Easter Break

With every wrong turn, there’s a lesson learned. Well, we certainly learned a thing or two this past weekend over Easter break. Kelsey, Kim, Megan, Shannon and I toured all over the Napoli area; we visited Pompei, Capri, Positano and stayed in Sorrento. Similar to my other travel breaks, a major part of the trip is just getting to the destination. A couple of days before the travel break, we went to the travel agency to purchase our train tickets. We didn’t notice until we were on the bus that the time for the train was wrong. We had accidentally purchased a ticket for a 1 p.m. train when we needed the 3:05 p.m. train.

Upon arriving at the train station we immediately went to the ticket office to ask the proper procedure for having the wrong time. The man informed us to board the train and we would have to pay an eight euro penalty fee. So, the five of us get on the train and it is completely full; all the compartments are filled, people are piled in the aisles with their luggage. We had to resort to standing in the area by the bathroom. About two hours into the trip, the ticket checker came around and asked to see our ticket. She immediately noticed we had the wrong time. She kindly explained to us that since the train was so full due to the vacation, a fee of eight euro needed to be paid. She also told us if we had gotten to the train station an hour after our incorrect time, we could have exchanged the ticket for the correct time for a fee of three euro. So now, we know better for next time. If the train time is incorrect, it must be changed within an hour after the printed ticket time. After standing for nearly two hours, fold out chairs in the aisle became available for all of us and that’s where we sat for the remainder of the trip. Upon arriving we took Circumvesuviana, the commuter train, to get to our hostel in Sorrento. That ride was about 90 minutes and then we walked fifteen minutes to the hostel. So little recap to get to our final destination it took a bus, train, commuter train and walking; it was quite a journey.

We checked into our hostel about 10 p.m. on Thursday night. It was very modern and well decorated. We stayed in a room with ten other females. Since it was fairly late, we decided to eat dinner in the hostel; the bottom level was complete with restaurant and a bar area. There was even an option to sit outside under umbrellas on couches. I ordered gnocchi sorrentina style; it was spectacular and I have now found a new favorite type of pasta.

The next day we took the commuter train to Pompeii; it was about a 45 minute ride. The main attraction was the ruins. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and completely buried the city; it wasn’t until 1592 that it was accidentally found again. After excavation, Pompeii is now one of the most accurate examples of life during the Roman Empire. After spending close to three hours walking around the ruins, we had lunch. In addition to the ruins, Pompeii is known for its lemons and oranges. Nearly everywhere we went had lemons for sale; some lemons were even larger than my hand. After lunch, I treated myself to a lemon slushie that was delectably fresh. After walking around for a little while longer in Pompei we headed back to Sorrento to explore the center square. There were incredible shopping opportunities; however, I behaved myself and only bought a pair of sweatpants and a magnet to add to my collection. The magnet was from a family owed shop that has been in operation for over 50 years. I like how all of my magnets from each of the cities have a special meaning that I will remember for the rest of my life.

For dinner, we followed Rick Steves’s advice and went to a little restaurant off the beaten track that was located on the waterfront. We ended up being very lucky and the recommended restaurant had a spaghetti special of 3.5 euro that night. So we had a magnificent view of the ocean as well as a delicious and inexpensive dinner. We were heading back to the hostile when we came across the Good Friday procession. There were hundreds of people lining the streets. We found a place to stand and joined the crowd with anticipation for the procession. With the celebration commemorating the death of Jesus Christ, it was an ill-omened experience. It lasted nearly two hours and had hundreds of participates of men and children wearing black robes. The main elements of the procession portrayed the 12 Stations of the Cross from Christ being condemned to death to being laid in the tomb.

Upon returning to the hostel, we noticed a special offer for a boat trip to Capri. It would cost fifty euro for a private boat ride over to Capri complete with lunch, beverages, tours of the main caves and blue grotto. We signed up to participate in the boat trip the following morning. The next day we were on the boat departing Sorrento by 9:30 a.m. We spent the next three hours riding around looking at different caves. Our captain even stopped at one cave and told us we could climb up the mountain and go inside the cave. He told us that we should only do it if we are “adventurous” because we would have to walk through the black tunnel in order to get into the cave. We all decided to go into the cave. The captain pulled the boat as close to shore as he could and we hopped off. We climbed up the rocky stairs built into the mountain, through the black tunnel (that really was completely dark) and into the cave. It was certainly an experience to remember. After a few quick pictures we got back on the boat and headed to the two rocks that are the symbol of Capri. The next part of the tour allowed us to enter the blue grotto, if we wanted. It was high tide so boats were not permitted to enter; however, if an individual wanted to enter he/she could swim. The water was too cold for me so I opted out of that activity.

After the blue grotto attempt, we headed to Capri and we were given three hours to walk around and explore the island. Capri was incredibly beautiful and had some amazing shops. I didn’t purchase anything but it was still enjoyable to look at the stores that were all very extravagantly decorated. One of my favorite shops was a home décor store. The table settings were beach themed: compete with coral and clown fish center piece, crab napkin holders and turtle candles.

For dinner that night, we followed Rick Steve’s advice again and went to a seafood restaurant by the water. Bruschetta, an appetizer included in the cover charge, was actually my favorite part of the meal. For the main course, I shared seafood pasta with Shannon. It certainly was fresh and some of the shells still had sand in them. After our dinner, we took the commuter train back to our hostile and settled in for the night.

Positano was our destination for Easter. We had to purchase a special type of bus ticket for the ride down to Positano. We arrived at the bus stop thirty-five minutes early and the line for the bus was incredibly long; there were already about fifty people in front of us. We waited and hoped to get on the bus whenever it arrived. Luckily, there was enough room for us but there were no seats; we had to stand in the bus aisles and hold on to the rails as the bus swirled up the mountain to Positano. Despite the tight conditions on the bus, the views were stunning. The mountains mixed with the community life of colorful houses and made for some unbelievable pictures. We spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach and absorbing the sun.

The bus ride back to Sorrento was even more hectic than getting there. We were waiting at the bus stop for nearly forty minutes before it finally came. During the time waiting, we met a family from Dublin and a family from Baltimore. When the bus arrived twenty minutes late, everyone in line went crazy. The line no longer existed and everyone was pushing to get on the bus. The man from Baltimore blocked the entrance and allowed his family to enter then said “Come on North Carolina.” He made sure we got on the bus because he knew how long we had been waiting. It was very generous of him to look out for his family, as well as our group. The bus ride was very crazy and I felt like a sardine. I cannot even begin to imagine bus rides in the summer.

So as you can see, my Easter holiday was spent very differently than normal. I continue to miss my family and I missed them even more on Easter day; I have never experienced a holiday without being with my three siblings and parents. My mom still included me though in our family traditions; she sent me pictures on Easter Sunday of my family before church and she even still hid an Easter basket for me to find whenever I return to the States. Thanks Ma Mere!

Next weekend I plan on a return visit to Florence with Kim. Looks as though rubbing the snout of Il Porcellino, the bronze 'Little Pig' in Florence's Mercato Nuovo, really does predict a future visit…

Everything from Foreigners to Breakfast: A Mixture of Italian Life

One of the most interesting aspects of studying abroad in Europe is how easy it is to serendipitously meet individuals from other countries. For instance, while walking through the Pantheon in Rome I heard people speaking Italian, French, English, Spanish and another language that I could not identify. It’s incredible that the culture is significantly varied. I saw this diversity again while looking for the train back from Rome, when Kelsey, Kim and I met a French woman. We ended up sitting in her compartment and I talked with her for nearly the whole ride. I have taken French since 6^th grade so I was more than excited to be able to communicate with someone from France. From our conversation, I learned her name is Julie and she is twenty-eight years old. She lives in Italy now and she travels on weekends to check up on her family. Her grandmother lives in Rome with her brother, who is a priest. Her mother is still in France and Julie wants to visit her more often. In Italian class, I frequently combine French and Italian; this was the most ideal situation for me because Julie’s primary language was French but from living in Italy she has picked up a little Italian. Additionally, she spoke hardly any English but I was still able to communicate with her. Having a full conversation in another language made me feel very accomplished and I really enjoyed this chance encounter and I hope to be able to meet more people on our next adventure.

An adventure I forgot to mention in my last blog was a trip to Deruta. This afternoon excursion was two weeks ago. We ate paper bag lunches on the bus that consisted of four different sandwiches, fruit, water and juice; Margarita’s meals are always exceedingly satisfying. After a short bus ride of about ninety five minutes, the first stop was the Maioliche Originali Deruta. This is a family owned factory that produces a variety of original ceramic pottery for sale. The pieces range from everyday use items such as plates, cups, salad tongs, etc. to elaborate and large works of art. I looked at each item with appreciation, knowing that it was handmade and individually painted. After looking around the showroom, we had the opportunity to see how the ceramic process was begun and completed. We watched as one of the workers “threw” five different pieces on the potter’s wheel in less than ten minutes; it was unbelievable. He certainly made it look easy; I took a ceramics class last year and I personally know how difficult throwing pots on potter’s wheel can be, especially when trying to make each piece a consistent size. The potter told us how he can make close to two hundred pieces a day; he is undeniably talented. After our visit to the factory, we went to a ceramic museum. This museum was designed like a maze; it was not just a straight walk, there were a lot of twists and turns getting to each of the different rooms. This made for a very unique experience because I wasn’t able to predict what was coming next. The contents of the rooms ranged from older broken pieces of ceramics to more modern colorful pieces. After the museum we were given the opportunity to walk around the town. I took a few pictures in the park then ventured on in hopes of finding a ceramic piece for myself. The town comprised of various ceramic shops so there was a lot to choose from. Dr. Webb, Bekah, Dr. Bailey (art history teacher) and Megan accompanied me to one of the side streets where we found a smaller ceramic shop. We looked around and I purchased a pink ceramic jewelry holder that was made in the 1950s; it is perfect for me: pink and an antique!

In addition to classes, every Monday I go to the elementary school for my service learning component of the curriculum. I have always considered becoming a teacher and this is experience has pushed me even further in that direction. I have two classes at the elementary school, which is only about a five minute walk from the palazzo. The first class is fifth graders. For this class, I have to individually test each child on his/her English; I use a version of the standardized test the children will take at the end of April. I enjoy working with the kids and it is very helpful that they want to learn. The first Monday I tested about four kids and this past week I tested six. The teacher hopes I will be able to test each child twice before the exam. I grade the children on a scale of 1 to 5; most children know the colors, introductions, and vocabulary. A common struggle for almost all the children is verbs. At 10 o’clock, the children go to a different classroom to have a snack and then I have a new class.

I enter into the new class’s snack room where I get the opportunity to just talk to the children. This past Monday I talked to a girl named Asya. We talked about our love for High School Musical; we even sang a song together from the movie. She was very impressed that I knew all the words. After a fifteen minute snack break, the new class goes back into the teaching classroom. This class contains fourth graders. This class structure is different from the first class and my lesson plans are new topic each week. This past week I explained to them what I do for Easter in English then asked what vocabulary words they recognized. I then repeated the paragraph in Italian, my pronunciation is not that great but the children were more than willing to help me. Near the end of class, I gave the kids an Easter word search and before I left they turned the papers into me. To help me with my Italian on the word search the children wrote the Easter words in both English and Italian. The children really enjoy helping me learn Italian; it is more than adorable. It wasn’t until I got back to my room in the palazzo that I looked at the papers and a couple of the children wrote Ti Voglio Bene on the top of their papers. This means I love you for a friend or I like you a lot. The kids are so cute and I love them too!

This weekend’s excursion was to Assisi. In my art history class, we learned about St. Francis of Assisi and this knowledge provided the foundation for the trip. St. Francis was very humble person who loved to talk to animals, especially birds. The basilica in Assisi contained twenty seven frescoes of Saint Francis’ life by the artist Giotto. The “Serman to the birds” was a fresco that really stood out to me. The fresco is very simple with a gray background; the foreground is Saint Francis caring after the birds; this is a large contributing fresco to his life because the communication with the birds is what St. Francis was known for. Later I came to find out that this fresco is actually one of the most famous and most often reproduced pieces of the Giotto series. In addition to all the frescoes, the church had two levels and the lower level contained the tomb of St. Francis. Whenever I went to visit the tomb, the entire room was nearly filled with people sitting and praying. St. Francis was a very famous saint who still has a great amount of respect today. After touring the basilica, the group went and ate lunch then headed back to Sansepolcro. Due to the thunderstorm that appeared to be coming, our hike was canceled. Instead we went to one of Saint Francis’ favorite sites; Castello di Montauto was very close to Sansepolcro and nestled on the top of a mountain. All the surrounded area was covered trees, it was very peaceful. I understand why Saint Francis enjoyed being there; the whole atmosphere was very serene. It was interesting to see the bed where Saint Francis used to sleep. It didn’t even look like a bed, but rather a hole in the wall made of rocks. Saint Francis was certainly a modest man who wanted to be as natural as possible; he didn’t support living a life of luxury.

After returning from Saturday’s adventure, we were all pretty tired and went to bed fairly early. The next day was Palm Sunday. The fabulous chefs: Kelsey, Shannon, Bekah and Hilary made a delightful breakfast of eggs, pancakes, fruit, toast, tea and coffee. It was a nice chance because this was not a traditional Italian breakfast since the food was warm. This was also a bonding experience because we sat and talked for nearly two hours; it was lovely to relax and just enjoy breakfast.

Next weekend marks our Easter break and most of us are headed south to the beaches of Capri. I’m really looking forward to some fun in the sun!