Final Fourteen Days

I'll get around to writing about these more in depth at some point in the next week, because it's really important to me that years from now I can read about my experience on this blog, but for now I'll just write a little bit. I am flying home tomorrow morning. In one way, I am thrilled to be going home and seeing my family and friends. In another, I hate to leave behind Italy... I have grown to love it here immensely. 52 days abroad, and I truly think I have been changed by this experience.

Quick note on the past two weeks:

Class/School: The final days of class were rough. I can't believe I got through 9 credits (3 classes) in such a short period of time. By the end of the trip, though, everything was really repetitive and all of us were tired of the same routine. Some good field trips offered a change of pace but I have to admit that class got pretty frustrating. Thank goodness it's over :) !

Greece: I went to Greece for 3 days with Emily, Lane, and Lee. It was the absolute best 3 days I could have asked for. The weekend was timed perfectly; we were exhausted from schoolwork and definitely needed different scenery. I stayed in Thessaloniki, Greece's 2nd largest city to Athens, at a spectacular hostel. All weekend I encountered Greek hospitality and had some of the yummiest food of my life (Sorry, Italy). It was a splendid adventure. I spent a day on the Halkidiki peninsula at a beach called Athitos. I went to an archeological museum in the city. I loved Greece and will absolutely be back to the beautiful country again some day.

Sicily: I was both nervous and excited for this trip. Emily, Lane, and I booked airfare together that allowed us to travel for a week together after the program was over. We decided on Sicily and Sorrento. In hindsight, two perfect places for three girls looking for relaxation and adventure. We stayed at a lovely B&B in Catania, Sicily. We took our time exploring the city and kept everything slow-paced so we didn't feel overwhelmed. Sicily, though part of Italy, is vastly different from the mainland. For one, Catania is not overrun with tourists like other major Italian cities. It is also right on the ocean, which is probably the number one reason we went there. The beach was odd, but still really fun. We left Catania on the train headed for Naples. The train ride was 8 looooong hours!

Sorrento: We arrived in Naples and took the regional train to Sorrento. I stayed in Sorrento in high school, and was slightly hesitant to go back because of this, but I have no regrets. Sorrento is beautiful, peaceful, and filled with people on vacation. We encountered many friendly business people and stayed at a hotel that was mysteriously dubbed a "hostel" but was very beautiful. I explored Sorrento for a day, and then took a boat tour of the Amalfi coast for a day. The boat tour is one of the highlights of being abroad. It was simply fantastic. Since my family bought a boat many years ago, I have developed a love for being on a boat in open water. We spent about 4 hours doing just that on this tour. I was a happy girl. 

Today, we took a high-speed train back to Rome. I am staying here for one night before I fly home tomorrow. I'm blessed to have had this experience and forever grateful for my parents for allowing me this opportunity. I learned through course work, but I also learned through experience. I love traveling and cannot wait to plan my next international journey.

Here are my 2 favorite pictures from Greece. I'll upload more later when my camera isn't packed away!

Athitos Beach on the Halkidiki Peninsula

On a Short Cruise of the Thessaloniki Harbor

D'Alessandro Family Visit

I haven't posted in forever, so I am going to write about my last week in sections. This is part 4/4 and definitely the best post of them all :)

My grandmother, Julie Bamford, is someone who has traveled all over the world. I have always admired that about her. She is also Italian, her father was born in Italy and moved to America and raised his family in Philadelphia. Throughout my life, Mimi (what I call my grandmother) has instilled a great pride for her Italian roots in me and her 5 other grandchildren. Mimi has been a travel agent for many years and helped others discover a passion for travel. Based on all of this, Mimi is probably the main reason that I wanted to travel the world and specifically, experience Italian culture. I emailed her at the beginning of May and asked her advice on day trips to make from Rome. She responded and said that her father's hometown was not far from the city and easily accessible by public transport. Mimi said she went to her father's birthplace, Ortona, and stayed with her cousin's daughter, Rose, a few years ago. Mimi traveled the world with my beloved grandfather, Poppy, and this is one of the last trips they went on together before he died last year. She mentioned that I could maybe see Rose and her family and meet extended family. I didn't think much of it at first, but then we started talking seriously about me making a visit and Mimi put me in contact with Rose. Rose and I emailed back and forth a bit and earlier this week we finally ironed out the details and I was officially going to see my great grandfather's birthplace and stay with my 3rd cousins!

This is what I understand of my family tree on my grandmother's side.. Mimi's father (my great grandfather) was one of 4 children. Mimi's cousin, Giovanni, is the son of one of these children, which makes Mimi and Giovanni cousins. Giovanni is married and his daughter's name is Rose. Rose is married and has two daughters around my age. Rose's family and her parents all live together in Ortona, where my great grandfather was born. Giovanni moved his family to the United States around 1960 and they lived in New York until 1993 when he and his wife retired and the family moved back to Italy.

Mimi spoke so kindly of her cousin's family, so I was very excited to meet them. Through emails I could tell Rose would be welcoming and that I would have a wonderful time. However, my expectations were far exceeded. I simply had the best time with my extended family. It was hard to say goodbye yesterday afternoon.

I arrived (Saturday the 10) around lunchtime on a bus from Rome. Rose and her daughter, Kathryn, met me at the bus station in a town called Lanciano. Rose speaks English fluently which made everything easy because my Italian is embarrassingly terrible (that's what I get for having all of my classes here in English and Penn State professors). We drove to their house and I was welcomed by Rose's parents and her husband. Honestly, I was really nervous to meet everyone. I wanted to make a good impression on behalf of my family! But I was also so excited and they were too. Their house is beautiful and surrounded by the most amazing gardens. It was picturesque Italian countryside. Rose told me that the D'Alessandro family (Mimi's maiden name) used to own large vineyards in the nearby area.

Rose's mother and Rose made a spectacular lunch on Saturday afternoon. It was the first time on my entire trip that I ate a multi course Italian meal. I never order more than one course when out to dinner because it is too expensive. We had fettuccine with porcini mushrooms to start and it was heavenly. I love mushrooms and these were the best of the best. Then, we had veal, salad, and bread. All delicious. They grow almost all of the fruits and vegetables that they eat and everything tasted so fresh and clean! I also had some of their homemade red wine which was just as fantastic as the rest of the meal. We had fruit and pizzelles for dessert and I had my first cup (of many) espresso which was probably the best thing ever and I just died a little bit from happiness at having homemade coffee for the first time. It was still very Italian because it was espresso, but sitting around a table and sipping coffee reminded me of home and made everything feel lovely. Rose left for a haircut and I chatted with her mom for a few hours. Her mother's English wasn't as fluent but we still had a wonderful time getting to know each other and I especially loved hearing about her different recipes. I was appreciative that she was willing to spend time with me and make me feel comfortable. I felt at home almost immediately and that was something very special.

Rose took me around the area on a bit of a tour. Right around the corner from Rose's house is the house my great grandfather was born in. It was so special to see his birthplace. I was very close with my great grandmother on my Mom's side (her mother's mother) until she passed away when I was 13. I was incredibly lucky to have a bond with her and standing in front of the house made me feel like I better understand where I come from. Actually, the whole weekend instilled that feeling, but this moment was when I felt the strongest connection to my ancestry. Then, I saw Crecchio which is a small town with a beautiful castle. There was a children's festival going on and Rose explained that Crecchio is usually very quiet so she was surprised to see so many people out and around town. Afterwards, Rose picked up a pizza for her daughter Kathryn who is a vegetarian, and we took her to the beach in Ortona. It was Kathryn's last day of school on Saturday (school on Saturday! What!) and she was celebrating by the beach with her friends. Rose and I walked down a long path leading out into the Adriatic Sea that was bordered by big rocks and at the end of the path there was a lighthouse. It was beautiful to see the sunset over Ortona and take pictures of the sea and the town. Rose and I drove back to her house and ate a light dinner of fruit from their garden. Fruit for dinner? Check. My favorite thing ever. Fruit from a garden outside? Even better. I ate lots of loquats which I've never seen in America but were tasty! Also, I had apricots, cherries, and watermelon. I was exhausted from traveling all morning and not getting much sleep the night before, so I was in bed pretty early on Saturday.

On Sunday I woke up and had the best espresso drink with warm milk and a touch of sugar. Rose made it for me and I'm telling you I might even give up lattes if I could drink that every day. For breakfast, I had Rose's mother's homemade sweet bread (with anise..YUM) and homemade cherry marmalade with toast. I was so spoiled by their incredibly delicious homemade food all weekend that I am already wishing I could go back and eat with them instead of food from the grocery store! I relaxed all morning and showed Rose and her family many pictures of my family. We shared many stories about relatives and had a wonderful time getting to know more about each other. There was just something indescribable about being able to tell them everything about my family and in turn learn as much about them as possible. We genuinely wanted to get to know each other. Rose's mom spent much of the morning preparing lunch in the downstairs kitchen and I was excited because she was making meatballs that she told me all about the day before. They were probably the best meatballs ever. For lunch, we had those meatballs, pasta with homemade tomato sauce, salad, green beans, bread, wine, fruit, and pizzelles. Just as delicious as lunch the day before! After lunch I reluctantly packed my bags to get ready to leave. I took pictures with Rose and her family and their house so that I can remember everything from my trip there. It was hard to say goodbye to her parents because they were so welcoming, warm, genuine, kind, and made me feel like family (even though I am, I just can't think of a better expression). Rose's mom said she loved me and that is something I will cherish forever because she is such a special person. As Rose, Kathryn, and I pulled out of the driveway Rose said that her father gets very emotional about these things and I understood how he could be so emotional. It was the most incredible experience and I wish I could have spent so much more time there.

Rose drove us to the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery, which is near Ortona. Many thousands of soldiers were killed in the area during an important point of World War II. Germans occupied Ortona and nearby areas and destroyed many buildings. Rose said there is an American cemetery further away to honor Americans killed there. I enjoyed seeing the cemetery and reading a little about the history. The cemetery is kept up perfectly and a beautiful tribute to the many who sacrificed their lives for their country. Then, Rose drove to Lanciano which is a nearby town with the bus station. People of the town were celebrating their soccer team's victory by driving around honking and waving flags. It's always nice when sporting events make communities proud. We stopped at a cafe and I had a cold coffee drink which I enjoyed. Getting on the bus was a bit of a hassle because lots of people were trying to get back to Roma. I luckily snatched a seat on the bus and said goodbye to Rose and Kathryn. I was sad to have to say goodbye so soon. I wish that I didn't have class every day or that I could miss it because I would have loved spending more time there.

I'm sure you can already tell how important and special this trip was for me. As I grow up, I realized more every day how crucial family is for one's happiness and overall well-being. I am truly blessed for my Mom, Dad, Tim, and Katie in my immediate family. But I am also incredibly fortunate for my extended family on both sides, my appreciation for which grew immeasurably this weekend. I now understand that it's not how closely related you are to someone, but what effort you make to relate to them. Family is family, no matter if you're brothers, cousins, third cousins, or family by marriage. Most importantly, I now better know the value of understanding your ancestry. By knowing your family's history, you are able to move forward with a greater sense of identity, knowing your roots and the people who worked so hard in the past to bring you to where you are today. I learned immense amount about my great grandfather on my Mimi's side and this information, along with the memories I made with Rose's family throughout the weekend, is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I was grateful for their hospitality and willingness to make me feel loved and at home. It was the best two days of my study abroad experience and I can't wait to go home and share everything with Mimi.

Here are my favorite pictures from this weekend (I posted many more on Facebook which you should check out there!)

Me outside of my great grandfather's house

Me, Kathryn, and Giovanni's wife

Me, Rose, and her mother

Me, Giovanni's wife, Giovanni

The sunset overlooking Ortona

Rose's family's house

Vatican Tour

I haven't posted in forever, so I am going to write about my last week in sections. This is part 3/4

On Thursday, the day after the general audience, we had our Vatican tour. We had class in the morning and then just enough time to grab lunch and gelato (naturally) before meeting at the entrance to the Vatican museum. A group of us got huge sandwiches for 4 euro right by Piazza Navona. Then we accidentally found a gelato place we heard about from other girls in our group that dips your gelato in a chocolate shell. Yes, I am serious about that. Of course, everyone had to get one because as we say, YORO, or You Only Roma Once. I debated between a white chocolate shell and dark chocolate shell for a little and then fell back to my old favorite cream on top because I couldn't decide. I had the tiramisu flavor and it was deeeeeelicious. Rose called me right after I started eating it to clear some details up for my trip this weekend and then most of my gelato melted all over my hand while I was on the phone with her. Here is a picture of the yummy chocolate-covered gelato and my gelato with cream on top:

Ok, so now that I have ranted about food for long enough, I should talk about the actual Vatican tour. Our tour guide was very good, more on the passionate side and less on the personality side, but he gave us tons of information and I really learned a lot. We started the tour at the "mini Vatican City," a wooden miniature model of the city that helps you get a better idea of the layout. Then, we went through many rooms with important sculptures which I thought was a little boring because I knew what was coming next from my high school trip and that it was much more exciting! We went through the Gallery of Maps and the Tapestry room which are both beautiful. I love the ornate ceilings in these rooms and the sheer size of the maps and tapestries is enough to wow you. After that, we had 20 minutes inside the Sistine Chapel. In the Chapel you are supposed to be silent and no photos are allowed, but tourists are a rowdy bunch so of course it was sort of loud and everyone was sneakily trying to get a picture. That was a little annoying, but I tuned them out and looked closely at the artwork around me, trying to remember everything our tour guide said about the artwork. It is a beautiful place and I can't think of a better way to describe it right now because I have been writing so many blogs, but trust me, it's something that everyone should see in their lifetime. After the Sistine Chapel we entered St. Peter's Basilica which is another breathtaking sight. Our tour guide was very informative here. I love the architecture of this church and the Latin that is near the ceiling and the words travels around the entire church. I think the Latin inscriptions everywhere is part of the reason I love the Vatican museums and tour so much because it reminds me of my years studying Latin in high school. I pretended to translate some things but failed! Here are a few of my pictures from the tour:

Me and Michelle overlooking the Vatican Gardens

The ceiling in the Gallery of Maps

In St. Peter's Basilica

Me in St. Peter's Square

Pope Benedict XVI's General Audience

I haven't posted in forever, so I am going to write about my last week in sections. This is part 2/4

On Wednesday, June 6, I went to Pope Benedict XVI's general audience, which my professor calls the Pope rally. I was at the Vatican in high school but not for a general audience. Throughout the trip all the girls in my program have been collecting rosaries and other religious items to get them blessed by the Pope at the Pope rally. We had bus tickets to get to the Vatican but we could also just walk along the river, which is a nice walk so we decided to do that. It was about a 35 minute walk from our apartment.

I turned a street corner and all of the sudden was standing in front of St. Peter's Square. It's a magnificent sight. The general audience is every Wednesday and free of charge but you have to reserve tickets in advance. My class sat together in St. Peter's square, where thousands of chairs were set up in front of a stage where the Pope would be. There were projection screens for the people in the back to see better. I would estimate a few thousand people were there (no idea how to tell though). Some groups were clearly identifiable because they all were wearing the same hat. In particular, there was one group of many hundred wearing white hats that were spread throughout the audience but some of them were sitting right behind us. We anxiously awaited for the beginning when the Pope would be driven around and wave to the audience. When this happened, everyone went crazy! It was a funny sight to see people from so many countries and cultures get so excited about the same thing. Especially the group with the white hats. They were hysterical.

The Pope went to the stage and Cardinals began to address the audience. There were about 6 different Cardinals speaking different languages to the audience. Each one announced over a microphone groups of pilgrims, members of churches, and other groups at the general audience. When a group was announced, they cheered for a while, or sang, or even played musical instruments. The English speaking Cardinal announced, "Rome students from Penn State University in Pennsylvania" and we cheered for our group! The whole thing lasted a little bit over an hour. I loved seeing people from different places bond over the same thing. At the end the Pope blessed the audience which was very special to everyone.

I'm not Catholic, but many of my friends are, so I enjoyed the experience on their behalf and also loved it for myself!

Here is a picture of some of the audience in St. Peter's Square:

Here is a picture of Pope Benedict XVI passing by us on the Pope-mobile!:

The Catacombs of St. Callixtus

I haven't posted in forever, so I am going to write about my last week in sections. This is part 1/4

For my group presentation last Monday, I presented on death and care for the elderly in Italy. Not exactly a happy topic, but interesting nonetheless. My professor wanted a good field trip to tie in to this material so we were went to see the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. The Catacombs are located on the Appian Way sort of on the outskirts of Rome. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was really excited.

Catacombs were used as burial sites and places for worships for Christians when Rome's religion was Paganism. The site we visited spans 90 acres, with four underground levels, and with an estimated half million people buried there. Our tour guide was fantastic! She began by explaining the fascinating history of the site and then took us underground to see what is open to the public. The Catacombs are a highly valued archaeological site, most of which is closed to the public. I was able to see frescoes, family tombs known as the cubicles of the Sacraments, and the crypt of St. Cecelia. All of the bodies' remains have been moved to other locations for protection. St. Cecelia's relics are in a basilica right in Trastevere, which is where I live, and I plan on making a trip to that church soon. It was quite unbelievable to travel underground through intricate passageways designed by engineers from so many centuries ago. The larger rooms of graves were used as places for worships so that Christians could safely practice their faith outside the city limits of Rome. I enjoyed this trip because I would have never made it here on my own, but surprisingly, it was one of our most interesting field trips. Unfortunately, there are strict rules about taking pictures so I don't have any photographs to show you. Here is one from the Internet which gives you a good idea of how skillfully this underground burial site was designed:

What I have been up to

Last week I was busy with my Italian Relationships class. I have read through between 20 and 30 articles and learned more about modern Italy in a week than I ever thought I could. I really like the new professor for the program! On Friday my program took a day trip to Pompeii. I went to Pompeii in high school, but I have such a bad memory that I didn't remember much. Our tour guide was fabulous and made everything so interesting. The best part about Pompeii is being able to see how people really lived in ancient times, because in places like Rome development makes it hard to get a feel for that. The tragedy of the eruption is an unfortunate circumstance for the preservation of this city. After our tour was over, Antonio (tour guide) took us to his family's restaurant by the entrance to the ruins. We had alot of fun here, eating good food, trying limoncello for free, and chatting about how interesting the tour had been. This is Antonio's tour guide profile: http://pompeitour.com/?page_id=15

After the field trip ended, most of the girls in my program headed to towns on the Amalfi Coast for the weekend. Emily, Lane, Lee and I decided to skip the trip because we had a group presentation due yesterday and didn't want to spend too much money. Emily, Lane, and I are trying to budget what we can for the last 6 days we spend traveling independently, so we might see Amalfi then. I went to Sorrento and Capri in high school and want to see another place on the coast. Although I was a little bummed I didn't travel for the weekend, I wound up having a fantastic weekend here in Roma. On Friday night the four of us went out together and had a blast. It was nice to have the apartment to ourselves! We spent all day exploring new parts of the city on Saturday, which was the celebration of Italy's unification so the streets were packed with people. By the end of the day on Saturday, I was too tired from venturing around the city to do anything but fall asleep early and get some homework done.

On Sunday I relaxed for most of the day and went on a run in the other direction on the Tiber and saw some attractions I am definitely going to explore one of these days (when I feel like I have a handle on my homework..) I can't believe it's already June 5 and that I have almost been abroad for an entire month. I look forward to coming home on June 28 but I'm not ready for my time in Italy to be over. I am growing closer with the girls in my program, feeling more comfortable in this city with each day, and learning immense amounts about Italy. It's more than I could have hoped for.

Here's a picture of the sunset overlooking the Tiber River on Friday evening:

 Here's a picture of Lee, me, Emily, and Lane at the Spanish Steps while exploring on Saturday:

Sandra's Top 10 in Italy

One thing I miss about home is making lists all the time. I love having everything organized onto post it notes and scrap paper. I can't really do that in Italy because I don't have many responsibilities besides grocery shopping and homework... so I decided to make a list of my favorite things in Italy so far!

1. Walking everywhere- Sure, I have a few blisters. But walking everywhere makes the city of Rome feel much smaller and manageable. The 20 minute walk to class everyday is something I have grown to enjoy. Sometimes I take the metro, but it's actually a far walk to the nearest metro stop, so it's not usually worth it. Walking everywhere ensures that I will catch sight of everything I pass and take a moment to appreciate it, whether it's a delicious smelling bakery or a monument.

2. Gelato (duh)- Hunting down the best gelato places has become a hobby for my program. We even had a gelato contest this past week after class and tried two cones of gelato from two different places and decided which one we liked better. I am not a huge ice cream person, but gelato is completely different. I love the texture, the creaminess, and the insane variety of flavors.

3. Nice weather- State College has nothing on Rome's sunshine. There have been a few rainy days, but I have actually enjoyed those for the most part. The sun is constantly shining and good weather motivates me to go out and explore the city. It also makes for lovely afternoons spent sitting out on our balcony.

4. Pasta carbonara- Yummm. I have only had it a few times, but someone always orders it when we go out to dinner. I'm growing to love al dente pasta and obviously already love the fact that this dish has bacon and egg in it!

5. Pizza- Some of the pizza I've had has been microwaved or reheated in the oven. In America, this would turn me away. In Italy, I'm usually too hungry to care. Although the freshly made pizza is often better, the reheated pizza is faster and cheaper. I'm most impressed by the variety of toppings and love trying different specialities.

6. Crunchy clothing- Oh Italians and their clotheslines. I have a washer in the apartment but no dryer. After my clothes dry on the drying rack, they are nice and crunchy. I don't actually like this that much, but it is funny. I will absolutely appreciate dryers more when I am back in America. For now, I will continue to enjoy having crunchy clothing.

7. Never feeling like you've seen it all- I've seen so much of Rome, but I haven't even come close to seeing it all! This feeling is exhilarating. There are countless things to do in this city and in Italy, I never feel like I'm "used to" something to the point that it bores me. I am always finding new things I want to see, like museums, monuments, and parks.

8. The market- I love going to the market to buy fresh vegetables, fruit, and bread. The atmosphere is intense but fun. I like looking around for the best prices and watching Italians buy their fresh fish and meat. Everything from the market is delicious, nothing like the produce you sometimes get in America that looks great and tastes bland.

9. Non-touristy restaurants- My program also loves finding places that "aren't for tourists." All of the restaurants in close vicinity to the popular tourist destinations have a host out front who tries to convince you to dine at the restaurant by showing you what's on the menu. Usually these places are overpriced and under satisfying. Thus, we love walking down small alleys and finding restaurants away from tourist attractions and without the annoying host out front. Also, if the menu is only printed in English, then they probably only serve tourists. We love to find somewhere that feels like Italian people dine there regularly.

10. Stumbling upon historical landmarks accidentally- When living in a city such as Rome, I pass a piece of history every few steps. I'm not much of a history person, but living among the rich history in this city is completely different. It's a little bit overwhelming to know how much has happened in this city throughout history, but it's also exciting. Unintentionally finding a beautiful structure and then finding out what you're looking at is like a real life version of treasure hunting :)