Arrivederci Siena!

It's 11:20am here on Friday the 30th. I just finished my final exam for my orientation Italian class and we are leaving for Florence in a few hours! As beautiful and quaint as Siena is I am definitely ready to head out and get to Florence! I'm ready to finally not live out of a suit case in a hotel and get settled into our apartment. We got our addresses in Florence last night. It looks like we're about 20 minutes (walking) from school but we are by most of the night life. I think our location seems pretty good. I don't know if I mentioned my roommates yet. I have 2 roommates, that happen to be the same girls I lived with in Siena. (A lot of people are with different people then they were with in Siena) So we've all have got to know each other, which is a plus. They are extremely nice. We're all very different and have three different groups of friends, but we definitely all get along. I think it works out perfectly actually because we don't get sick of each other.

Our last few days in Siena I climbed to the top of this tower and was able to take some great pictures of the city from above. I posted some pics from that. You can click on them to make them bigger, but make sure you click the "back" arrow when you're done looking at the picture and not the "x" or it will navigate you out of the blog.

(omg the guy next to me smells so bad right now...im in the internet cafe..I feel like Im going to have to leave because of him..not even joking..ahhhhh...anyways)

Nothing big to report except that I'm about to be in route to Florence. Hopefully it will only be a few days before we get internet hooked up!

Pics of the trip so far...

Pictures of London, England and Siena, Italy
Me and my friend Kaylee out to dinner

Siena, Italy

Candles at church

Paintings

Pretty ceiling

The Duomo, where I go to church

Kind of dark but...our hotel, on the left and sunset up ahead

Italian cooking classes!

Friends out to dinner

Me in front of the other side of Siena

Siena:) (the one day it was sunny...haha)

Campo:)

Streets

London, Big Ben

Sign outside of Westminster Abbey

In front of Buckingham Palace!

Castle!

Tower Bridge

The Solo Weekend in Siena

Since I've been on my own this weekend in Siena I've had some time on my hands to explore and do some observing and people watching. There are definitely some things I've noticed about Italians that are unlike Americans. Here are a few I've noticed most:

1. Great Service, No Attitude: I wasn't really sure what to expect service wise (restaurants, hotels, stores) etc. when I got here. If it was like America you'd have some good service and some poor service, and occasionally run into the employee that has a major attitude and just seems to hate their job. You'd sometimes get the wrong meal or just have terrible service or food. Well...this is not the case here. I have been going out to eat every night with 10 or more people and not ONCE have we received bad service, and even more remarkebly, NOT ONCE has someone gotten the wrong meal. I find that quite impressive. Also for example: I went out to eat tonight by myself to a busy italian restaurant. They had a party of 20 in the restaurant who just came by after a wedding. The same waitress that was waiting on them was waiting on me..so I thought (as any American would) "I'm doomed." Here I am sitting by myself..like she's going to care about me. She immediately came over and took my drink order, asked if I wanted to use the FREE internet, and then got my drink right away. I had told her I didn't want to use the internet and that I'd like my food to go. 5 minutes later I change my mind and decide I do want to use the internet and would like to stay and eat my food. I tell her this and do not get one bit of attitude. She then takes the time to come over and set up a username and password with me. All the while I'm speaking all English and she is doing her best to understand me and is completely calm and nice. I got my food quickly and she was right there to ask me if there was anything else she could do for me. I said no, thank you. (Okay I said that part in Italian though. She deserved it. haha) All I could think after I left was..."That would almost never happen in America." And I started thinking about all of the great service I've received here. Here is another example: I figured I'd be stranded at the hotel and the staff would have no clue anyone was left behind. Well the program director must've told them I was here for the weekend. The guy at the front desk has said, "just let us know if you need anything." "We'll make you whatever you want for dinner." "We can't open all of the floors for breakfast like we normally do for your whole program since they're not here, but you just let us know what you want and we'll bring it to you at whatever time you want it in the morning." Sure enough..9:30am eggs, toast, and juice at my door. So as far as service...Italians: 1 Americans: 0

2. Enjoying the simple things in life: Italians enjoy simple things like food and wine. They spend hours at dinner in conversation and have course upon course. They smile and laugh and always seem to have time to sit down and enjoy themselves. Not to mention everything closes 1-3pm everyday so everyone can have a nice long lunch break. Very nice compared to the 30min-1hour lunch Americans take as they shove McDonald's down their throat trying to balance ketchup on their lap as they talk on their cell phones and speed back to the office.

3. They have diet secrets we don't know about: So they take all this time to eat, they eat course upon course, they eat all carbs yet...they're ALL skinny!!! Someone explain this to me!? I am yet to see a gym around here either. You rarely see people working out. They all wear skinny jeans that are wicked tight..(yes even the guys) and they are all flippin skinny skinny. I'm going to stick with the theory it' s because their food is so fresh and not processed and has a ton of trans fat and gross preservatives like America. Either way: I need to know their secret.

4. They really need to shower more: Okay, so I know it's a cultural thing....but come on. A shower is a shower. It should not be cool anywhere in the world not to shower. I mean that's like everyone beliving Adam Sandler's line.."It's cool to pee your pants." And then having a whole country go with it. An italian man told us a week ago.."ladies here are attracted to their "musk" they get from not showering. I almost threw up. I've had to leave internet cafes when I've been sitting next to Italian men because of that musk. I don't know how anyone could find that attractive...it's like.."A smelly man...ooo baby ooo baby." (gags)

5. Late nights: I remember when I used to work in restaurants growing up and be like "Sweet it's almost 10pm, I need to do my side work quickly so I can leave and go hang out with my friends.." I would not have been hanging out with my friends after work if I worked at a restaurant in Italy. Dinner time is really between 8-9pm here. It's completely normal. We've never eaten before 8pm here. It's kind of crazy and creates a late night for people...especially the people working there. Especially with how much Italians drag out meals! Tonight was the first night I ate before 8pm and that was because I was by myself and didn't want to listen to the Nancinator's wrath when she heard I walked back to my hotel alone at 930pm. :)

6. Apparently January in Italy=Seattle in the USA: Talk about a rainy spell. Ugghhhh. That's one thing I've hated. January has been sooo rainy. I just want some SUN!

7. Scarfs, scarfs, scarfs, bags, bags, bags, shoes, shoes, shoes: I have never seen so many of of these three things. Definitely going to need another bag when I come home.

8. Olive Oil: Their addiction, my new addiction.




More to come on "Observations of Italy" ...but for now...

Things I Miss:
Matt-Been thinking about you a lot lately. Miss you and love thinking about your distinctive laugh. Know your looking down on us:)




This boy-and the way he makes me smile and feel all the time. I am so lucky.

My roomie Sarah, who I was with 24-7 last semester. Life without her is different to say the least.

Laura-Always on my mind. Shine on down.

Basketball. My first year without it in 15 years. I really miss it a lot.

My rockin nana. She's the coolest.

American Pride. Americans in general.

Babson.-Can't believe it, but I do. Slash my comfy blanket.

THE BOSTON RED SOX. And Boston sports and spirit in general.

Friends like this. This picture cracks me up and reminds me why I have the greatest friends ever.

NH and the snow. If you can believe it. And obviously more fun friends:)

ALL of YOU!:)

Italian Church, The Italian Designer, The Terrible Virus, The non-existent trip to Venice

Where to begin....it's been a while. (Thank you Siena internet..appreciate it)

Last Sunday I went to church in Siena. It was in a beautiful cathedral and all in Italian. It was a classic catholic mass. I thought it was so funny how I could basically "repeat" along with the congregation just because it was so exactly similar to a catholic mass back home...even the same tones. Of course I would speak in English while they responded in Italian, but I knew we were saying the same thing. At the end of the service the priest said some word (I dont even remember what it was) that must've signaled the end of the mass and people got up so fast and started walking towards the doors I thought something was wrong. I literally contimpliated that maybe there was a fire or something. Then I realized it was just the end of mass. It was 35 minutes tops...maybe. Which I was surprised about. I was also kind of turned off how similar it was to a mass in the US and how structured the whole thing was. I wondered how many of the people who went even thought about what they repeated and to how many of them church is just a routine for them and nothing more. It was weird because I was sitting in this absolutely amazingly beautiful huge cathedral and still felt like it made me appreciate church back home. It wasn't even the language barrier that threw me off, but just the entire feeling of the environment of the people around me. None the less...a good experience.
So yesterday I was walking down the street and all of sudden this italian designer (actually I shouldnt call him Italian..he designs in Italy, but he was actually Asian) comes out of his shop and starts talking to me. He asks me if I have a few minutes and starts showing me a bunch of clothes and asking me questions and complimenting my clothes. (Ha) He then has me go through and pick out my favorite designs of his that are in his shop. After this he tells me hes working on a new dress design and he thinks the colors would look great with my skin tone etc. and just needs me to basically model his clothes for him so he can work on his sketches and blahdiblah. Obviously this was odd but we were literally in his design shop right on the side of a main street of other businesses and shops with huge glass windows, so I didnt really feel threatened. I had a few minutes so I tried on some clothes for him (it was weird how perfectly they fit me) and he started attaching all of these fabrics onto clothes and was drawing a bunch of sketches and had me doing all these funny poses. It was really funny and kind of fun. Also kind of weird, but we'll forget that.
So the TERRIBLE virus. Randomly on Monday of this week I started to feel really sick. My throat had never hurt that bad in my life. Felt like knives when I would swallow. My neck was wicked swollen, with bad swollen glands all over it. It wasnt as bad on Monday, so I woke up on Tuesday and went to school feeling horrible. Halfway through Tuesday I was in bed all day. Felt like I had a fever etc. I started to get really scared. I got medicine from the pharmacy that day that hadn't worked. That night at 1am the 24 hour on call Italian dr had to come see me. He took one look in my throat and rapidly started telling one the program directors something in Italian I couldn't translate. The director didnt say anything to me for about 3 minutes so the whole time I'm thinking "Do I have a deadly disease...or...?" finally she says.."He says you have a virus." So I was like "greaaaat" Long story, short: He gave me a perscription which I picked up the next day. Didnt go to school on Wednesday and just laid in bed all day and tried to get better. I felt horrible and didnt think the perscription was working. I took Nyquil to help me fall asleep that night (for those of you who know me I never take medicine..so to take that much..I must've been desperate haha) and I slept for 13 hours that night and woke up feeling a little better. I had to go to school that day because I had a test (they dont let you make up things here in Italy....) and then came back and tried to rest some more.
Unfortunately this was the weekend we were going to Venice as a group. We were leaving this morning at 7am and coming back on Sunday. Its a 5.5 hour trip from here to Venice where we were warned its supposed to be "freezing, pouring, and maybe flooded, the whole time we're there" As much as I wanted to go I made the decision to stay behind in Siena. I can't risk getting more sick or going backwards in getting better when we leave for Florence in a week. I feel like Im missing out, but I have been to Venice before so it wasn't a once in a lifetime opportunity. Hopefully these 3 days here will allow me to catch up on things back home, I'll atcually get the internet because no one else here is trying to get on!!, and I can get some sleep, and have some peace and quiet. (yes, it is kind of weird being here by myself..but there is also one other girl who stayed behind because she is sick too(dont know her though)
For those of you who know me and just read that paragraph about me being sick I know what you're thinking..."HER LIFE" haha...corrrecccccct.
The Marine Corps decided to instate a new policy of.."if you bring your cell phone into the field you will be NJP'd. AKA: Non-Judicial Punishment. AKA: Lose Money, rank, and most likely pre-deployment leave. So thank you USMC. And it's all because some really smart Marines started using their CELL PHONES instead of the RADIOS for COMBAT COMMUNICATIONS while training in California. Way to go! *high five*
Alright well I should go head to the grocery store or something so I can drownd my sorrows in food and tv and internet of course. (CNN and BBC are the only two channels they have in English here) I kid you not when I say: I watched THE ENTIRE INAUGURATION. I'm talking from the moment the Obamas stepped in the car to go to church that day until they went to the inaugural ball that night. hahaa. I've learned so much about the world in the last couple days only having those channels.
I really do miss just being able to go up to someone in public and have them understand what I'm looking for or want, but it is pretty cool being able to understand people more and more everyday.
I miss you all and NH and the snow and EVEN Babson. (That was a stretch)
Until next time....

Siena

I've offically been abroad for a week now. It feels like I've been gone forever! I feel like I've done so much in so little time. London was so quick and we did so much then we hopped on a plane to Italy and have been getting settled here ever since. I think when I got here I had never been so tired in my life!! I had the worst jet lag. The program we're on took us out to dinner at a great restaurant in Florence the first night here. Unfortunately we were all so tired we were practically falling into our food.
I got some sleep that night and finally felt better the next morning. We had our orientation meeting and met our roommates and got settled in our room. I have 2 roommates who I found out will also be my roommates in Italy. They are really, really nice, which I'm excited about. They are also really fun and pretty much just like to enjoy life. One of them has a boyfriend like me so we can relate to each other in the missing them department. Unfortunately she is really homesick and is having a hard time. This is the first time in my life I feel like Rob and I being apart since we've been together (haha, oxymoron) has actually helped me. I'm used to him not being around, unlike my roommate. Communication, especially with him, has definitely been a challenge. I'm 6 hours ahead of him in Italy and now 9 hours ahead of him because he's in CA training for now. Speaking of Rob..he booked his tickets to come see me in Italy and I'm really nervous for us that something is going to happen with his pre-deployment leave and it's going to get pushed back and he's going to miss his flight. Please pray about that!!
The internet at the hotel is pretty bad. All of us (200 people in my program) all try to get on and the system starts going slow and then pretty much doesn't work. Most of my internet access has been done at internet cafe and restaurants. Rarely anyone offers internet for free in Italy. (They're quite behind in that area it seems)
We started our italian classes on Monday. We have class about 3.5 hours a day. It is intense, to say the least. I'm excited I'm learning so much though and will hopefully be able to communicate with Italians better once I get to Florence. We have our first test this Friday..Yikes!
There we're all different events we could sign up for, so I am doing a tour of Siena, going to a wine tasting, and taking italian cooking classes. I think all should be fun and interesting.
I've started going for runs in the morning (gotta do something to work off this amazing food) and it is so beautiful looking out over Siena. This whole place is surrounded by walls that look medieval and just make it seem so secluded and like it's your own world. If you have seen the Truman Show...that's how I feel! It seems so unreal, it seems fake. I feel like I'm in a movie and everyone around it knows it but me. When you're here it's like nothing bad could possibly happen. Everyone is happy and just simply enjoy each others company.
I can't believe I'm going to be here until May. It still seems like I'm coming home in a week and this is just a vacation. I've never been this relaxed in my life with no worries, job, commitments (well...except learning a whole new language) It's just so refreshing. I'm already realizing all of these different things I never thought about and just our relation as Americans to citizens of other countries. I feel like this is going to have such an impact on my life.
I really do miss everyone back home. That is one thing that's really difficult. Not being "in the loop." I'm getting more and more over that by the day though! I also have a cell phone now! .30 cents a minute for me to call the US and free to receieve any calls! So email me if you want the number! Please keep me posted on what's happening in the good ol USA. Obama inauguration soon! dun dun dun...!
As for me..I'll hopefully be able to grab internet every once in a while. Next weekend we're taking a trip to Venice, and then back here until the 30th ! Well..off to get gelato. (...best thing ever)
Missing you all! Arrivederci!!

London

So here I am in London. We've been here since the 8th. (aka my 21st..woot woot) Our flight went well and the first day we were here we met people from the trip, then went out a little bit that night to a pub and got to know some people. This morning we went on a tour and I saw some of the landmarks of London I'd only ever seen in pictures (Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben...etc) London is a very cool place with lots to see and do. Tonight we went out to eat and then to a bar/club. I also took my first ride on the "tube." Much cleaner and nicer then the T...then again I've been noticing most countries public transportation seems to be nicer than America's.
I should probably go to bed because I have to be up in two hours to meet in the lobby for our flight to Pisa, where we'll transfer to Siena until jan 30th. This all seems really surreal still. I already feel like I'm gaining a different perspective on so many different things after only being gone a few days. This is definitely going to be an experience. Miss you all.