So, I am one week in to my
Fulbright experience.
Some stats:
Slices of Pizza: 2
Gelato: 5
Two fabulous pasta dinners out: 2
Skype sessions: NOT ENOUGH! But
some GREAT ones!!
Apartments Rented: 1
TV:1
Dinners made: 2
Hours spent walking: THANKFULLY
too many to count
Great restaurants found: 2
Letters written: 3
New “official” name: 1 **It still
cracks me up that he couldn’t understand that Marie is my middle name
# of times I’ve lost patience
with myself (like for real): 0…that’s ZERO!! If you didn’t see, that’s…ZERO!!
# of times I’ve lost patience
with Italy/Italians/Italian ways of life: ZERO!!!
# of freakouts: ZERO! Well, a
minor crying spell at 2 am, but it passed!
# of times I have thanked God for
going before me and coming with me: TOO MANY TO COUNT!!
# of prayers answered: TOO MANY
TO COUNT!
**Not too shabby eh?!?**
So this morning started a little
earlier than I would have like, but I was wide awake at like 7:45. It was an odd night of sleep. I fell asleep with my computer on, so the
movie kept waking me up! I ate breakfast
in the room with the balcony and read my new book (well, on my NOOK), Winning
Balance by Shawn Johnson. I had
blueberry yogurt, some grapes, and a small piece of brioche. It was rather relaxing to just sit there for
a few minutes. I read for a little bit
because I knew the stores would not be open yet; the Italians do not get an
early start! I took advantage of the
time by reading and doing my Bible study.
I eventually got dressed and gathered my things to go shopping. My plan for the day was to shop around a bit
and compare some prices between some of the specialty type stores (e.g. a place
called “Aqua & Sapone,” which means water and soap, carries bath products,
cleaning products, make up, hygiene type stuff, etc.) and the grocery stores. There are also a lot of what Lila (landlord)
called “Chinese stores” that have every little random thing under the sun! I had an idea that I wanted to start out at
Aqua & Sapone and the grocery store near my house, write down some prices,
and then head back to some of the stores near the hotel (which is right across
the street from one of the schools I will be working at…and thus I could easily
go to them if they are a better deal!), and finally I could return home and/or
to the stores closest to home.
**Side note: Budgeting and saving money where I can will
be important during this trip for many reasons.
The first is that I do not want to spend money where it is not necessary
because this simply isn’t me, but ALSO I’d rather have that money to travel and
experience things outside of my daily life in Cosenza. Second, my budget should stretch pretty far,
but I want to ensure this and not pull from my savings for daily living. Rather my savings is to ensure that I see the
things I want to see! Finally,
TRAVEL!!!!!!!!! The end.
I stuck to my plan and started
out near the apartment. I slowly made my
way to the hotel area. I stopped in so
many little “Chinese stores” that I was sick of them by the time I got to the
one I wanted to end at. I had also gone
in a few other grocery stores, and let me just say…I kind of miss Wal-Mart
(April, I know you are gasping right now…and/or shaking your head…but yes, EE
is useful!). However, I am excited at
the prospect of trying new things and learning about their products; no really,
this brings a smile to my face. It’s the
little things in life sometimes. I had
also walked into a few fruit/veggie stands and compared some prices. I ended up finding some of the odds and ends
I needed (tape, scissors, etc) in the Chinese stores. P.S. Hangers are EXPENSIVE in Italy! None of
this 10 for $1 business like at home or in NYC at the little cheap odds &
ends stores! OH, let me also note that you can spot these
stores from a mile (or kilometer) away because they hang Chinese lanterns on
the outside.
It was nice outside today (sun shining, warm,
etc), so it was nice to walk around. I
really do enjoy just watching the Italians interact. The men have no issues kissing each other’s
cheeks; there is no sense of hesitancy that someone might think them odd or
anything. I like this. I like affectionate people (big surprise
right?).
One of my goals of the shopping
trip was to obtain a small notebook to carry in my purse and make notes of new
words or phrases I learn that day! This
way, I cannot forget! I WANT TO IMPROVE
MY ITALIAN…I WANT TO LEARN…and you know what? I AM! I’m also carrying my
dictionary more now so that I can look up things (especially in the grocery
store). I am glad that I took the first
week to just relax a bit and let my ears/brain adjust to seeing and hearing the
language, and now I will start the process of truly figuring things out and
learning. I did find my small notebook,
and put it to good use! **I like the
lack of PRESSURE to learn the language and to be FLUENT in conversation. I can take my time, using the language that I
know (which is surprisingly more than I anticipated remembering), and pick up
new things each day! Much better than in
Florence when the teacher would get so frustrated and annoyed with me that I
just wanted to quit and not learn. SEE!!! TEACHERS ARE IMPORTANT; THEY DO
HAVE AN INFLUENCE ON THE LEARNING PROCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the time I reached the hotel
area and had bought what I wanted in that area, I needed to use the
bathroom. So, I figured my trusty hotel
people wouldn’t mind! Luck would have it
that my friend Massimo was working. I
talked to him for a minute and then went to the bathroom. I did ask him about the obviously Christian
group that was at the hotel yesterday, and he said that they were a group from
the Philippines, and they work in houses around here; he said that they were an
exclusive group, but that there was a Christian church somewhere. He could not think of it, but I WILL be
asking around; none of the teachers had ever heard of one. When I returned, he and the bartender insisted
that I have a cappuccino (I can never say this word now without hearing April
in my head…this, or farfalle).
I have to
admit, once I put some “equal” (not the brand AT ALL) in it, it was actually
really good! Therefore, cappuccinos for
me if I must drink coffee while in Italy. Massimo came and talked to me some, which was
nice. Plus, I tend to understand his
Italian, and if I do not understand he will repeat it or rephrase it. He asked me if I had plans for Tuesday and
that he would meet me for un caffe (a coffee) at 10:30 and he would give me
Italian lessons. He asked if I had an
Italian textbook, and I told him that yes, I actually do. Then he told me he would meet me this
afternoon at 3, at my apartment and then I could go to the hotel to use the
internet at 4. I was immediately
uncomfortable with anyone, especially a man, coming to my apartment. NOT cool! Massimo is very nice, and I really
would love to meet him for coffees and get language lessons (so Eat, Pray, Love
that I cannot stand it), but no dice on ever coming to my apartment. I semi agreed to this plan, but suggested a
Piazza nearby and then pretended not to understand the other things he was
saying about meeting (nothing bad, but I did understand…I just wasn’t going through
with it). I am making this sound creepier
than it really is; I promise! When I
left the hotel, the first thing I did was call my momma; even though it was way
early in Alabama. I just needed someone
to know what I was thinking and stuff.
She agreed that meeting was fine, but NOT at the apartment.
I was making my way back to the
grocery store and stuff nearby apartment.
I stopped in this fruit/veggie place that I had looked at yesterday and
this morning. I noted a few prices and
then went to the grocery store. I would
prefer to buy the veggies at the stand, but I wanted to make sure that it was a
better deal. However, I did buy some
tomatoes before I left, and some carrots (I had already noted that these were
GREAT prices). With the tomatoes I
learned my new phrase for the day, but you’ll learn it at the end. At the grocery store I purchased turkey lunch
meat (OMG you pay sooo much for sooooo little…and yes turkey because it is
basically the only option I will eat…no salami and stuff for me), sliced swiss
cheese, ground beef (YES I am sure it is ground beef…used my dictionary and
everything…don’t know what the fat percentage is though because they don’t mark
all of their stuff…not that I noticed this go around), and some tostate
things. I was pretty excited (dork
moment) about buying real
groceries…for me to cook real
meals….IN (real…haha) ITALY!!!!!!
WHAT?!?!? I did see at the store that
the veggies were cheaper at the fruit/veggie place (WOO HOOO), so headed there
when I was finished. Oh, at the grocery store
I used a bag Lilla left here that was a cloth bag…I felt so Italian! ;) I
returned to the place and got some spinach and zucchini (they are different
than ours…I think Francesca called them white zucchini…not sure). I was pretty stoked about my stuff. When I got home I laid it all out and took a
picture, because I may live in Italy, and I may be learning to master another
language, but I’m still ME.
By this time I was starving. I opened the windows and doors to let
sunlight and fresh air into the apartment; plus, no lights on during those
expensive hours, but really there is NO NEED!
I pulled a roll out of the bread bag and made a turkey and cheese
sandwich with some grapes on the side. I
sat in the room with the balcony and read while I ate (per my usual these days…). All of this time I was trying to devise a
plan to get out of the Massimo coming to my apartment thing; Oh, I guess I
should explain that between conversations he overheard and I think something he
copied, he already knew my address.
Again, not in a creepy way! Note
that I am making every effort to be cautious and safe. I also used the tape I bought to hang
pictures up in my room! If you know me
well, then you know that I HATE blank walls! Plus, it made the room more
personal; more like a home! It’s nice to
now look around and see some familiar faces and good memories. I put some right in front of my face when I
sit at my desk; others are on the side of the bookshelf right against my desk
(these are under my Alabama shaker…so they are all pictures taken on UA’s
campus…I’m a dork, I know!); some are on one door of the armoire, and a few
others are on the thing that is at the foot of my bed. It was a great way to relax and enjoy the
afternoon at home.
 |
| My room |
 |
| Pics in front of my desk |
 |
| at the foot of my bed |
 |
| Kitchen |
 |
| Pics on Armiore |
 |
| "sitting room" |
 |
| ughh it wont turn..pics on bookshelf |
I had come up with the plan to
just show up at the hotel at 3 so that I would see him there and he would not
need to come near my apartment. He
called like 3 times as I was approaching the hotel, but when I could finally
hear him I told him that a friend called and needed to talk so I came to the
hotel early. He said he wasn’t there,
but that he understood. I suppose I’ll
see him tomorrow?!?!? P.S. I do not know how old Massimo is; I told my
mom that it is hard for me to judge the Italians’ ages; some look younger than
they are and some look waaaayyyy older than they are; not unlike America of
course, but I am just not a good judge of these things here. Anyway, so I set up camp outside in the
patio type area and started formatting my blog for yesterday, catching up on
facebook, & emailing people. I was
able to skype with my momma and daddy (YAY!! Yay for my mom working for the
government so she had today off!). Then
April got on facebook and I was able to talk to her there and on skype for a
few minutes. I’ll take this moment to
once again say, “Happy Anniversary to a WONDERFUL/FABULOUS couple whom I love
very much!” (April & Mark…soon to be
Doctors Mark and April Kendrick… yay!)
As always, it was nice to see familiar faces. I also worked at uploading a ton of pictures
to facebook, which I’m sure most of you have seen by now. I probably sat at the hotel for 2 hours, but
no worries, most of this time was during siesta time, so I wasn’t missing out
on anything in town! Once I packed my
stuff up, I headed for the main street in town to walk around and observe all
of the people. I was able to talk to my
momma for a few minutes and then I decided to go in H & M one more
time…this time to try on some things I had my eye on because I knew that if I
tried them on, I might not even like them and I could stop thinking about
them! This is EXACTLY what happened! So
now the only thing on my mind from there are my cardigans I always wear (there
is a pink one that is catching my eye) and this coat that is this orangey red
color…a color I’ve been so drawn to lately.
It’s actually pretty thick for a coat.
Here is a picture:
Thoughts!?!?!? They also have
this black coat that is cute! We’ll see.
When I left H & M I started
walking back towards my apartment. P.S.
NO MORE SWEETS…haha yeah right, but no really!
I do not want to be that person who comes here and gains
weight…yuck! I need some hand
weights. Okay, randomness over. My computer was getting heavy and I was
getting hungry! I stopped in the
Tabacchi to buy 3 stamps for letters I had written earlier during lunch. HOLY CRAP… I had forgotten how much stamps
cost for America! So, I will be writing
to everyone as promised, but it will be a gradual thing. I cannot afford to do like I did in Florence
and spend almost/right at $50 on stamps within 2 weeks! I love you all, but I just cannot do it! However, if I receive a letter from you, you
WILL receive one from me!
When I got home I put my things
away and went to start dinner. It was a
little past 6 so I was in the middle time slot for expensive electricity, but I
didn’t care…I was HUNGRY! As I was getting everything out to decide what
exactly I wanted to do with my veggies and meat, I heard the buzzer go
off. It was such an odd sound that I
wasn’t sure I heard it correctly. I went
back to what I was doing and the doorbell rang.
I looked through the peep hole to see Francesca (teacher who brought me
to see the apartment). What a pleasant
surprise. I welcomed her and we sat in
the kitchen to talk for a bit. She
apologized for not seeing me sooner, but explained that she had been very
busy. She asked me about my weekend and
was pleased that I had such a wonderful weekend. We talked about a few random things and then
she asked if there was anything I needed.
Let me just say that once again God meets my needs. I wanted to ask someone to go with me to the
bank to help me set up the account because I am afraid my vocabulary is just
not going to cut it in this department.
I could be wrong, and I was going to go first thing this morning, but
had changed my plan to waiting until I could ask for help and they could go
with me. This is significant to me
because 1: I asked for help 2. I knew my limits and did not want to push those
limits 3. This could have been the
experience that pushed me over the edge and freaked me out language wise, but I
asked Francesca and she almost immediately said that she could meet me at 12:30
on Wednesday. I had gone to get the
sticky notes where I had researched banks and their hours of operation before I
ever left the states, but when I showed them to her she said that 12:30 was
perfect because that would give us 45 minutes to an hour to get it worked
out. **Some other Fulbright people had
written on our page today about how smoothly this had gone for them…so, I pray
mine will too** It was nice to see a familiar face this evening. She didn’t stay long, and she was a little
winded from having to climb the stairs (they are putting in a NEW elevator…and
I still probably will not take it very much).
It was a nice surprise. God has
not left me alone or feeling lonely yet!
He never leaves me, but he has provided people to fill some of my time
to fill that potential void. He is so
good.
So, once she had left me, I made
a definite plan for dinner; I am so proud of my dinner. This will be me giving you a sort of
“recipe”: I took one zucchini (again,
mine looks a little different), 2 medium size carrots, 4 small tomatoes (not
grape tomatoes..not Roma tomatoes…I don’t know…small round ones like on a
salad, but bigger than grape ones…whatever…TOMATOES!), a handful of fresh
spinach and put olive oil in the pan. I
basically threw it ALL in there at once, but you might put carrots in first if
you want them softer. Then I sprinkled
veeerrrry little salt over them and allowed them to cook for…umm I don’t
know. I’d say it was maybe 20 minutes
all together. Then in another pan I made
a hamburger patty and put a small piece of cheese (very small) over it to melt
once the meat was finished. I’ll let the
pictures do the talking now:
Okay, it was
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The meat tasted like Signora Gabriella’s in
Florence; it must be something about their meat. It was the most delicious meal…the vegetables
were divine and the meat was great too!!
I saved a few veggies to heat up for lunch tomorrow! It was
fabulous. Actually, Francesca was my
inspiration the other night after she put the zucchini and tomatoes on our
pasta that she had just cooked in oil (and maybe something else too??). I was so proud of myself for eating tomatoes
and cooking such a healthy meal!! Also,
can I just say that while I was cooking I felt so…something…it was just this
amazing feeling.
Once I finished eating, I brought
my laptop, letters, etc. into that room with the balcony and started writing
longer letters that were more worthy of the stamps! It was comfy and there were still people
outside and the air was nice. While I
was writing, Lila (landlord) called and said that they wanted to bring the tv
by if that was okay with me! ARE YOU
KIDDING?!?!? OF COURSE THAT IS OKAY WITH ME!! For two reasons: 1. Background
noise 2. More friendly faces
They set it up, but have to bring
different cords tomorrow so that it can be where I want it/is more convenient
than where it is now! They are just amazing…I don’t think that I could have
designed a better situation myself; which is the point here. I did not force anything or worry
(excessively…or really at all for most of the time regarding housing), and look
how God provided and made a way! He is good…I
cannot say it enough. They did not stay
long, but they told me I had a lot of channels, and so once they left I begin
flipping channels. I don’t think I have
any English speaking channels; they thought I might have BBC. BUT…the most amazing thing happened. I was flipping channels and I saw the name of
this show and I was like, “what?!?!?” The name didn’t make sense, but I looked
up and…and….wait for it…ERIN….IT WAS GILMORE GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IN ITALIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, I know that show like the back of my
hand; I understood what Lorelai was saying, but it only had like 3 minutes
left. OMG…must find out when all it
comes on!! GILMORE GIRLS…IN…ITALIAN…FREAKING….OUT…! This would be the BEST way to learn the
language…I already know the gist of what is going on! GILMORE GIRLS IN ITALIAN!!! There were some other familiar things on the
channels (esp the MTV channels). New
Moon (in Italian…and that is a Twilight movie for those who don’t know…or
care…I am the latter) was also on, but even in a search for familiar…Twilight
will not cut it for me. Sorry to all the
Twilighters out there…I’m a Harry Potter snob!
There was: Law & Order: Paris; The Good Wife; an Italian CSI; and
some other familiar shows that have been dubbed into Italian. GILMORE GIRLS.
I eventually took a shower; still
the hot water is not HOT…it’s like…warm.
I got to talk to my momma again.
Italy is wonderful.
I got sleepy.
Note about the tv: Flipping channels last night was
HILARIOUS!! I did see some other
familiar shows like Family Ties. I also
saw a commercial for Madagascar 3 and the polka dot circus part that always cracks me up was even funnier in
Italian! There were some craaaaazzzy things on tv though! They were things that would never even make
it to the air in America; due to lack of quality. I was rather amazed how many of our movies
and shows were on, but dubbed in Italian.
Okay, time for some lessons:
Impara
con me:
1. Rione- narrow
street
2. Legna- firewood
3. Legna forno-
firewood over (like a brick oven)
4. Forbici-
scissors
5. Pericolosa-
Dangerous
6. And my favorite:
metta di questa- half of this
a.
Vorrei
metta di questa – I would like half of this
b.
Pronounced:
voray met a dee quest a (the a’s are like saying “uh”)
I also plan to start making more
cultural notes in my little notebook. I
want to remember it all!! I want to take
it all in.
GILMORE GIRLS IN
ITALIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the coat! Super cute!! :)
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