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