Ital-ivin' it up! (Does that work?)

Sorry for the lack of posting! I'll update you on a few things that have been going on!

Italian Thanksgiving

Caitlin and me (and Pup!)

Obviously, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Italy, but we decided not to let that stop us and instead had two! Thursday evening, I was invited to my friends' apartment (with no dining room or living room) to a potluck style Thanksgiving dinner with about 20 other students. It turned out really well (mostly due to my Mac and Cheese and Spinach Artichoke dip) and the food was delicious. My friend Caitlin and I decided to don impromptu Pilgrim and Indian costumes (made out of poster board) and, post-dinner, preformed a poem describing the first Thanksgiving. It was quite a hit. Saturday, our school put on another big feast, where everyone brought side dishes and the SGA provided 15 turkeys. I ate a lot. Sunday we continued the American tradition by putting on a little football tournament in the large park in the city. My team lost in the finals!

Florence

Tower we climbed

 Florence is a short 40 minute train ride to Bologna and I have been twice in the past month. The first trip I took was with 3 of my friends and with no real agenda. We climbed to the top of the bell tower of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and had a beautiful view of the famous Duomo. We lunched in a little restaurant and wandered around the city, ending our night drinking a bottle of wine in front of the Church of Santa Maria Novella. 

View from tower

My second trip to Florence was... less successful. My Italian Art and Culture class was taking a field trip to Florence to see Michelangelo's David and to visit the famous Uffizi museum. My friend Doireann and I decided to take a slightly later train than the rest of the class and coincidentally ran into our friend Brian at the station who had missed the earlier train. So the three of us sluggishly got on the train around 8:50 (instead of the 8:30, totally worth it) and took our seats.

(Now, Doireann had somehow been put in charge of holding on to the tickets for the entire class, key part of the story. Another fun part of the story- Brian and I decided not to buy tickets, seeing as Florence was only 30ish minutes away and the first stop. It was unlikely that the ticket checker would get around to us and if he/she did then we would play confused tourist and get off at the Florence stop.)

Doireann and me in front of Gold Doors

Doireann sits herself next to a friendly gentleman who she discovers is from Albania and is ever so helpful. We arrive at the first Florence stop and he tells us that this is not the right stop, we need to get off at Santa Maria Novella. Brian, having been to Florence twice already, agrees. Next stop is another Florence station, but not SMN. Albania tells us, oh no, we need SMN, not this stop. We all three sit back down slightly confused, but trusting our friend. 20 minutes later, we ask Albania if he's sure, and oh yes! the train goes around the city then comes back and stops at SMN. 10 minutes later we're sure he's wrong and, after asking the train official, our doubts are confirmed. Next stop, Rome!

Josiah, me, Brian outside Uffizi 

We would've have laughed it off and gotten a beer in Rome except for the two little details I mentioned before- Doireann holds the tickets for our 25 classmates and professor, and Brian and I don't have a train ticket, not even to Florence. For the next hour to Rome, we attempt to pass along the tickets to our classmates with the help of other train goers and their smart phones, while I stress (sweat) waiting for the ticket checker to come around and tell us we're going to jail (or more likely make us pay a hefty fine). Eventually, the ticket lady does come around, and let me tell you, I was never more grateful to have an Irish lady for a friend. She makes the greatest distressed tourist I have ever seen (only half of it was actually acting) and the train ticket checker lady never even questions Brian and me, she just wants to be out of our sight. Doireann pulls two more pretty amazing acts- getting back on the train in Rome to head back to Florence and then with yet another ticket checker on the train. Brian and I didn't pay for one ticket (or a fine) all day!

We ended up getting to Florence about 3 or 4 hours late and we were still able to see David and the Uffizi! We missed a few churches etc. in the beginning, but instead we had a lovely 5 minute stay in Rome.

Italian Wedding

Imagine this except the opposite...

... and with none of this.

This weekend I had a prospective student from Austria staying with me for a few nights, and I took it upon myself to show her around the city and make sure she had the real "SAIS Experience"! Saturday night she asked if we could go to Mass and I was more than happy to go with her to the church half a block from my apartment. I had never been to Saturday night Mass there, but I did not expect it to be much different. We walked in and noticed rice and flower petals and I commented that there must have been a wedding earlier. Then I saw 3 women in long red dresses with bouquets. It was a few minutes past 6:30, the church was dark (as usual), freezing (as usual), and held very few people (as usual), so I figured 6:30 Mass was not happening and these people were left over from the wedding. Then the organ started playing. My visitor and I took our seats, slightly confused, but curious. Next thing I know the bride (dressed in a long blue dress) is basically sprinting down the aisle WITH the groom, followed by 3 bridesmaids. Mass went on as normal except during the homily when the priest casually married the bride and groom. The whole thing was very Italian- the majority of guests arrived halfway through the Mass and sat in the back; the entire wedding party, sitting on the altar, talked the whole time; a little girl (maybe the bride's daughter?) was walking up to the bride and eventually sat on the bride's lap for the remainder of the ceremony; and it was just freezing (everyone had their coats on). It was all very strange. I was just waiting for soup, but sadly, never saw any.

Coming Up...

Venice, Vienna (for Christmas Day), Prague and Budapest (for New Year's) for my pre-finals break!