Halloween in Italy
31 Ottobre
Halloween is one of the most elaborate holidays celebrated in the United States. Tonight streets will be filled with people in costumes headed tricking or treating or to a party. The costumes will range from silly to scary to lacking clothing.
Many of you may not know that Halloween is not something that is globally celebrated. It's something is more American. It is starting to spread to some other countries though like England and France.
Halloween is slowly making it's way to Italy. Italians don't celebrate Halloween with the same flare that Americans do. In fact, I'm fairly sure that no other country celebrates it with the flare that we do.
Tonight when I walk the streets I won't see any children trick or treating, or apartments covered with spooky decorations. No, instead when I walk the streets I'll see a few people dressed up in costumes, but not your typical American costume. Italian's believe that Halloween costumes are meant to be scary. So I'll run into people trying to pull off their scariest costume ideas.
After Halloween is November 1st, which is All Saints Day. It's a public holiday in Italy, which honors all those who have died for the church. Everything will be closed for this holiday.
Due to this holiday, I will be headed to Prague! See you in a few days, Italy.
31 Ottobre
Halloween is one of the most elaborate holidays celebrated in the United States. Tonight streets will be filled with people in costumes headed tricking or treating or to a party. The costumes will range from silly to scary to lacking clothing.
Many of you may not know that Halloween is not something that is globally celebrated. It's something is more American. It is starting to spread to some other countries though like England and France.
Halloween is slowly making it's way to Italy. Italians don't celebrate Halloween with the same flare that Americans do. In fact, I'm fairly sure that no other country celebrates it with the flare that we do.
Tonight when I walk the streets I won't see any children trick or treating, or apartments covered with spooky decorations. No, instead when I walk the streets I'll see a few people dressed up in costumes, but not your typical American costume. Italian's believe that Halloween costumes are meant to be scary. So I'll run into people trying to pull off their scariest costume ideas.
After Halloween is November 1st, which is All Saints Day. It's a public holiday in Italy, which honors all those who have died for the church. Everything will be closed for this holiday.
Due to this holiday, I will be headed to Prague! See you in a few days, Italy.
EuroCHOCOLATE Festival
22 Ottobre
On Saturday, we made our way to the Eurochocolate festival. I'm sure you guessed that this is a festival dedicated to chocolate.
It seemed like an easy enough trip at first. We just had to buy our train ticket, and travel for about two and half hours to Perugia. Sadly enough, this was not the case. The train system in Italy is a little bit more difficult than it seems. We couldn't figure out which train was ours or how the ticket system worked, so we ended up missing the first one.
So we decided to go grab a panino while we waited for the next one. We were so ready to eat chocolate that we couldn't wait two hours, so we decided to grab a milkshake as well.
From there, we went to go catch our train. In Italy you can buy a train ticket, and it's valid for several months afterwards. So you have to be sure to stamp it. If you don't stamp it then kicked off the train, fined, and yelled at in a foreign language.
So we stamped our ticket, and loaded on a train. We hadn't done our research, so we weren't really sure whether we'd have to transfer or if we'd just stumble upon the stop. Luckily enough, we heard several other people talking about the chocolate festival, so we decided to follow them.
We rode the train for the next two and half hours, and ended up at Perugia stop! We loaded off the train and took a bus to the top of the mountain. From there we followed the herd of people. We went up maybe a half a dozen escalators to get to the town center, and ended up in this sort of cavern. We walked around into a little. We were very perplexed. This was not the chocolate festival we had anticipated. We were looking at each other going "Well, is there any chocolate we can eat?"
Eventually we discovered yet another escalator that led us outside to the chocolate festival we had imagined. The festival was spread across town, and there was more chocolate then one could imagine.
Each stand represented a different chocolate store, with different treats. There were also food carts with panini, mozzarella balls, french fries, etc. We spent about three or fours at the festival. We managed to eat a chocolate pizza with strawberries, nutella covered churros, and chocolate covered oranges.
The festival also featured several sculptures of chocolate, and chocolate themed music (the ultimate subliminal advertising).
After the three hours, we headed down the mountain to catch our train. We had to make sure not to miss it, because the next one wasn't coming until two hours later. Besides, we figured if we ate anymore we wouldn't be able to fit into our jeans!
22 Ottobre
On Saturday, we made our way to the Eurochocolate festival. I'm sure you guessed that this is a festival dedicated to chocolate.
It seemed like an easy enough trip at first. We just had to buy our train ticket, and travel for about two and half hours to Perugia. Sadly enough, this was not the case. The train system in Italy is a little bit more difficult than it seems. We couldn't figure out which train was ours or how the ticket system worked, so we ended up missing the first one.
So we decided to go grab a panino while we waited for the next one. We were so ready to eat chocolate that we couldn't wait two hours, so we decided to grab a milkshake as well.
From there, we went to go catch our train. In Italy you can buy a train ticket, and it's valid for several months afterwards. So you have to be sure to stamp it. If you don't stamp it then kicked off the train, fined, and yelled at in a foreign language.
So we stamped our ticket, and loaded on a train. We hadn't done our research, so we weren't really sure whether we'd have to transfer or if we'd just stumble upon the stop. Luckily enough, we heard several other people talking about the chocolate festival, so we decided to follow them.
We rode the train for the next two and half hours, and ended up at Perugia stop! We loaded off the train and took a bus to the top of the mountain. From there we followed the herd of people. We went up maybe a half a dozen escalators to get to the town center, and ended up in this sort of cavern. We walked around into a little. We were very perplexed. This was not the chocolate festival we had anticipated. We were looking at each other going "Well, is there any chocolate we can eat?"
Eventually we discovered yet another escalator that led us outside to the chocolate festival we had imagined. The festival was spread across town, and there was more chocolate then one could imagine.
Each stand represented a different chocolate store, with different treats. There were also food carts with panini, mozzarella balls, french fries, etc. We spent about three or fours at the festival. We managed to eat a chocolate pizza with strawberries, nutella covered churros, and chocolate covered oranges.
The festival also featured several sculptures of chocolate, and chocolate themed music (the ultimate subliminal advertising).
After the three hours, we headed down the mountain to catch our train. We had to make sure not to miss it, because the next one wasn't coming until two hours later. Besides, we figured if we ate anymore we wouldn't be able to fit into our jeans!
Interning part 2
Not too much has happened since I've updated, but the paper has come out! Check it out http://issuu.com/florencenews/docs/issuu/0
Not too much has happened since I've updated, but the paper has come out! Check it out http://issuu.com/florencenews/docs/issuu/0
Interning
1 Ottobre
I haven't updated in a while, but I've recently begun my internship. I'm working with an English speaking newspaper in Florence. It's called Florence News & Events, and their website is http://www.florencenewsevents.com/. The newspaper is meant for International students or tourists. It publishes once a month with all the events happening that month.
The Italian work environment is quite different than the American one. In Italy, most offices are out of someone's home, and the environment is much more laid back. You don't dress up for work, instead you wear casual wear. Not like T-shirts, hoodies, or shorts- those things are not allowed in Italy, but a nice blouse and jeans.
The day is much more laid back as well. It's not uncommon for your boss to be late. There's this thing called "Italian Time," where everyone is at least 15 minutes late to everything.
The office that I work out of is out of our boss's home. We arrive every day at 11 or 11:30ish and work until about 6:30ish. Our day is broken up by a home cooked Italian meal.
We spend the rest of the day working on various upcoming events happening. So far, I've written about the Perugia Chocolate Festival, art exhibits, student life, and what to do around town. My boss, Lorenzo, has also decided that I need to learn more about graphic design. Doing layout design for a newspaper is nothing new to me, but designing an ad and graphics is a whole other ballpark. I know little to nothing about these things, but recently he's assigned me 3 ads to design. He also gave me little to nothing to go on. He just said, "You will design these ads." No better way to learn then jumping in head first, right?
Keep an eye out for our paper! It should be up any day now!
1 Ottobre
I haven't updated in a while, but I've recently begun my internship. I'm working with an English speaking newspaper in Florence. It's called Florence News & Events, and their website is http://www.florencenewsevents.com/. The newspaper is meant for International students or tourists. It publishes once a month with all the events happening that month.
The Italian work environment is quite different than the American one. In Italy, most offices are out of someone's home, and the environment is much more laid back. You don't dress up for work, instead you wear casual wear. Not like T-shirts, hoodies, or shorts- those things are not allowed in Italy, but a nice blouse and jeans.
The day is much more laid back as well. It's not uncommon for your boss to be late. There's this thing called "Italian Time," where everyone is at least 15 minutes late to everything.
The office that I work out of is out of our boss's home. We arrive every day at 11 or 11:30ish and work until about 6:30ish. Our day is broken up by a home cooked Italian meal.
We spend the rest of the day working on various upcoming events happening. So far, I've written about the Perugia Chocolate Festival, art exhibits, student life, and what to do around town. My boss, Lorenzo, has also decided that I need to learn more about graphic design. Doing layout design for a newspaper is nothing new to me, but designing an ad and graphics is a whole other ballpark. I know little to nothing about these things, but recently he's assigned me 3 ads to design. He also gave me little to nothing to go on. He just said, "You will design these ads." No better way to learn then jumping in head first, right?
Keep an eye out for our paper! It should be up any day now!
The Barrier
So, I've been here for about two weeks and I haven't talked about the language barrier yet. It's not something that I encounter regularly. Florence is such a big tourist city that most people speak English. In fact, the locals recognize a tourist immediately and will only speak English toward them.
I've been studying for Italian for about two weeks. We've learned the basics: "my name is..." "I'm from..." I'm 20 years old," "I would like..." etc.. It would be short conversation, but I still have about two weeks to go.
I haven't really felt much of a pressure to learn the language, because everyone speaks English. But I recently felt the pressure to learn.
We had a new Italian teacher, with a new method of teaching. He'd only speak Italian to us. We walked in on the first day, and he greeted us in Italian as usual. Then he handed us a worksheet and explained what we were supposed to do, but there was a small problem: he did so in Italian. We just kept staring at him. We didn't know what he was saying, and he wasn't going to say it in English. He just kept motioning and saying the same thing in Italian.
The rest of the class continued like this. It was the longest three hours of my life. Finally, class ended and we all discussed how happy we would be to have Umberto back!
We walked into class the next day looking forward to seeing Umberto again. But, alas, Stefano walked into the classroom again. You could see everyone's face drop at the idea of suffering through another class.
He started off again by speaking rapid Italian. I caught a word here and there. He was talking about Umberto, but what he said no one is sure of. We continued with class, and made it to the break. Immediately we started discussing what he was talking about at the beginning of class. Everyone had a different theory, because no one can understand Italian. Some thought he said Umberto would be back tomorrow, while others thought we'd have Stefano as our permanent teacher.
In the end though, we ended up with a new teacher, with a better method of teaching. He focuses on our pronunciation of words, and as it turns out I butcher every Italian word I say.
I don't think I have ever been as confused, frustrated, or just as incredibly lost as I have in those class periods. Nothing inspires learning like being so confused!
Tomorrow I'll start my internship part-time!
So, I've been here for about two weeks and I haven't talked about the language barrier yet. It's not something that I encounter regularly. Florence is such a big tourist city that most people speak English. In fact, the locals recognize a tourist immediately and will only speak English toward them.
I've been studying for Italian for about two weeks. We've learned the basics: "my name is..." "I'm from..." I'm 20 years old," "I would like..." etc.. It would be short conversation, but I still have about two weeks to go.
I haven't really felt much of a pressure to learn the language, because everyone speaks English. But I recently felt the pressure to learn.
We had a new Italian teacher, with a new method of teaching. He'd only speak Italian to us. We walked in on the first day, and he greeted us in Italian as usual. Then he handed us a worksheet and explained what we were supposed to do, but there was a small problem: he did so in Italian. We just kept staring at him. We didn't know what he was saying, and he wasn't going to say it in English. He just kept motioning and saying the same thing in Italian.
The rest of the class continued like this. It was the longest three hours of my life. Finally, class ended and we all discussed how happy we would be to have Umberto back!
We walked into class the next day looking forward to seeing Umberto again. But, alas, Stefano walked into the classroom again. You could see everyone's face drop at the idea of suffering through another class.
He started off again by speaking rapid Italian. I caught a word here and there. He was talking about Umberto, but what he said no one is sure of. We continued with class, and made it to the break. Immediately we started discussing what he was talking about at the beginning of class. Everyone had a different theory, because no one can understand Italian. Some thought he said Umberto would be back tomorrow, while others thought we'd have Stefano as our permanent teacher.
In the end though, we ended up with a new teacher, with a better method of teaching. He focuses on our pronunciation of words, and as it turns out I butcher every Italian word I say.
I don't think I have ever been as confused, frustrated, or just as incredibly lost as I have in those class periods. Nothing inspires learning like being so confused!
Tomorrow I'll start my internship part-time!
Leaving the Tuscan Sun
On Sunday, we decided to leave the Tuscan Sun and head to Cinque Terre. It translates to the "Five Earths." It's five islands situated near each other, each one is small then the next.
We started our day by meeting at 7:15 AM at the train station. We loaded onto a bus with some fellow international students, and headed up the coast. On our way we encountered some storm clouds that looked like it would ruin our day. However, once we arrived things started to clear up.
Our first destination was Manarola, which is the picture above. We had about an hour or so there to explore the island. Unfortunately some of the hiking trails were closed off due to landslides. So, instead we decided to head down to the ocean. We climbed on the rocks, and sat with our feet in the water. It had been probably about three or four months since I had even been close to water, so I was ecstatic!
From there we headed to the next island, which was Corniglia. By the time we got there we were starving! The catch was that we had to climb up the mountain (by stairs) to get to the food. We made it up to the top, and booked it to our adviser's favorite restaurant. From there we learned that the island is famous for their pesto, so naturally we all ordered food with pesto. I ordered the pesto ravioli, which was possibly the best food I've ever eaten!
We left the restaurant, and followed our adviser to a frozen yogurt shop. Yes, I know that Italy is famous for their gelato, but after a while you start to miss the toppings that you can put on ice cream. I decided to mix the best of both worlds, and put gelato and frozen yogurt toppings together. Oh, I don't think I've ever eaten that much before!
After that we met up with the rest of the group, and split into non-hiking and hiking. We all chose non-hiking, so we could head straight to the beach. The rest of the group was going to hike over the mountain to the next town, and catch a train to the beach.
In the end though, they mentioned the idea of taking a ferry to the beach. We all thought that was the coolest idea, so we hopped on the ferry. It was so wobbly that we felt like we were on a roller coaster!
Once we arrived at the beach, we were able to spend several hours swimming and laying out. It was so relaxing. It was a great change of pace from all the exploring. Not to mention we got to see the beauty of Cinque Terre first hand.
We were about to hop on the bus home when our adviser mentioned that we should grab dinner sooner rather than later. We went to this pizzeria where the pizza was fresh out of the oven, and topped with more pesto! The slices were huge (picture below!). We had absolutely no trouble devouring them, though!
After a long day, we all loaded back on the bus and headed home. It was one of the best parts of my semester in Italy...so far! More adventures to come!
On Sunday, we decided to leave the Tuscan Sun and head to Cinque Terre. It translates to the "Five Earths." It's five islands situated near each other, each one is small then the next.
We started our day by meeting at 7:15 AM at the train station. We loaded onto a bus with some fellow international students, and headed up the coast. On our way we encountered some storm clouds that looked like it would ruin our day. However, once we arrived things started to clear up.
Our first destination was Manarola, which is the picture above. We had about an hour or so there to explore the island. Unfortunately some of the hiking trails were closed off due to landslides. So, instead we decided to head down to the ocean. We climbed on the rocks, and sat with our feet in the water. It had been probably about three or four months since I had even been close to water, so I was ecstatic!
From there we headed to the next island, which was Corniglia. By the time we got there we were starving! The catch was that we had to climb up the mountain (by stairs) to get to the food. We made it up to the top, and booked it to our adviser's favorite restaurant. From there we learned that the island is famous for their pesto, so naturally we all ordered food with pesto. I ordered the pesto ravioli, which was possibly the best food I've ever eaten!
We left the restaurant, and followed our adviser to a frozen yogurt shop. Yes, I know that Italy is famous for their gelato, but after a while you start to miss the toppings that you can put on ice cream. I decided to mix the best of both worlds, and put gelato and frozen yogurt toppings together. Oh, I don't think I've ever eaten that much before!
After that we met up with the rest of the group, and split into non-hiking and hiking. We all chose non-hiking, so we could head straight to the beach. The rest of the group was going to hike over the mountain to the next town, and catch a train to the beach.
In the end though, they mentioned the idea of taking a ferry to the beach. We all thought that was the coolest idea, so we hopped on the ferry. It was so wobbly that we felt like we were on a roller coaster!
Once we arrived at the beach, we were able to spend several hours swimming and laying out. It was so relaxing. It was a great change of pace from all the exploring. Not to mention we got to see the beauty of Cinque Terre first hand.
We were about to hop on the bus home when our adviser mentioned that we should grab dinner sooner rather than later. We went to this pizzeria where the pizza was fresh out of the oven, and topped with more pesto! The slices were huge (picture below!). We had absolutely no trouble devouring them, though!
After a long day, we all loaded back on the bus and headed home. It was one of the best parts of my semester in Italy...so far! More adventures to come!
Learning the Italian Way!
I arrived in Italy about a week ago, and it's been a bit of a difficult adjustment to Italian lifestyle. For instance, Italians aren't in a hurry to get anywhere. They stroll down the sidewalks and take their time to get to and from work. It's a typical occurrence for Italians to arrive late. In fact, on my first day of my Italian class the professor came to class ten minutes late.
Also, Italians like to take their time with a meal. For instance, Italians typically attend an appretivo at about 7 pm. An apprevito is where you go into a restaurant and order a drink (usually about €7), and get access to a buffet of appetizers. Italians will usually stay in the restaurant until about 9 or 10 pm, and then go home for their actual dinner.
For them, it's more about trying to enjoy their time and most importantly their food. In the states, we're always rushing from point A to point B. In DC, people are practically running down the streets. Here it's strange and bizarre to think of someone being a rush. It's a refreshing concept of taking your time to get around.
Although getting around can be quite difficult. So far I've managed to get lost everyday. On my first day I was lost for three hours! I thought I was never going to make it home, but it just gave me an opportunity to see much more of the city. Although if you were to ask me to find those sites again, it would be nearly impossible!
On Sunday, we will explore outside of the city of Florence. We will leave at 7:15 am and go to Cinque Terre, which literally translates to the Five Earths.
I arrived in Italy about a week ago, and it's been a bit of a difficult adjustment to Italian lifestyle. For instance, Italians aren't in a hurry to get anywhere. They stroll down the sidewalks and take their time to get to and from work. It's a typical occurrence for Italians to arrive late. In fact, on my first day of my Italian class the professor came to class ten minutes late.
Also, Italians like to take their time with a meal. For instance, Italians typically attend an appretivo at about 7 pm. An apprevito is where you go into a restaurant and order a drink (usually about €7), and get access to a buffet of appetizers. Italians will usually stay in the restaurant until about 9 or 10 pm, and then go home for their actual dinner.
For them, it's more about trying to enjoy their time and most importantly their food. In the states, we're always rushing from point A to point B. In DC, people are practically running down the streets. Here it's strange and bizarre to think of someone being a rush. It's a refreshing concept of taking your time to get around.
Although getting around can be quite difficult. So far I've managed to get lost everyday. On my first day I was lost for three hours! I thought I was never going to make it home, but it just gave me an opportunity to see much more of the city. Although if you were to ask me to find those sites again, it would be nearly impossible!
On Sunday, we will explore outside of the city of Florence. We will leave at 7:15 am and go to Cinque Terre, which literally translates to the Five Earths.