Tag: Italy

Happily Lost In Any Light

equestri vitam3 Comments

Traditions, history dates, stories, new tastes, new smells, sounds, words, phrases, feelings, memoirs, happiness, sadness, nostalgia, the joy of going home, the fear of going home, are all the things that I experience every single day while living abroad. The adventure I’m living is taking me places I’ve never been to, neither mentally, nor physically.  With only three months left in this beautiful country there is an abundance of thoughts and feelings racing through my mind.

On occasion I look behind at the person I was when I stepped off that plane, five months ago, in a completely new environment, on the crisp morning of the 31st of August and notice all that has changed. I was scared, oblivious to what would come next, afraid of the unknown, and nervous. When I take the time to analyze who I am now, I see someone who has grown immensely, and continues to make countless new discoveries about herself everyday.

I’ve recognized that I no longer need to keep my guard up for what lays ahead of me or behind me. As long as I remember to take a deep breath when confronted with difficulties, keep true to who I am, and set my mind to what I aspire to do, I can and will achieve it. I’ve discovered that the fact of the matter is: I wanted fresh air, a new surrounding, and I attained it all because I ventured outside my comfort zone and took a leap.

This whole Italy gig has done a great amount to my psyche. It’s allowed me to pinpoint my true persona, toss out the clutter I carried which invaded my mind and untie everything that dragged behind me. The new acquired space allows me to trust, gain, and learn in greater quantities.

I feel lighter like there is nothing I can’t do, I can get lost in any light and still sense happiness and peace. Having had a stressful sophomore year due to personal issues at home, this year is acts as a retreat and cleanse.

This year serves for me to let go, enjoy and find myself through learning, new friends and new experiences. I’ve learned from being in Italy that it is completely okay to break down and show what you are feeling. It’s normal and only human to crack and carry a sad face rather than a constant happy one. I’ve learned to allow myself these days. My psyche grows everyday with every single moment.

Although one small thing haunts me as time goes by, how will my psyche change when I return to America? How will I react to the immediate switch? There is a large chance that the quick alteration of setting will disrupt my new psyche I’ve reached while living here. I’ll be forced to face reality and go on with life without the coliseum practically in my backyard. It’s a scary thought but in the end, I will adjust and trudge on with the fond memories of the best nine months of my life.

(Taken and slightly altered from an english essay I was assigned in my english class)

Image

The Apocalypse Is Upon Me (In the Italians eyes)

equestri vitamLeave a comment

One of the things that I’ve learned about Italians is that they are utterly terrified of bad weather. No matter how minimal it is, it’s the end of the world.

Every single time it is even slightly grey or cloudy outside, my host mother makes sure I am completely bundled in impermeable clothing before leaving the house. Rain jacket, rain boots, and without question an umbrella must be on me at all times.

This morning has been the biggest example of this Italian behavior I have ever seen in my entire life. As I woke up this morning and went down stairs  it was noticed that it was snowing.  I got so excited, my first time in snow this whole winter. The snow barely covered an inch on the ground, but still, it was snow!

My normal routine carried on, walked out the door at 7:25 to catch the bus, got on the bus around 7:35. As soon as getting on the bus I noticed that less than half the people that normally are on it, weren’t. Two minutes into our commute to town the bus slows down and slides slightly while going down a hill. As soon as it began to slide, every single italian in the bus lets out a death shriek. After five minutes of being stopped we are notified that there was an accident up ahead. In my head I’m saying to myself “Seriously? there isn’t even half an inch of snow on the roads!” But sure enough there was actually a car that had driven off the road into a ditch.

I immediately called our Direttore of school to notify him that we’d surely be late arriving to school today.  When he answered, before even giving me a chance to speak all I heard on the other line is: “NON C’E SCUOLA, NON C’E SCUOLA, NON C’E SCUOLA,”(if you didn’t catch on that means “there is no school”). My classmates that I share the bus with quickly got off the bus and walked home.

Read More »

After school expeditions

equestri vitam5 Comments

I hadn’t planned on blogging again until after my Rome experience but I must share to you all about my day today.

First, after school I walked through downtown and got delicious Gelato. A cono piccolo with menta and nutella. If you haven’t assumed already, I’ll let you know that it was freaking delicious! So to start that put me in an excellent mood for the evening. After I finished my delectable gelato my host dad picked me up to go home, or so I thought…

We were heading up to the mountains behind our neighborhood. I asked my host dad what we were doing and he explained to me that we were going to see my Nonno’s(grandpa’s) farm. We arrived to the farm and greeted Nonno.

He then took me into the bottom floor of the farm house where I found his small winery! I always knew that my family made their own wine but I never knew how or where. Turns out that they do it five minutes away from home. Nonno explained to me the whole process of the wine making which is quite simple.

First all the harvested grapes are put into a big grinder and all the mushed grapes go into a wooden barrel. When the barrel is full there is a lid that with a crank pushes all the juice out of the barrel into a bucket. All the juice that goes into the bucket is put into bottles for a long time to ferment and become wine. I tried some of the grape juice before it’s fermented into wine and it’s absolutely delicious! Naturally very sweet and refreshing.

After viewing the wine process we walked through the farm to pick grapes and tomatoes. Which are all organic without pesticides or anything of the sort. The grapes are so yummy to snack on. Read More »

Exploring Outside the Walls of Viterbo

equestri vitamLeave a comment

The past three days I spent on a school orientation trip outside of Viterbo. The fact that anywhere I go in this country is absolutely beautiful like no other is still so surreal and overwhelming to me. I don’t think we came upon any ugly place, not even while driving through the more industrial cities! Everything is just incredible no matter where you are.

All 68 students plus faculty loaded up onto our huge double decker bus Thursday morning and took off to our first stop, south of Viterbo, a city called Sermonetta.

It is a medieval city just like Viterbo but much smaller. The name Sermonetta contains “monetta” which can be translated to coin, and it is said that money was coined there. Also during the Dark Ages it was a used as a fortress for the Pope.

Steps up to the Castle of Sermonetta

Our next stop was at the Gardens of Ninfa. The Gardens are located on the ruins of the old city of Ninfa. But the city was brought to an end, by whats called the Papal civil war of the 14th century. Ninfa was brought to its original glory in the 20th century by the Italian Republic named as a Natural Monument in 2002.

Read More »

Viva Santa Rosa!

equestri vitam4 Comments

So, as promised, here I am writing about the infamous annual Santa Rosa festival in Viterbo. I will start with a little bit of background history. Santa Rosa (Saint Rose) became a Saint circa the 17th century in Viterbo. She was born with a condition that is now called Pectus excavatum. It is a deformity where, either you are born or develop during puberty, several abnormal ribs and sternum. Normally back when Santa Rosa was alive it was known that children born with this condition only lived two or three years.

Part of Santa Rosa’s sainthood came from the fact that she lived until she was 18 years old with this condition, therefore named a saint. Also during her time, it was illegal and not accepted to associate with or give to the poor but Santa Rosa secretly helped the poor by feeding them, giving them clothing etc.

One day as she was carrying a sack of bread to the poor, the police stopped her to question her about the bread she had and to eventually arrest her for her illegal association with the poor.

Read More »

Ciao a tutti! – Hello everyone!

equestri vitam2 Comments

As you may or may not know, now you do, I am studying abroad this 2012-2013 school year. I am in Viterbo Italy, which is a small medieval city north of Rome. I am a part of a program consisting of 68 American students from all over the United States. We all departed from Boston Logan-International airport the 30th of August. Most of the first day in Italy is a blur because I was so exhausted, up until the evening when the host family ceremony took place. My host family consists of two parents and an eighteen-year-old sister. Where I live is not in downtown Viterbo but in an outside neighborhood called Bagnaia. I have a 25-minute commute to school on the bus into downtown. Viterbo is divided into two parts, “New Viterbo” and the historical Viterbo. What is the “historical Viterbo” is completely walled in. The historical downtown is absolutely beautiful, while walking through the streets I feel like I’m walking into a picture from a history book. My first full day in Viterbo I was pooped on by a pigeon, which is said to be good luck, and found a worm in my plum at lunch. A little bit of a turn off for my first day, but regardless I can’t express how excited I am for the next nine months here! I’ll be following up with another post about the Santa Rosa festival, as a sneak peek I will just say that it involves a 5-ton, 7 story tower being carried on the backs of 100 men…

Arrivederci!

Bailout

therightliberalLeave a comment

I try to stick to writing about politics but sometimes I just feel like there is something else that needs to be talked about which requires me making a pathetically weak connection.

I wanted to talk about cars so I thought, well there has been a lot of criticism aimed at politicians regarding their bailout of the motor industry. And personally, I feel that the complaints are not warranted, and here is why.

Despite the many complaints, we do in fact manufacture much in America. And one of our largest enterprises are cars. So why should we just let the car industry fail when it is so pivotal for our country.

“Oh well that’s not part of capitalism!” You are wrong. Capitalism requires doing what needs to be done to keep your market afloat, and that’s what we did.

But more importantly, look what we have created! We are currently experiencing a renaissance of the American (muscle) car.

ford shelby 500

We have the Chevy Camaro ZL1, Ford Mustang GT500 (and its other variations) and the Corvette (which is getting better and better).

Ford’s whole range of city cars like the Focus, Fusion and Fiesta are all great cars and the Chevy Cruze and Malibu are good too.

Sure we aren’t Italy; producing Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s or Alfa Romeo’s. But that has never been what we aim for.

I don’t like many American cars because I like going around corners as much or more as going very fast in a straight line. But we really are getting into the market with cars like the Focus that are perfect little rally racers.

Would I rather drive a Lotus than a Ford? Yes. Would I rather drive a 620 GT than a Camaro? I would imagine so. But are we doing good things in our car industry? Yes.

The next step for the American car industry is getting into the dream market AKA the super car market.

The Ford GT is the last super car we made and it was fantastic. We don’t really have a company here that makes super cars but with our reemerging industry one may emerge.

For now we can be happy with having Hennessy and the other great tuners of the Red, White and Blue.

America has had a long love affair with cars and we must work to continue that and build upon what we have. This is not a plea to buy American because I’m not a person who would. But if you fancy an American car don’t be ashamed, be proud.

Mani Pulite

vabenissimoLeave a comment

A 74-year-old man paid for a 17-year-old teenager girl prostitution.

Who is this man?

He is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Known for his notorious behavior strictly against morals, he has been in office since 1994 and dominated the Italian government.

But, how does he remain to hang onto his power?

This golden strategy lies within his prosperity. His stunning ability to manipulate the Italian political system with his power abuse sealed the lips of victims for years, until now.

Since this teenage Moroccan belly dancing prostitue called Ruby Rubacuori has been presented to the shocking public, his troubles finally spilled out on the table.

Italians have desperately waited for this moment. I remember during a dinner, two Italian college students suddenly yelled out his name in joy for having him tried on court officially and finally.

At another time, this woman from Rome complained about his terms through a story; because previous Italian politicians relied excessively on bribery, the citizens voted on Berlusconi, a wealthy man who could not possibly ask for more materialistic possessions. Then, she went on about how the old times are much better than this snobby man worsening the already inefficient government system.

And, she ended her story by repeating “Mani Pulite” (Clean Hands)–an Italian way to investigate the corruptions within the political world through an official judicial process.

As a response to his frustrated citizens, Berlusconi says he is not worried about trial.

Well, his trials will be run by a panel of three women judges. And, he has recently completed a plastic surgery for his nose and teeth that have been badly ruined by his protesting crowd.

Perhaps, he should be prepared a bit better for his worst nightmare.

Amen, Berlusconi.

Bella Roma

vabenissimo2 Comments

Rome was my home. Indeed, living in Rome itself was a beauty. While residing on Via Volusia from 2008 to 2009, I wished I was a S.P.Q.R. girl. Many people are familiar with the term “Romans,” but in the real world of Rome, the Italians with legitimate Roman birth certificates are actually called the “S.P.Q.R.,” or Senatus Populusque Romanus.

Here are the moments that I miss the most: eating a pizza or gelato on the steps of Piazza di Popollo and Spagna, lowering prices of items by proving that I was not a tourist, buying the freshest fruits and vegetables coated with the early morning mist at Campo di Fiori, riding a bicycle around the city with my friends’ support, taking my European History class in “Roma,” hearing my favorite gypsy violinist play behind the Pantheon, complaining about the heavy morning traffic with the police officers and neighbors on my way to school, having sugarless cappuccino, pasta with thin spread of cheese and salt, rosetta (rose-shaped) bread with prosciutto and juicy mozzarella inside, or crispy panini as breakfast and lunch during school hours, going to guilty vintage shopping where gypsies sell their stolen goods, running to catch buses 213 and 202 every morning, hanging out in my neighborhood of Via Cassia, going for picnics at Borghese Park, sneering at the posters of scandalous Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, listening to Andrea Bocelli’s magical cadence spilling from the Coliseum, learning about business people from Embassies of diverse countries, FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization), and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Parioli, gazing at the back side of Santa Majore Church at night, strolling down Via Berlini with my beautiful friends on my side, and tasting the most delicious gelato in the world near Termini Station.

Read More »