As I begin another full weekend, I wanted to share a little about what happened in the last first because it is definitely worth telling. After a wonderfully productive meeting with my professor, I took the train to back to Siena and spend the evening with my bestest pal Filippo. We made burritos thanks to the luck I had in finding a box with the shells at the grocery store on the way into the city. I had a hankering for Mexican for a while, but sometimes international ingredients are difficult to find in Italy. (But that's the best part about living in Florence, which is far more international than tiny Siena! Well, kind of, but I am sure there will be reason to discuss this later in the year.) So after dinner and episode of Treme and Modern Family, we went to bed. The best part about being with Filippo is we can spend lots of time together doing nothing special...and that we have, willingly and enjoyably. That might not sound like much of a virtue considering we are discussing friendship, but the man is a saint for what he's put up with over the last three years we have known. 

Saturday we did a lot of studying and I did a little Skyping with my super savvy grandparents during the day. In the evening, Filippo and I visited the Siena Art Institute, sister school to Siena School for Liberal Arts, where I studied Spring 2009. It was the inaugural event of the new school and was full of all kinds of wonderful art and brimming with lots of new folk and some of my old favorites! If anyone (not just traditional university students) is interested in studying art abroad at any level, this is a great place to check out because they do all kinds of really stimulating work in all kinds of medium, such as print-making, photography, creative writing, visual arts, and (my favorite!) book art. They will also host various professional international artists each month, starting in the new year, who will be making all kinds of connections with the community. For this exhibit, they collected over 4,000 postcards internationally that were on display Saturday. Here are some pictures I grabbed on my phone from the event:

Poi domenica... la vendemmia! (For those of you non-Italophones: Then Sunday… the grape harvesting!) I went to this same vineyard to work last year and it was, without a doubt, one of my very favorite days of 2010 (which you can read about here), so I was beyond thrilled to get an invitation back this year. Our Siena group was up and moving early, but when we got to San Quirico a little after 8 am the professionals were already on the third row. So we donned our gloves and got to work cutting the bunches off the vines. I always enjoy myself, but I can tell you that the company makes it great and the very short time I have to do this work makes it better. I'm not one adapted for lots of physical labor, but a little does the body some good.

But you know what makes the experience the best? Lunch! Because we were such an awesome group, we were able to finish the (relatively small) vineyard by noon. After a little bit of time chatting and playing with the cutest little one there ever was, I sat myself down to better food than you could imagine in your dreams. And if you think I'm kidding, I purposely skipped breakfast to make sure I was ready and then didn't eat dinner, breakfast, or lunch following.

We had pastasciutta (phenomenal!) for the first plate. Then there was goat (YUM!), rabbit (so, so tender!), and chicken (which looked great but I couldn't force myself to eat any more in that round). Beans and tomatoes that were ever so fresh and good. Perfect peaches from the trees in the grove where we sat. Cake and this awesome marmalade-Nutella-banana sweet thing which I've named Heaven. Plus on top of the wonderful wine that I helped to harvest last year, we had a little spumante for Gabriele's birthday, some arrancello, and un caffe'  to help digest all this goodness. And, I'll confess, after a productive morning and a great meal, this happy camper gets sleepy and quickly. I couldn't even keep my eyes open for the ride home!

So don't color me shocked when my time in San Quirico has made it on my "Best of 2011" list. If anyone is considering a trip to Italy, this farm hosts people in the cutest little house a little outside of Siena. It is in a really beautiful area off the beaten path, which is the best way to travel, and would be a great place to stay when exploring the Tuscan countryside for a steal. You can check out their information here (and see this album with some pictures of yours truly!) and have as wonderful an experience as I had! Alla prossima!

Lessons Learned, Part 4

The return of the only repeat structure I have ever used on this blog:

Looking like a tourist by pulling out a map is a much cuter and more comfortable look than looking like a ragamuffin with blistered feet.

Likewise, the Google Maps Navigation system isn't always the most reliable and you can go up and down the same street up to three times trying to read the fool-proof directions.

Friends will figure out a way to make the friendship work here, there, and everywhere.

I need a personal assistant. (Dad, are you sure you don't want to be my shadow?)

When apartment searching, you will find the perfect place only when 4 other people are interested in it, too.

Still, your luck in this whole process might not have run out yet and you will get the apartment of your dreams for a seemingly reasonable price in the most amazing location.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially living in Italy!

Two weeks. I’ve lived here for two weeks already, but it feels like quite a bit longer and conversely, like I left two days ago. Time and activity has such a way of filling your mind so, depending on your perspective (age included), it creeps by or is gone in a flash. But I think that is why I journal and blog. Yes, I want to share my experiences with you, but it keeps me reflecting on where I was, am now, and will continue to go. I don’t like to feel like time is getting away from me. It moves without consulting me first, but at least I can appreciate it to my fullest extent, no?

But enough with the lofty reflection and down to the happenings in life. Since I left you, I went to a huge concert on Friday, sponsored by a group called EMERGENCY. The foundation of this group is very liberal, so don’t investigate it if that doesn’t interest you, but we were going for the music. The headliners were Fiorella Mannoia, Elisa (who has put out some things in the USA and sings a lot in English), Casa del Vento (or House of the Wind), and—believe it or not—Paola Turci. I heard that lady sing twice in one week, so I guess I’m turning into a real fan. In all honesty, I had very little expectations going in, but it was a really great show. I took this phenomenal video (which somebody else seemed to get, too!), but unfortunately it seems like I dropped my camera at the concert and based on the number of people that were in attendance, there is no way of getting it back. Great luck, huh? I suppose you’ll have to do without quality pictures for a while and just trust my descriptions.

Anyway, I was able to take my first trip “back home” to Siena on Saturday. It was wonderful to see my friends there! For those of you who don’t know my biography, I lived in Siena on three different occasions (July 2008, Spring 2009, and July-October 2010), so I might be more familiar with that medieval city than I am even with my hometown. I certainly took more time to explore Siena.

The strangest sensation was walking around the city, especially alone. At first I became discouraged when I tried to think about the way to get from one place to another because I couldn’t remember it. Often I would try anyway and was shocked (although I shouldn’t be) by the way my feet seemed to lead the way without missing a step. The brain is a powerful thing, I tell you.

But Saturday, afternoon and night, I spent time at Filippo’s where I lived for three months…in the kitchen. 

That apartment will always be home for me, more for the company shared than the place itself. But then Filippo and I had dinner with our dear friends Anya and Deanne and I was so happy that my cheeks hurt. As I got ready to go out after dinner, the lovely ladies serenaded Filippo and me (and the rest of Via dei Rossi). Finally we went out and met all kinds of characters, which was entertaining, of course. It was just nice to be with my friends and be speaking lots of Italian again in the city where I feel most comfortable. I must say, though, that I’m not very used to going out Italian-style which often means going to bed near dawn. That is definitely going to take a while to get used to.

After another lazy morning, I had a wonderful reunion with Ennio and Tina, my house parents from my semester in Siena. That place will always be full of good food, great language lessons, and better company. We had a lunch you can only dream of and a little nap before I had to get moving.

Sunday afternoon I gathered my things and took a whirl-wind trip to Rome with my friend Gabriele. Last year we saw two of Shakespeare’s works at the Globe Theatre in Villa Borghese and wanted to catch the last one of the season. I really have never seen better professional theatre in my life than at this place. Just sitting down on a little cushion in the middle of that Globe excites my heart.

We saw Riccardo III, which I was very unfamiliar with as far as Shakespeare goes. It was the most difficult to follow linguistically of the three I had seen there, but I grasped the gist of most scenes and the art was enough that they could have said nothing and I would have enjoyed it just the same. So moving! I certainly appreciated it even more after spending several months with my Theatre Alliance family. And, believe it or not, there was confetti. In a Shakespeare historical play. I couldn’t help but laugh out of pity for the poor souls sweeping and recycling it for the next show since that was my job at the theatre. (PS: If you are in the area, you should go see Theatre Alliance’s production of Kiss of the Spiderwoman that opens this week. Get your tickets here! These people are brilliant.)

So despite starting this week with very little sleep, I enjoyed my weekend tremendously. And to think the next is right around the corner!

And it begins...

To start my updates as an official Fulbrighter, I need to remind all of you that this site is not an official site of the U.S. Department of State and that everything expressed here are my own opinions and do not represent the Department of State or the Fulbright Program.

Now that I got that business, I'm here in Italy and doing well, despite some difficult bureaucratic issues getting here. And, might I add, those that I'm continuing to work through being here. The strange thing is not that I'm finally here, but how comfortable Italian life still feels. Part of me wonders if I'm ruined for life as an American because I am spending such "formative adult years" in another language and culture, but I'm willing to take that risk for whatever I'm going to learn in the meantime.

At the moment, I am living with my colleague, and now friend, Valentina. We spoke a few times in email and on Skype and she invited me to live in her home until I found my own place. Italian hospitality at it's finest. Valentina studies under the same professor as I will at the Universita' degli Studi di Firenze (UNIFI) and has very similar research interests. Sometimes when we talk, I feel like I am with a version of myself from an alternate universe. She's almost me, just Italian. But joking aside, I can't imagine how much better my life is and how much easier my transition is thanks to Valentina and her family. I can't imagine how I could ever repay them, other than a trip to Wilmington and the Dawson's Creek sites.

Last weekend we went to a free concert in a nearby town. The square was packed but somehow we ended up directly in front of the stage. I really got into the music and the singer, Paola Turci, is apparently pretty famous. She sang half an 80s song in English and then I heard this song which sounds exactly like this one, which I knew. Apparently it's a cover, but the translation isn't that similar. Plus, the song is Paola's claim to fame. Interesting, no?

Yesterday, we came into the city to get some work done in the dipartimento, but we found the locked doors like this:

One of the political parties had a big old-fashioned sciopero, or strike. Getting home was even difficult because most of the trains were cancelled and those that were going were late and crowded. Sadly, we stood as merely victims to the strike.

But finally today I was able to do some work today and it feels so nice to be busy again. It's a little difficult getting back into the swing of it (especially in a different language), but I just love studying psychology. I know I'm a nerd, but there's just nothing like it. I was just so excited I forgot to eat lunch. Suffering the consequences now (because in Italy you can't just eat whenever you feel like it), but I'll live.