Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Beginning of the End
Monday was pretty uneventful, I won't lie. The weather was pretty nasty, so I couldn't go to the waterfall like I wanted to. Stayed inside mostly and hung out. I was kind of bummed that I spent a whole day in Italy inside, but we had fun that night. It was Molly's 21st birthday, so most of us went out for dinner at Squa Qua, which was delicious as always and quite fun. After Squa Qua we went over to Seven's...of course. It was pretty fun. We spent the day making some CDs so we wouldn't have to listen to the same old stuff again, so we all had a good time hanging out and dancing to all of that. Charlotte, Mac, Mike, and I all left together and thus began the late night buildering adventures. Mac and I started scoping out door frames to climb and we climbed one. Good times! There are also some little cracks and stuff that were pretty fun to try out across the street from their apartment. Hahaha, it was so random. That was pretty much the excitement for the day...sad but true. Today was a good day. It was my haircut!! I had my Italian exam in the morning, which went well, and then an Intercultural Communication quiz...which was ridiculously hard...and then I went to Matteo's! I was SO pumped about getting my haircut, it's not even funny. I told him he could do whatever he wanted, and it seems that the consensus is that I turned out looking like a french girl. I LOVE it! I'm still kind of getting used to the bangs, but it's cute. It takes a lot more styling than I'm used to, but it's all good. After my haircut I went to Dan's apartment for lunch with Mac and Charlotte. It was so tasty! It was actually the meal I've been waiting for--something where everything comes from its specific shop. We went to the bakery for the bread, the meat and cheese store for the prosciutto and peccorino, and Dan had the wine from the wine store--all very tasty. After lunch I came back to the lab for a bit and finished up my web page and stuff. There was a soccer game at 6 between the Italiani e Americani, which was HILARIOUS. I pretty much died watching it. Just the warm-up was awesome. One of the Italian kids plays for like...the youth Milian team or something...but all of them were seriously legit and we had like...Matt who was wearing dress shoes. Basically, we were a motley crew. Awesome. We left towards the end of the game to go hit-up Squa Qua...again. I had the french fry pizza, which was surprisingly delicious. Good combination of foods. After Squa Qua, we went back to Casa Lapis for a bit and I just kind of chilled while everyone got ready. We went to Seven's around 10 or 10:30, but it was a relatively uneventful night there. Pretty much just chatting going on. Mac and I bailed a little early for another buildering excursion. We ad been checking out the archway to the door of our school building, which proved to be totally worth it. We can't climb stuff during the day because it would look REALLY bad, but it's a fun late-night activity. We hit up a few other "problems" around and then headed home, but it was pretty worth it. It was a good two nights of buildering adventures and other fun!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Assisi!
Today was our trip to Assisi...FINALLY! The drive there was really long and windy, so I ended up getting motion sick again. What else is new? When we got there, the first place we went was the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli which was pretty cool. 
Most of it was pretty standard, but in the middle of it, there is the little chapel where St. Francis would come to pray when he transitioned from being a heathen to a saint. It was really pretty cool. The frescos were kind of amazing, and it's just crazy to think about how long that chapel has been there. I mean, St. Francis was alive in the 1200s. A few feet away from that little chapel was the place where St. Francis died, too. Wow. After that was mass, which I didn't go to. 
Charlotte and I visited the monastery instead, which was pretty sweet. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals, so there is one part were there is a statue of St. Francis with a basket and there are live turtle doves in it. So cool! After mass ended, we walked over to a restaurant for lunch. I think we may have experienced our first traditional pranzo! We started with pasta and then had a meat and vegetable course. Not exactly a full pranzo, but the best we've had. The food was decent, but I've kind of been hoping for better. Oh well. I can't complain--I'm in Italy! After lunch we hiked up the hill to the main city of Assisi. That was funny. We were all crazy tired from lack of sleep and a big lunch and then trying to take like a two mile walk uphill. It was really cool to walk into the city though. We went up to the Basilica of St. Francis, which is where St. Francis's remains are. The crypt was an intense thing to see. It was kind of an oddly holy moment for me--not because St. Francis is really important to me or anything, but just that it's so special to so many people that they come from all over the world to see it. It's pretty amazing that something like the crypt of St. Francis could bring people together like that. The rest of the basilica was seriously cool. The frescos were INCREDIBLE. They were just crazy detailed and vibrant. It's amazing to think what it looked liked when it was first finished. Unreal. In the front of the top part of the basilica, there is what is said to be the most realistic interpretation of St. Francis (in fresco). Interesting. We were given free time to walk around and shop after that, so I ended up buying a gift and walking around with Charlotte. 
The views from up on the hill were SO amazing. It was like how I pictured Italy being. Olive trees, open fields, cypress trees...so pretty. We got some gelato--always delicious--then started heading back in the direction of the bus. When we got back to Cagli, I stopped in the lab for a little bit then headed home, make some pasta, and conked out. Cassidy went out with Molly for her birthday and when she got back, I was literally asleep in my clothes with all the lights on. Dang. Sleep-in tomorrow because there is no class until 1:30!
Most of it was pretty standard, but in the middle of it, there is the little chapel where St. Francis would come to pray when he transitioned from being a heathen to a saint. It was really pretty cool. The frescos were kind of amazing, and it's just crazy to think about how long that chapel has been there. I mean, St. Francis was alive in the 1200s. A few feet away from that little chapel was the place where St. Francis died, too. Wow. After that was mass, which I didn't go to. 
Charlotte and I visited the monastery instead, which was pretty sweet. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals, so there is one part were there is a statue of St. Francis with a basket and there are live turtle doves in it. So cool! After mass ended, we walked over to a restaurant for lunch. I think we may have experienced our first traditional pranzo! We started with pasta and then had a meat and vegetable course. Not exactly a full pranzo, but the best we've had. The food was decent, but I've kind of been hoping for better. Oh well. I can't complain--I'm in Italy! After lunch we hiked up the hill to the main city of Assisi. That was funny. We were all crazy tired from lack of sleep and a big lunch and then trying to take like a two mile walk uphill. It was really cool to walk into the city though. We went up to the Basilica of St. Francis, which is where St. Francis's remains are. The crypt was an intense thing to see. It was kind of an oddly holy moment for me--not because St. Francis is really important to me or anything, but just that it's so special to so many people that they come from all over the world to see it. It's pretty amazing that something like the crypt of St. Francis could bring people together like that. The rest of the basilica was seriously cool. The frescos were INCREDIBLE. They were just crazy detailed and vibrant. It's amazing to think what it looked liked when it was first finished. Unreal. In the front of the top part of the basilica, there is what is said to be the most realistic interpretation of St. Francis (in fresco). Interesting. We were given free time to walk around and shop after that, so I ended up buying a gift and walking around with Charlotte. 
The views from up on the hill were SO amazing. It was like how I pictured Italy being. Olive trees, open fields, cypress trees...so pretty. We got some gelato--always delicious--then started heading back in the direction of the bus. When we got back to Cagli, I stopped in the lab for a little bit then headed home, make some pasta, and conked out. Cassidy went out with Molly for her birthday and when she got back, I was literally asleep in my clothes with all the lights on. Dang. Sleep-in tomorrow because there is no class until 1:30!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
End of a Busy Week
Finally the weekend!! Pretty much a lot of the same story. Last real day of classes yesterday...only Intercultural Comm next week! After class, Cassidy and I ran around trying to get our stand-ups done for our videos and getting B roll. I guess I should probably explain what some of this stuff is?? A stand-up is basically what you see on the news when reporters are on the scene or whatever and talking directly to the camera, so we both use a stand-up at the end of our videos. I was really against doing one at first, but I needed something different to conclude and had NO B roll to support it, which lends itself to doing a stand-up. Plus Dan really wanted us to do stand-ups, so there you go. B roll is basically like....secondary footage, so supporting visuals like people walking around and whatnot. So it was pretty crazy yesterday afternoon and REALLY hot, which didn't help. We were both exhausted by the end, so we went out for pizza with a few other girls. Man...it was SO good! I got pizza bosciola (I think that's the right spelling...) which is pomodori (tomatos), mozzarella, funghi (mushrooms), and salsiccia (sausage). Yum! Also, when I ordered, I spoke in a complete sentence which pretty much floored the waiter after a bunch of Americani pointing at things. Pretty funny. I went to Caffe d'Italia with Charlotte, Victoria, and Nicole for a little bit, but we were all pretty exhausted after a long week. This morning I woke up, did the tracking for my video package (the voice over narration), and then headed to the lab to start editing. I didn't get very far because I ended up not liking the audio, so I went back to the apartment to retrack and by the time that was all imported and subclipped, it was Cassidy's turn to use the computer. I didn't really have any way to get things done, so Charlotte, Dan, and I went to lunch "for Father's Day" at La Lanterna. It was kind of silly because we invited Dan to come with us and he ended up taking us out for Father's Day. A little backwards? Absolutely. Quite tasty though. We had prosciutto e melone for an appetizer, which sounds kind of gross, but is actually crazy delicious. I had gnocci as a main course, which was good, but this region isn't known for gnocci. I skyped during the afternoon after I got back from lunch and then finally got to work on my editing. I ended up finishing my video around 9 and I was SO glad to be done! Just web production from here. Yes!! I threw together some pasta when I got home and then ended up going out with everyone. We went to Seven's for a little while, but then ended up at some random party at a caffe near La Lanterna. It was a little too crowded and a little too hot for me, so I didn't end up staying for a terribly long time. Charlotte and I left after an hour or so and then ended up sitting in the hallway of our apartment building chatting for an hour. Good times. Tomorrow I have to wake up early for our trip to Assisi! I don't really know much about it, but it should be cool. Buona notte!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
More work and Karaoke!
Still lacking in exciting things to report...
Yesterday morning we went to The Loft, Matteo's salon, for my interview and to get B roll. It was pretty sweet. Matteo was such a good subject. He speaks English, so we didn't need a translator and he could talk about hair and fashion for days on end. It was cool to see the salon, finally, and we all made appointments to get hair cuts. I'm getting mine cut Tuesday! A little later than I was expecting, but I'm still pumped about it. I guess it will just be more fresh for when I get home! After the interview, I came back to the lab for a looooong time to do photo editing, which was just frustrating. Whatever I did I pretty much ended up hating. I think I liked my original pictures better. Whatever, I guess. I made a few attempts and they look alright now. I took a long break to go have lunch at Dan's apartment with him and Mac. It was SO awesome!
We stopped at the porchetta truck for a panini and then brought them up to his terrace. You can see over Cagli to the mountains and it's freakin' awesome. I could try to describe it, but I can't do it justice. Not even a picture can. It was nice to relax for a little bit before coming back to school for classes and then to work on my article. In our intercultural communication class, the lecture was about gypsies and I'm pretty sure it was the most offensive lecture of my life. Our professor actually asked us if we had seen any gypsies during the market that day pretty much equating them with homeless people. I don't even know how to describe everything he said, but it was SO offensive. He basically just reinforced common stereotypes of gypsies instead of trying to clear them up. Crazy. After classes, I stayed in the lab until like...8:30 and then got home and was exhausted. While I was at school I went to La Foccacia for my first suppli and patate frite. Yumm. Suppli is a pretty traditional Italian snack...more around Rome...where they roll mozzarella in rice and tomato sauce, then roll the whole thing in breadcrumbs and spices and deep fry it. I think that was the only fried food I've really seen in Italy thus far. I also got fries and they tasted SO good! I was dying for some french fries. We've all been talking about how much we miss things like take-out chinese food and taco bell. I don't miss American food too much, but I won't lie--a burrito from Chipotle sounds pretty good right now. Just kind of chilled-out last night because I was exhausted after everything today. Today was a lot more of the same, with working on my video script. We meant to go out and get some B roll, but we kind of ran out of time and energy. Dan didn't completely shoot mine down, but he ripped it up a little bit, so I wasn't in the greatest mood. I went back to Casa Lapis and watched the Corpus Cristie procession with Charlotte, which apparently happens twice. It was kind of interesting watching it from one spot. 
After everyone passed, the kids ran into the street and started jumping in the leaves and flowers. It was pretty cute. I relaxed for a little bit, then everyone started to get ready for Karaoke night. Charlotte straightened my hair, which was really weird. I couldn't stop touching it just because it kind of freaked me out. Maggie also lent me a dress and Sylvia lent me a necklace, so I pretty much looked nothing like myself. I wish I would have taken a picture, but alas. Karaoke was a good time. I actually got up and sang a few songs with other people, so I had fun. At the end of the night, the guys Charlotte was trying to convince to sing American songs for her project came in, so I played wing-man for a little bit. I was about to leave, so I went up to pay for my beer and some guy was standing at the bar and started going on about how pretty I was and trying get me to kiss him on the cheek and I was like, "ummm...no." Then I went back by Charlotte and her friend's (Ale) friend (Luca) started going after me and like touching my hair and putting his arm around me and stuff. Not cool, but he was at least kind of nice and talked to me for a little bit first. The Italian guys seriously treat American women like meat because they all think we're crazy easy. Maybe true for some, but definitely not me. I left shortly after that and went to bed! Long night. Overall, quite enjoyable despite some uncomfortable moments!
Yesterday morning we went to The Loft, Matteo's salon, for my interview and to get B roll. It was pretty sweet. Matteo was such a good subject. He speaks English, so we didn't need a translator and he could talk about hair and fashion for days on end. It was cool to see the salon, finally, and we all made appointments to get hair cuts. I'm getting mine cut Tuesday! A little later than I was expecting, but I'm still pumped about it. I guess it will just be more fresh for when I get home! After the interview, I came back to the lab for a looooong time to do photo editing, which was just frustrating. Whatever I did I pretty much ended up hating. I think I liked my original pictures better. Whatever, I guess. I made a few attempts and they look alright now. I took a long break to go have lunch at Dan's apartment with him and Mac. It was SO awesome!
We stopped at the porchetta truck for a panini and then brought them up to his terrace. You can see over Cagli to the mountains and it's freakin' awesome. I could try to describe it, but I can't do it justice. Not even a picture can. It was nice to relax for a little bit before coming back to school for classes and then to work on my article. In our intercultural communication class, the lecture was about gypsies and I'm pretty sure it was the most offensive lecture of my life. Our professor actually asked us if we had seen any gypsies during the market that day pretty much equating them with homeless people. I don't even know how to describe everything he said, but it was SO offensive. He basically just reinforced common stereotypes of gypsies instead of trying to clear them up. Crazy. After classes, I stayed in the lab until like...8:30 and then got home and was exhausted. While I was at school I went to La Foccacia for my first suppli and patate frite. Yumm. Suppli is a pretty traditional Italian snack...more around Rome...where they roll mozzarella in rice and tomato sauce, then roll the whole thing in breadcrumbs and spices and deep fry it. I think that was the only fried food I've really seen in Italy thus far. I also got fries and they tasted SO good! I was dying for some french fries. We've all been talking about how much we miss things like take-out chinese food and taco bell. I don't miss American food too much, but I won't lie--a burrito from Chipotle sounds pretty good right now. Just kind of chilled-out last night because I was exhausted after everything today. Today was a lot more of the same, with working on my video script. We meant to go out and get some B roll, but we kind of ran out of time and energy. Dan didn't completely shoot mine down, but he ripped it up a little bit, so I wasn't in the greatest mood. I went back to Casa Lapis and watched the Corpus Cristie procession with Charlotte, which apparently happens twice. It was kind of interesting watching it from one spot. 
After everyone passed, the kids ran into the street and started jumping in the leaves and flowers. It was pretty cute. I relaxed for a little bit, then everyone started to get ready for Karaoke night. Charlotte straightened my hair, which was really weird. I couldn't stop touching it just because it kind of freaked me out. Maggie also lent me a dress and Sylvia lent me a necklace, so I pretty much looked nothing like myself. I wish I would have taken a picture, but alas. Karaoke was a good time. I actually got up and sang a few songs with other people, so I had fun. At the end of the night, the guys Charlotte was trying to convince to sing American songs for her project came in, so I played wing-man for a little bit. I was about to leave, so I went up to pay for my beer and some guy was standing at the bar and started going on about how pretty I was and trying get me to kiss him on the cheek and I was like, "ummm...no." Then I went back by Charlotte and her friend's (Ale) friend (Luca) started going after me and like touching my hair and putting his arm around me and stuff. Not cool, but he was at least kind of nice and talked to me for a little bit first. The Italian guys seriously treat American women like meat because they all think we're crazy easy. Maybe true for some, but definitely not me. I left shortly after that and went to bed! Long night. Overall, quite enjoyable despite some uncomfortable moments!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Class Stuff...
Nothing too exciting so far this week. It's going to be a busy week of just getting work done. Did a bunch of interviews yesterday and today. It's pretty interesting working with translators and getting a chance to talk to people. One thing that is a little frustrating is that often times the translators do a lot of paraphrasing, which is understandable, but we really need good details for our stories. We just do what we can I guess. After classes we met up with Matteo to go to his fashion academy for the fashion story (duh) and I started shooting some B roll there. Probably was a smart idea to run back and grab a video camera. Got some decent footage. We have final photos due on Wednesday so I went out shooting last night for the transportation piece. It was kind of cool, but I didn't get many good pictures because it was getting a little too dark and there wasn't anyone around because of the USA v. Italia soccer game. Needless to say, I gave up on the pictures and headed to Seven's to watch the game. I think it goes unsaid that Italy won. It was hilarious because when the Americans scored we were kind of like, "yay!" but when the Italians scored, they were like, "ASKDPGAWPEGAPAJGPAWEPAFPDKGARGAIEWAPPAE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Good times. The bar kind of turned into a random party after the game ended. Some of the kids from our program made a CD of american music (because they always end up playing the same CD every night) and we ended up going crazy dancing to it. Fun times! This morning Cassidy and I went shooting again and I ended up getting some good pictures. This one is my favorite: 
I spend the rest of the day editing photos and doing some interviews--finally got all the interviews for my story! I also spent my evening working on my article. I need to turn in a final draft to Judy tomorrow, so after I turn both the photos and the draft in, that's a lot of weight off of my shoulders. Video shooting should be pretty much done tomorrow, WOOT! Then just final article editing, video editing, and web production to do!
I spend the rest of the day editing photos and doing some interviews--finally got all the interviews for my story! I also spent my evening working on my article. I need to turn in a final draft to Judy tomorrow, so after I turn both the photos and the draft in, that's a lot of weight off of my shoulders. Video shooting should be pretty much done tomorrow, WOOT! Then just final article editing, video editing, and web production to do!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Corpus Crisite
I woke up early today for Corpus Cristi festivities. I was just planning on observing, but as I was sitting at Caffé de Commercio drinking my cappuccino, I was suddenly swept up by Giordana to help lay out flowers in the piazza for the procession. Victoria and I made a heart and did zig-zags of petals along the path. It was actually pretty sweet even though it was basically an oven out there. After a little while of setting up, some of the old men watching us bought John and I something to drink. It was really nice because I felt like they really appreciated that we were helping. It felt good to help them out because they have graciously allowed us to enter their community, video cameras and all and this allowed us to thank them a little bit for their openness. 
Jake even gave me the key to go upstairs and get a SWEET view of the decorated piazza. Very cool. After that, Victoria and I walked around looking at all of the flower decorations. There were some seriously awesome ones. My favorite was from the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts that said, "la mia strade che porte a te" which means something to the effect of "my road leads me to you." 
We stood in the piazza and took pictures once the procession started and joined in as it neared the end. It was pretty cool processing with them because we got to see the decorations all over the village. We bailed a little before they reached the end because we were starving and I needed to get back for a Skype appointment. After Skyping, we went to the waterfall for a little bit. It was PACKED. Most of the other girls were leaving when we got there and Victoria didn't even have a swimsuit, so we didn't stay long. It was basically a ton of Italian guys there. I hopped in for a little bit to try out my boulder problem, which dissapointingly only took two tries to send and on my first attempt I just had bad feet for the start. It's kind of difficult because once that rock gets a little wet, it's CRAZY slick and I had to start in the water and I was also trying this in Chacos which stick, but are bulky. Fun nonetheless, but I wish it had been a little more of a challenge. When we got back, Charlotte and I made pasta for dinner which was tasty and killed a bottle of wine before we left for Carmen. 
Good thing, because the whole Carmen experience was a DISASTER! Apparently, no one read the fine print, because on top of it being a sweltering 256 degrees on the top floor, it was a freaking DANCE RECITAL! We got all dressed up to watch some four-year-olds prance around in tutus. REALLY?!? I mean, it was cute and all, but not what I was expecting for 10 Euro. Oh well. It makes a good story, right?
Jake even gave me the key to go upstairs and get a SWEET view of the decorated piazza. Very cool. After that, Victoria and I walked around looking at all of the flower decorations. There were some seriously awesome ones. My favorite was from the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts that said, "la mia strade che porte a te" which means something to the effect of "my road leads me to you." 
We stood in the piazza and took pictures once the procession started and joined in as it neared the end. It was pretty cool processing with them because we got to see the decorations all over the village. We bailed a little before they reached the end because we were starving and I needed to get back for a Skype appointment. After Skyping, we went to the waterfall for a little bit. It was PACKED. Most of the other girls were leaving when we got there and Victoria didn't even have a swimsuit, so we didn't stay long. It was basically a ton of Italian guys there. I hopped in for a little bit to try out my boulder problem, which dissapointingly only took two tries to send and on my first attempt I just had bad feet for the start. It's kind of difficult because once that rock gets a little wet, it's CRAZY slick and I had to start in the water and I was also trying this in Chacos which stick, but are bulky. Fun nonetheless, but I wish it had been a little more of a challenge. When we got back, Charlotte and I made pasta for dinner which was tasty and killed a bottle of wine before we left for Carmen. 
Good thing, because the whole Carmen experience was a DISASTER! Apparently, no one read the fine print, because on top of it being a sweltering 256 degrees on the top floor, it was a freaking DANCE RECITAL! We got all dressed up to watch some four-year-olds prance around in tutus. REALLY?!? I mean, it was cute and all, but not what I was expecting for 10 Euro. Oh well. It makes a good story, right?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Fano!
Today was supposed to be the trip to Florence, but because of the crazy high cost, we went to the beach in Fano instead. Charlotte and I were so proud of ourselves for figuring out the buses in Italian. Go team! We even had to switches buses at some random bus stop in Calmezzo or something and we didn't get lost. Woot! The only problem was that I got CRAZY motion sick. The roads are so windy and there was a lot of stop-and-go thoughout Fano, so when I got off the bus I was not feeling well. My stomach calmed down after a little bit though, so that was good. The beach was really nice. I think we were supposed to pay at some point...but I'm not really sure? Anyway, it was all rocks, which was pretty cool. We spent a lot of time just lounging in the sun, which was nice. We swam a little bit, too, so I can officially say I went swimming in the Adriatic Sea. Cool! We came back a couple hours earlier than the rest of the group so I could get back to Skype with my parents. On the drive there were huge rock faces that looked sweet! I tried to get some good pictures, but it was pretty difficult. 
After group dinner at La Lanterna, I got gelato and totally crashed. I didn't even realize how tired I was, but I got back to my room at around 10:30 and fell asleep with my glasses on, headphones in, and a half played game of solitaire on the screen of my iPod. 
After group dinner at La Lanterna, I got gelato and totally crashed. I didn't even realize how tired I was, but I got back to my room at around 10:30 and fell asleep with my glasses on, headphones in, and a half played game of solitaire on the screen of my iPod. 
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