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.