Easter egg hunts, "Hoha hola", and Spring break plans!

Ok so I realize that it has been a very, very long time since my last blog post, and I feel bad that I haven't been updating. (It's been a busy month, let me tell you, but it's been a lot of fun as well!) So this is just going to be a quick update, because I have to get ready to leave tomorrow for spring break! :) 

My classes here are still going really well... We had midterms a few weeks ago, and they were all fine. Although classes aren't the "fun" part of being here, I really can't complain because I really like my professors and the subjects themselves. The only thing I really don't like about them is that they take up time, and therefore take away from my exploring and traveling. Of course, we're "here to learn", but I maintain that the greatest things we can learn here won't be taught in the classroom. 

My internship teaching English to kindergartners is also going really well! The kids are so adorable, and my friend Elise and I always have a really good time when we're with them. We go every Wednesday morning for an hour, and so far we've taught them about colors, numbers, animals, parts of the body, transportation, and emotions. This week, since Easter is coming up, we taught them about holidays and we did an easter egg hunt (una caccia per le uova di pasqua)! Elise and I had bought a bunch of little chocolate eggs, and we hid them outside the school in an area of pebbles. And it was fantastic, because they had never done one before. It was interesting to talk with the kids and the teacher about the differences between the ways Italians and Americans celebrate the same holidays. For example, they thought it was hilarious when we told them about the Easter Bunny. :)

One exciting bit of news is that we finally got an Italian roommate! Her name is Giulia (pronounced like Julia), and she is amazing. She moved in at the beginning of March, and it took a little while to adjust to having 3 people in the apartment rather than just 2, but now I think we've gotten it down. She's 22, from Florence, and she's in her second year at the University of Siena. She speaks English pretty well and she really wants to practice it, which is great because I want to practice my Italian - So some days we'll speak mostly in English, and others mostly in Italian, or sometimes some hybrid of the two. I've already learned so much from her - especially little colloquial things, like how to say the equivalent of "like" (tipo) or "oh boy" (cittino). She also has such a pretty Tuscan accent, which I've been trying to acquire (so far unsuccessfully, unfortunately) - most people in Tuscany aspirate their c's and their t's, so instead of saying "coca cola" it would sound more like "hoha hola". Of course it's hard to explain in writing, but when I get back just ask and I'll try to duplicate it. :) Giulia's boyfriend Riccardo is also over a lot, but we don't mind at all because he's nice, and he's also a really good cook and he cooks dinner for all of us! He doesn't speak much English, so I always enjoy trying to speak just Italian with him... Overall it's been really fun getting to know Giulia, and I know it's going to be really sad when we have to leave her. It's a shame that she got here so late!  Lately she, Lauren, and I have been making dinner and going to the supermarket together, so we get in some good roommate bonding time. :)

Today, a friend of mine was telling a story, and he couldn't think of a word so he just said the equivalent in Italian instead... And it made me realize how often I think of Italian words before English ones these days. Sometimes there just isn't the right word in English for what I want to say, and I find myself wanting to say the Italian word, even if the person I'm speaking with doesn't know Italian. Haha and it made me really excited because it means I'm getting more in tune with the language. And now, one of my biggest fears is losing this close connection with Italian once I leave... I'll have to come up with a way to maintain it - so don't be confused if I start speaking Italian to you, okay? ;)

The past month passed so quickly that I'm starting to get pretty anxious about how soon this will all be ending... There's only a little more than a month left now, and it feels like a ticking clock. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see my family and friends again, and to get back to a few well-missed conveniences of home - but I feel like I still have so much to see and do here, and not enough time to do it. My roommate Lauren is SO excited to go home - as in counting down the days, literally - so that just makes the fact that it's coming up soon all the more present in my mind. For the first month or two, I kept putting off little things because I was still getting settled and I had "so much time to do everything". But now I find myself down to the wire with a lot of things left to see and do. :/ I'll just keep telling myself that those will be the things I do on my NEXT trip to Italy.

Speaking of getting settled, I feel like I've finally nestled myself into life in Siena. I feel really comfortable here, and I feel like I know the city like my own. You also may have noticed that I'm supremely biased, and I will defend Siena to the death in comparison to any other Italian city. ;) Unfortunately now that it's getting to be so beautiful outside, the number of tourists has jumped up exponentially lately, with some souvenir vendors to go along with them. Of course tourists are still much less present than in Florence, Rome, or Venice, but Siena's clearly a stop on most of their lists. I joked today that when I come back to Italy, I'll definitely only come in the winter.

So. Spring break! It begins tomorrow for us, Good Friday, and it lasts through next Sunday so that we have a full 10 days off! Here's my itinerary: I'm actually doing the first half of my break on my own, and I'm leaving tomorrow morning (Friday) bright and early to get to Verona, which is in the Veneto region (about an hour or two from Venice). I'll be there for 2 days, and then on Sunday morning I'll take an hour-long train to Padova and stay there for the afternoon. That evening I'll take another train to Ravenna, which is in the Emilia-Romagna region, and stay there for 2 days as well. Then on Tuesday I'll return back to Siena for the evening and the night, and the following day I'll take a bus to Rome and meet up with a friend for the afternoon, because we have a flight from Rome to Barcelona that evening! I'll stay there from Wednesday night until Saturday with 5 friends, and then fly back to Italy and have Sunday to recuperate before going back to classes on Monday... Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But I'm sure it's going to be sooo much fun! 

I'm really excited about Verona because I actually looked into the city as a possible study abroad location, back when I was deciding. They say it's the second most Roman town, after Rome itself of course, with a huge amphitheater and Roman ruins, etc. and it's apparently very, very beautiful. Also, my Italian professor at Richmond is from Verona, so I've heard a lot about it in her classes. :) And Padova has the Scrovegni Chapel (!!), which was painted by Giotto - I've studied it a lot over the years in Art History classes, so it will be really amazing to see in person. And I've similarly studied the mosaic interiors of Ravenna's monuments extensively in my classes, so I can't wait to see them! I'm a little nervous about the whole solo thing for the first half of break, though - not nervous in the sense of feeling unsafe, but rather in the sense that I don't know what I'm going to do all by myself! It will, beyond a doubt, be a good experience for me - plus it was a goal of mine to take a trip alone - but I still find myself worrying about what I'll do when I'm sitting at a restaurant alone... But I'll get past it, and it will be good for me, right? :) Plus, I can do whatever I'd like, without having to incorporate someone else's wants and needs as well! I'll definitely post how it goes after I get back. And I've been wanting to go to Spain for years, so I'm thrilled about Barcelona! I don't exactly know what  to expect, so we'll see!

Well, it's very late, and I should get some sleep before I start out on my excursion tomorrow morning! As always, I send all my love to everyone at home, and I hope everyone is well! I miss you all so much, and I truly can't wait to see you when I get back. :) Until next time, arrivederci!

P.S. There are a few new photo links on the left - from when my friend Sarah from school came to visit! - but I still have a lot of pictures to add, so keep checking back for more!

Travel, Enjoying Siena, and Kindergartners!

Well, it's been a busy few weeks, but I finally have some time to write an entry! I've done quite a bit since my last post, so I'll try to condense it all... Oh and beware of random thoughts and stories! There are a bunch of them. :)

On both of the past two weekends, I've taken trips: One to Florence for the day two weeks ago, and one to Rome for three days last weekend. In Florence, we were able to see Santa Maria Novella church, the amazing Cathedral and Baptistery, the Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall), the Piazza Signoria, and the Ponte Vecchio - check out the link for a bunch of pictures! We also climbed to the top of the Dome of the Cathedral, which took up a large part of our time, but it was worth it for the beautiful view. We also had a nice lunch with delicious pizza and pasta, and we headed back home by about 6. It was a great day trip, and it's very easy (and cheap!) from Siena since it's only an hour bus ride. We didn't get to see everything of course, but we'll be going back to Florence with our Art History class, so I'm not too worried about it. Oh and below is a picture of the group of us on top of the dome!

Last weekend, three friends and I ventured to Rome and did the tourist thing. We got to see almost all of the big sites, along with some great smaller stops along the way. We hit the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Vatican City, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and a lot more. Again, check out the link for pictures! To get there we took a three hour bus ride from Siena to Rome on Friday afternoon, and then we returned on Sunday evening. The trip was very exhausting (since we got up early and rushed around every day to see all the sites) but it was definitely worth it. And now the next time I go, I can just spend my time at two or three spots and fully enjoy them, since I've already seen most of the sites. Below are a few extra pictures that aren't in the albums!

The Colosseum, of course.

The Arch of Constantine

It's Carneval this weekend, so my roommate and a bunch of my other friends went to Viareggio, a coastal town that has the second biggest Carnevale celebration in Italy (after Venice). But since I've been go-go-go for the past few weeks, I decided to stay in Siena for the weekend.  My initial goal was to wander around and explore some more, since there is still so much that I haven't seen. I also thought about taking a day trip on my own on Saturday, to another small Tuscan town like Montepulciano or Arezzo. But I didn't realize how exhausted I've been, so I ended up just having a relaxing weekend at home, which will hopefully energize me for the next few weeks... But I think I'd still like to take a small trip by myself at some point. I always envy those people who can travel alone, and I think it'd be a nice little challenge for me. Even the idea of eating alone at a restaurant makes me nervous, but I think it would be a good experience. It would really make me use my Italian (since I wouldn't be able to rely on anyone else, like I have been doing some of the time) and it would really allow me to experience a city in a new way. I'll let you know when I complete my goal. :)

One problem I'm dealing with is that I'm torn between wanting to travel and wanting to fully experience Siena. On the one hand, I feel that since I'm in Europe, and so close to so many amazing places, I should really take advantage and go out and see as many of those places as possible. Especially with the flights being so cheap, I feel like there's nothing holding me back. And that's where Siena comes in. I really love it here, and I don't want to miss out on its incredible aspects and then, by the end of my time here, feel like I don't even really know the city. Of course I have some time to explore during the week, but I'm just nervous that I'll end up shortchanging Siena. It's absolutely my favorite place of all the places I've visited in Italy so far, and I feel so lucky that I was able to come here, so I'll definitely be making an effort to fully enjoy it.

During the weeks, my classes have been going really well! I have to be honest, it's tough sitting through 2-hour classes, but I think I'm getting used to it. The subjects are right up my alley, so that's always a plus, and the field studies have been really fun! So far, we've gone inside the Palazzo Pubblico (the town hall building) to see the frescoes for my Art History class, and for my Presence of the Past class we've walked around the town center looking at art that refers to the foundation myths of Siena. I also really like all of my professors because they're all very enthusiastic about their subjects. And I think I was right about foreseeing my favorite class to be Presence of the Past, too - It's so much an art history class (which is great for me) and the Italian is just a tiny bit above my level, so I still understand almost all of it, and it will be perfect for helping me improve.

It's funny, sometimes I momentarily forget I'm in Italy. It usually happens in the morning, when I haven't heard any Italian yet that day, and then I walk out onto the street and I hear someone speaking. It always hits me for a second, like "whoa, they're not speaking English" and for some reason it still takes me by surprise. Of course then the realization comes over me and it becomes no big deal. But I'm guessing that by the end of the semester it will feel completely normal to hear Italian everywhere, and it won't catch me off guard at all. 

The other day, two of my friends and I were walking back from class in the evening, and we noticed some smoke coming from the valley (there's a huuuge deep valley on the edge of town that we walk by to get to the IES center), so we stopped by a look-out point to check it out. There was this older man there, probably in his 70s, looking as well. Both of the girls I was with are in the advanced Italian class with me, so we started talking about the smoke in Italian so that he might talk to us... And he did! He was so sweet, and we were all just conjecturing about the origin of the smoke and talking about the smell, etc. It only lasted for about a minute, but it was really fun to just stop and talk to a local. Yes, I talk to waiters and people working in shops and things like that, but it was different to just talk informally with a person on the street. I'll try to make this a more regular occurrence. 

At home, I'm becoming quite the cook! My roommate and I cook dinner almost every night, and at first we were only inclined to make pasta... And just pasta. But by now, we're definitely mixing it up a bit, adding chicken, vegetables, and other sides to our pasta nights, and making nice dinners like baked pasta, and chicken and broccoli teryaki stir-fry with rice (yum!). It's funny because the grocery stores here really only have ingredients to make Italian food (go figure), so in order to find teryaki sauce I had to go to an International Food market (which really only had Asian food ingredients). I've also been baking, but that's also an issue sometimes because it's difficult to find little things like baking powder or cream of tartar, and they definitely don't have anything like crisco. And I finally found brown sugar after a long search, but it was randomly at that International food market - strange. So basically, I've had to alter a few recipes or just put some on the back burner until I can find some of the ingredients. But I've already made brownies, 3 loaves of banana bread, and crepes! Baking is my catharsis; plus where's the fun in baking with the right ingredients? Or with an electric mixer for that matter? ;)

I finally started teaching English to kids!!! My friend Elise and I are going to be teaching a kindergarten class every Wednesday morning from 10:30-11:30. The school is a bit outside of the center of town, outside the walls, so we have to take a 20-minute bus to and from there each time. We went this past week to introduce ourselves and do our first lesson (we taught them colors) and it was so much fun. We had no idea how many kids there were going to be, or what the teacher would be like, or anything really. But there are around 10 kids (we're not sure, because a few were out sick), all so adorable, and a really nice teacher named Lucia who speaks very little English. The kids we got to meet are: Matteo, Jacopo, Cesare, Sara, Rebecca, Davide, and Andrea (as a boy's name). They're really cute and they were pretty good for us too. A few kids know a little bit of English, like the numbers and a few greetings, but I hope we can teach them a few things during our time with them. :) Below is a picture of the building (in which they have only kindergarten classes) and I'm sure I'll get pictures of the kids by the end of my teaching! Surprisingly, it's really difficult to figure out ways to teach them, since most of them don't know ANY English at all. And because of that, we had to use a lot more Italian than I expected, in order to tell them what we wanted them do. I think that teaching English will actually help improve my Italian, strangely enough, with having to give directions and especially with trying to understand the kids, who mumble like crazy. :) Oh and it's also possible that we'll get assigned another class in addition, since this is only an hour per week, but we'll see! I'm really excited to see how it will all go. 

The kindergarten building where I'll be teaching each week.

And in addition to classes, teaching, cooking, and traveling, we also go out in Siena! If you remember, I mentioned that IES has this connection with the Erasmus program, which is basically the international student community in Siena. Well, every Tuesday Erasmus hosts an aperitivo, and each week it's held at a different bar. I've gone to the last two, and they've been so much fun. It's a perfect atmosphere to meet other students, and even though they're from all different European countries they still all speak Italian (some a little more than me, others less) and some even speak a little English. So far I've been able to meet people from France, Spain, England, and also some of the Italians that work with Erasmus. I really like it because I don't have many other opportunities to hang out with students outside of my own program. Don't get me wrong, I really like the all people in IES, but it's also nice to branch out sometimes.

Alright I think that's about enough for today. :) I already have a list of things to write about in my next entry, so look out for that sometime soon! I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all so much! I would really love to hear from you guys, so feel free to shoot me an email anytime! - lindsay.gaskill@richmond.edu. And now I'll leave you with one last picture of a place I just thought was so gorgeous, which we passed on our way from the Kindergarten to our bus home. Other than that, until next time, arrivederci!

Le Lezioni (Classes)

Hello everyone!

So by now I've had a full week of classes, and other than the fact that it's a lot of class per week, I'm really enjoying it! I finally finalized my schedule, and I'll be taking 4 classes, along with an internship+seminar that I can get credit for like a class. My classes are all 2 hours long (whew) but most of the professors include a 5 minute break in the middle (pausa) and then finish a few minutes early, thankfully. So. First, the classes: 

I have Advanced Italian on Monday and Friday mornings (my only Friday class), which is going really well so far. It's a bit challenging, considering some other people in my class have been taking Italian for a lot longer than I have. But it should help me improve, so that's a plus! I also love my professor, Alice (pronounced A-lee'-chay, which actually means 'anchovy' in Ialian!) - she's young, really sweet, and really enthusiastic about the subject, so that helps us get excited for it as well. We have about 10 people in the class, and it's a good group of people so it's been fun so far.

Next, I have this Art History class called "Comparing Siena and Florence During the Renaissance", and it's on Monday and Thursday afternoons. So far, it's sadly not as exciting as I had hoped. Yes, we're covering amazing works of art, but the issue is that our Professor, Sara, speaks very little English... and she's teaching the class in English. So that has proven to be a big problem, even in our first few classes. Most of the time in class is spent by her reading off her English notes about the works, not really knowing what she's saying, and asking us if her English is correct. Don't get me wrong, she's a really sweet person; she just graduated from the equivalent of grad school last year so she's new to this, and she tries really hard so I can't get mad at her. And her little mistakes definitely lighten the mood of the slow-moving class - for example, yesterday we were studying an altarpiece called "The Birth of the Virgin", but on her powerpoint she had written "The Bird of the Virgin". When one girl asked about it (because she really thought that's what it was called, and there is clearly no bird in the image) Sara didn't understand at first - but when another girl translated for her, and told her that she had written "Bird" instead of "Birth", she burst out laughing, and so did the rest of the class. Soooo that class should be interesting. :) Oh and we're also going to be taking a few trips for class, to Florence and other Tuscan cities nearby, and it will be nice to see what we're studying!

Another class I'm taking is called "The Literature of Love", which is taught in Italian, and is on Monday and Thursday afternoons as well. We only have 4 people in the class, all girls, and it is INTENSE. Our professor speaks so quickly, and his voice is really deep and monotone so it's difficult to understand sometimes. He never speaks English, and he just whips through his lecture for the entire 2 hours. I feel somewhat accomplished because I can understand almost everything he says, even when he's talking a mile a minute, but you definitely can't lose concentration for even a second in that class. We've had 3 lessons so far, and after each one I've had a headache. I'll have to remember to take some medicine before that class or something... But it's a really great subject - we're going to read works by Dante, Petrarch, Bocaccio, and other Italian writers, whom I've always wanted to study. Plus, it's a direct equivalent for a class I would need to take at Richmond for my Italian major, so it works out really well! It'll be tough, but I'm excited for the challenge.

My fourth class is the required core course, called "Presence of the Past", and it's basically a class about the history and art history of Siena and the region of Tuscany. It's also taught in Italian, and it has about 11 people in it (basically our advanced Italian class plus one girl from intermediate). Our professor, thankfully, is very understanding of the fact that Italian is not our first language, so even though she never speaks English during class (she doesn't know much anyway) she'll slow down or repeat herself if she can tell that we're not fully understanding her. She also seems extremely knowledgeable on the subject, so that is making us all excited to learn. The class is twice a week like my other classes, but the Tuesday class is lecture, while the Wednesday class will always be a field study somewhere in Siena. So on those days we'll meet our professor somewhere in town to go see what we've studied, and she'll teach us on site (kind of like a guided tour). There is also an English section of "Presence of the Past", and they'll be going to the same sites at the same time for the field study, so it'll be the whole group of us together. I haven't had one of these field studies yet -our first is tomorrow - so I'll let you know how it goes. And I think I'm most excited for this class, especially because it seems like it'll focus on art history even more than my art history class will, and I think it'll be the most interesting Italian-taught class. But we'll see! :)

Now, the internship. I had no idea that I was going to be doing this, but a girl I know was talking about it and it sounded like a lot of fun... So I initially applied to get an internship at a museum in Siena, but sadly none were accepting interns at the time. However, I'm really excited about my new endeavor: I found out that I'll be teaching English to kids at an elementary school! I don't know the details yet - I should be getting them this week - but I'm so excited to see what it'll be like. I love working with kids, and for some reason I think little Italian children are the cutest things ever. So I'm sure it'll be great. :) And as a nice bonus, little kids don't usually know all the proper grammar, so I won't feel stupid if I say something wrong in Italian. (And I probably won't even need to speak Italian that much anyway, since they'll need to be hearing English.) Along with the internship, IES requires that we take an internship seminar, which is once a week for two hours on Wednesday afternoons. Our professor is quite the character and is really enthusiastic about us learning about other cultures and expanding our world views and whatnot. He speaks English really well, but since all 5 of us doing internships are in advanced Italian, he said he would speak Italian more often in order to help us. But then he ended up speaking some combination of Italian and English, and it was even more difficult to follow than if he had just spoken Italian... Haha but that class will definitely be fun. He told us that we'll even do a bunch of our lectures on site in places around Siena. Like for example, he mentioned that during one lecture we'll be talking about Italian healthcare in comparison with that of other countries, and we'll hold class at Santa Maria della Scala, one of the first hospitals in Italy (which is now an art museum). I'm actually not sure what else we'll be doing in that class (none of us are, really) but I'm excited nonetheless!

So those are my classes! And this may all be very boring, but if you'd like to know my schedule as well, it's as follows:

Monday:

9-11  Italian

2-4  Renaissance Art

4-6  Literature of Love

Tuesday:

2-4  Presence of the Past

Wednesday:

2-4  Presence of the Past (field study)

4-6  Internship Seminar

Thursday:

2-4  Literature of Love

4-6  Renaissance Art    <-- (these two switch times on Thursday - weird, I know)

 

Friday:

9-11  Italian

So there you go! And I'll also have a few hours per week of teaching English, but again I won't know the schedule until sometime this week or even next week. 

I'll try my hardest to post again soon, but until then, arrivederci! :)

Milano!

Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted - We finally started classes this week, so I've been and I'm going to be a lot busier than before!

Anyway, last weekend the IES program took us on a trip to Milan! All 30 of us went on the trip, which included transportation by bus, two nights' stay in a hotel, dinner both nights, and a few tours of the city. We got to see all the historic sites of the city, including the incredible Duomo, La Scala Opera House, some churches, and other noteworthy areas in Milan, and we had a lot of free time as well!

The trip started off with a 4 hour bus ride on Thursday morning, after which we checked into our hotel quickly and then took the metro into the center of the city. The first thing I saw once I exited the subway, literally, was the enormous Duomo of Milan. Its pink-white marble was so beautiful against the blue sky that day, and the piazza was pretty packed with people when we arrived. And funny story: the Italian version of TRL films on a balcony in the piazza, which they have showing on a huge television screen on the other side of the square, and our group was on the show for a few seconds! So now I can say that I was on Italian television. :)

That afternoon we went on tour #1, which took us inside the Duomo to learn more about it. Some fun facts: It took 500 years to construct (which is why it encompasses so many styles); it is the second biggest church in Italy (after St. Peter's in the Vatican) and the third biggest cathedral in the world; the entire facade is made of marble from the Italian Alps, with the exception of the gilded bronze statue of the Virgin Mary at the highest point on the roof; there are over 3,400 statues covering the exterior; its actual name is la Cattedrale di Sant'Ambrogio (the Cathedral of St. Ambrose), but absolutely no one calls it that - in Milan it's just "The Duomo".

the Duomo of Milano

After the Duomo, our tour ended with a walk through the pedestrian area of Milan, with the final destination of the Sforza Castle (which looked amazing all lit up in the evening - follow link for pictures). Afterwards, we headed to a restaurant where we had a delicious dinner - I had gnocchi in a cheesy tomato sauce for the first course, and a dish called Cotoletta alla Milanese (breaded and fried veal - a Milano specialty) for the second, along with red wine of course, and finally tiramisu! Everything was beyond amazing, especially the gnocchi... Then, as we were all desperately tired from our long bus ride and even longer day of walking across the city, that concluded our activities until the following day.

On Friday, we got up bright and early to trek over to Santa Maria della Grazie, a monastery that houses Da Vinci's Last Supper! They're very stringent there, so only 25 people are allowed into the room at a time, and only for 15 minutes. No pictures are allowed (sadly) but they have a tour guide stationed inside to tell you all about the painting. The Last Supper is more or less a fresco, per se, that Da Vinci painted on the refectory (dining room) wall of this monastery . Pretty appropriate, I think - the monks could contemplate the last supper while they were eating. And Da Vinci's experimentation with techniques (he painted on dry plaster instead of the traditional wet, and he used tempera paint) is what caused its bad condition nowadays. Even so, it was incredible. I was in complete awe. When I saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, it was kind of a let-down - It's very small and is placed very low on the wall in the museum, and the usual crowd around it makes it uncomfortable. The Last Supper, on the other had, exceeded my expectations. It's huge, first of all, taking up an entire wall of the room. And just being that close to a work that I've studied so much over the years, and that Leonardo da Vinci painted himself, was just amazing.

outside the entrance to the 'cenacolo' / last supper!

We then started day two of our city tour, on which our first stop was a medieval church called Sant'Ambrogio (follow the link for pictures). We then stopped by the IES Milan center (there are IES programs in Siena, Rome, and Milan in Italy) and we were able to check out the building and get a quick tour. Their program has over 120 people, compared to our 30! I can't imagine... And it made me really glad that we have such a small group. In fact, the whole trip made me more in tune with that fact, because the trip could not have worked out so well with 120 people! Anyway, after our short stop at IES, we finished up our tour at Porta Genova, where there is a canal. Who knew Milan had canals? I didn't. Apparently they were constructed in order to tow all of the marble from the Italian Alps (about 84 miles away) to Milan to build the Duomo - and that's a lot of marble. Makes sense.

the Milan canal

After our tour we had the entire afternoon free, so my friend Emma and I decided to go up to the roof of the Duomo! They charge 5 euros to take the stairs (and even more to take the lift!) but it was worth it. The views were incredible, and the architecture itself was so intricate and ornate that I couldn't stop taking pictures. And Emma and I are both fairly afraid of heights, so it was definitely a challenge, but one worth taking on. :) After we steadied ourselves enough to look out over the edge, we had a great time and actually ended up staying up there for over an hour and a half - and getting some great pictures! (Check out the link for more!)

love it.

beautiful architecture

reeeally high up!

After the Duomo, we ventured to a museum called the Pinacoteca di Brera. For all you art history nerds out there like me, I got to see Piero della Francesca's 'Brera Altarpiece' (that one with the peacock egg and the sacra conversazione), a special traveling collection of Caravaggio's artwork, and Mantegna's Dead Christ (the one with the crazy perspective). Although, we didn't stay for too long, and I just found out that I missed seeing a painting on which I wrote a huge paper for a class at Richmond. :/ Oh well, I'll just have to go back... And finally we ended the day with a big group buffet-style dinner, which was delicious of course.

The next day we had a tour of La Scala Opera House, one of the most famous opera houses in the world. We were able to go through the foyer, the attached museum, and of course the performance hall. It really is a beautiful theater, and I would love to be able to see an opera there, especially after studying so many operas in my Italian class last semester... Well, we'll see! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the performance hall, but I did grab one of the foyer!

We had a bit of free time again before checking out of our hotel and climbing back onto the bus, and in that time I was able to visit another museum I had been eyeing since we got there, where they were showing an exhibit on Magritte. No one else I was with was really interested, so I went by myself, and it was really an enjoyable experience. I really like seeing sites and traveling with other people, but sometimes I love to just get out on my own and explore. This was one of those times. So, I strolled over to the museum, bought my ticket, and perused the exhibit, mostly among Italians. When I came upon one of my favorite Magritte paintings (below) I ended up standing beside a mother and her young daughter. I overheard the mother explaining the painting to the girl (in Italian of course), saying that on the bottom of the painting it was nighttime but on the top it was daytime. Seeing the recognition on the little girl's face and seeing her smile widen was just too much, and I couldn't help but smile, too. :)

Magritte, 'The Empire of Lights'

And that concludes our trip to Milano! It was a really fun city to visit, but, like Bologna, it made me really glad that I'm staying in a smaller town like Siena for the semester. I didn't like having to keep an eye out for pickpockets, and even though the metro was easy I don't think I'd like to take it every day... I thought of the whole thing kind of like it is at home: I like visiting New York City every once in a while for a day trip, but for the most part I prefer the daily life of the quieter Montgomery. Now given, Siena is not as quiet as Montgomery - we have some pretty hopping bars and restaurants here that definitely overshadow those at home - but the main point is there. :)

Look out for another post really soon - aka this weekend - so that I can tell you all about my first week of classes and explain what my schedule will be like from now on! I hope everyone is doing well, and I miss you all!!

You're Full of Bologna!

EDIT: The links to my two photo albums from Bologna, along with some more pictures from Siena, are listed on the left! (They're through facebook, but you don't need to have a facebook account to access them.) I'm just figuring out some more features on blogspot, so expect some more fun stuff to appear on the sidebar! :)

Ciao tutti!

This past weekend I went on my first trip since I got here! My friend Elise and I traveled to Bologna (about a 2.5 hour bus ride) and we stayed there from Friday to Sunday morning. It was a lot of fun and we got to see a lot of amazing things, but it was also really exhausting....

So the trip started out with a 7:20 am bus ride out of Siena, getting us to Bologna by around 10. We then had to take a city bus to our hostel to drop off our bags, and then we took a bus back to see the city! We walked around all afternoon and saw all the major sites (including numerous churches, towers, and porticoes - I'll get to those later), and then when we were too cold and exhausted to walk for much longer, we decided to duck into a cinema and see a British film that was dubbed into Italian... that was interesting to say the least! Then we had a nice late dinner and headed back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep.

On the second day we got out pretty early with the goal of visiting a few choice museums, including the Pinacoteca Nazionale Museo (which we could never remember the name of and so we kept mistakenly calling the Paninoteca Museo, which would have meant that we were going to see a museum of sandwiches...), the Archeological Museum, which has a lot of Etruscan Art from Bologna, and the Collezioni Comunali in the main square, Piazza Maggiore. After a long day of museum-visiting, Elise and I headed back to the hostel and ordered delivery pizza - they had mentioned it earlier, and we were desperate for food... And it was actually really good! (I don't think any pizza in Italy is bad...) and chatted with a few people staying in the hostel before going to sleep.

Ok, so that's the overview. Now here are some highlights!

- The sites: First of all, Bologna is known for its porticoes (covered walkways along all the main streets that are made of beautiful arches, often with designs or paintings - see picture above!) which came in handy when it was rainy one day... Anyway, we went straight for the Piazza Maggiore first, where the enormous (i'm talking huuuge) Duomo of Bologna is. You can see in the picture below that the lower portion of the cathedral's facade is beautifully decorated with white and pink marble, and then above a certain point it switches to an ugly brown color with no decoration... This is because, back in the 14th century when it was constructed, the Bolognese people got a little too ambitious with the decoration, and ended up running out of money by the time they got past the first level... good job, guys. But, as my Italy Guidebook insists, the fact that it's unfinished gives it character.

the Duomo of Bologna - Basilica di San Petronio

We visited a bunch of other churches, but the most interesting was a group of churches at Santo Stefano that are all connected, called the Sette Chiese ("Seven Churches", although now only four remain there). They stand in a great cobblestone courtyard, and one of the four is the oldest church in Bologna, dating from the early 11th century. Actually, while we were there the churches were housing a modern art exposition, and it was really interesting to see the juxtaposition between the old and new. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, otherwise I would show you what I mean!

- The hostel: It was really cheap and really nice! The staff was really helpful, too, which was great. We stayed in a room for 4 people, with a full room the first night and then only 3 of us the second. The other girl there on our second night was this 23-year-old Australian girl who just got signed to be a professional rugby player in the UK, and is getting her PhD in business administration... Yea, we had a very long chat one night in which we basically heard her life story, we all tried to compare feet/meters, fahrenheit/celsius, and we discussed all the other differences between the US and Australia. It was definitely an experience. And she was really nice, so it was fun.

the view of our hostel, Ostello San Sisto

- The food: Bologna is known for its delicious food, and it did not disappoint. We had pizza for dinner both nights (the restaurant we went to on the first night's was really good!) but the best meal was definitely our lunch on the second day. I got a few tips from a friend who studied abroad in Bologna for a year, and he suggested this little restaurant in the University district called Osteria dell'Orso (Restaurant of the Bear). It had a really rustic atmosphere, in which most of the tables had benches for seating, and multiple groups would eat together... Both of us got big sandwiches, and they were incredible. If anyone is considering visiting Bologna, definitely make this a stop.

- Now to the most important thing - the gelato: I had the most wonderful gelato I think I've ever had. It was at this place called Sorbetteria Castiglione, where they made home-made gelato in their own flavors. And the cool thing is that each flavor has about 3 flavors in it, and then you can get 2 different kinds so you basically end up with 6 flavors in all. For example, I got this flavor called Dolce Karin (white chocolate, hazelnut, and caramel latte) along with one called Crema Guglielmo (espresso, cream, and stracciatella). Oh my goodness, it was incredible. All that, and they made it look all fancy, yet it only cost 2 euros, which is pretty much the norm for gelato around here. And I would make another trip to Bologna just to eat this gelato, it was that good. See picture below!

yummmmm

Over all, I'd say that Bologna has more of a city feel than Siena, with its main asphalt roads, city buses, and a ton of graffiti, so it was definitely a change of pace. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I got to go, especially because it made me really excited for future trips!

Alright, I think that covers all the exciting points... I'll be posting a link for a bunch of pictures from Bologna in a few days, so keep an eye out for that! Until then, here are a few more from the trip to hold you over:

me with a giant head sculpture, in the courtyard of the Collezioni Comunali Museum

a typical Bologna side street, with one of the two famous towers in the background

me in front of a beautiful colonnade in a church courtyard

Ok, now I have to pack because IES is bringing us to Milano tomorrow for a group trip! We'll be there from Thursday to Saturday, so I'll be incommunicado until then... But I'll post another blog entry a little after I get back! Until then, arrivederci!

Wine, Waves, and Underground Adventures

(Update: Pictures finally added to the first post! Scroll down to see them!)

Well, I've been in Siena for over a week now, and I definitely  feel settled in. Our apartment is pretty much fully furnished now, with the new additions of dish towels, a bath mat, pots and pans, and, most importantly, food. So other than a few more decorations and pictures I have to put up, it feels pretty homey. :) I've done laundry - which is quite the experience since the machine runs for over 2 hours, and there are no dryers -  I've been washing dishes left and right, and I've gone to the grocery store three times already. Speaking of the grocery store - ours is called Conad - it is so little and hectic that it's very stressful to shop in. The store directs your shopping path in a big circle, so you end up at the cash registers by the end of your trip. But if at the end of your trip you decide you need something from the entrance area - good luck. You feel like a salmon swimming upstream, against the path of a ton of Italian salmon. Believe me, I've tried. Hectic, I tell you. Anyway, they have a great selection of food, so it's been fun to explore.  The gas in our stove wasn't on until this tuesday, otherwise I would have cooked already, but now it's been remedied and we cooked our first dinner last night! We made pesto pasta and grilled chicken - nothing too fancy, but it was delicious, and my roommate and I felt very accomplished. :)

My program, IES, gives us the same status in town as the students of the University of Siena, so we get a lot of  perks, like access to the several libraries and the two University cafeterias in town. I haven't checked out the libraries yet, but I've gone to one of the cafeterias twice now, and it's amazing. It's really good food at an excellent price. Last week I got a huge plate of two pastas, a bowl of vegetables, bread, yogurt, and soda, all for only €2.60, and last night I got a huge personal pizza (made to order), french fries, fruit, and a soda for the same price. It's a lot cheaper than any restaurant or cafe in Siena, so it's a really nice option when you don't feel like cooking (or your stove isn't working, for that matter!).

I've been trying to meet Italians, but so far have been mostly unsuccessful... But it's only been a week so far so I have plenty of time. I have met one Italian, the roommate of some of the IES guys, Guglielmo (the Italian version of William), and he's really nice and patient when I try to  practice my Italian. It's been fun to learn what  Italians do and don't say in conversation (even if it IS in our textbooks) while talking to him, and I've even been able to translate some of the other Americans' conversations into Italian for him so that he can better understand, which is fun! It makes me feel like I can actually speak Italian. :)

We're still in our "orientation period" at IES, so we've been doing a bunch of group activities in the afternoons. On Monday, for example, we went on a group trip to a winery tour and wine tasting. We're in the Chianti region of Tuscany, so we learned how Chianti Classico wine is made, how it's flavored, etc. It was a really interesting tour, and the wine tasting afterward was wonderful. They had a big spread of bread, cheese, and meat (very Italian), and we tried three different wines: a Chardonnay, which won the title of second best Chardonnay in the world last year, and was therefore delicious; a Chianti Classico, the red wine that this particular winery specializes in; and lastly what they call a "Super Tuscan" wine, which is a term that originated in the U.S. and denotes a mixture of different red grapes from all over Tuscany. [My favorite was the Chardonnay!]

here's me in front of a huuuge barrel of Chianti Classico

these barrels can cost up to 20,000 euros, but can be used for up to 30 years

On Tuesday we visited a church and museum dedicated to the contrada of Onda. Contradas are very specific to Siena, and they are areas/neighborhoods of the city with distinct borders, each given an animal or other mascot. For example, Onda's is the wave and I live in the "Istrice" contrada, which means porcupine! :) There are 17 contradas in all, and those compete in the semi-annual horse race in the city center - Il Palio. It's  a really big deal in Siena, and most of the contradas' citizens don't even talk to each other when the Palio is coming up. It's a long-running tradition here that started in the 1400s, and it honors the Republic of Siena, which fell to Florence in the 1300s. -- Ok, end of lesson! Anyway, we got to see all of the traditional Palio costumes and flags from Onda, and it was really neat because they usually don't let people that aren't part of the contrada into their church.

group picture in the Onda contrada museum! (that's me on the bottom right)

Then yesterday, the IES group had an expedition into the ancient underground aqueduct beneath Siena, called the "Bottini". It's basically a tiny tunnel, built in the 1300s, that spans the entire city and was used as a well-system. So we took a tour down there, each with a flashlight, walking single-file, ducking our heads for most of the time, and occasionally slipping on the wet floor. It was great. :) We had an Italian tour guide and our director Amanda was translating. You usually have to reserve a tour about 9 months ahead of time, but  Amanda seems to know pretty much everyone in Siena, and she tells us that she uses her so-called "Mafia Connections" to get us into all these things. :)

inside the bottini - here you can see the tiny passageways we were walking through, 

with the water flowing beneath us

Ok that's it for now. These posts are too long (sorry!) so I think I'll try to post shorter ones more often instead from now on... Oh, and this weekend I'm planning to take a trip to Bologna, since we have no classes tomorrow! So I must go plan buses and a hostel and whatnot... I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all.

Sono in Italia? Davvero?

I can't believe I'm actually here!  Just for a recap, I flew into Rome this past Monday and traveled to the small medieval city of Siena (in the Tuscany region) on Tuesday, and will be here until May! I'm participating in the IES Siena program, which has about 30 American students in it, and I'll be taking classes at the IES Center during my time here.

Now. Down to business... Well, the only things I've really done in Siena so far are: try to become familiar with the city and my program, meet and hang out with a lot of new people, start my intensive Italian class, and eat really good food. But that description gives little justice to the fact that I'm having a really great time here! Siena is amazing - it's so beautiful in its medieval charm, and it's small enough that I can already  find my way around my area and some other parts of the city. It's also really safe compared to some other Italian cities, so rest at ease. :) The Sienese are friendly, but not many of them can speak much English so it's definitely a challenge in that area. But to be honest I really love that, even though it's difficult, because I'm already improving my conversation skills with ordering food, etc. And we just started our intensive language class, as I mentioned, and since I'm doing the advanced class that should be a challenge as well. Until the end of next week we only have our language classes, and then we'll start our other classes, so I'll fill you guys in on those once they start!

Siena. is. a. workout. It's so hilly here, so it seems like every direction is uphill! But I decided that I definitely can't complain, since I'm here after all. :) And because the food is so delicious , I suppose all the exercise is a very good thing. :) We had to go out for food for the first few days (I say that as if it's a bad thing...) because we didn't know where the supermarkets were until thursday. But now that we have a little food in the apartment, we even had a few people over to our apartment tonight for antipasti (appetizers) e vino. It was really a great time, so we'll definitely be doing that more often in the future.

Speaking of the apartment, it's  amazing! Ok, so a few things are slightly falling apart, but we can't complain: 1) we have a great location, only about 3 minutes away from the main piazza (Piazza del Campo) and on a pretty happening street, and 2) we live on the fourth and top floor of our building, and we have a private terrace on the roof! It's incredible, and the view is breathtaking. You can see most of the city, and on a clear day you can see the far off hills of Tuscany. There's also a table and chairs, an umbrella, and even two lounge chairs, so we'll surely be spending a lot of time out there once it gets a little warmer.  (See pictures below!) My roommate, Lauren, and I are super excited about it. Lauren's from Wisconsin, and she's really nice so we're getting along just fine. The other students in my program are really cool, and I've been hanging out with a lot of them, so that's been fun. :)

our terrace!

the view from our terrace :)

I have a few comments about Italian culture brewing in my mind, but I think I'll wait until my next post so that they can fully take form (plus this first post is long-ish so I won't go on for much longer).

And now for just a few important notes:

     1. Remember, it's 6 hours later in Italy than in the US on the East Coast. So when it's noon for you guys, it's 6 in the evening for me. (Apparently I've not only traveled to Europe but into the future as well...)

     2. My address: So I do live in an apartment, but the best way to send anything to me is through the IES Center, where I take classes every day. They have a mailbox for me, so I'll be sure to get it. :) Here's the address:

               Lindsay Gaskill

               c/o IES Siena

               Via A. Pannilunghi, 7

               53100 Siena (Si)

               Italy

     3. I would appreciate any and all emails, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! I'll be on skype when I'm in the apartment too, so you can find me on there to chat! :)

Alright that's it for now. I miss you all so much and I hope you're doing well!!

Buona sera!