Last Adventures and Sad Goodbyes

Well before I get sad about leaving Italy TOMORROW I thought I would share about some of my last adventures.

VESPA TRIP

• The weekend before exams I went with a group of friends to Florence where a bus took us outside of the city to the Chianti wine region. Considering I am not too fond of Florence's current population being mostly American college students dressed like they are going to the gym (or maybe that's all I see because I think its heinous), I was glad to see a different side of town. The bus dropped us off at this little in between warehouse type of thing where I payed an additional 15 euros for insurance and proceeded to sign my life away. I was then taught how to drive a vespa, and I have to say I am quite impressed with how well I did. I kind of felt like it was driving a really heavy jetski on wheels, if that is any comparison at all. But we drove around the countryside and made a few stops for a pretty church, a vineyard countryside, and a fresh cheese tasting. As much as I enjoyed the different stops, by far, my favorite thing was just driving around on the vespa. I think it has partially to do with me being an adrenaline junkie and the fact that I haven't driven in a little over 4 months. We drove to lunch and then had a classic Tuscan lunch, including a small wine tasting at the vineyard we were eating at as well as a sampling of their olive oils. They also made us ribollita, which is a stew type dish that was a medieval peasant dish made with stale break and veggies. Probably doesn't sound very good, but definitely worth trying and one of the weird things I have found myself liking here. We drove back after a wonderful walking tour around the vineyard and luckily, on the way back, made no stops. I probably got up to about 60 mph at my best guess since my speedometer didn't work. Probably one of my favorite little day trips in Italy, even though I feel like I've said that after every one. We also got some time to stop and go to the leather market in Florence where I figured I should buy something since I was there. And since I bought a purse in Florence when i was there 2 years ago, this time I decided to go a little less luxurious and buy a keychain of my favourite animal, a penguin made in Italian leather.

EXAMS

• So, I mean, I feel like exams are always a new adventure. Generally, I don't always know what to expect. Italians and Europeans in general are bigger fans of essays for tests rather than some American varieties which can make for a very vague idea of what to study. Not to mention, I'm not sure if you have tried to study in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but motivation is very hard to find in Italy. I had to write a paper before exams, I hosted my friend Kevin who was traveling through Italy, I was packing, and I honestly just found more exciting things to do than studying for exams. But in all fairness, I did well on my tests and had paid well enough attention all semester to have done well. Not to mention, for the first time in my college career, I didn't use every allotted absence in every class and even had perfect attendance in one.

GOOD BYES

• I would love to talk with whoever planned Umbra Institutes group flight because since there was a group flight planned for 7 am on Saturday morning, they offered a free shuttle to the airport for whoever wanted it at 1 am on Saturday morning. This being said, no one got sleep before the buses arrived. And since my parents arrived friday for our train Saturday morning I just decided to stay with my friends who were heading back to the States until their bus left. Not only was it so sad to watch my friends all leave on buses, but it was also more emotional because everyone had been up for so long with no sleep. Luckily I had a few friends who lived in Perugia that were at the buses saying their goodbyes as well who were able to walk my emotional self back to my parent's hotel room at 1:30 in the morning. It is truly hard to say goodbye to people you have lived with and spent everyday with for 4 months. I feel like I have known some of my friends I made in Italy for years and cannot wait to meet up with them somewhere else in the world!
  

Saturday, April 30 marks the end of my actual semester and begins my one week trip with my parents through northern Italy which will be in a separate post!

here's some pictures from last days/vespa-ing!

My Italian Class learning hand gestures

Emily and I paying for drinks in Pennies our last night out

Vineyard on my Vespa tour

Eric and I getting ready to vespa!

The Anti Camera

So here is my current thought on cameras. I am almost completely against them. I so often think about why I am taking pictures or why people take pictures in general and I can't help but think that we take pictures for other people more often than not. I mean, I enjoy going back and looking at pictures every once in a while and printing them to have in frames. But when we post pictures online or put them in frames it kind of seems like we just want to have them for the enjoyment of other people so we can show them what we have done. This semester this has come to mind so many times traveling with different people. I have caught myself several times so busy taking pictures that I am not experiencing moments. Towards the end of the semester the number of pictures I have taken has drastically decreased mostly because I am more into mental images and experiencing them than making sure I have a picture to show someone that I did something. Some of my friends probably have gotten annoyed by my anti-picture takingness lately, but I think it makes things more special. I mean, I want a picture of me in front of something really special but I do not need my face in front of every monument or a picture of every meal I ate. My roommate and I actually don't allow cameras at dinners anymore because it just takes away from the experience. I think the whole point of studying abroad has been to immerse myself in the Italian culture and to date I have never seen an Italian pull out a camera and snap a shot of their pizza.

I know this is a little wordy, but I thought I might explain my thoughts on this as well as procrastinate studying for my 2 exams tomorrow. My pictures have come to be very meaningful now, though. I will probably write again in like 2 hours when I get tired of studying again :)

Orvieto and Bagnoregio.

I reserve the right to be sappy for about 30 seconds.

So this time in two weeks I will be with my parents in Venice. It is hard to believe that such an amazing semester is coming to an end. I always thought about studying abroad and talked about it all through high school, but this is a totally unreal feeling. I still feel weird every morning when I wake up and realize I live in Italy. It is kind of bittersweet, leaving. I am just about ready to be back home, but I also love this place so much and I don't want to leave. My ultimate dream would be if I could move my friends and family to Perugia, totally practical right?

Unfortunately, end of the semester means piled on work. I officially have no more classes. Scary, I am really about halfway done with college. But I do have a 20 minute presentation, a 2000 word research paper, and 4 exams to go. Not to mention packing. I think that packing may be my biggest challenge I face in the next 2 weeks.

So now, I will stop being sappy mostly because I don't want to think about leaving this beautiful place and my amazing friends behind.


So about some of my recent adventures:
Last weekend, I went on a trip to Orvieto and Bagnoregio. Wow. That is the only thing I have to say about this trip. The stop in Orvieto was very brief, we really only stopped there because we had time and the cathedral was absolutely beautiful. The church facade reminded me a little bit of the cathedral in Siena. I also found this cute little kids store (I am the ultimate sucker for childrens things being a teacher and an aunt) where I fell in love with the classroom supply things in Italian and finally found my present for Lilly K after a 3 month search. It is this precious little Beauty and the Beast hand sewn doll that is bell and then it flips over and is the beast. That is probably a terrible description, but it is precious and I met the lady who's father makes the dolls who thought it was precious I was buying it for my niece and showed me pictures of her father and her nephew. I think being an aunt must be a pride thing, because I am sure all of my friends have seen at least 10 pictures of Will and Lilly K.

We left for Bagnoregio, which by far is the most beautiful place I have been in Italy and quite possibly the world. I have a thing for small towns, I think they have the most character. This is the city where St. Bonaventure is from and the main city part is only accessible by foot bridge. It is called the dying city because literally for years pieces of it are falling off the sides of the cliff. After a comical lunch with a very rude waitress, we walked around the city and just admired the beauty. I definitely would recommend going to anyone. And when we were walking back up to our bus, we got to the top of a cliff where we saw the city from above and it was even more spectacular looking.

I am sure there is more, but I am trying to study believe it or not so that way I can play next week while everyone else is studying! Will post pictures from Orvieto and Bagnoregio!

Pigeons, Pigeons Everywhere.

So once again, I have failed to properly keep up with this. No surprise. The last couple of weeks have flown by and I have a feeling that the next will do the same. I am down to less than a month here and although the idea of America is comforting, the idea of leaving is terrifying.

Weekend before last (March 25-27) I made a trip to Seville, Spain to go see one of my friends from PC. It was my first trip really traveling alone, and it made me very confident in myself. I woke up at about 6 am on Friday after making the foolish decision to go to sleep at 4 am. Please never do this! There is nothing fun about trying to force yourself to stay awake on three trains alone. After gathering my stuff and going down to the train station I successfully made it to Bologna after 2 train changes. Another confidence booster, because that was only the second time I have had to make train changes. I safely made the shuttle to the Bologna airport and got all checked in just in time to go through my first Ryan Air flight. For those unfamiliar with RyainAir, it is probably Europe's largest discount airline. Basically its point a to point b transportation with no extras or frills. I actually found it to be slightly less cattle hearding-like than easyjet, but that could have been because I was at a smaller airport. I got to Spain after catching up on some sleep on the flight. Patrick met me at the airport and we were off to see Sevilla! Seville was so beautiful and we were blessed with some amazing weather. I had only previously been to Barcelona in Spain, so to be in a totally different part of the country was so nice. I got to meet some of his friends (like me, he is friends with many people from all over the world, not just the country he lives in) and we grabbed some tapas and went to a party for Erasmus students at one of the discotecas in town. It was interesting seeing the nightlife in such a larger city than Perugia, definitely a little more upscale. The next day we did a little bit of touristy Seville. We went and saw the worlds largest gothic cathedral (AMAZING!), the bull arena, the Plaza de Espana, and some other key sights. We also took a break from reality and went and laid in the park and got a go-cart type bike thing and just soaked up some sun. It was nice to be able to see things as well as relax. We also went to a beautiful art museum in an old monastery building. And for our last outing, Patrick and I went to this place thats like an indoor picnic area/bar that has Flamenco dancers and music at night. The show was so neat and the dancing was definitely impressive. Patrick and I said our goodbyes and I managed to get all the way back to Perugia the next day from my hostel.

The trip to Spain definitely made me very aware of my surroundings because I was forced to do so much listening and very little talking besides the occasional question or two asked of me on the train. It also made me very aware that my Italian language skills are killing my Spanish skills. Patrick definitely ordered everything for me the entire trip. I can still conjugate and form sentences, but those little question words and simple things you need for conversation all seem to come out in Italian now.

This last weekend was much needed. After very little sleep, I needed some chill time and that is exactly what I got. After we discovered the discount grocery store (not sure why we never made it there earlier this semester!) thats about a 15 minute walk, we had everything we needed for a picnic. On Friday we went to this grassy area outside of a church and got some sun and just people watched in the park for a bit. It was nice to just have people drawing, playing soccer, and cute dogs all around us. I got more sun I think than anyone else, but luckily my red turns into tan really quickly. Saturday was filled with more sun and exploring which was still very nice. Sunday, as always, is reserved for sleep and work. This Sunday, though, we did go to the little biological market that comes the first Sunday of every month.

You can definitely tell that the semester is coming towards an end. Big projects are due, everyone is stressed, and time is flying faster than ever. The amount of work I have just in the next week baffles me. Oh well, its life and its all good. Although this weather is so irresistible and the sunshine is constantly calling me to take a break from schoolwork!

Making Up For Lost Time

So since slacking for almst a month, I would say in the past week I have been a champ about actually writing. Mostly because I am actually in Perugia and not travelling around Perugia. So since today was absolutely beautiful I spent some of it outside until I was forced in by the cloudy cold and my Italian homeword. The weather here definitely reminds me of home because there is no climate, just unpredictable weather.

This next portion is really devoted my mom and dad, but anyone who wants to shower me with gifts upon my arrival back the US is welcome. Last night I had a dream and in this dream I went on a shopping spree at Target to buy those little drink packets you can mix in with your water. I was unaware that I missed these little things, but since waking up I have been craving the sugar free grape kool-aid single serving pouches. So this got me thinking, what would be things I would love for there to be when I got home? This is not to be a downer, because honestly I would choose Italy over any Crystal Light packet. So mom,please take some notes...

1. Obviously, Single serving drink mixes.
2. Tide Total Care Laundry Detergent
3. Ice cubes
4. Biolage Volumizing Conditioner
5. Iron Suppliments
6. A belt
7. A new car (totally worth a try)

On another note, during me spending some time on the beautiful steps of Perugia I actually got a lot of journaling done and here are some things I came up with:

I think somewhere, there is an old Italian woman inside of me. I get no greater joy than to realize there is beautiful weather outside and push open our shutters with all of my might (this of course, is something I picture little Italian women doing). I would personally like to challenge anyone to find me a more beautiful sight than a sunny day in Perugia. An old Italian man once told me that in nice spring weather I would want to sit on the steps of the church until my cheeks were red and burned. He was right. Springtime is coming and I couldn't be more thrilled. I had a friend actually tell me last night that although she was sure that she would come back to Italy later in life, she wasn't sure that she would come back to Perugia. This, to me doesn't make sense. I think this might be where that Italian in me comes into play. Italians are usually very rooted in their hometowns and rarely move from them. To be honest, I haven't been rooted to a single town in a while. My heart is in so many places, it only seems natural that part of it stay in Perugia as well . Some of why I love Perugia reminds me of how I fell in love with my college. While I could say I just ended up in both places and ended up liking them, I think that might be an understatement. My best friend and I always used to make fun of Presbyterian College and call it a cult in high school. We did such because everyone who went there said they loved it, but no one could tell you why. Now that I go to PC, I can tell you some qualities about it that I like, but cannot really give one solid answer of why I love it there. Perugia, to me, is the same way. It isn't that we have a Colosseum or giant famous sculptures, or grand sights to see. I think that those things are nice, but it isn't why the cities that have them are great. What Perugia has to offer (at least to me) are many things that are not traditional. Perugia offers Italy's fourth ugliest cathedral, one famous fresco tucked away in the city, town characters that can always make you smile, and places that make you feel at home after only a short while. Now, I realize I am biased, but these things all sound appealing as a place to live. It never gets old going on a walk and seeing the panoramic views around the city. I sure hope this won't be my last visit to Italy, but surely not to Perugia.

In the meantime, Psychology is calling my name. I want to get my work done so I can enjoy tonight with friends and (hopefully) a sunny day tomorrow.

I fall more in love everyday.

So literally, I am in love with Perugia. You can ask my friend Kelsey, as she probably heard me say it about 987988 times on our walk today. There is nothing more beautiful to me than this small town on a hill. Today, her and I literally walked around to see what we could find. There is something charming about getting lost in Perugia. We walked anywhere and everywhere and I saw the actual University of Perugia today, after 2 months, its about time I did. The school is a lot bigger than I expected, but the exterior is really beautiful.

Before and after our walk, we spent some time on the stairs. I know I have written about the stairs before, but honestly I have a love of them. There is something about sitting on the steps in the sunshine and just watching life happen before your eyes, as corny as that sounds. Some of my personal favorite sights on the steps include small children chasing pigeons, parents chasing their small children chasing pigeons, unknown dogs wondering around, and seeing friends and family meet up. I want to live on these steps, but as far as I can tell as long as at night time it remains a popular drinking place amongst college kids, I do not want to wake up surrounded by the remains of someone's rough night. There is something peaceful about them and majestic even if I am the only one who thinks of these stairs in that light. Not to mention, the stairs true highlight, I believe they are the only porportionate stairs in the entire city. Italy is not known for its easy staircases.

So I realize that I mention food alot when I write, but mostly because it is something I am asked about a lot living in Italy. So I thought I would share about a very special resteraunt I ate at with my food class this week. Not that I am fortunate enough for my teacher to take us all out, but once a month he picks a place and the first 5 students to respond get to go and have him buy us drinks and side dishes with our meal. I got to sit at his table for this one and it was incredible, probably the best food I have had thus far in Perugia. The place is technically an illegal restraunt because by law it does not exist. When you go you fill out a form and you join the association for the rights of the elderly. By doing so you are joining the "club" and can eat there. Not sure how this works, but basically the little Costa Riccan lady doesn't pay taxes, the food is cheap, and I now have a membership card. The food is phenomenal, she is known for her guacomol which is just cut up and marinated avacado and tomato. I personally have tried the farfalle there which is little bowtie pastas with pine nuts, shrimp, basil, and cheese. HEAVENLY. Also she cooks everything herself and the potatoes, if you get them, you can actually watch her stick in the fire while you are waiting. For side dishes they have wonderful baked potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil - and if you want it, a little gorgonzola cheese. Also, I would recommend the grilled zuchinni and eggplant. Please do not get concerned about me eating all of this in one sitting ,it was more of me trying everything. Anyways the place is precious, and called Osteria del Tempo Perso, which translates literally to "Lost Time." The name is correct because with a group of 8 people, countless amounts of food, and 4 liters of wine, we never noticed we were there for almost 4 hours.