Buon appetit! Buon apettito! and Good eats!

The latest adventure I've had here is care of my dear friend Yoanna. I met her on the first day of university and we became friends quickly. (You've even seen some of the fantastic pictures she took in the last post.) Among the other cool things about Yoanna is that she's French, but speaks near perfect English due the years that she spent in the States. Yoanna spent the Palio with us and during dinner later that night, us Americans (and quasi-Americans, right, Filippo?) learned that she knew how to make crêpes and would be willing to teach us.

The beautiful and sugar-sweet Yoanna :)

We arranged a date for the meal and it finally went down last week. Yoanna made the batter with us eagerly looking over her shoulder and taught us all the tips of the trade. We had prosciutto e formaggio in the the first round of crêpes for dinner. 

Savory crêpes. Yum!!!

Yoanna made more batter for the dessert crêpes. I asked if I could learn how to make them...and tried my hand at flipping them. Here's a video of my first time flipping a crêpe. It feels a lot like learning how to ride a bike for the first time.

I ended up making the whole batch of dessert crêpes and got an international seal approval.

French, Italian, and American all agree: Thumbs up!

 This weekend we had a lot of potatoes and cheese in the house and, by Filippo's request, we decided to make a traditional Puglian meal. (Puglia is the heel of the boot.) But when it was time to start making dinner Filippo and Scottie were out on a day trip. I called them, got the recipe over the phone, and put it all together. I layered the potatoes, tomatoes, onions, rice, and mussels just right with the perfect amount of cheese...and salt, of course. It was in the oven by the time they walked in the door. Now, I must say, it wasn't the most difficult thing to do, but it came out really well. I couldn't even believe that I made it!

On an unrelated note, I finished at the Universita' per Stranieri much better than expected. Actually pretty well on just a normal scale. Unfortunately the end of the course also meant that I also had to say goodbye to so many friends that I've made in the last month. But looking on the upside, now I have people all over the world. Next stop: Hungary? Portugal? Slovakia? We'll see where life takes me next. Hope yours is taking you to wonderful places, too!

Super Update

So the first sentiment I feel is the need to apologize, but, dear readers, I can only apologize for because I can't properly excuse myself. I've been taking advantage of life here in every way possible. So to catch you up I'm going to throw a lot of images at you with a general update lacking the banal details you would've skimmed anyway. Anyway, you'll get picture (pun intended). And to ease the process, I put a handful in a video for you to watch. You'll find it at the end of the post.

To begin, a week and a half ago was the Palio. It's probably the most important thing that happens in Siena (twice a year). I've already been to the one in July, but it was on my Bucket List to see the August Palio. There are some pictures of the events that my wonderful friend Yoanna and I took leading up to the actual day, followed by the day of the race (where you find a very happy Sam), and the contrada parading through the street. There's the part where they pick the horses. Then the event when the horses are paired with each contrada by lottery. I was there an hour early because the rain storm brought a big delay. There are several pictures of the trials (or prove), one from the mass for the jockeys featuring the very famous winning jockey, and finally the big race.

There are also pictures of my trip to Pienza and Montepulciano with my school friends. I had a great time and got to see some small towns in the province of Siena, which run at a different pace then the city I call home...for now. It included a wine tasting of the famous Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (which you'll see in the barrels which are kept in a chapel-like area below the ground) and a play that Montepulcianese put on once a year. The people of the town have been getting together for several hundred years to celebrate the life of a different person each year. This spectacolo was about the life of Saint Francis from his youth to his death. The coolest thing is that this community theater was written and performed (with an original book and score) all by the inhabitants of Montepulciano. I was pretty impressed how many people got involved and how they filled the stage with men, women, and children of all ages.

Most recently I also went to "The Globe Theater" of Rome with my friend Gabriele. Our trip was improvised, but I had the greatest time. The theater is a smaller version of The Globe in London and in this Roman reproduction they only  produce the works of Shakespeare...in Italian. We saw Much Ado About Nothing, which I had never read before and didn't even know about the plot before hand. The language was difficult for me to keep up with all the details of the story, but the troupe was talented enough that I stayed interested the entire time. (I'm sure my experience was not very unlike those simple peasants looking for entertainment in the real Globe centuries ago.) I was blown away by the ingenuity of their work from set to music to delivery. And of course there's a story to accompany this adventure. At the end, the protagonists came from the stage to dance with audience members. The quite good-looking Benedick chose a woman who refused to dance and, in typical Sam-style, I ran up to him from the back of the crowd without even thinking of the consequences, grabbed his hand, and started dancing. Gabriele told me that the entire theater was amused and he was impressed enough to bring me on a walk through Villa Borgese to overlook Piazza del Popolo which you'll also find in the video of pictures.

Finally, Sunday I took a trip with Anya to the beach at Viareggio. Scottie and Filippo were there too, but we were at different free beaches on the same strip. We didn't meet up until we got to the train station, but I snagged some pics of my friends on the trip back. I'm finishing up the super hard class now, and have another adventure to recount...related to the kitchen. Hint: Think French yummies. :)

Lessons Learned, Part 2

Vitamin B doesn't keep mosquitoes away. In fact it might attract them.

I bat around a .350 on the mosquito kills-to-attempts.

Glasses are sassy.

Wear shoes when anywhere near Filippo's computer or risk a (literal) shock.

Having Facebook and my iPod in Italian has taught me useful vocabulary.

Good friends are good no matter where in the world they are.

If I don't listen to my own advice about wearing shoes near the computer headquarters, I will get shocked again.

Silly Bandz have made it to Italy. My professor wears one.

Call me by my name.

I generally love my class. I think I've made that pretty clear. But today something happened that just bugged me. Today we were working on this exercise matching the beginning and ends of Italian idioms together when my professor stopped to make a point about the language used in some of them. She explained to us that some words were not politically correct and were not used often. One of her examples was, of course, being Deaf. She explained that instead of saying someone is "sordo," you say "non udente," or "not hearing."

Now, it's not often I get up the courage to say much in class, but I just couldn't let this slide. I mustered up the courage, rose my hand, and putting as much confidence into my voice as possible, said in Italian, "I think that Deaf prefer that term to non hearing since it's not just a disability, it's a culture." She looked at me, acknowledging what I said, and responded that although she didn't know what people want to be called, it's not gentile to write or say that.

As a psychology student I learned that people who sign and are proud of being Deaf don't like the term hard of hearing. Not being entirely sure of if that was universal or just an American preference, I talked to my friend and former professor Rita who is a major player in the Italian Deaf community and found out that I was spot on. But she also said that while there are signing classes at the University for Foreigners, my professor was probably not a part of the community and didn't know that she was wrong.

I think that's pretty fair, but it brings up a topic that is wildly interesting to me: identity. In fact, that's the reason why I'm back in Italy. I'm working on a Fulbright application (fingers crossed) in order to work on interactions that migrants have with Italians and their identity. But getting back to my point, I often wonder who decides the identity of a person or people and the process of how it's formed. I know, thanks to Rita and our Sociology class, that it's a community interaction. People refer to each other on their similarities, but more frequently on their differences. But who gets to decide what he or she is called?

Not everyone wishes to be called Deaf if they don't associate with the community. Same with other abilities, ethnicities, occupations, etc. My Italian professor herself said that you no longer call one who collects garbage a "garbage man," but the correct term is "ecological operator." Just thinking about how an individual is named is an interesting thought experience. In most Western cultures, parents give children a name. At some point that usually becomes a soprannome, or nickname, and people have the power to ask individuals to call them something specifically.

Now I've got A LOT of nicknames, but have made more of a conscious decision to introduce myself as Samantha in professional circles, while I don't care very much what friends call me. My family has their own set of nicknames for me (some of which cannot be repeated...just kidding!). And the living-in-Italy thing I've been doing the last couple of years put me into existential crisis over how I would pronounce my last name. But beyond my own nominal issues (pun intended), I think it's important that we recognize that others have preferences when they express them. Most people love their names. Don't individuals have an implicit freedom to request how they're recalled or categorized?

Now, Rita may be right. My professor may not know about the Deaf community and her fault ends at her ignorance. But tell me then, where does ignorance end? I have opinions, but I'll save those for another time. :)

Hello and Goodbye

These past few days have been full of hellos and goodbyes. I said, "Sayanara" to Filippo and Anya, who each went on vacations to in opposite directions, a bit over a week ago and those departures started the cycle. The first hello is to one of my new favorite spaces in the city to which Lucia and Elizabeth introduced me. And the make a great coffee creme, right ladies? Here are a few shots from il balcone nel Piazza del Campo.
 

Try telling me this isn't the most beautiful cities in the world. I won't believe you.

Another hello goes to American dinner in Italy and new friends. Elizabeth and I hosted a great feast for some of her Italian friends, but since we didn't want to risk a culinary embarrassment, these guys suggested we try something "American." And, let me ask you, fine reader, do you know anything more American than chili cheese dogs and fries? Guys, if you're reading this and would like to give some honest feedback it's welcomed, but I'm guessing that the 2 rounds of hot dogs and empty pot of homemade chili says we did pretty well. How do they look to you?

It's really me. Making chili. Thanks for the recipe, Filippo! :)

It was their first chili cheese dog. Excuse them for putting the cheese on first.

They wanted to submit it, but this meal's got nothing on one of these!

Goodbye to some fine shoes that I've loved very much. These sandals were all I wore the first time I came to Siena two years ago and I've been on some fun adventures in my trusty Chuck Taylors. You will be missed terribly. But a warm welcome to my snazzy new All-Stars. A bit more stream-lined, but they're wearing in nicely. The extra support is great for all the walking I've been doing lately. Also, you'll notice they look very similar. World traveler tip: pack as light as possible with things that you love and work well with everything. :)

Because I refuse to say goodbye to this gem, a cheery "See ya' later" to my lovely Elizabeth. Siena's not the same without your "effervescent" self, but she'll see you in May. In bocca al lupo in Minnesota! You're gonna kick some butt in grad school and return a smarter and wiser.

Buon tornata to Scottie! I met her for about 20 minutes a year ago and she was kind enough to sit through an interview for my Italian presentation for Celebrating Student Achievement, but we've been getting to know each other. She lives in the apartment, too, and just came back from an awesome trip to Korea. She's on her way to catch up with Filippo so I have just a few more days of the place to myself.

With pleasure, I watch cooking-dependency's departure. There's a joke in my family that starts something like, "Did you hear about the time Sam tried to make a salad?" (Don't even ask.) Aside from monetary dependency--which I have to the controlled to the smallest extent I can as an unemployed student, I am most clueless when it comes to the kitchen. I get overwhelmed with anxiety just thinking about walking into a kitchen for anything other than eating, but since I'm determined to learn...you've gotta read about it. I'd say sorry, but I'm celebrating! I'm trying to remember, but thinking back, the pictures below may be records of the first meal I bought and prepared myself with absolutely no supervision. It tasted pretty good and doesn't look too bad either, right?

 

Goodbyes and hellos are funny things. Either can be much anticipated, exciting, difficult, stressful, overwhelming, and so on...but I've realized we can always decide what to do with those feelings in how we act. An intriguing part of these past days has been being the constant. Not often do I find myself resting while everything else around me seems to be moving at super sonic speeds. Honestly, it might be more exhausting.

Today I found myself feeling homesick for important people in my life, which rarely ever happens when I'm in Siena and completely occupied with the glories of living here. After passing the morning and part of the afternoon of moping, I was lucky enough to have a talk with Scottie who made me realize some things. The most important being that I have the power to choose how to respond to the changes that are happening around me. Now, this isn't a new revelation, but it sincerely needed to be reconfirmed. So, readers, I promise to (re)commit myself to experiencing my emotions, but actively deciding to respond in the most positive way I can. And I'm sure that has some benefits for you, too.

Well, it looks like I just might survive alla Universita per Stranieri. One week down and beyond a few mistakes, a couple of ego bruisings, and un sacco di head aches I'm doing pretty well. My class is very challenging and the other students totally know what they're doing. 

You may (or may not) know that I'm a bit of una secchiona. I've really always enjoyed being in a classroom setting and learning. It feels very natural to me, probably in part because I know very little about a life other than that. But back to my point, I'm sure you can imagine what comes along with this kind of personality: being preoccupied by grades, having the utmost attention to details, and caring more about classwork than classmates. But I must admit that this course has put me through a very drastic change in my typical approach to learning.

Since my grade in this course really means nothing to me, I've started really paying attention to the process rather than the outcome. For instance, I push myself knowing that I'm guaranteed to make mistakes, which has always been a limited action for me. Moreover, as I mentioned before, the other students know.their.stuff. While on the other hand, I am understanding about 65-75% of the class, but am missing some of the details (for now). Although I'm a bit behind, I'm working hard and still learning lots. And finally, I'm finding that having a rapport with the other students in the class is just as important as the course content. My intentions here were to learn how to speak. I'm not going to get that development from book exercises alone. We have several activities within the lessons where we can interact with each other, and everyday there's a 20ish minute break (from our 4.5 hours of work) during which I usually go on a walk or take a coffee with my compagni di classe.

My professor's name is Simonetta. She's very kind and has a great sense of humor. Simonetta facilitates all kinds of activities for us to learn. Just this week, we've played Taboo, listened to music, acted, and written a group story. For this morning's "warm up," we were asked to write our own haiku; mine, naturally, was about Il Palio. But in addition to the grammar, we learn a lot of cultural components of the language like idioms and word play among other things. During a lesson a few days ago we were working on gerunds (-ing words for those of you who've forgotten). She taught us a phrase that I've decided to take on as my approach to language learning: "Sblagiando, si impara," or "Making mistakes, one learns." Maybe this is the formula for success? I'm told it's very American. Which is fitting.

Still, there are a couple of things that I have to note that make this course even more different from what I'm accustomed. I find this experience unlike anything else:

• being the only American in a class of about 25-30 people. There are people from all over the world and it's such an enriching experience to be learning about the Italian language and culture in contrast to those of everyone else's. But I really never recognized just how other countries compare themselves to the USA for better or worse. At first, I was nervous to admit where I came from due to all the stigmas that come along with that (almost talking about my nationality as if it was some sort of drug problem), but I'm starting to realize that if I act like I always do, it wouldn't be bad for people to meet a real American.
• being in a class with men. Going to a women's college, I'm not used to the influence of testosterone in a classroom. I only took one class at NCSU and that one was a huge lecture course and never felt I got the full effect. Since this course is very heavy on conversation , I'm not sure that I missed out on too much hearing what these guys have to say (haha!), but am finding myself still learning a lot from their unique points of view. And that's not even mentioning "boy humor." There's really nothing like it....
• since I'm walking to school. Or maybe "hiking" is a more appropriate term due to the Sienese hills. I was riding the bus at first, but to save enough euros for about two trips to the grocery store I've been walking about an hour a day. At first, "American Sam" was completely adverse to the idea of walking that much, but now I find it great way to wake up in the morning for class and give my brain a break in the afternoon. The weather has been wonderful; mid-70s during the day makes the walk perfect.

So although things are completely exhausting right now and my head beats like the drums preparing for the Palio, I know I'm learning a lot...or at least I hope I am. I'll keep you posted.

Gioca Jouer!

I'm waiting until the end of the week to tell you my impressions from the first week of school, but in the meantime I have a treat for you. About a week ago, Filippo introduced me to "Gioca Jouer" by Claudio Cecchetto and I was immediately hooked. I have since discovered that Anya and Elizabeth both love it very much...when we started performing part of it nel Campo one night. But finally today in class, while listening to (an impossibly incomprehensible) song that's also popular from the national Sanremo Music Fesitval, "Gioca Jouer" was mentioned in the lyrics. I thought I was pretty special having been the only student to know what it was. Win for me! My final note: if you're interested in learning the language, here's a good place to start. :)

This weekend was a great one. My good friend Anya (shout out!) got here to Siena and Elizabeth came back from her adventure to Bosnia and Croatia with a good helping of stories. It was so wonderful to be reunited with these two lovely ladies again, and not just because they also are alumnae of women's colleges (Mount Holyoke and Bryn Mawr, respectively). We spent a lot of time together when I studied here for the semester and we fell back easily into our natural rhythm of jokes, laughter, advice, and hugs.

Elizabeth and Anya. Che belle!

Saturday night, Filippo and I went to see I bastardi senza gloria (also known as, Inglorious Basterds). I had already seen this movie and was really interested to see if I could follow the dialogue. Since it's the summertime, movies are being shown outside at night with a big (albeit, old) projection system. Still, it's a wonderful setting off near the edge of the city where it's quiet and you can spot the stars. I was a bit proud of myself for sticking with the movie, but definitely preferred it in English. If you haven't seen the movie, a chunk of the characterization and an interesting amount of the jokes are based on voices and language. With dubbing and translation, things don't fall out exactly the same, but it was still a good experience.

After the movie we met the gurrrrls nella Piazza del Campo. We each got a beer and just sat talking and people watching. While we were hanging out, a few of the students from the jazz conservatory here started an impromptu performance. So cool, right?

 We enjoyed it so much that we decided to see the jazz concert sponsored by the city. We listened to the professionals who did some really interesting pieces. Then found a picnic table to enjoy some more cheap wine and the Sienese skyline while exchanging funny stories while the students played.

Today was my first day at the University for Foreigners which was just an entrance exam to see which class I would fit in the best. I was nervous about both the test and not knowing anyone, but things are looking pretty good. The written part was in the morning. I returned for the oral exam and after waiting two hours for my oral exam ("Welcome to Italy!"), I placed into the C1 level, which is going to be mostly conversation. This class will certainly be a stretch on my abilities (and probably emotions), that is what I came here to look for, right? First day's tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!