed off right on my book! When he came back, I popped my head right up and pretended to never have fallen asleep, but I couldn’t hide the ring mark on my cheek…), Anyway, I slept right through my alarms during this “short” nap and didn’t wake up until my roommates came in after dinner at 10 (I was sad I missed dinner- I was really looking forward to having my 3-course-Villalta food again!) Anyway, I kept on sleeping after being awaken my the roomies, because I really didn’t want to start writing my papers yet, and I knew that if I woke up and got going, I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep and I would absolutely fall asleep in my 8-oclock, 27deg Celsius class discussing every little detail of the Eurocode for steel design. So I set a new alarm and woke up, still unwillining, 12 hours after I fell asleep. How can someone sleep 12 hours and still want more? Italy has made me soft. Or it has made my brain soft mush…thinking in 3 languages every day has a tiring affect on a person.
In my dream during my coma I “helped” Logan write a final paper (probably because I’m subconsciously thinking about the 3 papers I’m supposed to be writing for school) for Mrs. Wyzard, which I erased everything Logan wrote and wrote myself, and I was very proud of it. When Logan got it back, the paper was completely red with corrections, and had been corrected back to exactly how Logan had initially written it! (Hey Logan, wanna write my research project paper on the application in the United States of recycled rubber and FRP in elastomeric bearings for seismic base isolation? Now that it’s summer you’re probably looking for something to do.)
Okay, well that’s all for now. You’ll probably be hearing from Dan soon! (Hopefully after he gets to take his own coma.)
Bye!!
(note: no ciao or Italian words of any kind because I’m back to thinking in English after speaking it for 2.5 weeks…unfortunate)
P.S. Dan- we finally got that rain that we were supposed to get on the day we wanted to go to Ischia! Holy cow it can rain over here! A single raindrop could knock a Chihuahua out! Big ol' fat rain.
Well, yesterday at 630am I dropped my fiancée off at the airport. I was jealous that he gets to go back home, which is weird because I am loving my time over here… home is just always an appealing destination. I’m very excited to go home, but I know I will miss this once it’s over.
After we parted ways, I had to get back to work. I headed back to the Villalta for breakfast before my two classes and a meeting for my research. I was having a real hard time staying awake in my classes- I thought this was due to either the fact that I woke up at 5am, the fact that one class was talking about lateral torsional buckling in steel trusses and the other was about dirt, or that it was literally 80 degrees (excuse me- 26.7 degrees Celsius) in each of the classrooms…but it turns out it was probably neither, I was just really, really tired! When I got home from class at 6pm I decided to take a short nap (although I had already had one…as I was waiting for my meeting to discuss my research, my Foundations teacher let me pass the time doing homework in his office while he went out to lunch and I dozed off right on my book! When he came back, I popped my head right up and pretended to never have fallen asleep, but I couldn’t hide the ring mark on my cheek…), Anyway, I slept right through my alarms during this “short” nap and didn’t wake up until my roommates came in after dinner at 10 (I was sad I missed dinner- I was really looking forward to having my 3-course-Villalta food again!) Anyway, I kept on sleeping after being awaken my the roomies, because I really didn’t want to start writing my papers yet, and I knew that if I woke up and got going, I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep and I would absolutely fall asleep in my 8-oclock, 27deg Celsius class discussing every little detail of the Eurocode for steel design. So I set a new alarm and woke up, still unwillining, 12 hours after I fell asleep. How can someone sleep 12 hours and still want more? Italy has made me soft. Or it has made my brain soft mush…thinking in 3 languages every day has a tiring affect on a person.
In my dream during my coma I “helped” Logan write a final paper (probably because I’m subconsciously thinking about the 3 papers I’m supposed to be writing for school) for Mrs. Wyzard, which I erased everything Logan wrote and wrote myself, and I was very proud of it. When Logan got it back, the paper was completely red with corrections, and had been corrected back to exactly how Logan had initially written it! (Hey Logan, wanna write my research project paper on the application in the United States of recycled rubber and FRP in elastomeric bearings for seismic base isolation? Now that it’s summer you’re probably looking for something to do.)
Okay, well that’s all for now. You’ll probably be hearing from Dan soon! (Hopefully after he gets to take his own coma.)
Bye!!
(note: no ciao or Italian words of any kind because I’m back to thinking in English after speaking it for 2.5 weeks…unfortunate)
P.S. Dan- we finally got that rain that we were supposed to get on the day we wanted to go to Ischia! Holy cow it can rain over here! A single raindrop could knock a Chihuahua out! Big ol' fat rain.
domenica 8 maggio 2011
Buona Festa della Mamma!
Mi dispiaci for the lameness of this blog post. I’ve been getting busier, so I haven’t been recording things that have happened as the week goes on, so I’ve forgotten most of the things that I was going to write down (ever since I started this blog though, when I see something funny or when something significant happens throughout the week, I think to myself- I have to put this in my blog later! Even though I have done a poor job at recording these things, I still think this way… I wonder how long after I’m done blogging my brain will tell me to remember things for my blog…)
Mmkay- I left off with Thurs. So… Fri-
I got up early and went to class. Class was fine but I had a hard time concentrating since it was early. There was another strike with the metro and buses on Friday (like the day that I needed to get to Rome before leaving for Paris), but this was a much less traumatic experience because I was warned beforehand. The metro was still running when I needed to go to class, so I rode it there and I took my map of Naples and wore my walking shoes. At breakfast one of the girls was very worried that I was planning to walk back and told me that there was no way to get back by foot because my University is too deep in the city and there aren’t sidewalks to get back. I figured that if worse came to worse, I would just have to waste time until the metro started running again. As it turns out, I was able to walk back, and it was wonderful. I got to see part of the city which I hadn’t seen before, which was interesting, and I got to walk along a part of the shore which I hadn’t seen yet. Through the big tunnel, which I’m assuming is the part that my friend was worried about, I rode a bus. I walked up to the tunnel, saw the sidewalk, noted it as dodgy, turned around and saw a bus pulling up, so I hopped on, rode it through the tunnel, and hopped off on the other side. It was perfect.
For the rest of that day I’m pretty sure I just wasted time. I took a long nap, finished a movie that I started a long time ago, read, hung out on the roof, etc. Anything but homework.
Saturday- a lot of the same in the morning- I can justify my laziness by saying that I had a big week and needed to relax, which I suppose was true. After lunch on Saturday, I went to the garden with some of the girls and saved a kitten! It was belo. We found the kittens, and five of their six eyes were sealed shut because they were sick. We got some tea and kleenexes and wiped off their eyes- my kitten’s eyes were the worst and after I finally was able to pry them open, there were no eyes there! Just pink flesh… it was sad. So I just laid the kitten in my lap for awhile and petted him, and after a little while, there was some eye peeking out!! He had eyes after all! Once they could all see, the kittens were much more adventurous and friendly; it was very cute. I tried to check on them today but I couldn’t find them anywhere! I hope they didn’t get too adventurous…
Saturday afternoon I went shopping with a couple of the girls- my friend needed a dress for a wedding that she was going to, and I needed more clothes because I’ve been wearing the same one-and-a-half-weeks-worth of clothes for the past eight weeks and they were getting a little old. Shopping in Italy is a much different experience than going into an Old Navy… the shops are very small and you can’t just browse through them- an attendant helps you find things, helps you try them on, helps you accessorize, etc. This was good for me since I didn’t know how to even put on most of the clothes, but I did feel a lot of pressure… I think I prefer Old Navy.
This morning (Sunday), I wore my new dress to church! Church was great, as always. I’m excited for you to see this church and hear the choir, Mom. After church I had lunch, read and listened to music on the roof, looked for the kittens, and skyped Dan as he did his last minute packing! When he left to go to the airport, I went to the library with all my books, fully planning on doing my homework, when there was actually an answer to the skype call that I made to home to wish Mom Happy Mother’s Day! I talked to the whole family, including grandparents, Uncle Chris, Aunt Jenn, Haley, and Noah. I got to show them the terrace on the roof-it was good. After dinner and tertulia, again, I was planning on doing my homework, but I’m just slightly excited about Dan being on his way and I can’t sit still. Maybe I’ll just have Dan do my homework for me??
Mmkay, I need to get my beauty sleep! or Dan may just turn around and hop back on the plane! I don’t know the next time that I will be able to post a blog since I will be playing hostess, cook, tour guide, and going to classes. Maybe I’ll have Dan take over the blogs as well as my homework!
Alright, Ciao!!!
By the way, I was wrong, today is Mother’s Day in Italy as well…. The girls had probably mentioned it, I just don’t speak Italian…
Mmkay- I left off with Thurs. So… Fri-
I got up early and went to class. Class was fine but I had a hard time concentrating since it was early. There was another strike with the metro and buses on Friday (like the day that I needed to get to Rome before leaving for Paris), but this was a much less traumatic experience because I was warned beforehand. The metro was still running when I needed to go to class, so I rode it there and I took my map of Naples and wore my walking shoes. At breakfast one of the girls was very worried that I was planning to walk back and told me that there was no way to get back by foot because my University is too deep in the city and there aren’t sidewalks to get back. I figured that if worse came to worse, I would just have to waste time until the metro started running again. As it turns out, I was able to walk back, and it was wonderful. I got to see part of the city which I hadn’t seen before, which was interesting, and I got to walk along a part of the shore which I hadn’t seen yet. Through the big tunnel, which I’m assuming is the part that my friend was worried about, I rode a bus. I walked up to the tunnel, saw the sidewalk, noted it as dodgy, turned around and saw a bus pulling up, so I hopped on, rode it through the tunnel, and hopped off on the other side. It was perfect.
For the rest of that day I’m pretty sure I just wasted time. I took a long nap, finished a movie that I started a long time ago, read, hung out on the roof, etc. Anything but homework.
Saturday- a lot of the same in the morning- I can justify my laziness by saying that I had a big week and needed to relax, which I suppose was true. After lunch on Saturday, I went to the garden with some of the girls and saved a kitten! It was belo. We found the kittens, and five of their six eyes were sealed shut because they were sick. We got some tea and kleenexes and wiped off their eyes- my kitten’s eyes were the worst and after I finally was able to pry them open, there were no eyes there! Just pink flesh… it was sad. So I just laid the kitten in my lap for awhile and petted him, and after a little while, there was some eye peeking out!! He had eyes after all! Once they could all see, the kittens were much more adventurous and friendly; it was very cute. I tried to check on them today but I couldn’t find them anywhere! I hope they didn’t get too adventurous…
Saturday afternoon I went shopping with a couple of the girls- my friend needed a dress for a wedding that she was going to, and I needed more clothes because I’ve been wearing the same one-and-a-half-weeks-worth of clothes for the past eight weeks and they were getting a little old. Shopping in Italy is a much different experience than going into an Old Navy… the shops are very small and you can’t just browse through them- an attendant helps you find things, helps you try them on, helps you accessorize, etc. This was good for me since I didn’t know how to even put on most of the clothes, but I did feel a lot of pressure… I think I prefer Old Navy.
This morning (Sunday), I wore my new dress to church! Church was great, as always. I’m excited for you to see this church and hear the choir, Mom. After church I had lunch, read and listened to music on the roof, looked for the kittens, and skyped Dan as he did his last minute packing! When he left to go to the airport, I went to the library with all my books, fully planning on doing my homework, when there was actually an answer to the skype call that I made to home to wish Mom Happy Mother’s Day! I talked to the whole family, including grandparents, Uncle Chris, Aunt Jenn, Haley, and Noah. I got to show them the terrace on the roof-it was good. After dinner and tertulia, again, I was planning on doing my homework, but I’m just slightly excited about Dan being on his way and I can’t sit still. Maybe I’ll just have Dan do my homework for me??
Mmkay, I need to get my beauty sleep! or Dan may just turn around and hop back on the plane! I don’t know the next time that I will be able to post a blog since I will be playing hostess, cook, tour guide, and going to classes. Maybe I’ll have Dan take over the blogs as well as my homework!
Alright, Ciao!!!
By the way, I was wrong, today is Mother’s Day in Italy as well…. The girls had probably mentioned it, I just don’t speak Italian…
giovedì 5 maggio 2011
Un Rapido Aggiornamento
Mmkay- here’s the abridged version of my past week.
Barcelona- Got there, found my hostel- it had a very excited staff; it was fun. I bought a T-10 (the metro pass which gives you 10 rides and isn’t very cheap), and I lost it after 1 use and bought another (at least I made the day of whoever found it on the ground). At this point I was very grumpy because I had low blood sugar and was very hungry.. I finally made it back to the main square and started walking down Las Ramblas (a street that begonia told me to be sure to see- it was very cool- there were lots of performers and great flowers and art and local foods, etc.), and at the end was heaven to my complaining stomach- La Boqueria. La boqueria is a huge market with tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, seafoods, meats, breads, etc. etc. I got a stomach ache almost immediately because I bought everything I saw and scarffed it down way too fast. Next, I hurried to the metro to Plaza Espanya, where I got a little lost but saw some cool things. I didn’t get to see everything that I wanted to see there because I lost my paper saying what was where, and the clouds had started rolling in and I wanted to be sure to see some Gaudi… so I hopped back onto the metro (which is no so efficient and actually wasted quite a bit of the little time I had in BCN) and by the time I got off it, it was pouring. Even in the rain, the Sagrada Familia was incredible. I tried to get some pictures despite the rain, but they did not really turn out. It would be worth buying a plane ticket back to Barcelona just to get a better look at the Sagrada Familia- it broke my heart to give in and get out of the rain to take cover. It was sort of late by then, and it was raining anyway, so I headed back to the hostel. I dropped off my things and grabbed my book and went to Hyde Park pub near my hostel, where I sat for a couple hours reading my book, drinking a Spanish beer, and eating a Spanish burger…it was magical. After that, I headed back to hostel, asked staff how I was supposed to get to the airport by 5 am despite the public transport not beginning to run until 5, which started a big hubbub of brainstorming from everyone in the lobby who was hanging out trying to help me- it was really cool. Hostels can have a pretty amazing atmosphere. We figured out that a night bus runs all night, and I could take 2 of them to get to the airport, it would just take 2 hours, where as the train would have only taken half an hour. I went to bed for a couple of hours, wearing all my clothes so that I could hop up at 3:20am and head out the door. I woke up according to plan, ran out the door, and hopped on my first bus by 3:40. After some difficulty finding out the right stop at the main plaza, I found my next bus (there are at least 30 bus stops around the square). I found it just in time, and finally got to the airport right when I needed to, with time to sit and relax once I got to my gate. But I couldn’t fully relax because Jenn didn’t show up, and I thought that I would have to spend my vaca in Palma alone, just like I did Barcelona and Rome. I had fully prepared myself for this and got in the back of the line to get on the plane, and just as the gate was closing and I was stepping on the plane, I turned around and Jenn had made in just in time!
Palma- On the flight I watched the sun rise over the ocean- which turns the whole sky and ocean the same color pink, and you can’t even distinguish the line between the two..it looks like you’re flying through a pink vacuum. We found our shuttle to the hostel, where I was able to add myself to their triple room, no problem! Actually, the room we got was for 6 people, but we got to pay the 4 person price. Our 6-person room smelled like pesticides and wasn’t the nicest of rooms, but the man working the desk was very nice and helpful. We went straight to the beach to explore. We spent that whole morning laying on the beach, even though it was actually very cold when the sun was behind one of the many clouds, but it was still nice with the sound of the ocean and the soft sand- there was also a family of Italians with about 12 kids playing near us to keep us entertained. Later that day, Jenn’s twin sister and their friend from HS who is also studying in Barcelona showed up- they had classes that day that they couldn’t miss. Following this was a lot more beach-laying, eating, looking through shops, celebrating Carolyn’s 21st birthday, etc. The weather on Sat was much sunnier and warmer, and on Sun, even more so. Jenn headed out early Sun to end her month of travelling, the other 2 headed out Sunday evening and I was left on my own for the last night. I didn’t explore more because I was pretty tired of being assaulted by shops’, restaurants’, and clubs’ reps that stand in the streets and trying to pull you into their respective establishments (it was not peak tourist season and they were all pretty desperate. They also start hollering at you in German, because if you aren’t Spanish-looking, they assume you’re German, since about 90% of the people in Palma Mallorca are German. It’s weird…), so I just hung out in the icky room, repacking everything into the tiny, Ryanair-approved suitcase, and reading my book. The next morning’s travel was very adventurous since the bus that I took to the airport took 3 times longer than expected because of the clans of nomads with all of their possessions that kept piling onto the bus at every stop- so once I got to the airport, I only had a half hour to check in at the Ryanair customs, get through security, and find my gate (but I arrived at the airport with some very nice Brazilians who were also trying to catch my plane, so I had some people to run through the airport with, which is always better than running by yourself). I only had 40 min at the next airport to get from my gate in terminal 2 where I arrived to terminal 1 where I was leaving from, and again, check into the counter, make it through security, and find my gate. It all worked out. I made it back to the Villalta just in time for lunch (which I had to beg for since I was famished, but I hadn’t signed up for the meal in advance…they took pity on me and the lunch was excellent). I opted to eat lunch and be an hour late to class, which was worth it in my opinion. Again, I didn’t learn any new Italian in class, but I had fun because at least that day, no one else was understanding either, and I’ve met more of the people in class, which makes it more pleasant when you have someone to look at when the topic is going over your head and they look back at you with the same dumbfounded expression. However, due to circumstances (Dan coming to Naples in a few days), I will not be attending any more of the Italian classes, so you don’t have to hear me complain about not understanding anymore! I’m not even officially signed up for the class, so there no way for me to get credit for it, so there is no point in me going to the last 2 classes and taking the final exam, which I would fail. Please don’t be disappointed in me- family, grandparent, etc. I have been getting many compliments on my Italian- the girls are very impressed at how much I can understand now. It’s much easier for me to have the girls speak to me in Italian now that I know more, because I can’t understand their pronunciation of English words anyway. The ability to speak is coming more slowly, but at least it’s coming!
The rest of Monday- not a lot happened, I was pretty worn out and I had a lot of homework to catch up on. So that, and dinner and tertulia, completed my Monday.
Tues- Pretty normal day- I don’t remember anyting particular from this day other than at the tertulia after dinner, we were talking about Bin Laden and one of the girls said Obama Bin Laden, w/o realizing what she said, I started dying laughing, then everyone else started laughing at me.
Wed- up, breakfast, met Anna (a German girl from my Italian course who used to ride horses and misses is a lot, so I invited her to come ride with me) at metro, went to Pozzuoli for riding. On trail, Ziggy was great; he was a little ornery at first because he hadn’t been ridden in a couple of days, so I had to take him to the ring before we went out to wear him out a bit. He’s such an excellent trail horse- at one point there was a giant tree that had slid down the Cliffside and into our path...I was trying to figure out how to get back- I decided we had to turn around because there was no way to go around the tree due to the cliffs on each side of the trail, but going back up the path we came down who have been too difficult, so I decided I had to get off and walk him through- but he wouldn’t stand for me getting off, he knew he could make it through, and he did! You could sort of weave through the branches and go underneath the trunk as long as I laid down on top of his neck… After the ride, I made it back to the Villalta and took a much-needed shower, went to tertulia where the girls asked about where I was and what it was like in America when Sept 11 happened (they had been discussing Osama again), I ate a late lunch since I missed the first one, then got to talk to Dan again- first time in a long time. Next-bank, homework, etc. Dinner was great- I had to leave as the movie was starting though because it looked like one that I really wanted to see and I didn’t want to ruin it by watching it in Italian and not understanding everything. Instead, I wrote up the abstract of my involvement here since Rolla has asked what I'm up to, and if you care to read it, I can send it your way.
Thurs-
This morning I met with one of the grad students to go over my abstract to make sure I didn’t mess up the description of the research they are doing here, and I went to my Metallic Structures class, which was actually pretty hilarious. In civil engineering, you can tell who’s a “steels” guy and who’s a “concrete” guy, because both are extremely biased towards structures of their respective material. These are direct quotes from my Professor in class today- “Why build with reinforced concrete? To destroy our towns!” And after looking at a picture of a huge, hunky, (ugly, but don’t tell), metallic building, smack-dab in the middle of historic London, he said- “See? No disturbance on the surrounding designs! Are a continuation!,” because a beautiful church next to the hunky, metal building was being reflected off it’s façade. Pretty great stuff. And he finally gave us our first assignment, which is to write a report to provide an illustration of what the world and our cities would look like if reinforced concrete had never been discovered. I’ve never met a person who hates concrete more. I’m looking forward to writing this paper… I know that as long as I come to the conclusion in my report that the world would be a much more beautiful place without concrete, I’ll get an A :)
Mmkay, that’s about all. Ciao!
Barcelona- Got there, found my hostel- it had a very excited staff; it was fun. I bought a T-10 (the metro pass which gives you 10 rides and isn’t very cheap), and I lost it after 1 use and bought another (at least I made the day of whoever found it on the ground). At this point I was very grumpy because I had low blood sugar and was very hungry.. I finally made it back to the main square and started walking down Las Ramblas (a street that begonia told me to be sure to see- it was very cool- there were lots of performers and great flowers and art and local foods, etc.), and at the end was heaven to my complaining stomach- La Boqueria. La boqueria is a huge market with tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, seafoods, meats, breads, etc. etc. I got a stomach ache almost immediately because I bought everything I saw and scarffed it down way too fast. Next, I hurried to the metro to Plaza Espanya, where I got a little lost but saw some cool things. I didn’t get to see everything that I wanted to see there because I lost my paper saying what was where, and the clouds had started rolling in and I wanted to be sure to see some Gaudi… so I hopped back onto the metro (which is no so efficient and actually wasted quite a bit of the little time I had in BCN) and by the time I got off it, it was pouring. Even in the rain, the Sagrada Familia was incredible. I tried to get some pictures despite the rain, but they did not really turn out. It would be worth buying a plane ticket back to Barcelona just to get a better look at the Sagrada Familia- it broke my heart to give in and get out of the rain to take cover. It was sort of late by then, and it was raining anyway, so I headed back to the hostel. I dropped off my things and grabbed my book and went to Hyde Park pub near my hostel, where I sat for a couple hours reading my book, drinking a Spanish beer, and eating a Spanish burger…it was magical. After that, I headed back to hostel, asked staff how I was supposed to get to the airport by 5 am despite the public transport not beginning to run until 5, which started a big hubbub of brainstorming from everyone in the lobby who was hanging out trying to help me- it was really cool. Hostels can have a pretty amazing atmosphere. We figured out that a night bus runs all night, and I could take 2 of them to get to the airport, it would just take 2 hours, where as the train would have only taken half an hour. I went to bed for a couple of hours, wearing all my clothes so that I could hop up at 3:20am and head out the door. I woke up according to plan, ran out the door, and hopped on my first bus by 3:40. After some difficulty finding out the right stop at the main plaza, I found my next bus (there are at least 30 bus stops around the square). I found it just in time, and finally got to the airport right when I needed to, with time to sit and relax once I got to my gate. But I couldn’t fully relax because Jenn didn’t show up, and I thought that I would have to spend my vaca in Palma alone, just like I did Barcelona and Rome. I had fully prepared myself for this and got in the back of the line to get on the plane, and just as the gate was closing and I was stepping on the plane, I turned around and Jenn had made in just in time!
Palma- On the flight I watched the sun rise over the ocean- which turns the whole sky and ocean the same color pink, and you can’t even distinguish the line between the two..it looks like you’re flying through a pink vacuum. We found our shuttle to the hostel, where I was able to add myself to their triple room, no problem! Actually, the room we got was for 6 people, but we got to pay the 4 person price. Our 6-person room smelled like pesticides and wasn’t the nicest of rooms, but the man working the desk was very nice and helpful. We went straight to the beach to explore. We spent that whole morning laying on the beach, even though it was actually very cold when the sun was behind one of the many clouds, but it was still nice with the sound of the ocean and the soft sand- there was also a family of Italians with about 12 kids playing near us to keep us entertained. Later that day, Jenn’s twin sister and their friend from HS who is also studying in Barcelona showed up- they had classes that day that they couldn’t miss. Following this was a lot more beach-laying, eating, looking through shops, celebrating Carolyn’s 21st birthday, etc. The weather on Sat was much sunnier and warmer, and on Sun, even more so. Jenn headed out early Sun to end her month of travelling, the other 2 headed out Sunday evening and I was left on my own for the last night. I didn’t explore more because I was pretty tired of being assaulted by shops’, restaurants’, and clubs’ reps that stand in the streets and trying to pull you into their respective establishments (it was not peak tourist season and they were all pretty desperate. They also start hollering at you in German, because if you aren’t Spanish-looking, they assume you’re German, since about 90% of the people in Palma Mallorca are German. It’s weird…), so I just hung out in the icky room, repacking everything into the tiny, Ryanair-approved suitcase, and reading my book. The next morning’s travel was very adventurous since the bus that I took to the airport took 3 times longer than expected because of the clans of nomads with all of their possessions that kept piling onto the bus at every stop- so once I got to the airport, I only had a half hour to check in at the Ryanair customs, get through security, and find my gate (but I arrived at the airport with some very nice Brazilians who were also trying to catch my plane, so I had some people to run through the airport with, which is always better than running by yourself). I only had 40 min at the next airport to get from my gate in terminal 2 where I arrived to terminal 1 where I was leaving from, and again, check into the counter, make it through security, and find my gate. It all worked out. I made it back to the Villalta just in time for lunch (which I had to beg for since I was famished, but I hadn’t signed up for the meal in advance…they took pity on me and the lunch was excellent). I opted to eat lunch and be an hour late to class, which was worth it in my opinion. Again, I didn’t learn any new Italian in class, but I had fun because at least that day, no one else was understanding either, and I’ve met more of the people in class, which makes it more pleasant when you have someone to look at when the topic is going over your head and they look back at you with the same dumbfounded expression. However, due to circumstances (Dan coming to Naples in a few days), I will not be attending any more of the Italian classes, so you don’t have to hear me complain about not understanding anymore! I’m not even officially signed up for the class, so there no way for me to get credit for it, so there is no point in me going to the last 2 classes and taking the final exam, which I would fail. Please don’t be disappointed in me- family, grandparent, etc. I have been getting many compliments on my Italian- the girls are very impressed at how much I can understand now. It’s much easier for me to have the girls speak to me in Italian now that I know more, because I can’t understand their pronunciation of English words anyway. The ability to speak is coming more slowly, but at least it’s coming!
The rest of Monday- not a lot happened, I was pretty worn out and I had a lot of homework to catch up on. So that, and dinner and tertulia, completed my Monday.
Tues- Pretty normal day- I don’t remember anyting particular from this day other than at the tertulia after dinner, we were talking about Bin Laden and one of the girls said Obama Bin Laden, w/o realizing what she said, I started dying laughing, then everyone else started laughing at me.
Wed- up, breakfast, met Anna (a German girl from my Italian course who used to ride horses and misses is a lot, so I invited her to come ride with me) at metro, went to Pozzuoli for riding. On trail, Ziggy was great; he was a little ornery at first because he hadn’t been ridden in a couple of days, so I had to take him to the ring before we went out to wear him out a bit. He’s such an excellent trail horse- at one point there was a giant tree that had slid down the Cliffside and into our path...I was trying to figure out how to get back- I decided we had to turn around because there was no way to go around the tree due to the cliffs on each side of the trail, but going back up the path we came down who have been too difficult, so I decided I had to get off and walk him through- but he wouldn’t stand for me getting off, he knew he could make it through, and he did! You could sort of weave through the branches and go underneath the trunk as long as I laid down on top of his neck… After the ride, I made it back to the Villalta and took a much-needed shower, went to tertulia where the girls asked about where I was and what it was like in America when Sept 11 happened (they had been discussing Osama again), I ate a late lunch since I missed the first one, then got to talk to Dan again- first time in a long time. Next-bank, homework, etc. Dinner was great- I had to leave as the movie was starting though because it looked like one that I really wanted to see and I didn’t want to ruin it by watching it in Italian and not understanding everything. Instead, I wrote up the abstract of my involvement here since Rolla has asked what I'm up to, and if you care to read it, I can send it your way.
Thurs-
This morning I met with one of the grad students to go over my abstract to make sure I didn’t mess up the description of the research they are doing here, and I went to my Metallic Structures class, which was actually pretty hilarious. In civil engineering, you can tell who’s a “steels” guy and who’s a “concrete” guy, because both are extremely biased towards structures of their respective material. These are direct quotes from my Professor in class today- “Why build with reinforced concrete? To destroy our towns!” And after looking at a picture of a huge, hunky, (ugly, but don’t tell), metallic building, smack-dab in the middle of historic London, he said- “See? No disturbance on the surrounding designs! Are a continuation!,” because a beautiful church next to the hunky, metal building was being reflected off it’s façade. Pretty great stuff. And he finally gave us our first assignment, which is to write a report to provide an illustration of what the world and our cities would look like if reinforced concrete had never been discovered. I’ve never met a person who hates concrete more. I’m looking forward to writing this paper… I know that as long as I come to the conclusion in my report that the world would be a much more beautiful place without concrete, I’ll get an A :)
Mmkay, that’s about all. Ciao!
mercoledì 27 aprile 2011
Pre-Spain
A short blog today! There’s not much to tell, but I wanted to get a blog out there before I headed out of town so that I don’t worry any of you from a lack of blogs!
Today, I slept in late- it was nice, but I missed breakfast. I went up to the roof and spent sometime looking at the sea, which was a little bit feistier than usual since the weather was bad. Naples is uglier when it’s damp and doesn’t have the bright sun to make up for it’s dirt…but the cool, misty air was pretty refreshing (I know, I know, I’ve got it hard over here, always having to deal with the bright sun and warm weather. My Midwestern heart likes change in the weather.)
Lunch was superb as usual- 1st- a dish that was layers of pasta, bread, cheese, and ham, covered in a tart, red sauce, Main- lamb shanks and beef slabs, covered in a reddish sauce, and a platter with eggplant with roasted tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms.
Afterwards I facebooked my Belgian friend and headed over to her place, taking Sabrina (the movie) and a package of cookies that I picked up at the grocery store after studying the cookie isle for about 20 minutes with me. She met me at the metro and we stopped for some juice and then at the pasteria by her apartment for some excellent little canolli.
Her apartment is very nice, and it has a spare bed room that Dan can stay in while he’s here!!! We talked about all of our plans of the things that we’re going to cook while he’s here (it’s an excuse for me to get to use a kitchen!), and we are very excited for all of the eating that will happen (I hope you’ve started training, Dan.)
After the movie, Erika walked me to the metro stop- she was a very hospitable host. Now I’m back at the villalta, avoiding doing the problems that I have to do for my research tomorrow morning by writing this… Now it’s time for dinner! Tomorrow morning I go riding again, then straight to my meeting with the Professor in charge of my research, then straight to my Italian class! Then I need to pack, because the next day- I leave for Palma!!!
I’m not crazy excited about going to Palma- from everything I hear, it just sounds like a “Spring break” destination, with nothing but beaches and discos. The discos I am not excited about, but the beaches I would be excited about if it weren’t going to be either cloudy or raining on the days that I’m there…. Also, I just found out that Jenn, her sister, and her sister’s friend booked their hostel a while ago, and they got a private 3-person suite. They don’t have any single rooms at that hostel, and you have to book a private room- so either I pay for 2 more people that won’t be there, or I find a different place to stay. Oh well, che sera! I can make the most of this trip, I’ll stop being down about it.
………………………..………………………..………………………..………………………..
Next day-
My ride this morning was fun. I rode Ziggy again, and I’m starting to trust him more. He didn’t take off last time because he was testing my authority; they just always gallop at that spot in the trail… I realized that he’s the perfect trail horse (for these trails at least, and for a rider who doesn’t care to venture past the beaten trail)- he’s been trained to know where to go, when its safe to take what speed, and doesn’t get spooked by the lizards (which will spook me sometimes- they’re surprising loud for how small they are). We took a different trail this time- we rode higher along the ridge of the crater that I told you about last time- the view was incredible. There was also an excellent view of Capri, and I saw another funny, little island- it was originally used as a prison, and it’s still a juvie.
Ziggy did get spooked by the dogs at one point on the way back and almost took off right out from under me, but I held on and we got calmed down enough to take the rest of the trail at a slow trot.
After riding, I met my professor. We didn’t get very far with the problems…the ones that I asked him about (because I finally gave in and accepted the fact that I couldn’t teach myself a graduate level course overnight) turned out being more difficult that I had thought- and once he started explaining the solutions, he got all up into derivations, and it took a long time. Anyway, my new assignment is to actually complete all the problems and hand them in to be checked over… yikes! We’ll see how that goes.
After the meeting, I grabbed a quick panino and went to the last hour of my Italian course, where I didn’t learn anything, but I talked with some of my class mates for quite awhile after the class.
Tonight was movie night and the dinner was great. Instead of watching the movie (The Prestige), I followed Begonia to the computer room and she showed me everything that I had to see in Barcelona while I’m there tomorrow afternoon! I’m actually a little bit excited for my trip now. She also invited me to her home in Madrid when she goes back in June. We looked up plane tickets and I found some really cheap ones, so- I’m going back to Spain!
Okay- time to go to sleep. Tomorrow: Barcellona. Friday-Monday: Palma de Mallorca. I will write sometime after that.
Bye!
Today, I slept in late- it was nice, but I missed breakfast. I went up to the roof and spent sometime looking at the sea, which was a little bit feistier than usual since the weather was bad. Naples is uglier when it’s damp and doesn’t have the bright sun to make up for it’s dirt…but the cool, misty air was pretty refreshing (I know, I know, I’ve got it hard over here, always having to deal with the bright sun and warm weather. My Midwestern heart likes change in the weather.)
Lunch was superb as usual- 1st- a dish that was layers of pasta, bread, cheese, and ham, covered in a tart, red sauce, Main- lamb shanks and beef slabs, covered in a reddish sauce, and a platter with eggplant with roasted tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms.
Afterwards I facebooked my Belgian friend and headed over to her place, taking Sabrina (the movie) and a package of cookies that I picked up at the grocery store after studying the cookie isle for about 20 minutes with me. She met me at the metro and we stopped for some juice and then at the pasteria by her apartment for some excellent little canolli.
Her apartment is very nice, and it has a spare bed room that Dan can stay in while he’s here!!! We talked about all of our plans of the things that we’re going to cook while he’s here (it’s an excuse for me to get to use a kitchen!), and we are very excited for all of the eating that will happen (I hope you’ve started training, Dan.)
After the movie, Erika walked me to the metro stop- she was a very hospitable host. Now I’m back at the villalta, avoiding doing the problems that I have to do for my research tomorrow morning by writing this… Now it’s time for dinner! Tomorrow morning I go riding again, then straight to my meeting with the Professor in charge of my research, then straight to my Italian class! Then I need to pack, because the next day- I leave for Palma!!!
I’m not crazy excited about going to Palma- from everything I hear, it just sounds like a “Spring break” destination, with nothing but beaches and discos. The discos I am not excited about, but the beaches I would be excited about if it weren’t going to be either cloudy or raining on the days that I’m there…. Also, I just found out that Jenn, her sister, and her sister’s friend booked their hostel a while ago, and they got a private 3-person suite. They don’t have any single rooms at that hostel, and you have to book a private room- so either I pay for 2 more people that won’t be there, or I find a different place to stay. Oh well, che sera! I can make the most of this trip, I’ll stop being down about it.
………………………..………………………..………………………..………………………..
Next day-
My ride this morning was fun. I rode Ziggy again, and I’m starting to trust him more. He didn’t take off last time because he was testing my authority; they just always gallop at that spot in the trail… I realized that he’s the perfect trail horse (for these trails at least, and for a rider who doesn’t care to venture past the beaten trail)- he’s been trained to know where to go, when its safe to take what speed, and doesn’t get spooked by the lizards (which will spook me sometimes- they’re surprising loud for how small they are). We took a different trail this time- we rode higher along the ridge of the crater that I told you about last time- the view was incredible. There was also an excellent view of Capri, and I saw another funny, little island- it was originally used as a prison, and it’s still a juvie.
Ziggy did get spooked by the dogs at one point on the way back and almost took off right out from under me, but I held on and we got calmed down enough to take the rest of the trail at a slow trot.
After riding, I met my professor. We didn’t get very far with the problems…the ones that I asked him about (because I finally gave in and accepted the fact that I couldn’t teach myself a graduate level course overnight) turned out being more difficult that I had thought- and once he started explaining the solutions, he got all up into derivations, and it took a long time. Anyway, my new assignment is to actually complete all the problems and hand them in to be checked over… yikes! We’ll see how that goes.
After the meeting, I grabbed a quick panino and went to the last hour of my Italian course, where I didn’t learn anything, but I talked with some of my class mates for quite awhile after the class.
Tonight was movie night and the dinner was great. Instead of watching the movie (The Prestige), I followed Begonia to the computer room and she showed me everything that I had to see in Barcelona while I’m there tomorrow afternoon! I’m actually a little bit excited for my trip now. She also invited me to her home in Madrid when she goes back in June. We looked up plane tickets and I found some really cheap ones, so- I’m going back to Spain!
Okay- time to go to sleep. Tomorrow: Barcellona. Friday-Monday: Palma de Mallorca. I will write sometime after that.
Bye!
lunedì 25 aprile 2011
Tanti Auguri!- Una Pasqua Buona
Oh my gracious. What a weekend. And the one weekend that I forget my camera in Naples is the one where I went on my most beautiful trip yet!!! But at least it’s close enough and cheap enough to go back- it’s not like I can just go back to Paris because I forgot my camera..
Okay, so, I went home with Enza (aka Zuzu…my roommate). It was excellent. It’s not very often in a lifetime that you get to go to the home of a local in a different culture for a weekend- but if you ever get the chance, it’s one of the coolest weekends you’ll ever have. You don’t have to worry about where or how to get food, but you’re guaranteed excellent meals. You don’t have to worry about where to go or what to see, but you’re guaranteed to see new things- and not the tourist things. You get to see how similar and how differently people across the world live. It was fantastic.
Enza lives in a small town not far from the Amalfi coast (in the shadow of Vesuvius). We were picked up from the train station by her brother, who also studies in Naples but was also home for Easter, for the first of many exciting car rides. (I still can’t believe how people can stand driving over here. As a passenger, not having to worry about my car and not being afraid of a quick death, the car rides are exciting and for the most part enjoyable, but you could not pay me 100 euro to drive here.)
Our first stop was at their family shop so I could be introduced to their mom, then I got to see most of their town by running errands- it was nice. They knew every other person we passed on the street or in a car, and each was greeted with a little honk (Italians are not in the least bit shy of using their car horns). That night, we had one of my favorite meals that I’ve had over here so far- it was simply fresh ricotta (completely different from ricotta in the states), spread on fresh bread, with a side of fresh, diced, salted, and oiled tomatoes, and fresh hunks of mozzarella (their mozzarella is from buffalo’s milk instead of cow’s, and it approximately one million times better). It was a very fresh meal. Zuzu also fried some potatoes and onions, which were very good. For dessert, I had my first piece of Pastiera (a cake made with oats, which reminded me of pumpkin pie, that is a cake that every Italian home must have during the Easter weekend so that they can force visitors to eat it when they stop by- consumption is willingly done so..it was excellent), with many pieces to follow throughout the weekend.
After dinner, I fell asleep on the couch (jealous Dan?), and Zuzu woke me up and made me go to bed. In the morning, we got up early, had breakfast, and hurried to the train station to pick up Zuzu’s and Ludovica’s boyfriends, and met up with Mariangela (another girl I live with) and her boyfriend. Then we embarked on another exciting car ride to Ravello- a town on the Amalfi Coast, where Ludovica (and another girl I live with) lives and where her parents own a hotel. (This car ride was even more exciting due to the hairpin turns and dangerously thin roads lined with a mountain wall on one side and a drop-off on the other, getting thinner and thinner as you get higher into the mountains. It was beautiful- as long as I focused on the view and not my stomach).
We met up with Ludo in Ravello and walked around the extremely beautiful city with the most incredible view I’ve ever seen (I can’t believe people actually live there!!!!). We went to the Gardens of Villa Cimbrone (gardens of a villa that have been turned into a tourist attraction with an incredible look-out point, tons and tons and tons of beautiful flowers, many statues, and lots of cool little things to see- it was amazing). Ludo knew the owners so we got in for half price. Afterwards, we went to Villa Amore to eat lunch, where Ludo also knew the owners, but I’m not exactly sure what that got us. This lunch was honestly unforgettable. The weather was beautiful (72 degrees and sunny); we sat on a terrace at an elegantly set table, shaded by vines with flowers blossoming on them, high up on a cliff, with a breeze off the sea and a fantastic view of the ocean, surrounded by cool Italian buildings, drinking wine and eating: 1st course- heaping (which is an understatement) plates of homemade pasta noodles in a light marinara sauce with fresh clams and mussels (still in shell). Main- a huge platter of fried, various sea foods- calamari, jumbo shrimp, octopus, alice(little fish), etc. Afterwards, I had my first taste of limoncello (alcohol made with lemons, which the area is famous for), which I did not like (tasted like a mix between Pine Sol and vodka).
After we parted ways with the terrace, we walked around Ravello more (I was not the only tourist in the group! Even though all of the people I was there with live only a dozen miles away, they had only been up that way either a couple times or zero times…the roads to Amalfi aren’t things you want to use often. So they were all taking pictures and gawking at the views as well.) Ludo showed us the great ceramics shops that the area is known for, as well as all the spots where the teenagers go to kiss…
After Ravello, we hopped back in the cars and drove to Amalfi, where we didn’t spend much time. We climbed the 80 steep steps to the church where the Apostle Andrew is buried, but we didn’t want to pay to get into the church, so we climbed back down the steps, took a short walk, then left Amalfi because we had plans to go to the next small town for the famous cake shop- Sal de Riso. It was superb. I got Torta Foresta Nera (black forest cake) with lots of chocolate and some cherries.
After our cake and a round of coffees, we headed back. We had some difficulties getting back to the train station because the soccer team of Enza’s town had won their match that afternoon, which meant that they got to move up from the C division to the B division, and there was a ridiculous amount of celebrating in the streets, making it hard to drive anywhere. We got caught at the border of the town, where the road at been blocked off for all of the celebrating, which had to take place at the border of the town so that it could be shoved in the faces of the neighboring town, who are not the biggest fans of Enza’s town. We saw some very angry people on our side (the neighboring town), and it looked like there was going to be a Green Street Hooligans throw down, which is too common. I asked Enza’s brother if he would be out there celebrating if he didn’t have to chauffer us around, and he told me that he doesn’t even like soccer any more because of how dangerous it has gotten to be a fan.
When we finally got through to the train station, we dropped the boyfriends off, stopped at a friend’s house (with more pasteria), and headed back to the house. That night we had a big dinner with steak, artichokes (Mom, she taught me how to eat artichokes!), and pizza pasta (no joke, Dan! It’s really called pizza pasta! Completely different from yours, though- this is a huge hunk of pasta (spaghetti, also with some small hunks of meat), that has been coated with eggs and fried in a pan).
After dinner, we watched a movie about the previous pope- Pope Karol, which was very interesting, and I’m sure would have been even more interesting had I watched it in English. This was Enza’s favorite pope- she said he was “the pope of the people.”
I got to sleep in the next morning. When I woke up, I showered, ate breakfast, and read the Great Gatsby while I waited for the others. Rosario dropped Zuzu and I off at church, where we had to stand in the back for the whole service because everyone in the town was there, and there were only seats for about half of the people. During the service, I accidently and illegally took communion. I asked Zuzu if I cross my arms in front of my chest when I go up so he knows that I’m not Catholic and she told me no, I just need to say “Amen” when I’m up. As I was saying “A-” he stuck the cracker in my mouth… oops.
After church, we proceeded to stop at every home in the town to wish everyone “Auguri” (an expression for all special occasions) and “Happy Easter.” (Stopping at every house is an exaggeration, but we spent at least 2 hours making visits- which is really cool and something that we miss out on in America by having personal space between houses… I was really glad I got to experience that.) We also stopped at the cemetery to pay our respects to Zuzu’s father, who died of cancer last year, and to some grandparents and friends.
Following the visits was another car ride to the other side of the Amalfi coast where Zuzu’s aunt lives in beautiful home, high up on one of the Amalfi coast cliffs. Directly below the wall of windows in the living room and dining room is their own personal beach, with perfect, turquoise water. They had one of the most beautiful views that I’ve seen yet; I couldn’t believe it. There we ate a never-ending Easter meal of 1st- homemade pasta in marinara, 2nd- hunks of beef and a platter of breaded and fried eggplant, Main- lamb, 1st dessert- the giant chocolate eggs that are everywhere here for Easter (we had 8 eggs, each at least as big as my head, with only 8 people and 2 halves to eat them…one of the halves took care of several people’s shares, however), 2nd dessert- bowl of fruit, 3rd dessert- sliced strawberries in a glass with whipped cream, 4th dessert- 2 types of pastiera, 1 thicker with some dried fruit in it, the other typical, with a woven crust on top. All followed by coffee, and later some liquor that I didn’t try off of Zuzu’s suggestion since I didn’t like the limoncello.
While all the grown-ups did their talking about all the problems of Italy, I very happily played with the cheap little toys that came in the giant, hollow, chocolate eggs with Zuzu’s cousin’s children (boy-6, girl-4). In fact, I spent most of the day with them. As soon as I walked in and was introduced, Zuzu’s cousin told his kids that I only speak English, and immediately the little boy said to me- “Hello. What is your name?” in English! It was incredible. He actually was very good at English, but preferred not to speak it. I mostly hung out with the little girl, who didn’t want to speak at all, but we drew pictures together and told each other the names of what we drew in English and Italian.
Later that afternoon, Rosario and Zuzu drove me back to the train station, said their goodbyes, and put me on the train back towards Naples. On the ride back, I sat with a couple from London that was visiting Naples for the week (because Britain only has 3 work days out of 10 consecutive days due to Easter and the Royal Wedding- they gave me the statistic of how many people left London for the week…it was impressive, but I can’t remember how many it was) and we talked the whole way about where they had been in Naples and what I had done since coming to Europe. I also gave them suggestions about what they should still see in Naples. (Look at me! The local, giving advice!)
I was happy to get back to Naples, but I very much enjoyed my weekend. You couldn’t escape the smell of fresh flowers anywhere along the coast, and it was too beautiful to be true. I don’t even want to go to Palma Majorca next weekend- now that I know that such a place as the Amalfi coast exists, I only want to go back there (poor Odysseus, I feel you).
When I returned, Elisabetta, Pia, Irene, and I had dinner in the family room, watching a famous Italian TV program (which I found very cheesy, but they seemed to like), and I went to bed early.
I’m not really sure what I did today- it was very relaxing. We were supposed to go to a barbeque for Easter up in Vomero today, but Elisabetta wasn’t feeling very well, so we stayed in, which was fine with me. After lunch, I watched The Passion, which was more intense than I remembered, and it and it’s after affects took up my afternoon. Then, I spent some time emailing, facebooking, skyping, etc.; I ate dinner; and here we are. I actually will do my homework tomorrow, at least some of it, I promise. There, now that I’ve promised it, I have to. Bleehhh. I was supposed to go to Positano tomorrow with my Belgian friend, but she hasn’t been feeling well and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so I guess the coast and I will just have to be reunited a different time.
Mmkay, well, that is all. I’m not sure how interesting my next few days will be, so I’m not making any promises about an imminent post.
Bye!
Okay, so, I went home with Enza (aka Zuzu…my roommate). It was excellent. It’s not very often in a lifetime that you get to go to the home of a local in a different culture for a weekend- but if you ever get the chance, it’s one of the coolest weekends you’ll ever have. You don’t have to worry about where or how to get food, but you’re guaranteed excellent meals. You don’t have to worry about where to go or what to see, but you’re guaranteed to see new things- and not the tourist things. You get to see how similar and how differently people across the world live. It was fantastic.
Enza lives in a small town not far from the Amalfi coast (in the shadow of Vesuvius). We were picked up from the train station by her brother, who also studies in Naples but was also home for Easter, for the first of many exciting car rides. (I still can’t believe how people can stand driving over here. As a passenger, not having to worry about my car and not being afraid of a quick death, the car rides are exciting and for the most part enjoyable, but you could not pay me 100 euro to drive here.)
Our first stop was at their family shop so I could be introduced to their mom, then I got to see most of their town by running errands- it was nice. They knew every other person we passed on the street or in a car, and each was greeted with a little honk (Italians are not in the least bit shy of using their car horns). That night, we had one of my favorite meals that I’ve had over here so far- it was simply fresh ricotta (completely different from ricotta in the states), spread on fresh bread, with a side of fresh, diced, salted, and oiled tomatoes, and fresh hunks of mozzarella (their mozzarella is from buffalo’s milk instead of cow’s, and it approximately one million times better). It was a very fresh meal. Zuzu also fried some potatoes and onions, which were very good. For dessert, I had my first piece of Pastiera (a cake made with oats, which reminded me of pumpkin pie, that is a cake that every Italian home must have during the Easter weekend so that they can force visitors to eat it when they stop by- consumption is willingly done so..it was excellent), with many pieces to follow throughout the weekend.
After dinner, I fell asleep on the couch (jealous Dan?), and Zuzu woke me up and made me go to bed. In the morning, we got up early, had breakfast, and hurried to the train station to pick up Zuzu’s and Ludovica’s boyfriends, and met up with Mariangela (another girl I live with) and her boyfriend. Then we embarked on another exciting car ride to Ravello- a town on the Amalfi Coast, where Ludovica (and another girl I live with) lives and where her parents own a hotel. (This car ride was even more exciting due to the hairpin turns and dangerously thin roads lined with a mountain wall on one side and a drop-off on the other, getting thinner and thinner as you get higher into the mountains. It was beautiful- as long as I focused on the view and not my stomach).
We met up with Ludo in Ravello and walked around the extremely beautiful city with the most incredible view I’ve ever seen (I can’t believe people actually live there!!!!). We went to the Gardens of Villa Cimbrone (gardens of a villa that have been turned into a tourist attraction with an incredible look-out point, tons and tons and tons of beautiful flowers, many statues, and lots of cool little things to see- it was amazing). Ludo knew the owners so we got in for half price. Afterwards, we went to Villa Amore to eat lunch, where Ludo also knew the owners, but I’m not exactly sure what that got us. This lunch was honestly unforgettable. The weather was beautiful (72 degrees and sunny); we sat on a terrace at an elegantly set table, shaded by vines with flowers blossoming on them, high up on a cliff, with a breeze off the sea and a fantastic view of the ocean, surrounded by cool Italian buildings, drinking wine and eating: 1st course- heaping (which is an understatement) plates of homemade pasta noodles in a light marinara sauce with fresh clams and mussels (still in shell). Main- a huge platter of fried, various sea foods- calamari, jumbo shrimp, octopus, alice(little fish), etc. Afterwards, I had my first taste of limoncello (alcohol made with lemons, which the area is famous for), which I did not like (tasted like a mix between Pine Sol and vodka).
After we parted ways with the terrace, we walked around Ravello more (I was not the only tourist in the group! Even though all of the people I was there with live only a dozen miles away, they had only been up that way either a couple times or zero times…the roads to Amalfi aren’t things you want to use often. So they were all taking pictures and gawking at the views as well.) Ludo showed us the great ceramics shops that the area is known for, as well as all the spots where the teenagers go to kiss…
After Ravello, we hopped back in the cars and drove to Amalfi, where we didn’t spend much time. We climbed the 80 steep steps to the church where the Apostle Andrew is buried, but we didn’t want to pay to get into the church, so we climbed back down the steps, took a short walk, then left Amalfi because we had plans to go to the next small town for the famous cake shop- Sal de Riso. It was superb. I got Torta Foresta Nera (black forest cake) with lots of chocolate and some cherries.
After our cake and a round of coffees, we headed back. We had some difficulties getting back to the train station because the soccer team of Enza’s town had won their match that afternoon, which meant that they got to move up from the C division to the B division, and there was a ridiculous amount of celebrating in the streets, making it hard to drive anywhere. We got caught at the border of the town, where the road at been blocked off for all of the celebrating, which had to take place at the border of the town so that it could be shoved in the faces of the neighboring town, who are not the biggest fans of Enza’s town. We saw some very angry people on our side (the neighboring town), and it looked like there was going to be a Green Street Hooligans throw down, which is too common. I asked Enza’s brother if he would be out there celebrating if he didn’t have to chauffer us around, and he told me that he doesn’t even like soccer any more because of how dangerous it has gotten to be a fan.
When we finally got through to the train station, we dropped the boyfriends off, stopped at a friend’s house (with more pasteria), and headed back to the house. That night we had a big dinner with steak, artichokes (Mom, she taught me how to eat artichokes!), and pizza pasta (no joke, Dan! It’s really called pizza pasta! Completely different from yours, though- this is a huge hunk of pasta (spaghetti, also with some small hunks of meat), that has been coated with eggs and fried in a pan).
After dinner, we watched a movie about the previous pope- Pope Karol, which was very interesting, and I’m sure would have been even more interesting had I watched it in English. This was Enza’s favorite pope- she said he was “the pope of the people.”
I got to sleep in the next morning. When I woke up, I showered, ate breakfast, and read the Great Gatsby while I waited for the others. Rosario dropped Zuzu and I off at church, where we had to stand in the back for the whole service because everyone in the town was there, and there were only seats for about half of the people. During the service, I accidently and illegally took communion. I asked Zuzu if I cross my arms in front of my chest when I go up so he knows that I’m not Catholic and she told me no, I just need to say “Amen” when I’m up. As I was saying “A-” he stuck the cracker in my mouth… oops.
After church, we proceeded to stop at every home in the town to wish everyone “Auguri” (an expression for all special occasions) and “Happy Easter.” (Stopping at every house is an exaggeration, but we spent at least 2 hours making visits- which is really cool and something that we miss out on in America by having personal space between houses… I was really glad I got to experience that.) We also stopped at the cemetery to pay our respects to Zuzu’s father, who died of cancer last year, and to some grandparents and friends.
Following the visits was another car ride to the other side of the Amalfi coast where Zuzu’s aunt lives in beautiful home, high up on one of the Amalfi coast cliffs. Directly below the wall of windows in the living room and dining room is their own personal beach, with perfect, turquoise water. They had one of the most beautiful views that I’ve seen yet; I couldn’t believe it. There we ate a never-ending Easter meal of 1st- homemade pasta in marinara, 2nd- hunks of beef and a platter of breaded and fried eggplant, Main- lamb, 1st dessert- the giant chocolate eggs that are everywhere here for Easter (we had 8 eggs, each at least as big as my head, with only 8 people and 2 halves to eat them…one of the halves took care of several people’s shares, however), 2nd dessert- bowl of fruit, 3rd dessert- sliced strawberries in a glass with whipped cream, 4th dessert- 2 types of pastiera, 1 thicker with some dried fruit in it, the other typical, with a woven crust on top. All followed by coffee, and later some liquor that I didn’t try off of Zuzu’s suggestion since I didn’t like the limoncello.
While all the grown-ups did their talking about all the problems of Italy, I very happily played with the cheap little toys that came in the giant, hollow, chocolate eggs with Zuzu’s cousin’s children (boy-6, girl-4). In fact, I spent most of the day with them. As soon as I walked in and was introduced, Zuzu’s cousin told his kids that I only speak English, and immediately the little boy said to me- “Hello. What is your name?” in English! It was incredible. He actually was very good at English, but preferred not to speak it. I mostly hung out with the little girl, who didn’t want to speak at all, but we drew pictures together and told each other the names of what we drew in English and Italian.
Later that afternoon, Rosario and Zuzu drove me back to the train station, said their goodbyes, and put me on the train back towards Naples. On the ride back, I sat with a couple from London that was visiting Naples for the week (because Britain only has 3 work days out of 10 consecutive days due to Easter and the Royal Wedding- they gave me the statistic of how many people left London for the week…it was impressive, but I can’t remember how many it was) and we talked the whole way about where they had been in Naples and what I had done since coming to Europe. I also gave them suggestions about what they should still see in Naples. (Look at me! The local, giving advice!)
I was happy to get back to Naples, but I very much enjoyed my weekend. You couldn’t escape the smell of fresh flowers anywhere along the coast, and it was too beautiful to be true. I don’t even want to go to Palma Majorca next weekend- now that I know that such a place as the Amalfi coast exists, I only want to go back there (poor Odysseus, I feel you).
When I returned, Elisabetta, Pia, Irene, and I had dinner in the family room, watching a famous Italian TV program (which I found very cheesy, but they seemed to like), and I went to bed early.
I’m not really sure what I did today- it was very relaxing. We were supposed to go to a barbeque for Easter up in Vomero today, but Elisabetta wasn’t feeling very well, so we stayed in, which was fine with me. After lunch, I watched The Passion, which was more intense than I remembered, and it and it’s after affects took up my afternoon. Then, I spent some time emailing, facebooking, skyping, etc.; I ate dinner; and here we are. I actually will do my homework tomorrow, at least some of it, I promise. There, now that I’ve promised it, I have to. Bleehhh. I was supposed to go to Positano tomorrow with my Belgian friend, but she hasn’t been feeling well and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so I guess the coast and I will just have to be reunited a different time.
Mmkay, well, that is all. I’m not sure how interesting my next few days will be, so I’m not making any promises about an imminent post.
Bye!
venerdì 22 aprile 2011
Cavalli, Spiagge, Holy Week!
My Italian class today was frustrating. I have no idea what the teacher is saying when she tries to explain things. We got a page of verbs to conjugate, and that I could actually do…but as she was going around the class having everyone read what they wrote, she would skip me because she knows I don’t know what’s going on, but I actually had the answers to the questions that she skipped me on! And of course, the one question she finally does ask me is one that I have wrong.
After class I stopped at a trattoria down the street and got a panino. It was sooooo good. Huge hunks of homemade mozzarella on a giant slice of homemade bread. For dessert I had some of the sweet bread that was set out for snack. A vegetarian would do very well here- with all of the great breads and pastas and fruits and vegetables (they’d be missing out on some great meats as well, but I suppose they wouldn’t know the difference). People who would not do well here are those allergic to gluten and dairy (sorry Liz :/)
I have a confession. I’ve started reading The Two Towers… It’s the only book in the Villalta’s library that is in English. I knew Dan would be proud, though. After reading some Tolkien instead of doing homework, I went up to the roof for awhile to real some Paul, and it was beautiful.
Wednesday dinner was excellent- we had several types of sandwiches: on “French” bread with either lettuce, swiss, and a type of smoked prosciutto (which I actually don’t really like) or lettuce, swiss, and hotdogs that had been sliced down the middle. Also, there were giant, breaded and fried balls of rice with what was either sausage or chicken…but very good. There was also some country friend steak, as well as the usuals of salad and potato chips. Dessert was cups of fruit with apples, kiwi, and banana in sweet orange juice. Also, as a post-dessert dessert, we had a fancy, enormous slab of dark chocolate with nuts. The movie was Kung Fu Panda and I loved it just as much in Italian as I do in English- and I actually finally learned a little Italian from it I think!
........................................................................................
The next day…
Now I’ve had a very satisfying day and have a very sore bottom. There is much to tell..
This morning I finally met up with Karen (from my church) in Pozzuoli. I piled into her car with 3 of her kids (I’m not sure how many she has- I know it’s at least 4) and she drove me out to the stables where she keeps her horses. The stables were very cute. They had their own section to themselves, which she took over 2 years ago from the trainer that her kids were taking lessons from when the trainer went back to England. There are stalls for all of the horses, but they stay most of the year in their little paddocks that go up a hill into the woods. I was introduced to all the horses and they were all very nice (Tory- I don’t know if you read this, but for your sake- they were some of the nicest horses I have ever met…). One of my favorites was a little pony mare, about 9 hands?, named Fragallina, who just get’s to wander around the stable at her own will. Karen’s kids went off to paint some fences while they waited for their jumping lesson later, and Karen and I saddled up and went for a trail ride. I rode Ziggy, a pony with a strong resemblance to Pegasus- extremely white and beautiful and very full of energy. I thought I would look ridiculous on him, but he seems very big for his size (he’s right on the edge of being a horse). He’s very stubborn (and loves to head-butt you), and next time I ride him I will have to take a crop- he had his fair share of control on that ride; luckily he only used to it snag a couple of bites of trees here and there and to take off at a gallop every now and then when he knew it was safe to… haha.
The trail was crazy- it was small and overgrown and it winded up and down steep hills through the woods. Good thing Ziggy knew where he was going, because I had to lead since Karen’s horse kicks if anyone gets behind him. It was beautiful, though. At one part of the trail, there was a cool stone wall that ran next to the path. A little further down, I saw on the other side of the wall was a huuuuge crater with plenty of plants, trees, grass- you get the idea. Karen told me that one of the Kings of Naples would bring tigers, lions, giraffes, elephants, etc. and put them in that crater so that he could hunt them, as if on a safari, without leaving Naples. Pretty crazy. However many hundreds of years later, there were many holes in the wall, and I couldn’t help but wonder if there were any tiger families living in secret in the woods that we were riding through..
It was shortly after this that there was a spot in the trail that didn’t have an sharp turns or steep hills (but it was not at all flat or open, and the path was scarily thin), that apparently they usually let Ziggy speed up on, and he took off at a gallop. They ride a very tight-reined English and Ziggy by no means has a soft mouth (I wondered if he could even feel my yanking at all), so there was nothing I could do but let him go, keep my heels down, and try to anticipate the turns so I didn’t fall off. I had never actually gone above a walk on a trail ride, so it was quite a new experience for me, and it was a lot of fun.
Eventually I got Ziggy to slow down, and we cooly emerged from the woods (as if we had never been in an uncontrolled, head-long gallop at all), and there was a huge meadow at the top of the mountain we had just climbed, with a view of fields, villages, villas, and the ocean. It was gorgeous. We let the horses graze for a while before moving on back down the mountain towards the stables. Ziggy was much calmer with a belly full of grass and I didn’t have to be in a constant fight to keep him at a walk and to keep his head from the vegetation.
When we got back, we untacked and then I got a chance to ride Hollywood. He is not at all a pony. He’s around 17 hands, a bay with great muscle tone, and he used to be quite the jumper in his day (like 1 and a half meter jumps?!?!). He was owned by an extremely rich family in Sorrento and was imported from France. You can tell he used to be worth quite a few euro. They worked him really hard, though, and you can see the affects on his gate- it’s a little bit choppy now. He was retired young- only 14 (he’s now 22)- and Karen pulled him out of retirement a couple years ago for mostly arena work (he’s a little too much horse to take on trails- if he takes off like Ziggy did and you fall off, it’s not going to be pretty). He was trained in dressage and is very responsive to leg cues, and he does not have the tough mouth that Ziggy has, so no yanking is necessary (although he does get extremely distracted while you’re working him…they suggest riding him with spurs to remind him that he’s in the arena). The problem with Hollywood, and the reason I love him, is that he’s very smart. You can tell when you look his eyes that he’s smart, which makes him beautiful, but a very bad horse, haha. He’s always pushing buttons and seeing how much he can get away with. I hope that he and I get along.
Although I was frightened most of the time, it was good to be riding again. (Karen said that I was a good rider because I’m not afraid …ha!) My balance needs a little improvement and I need to get used to these horses (and my bottom needs to get used to the saddle! ye gads), but I liked it at the stables- it was nice to not only be speaking English, but speaking horse (with Karen, not the horses- I’m not that good. I’m no Monty Roberts). They are going out of town to their house in the mountains for Easter, but I am meeting up with them when they get back on Wednesday to go back out.
Afterwards, I had to rush back to the Villalta because I had plans to go to the beach with my Belgian friend! I got back, changed real fast, and ate lunch real fast (but not as fast as I needed to- there were some high school girls visiting the Villalta to see if they wanted to live there next year, and I talked to them for too long and I was late meeting Erika). Lunch was excellent, even though I was eating it as cold left-over’s since I was late getting back from the stables. 1st- Gnocchi di patate in tomato sauce, and small slices of bread with either tuna spread on them or “pink sauce” with toothpicks stuck in the middle. Main- slices of beef and roasted peppers and eggplant. Dessert- a giant slice of cake that was ice cream, whipped cream, and shavings of dark chocolate.
The beach was gorgeous- not at all crowded since the Italians still think its winter, with nice sand and huge, beautiful cliffs on either side of it. The water felt good, but was a little cold, and we didn’t bother with swimming. We layed on the beach and talked, and it was a very nice afternoon.
When I got back from the beach, no one was at the Villalta because they were at church for the Maundy Thursday service and I couldn’t get in, so I walked down the street to the bookstore-Feltrinelli. I love that store. I could stay there all day. I bought the Italian version of Good Wives for Elisabetta (the book that she read to me to practice her English on our way to England) so she could actually enjoy the book and know what she was reading, and as a sort of good-luck-with-your-operation present (it turns out that Elisabetta has cancer. The good news is that it was caught early and can all be removed- they are operating this weekend, so please be praying). I also bought The Great Gatsby for myself, because I just can’t help myself when I’m in a bookstore, and it was only 3 euro!
When I got back, Elisabetta was not feeling well and she asked me to prepare dinner (the cooks had cooked everything ready, I just needed to heat up what needed to be heated up- but it sounds fancier saying that I prepared dinner..) Anyway, the dinner I prepared was excellent: One course- a big platter with tuna in middle and with rays of fresh tomatoes, of hardboiled eggs, and of green beans beaming out. There was also a big plate of sandwiches on fococcia bread baked with tomatoes on top, filled with swiss, spinach, ham, prosciutto, and cooked peppers, surround on the platter by spears of hunks of swiss and the left over country fried steak. I think there was more food, but I was too preoccupied with the above mentioned. Dessert was cups of sliced pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, and apple in juice.
After dinner, some of us went out to pray and stay awake (because the apostles couldn’t!), and I’m really glad I went because it turned out to be a tour of the churches near us. It was incredible. The night was full of incense, ornate alters, vaulted ceilings, painted domes, intricate carvings, gold, artwork, beautiful, fresh flowers, etc., all in the light of tons and tons of candles. We went to 5 churches, and we were never at any of them long enough for me to be able to pull out my Bible, because in the ten minutes that we were there, I was so caught up at looking at the church itself. It’s common in the south of Italy to go to several churches on the Thursday night of Holy Week, stopping to pray for a little time at each, while the story of the last supper and the visit to the garden are being read at each. On this tour of churches, I learned about the rosary and was invited to the home of one of the girls sometime- she lives where The Passion was filmed! And she met Mel! And she saw some of the filming of the movie! She said there are a lot of cool caves to see.. I’m pretty excited.
Now, I am exhausted. And it hurts to sit after my rough ride through the woods today (apparently I need more cushion on my rear… I don’t know how all this pasta hasn’t given me all I need and more).
Tomorrow at noon, I will go to my church’s good Friday service. Before then, I need to do some homework. After church is lunch, and after lunch, I leave for Enza’s! I don’t know what to pack, but I’m used to being the fashion sore thumb by now.. no big. I won’t be able to write for several days, but when I do, I will be able to tell you how the Italians celebrate Easter, and hopefully I will be able to tell about Amalfi! (We are supposed to be going to the coast this Saturday!)
Okay, Ciao!!!
After class I stopped at a trattoria down the street and got a panino. It was sooooo good. Huge hunks of homemade mozzarella on a giant slice of homemade bread. For dessert I had some of the sweet bread that was set out for snack. A vegetarian would do very well here- with all of the great breads and pastas and fruits and vegetables (they’d be missing out on some great meats as well, but I suppose they wouldn’t know the difference). People who would not do well here are those allergic to gluten and dairy (sorry Liz :/)
I have a confession. I’ve started reading The Two Towers… It’s the only book in the Villalta’s library that is in English. I knew Dan would be proud, though. After reading some Tolkien instead of doing homework, I went up to the roof for awhile to real some Paul, and it was beautiful.
Wednesday dinner was excellent- we had several types of sandwiches: on “French” bread with either lettuce, swiss, and a type of smoked prosciutto (which I actually don’t really like) or lettuce, swiss, and hotdogs that had been sliced down the middle. Also, there were giant, breaded and fried balls of rice with what was either sausage or chicken…but very good. There was also some country friend steak, as well as the usuals of salad and potato chips. Dessert was cups of fruit with apples, kiwi, and banana in sweet orange juice. Also, as a post-dessert dessert, we had a fancy, enormous slab of dark chocolate with nuts. The movie was Kung Fu Panda and I loved it just as much in Italian as I do in English- and I actually finally learned a little Italian from it I think!
........................................................................................
The next day…
Now I’ve had a very satisfying day and have a very sore bottom. There is much to tell..
This morning I finally met up with Karen (from my church) in Pozzuoli. I piled into her car with 3 of her kids (I’m not sure how many she has- I know it’s at least 4) and she drove me out to the stables where she keeps her horses. The stables were very cute. They had their own section to themselves, which she took over 2 years ago from the trainer that her kids were taking lessons from when the trainer went back to England. There are stalls for all of the horses, but they stay most of the year in their little paddocks that go up a hill into the woods. I was introduced to all the horses and they were all very nice (Tory- I don’t know if you read this, but for your sake- they were some of the nicest horses I have ever met…). One of my favorites was a little pony mare, about 9 hands?, named Fragallina, who just get’s to wander around the stable at her own will. Karen’s kids went off to paint some fences while they waited for their jumping lesson later, and Karen and I saddled up and went for a trail ride. I rode Ziggy, a pony with a strong resemblance to Pegasus- extremely white and beautiful and very full of energy. I thought I would look ridiculous on him, but he seems very big for his size (he’s right on the edge of being a horse). He’s very stubborn (and loves to head-butt you), and next time I ride him I will have to take a crop- he had his fair share of control on that ride; luckily he only used to it snag a couple of bites of trees here and there and to take off at a gallop every now and then when he knew it was safe to… haha.
The trail was crazy- it was small and overgrown and it winded up and down steep hills through the woods. Good thing Ziggy knew where he was going, because I had to lead since Karen’s horse kicks if anyone gets behind him. It was beautiful, though. At one part of the trail, there was a cool stone wall that ran next to the path. A little further down, I saw on the other side of the wall was a huuuuge crater with plenty of plants, trees, grass- you get the idea. Karen told me that one of the Kings of Naples would bring tigers, lions, giraffes, elephants, etc. and put them in that crater so that he could hunt them, as if on a safari, without leaving Naples. Pretty crazy. However many hundreds of years later, there were many holes in the wall, and I couldn’t help but wonder if there were any tiger families living in secret in the woods that we were riding through..
It was shortly after this that there was a spot in the trail that didn’t have an sharp turns or steep hills (but it was not at all flat or open, and the path was scarily thin), that apparently they usually let Ziggy speed up on, and he took off at a gallop. They ride a very tight-reined English and Ziggy by no means has a soft mouth (I wondered if he could even feel my yanking at all), so there was nothing I could do but let him go, keep my heels down, and try to anticipate the turns so I didn’t fall off. I had never actually gone above a walk on a trail ride, so it was quite a new experience for me, and it was a lot of fun.
Eventually I got Ziggy to slow down, and we cooly emerged from the woods (as if we had never been in an uncontrolled, head-long gallop at all), and there was a huge meadow at the top of the mountain we had just climbed, with a view of fields, villages, villas, and the ocean. It was gorgeous. We let the horses graze for a while before moving on back down the mountain towards the stables. Ziggy was much calmer with a belly full of grass and I didn’t have to be in a constant fight to keep him at a walk and to keep his head from the vegetation.
When we got back, we untacked and then I got a chance to ride Hollywood. He is not at all a pony. He’s around 17 hands, a bay with great muscle tone, and he used to be quite the jumper in his day (like 1 and a half meter jumps?!?!). He was owned by an extremely rich family in Sorrento and was imported from France. You can tell he used to be worth quite a few euro. They worked him really hard, though, and you can see the affects on his gate- it’s a little bit choppy now. He was retired young- only 14 (he’s now 22)- and Karen pulled him out of retirement a couple years ago for mostly arena work (he’s a little too much horse to take on trails- if he takes off like Ziggy did and you fall off, it’s not going to be pretty). He was trained in dressage and is very responsive to leg cues, and he does not have the tough mouth that Ziggy has, so no yanking is necessary (although he does get extremely distracted while you’re working him…they suggest riding him with spurs to remind him that he’s in the arena). The problem with Hollywood, and the reason I love him, is that he’s very smart. You can tell when you look his eyes that he’s smart, which makes him beautiful, but a very bad horse, haha. He’s always pushing buttons and seeing how much he can get away with. I hope that he and I get along.
Although I was frightened most of the time, it was good to be riding again. (Karen said that I was a good rider because I’m not afraid …ha!) My balance needs a little improvement and I need to get used to these horses (and my bottom needs to get used to the saddle! ye gads), but I liked it at the stables- it was nice to not only be speaking English, but speaking horse (with Karen, not the horses- I’m not that good. I’m no Monty Roberts). They are going out of town to their house in the mountains for Easter, but I am meeting up with them when they get back on Wednesday to go back out.
Afterwards, I had to rush back to the Villalta because I had plans to go to the beach with my Belgian friend! I got back, changed real fast, and ate lunch real fast (but not as fast as I needed to- there were some high school girls visiting the Villalta to see if they wanted to live there next year, and I talked to them for too long and I was late meeting Erika). Lunch was excellent, even though I was eating it as cold left-over’s since I was late getting back from the stables. 1st- Gnocchi di patate in tomato sauce, and small slices of bread with either tuna spread on them or “pink sauce” with toothpicks stuck in the middle. Main- slices of beef and roasted peppers and eggplant. Dessert- a giant slice of cake that was ice cream, whipped cream, and shavings of dark chocolate.
The beach was gorgeous- not at all crowded since the Italians still think its winter, with nice sand and huge, beautiful cliffs on either side of it. The water felt good, but was a little cold, and we didn’t bother with swimming. We layed on the beach and talked, and it was a very nice afternoon.
When I got back from the beach, no one was at the Villalta because they were at church for the Maundy Thursday service and I couldn’t get in, so I walked down the street to the bookstore-Feltrinelli. I love that store. I could stay there all day. I bought the Italian version of Good Wives for Elisabetta (the book that she read to me to practice her English on our way to England) so she could actually enjoy the book and know what she was reading, and as a sort of good-luck-with-your-operation present (it turns out that Elisabetta has cancer. The good news is that it was caught early and can all be removed- they are operating this weekend, so please be praying). I also bought The Great Gatsby for myself, because I just can’t help myself when I’m in a bookstore, and it was only 3 euro!
When I got back, Elisabetta was not feeling well and she asked me to prepare dinner (the cooks had cooked everything ready, I just needed to heat up what needed to be heated up- but it sounds fancier saying that I prepared dinner..) Anyway, the dinner I prepared was excellent: One course- a big platter with tuna in middle and with rays of fresh tomatoes, of hardboiled eggs, and of green beans beaming out. There was also a big plate of sandwiches on fococcia bread baked with tomatoes on top, filled with swiss, spinach, ham, prosciutto, and cooked peppers, surround on the platter by spears of hunks of swiss and the left over country fried steak. I think there was more food, but I was too preoccupied with the above mentioned. Dessert was cups of sliced pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, and apple in juice.
After dinner, some of us went out to pray and stay awake (because the apostles couldn’t!), and I’m really glad I went because it turned out to be a tour of the churches near us. It was incredible. The night was full of incense, ornate alters, vaulted ceilings, painted domes, intricate carvings, gold, artwork, beautiful, fresh flowers, etc., all in the light of tons and tons of candles. We went to 5 churches, and we were never at any of them long enough for me to be able to pull out my Bible, because in the ten minutes that we were there, I was so caught up at looking at the church itself. It’s common in the south of Italy to go to several churches on the Thursday night of Holy Week, stopping to pray for a little time at each, while the story of the last supper and the visit to the garden are being read at each. On this tour of churches, I learned about the rosary and was invited to the home of one of the girls sometime- she lives where The Passion was filmed! And she met Mel! And she saw some of the filming of the movie! She said there are a lot of cool caves to see.. I’m pretty excited.
Now, I am exhausted. And it hurts to sit after my rough ride through the woods today (apparently I need more cushion on my rear… I don’t know how all this pasta hasn’t given me all I need and more).
Tomorrow at noon, I will go to my church’s good Friday service. Before then, I need to do some homework. After church is lunch, and after lunch, I leave for Enza’s! I don’t know what to pack, but I’m used to being the fashion sore thumb by now.. no big. I won’t be able to write for several days, but when I do, I will be able to tell you how the Italians celebrate Easter, and hopefully I will be able to tell about Amalfi! (We are supposed to be going to the coast this Saturday!)
Okay, Ciao!!!
mercoledì 20 aprile 2011
Sirens
Yesterday was good. Again, I liked my MS (metallic structures) class a lot. We did part 2 of the extraordinary examples- this one was all bridges. My favorite topic of the day was the proposed plans for the Messina/Sicily bridge. The design that has been officially accepted is for, by far, the longest suspension bridge in the world (and is debatably extremely unsafe because its slenderness ratio is off the charts). Because of the incredibly controversial design of this bid (chosen by Italy’s Prime Minster for the purpose of putting his name in the record books), no contractors have accepted the project, and a bridge from Italy’s mainland and Sicily will probably never be built (until the next administration passes though, perhaps). A different proposal for the bridge was also very interesting- an underwater, buoyancy-supported bridge. He will be picking up with that topic in the next lecture, but I won’t be there because I have a plane ticket to Palma! (But I’m going to be the nerdy kid in class that reviews the slides I missed and goes in to discuss them with the Professor).
Following class, I had not the greatest lunch that I’ve had since I’ve been here… I ordered a hamburger and patatine (french fries- well, Belgian fries… I learned my lesson for calling them french fries in front of my Belgian friends. Apparently fries come from Belgium, not France) panino, which is a sandwich with hamburger and fries in it, because I was curious. The hamburger was rubbery, tasteless, and gray and the fries were cold. The bread that it came on and the cheese inside of it were excellent, however. Also, I’m pretty certain that I was charged an extra euro for being an American, but what’re you gonna do?
I got back, sent some emails that I needed to send, and started to do my homework before I was distracted by an invite from my Belgian friend to go to Positano on Tuesday since we don’t have class- which caused me to google Positano- which caused me to get caught up in looking at websites about the Amalfi coast for hours and hours. Once you start looking at those pictures, you absolutely cannot stop (fitting- it is where the Sirens from the Odyssey were found…) Then I thought it was only fair to spend several hours researching what there is to do in Sicily, and I found a cool website of an organization devoted to helping tourists get the most out of their visit to Sicily- I emailed them my interests and my budget, and I hope they are able to help me out! I don’t have any idea what I should plan for our 3 days there.
Tuesday Dinner-
1st- an extremely orange carrot soup (no hunks of carrots, just orange liquid)- looked strange but tasted good. There were also dishes of very green tortellini and what looked like a baked pasta dish of penne, cheese, and tomatoes- neither of these dishes made it my way, unfortunately
Main- a dish of baked slices of seasoned zucchini, surrounded by sections of rolled meat, cheese, and dough that had been basted with egg (I think? It was spongy and tasted a little like French toast) and baked. There were also huge, thin slices of what looked like pork and some chicken legs- never made it my way either.
After dinner, I allowed myself to be distracted by the sirens for a short time longer, got to skype Dan for a bit, read for a bit, then went to sleep.
When I woke up this morning, Dan was still on skype! So we chatted for awhile, but it was very frustrating because I kept having to move rooms to get out of the way of the maids. But it was good because we won’t be able to skype for about a week since he has a ton of stuff to finish before the weekend, and I will be out of town this weekend!
Zuzu (my roommate) felt sorry for me being at the Villalta all alone while everyone else goes home for Easter break, so she invited me to her house for Easter! (Honestly, I was looking forward to being here without everyone for a little while- I could use the TV to watch movies in English, not worry about being in anyone’s way, not have to try to speak Italian for a whole week, etc.) But I am excited to see an Italian home and see how the Italian Catholics celebrate Easter. Also, she is taking me to the Amalfi coast on Saturday since she lives very close! I am going to come back on Monday, however, because I have plans with my Belgian friend to make a giant American/Belgian brunch with pancakes, crepes, eggs, bacon, etc. Also, hopefully I will be doing some riding (Karen’s horses) next week! Also, I really need to crack down on my schoolwork and research, and that’s easiest when I don’t have boisterous, Italian conversations going on around me. Also, I have my trip to Positano on Tuesday! Also, I don’t want to be in the way- I want to give Zuzu’s family a little time with her. Also, ..... I get the mansion to myself ;)
Okay, time to be productive. Another liter of coffee for breakfast should help with that. KBye!!
Following class, I had not the greatest lunch that I’ve had since I’ve been here… I ordered a hamburger and patatine (french fries- well, Belgian fries… I learned my lesson for calling them french fries in front of my Belgian friends. Apparently fries come from Belgium, not France) panino, which is a sandwich with hamburger and fries in it, because I was curious. The hamburger was rubbery, tasteless, and gray and the fries were cold. The bread that it came on and the cheese inside of it were excellent, however. Also, I’m pretty certain that I was charged an extra euro for being an American, but what’re you gonna do?
I got back, sent some emails that I needed to send, and started to do my homework before I was distracted by an invite from my Belgian friend to go to Positano on Tuesday since we don’t have class- which caused me to google Positano- which caused me to get caught up in looking at websites about the Amalfi coast for hours and hours. Once you start looking at those pictures, you absolutely cannot stop (fitting- it is where the Sirens from the Odyssey were found…) Then I thought it was only fair to spend several hours researching what there is to do in Sicily, and I found a cool website of an organization devoted to helping tourists get the most out of their visit to Sicily- I emailed them my interests and my budget, and I hope they are able to help me out! I don’t have any idea what I should plan for our 3 days there.
Tuesday Dinner-
1st- an extremely orange carrot soup (no hunks of carrots, just orange liquid)- looked strange but tasted good. There were also dishes of very green tortellini and what looked like a baked pasta dish of penne, cheese, and tomatoes- neither of these dishes made it my way, unfortunately
Main- a dish of baked slices of seasoned zucchini, surrounded by sections of rolled meat, cheese, and dough that had been basted with egg (I think? It was spongy and tasted a little like French toast) and baked. There were also huge, thin slices of what looked like pork and some chicken legs- never made it my way either.
After dinner, I allowed myself to be distracted by the sirens for a short time longer, got to skype Dan for a bit, read for a bit, then went to sleep.
When I woke up this morning, Dan was still on skype! So we chatted for awhile, but it was very frustrating because I kept having to move rooms to get out of the way of the maids. But it was good because we won’t be able to skype for about a week since he has a ton of stuff to finish before the weekend, and I will be out of town this weekend!
Zuzu (my roommate) felt sorry for me being at the Villalta all alone while everyone else goes home for Easter break, so she invited me to her house for Easter! (Honestly, I was looking forward to being here without everyone for a little while- I could use the TV to watch movies in English, not worry about being in anyone’s way, not have to try to speak Italian for a whole week, etc.) But I am excited to see an Italian home and see how the Italian Catholics celebrate Easter. Also, she is taking me to the Amalfi coast on Saturday since she lives very close! I am going to come back on Monday, however, because I have plans with my Belgian friend to make a giant American/Belgian brunch with pancakes, crepes, eggs, bacon, etc. Also, hopefully I will be doing some riding (Karen’s horses) next week! Also, I really need to crack down on my schoolwork and research, and that’s easiest when I don’t have boisterous, Italian conversations going on around me. Also, I have my trip to Positano on Tuesday! Also, I don’t want to be in the way- I want to give Zuzu’s family a little time with her. Also, ..... I get the mansion to myself ;)
Okay, time to be productive. Another liter of coffee for breakfast should help with that. KBye!!
martedì 19 aprile 2011
Breve e Dolce
Yesterday, I gave up café e dolci (coffee and sweets). I am very happy to have them back today! Well, I’m giving myself the coffee back, but I may keep the embargo of sweets active- they are just way too plentiful in Naples, and I am too much like the kids in Jimmy Neutron (when they didn’t have parents anymore to force them to make good decisions, they ate and ate sweets until they were all sick). I’m still remembering a couple of days ago when I ate sweets on 7 occasions throughout the day, and I’m not remembering them as being as appealing as I’m sure they had been at the time..
The rest of the day wasn’t anything exciting (except for the phone call I made to Karen from church… I will be meeting her in Pozzuoli on Thursday to ride :) ); up for breakfast (w/ no coffee or any of the left over baba)…although rum-soaked bread in the morning doesn’t sounds particularly tempting..), to campus for my foundations class (I was having a hard time focusing without my coffee), a quick lunch from carpe diem (a giant hunk of bread rolled and baked around slices of ham, salami, and cheese), and to the other campus for my Italian course (I definitely didn’t focus in this one- I also considered leaving halfway through because I was afraid I would fall asleep, but I popped a piece of gum in to keep me awake and stuck it out). After class, I was complimented by one of the other students on how well I speak English… yessssssss!
Following class was a lazy afternoon- I finalized and posted yesterday’s blog, showered, watched half of a movie, and skyped Dan for a bit. Dinner was very excellent. After not allowing myself to eat a snack in the afternoon (as an attempt to start to control the absurd amount of food I allow myself to consume), I was famished and completely ruined my afternoon’s progress in self-discipline by taking seconds of everything. (1st- pasta in oil with bits of zucchini and tomato, sourdough bread and vinegarette. Main- breaded fish fillets, more “vegetable,” and some fries. Dessert- mandarino). During tertulia, one of the girls talked about the Opera, which she went to on Sunday, and I actually understood what she was talking about because I researched the Naples Opera several days ago because I want to get to at least one while I’m over here (as a student, you watch a dress rehearsal for only 7 euro! I’ll probably have to do that since I don’t have any clothes that are fancy enough, and I can’t borrow anything to wear from the tiny girls I live with..)
This morning I happily welcomed my good ol’ TI-89 back into my life. Zuzu did not seemed pleased with our loving reunion…it must be an engineer thing. I pulled my old friend out because need him for the problems that I was assigned on base-isolation for my research!! (not technically MY research.. right now it’s just independent study so that I’ll know what the grad students are talking about, should I ever get around to helping them with anything. This whole “research” thing has really just been pretty awkward.) Dr. Myers has asked me to type up a brief abstract of the work I’m doing over here- it should be not the least bit interesting. But if any of you are keen on read it (probably only Dad) send me an email and I will send it back.
I drank a liter of coffee for breakfast, and I feel very ready for the day. It’s nice to know what I can actually keep these things pretty short. Hopefully there will be another brief one coming soon- I don’t want to have to play catch-up again, or receive anymore angry emails demanding more posts (I’m making myself sound more popular than I am so that you guys will think I’m coooool.)
K, ciao!
lunedì 18 aprile 2011
Mi Dispiace, ma Sono Tornato!
Hello again!! Sorry about the delay! I did it to remind you all how much you miss me and so you would realize exactly how much you love my blogs! (Acutally, I burnt myself out a little bit on writing- when I start writing, I don’t know when to stop, then I resent it for taking up so much of my time.) I would say that I’m going to prevent this from happening again writing less, but I don’t know what to cut out!! (No, Dan, I am not going to cut out the food part- I will want that record when I’m trying to decide what to cook when I’m not feeling inspired)
So, I left off with Jenn and the Aussies coming to Naples. I was expecting them to get in that Monday afternoon, but I never got a call. Later that night, I got an email from Jenn saying that they had made it in, and we made plans to meet up the next morning.
As I waited for them at the metro stop by my place, I did some reading from a Naples guidebook that I got from Michael- Naples is pretty intense- it’s had a very interesting history- you all should look it up. I also read about foods I needed to try- they said the classics are actually hard to find in common trattorias etc., and your best shot at getting them is ordering ahead of time, or trying to snag a home-cooked meal (check!). I’m pretty sure I’ve had all of the suggested dishes at the Villalta. However, I had not tried sfogliatella- a pastry stuffed with cream or ricotta- but I got that later in the day as we were walking around.
When they arrived, I took them to the Villalta to show them where I live and so they could drop their things (like Natalia- they were very impressed with the grandeur and cleanliness of my palace, and they didn’t want to leave the view on the roof). We headed towards the Castel Dell’Ovo, and stopped at my favorite stand along the beach to buy one of the giant, nutella-stuffed croissants to share. We went to the top of the castle and relaxed for a little bit, then came back down and got a table at one of the nice, sea-side pizzerias next to the castle. We ordered lunch, but I had to leave before the food came out because I had to go to class (however, I was there long enough to get the complimentary glass of champagne and the excellent bread with oil). I probably would have skipped my class, in order to be a good host, had it not been the first day of that class.
So I left very unwillingly before the plate of various fried sea foods and the 2 types of pizza came out, and realized that I was going to be extremely late for my class, so I power-walked/slightly jogged the 30 minutes back to the metro stop near the Villalta (it was the closest one), which was incredibly frustrating because Napolitanos don’t know how to walk in a straight line, walk very slowly, and stop to look in store windows, clogging the small sidewalks. I finally got to the metro- very stressed out- and had to wait 10 minutes for the next metro (they normally come every few minutes). Once off the metro, I continue my tiring pace through the frustrating streets, and get to class only 20 minutes late. When I got there, I apologized for being late and sat down. The teacher said that it was quite alright and that we were still waiting on 2 of the 5 students in the class. We sat there for 10 minutes before the Professor tells us that we aren’t able to have class that day anyway because the course had not been officially approved by the department yet and the meeting to discuss the matter would be held that afternoon… so we were dismissed. So then I started the frustrated, rushed trip back to the restaurant that I left the girls at, because I was hoping to meet back up with them before they ate all the food. I finally got a hold of them halfway through my journey and found out that they had already left, so we met up in Piazza Peblecito, and I snagged a giant piece of stuffed pizza (stuffed with parmesan and spinach) from a little café.
I showed them the beautiful shopping center near the piazza, I got my sfogliatella, they got their gelato, and we were pointed in the direction of the Archeological Museum (it has the artifacts recovered from Pompeii- I hear it’s amazing, and it was free that week!). We power-walked another half hour, and when we arrived, we found out that it was closed because it was a Tuesday! I was very disappointed and was feeling very pressured because I felt like it was my duty to make sure that they had a good time in Naples and saw everything that they should see, and we only had 3 more hours before their train left! So I decided to take them up to Vomero to see the view from Castel Sant’Elmo. However, I made the mistake of trying to follow the signs on the street that pointed us to the castle (do not try to follow signs for attractions, or bathrooms, in Italy…absolutely find a map and navigate your own way with it). After wasting 30 minutes of our short time hiking up the small mountain to Vomero, a lady finally pointed us in the direction of a metro (which we had been passing up in order to follow the street signs).
Finally we got up to the top of the mountain to the castle, and we passed the shop that carves and sells the cameos (the one that Natalia and I discovered after meeting the nice owner on the way to the castle) (also, there are a couple of pics on facebook of cameos in my “Dove Vivo” album, now) and we spent quite a while there reveling in how amazing the cameos are. We finally made it to the castle and got to enjoy the impressive view for a solid 30 seconds before we had to turn and head back to the Villalta so they could get their things.
After some confusion with finding the correct metro, we got back and they made it to the train station in the nick of time, and I was exhausted and famished from my intense workout. I ate nearly a whole bag of cookies and laid on my cot for a little while, then wasn’t hungry for dinner. I still ate plenty, but I can’t remember what it was. I know the first course was pea soup with little noodles in it- but I couldn’t tell you what else.. I don’t recall tertulia that night either… it was too long ago.
Wednesday breakfast-
I’ve finally accepted that I’m addicted to the coffee here. Every night before I go to sleep I get excited because I know that when I wake up, I get to drink the coffee! The coffee is really strong and black, but what you do at breakfast is put just a little bit in your cup, then fill the rest of your cup up with milk, and it’s soooooo good. (sometimes the other girls do this, then put cornflakes in it…I’m not sure I’ll try that one, I’m quite content with it how it is)
Wednesday Lunch-
I stopped at my favorite sea-side stand on my way back from my Italian class and I got a panino, which had a lot of potential…but I think it was several days past fresh. It was a giant slab of bread with hardboiled eggs and hunks of ham baked into it. This is one that I’m going to try to make when I get back to a kitchen that I know how to manage because I want to see what it tastes like when it’s not stale.
Wednesday snack-
I guess this is still a part of my lunch, since I ate it before eating my big, fat, stale panino: homemade coconut cookies, dusted in powdered sugar, juice, sparkling water, and hunks of dark chocolate
Then I wasted a lot of time researching places to stay and what to do in Sicily (and cancelled my car rental since Dan and I are not of age). Later at dinner, as they were setting up the TV to watch the movie typical of Wednesday nights, the news was on and was showing some pretty unimpressive shots of Sicily right now, with all the Libyans piling in. I wonder if it’ll be like that when we go next month.
Wednesday Dinner-
Croissants with either ham and eggplant, or cheese and ham, or cheese and other cured meats, some pasta that seemed like the Italian version of mac n cheese (penne with some oil and lots of parmesan, and it was slightly orange, so there had to have been some sort of tomato additive, but it was apparent in appearance or taste), salad with olive oil, chips, some hunks of beef that were really good.
Dessert: pineapple, kiwi, peaches, blood oranges, and mandarinos.
The movie was Disturbia. When you don’t understad the language that the movie is in, you are more sensitive to the mood-setting, and I was getting quite nervous! But because I know how it turns out, I was able to keep my calm, and it was funny looking around the room seeing how nervous everyone else was.
Thursday Lunch-
1st- small penne, oil, parmesan. Delicious.
Main- Meatloaf and some more honey-glazed carrots, which were incredibly orange.
Dessert- A blood orange
Post-lunch tertulia: Lots of interesting topics were brought up- the Italian Prime Minister has mad a law to keep him out of (a pm can do this?, I am thankful for the American system. We could have Gheddafi as a leader! Or Berlusconi for the matter). Also, we discussed Sicily and the refugees that continue to pile in. Also, the night before, one of the heads of a mafia family had been killed- he was “dissolved with acid”. Intense. I’m excited for our trip there! (I probably should’ve gotten a couple of tickets to Venice, instead.)
Thursday Dinner-
1st- Some sort of pasta, I can’t remember.
Main- huge, round slices of what was once a giant eggplant, with marinara and slices of mozzarella melted on top- sooooo good. Also, a plate of what seemed to be the Italian version of tater tots (not near as good as ours- more dull tasting, and filled with mashed potatoes instead of potato (chunks?)) Also, some vegetable- I have no idea what it was- when I asked, the only answer I got was “vegetable.” It had a giant stalk and what used to be a leafy top, but was cooked and was mushy, and for some reason was really good. I’m going to have to figure out how to cook vegetables before I leave here (especially eggplant! When I tried to cook it, it was a disaster, and theirs is so good!)
Dessert- a mandarino
For tertulia, we went out to get gelato!!!! The gelateria was right next to my church! It was incredible. For 2 euro, I got 3 flavors piled onto a cone- café, bueno bar, nutella mousse.
Later that night I got to skype with Dan and his roommate. It was nice, like I was in Rolla, just hanging out.
The next morning I was up before my roommates had a chance to wake me up with their loud Italian music! (well, actually most of their music is American, but it’s loud all the same), and was off to campus for the second real day of my Advanced Metallic Structures class. I actually loved it- I can’t remember the last time I loved a class (other than the psychology or history classes that I’ve taken… did I pick the wrong major?). The previous day (our first class) we talked about the basics of steel building design, and Friday we moved onto limitations, and extraordinary examples. I started getting really into it when he was discussing structures in Paris since I had just been there. And since there were only 3 of us in class that day (there are 2 more- Turkish students- but they weren’t there, and the other two are Italian grad students, but I don’t think they understand what he is saying most of the time (I know what it’s like, don’t blame them one bit), so the Professor normally just ends up talking straight to me, since I’m the one that understands what he’s saying), it ended up being pretty much a conversation between the professor and I- I told him about my visit to Paris, the buildings I saw there, and I was able to chip in on things I knew from what I’ve studied in the past.
I was really glad that I had gone to Paris- it made this lecture so much more interesting! However, I was kicking myself for all of the buildings that he was discussing that I didn’t see while I was there… I can’t believe I didn’t go see Centre di Pompidou! Also that I didn’t have time to duck into Musee d’Orsay for at least just a few minutes on free day. He went on to discuss buildings in London (check!), Madrid (my next stop!), Chicago (check!), Hong Kong (perhaps some day?), Pittsburg, etc. I enjoyed it. It was interesting hearing him describe buildings (being a steel structures expert) because finally, someone wasn’t just bashing on all the modern buildings (I prefer the classic building types myself (how can you not love all these huge, impressive, gorgeous, detailed buildings that are more like art work that structures that are scattered everywhere over here?), but there’s nothing you can do- everything in the building industry is so different now, the classic style cannot even be replicated, because as Professor Mazzolini said- it would be a falsity, a fake, almost an insult to the image that you were trying to mimic- so you might as well accept that, and embrace the new, impressive structures that can be possible with the new technology in building.)
Also, every now and then he would throw in the comment- “And I designed this one,” which was pretty crazy. I had heard that he was a pretty big deal, but I was very impressed actually seeing it! My favorite was his story about the commissioning of covers for all of the soccer stadiums in Italy- his design for the stadium in Rome was chosen (it was very fancy), and it was even the image printed onto the stamps that were printed in honor of the new stadium designs! But then “the greens” (I think it’s like the PETA of the construction world- the party who has assigned themselves the responsibility to make sure that everything is eco-friendly and blends into the environment, and has the power to stop production in its path) decided that his design was “uneconomical” (even though it was the cheapest bid) because it was too modern and flashy, and didn’t blend in with the surrounding buildings. So the next bid was chosen and approved. (But his still made it onto the stamps at least!) Anyway, I hope every lesson is as interesting as this one was- the class does have the potential to be very boring.
As for the rest of Friday, I don’t remember much other than being homesick for English. I went to class that morning, then met with Professor Serino about my research and was given typical base-isolation homework problems to get a better understanding of the subject matter so that I will be able to assist the grad students if they ever ask, returned to the Villalta for lunch, went to tertulia and didn’t understand what they discussed, and took a nap. When I woke up from my nap, I really wanted to watch a movie in English, so I went out to the great bookstore down the street and bought 3! (Across the Universe, An English Wedding, and Sabrina- with Harrison, not Audrey.)
I made it back in time for dinner, and after dinner, for tertulia, we all watched Across the Universe in English! It was great.
On Saturday, I went to Pompeii! I was invited by a couple of people from my Italian course to go to the Amalfi Coast that day to do the “walk of the gods,” but we decided to go a different day since it was supposed to be raining and cold in Amalfi. That morning, however, I got an invite from them to go to Pompeii instead, which ended up being perfect because it was free that day because of “Setimana Cultura,” whereas it’s normally 11 euro from non-EU students such as myself.
We had made plans to meet up at the central train station, and after showing up a little bit late, then looking for them for about 15 minutes, I figured I had missed them, but decided to just go on ahead with out them. If I could navigate Rome on my own, I could certainly navigate Pompeii on my own! And now that I was out, I definitely wasn’t going back without seeing some ruins. So I found my train, paid my 4.5 euro for the total trip, and was on my way when I got a call from a number I didn’t know. It was the Belgians! (2 from my Italian course, one was a friend visiting for the weekend) They were on the train right behind me, and we met up in Pompeii and had an excellent time. I can’t really describe Pompeii… you just have to look at my pictures on facebook.
While I was waiting for the rest to arrive, I went ahead into the park and lurked behind one of the English-speaking tour groups for a while, and it was incredibly interesting. Parents, when we go, I suggest we buy one of those people J
Pompeii was way bigger than I was expecting, but we still managed to see just about all of it in a little over 3 hours. So after a quick stop for gelato, we decided to head back in the direction of Naples and make a quick stop at Herculaneum (the richer town that was destroyed by the same eruption as Pompeii). Again, it was free because of Cultural week, and I save another 11 euro! We only stayed in Herculaneum about an hour, though, because it was much, much smaller, and after you look at ruins for so many hours, they all start to look the same.
I was very tired when I got back, and after a dinner of various, homemade pizzas and a short skype session with Dan, I went to sleep and slept very hard.
The next morning I went back to the beautiful Church of Christ. I showed up just late enough that I wasn’t assigned a part to read in “The Passion” (they began reading at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and ended with Pontius Pilate washing his hands of Jesus’ fate), which was fine because they had to stand at the front of the church for about 30 minutes, which I would have found uncomfortable. The sanctuary was decorated with tons of the biggest palm branches I have ever seen. After church, I spent quite a while talking to some women who are from Leeds, and then with a family that I met last week. The mother of this family walked up to me and out of the blue asked me if I ride horses. I told her that I like to… and she told me that she has 6 horses and is having a hard time keeping them exercised! She used to have a British trainer, but she left last year, and since she left, Karen decided to keep the horses around because she didn’t want to part with them yet, and it has been a chore. She likes to make sure they are ridden every day, and I said I would love to help her out with that! I just need to find size 42 boots…
Sunday lunch- 1st: great mini penne with some alfredo, pinkish sauce, and shrimp. Main: spears of meat- chicken, sausage, etc., and a giant bowl of diced eggplant, tomatoes, etc. Dessert- little bowls of pudding with slices of blood oranges and kiwi in them
After lunch, I wasted time uploading my picture from Pompeii onto facebook, etc., then went on a pasajar to Castel dell’Ovo with some of the girls. It was closed, so we stopped at “American Bar” that is next to it. I got café nocciolo (which turned espresso with thick, chocolate, nutty goo at the bottom, and was delicious) and torta caprese (I giant piece of chocolate cake, slightly warm and gooey, with little bits of nuts in it, amaretto flavoring, and powered sugar on top)
When I got back I had a really cool discussion with a couple of the other girls about Protestantism (they have no idea what it is to be a Christian w/o being Catholic- they were very surprised to find out that I celebrate Easter, that I believe in the holy trinity, that I take communion, that we don’t have to do confession before taking communion, that I know who Peter is (as in Simon Peter..San Peitro to them), that we don’t have a pope or saints, etc., etc.)
After that, I met up with my new, Belgian friends at Piazza Amedeo because I invited them to dinner at my place. It was a good time- I like having guests. Again, they loved the roof, were surprised at the cleanliness, and were very exuberant about the fancy dinner (even though it was Sunday, which is paper plates night because the kitchen staff has the night off). We went back up to the roof one more time before tertulia because they didn’t want to leave it. Tertulia was fun and lasted way longer than normal- the Belgians were quizzed on Belgium and Naples and many other things.
This morning I went to my foundations class and now I’m off to my Italian class (I don’t want to go………). I will hopefully post again sooner than I did last time!
Okaaaay, bye!!
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