**I dont think I explained that yesterday I learned something VERY interesting about the electricity here in Italy. Apparently, one of the companies here divides the day into 3 sections. The peak hours of the average person's day is the MOST expensive time to use the electricity/gas. Then there is a less expensive time, but THEN between 8 pm and 7 am it is WAAAAYYY cheaper. This explained a few things I found odd about Italy: 1. That they often sit in the "dark" until there is NO daylight left to come through the windows....now I know it is because the lights would cost them a fortune. 2. Why they dont start cooking dinner until 8ish! It's too expensive! I love learning the explanation for these things!!!
After this I headed to the store to buy a few things. I have a list of things I need, but I knew I wouldn't be able to buy them on Sunday (everything, or most everything is closed). I got a little turned around when trying to get to the store, but it was fine; it is part of the experience of learning a new city I suppose. I walked around for a bit in the store and assessed the situation. I left to go see if I could find one of the knick knack stores before I purchased yogurt and stuff at the grocery store. THey were all closed and so I headed back to the grocery store. I bought some yogurt, a medium size bag of penne pasta (which by the way cost the equivalent of like 50 cents...I love Italy!), some paper towels, & some hand soap!
Notes about the grocery store experience: When you get fruit you have to take it to this man to weigh it and put something on it; I suppose a sticker to mark how much it weighed and therefore cost? The store was rather small, but had many things. I have yet to find Almond milk (a girl that was in Rome last year said she only found it at an organic store in Rome). There really is no oatmeal or peanut butter. At the check out the part after the lady checks it is like a little slide divided into two parts. You bag your own stuff! WEIRD! Anyway, it was a good experience over all!
When I returned home I put my stuff away and decided that I wanted to finish my Dominique Moceanu book on my NOOK. If Katie P. is reading this, I loved it! It was sad though! Broke my heart to learn the truth about the Karolyis!
Then I changed clothes. OOH I completely forgot to say: this morning I needed to be American, and by this I mean I needed to just wear my t-shirt, tempos, & tennis shoes. I got a few strange looks, but you know what?!!? I DID NOT CARE!! So, I changed into something more appropriate because I was headed to the hotel to use the internet and eventually I knew Lilla was supposed to call (teacher).
As I walked through town, there was NOBODY around. I saw maaayybe 5 or 6 people walking and EVERY THING was closed....literally! I did not see one open shop, bar, etc. etc. Sunday really is a day to rest around here, and I appreciate that! The nice guy at the hotel said I could use the internet (I explained that Massimo said i could and he said of course!). THey offered me some sweets, but I didnt take them! I thanked them and started connecting to the internet. My \a answered my facebook message, so I got to talk to her! We eventually skyped for like an hour and it was so perfect to see a familiar face! I will have lung issues for sure from the smoking that happens here at the hotel, but I thoroughly enjoyed the internet. There was some sort of service or something happening in the conference room at the hotel; part of the time it sounded like something out of Eat, Pray, Love in India, but then they seemed to be sining in English (and WORSHIPING!!) Then I wrote my blog, played on facebook, translated some things on google translate in preparation for trying to open my bank account, etc. I also got to talk to Meagan on facebook! And my momma called me!! :) Lilla called and said she would just pick me up at the hotel! Successful afternoon!
I asked, and it WAS a religious group singing. Not catholic...and they WERE singing in English! They meet every week, but the guy had no more information. I MUST find out. I WILL investigate!
Right before Lilla came to pick me up at the hotel I
went to the bathroom. The significance
behind this is that I could hear the
religious group singing. They were
DEFINITELY singing in English AND they were singing the song…oh I cannot think
of the name, but the words are, “Like a rose, trampled on the ground (I think),
you took the fall, and you thought of me above all.” OMG is the whole thing in
English? Who are they? Can I come
worship with them?? When I told Lilla, she stopped and peaked in and said they
looked Phillappino (sp?). I’m going to
do some investigating.
Lilla said that we were going to Rende, but first
she brought me back to my apartment to drop off my computer bag. She came in with me to see where I was
living. She said it was nice; the
bathroom was old and the kitchen was small, but it was nice. Honestly, the kitchen is bigger than the one
in Florence, and the bathroom isn’t so bad!
It is at least a bathtub, so I can actually take a bath! Then she came in my room. She saw the pictures in my binder and asked
if I brought other pictures. I showed
her the prints I had brought and she was happy to see my momma, my daddy, and
my friends. She laughed at some of the
silly ones, but it was nice to share some of my life with someone here in
Cosenza. Then she saw my maps, so she
wanted to see Birmingham; immediately she wanted to know where Montgomery was
and Selma (she is the one who did the project on Civil Rights), so I pulled out
the Alabama map! I also showed her my map of Tuscaloosa. It is so random that she knows so much about
Alabama, of all places; granted it isn’t about our proudest moments.
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| The treats (some are still wrapped up) |
Once I put everything
away we went on our way. We stopped at
this bakery/bar/café place that Lilla insisted was amazing. She talked to the guy that seemed to own the
place, and per the usual these days, introduced me as the American who was
going to be working at her school and Fermi (the shortened name of the other
school), and that I would be here until June.
The weird thing is that being the American has gotten me a lot of free
things; this was no different. So, she
told me to pick out some things for breakfast.
Um, excuse me what? I do not eat
sweets for breakfast and I am going to be the size of my house if I continue to
eat such unhealthy things. However, she
insisted that I get a brioche and then some dry sweet things.
They picked them out for me and then the guy
gave us a treat for us to try; free stuff (& for my 3L ladies reading this,
I was not even wearing shorts!!!). My
treat was not very good and normally I would have thrown it away, however this
was not an option at the moment. It just
wasn’t what I expected. Then, we went to
pay and Lilla bought all of this for me AND she bought us a gelato. OMG, seriously, I will be huge; will begin
exercise tomorrow. Oh wait, I am walking
everywhere; will begin ab workouts tomorrow and something for arms! So then she took me to the gelato to choose
my flavors. As I had just finished
telling April that the next time I had gelato, I would have hazelnut AND coffee
together, this is what I did. I spotted
two sugar free gelato flavors and wouldn’t you know that they were hazelnut and
coffee?? The cutie cute serving us saw
me looking at them, as Lilla was once again explaining that I was an American
girl living in Cosenza until June…all of Cosenza will know about the little
American girl before it is over with, but Lilla INSISTED that I could NOT have
the sugar free because the first time I try it, it must be the real stuff; she
said I could have sugar free next time.
Oh well, I tried (all of you judging me right now for this…STOP!).
Once we finished our
gelato we headed to Lilla’s home. She
lives in Rende, which is as if she lived in Northport (i.e. if Cosenza were
Tuscaloosa, then Rende is Northport, except that the University is in Rende…you
get the point). Her apartment has the
most beautiful view of the mountains and a grocery store. I met her mom and was able to understand a
bit of her mom’s Italian, and I was able to understand most of what Lilla told
her mom about me. I can’t remember how
old her mom is, and I think Lilla is 55.
I think she is the one who told me that.
I am so confused at this point about the details of these people’s
lives; however, what a blessing to have had so many wonderful people placed in
my life, that I cannot remember the details.
SO BLESSED! Then Lilla took me to the room where she works (plans
lessons, etc). It was full of books, and
thankfully more organized than Lila and Ernesto’s office (will put picture I
took yesterday of their office here). We
sat down to talk about ideas for school.
She is SO SET ON ME TALKING ABOUT RACISM. Honestly, I understand why, and I do think
that someone from Alabama is a prime candidate for this topic, but it is not
the only think I want to talk about. I
tried to steer the topics in some other directions and make sure that she knew
that what we talked about did not have to come from their books; I don’t
think did a very good job of explaining
this. We looked at their textbooks, and
let me just say that I would NOT want to be learning English as a second
language. We have too many variations. The other problem was that these books are
based on British English and so some of it was funny sounding to me. I was eventually able to convince her that we
could cover a broad range of topics, but she is still going to limit it to
things related to the textbook only. I
was hoping that this would be more of an opportunity to let the students learn
about the U.S. and topics related to it that they cannot get out of a textbook. I think Valeria (teacher from other school)
and I are more on the same page. This is
all a work in progress though, and I am excited to see where it takes us. It might be challenging though if the two
schools are on two very different pages.
Perhaps our time in Rome will straighten some of this out.
Lilla and I discussed
some of the differences between Birmingham and NYC; racism; Obama; September
11, 2001; etc. She did tell me that she
thought almost everyone from Birmingham was “black” and she anticipated me
having very dark skin and dark hair. She
asked me whether there were “finally more white people in Alabama than
black.” I was very confused by this
question, and did not really have an answer for her. I said that I didn’t really know the #’s, but
I will definitely be looking this up.
Anyway, after we discussed racism some more, and how it related to
presidential politics at the moment, it was time to go. Oh, she said that the reason she was glad
Obama was elected was because it was finally a victory for the “black people”;
one that they needed and had not gotten since Martin Luther King Jr.
**Side note: I am using
quotations around the word black because she put emphasis on the word.
The ride home was
nice. She told me that she would take me
to The Sila mountains one day when it was not terribly cold so that I could
experience them. She said that she would
take me to a place where I could get a panoramic view of Cosenza at night
(umm…can we go during the day AND at night?!?!?). We talked about my Italian and how I
desperately wanted it to improve. She
said that I would learn and then…then…(APRIL!!!!!) she asked me if I remembered
the word for the narrow streets in the centro storico (historical center), and
I told her that I had JUST been telling my friend on skype how I was never
going to learn because I kept forgetting all of the new words I was
hearing. I had to admit to her that I
had in fact forgotten the word. Then she
had trouble coming up with it, but finally remembered that it was “Rione”. We spelled it and said it a million times so
that I will never forget it now.
Rione. Rione. Rione.
Once I got home, I
decided that since it was 8 o’clock, and the electricity was now cheaper, that
I would make some pasta. I was pretty
excited for my first cooking experience.
On my way up the stairs (I used the elevator earlier with Lilla…I’ve
almost gotten in it twice today and then chickened out…wont matter anyway,
after tomorrow there wont be an elevator because they are installing a new
one), I called my momma to tell her some of my stuff (I miss sharing with
people easily and hearing about their days).
While she was on the phone I was trying to light the gas stove because I
have to first turn on the gas, then turn on the burner, and THEN light the
burner with a long lighter thingy. I
could NOT get the small eyes to work.
She told me to go get a neighbor, but right after I hung up I got the
big eye to work. I started boiling my
water, using my sale grosso (large salt) that Lila (landlord) told me they use
for pasta. I was pretty excited to cook,
even if I was just boiling pasta and using a jar of sauce that they bought
me. I decided to use some of my fresh
oregano that Ernesto (landlord) had given me.
While I was doing all of this, I washed some dishes to ensure that they
were clean before I used them. I also
decided to eat at the table with the balcony doors open. Once my pasta was made, I poured sauce over
it, crushed up a bit of oregano the way Ernesto had shown me, poured some
water, and I was free to sit and eat! It
was pretty good if I do say so myself!
Woo hoo…I can boil water and cook penne pasta JUST LIKE IN AMERICA!
Haha. I did learn a lesson about putting
less of that salt in the water though.
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| Making my first dinner! |
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| After my battle with the stove top |
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| Dinner |
After I ate, I decided
to wash towels and the extra set of sheets.
Because there are no dryers, I have to wait to wash the other sheets I
am sleeping on. I don’t ever dry my
clothes, but it is inconvenient to wait on towels and sheets to air dry! However, I followed ALL of the instructions
Ernesto had given me, but nothing worked when I tried to turn it on. I eventually gave in and had to call
Lila. She said that they would come
right away; well, this was after they had trouble figuring out what to say and
eventually gave up and decided to come.
I told them that it could wait, but Lila said it would be better to come
tonight. When they arrived, they brought
the microwave and ironing board. They
are so generous, and I am so lucky.
**Side note: Lila told
me yesterday that the reason the headmistress knew about this place was that
lila had to go see her to swap a gift that had been mixed up. The headmistress told Lila that she was
meeting me later that evening (this was the first day I arrived in Cosenza),
and she asked Lila if she knew of any apartments for rent. Well, Lila had one! How perfect!
You know what that is? That is
God preparing a path!
So, Ernesto showed me
how to work the washing machine, which seems tiny when you are putting things
in, but boy did I regret not putting that last sheet in because it seemed as
though it would not all fit. Lesson
learned: it would have all fit and THEN some! They set up the microwave and put
the ironing board away. Lila told me
that they have decided to switch the room that is “theirs”. This means that the fourth room, which is
theirs to let a guest use or something (short-term) is going to be
switched. Why is this significant? Well, they are switching it to the smallest
room, where as now it is the one with the balcony facing the main street (next
to my room). Again, why is this important? Well, it is because they showed the apartment
to two girls before they showed it to me and they do not know if either of them
will take a room. She offered to let me
switch rooms if I wanted because I was the first. I said no.
Here is why: because while I LOVE the balcony, in the winter if I want a
bit of fresh air, I do not want it to be two BIG open doors. I want to just open the window and it will
not let AS MUCH cold air in. Just a
preference I suppose! Plus, I can make
it where I can see out of the window without opening it; not something that can
be done with the doors.
I will not lie; I kind
of want to live alone. I do not want
roommates to spoil my Italian experience.
I am secretly (well, I guess not so secretly because I am writing it
here) want the other girls to say no. I
enjoy having my own space and not having to step around others or wait on a
bathroom (huge deal to me), or worrying about someone else washing the dishes I
need, etc. etc. So, I will be praying
for guidance/peace in this area, and I will make the best of whatever the
situation may be. By the way, yes I know
that this possibility was made known to me when I saw and accepted the
apartment with 3 bedrooms; I was just secretly hoping that because the school
year had already started, that there would be little interest in students
renting it. We’ll see.
Once they left, I sat
down to organize my HUGE Fulbright binder, finished watching “Under the Tuscan
Sun”, made my VERY FIRST to-do list, and organized my thoughts. I am beginning to think that I am going to
need to take an Italian with me to the bank; it seems like it is going to be
more difficult than my other tasks.
Hmm…not that I am feeling defeated or anything, but seriously, I might
need some help with this one. The good
thing is that I am not afraid to ask for help.
It was nice to sit down and put everything in its place. Tomorrow I will go buy more hangers and then
I can take my big suitcase out of the room and it will feel like I am really
living here. I will take pictures once
this task is completed, and then I will post them.
During all of this I
got to do something that I view as uniquely Italian, at least in my mind. I got to hang my stuff on the pulley lines
with clothes hangers! WHAAA??? I was pretty excited about this. When I was doing this I had a moment of, “OH
MY GOSH…I live in Italy and this is real!”
Overall, it was a
pretty relaxing day; nothing too grand, but hey, it’s Italy. Everything is grand, right?!?!?!
Cultural Note: I have noticed that
the Italian women do not seem to wear very supportive bras. I do not say this in a manner of judgment,
but rather an observation. I noticed
this in Florence as well. A few thoughts
about it: 1. They don’t seem to buy the right size because either the cup size
is too small, or the back is riding up out of their shirt. 2. Ouch…if the bra isn’t supportive…doesn’t
that hurt??? 3. I have not seen any bras
in stores or at that market that even resemble the quality of Victoria’s Secret
or Gap or anything. Truly, I am not
saying this to pass judgment; I just cannot help but notice.
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