Carnivale!

My Mask!! I was a little obsessed with it 

me and my roommies in venice ( L-R: Audrey, Carli, Me)

The Grand Canal 

People got a little dressed up no big deal

looking out over the Rialto Bridge at sunset

view from the gondola ride

Audrey and I on the gondola 

a typical street

breathtaking 

the Rialto Bridge

A few Anecdotes about the Interesting Nuances of Language

Communication Barriers in Italy

     

1)   The first phrase I learned in Italian is Sono Allergica Lateria. Which I thought meant I am allergic to dairy products. However this past week I found out that I have actually been saying that I am allergic to dairy farms… people still got the gist but embarrassing.

2)   In Italy beautiful or at least not heinous looking women are extremely valued for promotions at clubs and bars.  Apparently if young girls, especially American girls, are seen at bars or club those bars do incredible business. So based on that my roommates and I have all received VIW cards, which allow free entrances and drink to some of the hottest clubs in Florence.  Can you guess what VIW stand for? Yes that is right it stands for Very Important Women. This is a real card and I am not making it up. My only question is why do we not have these in America?

3)   So I in Italian the vowels are very tricky.  My new friend Olimpia shares the same concern with English. Olimpia is Italian by the way. She was telling me that she has had to stop saying certain words because she just can’t pronounce them. When she said this I inquired which words do you mean? She responded so innocently “I just can pronounce the word “asshole” .  I laughed but said no that is right.  She then looked extremely embarrassed and said “ no, no I did it again I mean the American word  “Hassel”. Because Italians do not pronounce the “H” my dear friend had been going around expressing what an “asshole” everything is.  Oh language barriers. 

Weekend Day Trip Pictures

The Streets of Viareggio all had carnivale decorations similar to this one

yes this is an Obama float

This is a float of Italy's President who is being accused of sleeping with an underage girl.

The flower float

The contamination of the flower float

Float about technology taking over

Everyone in town was dressed up in crazy outfits even when they went to lunch like this alien. 

Another interpretation of the Italian president's administration and term.

Obama with a terrorist on his head... we could not really extract exactly what message this float was trying to say

BIG BUG!

Chianti landscape

$50,000 Barak

More Chianti Scenerey

Weekend Day Trips

18-20 February 2011

This weekend I did two different day trips. The first to Chianti a region in Italy known for its high quality wine and one to Viareggio a town outside of Florence that holds one the biggest Carnival parades in Tuscany.

Chianti

On Friday morning we took a 50-minute bus ride to Chianti to take a wine tour. The day turned out to be the perfect weather! Sunny and around 15 degrees Celsius (figure it out in Fahrenheit I had to ;) Just kidding I typed it in two a converter on google. It is about 60 degrees. So it was the perfect temperature to tour a vineyard. We started off by being shown around the property and through the wine cellars where they hold the big baraks (wooden barrels) that age the wine.  Each of the baraks cost about 50,000 dollars!  However they can each be used for about twenty years before being replaced. We also learned that on this particular vineyard the wine cellars used to be dungeons back in the middle ages. After the tour we were treated to a wine tasting of four different wines, three table wines and a dessert wine. The wine was accompanied by four different types of meat and two different types of bruschetta. After our tasting we walked around the vineyard a bit more and then headed back to Florence to make it home in time for dinner.

Viareggio

Viareggio was by far my favorite trip so far even considering the fact that it rained the entire time and was freezing!  The parade was incredible! The floats march in a parade along the boardwalk of Viareggio.  The floats have satirically inspired themes about local and international politics, each one taking about a year to make. Please see pictures for examples. My favorite float was the one against water pollution. From the front it is a beautiful flower but as it passes you can see how the damage to the environment has ruined its beauty because it is covered in smoke and trash. I am hurrying to type this so I can upload the pictures so if you have questions about the parade are carnival just comment on the post and I will answer them thoroughly! 

Each Meal Keeps Getting Better

12 February 2011

This morning we made our way to Fiesole a small town about 15 minutes outside the city. It is known for its incredible views. Unfortunately today was overcast and it even drizzled a little bit. We took shelter in a monastery museum, which was very interesting. The friars there lived in very tiny rooms with only a desk, a chair and a bed. After the rain slowed down we took a bus back to Florence.  As we walked home from the train station we window-shopped and got gelato. We even stopped at the chocolate festival again and I got strawberries covered in dark chocolate! 

13-15 February 2011

Another week begins. Monday was kind of uneventful. Just settling into a routine. Tuesday was Valentines Day so my roommates and I went out for gelato. And I was surprised by a package my mom had left me!  In the package (which was beautifully wrapped) was a beautiful Valentine’s Day bracelet!  Thanks mom!! On Wednesday I has wine appreciation. In class we tasted three white wines and learned the science of how to make wine. Before this class I honestly could not even imagine how much work, effort, money, and labor went into making wine. Never again will I drink a glass of wine like its water. After all the work that it takes to make it, the wine deserves to be savored. Unless its box wine.  Also on Wednesday Nikki and I adventured to the school gym to see what it was like.  We worked out for about an hour on the tiniest machines known to man.  From what I have seen Italians are about the same size as Americans however their desks, and work out machines are so tiny you would think they are all 5 feet tall and 100 pounds.  In class I literally am squished into the smallest chair and even smaller desk that can barely fit my arm nonetheless a notebook. I am unsure as to why this size difference exists but it is an interesting thing to get used to.

16 February 2011

This morning I woke up to rain, rain, and more rain! Today I had my Italian class where we learned about definitive articles.  I also had my International mgt class where we watched a 2 and half hour-long PowerPoint presentation….  The good think about today was that I found a new sandwich shop! It is basically the Italian version of subway where you can make up your own sandwich from scratch.  Tonight my roommates and I are going to an aperitivo. This is an Italian tradition where you pay a flat fee of usually 5-8 euro and get a drink and then unlimited food.  The food is more like a cocktail hour and not like a real meal but sometimes we use it as our dinner when we are running low on money. In Italy the locals go before they go out to there real dinner.

The Journey Continues

9 February 2011

            This week of classes went by in a blink. I was literally exhausted Monday because of the Rome trip and admittedly almost fell asleep in my first class.  There are a few things from the past few days that are extremely note worthy. First of all I have decided to volunteer for the local museum organization in Florence and give tours to English speaking groups around the famous churches in Florence. Said churches include the Duomo and Santa Croce. I am just in the beginning of the application process but I think it will be a great way to get to know the locals running the program and to help give some of Florence’s visitors a passionate and enthusiastic opinion of Firenze.  In other news, there is a GIANT chocolate festival literally 4 seconds from my apartment. There are about 20 booths covered head to toe in chocolate. They even have chocolate in the shape of shoes and tools. I purchased these tiny dark chocolate covered nut things, which are delicious! I am sure the guy behind the counter was annoyed however because I kept asked “no latte? no latte? no latte?” he finally answered “lady it is dark chocolate there is NO milk” in perfect English. I smiled and said thank you. Tonight we went to Lauren friend’s, who she met at the gym she works at, bar. He gave all 7 of us drinks for just 5 Euros, which is really great deal! It was nice to see a more traditionally Italian bar and of coarse to make new local friends.

10 February 2011

Hello everyone!  Today was filled with lots of walking! After getting to sleep in a little bit I am feeling much better from this bug that I think everyone who went to Rome caught. My roommate Nikki and I walked around the city all day. On our walk we discovered the BEST gelato shop that makes half of its gelato with soy milk! So no latte!! My life has been officially made because of this shop! We also where able to find me a book bag so I can stop carrying my things in my SAI free mesh tote bag.  After walking for not joking almost 5 hours we came back and took a nap and am now preparing a chicken fajitas dinner for 7. Lauren (my other roommate) was out all day gathering up the ingredients and we are about to start cooking….. The dinner went swimmingly. Magically all the food was ready at the same time even in the small kitchen.  It was nice to have a family style dinner where everyone sits down at the same time.

11 February 2011

Shabbat Shalom from Italy. Today after a day filled with errands and homework Nikki and I went to services at the local synagogue.  To start with on my way to the shul a group of about 40 men where waving the Egyptian flag and yelling in Italian. They were about two blocks from the synagogue in front of a lot of stores that have Arabic writing so I think they were just celebrating in their community.  Regardless any large group yelling in a language I do not know is a little unnerving. Once we made it to the synagogue the services were literally only 20 minutes. The synagogue was absolutely beautiful! With a huge teal dome and ornate archways the building itself was awe-inspiring. However it is an orthodox congregation so I was stuck behind a partition. There were about 30 people in attendance most of which were visitors from Europe, Israel, or American students. I would say only a handful were from Florence.  After services we went to get dinner and now we are getting ready to go out with Lauren’s boss who said he will take us to the clubs that we wont have to pay at! We will see how that turns out. Hope everyone enjoys there weekend! 

Pictures from Roma!

Tivoli Gardens!

Lauren (one of my roommates) and I in front of the Colosseum

EU, Italy and VT? 

Roma for the Weekend!

1 February 2011

            The days are beginning to speed up here! My classes so far are very Italian. My interpersonal comm. class has smoking breaks and it is a very long two hours even though I think it will be interesting. My Italian class is wonderful. My teacher played Motown in the background the entire class .… a little distracting but relaxing.  I can now say. “hello my name is”, “ I have a brother and a sister” and “ I live in Virginia”. As you can see I’m really making progress!! My wine appreciation class is actually really scientific! For example you can tell how long wine has been aged based on the color it has when tilted against a white surface. (The white surface is for a better view). On Tuesdays I also am taking a zumba class! Today was the first day and it was intense.  Some of the girls we met in Zumba invited us over for dinner and they made an incredibly fancy meal! Wine, pasta, soup, chips and dip, and bread! It was delicious. Tomorrow I have Italian again and International business so I’m hoping those go as well as my other classes have.

2-6 February 2011

            So I have not written for a while because I have been super busy! My international business class actually seems kind of hard. I already have a project due next class on the political ramifications of Russia’s policies on business. Yikes! Needless to say that class stressed me out a little bit.

            Since then though I have gone to Roma! We left Friday morning at 5am!  A bus picked us up at a piazza across town and took us first to Tivoli, a town an hour outside Rome. There we visited the ancient estate of a very wealthy cardinal and then toured the gardens which were breathtaking to say the least.  They spanned half a mile and were filled with fountains, flowers, and looked as whimsical as the set of Alice in Wonderland. (I will put pictures up soon!) We got lunch in Tivoli, which was a four course meal! I have never eaten so much in my entire life! Then we continued on to Rome. We checked into a nice hotel and then went to dinner, another four-course meal!! My stomach was very full!  The next day we woke up at 8 and took a walking tour of Rome. This included the coliseum, the forum, the pantheon, and many famous squares. After our tour I met up with Marissa for lunch!  She is my friend/roommate/sorority sister from tech who is studying in Rome this semester for those of you who do not know. It was lovely to see her!  After lunch and some walking around the Spanish steps with her, my friend Sydney and I had to figure out how to take the bus by ourselves back to our hotel. We thought is would be easy but the bus driver would not let us purchase a ticket on the bus. So we had to find a Tabachi shop (where they sell tickets),purchase them, find the right bus, and then find the right stop to get off at! We ended up doing it and were extremely proud of ourselves because we are both directionally challenged! After a nap that night we went out to ANOTHER four-course meal and then went to a local pub. We met a few local Romans and it was nice to practice my Italian. For only two lessons I was very proud of myself! Apparently this day I proved myself to be very competent. This morning we left Rome after an hour bus tour around the city and lunch on our own around 1:30. I just got back to Florence and have a pile of work to do for class tomorrow! Rome was incredible and it made me really excited to start to travel!