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When we arrived in Italy we were told that for no extra credit what so ever, only the learning experience, that we could sign up for a tandem partner. A tandem partner is someone who is a native of the country and wants to learn your language. In my case and Italian who wants to learn English. The first time I had this idea proposed to me I was all for it. Someone who could help me learn Italian! Awesome, that would really help me with a language that I barely know how to speak. But then I began thinking...what if my person doesn't know a lick of English and we sit in silence for 2 hours (you are required to spend 2 hours together). So then I began to reconsider this whole thing...but it was too late. I had signed up the previous day and was meeting my person that evening.
So, two Wednesday's ago I was sitting in a room with a few of my fellow Americans and watched as several Italians (men and women) entered the room all jabbering in Italian...yeah...not intimidating at all. As our instructor, Angelica, began calling all of the names to match us up I kept praying that my person would know a little English.
"Audrey...with Zeineb." I couldn't even contemplate the name that was just said let alone look around the room to see a 21-year old Italian girl staring back at me smiling. I got up nervously and sat down next to her trying to remember what I learned in Italian the day before. However, as I was contemplating on how to say nice to meet you (piacere) she says...I love when Angelica speaks in English...she sounds so professional..." I think my mouth dropped at that point.
Zeineb is a 3rd year at the University of Macerata. She has studied aboard in several countries....including the United States (Texas) and England. She is practically fluent in English and is one of the nicest people that I have met so far.
This past weekend we went out for a café and talked about religion, politics, friends, family, food, travel, you name it...we talked about it. And it was all in English of course, because I barely know how to hold a conversation in Italian. But every time we meet, we will spend a little more time talking in Italian and less in English. At the end of our conversation, we were talking about her mom and she asked me if I would like to come to her home next Friday and spend the night. Apparently her mom is fascinated with the fact that I have real Red-hair. Go figure.
So, if you ever have the chance to go abroad and want to improve on your speaking skills...get a tandem partner. It really is the best way to learn the language!
Ciao Ragazzi!
Audrey
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Civitanova, Marche
Good afternoon everyone. Hope you are all doing well. Today I find myself after a day full of class, fairly tired. I haven't been sleeping the whole night through, so I'm experimenting tonight. I'm thinking about staying up as late as I can and then sleeping in tomorrow. If you can believe it, I might be getting too much sleep. Or the lack of a fan might also be the problem. But moving on from my sleep deprivation....
This past weekend our group took a tour to the city of Civitanova, slightly south-east of us. We began our morning on a train. There we sat and talked about the city that we were about to encounter with the sun blazing in the windows. Grant it - it's January, so it's still slightly cold but still beautiful and enjoyable. When we arrived at the train station, we got off and began our tour around the city. We follow Filiberto around as he told us the most unique details of every building that we passed. He finally lead us to the Adriatic Sea. I now actually believe that we are close to the water. We have been told that we can see the sea on a clear day...but so far...no luck. Anyways, it was really pretty and being that close to something that I have been learning about since the 4th grade was almost overwhelming. However, when we saw the sea, we also smelled it. Civitanova is a sea port and a fishing hot spot for Italy. Most of the fresh sea food for Italy comes from that port, which is cool, but how interesting can fish really be? We then learned everything there is to know every kind of fish. We followed a man around to all the docks, fishing boats, net-fixing-places, etc. We finally went into the coldest room I have ever had to be in for a long period of time (not including Mr. Hitchcock's classroom). It literally was like "Let's Make a Deal" - the fishermen put there stock of fish on a moving conveyer belt, then people bid on the fish and then run down and purchase the fish. Crazy...seriously only crazy people would do this....it's like the stock market...but with fish.
After we left that area, we went to the local Saturday market. They have tons of vendors that close off streets and sell dresses, shoes, clothing, tablecloths, toys, wooden things, meat, cheese, anything - they got it. I almost bought something, but then I decided to save my money and get a cappuccino. Soon after we headed to lunch at a local restaurant and had a 5 course meal that took 3 hours to finish. Let me tell you something. That was the freshest sea food that I have had - ever. It was really fun too because not only did we get to have really good food, we also began our filming for our documentary class (which by the way, I got a really sweet shot of spaghetti leaving the kitchen...thank you). After lunch ended, Whit, Dom, Kim (his wife) and I headed to this really cute chocolate shop and bought ....chocolate. It was amazing. I don't know what it is, but everything seems to taste better here. Soon after, we hopped the train back to Macerata, and I ended the night going over to Kasey's house, watching the Office, and hitting up Caffe Central with the group.
Overall it was so much fun and I really hope that I can go back soon. Again, I hope all of you are doing well and I love hearing from all of you. Keep me posted on everything that is happening in your lives....I miss all of you tons!
Love,
Audrey
This past weekend our group took a tour to the city of Civitanova, slightly south-east of us. We began our morning on a train. There we sat and talked about the city that we were about to encounter with the sun blazing in the windows. Grant it - it's January, so it's still slightly cold but still beautiful and enjoyable. When we arrived at the train station, we got off and began our tour around the city. We follow Filiberto around as he told us the most unique details of every building that we passed. He finally lead us to the Adriatic Sea. I now actually believe that we are close to the water. We have been told that we can see the sea on a clear day...but so far...no luck. Anyways, it was really pretty and being that close to something that I have been learning about since the 4th grade was almost overwhelming. However, when we saw the sea, we also smelled it. Civitanova is a sea port and a fishing hot spot for Italy. Most of the fresh sea food for Italy comes from that port, which is cool, but how interesting can fish really be? We then learned everything there is to know every kind of fish. We followed a man around to all the docks, fishing boats, net-fixing-places, etc. We finally went into the coldest room I have ever had to be in for a long period of time (not including Mr. Hitchcock's classroom). It literally was like "Let's Make a Deal" - the fishermen put there stock of fish on a moving conveyer belt, then people bid on the fish and then run down and purchase the fish. Crazy...seriously only crazy people would do this....it's like the stock market...but with fish.
After we left that area, we went to the local Saturday market. They have tons of vendors that close off streets and sell dresses, shoes, clothing, tablecloths, toys, wooden things, meat, cheese, anything - they got it. I almost bought something, but then I decided to save my money and get a cappuccino. Soon after we headed to lunch at a local restaurant and had a 5 course meal that took 3 hours to finish. Let me tell you something. That was the freshest sea food that I have had - ever. It was really fun too because not only did we get to have really good food, we also began our filming for our documentary class (which by the way, I got a really sweet shot of spaghetti leaving the kitchen...thank you). After lunch ended, Whit, Dom, Kim (his wife) and I headed to this really cute chocolate shop and bought ....chocolate. It was amazing. I don't know what it is, but everything seems to taste better here. Soon after, we hopped the train back to Macerata, and I ended the night going over to Kasey's house, watching the Office, and hitting up Caffe Central with the group.
Overall it was so much fun and I really hope that I can go back soon. Again, I hope all of you are doing well and I love hearing from all of you. Keep me posted on everything that is happening in your lives....I miss all of you tons!
Love,
Audrey
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment....this is the country side of Italy. In the distance you can see the mountains that are in the west.
This is the town perspective...also facing west
Closer look at the hills
This is a fountain in the nearby park...beautiful
From the street below looking into the city
This is on our walk home everday.
This is my apt. building, ours is the 1st floor.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Here are pictures that aren't mine...read on...
so I keep forgetting my camera at home...so there will be pictures tomorrow...but I wanted to show you that I'm actually here. See...there I am...the red-head. This is Dom's picture by the way...
This is Dom's too....I have other ones...but I wanted to show you all the landscape...because it's amazing...I'll put more up soon
Love,
Audrey
Monday, January 14, 2008
Bright, sunshiny day!
I think that song best describes today in Macerata. For the past 4 days it has been cloudy, rainy, all around gross. Today it is a beautiful clear day with a high of 11° C. Whitney and I headed out early this morning because today was our first day of actual class. However, we only have one class today, Italian, so it wasn't anything too tragic. We ended up going to the market after class and buying some food before we stopped off at home. But before I get all boring on you let me refresh you on this past weekends events.
Saturday we had another walking tour of Macerata, to show the students where we would be taking our classes. Beginning at 8 am is rough enough, but let me remind you that this was our 4th tour around the city. However, the tour ended shortly, because we took time to go to the local mall. This mall was no Castleton. I'm going to make the assumption that there were about 15 shops all together and one large Wal*Mart type store in the center. We all ate lunch in the "common area" before taking time to walk around the mall, which took all of 10 min. All of the stores were over priced, and nothing really sparked my interest. Until I got to the one bookstore at the end, and they had every Harry Potter book except for the last one, which I think is the one that I want to buy. So that was a bust, but it was interesting seeing the other book covers that exist in Europe, and specifically Italy. We came back and got ready for our nightly activities. We went over to some friends house for dinner and then we were joined by about half of the rest of the group. Needless to say it got a little crowed so we headed out to our favorite bar. (By the way, we have only been there once.) Once we got there we headed up to our same upstairs location to sit on our couches, but we were unable to because there were about seven 16 year olds. At first we were like, "Well this should be interesting, young kids in a bar, just hanging out and taking up our seating...." However they ended up being some of the coolest people that we met. Justin Timberlake was playing over the speakers, and everyone one of them were singing in English all of the words with their accents. One of the funniest things ever. Then a couple of our boys joined in and they went on to sing "Umbrella" by Rihanna. So funny. Our night ended, and Whit and I walked home.
Sunday was brought in by rain and more rain, but we had heard of the local flea market that began around 10 am, so we got up early to check it out and meet the Jersey Boys. Well...it was just that. The Flea Market had nothing great in particular, except a candy counter, where Whitney and I both bought German Roasted Nuts - that were WARM and kept our hands from freezing. We said bye to the boys and headed home to make spaghetti...where we totally succeed in that and then took a nap for 3 hours. We were then woken up by John and Evan saying that they were bored and wanted to hang out. So they came over and we ended up teaching Whitney how to play Euchre. Soon the Fam called (love you guys) and we talked for a while about everything that I'm telling you now. After that, the group left our place and proceeded to Jersey's house where we then taught THEM how to play Euchre. One amazing Indiana night.
So now it's Monday. And it's beautiful outside. Whitney and I took tons of pictures today which I will soon be uploading. We wanted to get a few more so that we could show the "local hot-spots" on the first upload. Enjoy the rest of your days and I will should you soon where I live. Ciao!
Lots of Love to all of you,
Audrey
Saturday we had another walking tour of Macerata, to show the students where we would be taking our classes. Beginning at 8 am is rough enough, but let me remind you that this was our 4th tour around the city. However, the tour ended shortly, because we took time to go to the local mall. This mall was no Castleton. I'm going to make the assumption that there were about 15 shops all together and one large Wal*Mart type store in the center. We all ate lunch in the "common area" before taking time to walk around the mall, which took all of 10 min. All of the stores were over priced, and nothing really sparked my interest. Until I got to the one bookstore at the end, and they had every Harry Potter book except for the last one, which I think is the one that I want to buy. So that was a bust, but it was interesting seeing the other book covers that exist in Europe, and specifically Italy. We came back and got ready for our nightly activities. We went over to some friends house for dinner and then we were joined by about half of the rest of the group. Needless to say it got a little crowed so we headed out to our favorite bar. (By the way, we have only been there once.) Once we got there we headed up to our same upstairs location to sit on our couches, but we were unable to because there were about seven 16 year olds. At first we were like, "Well this should be interesting, young kids in a bar, just hanging out and taking up our seating...." However they ended up being some of the coolest people that we met. Justin Timberlake was playing over the speakers, and everyone one of them were singing in English all of the words with their accents. One of the funniest things ever. Then a couple of our boys joined in and they went on to sing "Umbrella" by Rihanna. So funny. Our night ended, and Whit and I walked home.
Sunday was brought in by rain and more rain, but we had heard of the local flea market that began around 10 am, so we got up early to check it out and meet the Jersey Boys. Well...it was just that. The Flea Market had nothing great in particular, except a candy counter, where Whitney and I both bought German Roasted Nuts - that were WARM and kept our hands from freezing. We said bye to the boys and headed home to make spaghetti...where we totally succeed in that and then took a nap for 3 hours. We were then woken up by John and Evan saying that they were bored and wanted to hang out. So they came over and we ended up teaching Whitney how to play Euchre. Soon the Fam called (love you guys) and we talked for a while about everything that I'm telling you now. After that, the group left our place and proceeded to Jersey's house where we then taught THEM how to play Euchre. One amazing Indiana night.
So now it's Monday. And it's beautiful outside. Whitney and I took tons of pictures today which I will soon be uploading. We wanted to get a few more so that we could show the "local hot-spots" on the first upload. Enjoy the rest of your days and I will should you soon where I live. Ciao!
Lots of Love to all of you,
Audrey
Thursday, January 10, 2008
CIAO! From Italy!
Good morning to most of you. Currently it is the afternoon and I just finished lunch at the student cafe here in Macerata. Let me just say it is no OOB (Lafollette dining service).
Anyways, I made it here safe. Thanks for all of your prayers. The past two days have been very long and tiresome, but I'm slowly adjusting. I think that by this weekend, I will be fully adjusted to the time change.
The plane ride has been the most interesting thing that I have had to endure so far. I sat in front of an Italian married couple that continued to push on the back of my seat. My friend Whitney could even feel them pushing on it...so you know that it had to be rough. So instead, I stared out the window into the black sky...and even though I could not really see anything...the stars were amazing that night. Probably one of the coolest things ever. Then we flew right over London, Paris and finally Roma. Amazing.
The train rides (plural) were a completely different story. They weren't the classiest way of traveling, however, most efficient, if you know what the heck you are doing. As soon as you get to the Roma Termini there are about 50 different trains all leaving at once. Be praying that you get on the right one because nothing about the train information was in English. How awkward to be an outsider. But all the same we arrived safely and the trip was a success.
Currently the town of Macerata is covered in Fog. Apparently we have mountains to the west and the Aedratic (spelled wrong for sure) Sea to the east - but we cannot see either of them, so that is making the buildings the most interesting things we have to look at. But do not get me wrong - they are beautiful. The streets are made of stone - nothing is paved here. And it smells amazing too. Italians have many plants in their home windows and store owners have them in their shops, plus the town itself has potted plants everywhere. Amazing.
Last night we found out our housing assignments. Whitney and I are living together in this apt. complex outside the walled city. Supposedly it is not to far of a walk....but after yesterday, nothing is too far of a walk. We carried our 70 lbs. plus luggage from the train station up a hill - no a mountain - we were told it would be rough...but for all of you doubters, I didn't complain and actually led some of the way. Thank you, thank you.
Now we have a bit of free time, so I thought that I would catch you all up. Hopefully I will be able to write soon. Tomorrow we are moving in to our actual homes here (thank goodness) so I'm excited that this is the last night that I will be sleeping in that hostel where the showers and the toilets are one.
Miss and Love you all,
Audrey
Anyways, I made it here safe. Thanks for all of your prayers. The past two days have been very long and tiresome, but I'm slowly adjusting. I think that by this weekend, I will be fully adjusted to the time change.
The plane ride has been the most interesting thing that I have had to endure so far. I sat in front of an Italian married couple that continued to push on the back of my seat. My friend Whitney could even feel them pushing on it...so you know that it had to be rough. So instead, I stared out the window into the black sky...and even though I could not really see anything...the stars were amazing that night. Probably one of the coolest things ever. Then we flew right over London, Paris and finally Roma. Amazing.
The train rides (plural) were a completely different story. They weren't the classiest way of traveling, however, most efficient, if you know what the heck you are doing. As soon as you get to the Roma Termini there are about 50 different trains all leaving at once. Be praying that you get on the right one because nothing about the train information was in English. How awkward to be an outsider. But all the same we arrived safely and the trip was a success.
Currently the town of Macerata is covered in Fog. Apparently we have mountains to the west and the Aedratic (spelled wrong for sure) Sea to the east - but we cannot see either of them, so that is making the buildings the most interesting things we have to look at. But do not get me wrong - they are beautiful. The streets are made of stone - nothing is paved here. And it smells amazing too. Italians have many plants in their home windows and store owners have them in their shops, plus the town itself has potted plants everywhere. Amazing.
Last night we found out our housing assignments. Whitney and I are living together in this apt. complex outside the walled city. Supposedly it is not to far of a walk....but after yesterday, nothing is too far of a walk. We carried our 70 lbs. plus luggage from the train station up a hill - no a mountain - we were told it would be rough...but for all of you doubters, I didn't complain and actually led some of the way. Thank you, thank you.
Now we have a bit of free time, so I thought that I would catch you all up. Hopefully I will be able to write soon. Tomorrow we are moving in to our actual homes here (thank goodness) so I'm excited that this is the last night that I will be sleeping in that hostel where the showers and the toilets are one.
Miss and Love you all,
Audrey
Friday, January 4, 2008
Recent E-mail
Hi again everyone. This is the blog that I will be posting on. Just so you can catch up on my daily excursions. Hope you all are having a good winter break and keep safe.
Audrey
Audrey
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