Questa Canzone

Usually my teacher introduces italian music by giving us lyrics to songs. We first have to listen to the song and fill in the missing lyrics. After we do this she gives us the correct words and then we sing. Last week she introduced the song "La descrizione de un attimo" by Tiromancino. The title can be translated to "a moment's description". The music video is rather silly...I'd like to warn you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88juOMDziVg

Quando si diventa saggi, si capisce meglio il mondo.

When you become wise, you understand the world better.

Being abroad has forced me to reflect on myself. Who am I? and What do I really believe are questions that have been on my mind. Today I discovered that I am truly proud of who I am. I don't want to sound pompous because I'm really not. For most of my life I've actually had a low self-esteem... BUT today I've become a real woman. haha whatever that means.

Let me explain this better. I've realized that I have strong values because they have been tested. I've realized that I can keep promises... that I don't have to depend on anyone else to define me, that I can live without regretting anything and that I can forgive myself and others, that I genuinely enjoy helping those in need, that the friends I have are a few but true, that respect, modesty, selflessness, and an open mind are all part of my doctrine, that life is what you make of it, and that this is the longest run-on :)

La Classe d'italiano

La lingua italiano e bella. One of the reasons why I decided to learn italian was because it is phonetically pleasing. I'm currently taking Italian level 5 and will end with level 7 at the end of the quarter. Tomorrow I'll also begin the culture class- Italian Civilization. My language instructor is one of the most helpful and humble people that I've ever met. She is from Palermo Sicily and found a job in Siena like many other Sicilians who move to the north for a better quality of living. Language class is from Monday's to Thursdays and are only 3 and a half hours long. We have a twenty minute break in which I sometimes choose to walk around in Siena. Other students go to a Bar to drink coffee or munch on pastries (by the way Italian Bars are coffee shops) I'm so grateful for having Enza as a teacher for the entire quarter. Apparently she has been popular in the past, with other EAP students. I found a facebook group dedicated to her : http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=enza+bologna&init=quick#/group.php?gid=7755146834.

Enza also has a blog for her students. She has posted a couple of class photos and videos. As part of our classwork we read the blog during class. You are welcome to check it out- http://fall09l5enza.blogspot.com/

We are a class of 13. It's the smallest class that I've ever been in as part of the University of California, hhmm actually the smallest sized class that I've ever had in my entire life. My peers are from UCD, UCSB, and UCSD. I don't know think that we would be as close if instead we would be in California. I guess that being away from home, missing burritos, and sharing experiences in Italy has made us more like a family. I really like it :D

When in Rome...

A few weeks ago my friends from EAP Siena and I decided that it would be best to visit Rome earlier in the program since it was just a bus drive away. Rome is one of those places which one must visit. All in all I spent approximately 120 euro ( 52 for transportation, 12 for food, 30 for the hostel, 12 to get into the Colosseum, and 20 for souvenirs).
After figuring out how to use the metro system, the first major historic site that I visited was the Colosseum. We got off the metro and there it was- 1,500 years old and still standing, still as impressive. I was just as awestruck as the several hundred of other tourists from all over the world (many were from Spain and England). I know that my little sister would have really appreciated being there I hope that she has to opportunity to visit.
The second site was the Trevi Fountain. I made my wish and tossed a coin over my left shoulder. I really wanted to dive in there because it was so hot and humid. The Pantheon was our next stop. It was probably one of my favorite places. The art was too beautiful to be true, yet the Spanish steps really stole my heart. Once you go inside the church and are still still conscious (Spanish steps = many, many steps) you are surrounded by the most beautiful paitings that a church can possibly have. I also felt very peaceful. The next day we went to the Basilica di San Pietro in Vatican City. There probably was a line of around a thousand people from all ages. The wait was no more than half and hour. Hmmm what can I say about the Basilica. I could not have possibly imagined how huge and luxurious it is. After seeing Angele's Castle our last stop was the Piazza del Popolo. These two weren't weren't my favorite but I can't deny that the architecture was just as impressive as many of the other sites.

I don't mean to sound like a grumpy old grandma but there were a series of unfortunate events that made me want to rush back to Siena. Let's just say that I'm happy that I had the opportunity to visit this ancient and historically rich city but I don't plan to go back. Here is my list of complaints:

1) The tourists/ the people.
Ok, I was a tourist as well and just as intrigued about Rome as all of the others. I just wish that there wasn't a thousand of us for every square foot. Feeling so jam packed all the time doesn't make people be courteous either. Also, the vendors try to target Americans more than any other foreignors. Some common questions are you American? or Where are you from? Yeah. Sell me that for 5 more euro please.
2) The drivers.
I still don't know how people don't manage to get run over. You have to be really careful about crossing the streets.
3) The weather.
Heat and humidity should not be paired.
4) Our Hostel.
We paid 30 euro for a private room which came with a few extra companions. One of my friends woke us all up because the first thing she say on her pillow that morning was a roach. The hostel was not located in the safest area either.
5) The smells and the filth.
Some parts of the city don't smell good and aren't clean. It really wasn't that bad but I was expecting Rome to be cleaner.
6) The metro.
Maybe I should not complain about the metro because it was really convenient. The wait for each train was no more than five minutes and the stops led us to many historic sites. There was just too many people. We were packed like sardines.
7) Hair in my food.
No explanation needed.
8) My roommate was hit on the head by a man handing out a flyer.
That jerk. She kindly refused one of his flyers, and he hit her on the head (not hard by the way) and then mocked her.
9) Our bus broke down.
I was finally happy to get out of Rome and in only fifteen minutes on the road our bus stopped working. So we waited for an hour and a half.

Il Mio Apartamento

Originally I wanted to live in the mini resident halls because they'd seem to be more like dorms. Fortunately I was lucky enough to be placed in an apartment with two other girls from the same program :). I say lucky because after taking a look at the resident halls I realized that I'll have more of the real experience. Plus, I've some of my friends have already complained about how inconsiderate people in the halls can be. Also, I live in the only apartment that have wireless.

My roommates are really nice girls from Davis. Our landlord is also very kind to us. After moving in, he invited us to his apartment where he introduced us to his wife. Although it's hard to communicate with him since he knows very little English, we seem to understand him. Carrying an Italian dictionary when speaking to him is also useful :P

One of the first things that I learned was that Italians live in apartment buildings. Well at least the typical Italian. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before. Anyway since I was placed in an apartment, I thought that living on the 4th floor and not having a backyard would be kind of boring. I mean in the U.S. we really value our gated territory. We have our own spaces... So far, I haven't felt uncomfortable though and after observing how people can live so close together I've realized that there are many benefits. First, there is a greater community atmosphere. On the weekends and even on some weekdays neighbors socialize, either by singing, having dinner,drinking together, playing games ( lol, I'm not really used to this. I mean, I hardly talk to my neighbors at home). What I'm trying to say is that having no back yard, makes the street belong to everyone.

First Impressions

I know that I've started to write this blog after having been in Siena for a few weeks. I'll try my best to write about my experiences in the past weeks starting with my journey to Italy. I flew out of LAX on September 07, 2009. Honestly I was really worried about flying out and rather sad about leaving my family. Luckily I did not cry because my mom had a great way to deal with the sad reality that I was not going to see her for about four months (something that I've never done before). At the airport she started to joke. I don't remember what she was saying but all of us were having a good time. And, I was really excited about traveling to Italy and seeing Siena in 3-D and not through google.com. Once on the plane I texted my brother to let him know that I was ready to depart. I sat between a Social Worker from New Jersey and a man whom I did not speak to at all. On the next plane, I sat next to an Amsterdam lady with a really heavy accent. She was really nice but kept on talking to herself (she was nagging most of the time). Once we got off the plane in Amsterdam we were both disoriented and for this reason decided to walk together until we both found our next flights. By the way, I had not slept on the planes. I kept on imagining that the plane would go headfirst into the Atlantic ocean. I know that my thought process is a bit dramatic but I'm sure that everyone else had similar thoughts. I could not help to wonder about the millions of people below the plane. The world was so big and everyone a little speck. Ahhh, and with about ten hours on air I had plenty to think about. Anyway, I boarded a plane in Amsterdam headed to Florence. This time I sat next to the window. Looking down I saw mountains and tiny cars, and green patches of land. I was really excited :D At the Florence airport I waited for another girl that was also going to be studying in Siena. We finally found the correct bus after asking several people where the bus station was in horrible Italian. At that moment I realized that my Italian was not great. And would you guess how I found the bus station? I actually ran into a bus driver on the sidewalk who happened to be right outside the station. It was like winning the lottery :) Anywho, on the bus my body was too tired to truly enjoy Tuscany. I slept for about an hour. I do remember being a little disappointed about graffiti in Florence. Some parts looked similar to LA.

Getting to Siena was only half the journey. We still had to walk half a mile on the wonderful slopes of Siena. Oh and we were dragging our luggage. As we walked along the crowded streets people stared -I don't blame them. We arrived at our hostel and were relieved BUT our room was located on the fifth floor and there was no elevator. So three desperate girls with about 6 luggages struggled as they climbed to stairs. We wanted to cry out of exhaustion but we could not help but laugh at our facial expressions. So, after we got to the fifth floor we went out to have pizza and gelato. We also walked to the Piazza del Campo and realized that Siena looks much better in real life than in pictures. Standing in front of the Torre del Mangia, I felt the long journey was most definitely worth it.