Three Months, Two Weeks, and Four Days

It’s starting to hit me how real this is. And how unreal. Today is April 26th. I have been in Italy for three months, two weeks, and four days, give or take a couple hours. I have studied Rome, visited churches, met people from around the world, eaten so many new and delicious things, learned Italian, lived in Italian, lived with a family other than mine. I’ve had so many experiences that were inconceivable last year at this time. Last year, I was furiously writing papers that I should have been working on all semester. This year I am doing the same (sooooooo…not that different). Last year, I was living at Loyola and getting to know the girls that I would be living with in the Fall even better. This year, I am living with a family that I will potentially never see again when I leave Italy in less than two weeks (very different). Less than two weeks. What? Two weeks? Where did the time go? How did I let it slip by without cherishing every moment—every game I played with my host brother and sisters, every dinner we shared, every delicious, fresh pizza I ate, every juicy blood orange I peeled, every nice person I talked to, every word I had to look up to try to understand a little bit better, every lazy afternoon strolling around the city, every refreshing cono piccolo di gelato, each park bench that I sat upon to read, the new people I met in my program, the professors I had and the knowledge they tried to bestow upon me, and the list goes on. I’m trying to be more cognizant of these great things that I have been given this semester, see them for the gifts that they are, and be thankful.

The first few weeks I was here, I was constantly in wonder at the experience that was my reality. I couldn’t believe it—it was so surreal. I found so many things to be new and amazing—and they were! Yet now, I turn around and see a two-thousand-year-old building; no big. I walk(ed) past the Spanish Steps everyday to go to class; they have became just another staircase (except when there were five hundred Greek soccer fans inhabiting them, yelling calcio cheers, raising banners they had made, and drinking beer). I see Caravaggios in churches; whatever, there’s a Gentileschi two doors down in the next one. I drink wine with dinner; it was sometimes cheaper than having water. Seriously? I feel so jaded. What a good Italian I am.
;-)

But, I am so fortunate.

And I am realizing this.

I wanted to write here about my life in Rome. But, it didn’t seem to happen very well. As some of you may know, I’m not the best at keeping in touch and can let things fall by the way-side if I am not pushed. Perhaps that is what happened here. Perhaps it was that I didn’t know how to talk about everything that I have been doing. Perhaps I was trying to be profound and nothing was coming. Perhaps I got behind and didn’t know how to catch up. I think it was mostly the last one (but a little bit of everything). I often intended to write, then time escaped me or I spent too long in the park or sleeping or on Facebook. So, I’m sorry. I want you to know that I’m trying to take advantage of the time I have left here in Rome. It really is a spectacular city and I will miss it once I leave.

I will especially miss my host family. Like I said above, I may never see them again. This is making me very sad. I’ve been living, eating, being with them for three months, two weeks, and four days. Once I leave, our connection is so broken because my Italian language skills are not going to get better; therefore, communication will progressively get harder and harder (not to mention the barrier of my inability to keep in touch with people in general). I will leave them forever: they will change so much, as will I. When I left America three months, two weeks, and five days ago, I knew I was coming back. Everyone I was leaving, I would see again in four short months. I knew I would change and so would they, but it would be four months. And I could contact them relatively easily, in my own language. I would be able to go back to all the places I knew so well and re-embrace my American heritage, my Newman identity, and my niche among my friends. It would be fine, okay, and the same (and that’s the way I want it). But when I leave Italy in twelve days, I will not be able to come back to the same place. I can visit Rome, sure, email with my host family, absolutely, but I don’t think I will ever live here again. And if I do, it won’t be with my host family, and I won’t be frequenting the same places as a missionary, teacher, graduate student, however I could return. Thinking about this is making me a little melancholy. More than un po’. My life will be changed forever and I can’t change it back.

Someone once said (and this is paraphrasing),

“When one stops changing, one stops living.”

I hate that. Knowing life goes on is hard. I want to stay here and be comfortable. But, I suppose if I never did anything I wasn’t one-hundred-percent comfortable with, I would never have climbed Mount Vesuvius, ate formaggio e pera gelato, come to Italy, made a dinner, gone to Loyola, or tried anything new. Being uncomfortable is good. It keeps you moving, searching, and striving for more.

Ahh, so many revelations at once! Can we handle it? Prova! E’ meglio provare che non provare. La vita e’ dura qualche volte, ma sopratutto, e’ bellissima.

Amore, pace, e gelati,

Susan

Verde--A Color and an Entity

Ciao, ragazzi!

The past few weekends have led me to realize how much I miss “verde” (meaning green--my host mom informed me this is what the Romans say to refer to what would be contained in a park more or less). I miss trees and grass and quiet and birds chirping and wilderness.

Two weeks ago, I went to Siena, Arezzo, and Assisi, which are located in the Tuscan and Umbrian countrysides to the north of Rome. Going to these places was delightful. I have been excited to go to Siena ever since I started reading St. Catherine of Siena’s book, The Dialogue, last semester in one of my theology classes. I really enjoyed the book and learning about St. Catherine’s life in class, so the opportunity to see the town, house, and rooms that she lived in was fantastic. Unfortunately, it was rainy, overcast, and sort of chilly while we were there, so the town seemed less spectacular than I’m sure it actually is. At any rate, it was decidedly more serene than Rome.


St. Catherine's well

The next day in Arezzo was bright and sunny. The city wasn’t one I was familiar with, so no highly anticipated sites there, but there was a massive (and I mean ginormous) fleamarket/yardsale/bazaar going on and that was enjoyable to wander through. However, after a morning in Arezzo, the group piled into the bus and trekked to a castle for a wine tasting(!). I got to sit in the front seat of the bus—the jump seat down near the driver—and watched Tuscano go by. Wow. Spectacular. And it was February, so there was minimal greenery. Once getting to the Castel del Trebbio (originally the Pazzi castle—you know, the guys who plotted with the pope to kill the Medici), we got out of the bus and were instantly floored by the beautiful view from the mountain. We learned about wine, how it’s made, what different categories mean, how to tell the alcohol content, the meaning of the richness of colors…some people even took notes. The wine we had was very nice and the olive oil they also make there was quite good.



The last day of our trip was spent in Assisi. Wonderful. We wandered the streets and went to different churches in that town on the side of a hill. It was so peaceful. I had an amazing panino for lunch with Umbrian cheese and cinghiale salami (cinghiale is wild boar—delicious) and a pastry to top it off. Then myself and two other girls climbed to the fortress which is above Assisi. Being up there was beautiful. I looked out and saw snow-capped mountains, the town below, trees, animals, more mountains. It was breathtaking. It was absolutely gorgeous to stare off into the mountains and enjoy the atmosphere and the company.



The weekend was quite nice. I was sad to leave the beauty of the country to come back to Rome and the bustle of the streets and the three million people who live here. It’s not that I’m not enjoying myself in Rome, but it was so freeing and delightful to be in a place other than the city.

This weekend, the class went on a trip to a mozzarella farm. –Wait, mozzarella doesn’t grow on trees, Susan!— You’re right, my good friend: it does not. It was a bufala farm! Bufala translates to buffalo, but they were no where the size of an American buffalo/bison. More cow size, I would say. But, apparently they make very different kinds of milk than cows. Chocolate! Haha no, sorry to get your hopes up… Bufala milk is much richer than cow milk and, therefore, more desirable for making cheese. The farm produces great quantities of cheese each day from the milk that is taken from the bufale in the mornings. At lunch we ate cheese that had been inside the bufale five or six hours prior—doesn’t get much fresher than that! Anyway, the farm was 2 hours south of Rome and surrounded by vineyards and olive farms. We learned about the cheese-making process and met the bufale. I chatted with them and tried to feed them. Then, I pet their tremendous heads and snouts and a few even licked my hand! Haha! I wouldn’t go so far as to say they were cute, but it was certainly an enjoyable experience. I love nature and animals!



It was so great to be off the cobblestoned streets of Rome for a while and hang out with a few new friends, even if they weighed a few tons and were covered in poo and mud.

Ahh, the revelations that are made...

:-)

Pace, i miei amici. A piu' tardi!

Susan

Wandering, Acquainting, and Reaquainting

Hi!

Well, it's been a few weeks. I told myself that I would update this at least once a week and I've failed at that. But, I will try to do better from now on. :-)

I realized that I haven't really talked about anything I've done since I've been here or how I've felt about it or anything of the like (Well, I've only posted once in the entire month that I've been here, but that's not an excuse, I suppose).

So, like I said, I've been here for a month. Rome is an interesting place. It has so many people and places and things to see. On the days that I don't have class in the afternoon, I have been wandering around the city voluntarily getting lost and stumbling upon the same few streets or entirely new ones.

One day a few weeks ago, there was a strike on the metro (that's how I get to school) but, in Rome, they let you know a few days before that it's going to happen. Also, the Metro will still run in the morning so people can get to work and in the evening so people can get home from work. So, though my Italian classes start at 9:45 in the morning, the strike was starting at 8:30, so I left my house pretty early and got to Piazza di Spagna around 8:30 with not much to do. So, my friend Christina and I grabbed a cappuccino and a cornetto and were walking around. We were looking in windows and found a few churches to go into. This one that we found was so tiny. It was probably smaller than my living room at Loyola--a closet compared the majority of the churches in Rome--but it was really very nice. There was adoration going on and it was great to pop in and say Buon giorno to Jesus in such a concrete way before class in the morning. :-)

That is just one example of the great things that I have found just walking around. I've looked at so many nice clothes and some strange ones that I would never consider buying, I've window-shopped hundreds of boots, I have seen so many people taking advantage of the nice weather by making out on the sidewalk, I've eaten some delicious gelato, I've developed some pretty rock-solid calf muscles--all thanks to Rome's streets.

Last Thrusday, I went out to dinner with my host family to celebrate my host parent's 12th wedding anniversary(!). It was really nice to do something outside of their home with them and also to see how they acted at the restaurant. I suppose it wasn't that interesting or that different than Americans acted, but it was interesting to see what they ordered to eat. My host mom Daniela got this ginormous steak, but other than that, pasta and the like... I am truly enjoying living with them, by the way. I think that if I was fluent in Italian, we would be closer and I would understand them better and them me, but despite the difficulties I have with the language and the nerves I feel about communication, they have adopted me as their own and are so very, very nice to me.

Other nice things I've done/ have happened to me is that I was able to visit my friend Dan who is studying at North American College (the US seminary located in Rome). I had lunch with him, our friend Kelsey, and 250 priests, bishops, deacons and seminarians at NAC a couple weeks ago. I was late getting there because my class let out late, and as we were going in Danny said, "Just try to blend in." Yeah, right. Like two young women walking into that room are really going to blend in... Anyway, it was great to see Danny and learn about his new life in the seminary and see the campus. He also gave me a tour of San Pietro (St. Peter's) with so much information, I probably should have taken notes.


Kelsey, myself, and Dan on the sixth-floor balcony of NAC with the Vatican in the background. It was a beautiful, clear day and we could even see the Appeninni Mountains in the distance with snow-capped peaks!

The first week I was here, Dr. Dawson, our professor and program director took us all to St. Peter's and lead us around with a tour containing similar information to Danny's, but we also were able to climb to the top of the Dome of the Basilica. The view was spectacular and we could see all of Rome!



Well, I'm signing off for now, but look back soon to hear about my trips to Florence, Siena, Arezzo, and Assisi plus other fun and exhilarating adventures!

~Susan

A Fun List!

Ciao, ragazzi!

I am here in Rome and have been in this beautiful city for almost a week now. I have been doing a lot of walking, a lot of orientating, a lot of thinking before speaking and stumbling over my words, and a lot of discovering. So far, the adjustment hasn't been that rough. The time change has been hard--I think I may still be jet lagged--and the realization that I'm not at home and not in the US is strange, but I'm okay with that right now. People say this is called the honeymoon stage, where everything is new and exciting. Maybe this honeymoon will last for four months, we shall see. That's not to say that I am one-hundred percent content and sure of myself, but everything is going okay right now, I think.

I thought I would share with you a few things that I have discovered about Rome, life, and myself in the past few days. The list is quite long, but I've not been here before for this long nor with this amount of self-awareness, so a lot is new and interesting to me. Here goes:

A Fun Fact Sheet about Rome and My Time Here So Far

1. The paper here is bigger—12 inches tall instead of 11.5
2. There is very little grass, but a good amount of open space if you know where to look.
3. Public transportation is awesome! I should have been listening to Tim preach about this since freshman year…
4. Going places in a large group can be very annoying.
5. If you’ve never had aranchine, try them! They are rice balls. I had no idea these delightful things existed before I came to Roma, and they are delicious.
6. A strange combination—egg and salami in a sandwich. I’m still not sure how I feel about it.
7. I am living with the Cirillo family here in Roma. There is a mom, a dad, and three little kids. The family is very friendly. I’m enjoying staying with them so far, and I am grateful for their patience (with my lack of Italian) and hospitality.
8. Presepe (Nativity scenes) in churches are very interesting to look at. However, the baby Jesus in the scene outside of St. Peter’s Basilica is a little bit frightening and the size of a four year old.
9. The city of Rome is beautiful—so many colors, endless types of architecture, elaborate fountains that pop out of nowhere, and stylish people.
10. Gelato is delicious. I’m sure most of you know this already, but it is delicious.
11. There are two different ways to say “I’m sorry.” (There are probably more, but these are the basic ones that are important to my life right now.) “Mi scusi” is said when you are at fault somehow (e.g. I’m sorry I’m late for class. Mi scusi.); “mi dispiace” is said when you are sorry something happened but it is not your fault (e.g. I’m sorry you don’t like peas, but I have never force-fed you peas, so it’s really not my fault. Mi dipiace.).
12. Cold weather seems to be defined as hovering around 40 or 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
13. There is no such site as the Spanish Steps. Yes, there are steps. Yes, there is a Piazza del Spagna. But, to the Italians, the massive staircase that leads down to the Piazza del Spagna is called La Scala. In no way are the steps Spanish.
14. Sometimes I say “Si” without really understanding…
15. Saldi! Saldi!! Saldi!!! (January is sale month in all of the stores!)
16. There are a hundred churches in Rome (probably more—I haven’t counted)! It’s so great to be able to go into a different one all the time to see different devotions and to strengthen my own.
17. When one is walking and outside most of the time, days without rain are optimal. Too bad only one in the six I’ve been here have been sunny. But on the up side, I’ve been getting to use my umbrella and raincoat!
18. Mi piace parlare in una lingua straniere perche’ e’ interessante e e’ piu’ dificile.
19. I am the tortoise—slow and steady wins the race, in my opinion. I’m not sure I like having all my classes just one day a week. It leads to a lot of emphasis on and cramming into each class. I think I’m better with a slow, constant pace with some wiggle room and review over a fast, sometimes unbalanced pace.
20. I may or may not have stepped on a statue built and designed by some famous clothes designer—whoops!! (You can ask Christina who the designer is, because I don’t remember).
21. Learning Italian only in Italian is hard, but it’s good because it assists you in thinking in the language and it lets you learn with people who you do not share another language with (except everyone in my class knows English except one women, though it’s not necessarily their first language). It is challenging in a good way.
22. Pannacolta has a very strange texture.
23. Apparently in Roma, you can park absolutely anywhere in any way that you fit into the space and it’s perfectly okay with everyone.
24. Watching TV in Italian is like watching TV with my father. My dad often mutes the sound during the commercials, and at night sometimes he falls asleep and therefore doesn’t un-mute it—I see the pictures and get to guess for myself what is going on!
25. I'm not sure if I am going to be able to find notecards here. I was going to pack some but left them out under the guise that I could simply buy some here and didn't need to extra weight in my bag. Bad idea. There are no flashcard-like notecards to be found! If you know where I could get some at a reasonable price, please let me know!

Well that's my list. It is what it is for right now. It will probably get longer but not on this post because its already long and 25 is a solid number to stop at, so here we are. Nothing too eloquent to say in this post and no remixes of songs. Sorry if I disappoint! Well, that's all for now, check back in a little while to see what enfolds!

:-)
Susan

An Introduction

This is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside-down. I'd like to take a minute--put down that phone!--I'll tell you how I'm becoming a princess of a town called Rome...

In Western Pennsylvania, born and raised, in the backyard I spent most of my days. Chillin' out, pax-in', relaxing, all cool, goin' to Loyola right after high school. Then a couple of guys who were up to some good accepted my application to study abroad. I'm gettin' on one little flight, sure I am scared, but I'm moving off to Rome via a ride through the air.

I'm waiting for the day and as it comes near, I'm praying my Rosary and packing fifty pounds of gear. If anything I can say this chance is rare, and I thought "Yeah, can't pass it, not even on a dare!"

I leaving for that city Jan. 7, arriving 8. And I'm tellin' the US, "Bye, home! See ya later!" I'll get to my kingdom--I'll finally be there! To sit on my throne as a Princess of Rome.

:-) Fresh Prince fans, anyone?

Okay, in actuality, I'm leaving my house in two and a half days to travel to Rome for four months! I'm seriously scared--that's not just a catchy song lyric. I am not packed; I am in need of sleep, seeing some people before I go, exchanging money, calling some people... Seriously, the list is a page long and only getting longer. I have so many questions that I want to ask, but I don't know who to ask or even how to articulate them. There are so many unknowns. But, I suppose that's part of the adventure. They say that not all who wander are lost and it's not the destination, it's the journey. Though cliches, I think both these statements have truth in them. Maybe I won't know where I am or what to do at every crossroads I come to while in Rome, but I'm embracing that. I like new situations, meeting new people, exploring new places, and learning about myself in the process. At least that's what I'm telling myself. I'm not sure if that's entirely true when I don't have a familiar, comforting place to return to, but I'm going to do my best.

There are a few things that I can't wait for: I'm excited to be living with an Italian family and really learning the Italian language and the culture of Rome. I'm excited to try new foods and see ancient ruins. I'm excited to learn in my classes about the place where I'm living and to learn in my living about the person I am.

As of right now, I don't have many definitive goals for this trip. I want to eat gelato, visit Assisi, go to the town that some of my ancestors came from to look around, walk to class as much as possible, and live as a Roman. Make some new friends, drink some wine, eat some cheese, maybe have a cappuccino (though, I'm not a fan of coffee). Study, serve, pray, live, love, be. Simple, really. That is my goal--Simplicity. And flexibility. Yes, a simplistic, flexible way of life. That is what I need to accomplish the most.

Honestly, I'm not the most eloquent person and I probably won't post as much as I should, but if you want to read about my journey, I would be honored to bring you along. All I ask for in return are your prayers (or good wishes if you'd rather). For a safe journey, for courage, for exciting adventures, for understanding, for patience, for memories both old and new. I will do my best to pray for you too. If you have any intentions, let me know: I'll light a candle and pray for you in at least one of the hundred churches I'm sure to visit. Also, I would love to hear from you as well! Keep me updated on your lives, too, please!

Well, that's all for now, I think.

A piu' tardi, i miei amici,

Susan