Well yesterday was a good treat. I went to my first movie in a movie theater in Italia. I'll explain it from the start I guess.
Me and Pier left the house around 8 because the film was at 8:30. Now something about this movie theater at least... you make reservations online before you go to make sure your seat is secure for you. When we arrived (by foot), the place was mobbed!!! I've never seen so many people crowding into a movie theater. It's one of the main things to do around I guess. When we got into the theater we got our tickets and went up to the second level to get popcorn and stuff, the norm. Now going to the movies is one of three things in Italia. One, a gigantic family outing with everyone. Two, a place for friends to hang and see a film. Finally, three, a place for a date. Now 2 and 3 are normal for us, but when I mean a gigantic family outing, I mean it. Now we went into the theater to see 'Super 8' (I didn't need to know Italian to see that it wasn't good, don't waster your money). When we got into the theater I saw that they take pride in the space. The seats are all pleather with cushioned seating and alot of room for each seat. It is hardwood floor that looked like it was polished recently. It was very very nice. When the movie started, you could see that the video quality was that of a 70's or 80's movie with the resolution. I personally really liked it.It gave a nostalgic feel to the film. So it was pretty interesting when the tension got high in the film, Italians say very loudly what they want to happen, and get aggrivated when it doesn't happen. It was good for my first film in Italian. I have to say I was expecting a old blind man in the camera room and a little boy named Toto running around with the scraps of a film reel, but it was pretty modern. (that was a pretty big reference to get off the top of your head, watch 'Nuova Cinema Paradiso' to understand). After going out too eat I went home and slept.
The next day I had school, ugh. Now I know it's about 3.5 hours less than Oakcrest, but it feels like the 10 hours my friends have to do in France. Something good that happened that day though is that I had my first interrogation. This is what teachers do to see if your studying. They think it works better because you are given no choices like on a test, you just have to get up in front of the class and say what you know. My interrogation was of the story of Orfeo and Eurudice. I did really well everyone said, for my first that is. I then got invite by some of the kids to go out for gelato later. I gladly accepted and went home until I had to go out again. We had the ice cream and they took a few photos with me for Facebook. Then we played a Sicilian card game that I have never even heard of before, but it was kind of like a 'who-ever has the best card wins' game. Then it started to rain so we went home early, but we all are going to the cinema again tomorrow to see 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'. Ciao
P.S. To all you Russians, Pakastanians, Bangladeshians, and Germans reading the blog (yes I can tell). I'm glad to have you reading my blog, and tell others where you are about the blog :)
I wanna walk you through a school day of a Siracusian (I think that's right). This is at least my school day for the moment and it's great.
I wake up at 7:30 int he morning (already better than the normal 5:30). I get ready like normal.... drag myself out of bed, brush teeth, comb hair (though my hair is still short), shave if I have to. Then me and Pier ride the motor-scooter to school and get there in about 2 minutes. We hop off and have about ten minutes to hang out and talk to each other before the teacher gets in. Now what I like is that in school you have a coffee machine in the hallway, which though it is a machine, the coffee is still pretty good, so I start my day with a cappacino. When anyone of importance walks into the room you must stand until they say you may be seated. This includes teacher, principals, and special guests I think. The day is mostly mobbed by science and math classes since it is a scientific school. They aren't that hard to understand for me since math consists of alot of words like "meno= minus" and "pui= plus". Math is easy to get by in. During each class you have a small 5 minute break for bathroom and coffee and drink purposes. Then the next teacher comes in and starts everything again. Before the last class of the day starts you have a 15 minute break to go to a little table with a little lady behind it passing out sandwiches. It is a madhouse. It's 30 kids crowding this lunch lady. I usually get a Caprese sandwich, which is tomateo, mozzerella, and basil put altogether. On top of that they put ketchup and mayo on it cause kids put ketchup and mayo on everything here. That is a really good sandwich. Then we have one class after that and we get to go home. It's great cause this whole thing is only 4 hours long. It's like when parents say "I didn't like going to school at your age" except here in Italy the parents take that into account and don't make their kids go to school for that long. All the kids in class are good, and I'm getting along fine. I'll talk to you later, ciao!
My first day of school was fine. I had trouble in history, but that's about it. Math is a univeral language until you hit word problems, so that's not to bad. The true meaning of this post is to talk about my recent mini-vacation to.... Venice. Yes, Venice. This is by far the most beautiful city that I've ever been in. That's the best way to put it I think. I'll start from the beginning I guess.
We packed our bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour, 4am. And we were high as kites by 7am. (Just felt like useing that) Anyway, we arrived at the Venice International airport around 8:30, 9 in the morning and walk a kilometer to the water taxi's. I was dead tired for some reason, so I slept the whole flight and the whole water taxi ride, which was just as long as the flight for some reason. Once we arrived we went to the hotel and dropped our stuff off. I left everything at the hotel except my camera. The first thing we went to was a bridge named the Accamedia. It is special cause it is almost completely made out of wood and still standing. I got some great pictures of the grand canal from that. I forgot to say that before we did this we took a tour of a theater named 'The Venician'. It's a tad expensive to get in, but we did and got to sit in a box for an hour watching a rehearsal of Mozart's 'Don Giovanni'. It couldn't of gotten closer to the actual performance if I do say so myself. All that was missing was costumes. After this we headed towards St. Marks Cathedral and ate at the local HardRock Cafe. I ordered a good burger because I've been craving a burger for about a week now, even though the food is amazing. The two boys got burgers also and they though they were really good. Francesca got a pulled chicken sandwich, and was baffled on how to eat something so big. It was a good experience, and I bought myself a pin there to keep with tradition. (Tell me-pop to put it on the list of places we have pins from) Then after this we made our way to the Accamedia. From the Accamedia we hopped a water-bus to 'Ponte Rialto'. This bridge is neat because on it are a full set of stores and venders. It's like if the bridge connecting JFK Boulevard to the 12th Street Station in Philly had a Macy's on it, just not as big. We walked around here for a while and came to a set of stores. Now I have to talk about one of the best parts of Venice... the mask. Each mask is hand-painted and each is individual as far as I could see. Their are thousand of upon thousands where-ever you go in the city. They aren't as expensive as you may think, though I will tell you now that if you came to Venice and bought a mask for 10 euro, you could bring it to the U.S. and sell it for a few hundred. This has been added to my list of business idea's . I personally got four that I thought were really nice. By this time it was about dinner-time so we headed to the grand-canal for a good meal. I asked Valerio to order for me, just nothing big cause I was stuffed from the burger earlier. So I had a sort of salad with cuts of raw meat, but it was really good, and I've never had a problem with raw meat, so I liked it. We headed back to the hotel because Pier and Alle wanted to watch some Italian comedy show, but I didn't mind because I was pretty tired. I read a bit and fell right asleep.
In the morning we woke up and went down to the lobby for some bread and coffee. Now this is my first Italian cappacino and it was the best cup of coffee I've ever had. We then walked to a winding staircase in a piazza that was pretty neat, I have pictures to the left. We headed to St. Marks Cathedral and found that the line was ridiculously long, so instead me and Francesca waited in a shorter line for a giant tower that is in St. Marks Square. I had an interesting conversation with a man from Australia which made the line shorter. Now the best feeling so far is being able to translate for another English speaker, know that exactly a month ago you were exactly like him (yes, I am writing this on my one month anniversary) We then went into the Doge's Palace. It was huge and had alot of different artwork in it. I went on that little bridge you always see when you look up Venice, the one that leads to a prison. The prison was nice also, but I would hate to be on the other side of the bars. We then went into St. Mark's It wasn't as big as the Duomo in Milan, but I think it was more artistic. The whole ceiling is a Mosaic. This is when you take little pieces of stone or glass and put them together to make a picture. You can see an example in one of my photos. We went onto the balcony and then came down for lunch. The dinner was clams with a white wine sauce and then a assortment of fried fish. Afterwards we went to the hotel where Valerio met us from a lawyer conference about cross-examination. We walked around some more then headed finally to the airport. While on the plane I got some good shots of Roma as night. I came home and fell right asleep. I woke up and am now writing this. See you later. Ciao!
Well nothings really happened in the last two days, but I still want to talk to all you fine people. At least the ones who weren't scared off by that monster of a post about Milan (expect another one for Venice). So I figure I'll do a post about some comparisons and strange things here.
1. Driving: If you see a stop sign in America you stop, right? Well here all driving laws and signals are pretty much optional. They stop for their lights, but it is common for them to get sick of waiting and go through. Also, in America, if your doing 100 on the Turn-Pike for a good stretch chances are you will get pulled over. People speed like crazy here, and I think it's because I can count the number of cop cars I've seen in one month on one hand. That being said, 100mph/150kmph is an average speed on the highways here. (I wear my seat-belt Mr. Olivo)
2. They eat horse, enough said. I've met one person who doesn't eat horse and she made me swear that I wouldn't do it again. She's the only person that rides them though that I've seen around here.
3. I haven't had breakfast since I left Jersey. They do not, I repeat, do not eat breakfast here. They don't see a point to it because people don't go out until after lunch anyway.
4. Divorces are rare here, because if you do get divorced they judge makes you live together for a good 3 years to try and work it out anyway, so they don't really happen. Isn't that nice.
5. I have pasta for lunch every...single...day, no exceptions. Then dinner usually consists of a meat or fish
6. School is 6 days a week, but only for 5 hours a day. This is better than the 8 hours I'm used to :)
7. There is no monster, I've searched 2 department stores and have been to 2 airports looking for the drink. They do not have it, all they have is red-bull. Anyone who reads this and is thinking of sending a gift or package or what-not, put a few monsters in the box, please and thank-you.
8. Tradition is still prevalent here. Women mainly grow to have families and become good cooks. Make-a the sandwich. Scherzo
9. Kids at age 14 are allowed to drive scooters to get everywhere. These things are perfect size for Italian cities.
10. All kids here know their classical music like an encyclopedia.
Well... Milan... AMAZING CITY! Everything there was good looking. The shops were all clothes of course, but I kind of figured that. I'll recount the whole trip I guess.
We got up at about 4:30 Saturday morning and drug ourselves to the car to get to the airport (Valerio and I). Neither of us was talking at this point cause we were so tired, because Italian are not used to getting up really early, at least not this early. When we got to the airport we already had the tickets printed out online and checked in, so we just headed through security with no problem. When we got through this we got croissants and drinks, then boarded the plane. The ride wasn't that bad, it was kind of uncomfortable since it was a only a regional flight, but I'm not complaining. The plane landing in a town named Berguga, so we had to take a bus to make it to Milan. When we arrived there we took a cab to the hotel. Driving through the city was really nice looking at all the shops and what-not. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and I got my camera then we were off.
The first thing we went and saw was a church named Duomo. It was the most intricate thing I've ever seen. Valerio gave me the background on it and explained its Gothic roots and how paintings and sculptures were used to teach when the population couldn't read, so that's why it was so well done. There are pictures on this blog of the church and you can see for yourself. When we walked inside I couldn't believe how frickin big the place was! I could hold a football game in here if it wasn't for the pillars. There were many tombs and gravesight around the inside of the church, and even some of them you saw the actual body which many were hundreds of years old. We then went into the underground part of the place which wasn't very large, but had some old artifacts. Before leaving I bought myself a coin that had pictures of the church engraved on both sides. Then we went into a kind of mall which was also huge. It is called the Galleria. It was open-air, but it had a ceiling, its weird to explain, look at the video. We walked a ways until we hit a theater that I had never heard of before, but apparently it is very very famous. It is called 'La Scala'. Many different peoples and groups have played here such as Pavoratti, Rossini, Verdi, and others. We took a tour of this building and after being inside, I do remember it from movies and pictures and such. A good word to describe the venue is regal. We then went to the shops. Now let me explain something...my eyes were falling out of my head at the prices. We went to a store called Boggi. It is a store for suits and casual menwear. If I spent all the money I have brought to Italy, I couldn't of bought a jacket at this place. For work Valerio bought a really nice suit though. It's neat when the people at the counter say 'Is that all Mr. Vancheri, and how about you Mr. Russell' (even though I didn't tell them my name, but I bet they have their ways). We went out to lunch while we were waiting for that to be taylored. We went to a small Bistro, but across the street was a McDonalds. I didn't get anything (though if they would of had iced mocha coffee I would have gone crazy), but I was curious at what Italian McDonalds have. They have basically the same stuff, but they have other stuff like shrimp and mozzarella balls stuffed with vege's. All McDonalds I have seen have a section for cappicino and expresso. They are actually good too. Then we went to a spanish castle in the middle of the city. We took a tour and saw many fresco's done by Da'Vinci, and there was a huge section for musical instruments that I looked at. Then we went back to the hotel and slept for an hour or two (in accordance with a type of siesta). We went to dinner that night and I had the best steak of my life! It was the meat around a piece of spine from the cow that was really really tender. The side was safron rice (it's much more common here). I have a picture to the left if you can find it. We met with a friend of his and got gelato, then we back to the hotel for the night. We woke up and packed everything we had and made our way to the Milan train station. The train to the city of Monza was free for ticket holders of the Grand Prix, but it was so stuffed. There was a British couple right next to me and Valerio who were talking their heads off. I made sure to only speak Italian to Valerio so they wouldn't hold back their conversation, cause it was kind of funny. Then the man asked a rhetorical question and Valerio answered it in English. They talked then the man turned to me and asked really slow...' whats...your...name? Do you understand English?' and he gave a thumb's up. At this point I couldn't hold it in and I spoke and said that I understand English fine and that I was the American of the two of us. We all laughed and then we talked about the Grand-Prix and different European events. Then the man said that it was a pretty big day in America, and it took me a second because I completely forgot about 9/11. Then I said yes and changed the subject, cause I was having a good time and I didn't want to get caught in a 9/11 conversation, I just wanted to watch cars go fast. We got of the train and had to walk about 2 miles to our seats and we sat down and watched. We were about 2 hours early, but when the race started, it was great. These cars are going over 270 miles an hour on an actual circuit, not just a giant oval in the middle of nowhere. There were a few crashed, but nothing serious. Something to know is that Italians have national pride in Ferrari. Every single Italian was wearing red (including myself) and yelling their heads off for the Ferrari team. In the end Red-Bull came in 1st and 2nd, and Ferrari in 3rd, but that didn't stop thousands of Italians (that rhymed) from storming the track to pay homage to Gods of Ferrari. After the race we walked a good 4 or 5 miles to a bus which took us back to the train-station in Monza central. We were in such a hurry that we bought tickets and boarded the wrong train headed in the complete opposite direction. We rode to a town named Lecco and I got to see the Alps cause if we had gone any further we would have been in Austria. We quickly hopped on a train going back to where we came and weren't even charged cause the conductor said we've had enough pain by going the wrong way. When we made it back to the airport we had to wait a few hours till we could check in. When I went through security the buzzer went off. I realized I had coins in my pockets and showed them, but I still got a full-body patdown. (I thought later it would of been funny to say it was my heart of gold, but I didn't want to test my limits). Valerio was laughing to the side and made some jokes like asking me if the guard took me to a nice restraunt first or if I gave him my number. I couldn't help but laugh too, then he asked if they found my bombs. I laughed my head off and told him that if he said that in an American airport, especially on 10th ann. of 9/11, he would of been in Guantanimo before he could say 'I'm joking'. Still we laughed because European airports haven't lost the fun of air travel like American airports have. One thing I noticed was that all women who worked in the airport and on the flight were good-looking. I harkened back to the glory-days of Pan-Am when it was a unspoken law for looks to be part of a woman's resume for stewardship. We got back to Catania around 2 and to the house around 2:30 an I fell right asleep.
I woke up and am now writing this blog. The pictures will be to the left. Ciao!
This isn't going to be a real post, but I want to show two things I think are interesting. The first is the strange similarity of my host father to Al Pacino. As seen here. Just give my host father darker hair and a smug face, they could be brothers.
Second, I want to show the Italian devotion to religious rituals through these youtube videos. These are real commercials on tv. You have to know some bible parabols to get what they are making spoofs about.
Well, I apologize for my failure to post in the last three days. There has been only about two things that have happened. I will describe my day of two days ago first. This is the same day as the historical trip to Ortigia. I spent that night at the house of Gianmarco. This wasn't bad, we spent the night watching a horror movie called 'The Descent' which had a horrible ending. The next day we woke up around 11 and hung out around the house till pranzo (lunch). We had chicken, but Gian was making jokes about it being cat, though this got on my nerves cause the only reason he did was because he knew I would get caught up with the language. I think he likes the control. Anyway, after this some other people came over and we walked to the local soccer field. Now when I say we played almost all day I mean it. We started around 3 and didn't stop playing until the sun started to go down. We got in about three games. I told them that I played defensive back in gym class with Mr. Petty, so that's what I did. During the game I got the nickname 'mura di rocca' (wall of rock) because every person that came with the ball I either stole it from them or they kicked it away when they saw me coming. After the game I got mvp for that game, so I was happy. That was the one thing that happened. Yesterday Alessandro came back and he slept all day, but I don't blame him, he got up early to catch a plane in Florence. While he slept I watched 'Tootsie' with Franscenca. Now one thing over here that's strange... they don't really get the full affect of movies cause all the actors voices are dubbed over with someone trying to imitate that actors voice in Italian. For example, I've watched 'Forrest Gump' in Italian since I've been here, and I found myself saying all the words to get the affect. So watching 'Tootsie' without Duston Hoffmans voice was weird and unfufilling when he came out and said "I'M HER BROTHER". Now the highlight of my week happened last night. While preparing the table for dinner, Valerio asked me if I knew what the Grand Prix is. I said yes, I've seen pictures and such things. He said I have two tickets for next week, wanna go? I first asked if he asked Pier and Alle first, and he said yes, but they don't want to go. So on Saturday Valerio and I are taking a flight to Milan and going to see the city, then the next day going to watch the Grand Prix of the world, though I think it lasts for more than one day if I'm right. For those of you who don't know what the Grand Prix is... it's kind of like the older and wiser brother of Nascar who warned him to watch out for the drink and not go to the American south, but he didn't listen. Actually its a race that's held in many different countries and is on a course that is set instead of a constant circle
Today I am waiting for Francesca to get home then me and her are going out to get ingredients for me to make 'sizzilin prosciute'. So I'll be sure to post later probably next week after the Grand Prix. Ciao!
I'll start with yesterday. I have a dilemma sometimes in the morning when I wake up. My father and mother are at work and when Pier isn't here I don't really have a way to get around. This is because, though it is truly killing me, I am not permitted to ride the Vespa's and motorcycles, even though I am of right age for both. I just don't have a license. So when this happens I am stuck in the house for a few hours. I can still go out on the street and everything to look around, but at around this time all the shops in my area are closed so there's nothing to see anyway. This is usually when I find time to talk to you, dear reader. After being in the house, I went to the local river and went kayaking for about an hour. That's always pleasant because at the end of the river where it meets the Porto Grande (Big Port), you can see Ortigia in its glory. After rowing back, Francesca picked me up and home we went. When we got home Valerio was waiting for us and we stayed there for about 15 minutes then out we went again. Mr. Valerio said it was only going to be about a 20 minute ride, but knowing the traffic at that time, it turned out to be more like an hour, but no worries, I brought my Nook and got a good 20 pages done in 'The Two Towers'. We arrived at a house on the sea where there was a party being held with some of the different players from Valerio's water-polo team. Now it may be just a team, but these guys have basically been a band of brothers since they were little and started playing in their teen years. The party was fun, there was alot of different food and gelati and granite. I want to take a second to describe someone I met who is a new friend of mine. He is also one of Valerio's friends (once school started I'll work on friends my age, this is more beneficial for now). He is the father of one of Pier's friends and the nicest guy you'll meet. His name is Caruso Concetto, but everyone just calls him Concetto. Valerio and he introduced me to everyone at the party, and then he went to talk to women. He is good-hearted and very generous.
After the party we went home and I quickly fell asleep from exhaustion (it was 1:15 when we got back). This morning I woke up and me and Valerio hit the historical town. First we went to the fish market in Ortigia. This has to be one of the worst smelling places ever, but it's neat to see all the fish lined up. There are pictures to the right if your interested. We also looked at the old Sicilian Temple of Apollo. It is basically in ruins, but is good to look at. Did you know that all Greek Temples built are facing East? This is because they wanted to be right with nature and they set their temples to face the rising sun. The Christians later on to break off from the old religion made sure to face their temples and churches west as to not be confused with the old temples. After this we rode his bike to a museum named, Piazza Belluomo. We went inside and looked at all the old artifacts from the Spanish, German, and Bourbon eras. It was mostly all medival, but some of it was renissiance. Then we walked to the old castle on the tip of the island. It spans over many centuries and was built by many different rulers. There is one room that was funded by the Siracusa Rotary club. They build replicas of a ram that was lost and that there is only one of that is in Palermo. After leaving the castle we went over to the Piazza Duomo and walked into the Church of Saint Lucia. She is the patron Saint of Siracusa because when she lived there was a famine in the land and the people prayed to Saint Lucia for food to be sent soon. The legend is that she prayed to God and pleaded to save her people. He said yes and days later ships from the mainland came with food and saved the town. The church is very beautiful and one of the pictures on this post is that of the church. Afterwards we came home and I am now typing this. Be sure to comment and look at the pictures. Ciao!
As you have noticed, dear reader... I have made the original theme of my blog have a Lord of the Rings trend. You can see this in the title which is the true name of the book, 'The Hobbit'. The quote on the side is from the first book in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. My first post's video was that of one of my still favorite instrumental songs named 'Concerning Hobbits'. So as you can see I am pretty smitten with Lord of the Rings.
Now why is it that I like Tolkiens works.... I don't know. As a junior Rotarian half-way around the world I think that I have a love for adventure and travel which can be seen as a trend in other Rotarian Ambassadors and also in Tolkiens works.I am just a south-jersey-ian (jersey-ite) and come from normal background, but when I had the opportunity to cross my own Brandy-Wine River (you have to read the first book to get it) I didn't pass the opportunity. So as homage to the theme of my blog and the life-theme of my Rotarian adventure, I will finish the Lord of the Rings series while I am away. I have finished 'The Fellowship of the Ring' this morning and I will keep on going until I finish 'Return of the King'. After this I will come back to 'There and Back Again... A Hobbits Tale' for a better pre-story of the the series. After this I will have to find somewhere to get a English copy of some of his other works, because though I do believe that I will be profficient by that time, these books are written in an older English which may be difficult in Italian. This kind of thing wouldn't usually take me a whole year, but when school starts I do not know how preoccupied I'll be with my studies, so this may be more difficult than you think. Anyway, just wanted to make known this little side-quest that's tied to my exchange year. Ciao
P.S. Be sure to look at new pictures and leave comments, I'm always curious to what you have to say.
When the movie started, you could see that the video quality was that of a 70's or 80's movie with the resolution. I personally really liked it.It gave a nostalgic feel to the film. So it was pretty interesting when the tension got high in the film, Italians say very loudly what they want to happen, and get aggrivated when it doesn't happen. It was good for my first film in Italian. I have to say I was expecting a old blind man in the camera room and a little boy named Toto running around with the scraps of a film reel, but it was pretty modern. (that was a pretty big reference to get off the top of your head, watch 'Nuova Cinema Paradiso' to understand). After going out too eat I went home and slept.
