L'ultimo Post!

Picture: Joe, Mark, Grace and I in St.Peter's Square.

Well, right now Grace and I are riding back to Rome for our last to night there. We just went to Florence or as some would try and say (Florenchay haha). We went to the most amazing market this morning and pretty much finished up our gifts. I officially have no money in my bank account, 25 euros in my pocket and a credit card. Life is good. I really only have to pay for food from now on and it sounds like it will be grocery store sandwiches and cheap pizza from here, but it should be perfect. Every penny spent was worth it and I wouldn’t trade my experience here for anything in the world. Grace and I bought our leather jackets today, FINALLY J At the market our new buddy Lorenzo gave us a deal on jackets after I had to beg him a little, haha.

We were back in Rome for our last day and a half in this beautiful country. Kristian, Grace and I went to the coliseum and to the Roman Forums. Other than that, we got our last official meal with a gelato treat after. I like Rome but I think being there made me miss Siena and Florence a lot. I guess the cobblestone and renaissance look really gets to you.

Now we are on the joyous ten-hour plane ride back to the United States of America. I definitely cried until the plane took off and then my tears were dry. Poor Kristian, who probably was uncomfortable and didn’t know how to deal with my tears underneath my giant shades. I guess it’s just hard to leave something so beautiful in so many aspects. I am definitely ready though to be going back to the buckeye state to see everyone.

Well now it’s a few days after my last paragraph and I already am suppose to be back in the swing of things by picking corn, working a wedding for Anth and trying to study for the actuarial science Exam P again. I also discovered that it’s going to be ten times harder to replicate the pastas, sandwiches or any other delicious dish I had. It’s so good to be home, but it’s funny how everything reminds me of Italy and I definitely know I have to go back some day. I have always dreamed of studying abroad in Italia and I can’t believe it is all over. I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world. I’m so thankful that I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to see a different country and living style, meet new people and create new perspectives for so many aspects. Everything has allowed me to be even more thankful for the people I have in my life and what I have been given.

Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it! I hope you didn’t feel obligated to read my mouth blabber and actually wanted to, haha. Vi amo molto. Grazie mille per tutto.

Gli ultimi giorni....

Well, I know it has been a very long time since I last gave this page some love and I apologize. Two weekends ago we went to the Tuscan coast to Castelione and Marima Massima. I definitely forgot how much I missed the beach, and in Italia they are gorgeous. During our weekend trip we also stopped at San Grigiano where Grigiano was a rebel child (killed people, committed theft and other crimes… you know the usual haha) and then “some person related to god” as Mike said talked to him. He stabbed a stone after this figure talked to him and the stone is displayed in a church up a big hill by the old cathedral that is sitting for view, stone covered in Moss with out a roof. The beaches were beautiful even though I wished we would have more time to sit and bake in the sun.

Last week was still really crazy. I started to write my eight page papers in Italian, sent postcards to all of you who got postcards, had a cooking lesson with Leila and learned how to make delicious tomato zuppa, watched Harry Potter in Italian before it came out in the U.S., went underneath the city and took a tour of the aqueducts and more that I cannot remember at the moment.

Last weekend we went to Naples, Pompeii, and Salerno. Naples was beautiful, even though there is a lot of trash and one of the worst cities for mofia control. Naples is probably second to Sicily for mofia influence. The mofia in Naples is called Camorra and if you have ever heard of the movie Gomorrah, they are talking about the mofia in Naples that different families are always fighting to control. The mofia has a lot of control over the trash business and the trash workers have decided to strike and stop picking up trash recently. So, you can say as we were walking we would see trash just piled on the street, but it really was not that big of a deal. When we arrived at 5:30 a.m., we were pleasantly delighted to use the dirtiest bathroom I have ever been in at the train station. After that, we walked out to Piazza Garabaldi and saw a line of sketchy people gathering together and I half thought it was a gang gathering at 5:30 in the morning. As I looked again, I saw clothes on the ground and realized it was a market with very used goods. After we realized this, we walked by and I think Joe and Mark were even scared (mind while we were with Joe and Mark, no one would ever dare even talk to us haha). Besides that, Naples was beautiful and probably my favorite city. We went a and saw the Port of Naples which is were great grandpa Teodoro sailed twice and great grandma Lucia sailed once to go to Il Stati Uniti. We also tried to find the Church of San Maria, where they were married but little did we know there are about 37 San Maria churches in Naples. So.. I took a picture of five and compare with Aunt Chirs later to see if we actually saw it. We had Margherita Pizza in Napoli and it was definitely the best Pizza I have ever had. The sauce was heavenly and every other wonderful aspect just complemented it.

After Napoli, we had fun on the trains trying to get to Pompeii but everything worked out and we got to our air-conditioned hostel with a pool (we did not know this existed prima questa). Pompeii was awesome, especially since Joe’s last name is Pompeani, and some of his ancestors died in the eruption in 79 A.D. Crazy huh? I do not know how mean this is but we joked with him and said, there is your great great great great great great grampa Joe and found his “house” too, haha. Salerno was awesome. There were wonderful shops and the most sereal view of the montains from the beach (picture here).

Barbara from Switzerland moved in Sunday and she is a hoot. I guess I was kind of spoiled and hogged Maura because it is definitely different now. Barbara likes to talk a lot, does not understand a lot of Italian or English but is super nice. While I was writing my paper two days a ago, Maura came in and started talking about how weird she is and that she does not make her bed like I do. I tried to make excuses for her but Maura was just like yes but it is a little strange. It was really funny. I felt bad but at the same time the little devil in my head was like good job Ash you won, she loves you and you got an Italian to gossip to you. Barbara is very nice though. She is 25, teaches tennis to little kids and was a psych major in school.

This week has been crazy with paper writing, getting ready to leave, and going to Florence and San Gimignano. San Gimignano has the world winning ice cream with white wine flavor (it sounds good but I do not know if I like the two as a combo) and a whole bunch of towers. Sarah said that it is because the rich people of the city wanted to show off their power so had a competition of tower building. Pazza ma carina. We just went to Uffizi in Florence, went to Ponte Vecchio and walked around. I am going to Rome tomorrow but am taking a trip back there with Grace to explore more and get a leather jacket hopefully.

Today we had our pool party with homemade lasagna. The pool party was at the cleanest pool I have ever seen and they make you take a shower before you can get in. From the pool you can see Siena in the distance and it is over looking the Tuscan countryside. Priceless. Just had my last dinner with Maura and she made me homemade Tiramisu, ahhhhhh sooo good. Crazy that this is my last night in Siena and flying home in a week. I am probably going to cry when I leave this beautiful country but should probably go home soon haha. Love you, take care and talk to you all soon….. Ash

Dio benedice America!

This week has been full of classes, but just to say that would definitely be underestimating the good time it has been. This week has been full of classes, reflections, presentations, a test (grazie Dio, Antonella told us five minutes before we were allowed to use notes), English kindergarten class, English college class, a visit to the Bruco Contrada Museum, Alex singing at an Irish Pub, and much more that I cannot recall. After our visit to the Bruco Museum, the tour guide actually GAVE (for free) us these books that they only make when they win the Palio. They are probably at least 20 Euros apiece but out of guilt for being late, he just gave them to us. Pazza, I thought time was “relative” here anyways. We volunteered for the kindergarten summer school and taught them many pirate words and fruits in English. My favorite is this one who is a cute but average looking little boy until you look at his big gorgeous brown eyes. He is lighter skinned with light brown hair but his eyes just make you melt. I may bring that one home, I’m sure Andrew would like another buddy. In History of Emigration, we talked about the hardships of the second phase of Italian emigrants (mostly to France, Argentina, e Stati Uniti). An interesting point that Elena brought up was how brave one most have been to go to a brand new place, speak a brand new language, travel in filthy conditions for months, and maybe find a job that the locals do not want. Even though this is obvious, I guess I never really thought about how every single citizen of the United States today owes to the courage and struggle of his or her relatives. Our ancestors were successful. Left all they new for a new beginning, most likely did not speak any English… but did it. I’m sure this courage and strength passed on to generation after generation. I don’t know about you, but that most make one hell of a nation. God Bless America. Trust me, we celebrated our Independence here, haha. One last thing… Maura’s son and his new wife came over for dinner. They might be one of the hottest couples I have ever seen. He is 38 and she is probably early 30’s. They are both olive colored with light blue and green eyes. They are funny because they think I understand a lot less than I do and try and thoroughly explain everything. I just smile and tell them it’s fine, I understand. They do speak so fast and it’s just neat to listen and try to follow the conversation. Andrea’s wife is scared of sea creatures in Australia (where they are going for their honeymoon). She kept pointing to her freshly French tipped nails and I think she meant she was worried about losing those in the sea too. Who knows, I just enjoyed looking at them and admiring Andrea’s ex-model wife. O and we were served this fish type of thing. It was very small and salty. I should have waited to eat it until someone else did because I definitely ate all the bones of this fish. I didn’t realize that you are supposed to pull off the meat until I saw the left over bones on Maura’s plate. It was even better when I saw the tiny little fish head I just stuck down my throat. I definitely tried to put more stuff on my plate so the bones could have been underneath the extra food. I debated on confessing but then I forgot the word for bone or skeleton anyways. Well other than that… talk to you all soon. Love and miss you all J

Tempo del Palio!

Well the event we all have been waiting for, The Palio, has come and gone. Pazza. This build up for excitement for months was over in about a minute twenty seconds and then you either cry or celebrate for a week. The two most important things are 1) winning or 2) not allowing your rival to win. This is done by paying off jockeys and other scandalous things. Yesterday, Oca (the goose) won the Palio. Oca was the contrada that was involved in the big fight at the horse lottery with torre (who did not even run). At least now everyone in Oca can have there sins resolved at the church, just because they won the race. Maybe if the Cleveland Browns win the superbowl one day, we can go get our sins resolved too. We all know all remaining Brown's fans could sure use that as a reward for being so patient. The craziest thing about the race yesterday was that Bruco was in the lead and then the horse rammed up against a fence line pool. The jockey fell off and I'm pretty sure he was stepped on by the horse in second...ahhh. By the end of the race, about 4 horses had lost their jockey's but still ran to complete the race. Soon after, people of Oca started screaming and sprinting towards the painting that is given as a reward the the winner of the Palio. I took a video of it but they literally rip this painting down from the side of the building and parade around with it all night long. This was of course with drums and singing and of course the painting. Crazy. I left town at like midnight but Oca's were definitely partying and parading around the city all night long. Only nine of the horses competed yesterday because the shell contrada's horse died. Purtroppo its leg was hurt at the prova on Friday, and it had a heart attack and died. Imagine... 50,00 - 60,000 inside the campo and 10,000 on the outside if the gates, approximately 80,000 people total.

Sorry to back track, but Friday we attended the Bruco (the caterpillar) Contrada dinner. It was fun and held at the most beautiful garden of the city. We helped ourselves to appetizers since dinner was not even served until 11:00 p.m. No 5:00 p.m. cena qui, dinner is served at 7:00 p.m. or later in Italia, so 11:00 p.m. is no big deal at all. We also ran into Tim Basi Thursday night. He just graduated from Ohio State's Italian graduate program and is from here in Siena. I had him for two of my classes at Ohio States and he is such a doll. We are going to se him again for gelato soon.

My roommate Hannah left today, and the house is definitely quieter with out her. Her leaving means I have more access to the internet and more time alone with Maura, but I would still rather have her here. Like I said before, she is very inspiring and adorable. Other than that everything is going great except that I think people in the program are finally being very honest with each other and my Italian is getting better but I feel like it is getting worse. I think I'm am finally realizing all the mistakes a make when I talk and feel less confident. Just got to truck though and keep blabbering I guess. Take care and talk to you all soon :)... Ash

Palio!

Today the Palio’s festivities officially began. First, let me give you some background information.

1. 1. The Palio is a horse race.

2. 2. The Palio is the name for a horse race specifically in Siena. The two most important Palio’s happen on July 2^nd and August 16^th.

3. 3. The city is divided (by neighborhoods) into 17 different contradas.

4. 4. 10 are only allowed to run in the Palio.

5. 5. The seven who do not run in July are guaranteed a spot the next year and the left over three spots are chosen by lottery.

6. 6. The race has been ran the same way since 1500, but has been a Senese tradition since about 1100.

7. 7. These people live and breathe this sacred Palio.

8. 8. It is like an Ohio State - Michigan game but with out NCAA regulation (much bribing takes place), has to be at least 450 years longer of a rivalry, and everyone who goes to Michigan knows everyone at OSU and vs. versa. All of your family has attended the same school between these and your grandpa may have been stabbed by your rival contrada when they used swords to fight. Dear Dio.

9. ...and welcome to the most famous horse race in the world :)

Wednesday –

9:00 a.m.

We reached the Piazza del Campo bright and early to watch the 40 horses try their chances at representing one of the contradas. A group of noble men from various contradas pick the ten best horses for the lottery.

12:30 p.m.

The ten best horses are randomly chosen by lottery and matched with each contrada. It was very entertaining to watch the reaction of the contradas when they were matched with a good or bad horse, haha. Italians can be very blunt about their feelings. Even in everyday life thy do not hold grudges but tell you like it should be the first time. They stare when they so choose to and are not afraid to show when they are happy or angry about something. Even if they do have an initial angry reaction about the horse assigned to them, they always parade away chanting their condrada’s song. These songs are towards rivals or just boosting themselves. Today the contrada Drago or Oca (have not figured out which one specifically) and their rival….. started fighting while parading the horse out of the stadium. Whole lines of fists were thrown. It actually looked like monkeys fighting because they were throwing their arms high, as if they were punching the top of someone’s head. This happened in two periods before the polizia decided to step in. We were far away and I guess this rarely happens during the day. I guess their rival contrada is not even running this time but were made because the Oca was chanting arrogantly. Who knows…. Mama mia.

6:30 p.m.

Did I mention time is a relative thing here in Italia? O yes, as is air conditioning? The first trial race was suppose to began at about 7:30 p.m. but started at about 7:50 p.m. This was cool because this is the first time the jockey’s are fully dressed, settled up and altogether in the Piazza del Campo. There was at least 1000 people there… keep in mind this is just the trial race. Pazza. Go Istrice! (the porcupine, the condrada of my host mom, Maura) Take care and talk to you soon J

Thursday

Two more trial races took place. One was rained out and one horse is officially out of the race because of an injury.

Home is Where The Heart Is…… thank you Lady A

Yesterday, I climbed the Torre del Mangia, the tower in the Piazza del Campo. It was beautiful and I got to do it with Hannah, the girl who has been living close to me and going to a different school. She is really cool and I wish I had more time to spend with her to learn about a volunteer/leadership program she does through her school, her opinions about religion or some of the things she has learned about along the way growing up with 8 (!@!##!) brothers and sisters.

Today I went to school and after I volunteered for an English class for adults and college students in Siena. It was really neat to be able to hear the opinions of what the Italians thought about the American culture and how much English they knew already. A question that was asked was, “why is family so important in the Italian culture?” One man responded that he has always put church and Dio (god) before family because in the end, that is what is important. We were about to end the class but another women, probably about 37 years old started speaking. She started to talk about how in her earlier years all she worried about was her career and family was always second. Then she said when it came down to it, work was only work. She told us about how Italians realize and value how special relationships are, especially the ones developed in a family. This is such a prized possession (that I think many American families have lost sight of), that deserves the 2-hour dinner every night or gives reason to Maura fixing the tiniest crease in my bedspread, because that’s what family does. You always need others who will always be there for you no matter how bad you mess up. Everyone deserves that love and security in their life, even if it consists of you and God alone.

I guess I have been scared to admit this to anyone until this point, but I am pretty home sick. Yes, this is the most beautiful place I have been to, I am learning so much, making friends that will last a very long time, and love Maura to death. I guess it just makes me realize that wherever I am I will never forget how lucky I am to have wonderful family, friends, and Jake. I think it’s worse because I have not exactly been able to communicate with you all because I can’t call you with out excessive charges or have limited access to the internet. I know this is a phase everyone goes through after the initial rush of excitement of an exotic new place. This lasts until he or she becomes sane again and gets back into the pace of things. For the time being, I can learn from it. No matter where I am in the world, Brookfield, the little town on the buckeye state’s edge, which may look like a hole in the ground since they tore Valley View down, is my home. Why you ask? That’s where my dad and mom grew up and decided to raise Andrew, Anthony and myself there. Pauly built that house because that’s what momma wanted, no matter if it was feasible or not, he made it happen. My mom would fly across the ocean in a minute if I needed her to. My brothers are the two most adorable kids I have ever seen and I’m so proud beyond words of them. I love you so much, and thank Dio everyday for how blessed I am. I don’t know how I got so lucky. Thank you if you read all of this, sorry for blabbering…..The Palio is yet to come!!! The picture above is where the Palio will take place. This is the most famous horse race in the world and officially dates back to 1500 but actually took place in the 1100's.

Again with the double posts!... Sorry!!

#79

The significance of this title is that I am number 79 on Maura’s list of house guests. Yes, I know your mouth has just dropped. Mine definitely did too. I felt a little less special and more like just another number that has passed through. She has always treated me with such kindness and tells us we are like her children, but that’s just they way they are; anyone under their roof is family and treated as such. Plus, that means 78 people came before me and chances are a few bothered her more and messed up more than I will. So in that aspect, it is definitely a big relief. We volunteered to teach kindergarteners English last Thursday and it was awesome. I think I told you how cute little kids speaking Italian is before but this is just a whole new level of cuteness. Courtney, Sarah and I taught them Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Old McDonald had a Farm. This was their first exposure to Old McDonald so it was pretty much us singing and them chiming in for the animal sound parts and then humming. Per esempio, “ahhhhiiiiiiiiahhhhh moo moo ahhhhhiiiiiahhhh moo moo.” How much English they already knew, simple things like, “Good Morning”, “How are you”, and some animals and colors surprised us. They adored Courtney because she is just an Italian expert and even wants to teach some day. Girls actually started fighting each other to have a spot next to her. One even cried L. Other than that, I am starting to pick up more things and be able to break down what someone is saying better…. I’m getting there haha.

Bologna with no Boloney

Well we just got back from Bologna about two hours ago, and it was definitely a cool trip. Kristian, Joe and I made our 7:45 bus and got to spend all of today and yesterday (Friday/Saturday) in Bologna. We met up with our friend Joe, who is studying at a small school in Bologna for this summer. We visited a lot of beautiful parks and made fun of the couples making out very carelessly in public. I was just thankful that we were not in one of those countries where they may do more than that in public. We walked into two churches. Uno è stato Basilicia di San Petronio e forse Chiesa di San Maria ma non lo so. San Petronio was just gorgeous inside. They consisted of mostly graves and neat paintings older than 400 years old. One interesting painting was of heaven, purgatory, and hell. In hell everyone was nude and actually being eaten by satan. Well that sounds a little rough but it was subtler than that. I went to go shopping while the boys sat like old men in the park, but I definitely got a lot accomplished. I bought a dress for only 3 euros! We walked through The University of Bologna, which I think is the oldest university in the world that is still in existence. We checked the University district out later too because that’s where the nightlife is in Bologna. We meat a bartender from Cambodia who told us about his special drink called Magic Sam. He was sponsored by some company in San Francisco and showed us the website that the recipe is on (by actually taking out his macbook). He made us this special drink, that was about 7/8 liquor and I definitely could not even enjoy drinking it, but at least I can say I sipped it for a little. Today we met Joe’s friend from Sweden and ate Tortellini (supposed to be delicious in bologna). Other than that we saw our first Ferrari in Italy and enjoyed Bologna’s orange (yes Kelley Drew… lots of orange buildings haha), yellow and red color scene. Love you all and talk to you soon.