10 things that occur around the holiday season in florence that make life worth living

1. Family Gatherings.
Last night my family got together with Victoria and Chrysanthe's family because my mamma is their father's sister, aka our little sibs are cousins. Yesterday was the nonna's birthday and she came with her sister and her husband. All in all, there were 14 people at my house, eating pizza, drinking Coca Cola and beer and laughing and chatting. I sneakily tried to take some family photos and then just decided to make everyone pose! It was a night full of laughter and sweet grandmotherly moments and love. And pizza covered in sliced hot dogs. It was perfect. 

2. Beautiful Lights. 
I know I have previously mentioned this and I also promised photos, but I haven't actually seen the beautiful lights lit up yet.... well I saw them at 2pm yesterday but I don't think that has quite the same effect as seeing them at night..... Tomorrow I will take pictures! I promise! 




3. Wandering at night.
I love this city at night. During the day.... not so much, but at night, definitely. I love walking home after class in the dusk to dark period, watching parents picking up their children, wandering past the bus stops and enjoying the general happy bustle that exists after the work-day has ended. I also love having that extra 30 minutes of leisurely strolling (well, I power-walk like there's no tomorrow but still....) to think in Italian and enjoy all the Italian-ness that surrounds me.... It's very relaxing and rejuvenating.... 


4. Decorations.
Storefronts, lights, windows.... all been said before, but I still really love it! 




5. Thanksgiving Dinner with Giovanna.
Thursday night. With all 20 girls and our professors. Turkey and gravy, stuffing, salads, corn, squash, pumpkin carpaccio, cranberry sauce, corn bread, pecan pie, apple pie and pumpkin pie.... Mmmm.... Just like home! 




6. Thanksgiving Dinner with the Host Fam 
It has been decided. Sunday night I will be cooking my family's version of stuffing and some cranberry sauce along with some molasses cookies perhaps.... Silvia is getting some kind of turkey or chicken, and we are good to go! The boys probably won't like the cranberry sauce and we'll see about Silvia and Enrico! Wish me luck! 




7. Helping Older Women Cross the Street
I was walking home tonight (enjoying the peaceful darkness, of course) and as I approached a sidewalk, this most adorable older woman reached out and asked me if I would be so kind as to walk her across the street because she was scared of falling. I took her hand and we walked across very, very carefully and very slowly, all the while she was telling me how nice it was to have someone help her. Then she squeezed my hand and said, "Buona sera, signorina!" My hand was glowing with warm, fuzzy feelings for at least 10 minutes, especially because I had just come from....




8. Sitting in with a Group of Grandmothers who Pray Together Every Day. 
After my audited class at the University of Florence (Methodologies of Contemporary Art History.... very, very, very boring...), I decided to spend some time in one of my two favorite churches (that I know of so far, that is!). When I entered, there were hardly any people other than one man who was seemingly very frustrated because the priest was late for confessionals and another man who works at the church and was restocking all the candles available to light. I walked through the church looking at all the small chapels until I found one that for some reason gave me the goosebumps. There was a beautiful fresco unlike all the others. Many were dark and depicted Jesus' sacrifice or other sad Biblical stories. This one instead was the Madonna surrounded by Saints, looking up at the heavens. It was so brightly colored and there were such relaxed, content expressions on each face, that I was immediately struck by its beauty. I lit three candles at this chapel - one each for my grandparents and my uncle. It was a rare moment of strong faith which continued to get stronger as I walked behind the sacristy (completely unlit with only a few candles flickering in the eerie silence) and I realized that I heard prayers. When I walked back out past the altar, I found a group of about seven woman, all much older, praying together. I went and sat down across from them and listened with my eyes closed for about 10 minutes, although they continued easily for another 10 or 15. It was pretty incredible.... and not something I often desire, but it felt good today to be part of a group of people so full of faith....




9. Orchestral Concerts.
Last night I decided I wanted to go to an orchestral concert. It is Christmas and Christmas means music which reminded me how much I miss my viola and orchestra and classical music. Within five minutes of deciding this, I had already found one this Saturday at the Teatro Verdi in Florence. I know have a ticket and I cannot wait!! http://www.teatroverdionline.it/




10. Being Happy.
Although I have now been sick for 30 days, I am extremely happy. I am settled, I am bonding with my host family, I am less stressed, things are going well at school, the boyfriend is just lovely and it is almost Christmas! Although I am pretty excited for Thanksgiving as well! This weekend between going out with the gang and taking myself out for a night, I will just be working, commencing some Christmas shopping and cooking! Sounds like a perfect weekend to me! 


Baci a tutti! And see many of you in less than 4 weeks! AMORE! 

and she falls in love...

First of all, I am sorry I am being a blogger-slacker...... But perhaps you can infer that my lack of available time has to do with the fact that I finally am living in a house where I have other things to do and other things to enjoy and therefore, I do not need to spend every moment blogging.

Secondly, I will again share how odd Italian hot chocolate is... I've decided it's the difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa perhaps. When I got home this afternoon (yes, in Italy it is still afternoon at 5:45 in the EVENING), Silvia asked me if I wanted something hot to drink. I said yes and was in the midst of saying that some English Breakfast sounded great when she decided that I should try some "cioccolato caldo." It is just so fascinating and surprising to me that I was handed a cup of hot chocolate pudding….. Fortunately it was a bit lighter than the hot chocolate from last week, but still, I was full for about 2 hours after eating it. I tried to explain to Silvia what we had in the United States that we call hot chocolate and I am fairly positive it sounded somewhat disgusting to her.

Now, once again, I have neglected blogging for long enough that I should probably do a little timeline in order to keep my events straight.

Saturday

I am not sure if I have shared this or not but my host mother is the sister of Victoria and Chrysanthe’s host father. Therefore, my two fratellini are the cousins of their host brother and sister. Saturday afternoon we gathered the troops (Lorenzo and Filippo, their two host siblings, plus 3 of their friends, and the 3 of us made a party of 10) and strolled over the train tracks to the movie theater to see Up which only came out this past week in Italy. Mind you, I saw up in 3-D this summer and it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Nothing changed seeing it the second time. Although it was not 3-D and it was in Italian, I still cried and I still laughed hysterically. And the fact that we all went together as a big extended family was just about the sweetest thing I have ever done.

After returning from the movies with the two fratellini in tow, I threw on something cute and headed over to Breana’s at which point we met Chrysanthe and Victoria to wander over the Arno for aperitivi with Ali and her lovely English boyfriend. In case I haven’t explained aperitivi, it is a very Italian concept somewhat similar to tapas only about 1.72 million times more fantastic. Many of the fanciest (and not so fancy) bars and restaurants have aperitivi every night, especially on the weekend. As long as you buy one drink, you can eat as much as you want at the buffet. There is always pasta and many types of salads, breads with all kinds of condiments, veggies, and meat of some kind of another so for 7-8 euros, you can sip something nice and snack away for hours. The place we ended up at Saturday night was outside and the food was great!!

After aperitivi, Breana and I headed to The William, an English/Irish pub, with Ali and Keving. This pub tends to have the most random range of music each night, ranging from live American cover bands to Miley Cyrus to heavy metal. Satuday happened to be Disney stars and heavy metal. Something to note is that since Italian students often have class Saturday morning, and there is no drinking age here, all of the young teens are out Saturday night making for quite a sight. Perhaps that’s why we were surrounded by Jonas Brothers music videos all night? Regardless, we had some great cider, and headed home somewhat early in preparation for a great Sunday!

Sunday

This is the point at which I fell in love.

At 6:45am, I woke up, took a speedy shower, threw on some warm clothes and headed to the train station where I met Breana, Julie and our Italian friend Alessio. After purchasing our tickets, we hopped on the train to Perugia where there was a chocolate festival. Yum.

The train ride to Perugia may have been my favorite part of Italy thus far. I don’t particularly like Florence – it is loud and dirty and full of tourists and beggars and dog poo. All of the little towns outside of Florence on the way to Perugia were gorgeous, each one a small cluster of buildings surrounding a piazza and a church on a hillside. My favorites by far were the small towns all around the edge of Lake Trasimeno. Alessio could tell that I was awestruck and in love because in very sweet English he said, “It appears to me that perhaps this is some place that you would like to someday live maybe?” Yes, Alessio. Yes.

When we arrived in Perugia, I fell even more in love. The chocolate festival was lovely, but it was overcrowded (and by overcrowded I mean that you literally could not pass through the crowd and as Alessio said, “How do you say this? We are like sardines all in one place tight together?”). Disregarding this chaos, Perugia is stunning. It sits up on a hill, overlooking copious churches and small towns scattered across the hills. To reach the center of the city, you must take a bus (or walk up steep streets) until you come to an semi-outdoor escalator. This escalator turns into two and then three escalators, gradually bringing you more and more underground within the hill. When you step off the final escalator, you set foot in the lower part of the old city of Perugia, which now lays underground. Today this underground city is a series of galleries used for events such as the chocolate festival, but it remains breathtakingly beautiful because it remains just as it was so many hundreds of years ago.

As I stood overlooking the hills surrounding Perugia almost teary, I was overcome with first goose bumps and then the overwhelming sense that I needed to spend more time here in the future. When I looked up, there was a patch of sunlight beaming down in vertical rays, spreading its warmth over this incredible old church off in the distance. Thank you, rosary.   

As usual, there are more pictures on Facebook!

When I arrived home Sunday later afternoon, I was greeted warmly by my lovely family. When it seemed to be time for dinner, I left my room, only to join a caravan of people already heading down the stairs. Silvia looked overjoyed when she looked up to see first Lorenzo, then Filippo, then Enrico and then me trooping down the stairs to enjoy dinner together. Throughout dinner, Lorenzo chatted about various different things and I believe that Filippo might have even said something directly to me…. Perhaps? Silvia, yet again, teased them for becoming so shy around. I swear its soon to change, I can feel it!

I might add that we had INCREDIBLE meatballs for dinner, followed by boiled potatoes and steamed green beans – both of which were very welcome because I am forever craving vegetables. The twins were very resistant to eating the “schiffo” potatoes but then Lorenzo had the great idea of smooshing his into mashed potatoes and added not just oil, salt and pepper, but also mayonnaise. You should all know that Italians LOVE mayo. They put globs of it on sandwiches, they add it to various salads, plop it on veggies – they use it as a dip and condiment for nearly everything. As Lorenzo dolloped his mayonnaise onto his potatoes, Filippo freaked out because he actually thought it was vile, but Silvia was just happy that her son was eating potatoes so she remained silent. Let me tell you, it did not look appetizing! Too each his own!

After dinner I presented them with chocolate that I bought as a thank-you gift. Little did I know that Lorenzo and Filippo adore milk chocolate with hazelnuts – and how could you not? It’s amazing! In a fit of excitement, Lorenzo remembered that he had a book with all of the musical instruments in it and he showed it to us. When Silvia asked what I played and I said viola, Lore eagerly flipped to the viola page and patiently explained the difference between all the stringed instruments. Thanks little bro!

Today

Mondays are long…. And today was no exception. I am in class from 9.30 until 5.30 with an awkward 3 hour break in the middle of the day. Fortunately, Breana and I decided to walk to the market at Sant’Ambrogio where we bought fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, meat, milk and snacks for the week. Shopping in markets is definitely the way to go around here because everything is so fresh (although fruit season is passing…. and veggies are starting to lack their incredible summery taste, but still…. very tasty!) and it is all so reasonably priced!

Anyway, when I arrived home, Filippo was home alone and greeted me cheerily, letting me know that la mamma was grocery shopping and Lore was at his music lesson (French horn, so cute).

Unfortunately, when I got upstairs and checked my email I learned that Laura Mann, the founder of the non-profit I worked at this summer, passed away this morning after fighting cancer for over 5 years. Laura was an incredible woman – powerful, brilliant, inspiring and beautiful. I know that she touched everyone who she met and changed their lives in some way or another. So Laura, good luck on this journey and we will all see you in the future!

It couldn’t have been more comforting to be able to go downstairs to my family and hear the boys teasing each other and watching the Disney channel (they LOVE “The Life of Patty”), while hearing Silvia and Enrico chat in the kitchen as they cooked and set the table. Sitting at dinner and absorbing all of the Italian language around me, savoring my spaghetti with tomatoes and pancetta, soaking up my balsamic vinegar with salt-less Tuscan bread and toasting with my host parents after dinner was an incredible feeling and it is not anything I ever felt at Luciana’s.

Mothers are always right: Everything happens for a reason. Always. And here ends my tale of falling back in love with Italian..... 

Baci e abbracci!

A domani! 

Blessed by an Italian Nun: or how I just raved in a fortress circa 1534

Thursday afternoon
I believe that I was just blessed (maybe not fully blessed, but at least slightly) by a nun who works in a little store of all things Catholic, located right across from the Duomo. Just the fact that such a sweet woman would even talk with me is enough to make me feel fortunate! This particular nun reminded me of my grandmother. If you took my dad's mom, taught her Italian, rewound to when she was 70, put her in a habit and tossed her over to the Duomo, you would find this exact little nun. I might need to return to the shop and buy this little wooden rosary I was eyeballing just because I had the overwhelming sense that I needed to buy it.... When in Florence, as they say! 


(Although.... when in Florence..... one must definitely eat at a chinese restaurant where they serve a) lemon chicken with at least one entire REAL lemon sliced all over the fresh chicken and b) pizza by the slice. So good. Add a cheap Italian beer and you pretty much have the greatest lunch ever.)


When I got home after this little encounter, my little bros were talking up a storm and Silvia embarrassed them tremendously when she said, "Oh ragazzi, this is how you are when Sera isn't here but the second she comes in the door you get timidi, don't you?" At which point they both turned bright red and sat down at the counter and stared at their hands, elbowing each other and giggling. 


We had an amazing dinner of tender and flavorful turkey, incredible lentils cooked al dente with salt and olive oil, the best brussels sprouts I have ever had - yes an oxy moron but these were the BEST, served with Béchamel sauce, who woulda thunk!? - bread, tomatoes, and then some mandarins and biscotti. Perfection.


Oh, and did I mention that after doing the last (yes, the LAST - WOOHOO!) of my laundry, I returned home only to find a pair of men's black boxer briefs mixed in? Interesante.... I have been obsessively spraying everything in this room (including the doors, my closet, the clothes in my closet and my bed.... all the time) because I finally brought home EVERYTHING from the sede. I have all of my non-washable things spread on the floor to be sprayed and monitered for the next few days and then I am putting it all away. So far the coast appears clear! In boca al lupo! (In the mouth of the wolf = good luck!)


Friday afternoon
Yes, I did just go buy that rosary. And I love it. A lot. 

Prior to this purchase, Breana and I were craving hot chocolate (since it is freezing here!! Yes, I am aware that it has snowed in both Northampton, MA and Middlesex, VT but regardless, it went from being 85 degrees to being 40-50 degrees in a matter of days and it has been a tad bit shocking!). Anyway, we were craving hot chocolate so we returned to a place we had seen yesterday and we ordered hot chocolate - literally that's what it was - hot melted chocolate with a dollop of delicious whipped cream on it. It was amazing, but very intense and very dark. 


Later tonight we are meeting up with our Italian friends and heading over to this great event called "Festival della Creatività" at this amazing old fortezza (fortress) called Fortezza da Basso which is only about 15 minutes from my new house (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortezza_da_Basso). It should be pretty amazing - there are art exhibits and food stands, and live music and DJs and dancing - everything you could ever need all inside one big, old castle. 

Friday late night
Recap of the evening: Dinner = delicious. As usual. We had really delicious rice with lentils leftover from last night and it was so comforting and tasty! Then we had two egg-somethings. It's hard to describe, but I guess they were like big flat omelets, one with sliced potato and one with incredible zucchini. Then we ate some apples and mandarins and after I helped clear the table (much to their surprise, I do this every evening no matter how many times they tell me not to!) and then we meandered into the living room to watch some ridiculous Italian television. I can't explain to you how bizzare Italian television is.... nudity, strange men in costumes (such as snowmen and really large red things with huge mouths), odd skits, and terribly depressing news. Needless to say, it is an experience. 

Oh, and did I mention.... I just raved in the castle. Well, the fortress really. It even had a moat (empty, but still!)! 


Saturday morning
Oops. I woke up just a tad bit late - 11:45am anyone? My family had the plumber come this morning and I just walked into the bathroom and the toilet is just not there anymore.... Anyway, the plumber was running all around the house this morning, up and down the stairs, hollering in Italian, and then the twins got up and were singing and frolicking around and it was all very nice and cute and entertaining and educational with all theItalian and such, but I wanted to sleep! So here I am, its 1:03pm and I need to finish this blog, shower, and then finish my homework, followed by a trip to the train station to buy a ticket to Perugia for tomorrow (chocolate festival!!) and then I am going out to dinner with Ali and her boyfriend and some other lovely ladies, and then who knows what!!


Such is life in Florence, Italy.


Baci e abbracci!!! 

...and the magic returns

My mother has always told me that everything happens for a reason. This is true.

That being said, it is often difficult to find that reason when things are just not going your way.

The other day I asked Giovanna how you say "the silver lining" in Italian, or at least if there was a different way of expressing that idea. She couldn't think of a thing other than "everything happens for a reason." I guess Italians just inherently know that there is a silver lining to all difficult times and therefore they don't need a phrase that expresses it.

This brings me to my point.

Despite the atrocity that is bedbugs, things have turned out rather peachy.

For example: Last night my host mama popped her head in the door and blew me a kiss goodnight followed by a "buon giorno" note on the counter when I went down for breakfast this morning. Then this afternoon we were talking about food, and first of all, they now all tease me about how much to put on my plate at dinner after living with a woman who perpetually overfed me. Secondly, when they mentioned that they enjoy this funny American thing called a pancake with syrup from trees on it and I offered to get them Vermont maple syrup and make them pancakes they agreed - this is something Luciana would not have agreed to given I wasn't even allowed to get my own glass from the kitchen, let alone actually USE the stove. God forbid. Finally, the fact that I have been given two little brothers it just about the best thing ever. They are still too shy to really talk TO me but they do talk around me and my host parents often have to remind them to slow down so I can understand what they are saying. The sweetest thing is that when it's time for dinner Lorenzo comes to my door, pops his head in, says, "Pronto!" ("Ready!") and runs back downstairs, meanwhile Filippo is laughing hysterically because he didn't have to come to get me and poor Lorenzo did. Lorenzo even knocked on my door earlier to bring me another blanket for my bed and when I said, "Buona notte" he just said, "Ciao!" and scampered away. Love it.

Additionally, I have decided that Luciana is no better a cook than any other Italian mama. It's the ingredients that give everything that basic, delicious, fresh taste and its hard to create anything that isn't absolutely yummy! In fact, tonight may have been my favorite meal so far - first ravioli with sage and butter (why don't Americans use sage more?), followed by proscuitto crudo, peccorino, homemade pepper jelly, Tuscan bread (did I mention that Tuscan bread is salt-less and therefore definitely requires a large hunk of cheese and pepper jelly!), mushrooms from Lucca, salad, amazing tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, and then a tasty biscotti and a mandarin. Now come on, what is there to not love about that meal? Niente. That's what.

Anyway. On a different note, I have the first bag of guaranteed bug-free clothing here in my room. Everything else remains at the sede. It has all been sprayed with BioKill (charming name) and bagged for the next 24 hours. Tomorrow I will dry what can be dried, freeze what can't be dried, and bring it home, all while respraying both my things and my room. Hopefully this is the last hurrah because I cannot imagine a more mortifying and upsetting thing than carrying the bugs into this generous and beautiful home.... Wish me luck!

Baci e abbracci a tutti!

P.S. Chocolate festival in Perugia this weekend? I think YES!

Rainbows in Italy.

I don't know how many of you know about my belief in rainbows, but were I to choose a religion, I would say that I believe strictly in the power of rainbows. Allow me to explain.


When I was eighteen months old, my uncle passed away. As the story goes, my family was in the hospital with him and suddenly the sky darkened to black and there was an intense thunder storm. It soon passed, and as the storm passed and the sky cleared into blue skies, my uncle passed away as well. 


A few days later, I was standing on our screened-in porch looking outside and my parents heard me calling, "Kiss! Kiss!" (my uncle's name was Cris and I couldn't yet pronounce my R's). When they came out to see what I was calling to, they saw me pointing at a rainbow as I called his name.


When my grandfather died, I was in Italy with my parents. My mom flew home early and my dad and I were left to spend a few days alone in Venice. The day of his wake was wet and dreary, but as the afternoon came to a close, there was a rainbow.


When my grandmother joined him almost 3 years ago, it was again rainy and damp, and again there was a rainbow that afternoon.


At my graduation party, after walking through my backyard holding my mother's hand and sniffling about having to leave home for the first time, it drizzled for a few minutes, and yes, yet again, there was a rainbow.


We have hundreds of photos of rainbows stored away on various computers and cameras because they appear in our lives so often, almost always on a challenging or monumental day. 


The reason I decided to share this story with you is because when I arrived home yesterday, Luciana's umbrella was sitting outside the door, and of course, it is a rainbow umbrella - each panel is a delicious, bright, vivid color. I thought it was a nice "welcome home" gesture as I moved the last of my belongings from the temporary apartment back home to Luciana's. Thank you rainbows!


This is why I say that if I were to choose a religion, it would simply be my faith in rainbows to show themselves when I need it most.

Note: The rainbow in the photo is not an Italian one, but a lovely one taken the other day in my backyard in Vermont (thanks, Mama!).

How Florence Helps One to Find Faith: A Brief Guide to Encountering God in a Foreign Country

First of all, I must say that there is nothing like discovering new and beautiful places in Florence. There really is nothing AT ALL that even compares. It was in doing this that I realized perhaps Florence is the best place to find some faith.

This morning we took the bus (did I mention that there are tiny orange electric busses in

Florence?? We didn't take one this morning, but I did this afternoon!) and we went to la Chiesa di San Miniato. San Miniato is across the Arno, up a beautiful hill, and it overlooks ALL of Florence.

On top of the church being incredibly beautiful on its own, today was a gorgeous, bright, sunny, cheerful day. Coming to the crest of the hill after scaling at least 500 steps, I saw la chiesa - a very large one at that - and was struck silent.

To think that this church has been standing in the same place, appearing almost exactly the same as it did about 1000 years ago.... È incredibile, no?

So that is my first piece of advice when you desire some faith - find a church (or temple, or synagogue!). It doesn't absolutely NEED to be in Florence... but hey, my advice is my advice. Find a church in Florence. ANY of them. A huge famous one, a tiny one built in among other buildings on a side street, a roadside shrine - anything. Stop for a minute and just be. Don't think about faith or finding God, or talking with anyone of the divine sort. Just be. And perhaps take a minute to think about where you are and why you are there and who else has been there before you and how long people have been doing just that - standing and enjoying. Chances are, if you're in Florence especially, millions and millions of people over thousands of years (or even only hundreds, but still!) have been standing just like you, their feet on the same stone, wondering what you're wondering. It's a bit of a miracle.

My next piece of advice is to find an Italian nonna to cook you some dinner. This with inevitably help you find more faith in life and humanity. I say this because what better way to enjoy your life than to sit down with someone who loves you and has spent all day preparing something special for you to enjoy together (also... enjoying fresh Italian food.... a real delight.... something to savor and remember forever... and something which at least seems to give me some faith in love and life and famiglia). Tonight Luciana made spaghetti with tiny shrimp, mussels and some other types of seafood. Then we ate some delicious white fish and amazing potatoes made with rosemary, followed by the best nectarine I've ever eaten. When we finished, I had never felt better. Wasn't too full, wasn't empty. I had napped before dinner, and laughed my way through dinner.

As usual, a perfect giorno in Firenze!!

Moltissimi baci e abbracci!!

Note: The GoogleMaps image shows my house (A) and San Miniato (B). In between, you can see the Arno, the Boboli Gardens and to the left of my house, there is a huge park with places to run and walk and wander. Also in the park there is an apparently amazing market every Tuesday morning where you can buy everything from fruit and veggies to leather jackets and shoes to clothing and jewelry. In between Piazza Santa Maria Novella and the Uffizi, there is a little piazza called Piazza della Signoria and that is where I go to class every day.