Palermo

This past weekend my roomate Tina and I went to Palermo Sicily. We had an awesome experience.

We flew, so we got up early in the morning and took the train to Pisa, where we caught our flight. We met some other Americans, from Minnesota in Fact, but they were only interested in drinking in Madrid, so we didn't talk to them much.

On the second train to the Aeroporta we were stuck with some Americans who though they were going to miss their flight to Barcelona. They complained loudly the whole train ride that they were going to miss their flight. It was embarrassing. Then off the train, they literally ran--checked in--ran up the escalator, realized they were going the wrong direction, ran down. One girl slipped and fell face first into the ground.... A group of Italians thought this was quite funny. Seriously obnoxious.

Which leads me to be embarassed to be an American student. There are so many horrible students here who get drunk and think this is some sort of holiday. Some of us are here to learn and it makes us all look bad. After the great flood in Florence, students who helped save works of art and books from the library were refered to as Mud Angels. But not anymore.

Every day I go to the market, I use the little Italian that I know--to order my food, converse with locals, etc. It never fails that the other Americans there say things like "Ummmm can I have that big loaf of bread?" and then try to pay with a card.

Anyway. That was a bit of a tangent. Back to Sicily.

We arrived and took a taxi to our B&B. It was in an apartment buiilding and was a really nice facility.
Our hosts, Romeo and Naomi, didn't speak much English, but we still communicated well.

Outside, the traffic is nuts! Worse than Rome. Motorcycles and Mopeds on the wrong side of the road, honking all the time, people running in and out of traffic, wild dogs roaming the streets. INSANE.

We ddid a few things that first day, including the Modern Sicilian Art Museum (19th and 20th Century), the Quattro Canti (Four fountains in the city center), the Cathedral and then had supper at a nice restraunt where we tried Sicilian Dishes.

We had: Meatballs made of Sardines, a dish with Eggplant, olives and anchovies, a broccoli spaghetti and a nero spaghetti. All with strange flavours and interesting textures. A very awesome experience. The owner didnt speak English at all, so he opened up google translate to try and speak with us. :)

Speaking of English, most people there didn't. At all. Tina and I, however, did well with what little we knew.

We went to bed early that night and got up the next morning early for breakfast. This is where we met Cosmo. He lives in Como, in Northern Italy. He spoke a little English and a little German, so communication was easier for the three of us. He invited us to come and visit him the second morning at our Bed and Breakfast.

We had a big day planned so we headed out into the city. We stared at the Regional Sicilian Art Gallery. Where we saw some really fantastic works of art. Including a few things by Vasari. We then went to the Archeological Museum and spent time looking at artifacts from ancient times. Very cool.

Finally we faced our fears and hopped on the bus to go to Moreale. The bus made its way up the mountain and the view was incredible. The Cathedral wasn't opened yet, so we spent time exploring the city. We were harrassed by a begger there which was annoying but we managed to keep our distance from her.

Our lunch consisted of two oranges and about 20 strawberries. All for under 3 Euro. A beautiful treat. We sat under the sun and ate fresh fruit.

The church opened and it is unlike anything I have ever seen. Every inch was mosaic. The walls, the floor, everything. Depicting stories from the Bible. Nearly everything imaginable. After spending some time in the church we climbed up to the bell tower. Where we saw the most beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and the Palermo bay. It was stunning.

We returned home and explored a little more and had a nice dinner. We were tired, so we went to bed early again.

Got up early Sunday morning and went to a few churches and then to the Capella Palatina. Yet another beautiful site to see.

We found the bus to the airport and hung out there till our flight home.

The experience was something I will never forget. We met a woman from Texas, who was Italian born who said everyone treated her very poorly. Tina and I didn't even run into anyone who was rude to us. No one spoke English, and they would come up to us and speak Italian, but no one was rude and we did our best to communicate. The dialect is very different there.

I would go back if I had the chance, it was a wonderful experience and I think Tina would agree.

Adjustments

Hello everyone!

Life has been treating me well. Classes have now begun and I am starting to create art.
My professors are all very different. My favorite so far is Lorenzo. He is very Italian. I have him for Italian I and also
the History of Modern Italy.

My painting class has been difficult to adjust to because I have to use acrylic or water based oils because of poor ventilation in the building. I am currently using acrylic, but I am going to switch because I feel like it is working against me.

I am enjoying my time outside of class as well. I've been getting fresh food from the market near our house and also (my favorite) the one accross town.

I made quasi friends with the man who works at the Jolly Cafe. His name is Roberto. It is good for me to practice my Italian on him, even if he is a little grumpy with me.

We (my roommates and I) have been doing as much traveling as we can. So far we have been to Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa, Livorno and Cortona. This weekend Tina and I will be flying out of Pisa to Palermo, Sicily. We are both very excited for that.

It is rainy today in Florence. I decided I was going to get up and go out anyway to find this German Lutheran Church. I wasn't sure where there church was or when the services were. I found it quite easily, however services were not posted and it was locked. I decided to grab a Cappucino while I waited and headed back to the church after a bit. I saw a man and a woman enter the back door--so I went up to it. Stand on the inside were a dozen 12-13year olds staring at me. I asked if this was a church (in english) and the girl nodded her head. I asked when the service was, and she just stared back blankly at me. So I asked in Italian if she spoke English..and she called someones name. An older man walked over, in Italian told me he didn't speak much English, pushed me out of his way, and all the kids filed past me and closed the door behind him. After he passed me, he started speaking Germaan, and I felt really dumb for not asking in German since I knew how. So they got in a van and drove off. I was kind of irritated that he was so rude to me, but I walked around to the front of the church to see if it was open. It wasn't so I walked around the block to the back again and pushed all the buttons next to the door until someone answered me. I said, in German, "Excuse me, I would like to attend the service..." The door buzzed and I entered a musty dark room. The door slammed behind me and I fumbled for the light. I found the light and in front of me were 3 doors and a stairway. I tried the three doors and they were all locked... I ascended the staircase in hopes I could find someone who could tell me when the services were. I walked up three flights and knocked on all the office doors, but no one was there. I was really creeped out at this point, so I ran down the stairs and out of the building.

So, no church this morning, but the church looked beautiful and I really want to go to a German service there. I just need to solve the puzzle.

Thats all for now.

Ciao!

Late night.

I learned so much today. We went on a walking tour of the city with our two Italian professors, Lorenzo and Matilda. We saw a lot of the things that I saw the first time I was here. Tina and I both knew a lot of the history behind what they were showing us, and both teachers were impressed that we had seen so much already.

We had a question time, which was really great for information about what to do, what not to do, where to shop, what to eat, etc.

After that we watched an Italian movie, (it was interesting I suppose....) to help us start to hear the language and relate it to the english words we know.

After all the learning. We came back to the apartment, had some supper and went to bed.

Unfortunately now I am awake again.

Who would have thought that sleeping here would be so hard? Down below our window is a market of sorts that sets up around 5:30am and takes down around 8:00pm. Tonight I went to bed around nine, but the sounds from the people in the streets below are so loud, it is hard to fall asleep even if I am tired. And if I do fall asleep even now, I know that in about 4 hours I will wake up again to the sounds of the market setting up. Something to get used to. I am looking forward to when I quit jet lagging and start sleeping well.

Tomorrow we spend the day in Cortona.

Finally Here!

After a long three days of Traveling I finally made it to Florence.

Shortly after missing our connection in Paris, we discovered we would be set up in a complimentary hotel for the night. We were told our next flight would be at 7pm the next night. We were excited to get to our hotel and Tina and I soon headed into Paris via train.

After buying our tickets we decided our first stop would be Notre Dame. On our way in Tina and I got a look at the slums of Paris. It was hard to believe what we saw..if anyone has seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire, it looks something like that. Finally we made it to Paris. We had Gyros (a cheap meal) and explored the Notre Dame area.

We decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower, which consisted of about an hour of walking in the wrong direction, a few missed train stops, then another hour of walking, until we finally made it. Exhausted, we explored the area for a bit, then walked to the nearest Metro and made our way back to the Hotel.

We arrived at the airport hours early to make sure we got to the right spot. Charles de Gaulle Airport is a nightmare, FYI. Upon security check-in we were informed that our flight was at 7AM not PM as the man had told us. (We had met another Santa Reparata Student named Toni and she was with us as well. We were helped by the information desk receptionist who told us we could only be on a waiting list for the day and the next flight he could get us on was Wednesday morning.

We decided to go on the waiting list. After a few hours were were told that there were three open seats. We ran to the gate but there were only two left when we arrived. I let Tina and Toni go ahead and I told them I would find a way.

I headed back to the information desk where an extremely helpful woman got me a flight to Rome connection to Florence. I gladly took it, and headed to a different terminal, went through security again, and waited by my gate. The rest of the night went well, ran to my Florence connection in Rome. Arrival in Florence saw me with No luggage and some sympathetic French women.

My taxi ride to the school was interesting. My driver was going 50 over the speed limit and was writing a response on facebook while he was at it. Fortunately he was nice enough to help me get someone in the apartment to let me in, because my paperwork had the wrong apartment number. Some other SRISA girls finally (reluctantly) let me in. And I went through a good portion of the Apartment knocking on doors until I found home. I've never been so happy to see Tina.

Looks like I wil be taking Painting IV, Printmaking, Italian Cinema, History of Modern Florence, and Italian I.

Everyone I Have met is so helpful and I am looking forward to the semester here.

Tomorrow begins intensive Italian training. (6hrs every day for 3 days!)

Here we go!

Pre-Departure --3 Days.

Three days until departure! My bags are packed and nearly everything is in order. The idea that I will be there for an extended time isn't going to be very tangible until my feet touch the ground in Italy.

I am beyond excited. I am not sure what kind of access I will have to the internet while I am there, but I hope to at least update on a weekly basis while I am gone.

If you're interested in writing me (Maybe you'll even get something back!) you can reach me at:

Ruth G. Wels
c/o Santa Reparata International School of Art
Via San Gallo 53-r
50129 Firenze
Italia

Ciao!